#which is why we agreed to have a celebration later when i can actually go all out (my planned outfit is sooo good guys you have no idea)

[bloodyke]

the past week (honestly the past month) has been absolute dogshit between having an allergic reaction to some unknown substance causing my eyes to swell and get really itchy (i believe it was the eyelash glue) my mother getting sick my stepfather having a really severe heart attack and then ME getting norovirus despite not having left my house and was entirely quarentined in the basement to not get whatever my mom had and then riger having to go to the follow up cardiologist appointment all day today 😔 we've decided to host a birthday redo later so we can actually celebrate so be prepared for me to be really annoying later next week

[delulujuls]

young, dumb & bwoke | ln4

hi! as u can see i couldn't stop myself from writing about last saturday events in amsterdam with mr norris as main star (he was more popular than the king himself lmao). lando is literally what i always bring to the function and yup, enjoy him being the chaotic drunk bestie while max and y/n are his literal party parents. its nothing crazy and without plot basically, i just added sum to this years' koningsdag so yeah, enjoy!

summary: there is nothing that lando loves more than a good party and his beloved dutch friends so imagine him with drink in his cup surrounded by whole orange nation. it could be nuts and it was

warnings: TONS of alcohol, lando being drunk (and hurted), mentions of blood, basically sum chaos

pairing: fem!dutch!bff!reader x lando norris (ft. max verstappen)

Lando couldn't wait for the plane he was on to break through the heavy cloud cover and land in Amsterdam.

China and Miami, which were the next rounds on the calendar, were separated by two weeks that were nothing else, in Lando's case, than a time of stagnation. Add to this the fact that Lando had bad memories of his performance in China and, what's worse, the sprint he failed so badly and which constantly played in his head like a jammed record, one could go crazy. That's why the Brit was extremely happy when he received an invitation to spend the weekend in the capital of the Netherlands. He was invited to Amsterdam to celebrate King Willem's birthday by none other than his favorite flying Dutch.

The friendship of Y/N, Max and Lando began in 2019, practically from the very moment he entered Formula 1. The kid, who was barely 20 years old but looked like 12, immediately won over the Dutch couple with his smile and sense of humor, who, due to their sometimes severe temperament, could not boast of having many friends in the paddock. Even though the three friends were only two years apart, Max and Y/N naturally became Lando's racing parents, with whom the Brit spent practically every moment, from time in the paddock, through celebrating on the podium, to time away from competitions. So it was no surprise when they invited him to spend the weekend together, to which he, of course, eagerly agreed.

When the plane landed, Lando pulled the hood of his orange sweatshirt over his head and slung his backpack over his shoulder, in which he packed everything he might need for the coming days. As you could guess, there wasn't much of it, he actually had everything he needed on him and the most important part was an oversized orange sweatshirt. Waiting for him at the airport was Y/N, who couldn't wait to see him. She didn't have to wait too long, because a moment later he walked out in front of the terminal. Y/N smiled as she saw her friend walking towards her and she hugged him tightly.

"You knew I was coming, you could have asked the king for better weather," Lando joked, trying to sound serious, which only made the girl giggle.

"If you think that the weather will have any influence on what will happen in the evening, then unfortunately I will have to disappoint you," she replied, getting into the car. "It's already starting to get crowded in downtown, and it's not even noon."

Lando threw his backpack into the backseat and got into the passenger side. He smiled like a child, looking forward to how the weekend would unfold. It looked like he would spend a nice few days, able to finally de-stress and relax, and in the company of friends. But speaking of friends, one of them was missing.

"And where's Max?" he asked as they left the airport and were on their way to the girl's apartment. "I thought he had been waiting for me with the welcome committee since yesterday."

"He's already in town, I dropped him off while I was on my way to pick you up."

"He's fast," Lando laughed and shook his head, "I hope he's still on his feet when we get to him."

At that moment, Lando didn't think about the fact that no one else but himself would be able to stay on his feet. When the Brit set off for Amsterdam, he obviously expected to spend two days drunk, with legs sore from dancing and a sore throat from singing, but he forgot that he has absolutely no immunity to alcohol.

When the three friends were finally together, alcohol quickly appeared in their hands. Y/N and Max started with beer, but Lando had no intention of wasting his time drinking something that would only cause pressure on his bladder. As soon as he boarded one of the barges floating on the Herenbracht Canal, he drank several shots at once. Y/N and Max just exchanged glances as he drank the drink standing on Garrix's console in one gulp, who didn't care one bit about it, being already in a good mood himself.

"I'm a little worried about how this might end," Max said in her ear as she took a sip of her cider, watching Lando jump happily.

"Even if he's drunk, so what," she replied, handing him her bottle and taking away the body paints in circulation, "He didn't come here to be bored."

Max was about to say something, but she pushed his hand slightly, bringing the bottle he was holding to his lips. Max shook his head and took a few sips from it, while the girl started painting flags on his cheeks. When she finished, she waved them up, attracting Lando's attention, who understood what she meant and nodded eagerly. The girl squeezed through the console and stood next to him, leaning him against the barge rails, because Lando had trouble not bobbing to the music for a moment.

The smile that never left his face wrinkled his cheeks, on which she tried to paint Dutch flags. When she finished and turned to pass the paints, Lando took off her sunglasses and put them on himself.

"Have a drink with me!" Lando shouted, holding out his empty cup to her, and she raised her cider bottle in response. He rolled his eyes in dissatisfaction when suddenly a bottle of vodka appeared in the crowd and someone handed it straight to his hands. Without much thought, Lando unscrewed the cap and took a few sips as if the contents were water, which of course met with the crowd's approval.

Y/N took the bottle from his hands, fearing not the amount Lando drank, but the relatively short time it took him to do so. However, not wanting to seem boring, she tilted the bottle herself, letting the liquid burn her throat. Delighted, Lando clapped his hands and hugged his friend, causing some of the alcohol to flow down her chin. She smiled, wrapping her arms around his waist as well, and raised her hand in a toast, which was joined by everyone who had something to drink.

Max also raised his beer bottle a bit. However, somewhere in the background of his mind there was an image of Lando and what he would look like in the near future. However, the Brit himself did not care at all about this. As long as he was in the company of his friends, his plastic cup was full and he could jump to the music and sing along, he was happy. Even the fact that his face was in the wrong place at the wrong time, when someone, completely by accident, punched him in the face, didn't disturb it.

Y/N, who also decided to pick up the pace after drinking her cider, immediately sobered up when she saw blood on her friend's face. She quickly pressed a tissue to his nose, but he tried to assure her that he was fine. His brain didn't encode the impact or the pain, didn't acknowledge that he was bleeding, even when he ran his tongue over his lips and tasted blood on them. People in the crowd started calling out to each other to see if anyone had a first aid kit. Suddenly, out of nowhere, a bandage appeared, and just as Y/N, being drunk, thought it would be a great idea to wrap Lando's face in a bandage, Max started asking people if they somehow had band aids. He couldn't let that dumbass parade around like that for the rest of the evening.

“I've sobered up a bit, I can keep drinking,” he said as Y/N finished clumsily bandaging his face, “I probably look worse that i did when i crashed in Vegas.”

Her friend tried to be serious, but it was impossible to stay serious around Lando. "You have to be careful, Lan," she said, trying to retain some sanity and touching his cheek, looking into his eyes, "I hope it's not broken."

"Bwoken," he repeated in silly voice, giggling "Oh no, it couldn't be bwoken"

"Honestly, i also hope it is not," Max interjected when he managed to rejoin his friends after some time, "Getting to the hospital now would be a near miracle."

"Hey, I'm fine," he said as Max waved the Band-Aids in his face and began to remove the clumsy bandage into which their friend had probably poured her whole heart and a few drinks that she drank earlier.

"I'm glad you don't feel anything, but that doesn't change the fact that I won't look at it," he replied, lifting his chin and examining his nose from every angle. Luckily this one seemed fine.

Once Max had placed two tiny patches on him, Y/N handed him his mug with a fresh drink again. "Brave patient," she smiled at him.

"In a state like this, I'd be surprised if he felt something," Max admitted, taking a bottle of vodka standing nearby. He decided that since Lando had had an accident, nothing worse awaited them and he could allow himself to loosen a bit more. He took a few sips and handed the bottle to the younger one, who smiled, tightening his hand around it. He looked at his friends standing in front of him, slightly drunk but still fully focused on him. He knew he was important to them and that he is not alone in all this madness.

"I love you guys," he said, with a bottle in his hand, pushing himself off the railing and hugging them, "You are the best in the world, simply the best."

The rest of the day and later in the evening took place in a great atmosphere and the party lasted until 3. in the morning. For the rest of Amsterdam it probably lasted longer, but for Lando it began to end after two o'clock, when he was barely able to stand. Partly from being drunk, partly from being tired. He didn't stand still during a single song, so the next day, apart from his face, his legs will certainly be visible. Taking a break for something warm to eat, Max, Y/N, and Lando sat down at one of the wooden tables. While waiting for their orders, Lando rested his head on Y/N's shoulder and closed his eyes. It was obvious that he just needed something to lean on to fall asleep.

"I think it's time for us to go," the girl announced, directing her words to Max. "The baby is only fit for bed now."

"He's been in great shape for a long time anyway, judging by how much he was on his feet today," Max concluded, glancing first at him and then at the girl, "But you're holding up pretty well, aren't you?"

"Yes, I do," she nodded and hugged Lando, who began to slide off her shoulder, "But I'm also getting sleepy."

"Me too," Max rubbed his face with his hands, "At least we can be sure that no one will wake us up first thing in the morning to explore the city."

He said, glancing at Lando, who was dozing with his mouth open on his friend's shoulder. After eating casseroles and fries, which were for Lando and which he was unable to eat, the three of them went to the girl's apartment. Of course, only she and Max were walking on their own, Lando was between them, leaning on their arms. He was muttering something incomprehensible under his breath, so it was obvious that he was alive and everything was fine, besides the fact that he was completely drunk.

When they arrived at the address and crossed the threshold of the apartment, they immediately went to put him in the bedroom, not wasting time in unfolding the couch for him. Max was in the process of stripping him of his shoes, pants, bloody sweatshirt, and all the necklaces and ribbons he had collected the previous day, while Y/N placed a large bottle of water, painkillers, and a bucket by his bed, as if the contents of his stomach had suddenly decided that they wants to get outside. However, there was no indication that Lando was going to have a restless night, because he started snoring softly as soon as his cheek touched the pillow. Max covered him with the blanket and took a few steps away from the bed, standing next to his friend who was looking at the sleeping boy.

"Can you hear that?" Max whispered, glancing at her, and she frowned questioningly, "It's silence, listen to it, because when he gets up, the only thing you can hear will be his lamentations about how hungover he is."

The girl snorted quietly and shook her head, taking Lando's clothes to the laundry.

"The most important thing is that he had a good time. And a little hangover never killed nobody."

The next day, however, did not bring anything unexpected. When Lando woke up, the first thing that hit him was a terrible headache that got worse when he sat down and tried to get out of bed. When he stood in the doorway of the bedroom, Y/N and Max's eyes immediately went towards him and Lando could swear that they looked like they spent the entire last evening on the couch.

"Hi honey, did you sleep well?" Max asked playfully, in the perfect mood for jokes since he himself was fine after last night.

Lando just blinked several times and wanted to wipe his face with his hands and collect some words to answer, but when he touched his cut nose, he cursed loudly.

"What the fuck?"

"A souvenir from yesterday," the girl answered him, getting up from the couch and taking out a frozen package from the fridge, which she handed to him, "I recommend a shower and I'll make you some coffee."

He closed his eyes and put the package to his nose, sighing and grabbing the bathroom door handle. Before he disappeared, Max just shouted after him.

"And don't puke in the shower!"

[naturesapphic]

What abt a fic related to Tara yummy saying that billie is her crush then invited her to a party with queen and yn getting mad/jealous

Party Crush

Billie eilish x fem!reader

Warnings: jealousy, hurt/cofmort, billie being a sweetheart to you

Word count: 1,333 :)

A/n: thank you to my sweet baby @xoluvx for the pictures I adore her sm <3

You were in the bed scrolling through tik tok when you came across a video with quen and Tara yummy. They were in a car talking about their crushes when you heard your girlfriend’s name come up. “Celebrity crushes. Billie eilish. Duh.” Quen said and Tara looked over at her with a smile. “One time actually five years ago I did like a YouTube video with my friend Kevin and he asked me if he could change places with one person for a day who would it be and I said Billie eilish.” Tara said while looking in the camera. “Well duh.” Quen commented back.

“But that was five years ago.” She said and quen looked over at her. “Would it still be true?” She smiled and Tara smiled back. “Yeah. Like I would do anything to wear her as a suit.” She said seriously and quen agreed. “She’s definitely one of my celebrity crushes.” Tara confess and quen nodded then the video went off. You grumbled In annoyance but it got worse when Billie came through the bedroom door with a big smile on her face. “Tara yummy has invited me over to her party tonight and she said I can bring you.” She said with a big grin on her face.

You saw how genuinely happy and excited she looked so you didn’t wanna mess it up so you agreed. “Great! I’ll let her know we said yes and we can go ahead and get ready.” She said as she pulled out her phone. You put yours away and got up from the bed to go to y’all’s closet. A few minutes later you came out with a skirt and a crop top on. Billies eyes widen at you and she whistled loudly. “Damnnnnn mama you looking fine as fuck!” She exclaimed loudly as she went over to you and turned you around slowly making you blush like crazy. “I’m gonna go ahead and get dressed now babe.” She said as she leaned down to give your forehead a soft kiss making you smile. “Alright. I’m going to the bathroom to put on some makeup.” You said and she nodded, disappearing to the closet.

You went into the bathroom and started your makeup and a few minutes later bilkie came out with a baggy button up shirt, her glasses, some baggy jeans, some bulky shoes, her hit me hard and soft belt, and her bandana. Your eyes widen at her appearance and you felt yourself drooling at her making billie smirk. “You good babygirl?” She chuckled as she came in the bathroom with you, standing beside you in the mirror as she started to put on mascara and eyeliner. You didn’t say anything but nod your head fast making her giggle. “Cat got your tongue?” She teased and you rolled your eyes playfully. “More like you got my tongue.” You said with a smile and Billie laughed. The two of you finished getting ready and headed out the front door outside to dragon.

Billie drove y’all to the party and parked near the house where there could have been at least over two hundred cars outside. Billie stepped out of the car and went to your side to help you out, making you smile. “Why thank you, you’re such a gentle lady.” You say playfully and Billie playfully smirked as she bent forward in a polite teasing way. “Of course m’lady. Right this way.” She said in a British accent, making you giggle. The two of you went up to the house and knocked on the door. Tara opened it and let out a gasp and immediately pulled Billie into a hug which made your insides feel weird. “Oh my gosh y’all made it! Come in come in!” Tara said excitedly as she pulled Billie in and you hurried up behind them.

Once inside, Billie was pulled through by Tara while you were behind them trying to catch up. Tara took her to the group of people that included Gracie abrams, Zoey, Nick, Alex, quen, etc. you were relieved that you recognized some people and you immediately went up to Zoey as Billie and Tara was talking to the others. “Is it bad that I’m jealous?” You said to Zoey shyly and she gave you reassuring smile. “I would be a little jealous too especially after the video she posted with quen and how she’s clinging onto Billie but I wouldn’t worry about it. Billie is literally head over heels obsessed over you. If you aren’t with her she talks about you all the time. She completely adores you y/n.” Zoey says and you look over at her, giving her a hug. “Thanks z…” you said and she hugs you back tight, rubbing your back in a comforting way.

“Don’t mention it. I promise there’s nothing for you to worry about.” She said and you nodded and decided to stick with Zoey for the rest of the party. An hour later you were dancing with Zoey on the dance floor trying to get your mind off of Billie when you saw Tara and her dancing. Tara had her hands on her and that’s when you snapped. You couldn’t stand to look at them anymore so you excused yourself from Zoey and went to the bathroom. You went in a stall and had your face in your hands trying not to cry . A few seconds later you heard the door open and a familiar voice. “Babygirl? Are you in here? I saw you come in here.” Billie said and you slowly opened up the stall door to see your girlfriend staring at you with a worried expression.

You closed the stall behind you and stood in front of her as she looks down at you. “Is everything okay?” She asked quietly as she could tell how upset you are right now. You didn’t say anything and just stared at the bathroom floor, playing with your fingers nervously. Billie took her fingers and gently lifted your chin up to look in her blue eyes. “You know you can tell me anything darling.” She said softly as she rubs your cheek softly. “Tara has a crush on you.” You spat out and Billie gave you a shocked expression. “She said it in a video with quen…they both like you…” you said quietly and Billie still had the same expression plastered on her face which made you nervous then she let out a loud cackle.

“Babygirl I don’t give a rats ass if they like me. They aren’t my sweet girl are they?” She said gripping your chin again making you look straight into her blue eyes making you feel weak in the knees. “You’re my girl and you always will be. No one will change that. Ever and you know you can always come to me if you are having those thoughts okay?” She said, leaning down to press a gently kiss to your forehead making you blush like crazy. “T-thank you bils…I’m sorry…” you apologized and Billie shook her head, smiling down at you. “No need for that babygirl. Why don’t we head home and we can cuddle while we watch the office yeah?” Billie asked and you beamed up at her, nodding your head fast. She giggled and led you out of the bathroom with your hands in hers as she tells everyone she’s leaving. She doesn’t even give Tara a hug bye which makes you smirk to yourself. You knew that being jealous was stupid and even when you feel it again, you know you can count on Billie to make those thoughts go away, becuase to her, you are her sweet girl always.

A/n: thank you anon for this request. I hope you and everyone else enjoyed it! Remember to stay hydrated and to rest! I love y’all :)

[narcjsistx]

Hi, I hope you're doing well.🤗 I absolutely love your relationships HC.🤩 I don't want to be rude, but could I request from Toma!Chifuyu and Tenjiku!Kakucho (my favorite boys)? Thank you very much.❤️

HI! thanks for the request, hope you have a good day 💜 you didn't specify the theme of the hcs, so I'll use the basic one as it would be in a relationship (if I made a mistake, tell me immediately, I'll correct it and do the theme you like most!) Furthermore, I'm still not used to making two characters in one post, so as soon as I have 2 free minutes I will post the part dedicated to kakucho :)

𝐌𝐘 𝐌𝐀𝐒𝐓𝐄𝐑𝐋𝐈𝐒𝐓 ; 𝐎𝐏𝐄𝐍 𝐑𝐄𝐐𝐔𝐄𝐒𝐓𝐒!!

— Matsuno Chifuyu in a relationship HCS ᡣ𐭩

He's clearly the kind of guy who learned everything slightly romantic he does from a romantic manga he read. He's canonically a fan of Ai Yazawa, the creator of Nana, so who knows, maybe sooner or later he'll give you some glasses with strawberries

It seems impossible but he asks Takemichi for advice on how to deal with you. We all know that Takemichi isn't exactly the person with the most self-esteem in a relationship, however he has always helped Chifuyu, despite sometimes getting into trouble for stupid mistakes. Hanagaki had advised him to get you some flowers to give you after school, but he got the ones you're allergic to. He panicked when he saw you sneeze so many times in a row while you told him to move the flowers away from you

He's slightly unsure of himself, but he doesn't show it. As a result, he feels slight jealousy which he hides quite well, he knows that you would never cheat on him and therefore he represses this side of him because he knows that it is useless. Maybe when he doesn't succeed he'll show off a little more, perhaps resting his head on yours or giving you a few pinches on the side

A typical date might be at a comic book store. He would like to spend time with you at his side while you talk about the comics you are reading or would like to read, and I don't know why but I can see him showing you the cover of a romantic manga where the two protagonists are while he says "this could be us"

Your first kiss wasn't actually planned, or at least not for him. It was Baji who insisted that he had to kiss you, he didn't agree because he wanted you to take the first step and he didn't want to force you anyway, Baji ignored it and pushed him against you. As luck would have it, the impact made you kiss

More than a few times he faked his condition after a fight. You have an unwritten rule that says that after every fight he has to call you, because you want to know if he's okay or not. He often says he feels fine even when he has a few broken bones. He hates seeing you worry about him, so he tries to lie as best he can

You automatically entered the group formed by him and Baji. You're both his two favorite people, so why not all of you hang out together? You often go on long motorbike rides, you and Chifuyu on his motorbike and Baji on his, or you simply like to while away the hours at the arcade in Shibuya

The first time you went to his house, the first person, or rather animal, that welcomed you was Peke J: he immediately approached and started meowing. You spent a few hours with the cat on your lap while petting it, while Chifuyu whispered that you were giving more attention to the cat than to your boyfriend

He's the type to celebrate every date, even a stupid one. For example, it was precisely midnight and you were sleeping when you received a phone call from him. You asked him why he called you so late, which was unusual because if he called you it was before you went to bed. He, extremely happy, said he had called you because it was the date when for the first time, two years earlier, you had sat together in class, but at the time you weren't even friends, therefore not even engaged. You wanted to insult him, but you admit it was nice

I don't know why but I see him as someone who LOVES matching clothes. Like, if you casually told him that you're going to show up on a date in a beige dress, he'll do anything to find something beige in his closet. He finds it a nice thing to do as a couple

[katyswrites]

don't call me 'baby'

PART 8 | SERIES

Pairing: Steve Harrington/fem!reader

Warnings: Sugardaddy!Steve, SMUT (18+), angst, unprotected p in v, daddy kink, oral sex (f & m receiving), cum play, ddlg dynamics, dom/sub dynamics, swearing, alcohol use, smoking, age gap, no use of y/n

Wordcount: 10.2k

A sugar daddy modern AU, a whirlwind summer romance in Italy, and two people from completely different walks of life, somehow finding each other in one of the most beautiful cities in the world. But, what will happen when summer ends?

Notes: I know, the Italian/descriptions of this area of Italy are not 100% accurate. Sue me! But seriously, I wasn't too focused on accuracy, so just take it as it is!

PART 8 | drinkin' on the beach (with you all over me)

“So, will you tell me where we’re going yet?” you asked slyly.

“You’ll see when we get there,” he replied, fighting a smile. He extended the hand not carrying your suitcase, which you took as you descended the rest of the steps.

“I just don’t get why you’re not -”

You stopped mid-sentence, realizing what Steve was leading you towards.

“Is that -?”

Your question was answered as he popped the trunk of the red Ferrari, placing your suitcase inside.

“It’s mine. Well, ours, I guess. For the week.”

“You’re - you can’t just rent a car like this -”

“I can,” Steve said, slamming the trunk close. He smiled smugly, then shrugged. “I know a guy.”

You managed to pick your jaw up from where it was hanging and rolled your eyes.

“Of course you do,” you said, making your way to the passenger side. “So -”

“Hop in,” he said, opening the door for you. “You’ll love it, I promise.”

You took his hand and let him help you in, Steve closing the door behind you and coming around until he was in the driver’s seat, right next to you.

“Wow,” you said under your breath.

“What is it?”

“I just - I realized I’ve never actually seen you drive before. Or, been in the front of a car with you, really.”

He chuckled, sitting back in his seat.

“Well, there’s a first time for everything. Ready?”

You nodded, clicking on your seatbelt as he pulled away from the curb.

“So - what did you say to Robin to get her to agree to taking me away all week? She usually loves to go all-out for my birthday, as much as I tell her she doesn’t have to.”

He shrugged. “I’m pretty good at sweet talking.”

You thought about your roommate for a moment, and the idea of her being sweet-talked into anything, and snorted. “Cute, what did you actually do?”

A pause. Then, “I promised I’d pay for your belated birthday party. Whatever she has planned, I said I’d help make it happen.”

“Oh my God.”

“What?”

“You don’t understand! Robin loves birthdays! And like, I don’t hate them, but I’ve just never been much of a big celebrator or anything, and she always goes nuts. And now you’re giving her a budget? You’ve created a monster, Harrington.”

He laughed, reaching down to take your hand. He gave it a tight squeeze.

“Well, I’m sorry. But, I’ll do my best to rein her in, yeah?”

“Yeah, sure, good luck with that.”

It’s only several minutes later, after you’ve both laughed it off, that you realized he was still holding your hand as he drove. Had he ever done something like that before? Before you could dwell on it, you pulled your hand away, hoping that reaching for the water bottle in the cupholder made it seem nonchalant.

You cleared your throat. 

“So - can I know where we’re going yet?”

“You certainly can guess, if you want.”

You sighed, throwing your head back against the headrest.

“Okay - well, you said I didn’t need a passport, so we’re not flying anywhere. And, you said to pack bathing suits, so I’m guessing the beach, or pool, maybe. So, staycation? In Italy, somewhere?”

His face remained neutral. “Maybe.”

“You’re impossible.”

He chuckled, taking a moment to glance over at you.

“Just, trust me, yeah?”

After a moment, you sighed, giving up. 

“Yeah, okay.”

As you drove out of the city, you turned the conversation towards his business trip. You asked him about work, how it went, and leaned back and listened. He mostly vented about it, but you paid it no mind - in reality, it was just nice to be with him again. You tried not to think about that part of it too much, though.

The highrises and busy city streets began quieting, giving way to residential townhouses and open roads. The traffic had lessened, the scenery becoming greener, the road narrower.

“So, how long until we get there?” you asked.

“About 4 hours, give or take,” he said. “It’ll be worth the road trip, I promise.”

“I don’t mind a road trip.”

Not with him, you didn’t.

You found yourself glancing over at Steve every now and then - he had only been gone a week, and you had forgotten just how unabashedly handsome he was in-person. As he stared straight ahead at the road, you took in his side profile, and the way his hazel eyes shone in the sunlight, his hands gripped firmly on the wheel. 

Feeling your eyes on him, he spared a glance in your direction. Instead of looking away, you just felt yourself smiling, keeping eye contact.

“What is it?” he asked.

“Nothing - it’s just… you really didn’t have to do… whatever this is. You spoil me, you know.”

His hand found itself on your thigh, giving it a squeeze. 

“It’s my favorite thing to do, baby.”

Baby. He had started calling you that more often now outside of the bedroom. You didn’t protest when he kept that hand there, for most of the drive.

Eventually, you found yourself dozing off, the steady motion of the car and low hum of the radio lulling you to sleep. You only found yourself waking when the car came to a halt, blinking groggily.

In front of you was a pier, boats bobbing in the water as cars lined up. The sea stretched out before you, bright blue in the late morning light.

“What are we -”

“We’re catching a ferry,” Steve said. 

“So, an island vacation?”

He just shrugged, pulling the car up to the dock to load on. You sighed.

“You know, I barely had any idea what to pack. I just threw stuff into a bag.”

“Don’t worry about that - I brought another suitcase for you, bought you some stuff.”

“Of course you did.”

You still had the inner instinct to lecture him, to berate him for spending so much money on you. But, you couldn’t ignore the way he grinned, proud of being able to spoil you. If you asked him to bring you the stars, he’d probably find a way.

The ferry trip was about an hour long, Steve following you to the upper deck to stretch your legs. You leaned on the edge, looking down at the water below you, the wake of the boat making the bright blue water churn into white seafoam. The salt air blew through your hair, Steve’s arm finding its way around your waist. 

Before too long, you found yourselves back in the car and driving off the ferry. You took a moment to assess your surroundings, blinking in the afternoon sun. The port was busy, green hills and rocky mountains stretching out before you in the distance, dotted with colorful buildings. The sea was sparkling, clear as day with an aquamarine hue. The harbor was bustling, boats of all sized docking at the port. People rode their bikes along the pier, the sounds of the water breaking along the coast a consistent din in the background.

“Okay, now can you tell me where we are?”

Steve laughed. 

“Yes - It’s called Ischia Island. It’s kind of become a tourist trap recently, but don’t worry, we’re going to the other side of the island - it’s much quieter.”

“I don’t care about that -”

“I know, but - I guess it’d be nice to have some privacy, you know?”

So you let Steve continue to drive, bypassing the main port and heading up the small dirt road, slowly climbing the mountains. It was beautiful - from up here, the views of the coast were breathtaking. For the first time, you truly realized how much Steve wanted to make this special, pulling out all of the stops for you. In all of your time in Italy, you had never had the time or money to do anything touristy, let alone take an actual vacation. Suddenly, it was nearly overwhelming. You glanced over with Steve, taking him in for a moment. Then, the idea hit you.

“How far are we?”

“Close - probably like 15 minutes. I think you’re going to like where we’re staying.”

“Is this road busy?” you asked quietly.

“Here? No, not really. It’s pretty quiet, I kind of wanted it to be -”

“Okay, good,” you said, cutting him off. “Because you’re going to find a place to pull over.”

He glanced over at you, perplexed.

“Why? Are you feeling alright?”

You nodded, leaning across the console to press your lips to his ear.

“I want to thank you, Harrington. Preferably by sucking your cock.”

You were surprised he didn’t drive the car over the edge of the road and into the ocean.

*******

You and Steve didn’t reach your destination until about 45 minutes later, after you had your way with him. In the end, he was a mess, begging you to put him out of his misery after prolonged teasing from the passenger seat. Afterwards, you were shocked he was even capable of driving again.

Finally, though, you saw it - the place you were presumably staying. Steve pulled the car up a small dirt driveway, to where a beautiful villa was tucked at the top of a hill. Its white stucco exterior was striking against the rolling green mountains, stone steps leading up to it. Steve helped you out of the car, gesturing to the house behind him.

“Is this -”

“It’s all ours, baby,” he said, beaming.

“I - I just assumed we were staying at a hotel or something -”

He nearly scoffed. “A hotel? No way, not for this. It’s just us here, the whole place to ourselves.”

He popped the trunk, pulling out the bags, insisting to take yours, too.

You practically bounded up the steps, not even containing your excitement as Steve unlocked the door and waved you in. 

Inside, it was bright and airy, the white walls stretching up to high, arched ceilings. There was an open kitchen and eating area, the floor a beautiful blue and white mosaic pattern. With the windows open and curtains pulled aside, the villa was bathed in sunlight. You found yourself going towards the back of the house, gasping at what you saw. Before you was a balcony, with a breakfast nook and, most notably, a pool. But, the most stunning part was the view.  The Tyrrhenian Sea stretched before you, sparkling and bluer than the sky, the city barely visible behind the trees. It smelled like salt and citrus, presumably from the trees abundant with fresh fruit. For the first time, you understood what people meant when they said paradise.

You felt Steve coming up behind you, his presence strong and warm. 

“Well - what do you think?”

You paused for a moment, turning around slowly to face him. He looked down at you expectantly, and you reckoned he’d probably be crossing his fingers right now if you couldn’t see them. For some reason, he still thought you were hard to impress.

“You did all this… just for me?”

He nodded.

Before he could even say anything else, you had his face in your hands, kissing him so fiercely that you could barely breathe. He pulled you closer, fingers digging into the small of your back. It was only when you pulled away to catch your breath that you spoke again.

“Where’s the bedroom?”

******

You hadn’t even taken time to explore the rest of the house, tumbling into bed with Steve without a moment’s hesitation. Neither of you took your time, too hasty to touch one another after being separated all week. Steve made quick work of your clothes, pulling you into his lap before sliding into you. You nearly cried at the feeling of him inside you again. Sex with Steve was like a drug, and you were finally able to admit to yourself that you were addicted. It wasn’t long before you were both messes, coming undone in a matter of minutes.

“Fuck,” he whispered, lips pressed to your neck. “So fuckin’ perfect, baby - just like that, oh fuck -”

He was thrusting faster now, practically pounding up into you. You dug your nails into his back, dragging them down as you writhed in his arms, hips meeting his thrusts. Your finger picked up the pace on your clit, and you felt yourself losing control. You bounced in his lap, legs caging him as he pulled you closer. 

“Oh, I - ah! Steve - oh, shit, just like that - you feel so good -”

“Yeah? You like when daddy stuffs you with his cock?” he grunted.

“Mm, yeah - I’m so full, I feel you everywhere -”

“Keep squeezin’ me, baby - shit, you’re really going for it, so wet - are you close?”

You bit your lip and nodded,  moaning as you felt the tension building in your core.

“Yeah, so close - I’m gonna cum -”

“Damn right you are - such a good girl, always cumming on daddy’s cock.”

“Only for you,” you whispered in his ear, pulling him closer, arms wrapping around the nape of his neck. That was the final straw for Steve - he cried out your name, hips stilling as he painted your walls with his cum. You felt the warmth of him fill you, and you sighed. He stayed there, heavily for a moment. 

“Fuck,” he said after a moment. He pressed a kiss to your shoulder, and you ran your fingers along his scalp soothingly.

“Wait,” he said, pulling back to look at you. “Did you finish?”

You considered lying - it was nearly instinctual, having done it with other partners in the past. But, there was something about Steve that made it impossible to lie to him.

“No,” you admitted. “But, I came close, really close - you always make me cum, it still was good -”

“Nope, not happening,” he said, brow setting with determination. 

“What are you -”

But he was reaching down, thumb finding your clit where your bodies met, his softening cock still inside you.

“Steve, what are you - oh! Shit, I -”

You threw your head back, feeling yourself re-approaching your peak as he rubbed deep circles around the bundle of nerves, slowly picking up the pace.

“Steve - you’re still inside -”

“I know,” he whispered. “I want you to cum around me, can you do that, baby?”

“Yes,” you breathed, gasping as his free hand found your breast. “I’m going to cum on your cock, because I’m your good girl -”

“And tomorrow,” he said, coating his fingers in the slick mix of both of you to stimulate your clit, “you’re going to cum over and over, until you can’t walk. I need to make up for it, gonna make you forget your own name, baby.”

“Fuck,” you groaned, feeling yourself squeezing around him. “I’m gonna -”

“Let go,” he encouraged. “Do it, for me, baby.”

And you did. You screamed his name, pulsing and convulsing around his cock as he continued to work you through it. He was still working on your clit, gradually slowing down as you let the wave of pleasure wash through you.

After, you both just stayed there, tangled in each other as you struggled to regain your breath. You felt his heart thudding against yours, bathing in the afterglow as he rubbed soothing circles on your back.

“I missed you,” you finally admitted. “I missed this.”

His hand stilled. For a moment, you wondered if you had said the wrong thing, if you had crossed a line. But, then:

“I missed you too,” he whispered, pressing a kiss into your skin.

You felt your face heat, and just pulled him closer to you, deciding not to say anything else, at risk of doing something you couldn’t come back from.

After a while, you found yourselves laying in bed in a comfortable silence. You could hear the crashing waves and cries of seagulls in the distance. You propped yourself up on your elbow, properly looking at the man beside you.

“So - now that we’re here - what’s the plan? For today?”

Steve stared up at the ceiling, thinking.

“Well, we really only have the afternoon now, so - I’ve got stuff for us to do over the next few days, so it’s really up to you. We can go into town, or hit the beach. Or, just hang out here - what do you think, birthday girl?”

You rolled your eyes. 

“It’s not my birthday yet -”

“As far as I’m concerned, this entire week is your birthday, baby.”

You felt your heart flutter, and bit your lip.

“Well, if I get to decide - beach?”

He grinned, reaching across to brush some hair out of your face.

“Sounds perfect, baby.”

******

Steve had presented you with a new bathing suit and beach cover-up, practically demanding to see you in it immediately. And, you rarely found it in yourself to say no to him. When he first saw you wearing it, you were genuinely concerned he was going to immediately ruin it by tearing it off of your body. But, he managed to control himself enough to make it out the door, his hand snaking around your waist as you headed down to the beach.

The closest beach to you, as it turned out, was only a short walk down the road. And, it was a pretty quiet one. Steve explained on the way how it was a lesser-known alcove, only really used by locals and not well-known amongst the tourists. Sure enough, the white sandy beach was relatively sheltered on all sides by the rocky cliffs, making you feel both so in-the-open and hidden.

You sighed as you settled onto the beach towel, soaking in the sun as Steve set up an umbrella, eventually finding his place beside you. The afternoon was relaxed and quiet, Steve allowing you space to read your book and sunbathe. You tried to think about the last time you let yourself relax like this - it was possible that you never had. 

Eventually, the water just looked too inviting, the sun becoming just a bit too oppressively hot, and you found yourself wandering down to the shoreline. You let the water lap over your feet, the waves warmer than you expected. It was only after you had waded out up to your waist that you heard the water breaking behind you, a telltale sign that Steve was joining. Before you could turn to him, his arms were wrapped around your waist, making you jump and squeal.

“Steve!”

He spun you around in the water, making a big splash in your wake.

“Hey, beautiful,” he whispered. It was almost too affectionate, the way he said it, but you decided not to question it.

You just smiled, leaning in until his nose was brushing yours.

“Thank you, for this,” you murmured. “I know I’ve been saying it, but - I don’t think I’ve ever taken time to do anything like this, well… ever.”

His face softened a bit, and he brought his hand up to cup the side of your face.

“You’re welcome. Also, I’m sorry.”

“For what?”

A devilish grin, then, “For this.”

Then, he was pulling you into his arms and under the water with him, causing you to yelp with surprise as you became submerged. When you broke the surface, he was laughing like a little kid, earning a playful smack in the arm from you, followed by an indignant splash. And, for even just a few moments, it was easy to forget about everything, other than how much fun you were having.

Yes - this trip was exactly what you needed.

********

The next morning, you woke up slowly, blinking in the bright sunlight filtering into the bedroom. It took you a moment to remember where you were - then, the sandy-colored walls, the soft linen, and the lingering smell of salt water and sunscreen reminded you.

You rolled over in bed, reaching across to find it disappointingly empty. You groaned, sitting up and rubbing the bleariness from your eyes. After scrounging around under the sheets, you eventually unearthed a t-shirt, the one you had pulled off of Steve last night. Shrugging it on, you padded through the house towards the back balcony, where the sounds of the outdoors filtered through the open door. Surely enough, there he was, his back to you as he set plates on the table. You wish you had a camera to capture it - the vision of Steve, shirtless with his disheveled morning hair, the sea sparkling behind him in the early sunlight. But, before you could appreciate it anymore, he seemingly sensed your presence and turned.

“Look who's finally risen!” he declared. “I was worried I’d have to wake you up before the food got cold!”

You raised an eyebrow.

“Got cold?”

“Yeah - I made a veggie frittata, I hope that’s alright. I got some pastries too, and fruit. The coffee’s almost done.”

“I - you cook?”

He stopped, crossing his arms. 

“What, did you think I couldn’t?”

You shrugged, throwing up your hands in defense.

“No! I just - I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen you cook before.”

You walked towards the table, accepting the chair he pulled out for you as you sank down and settled.

“When did you get all this stuff?” you asked, taking in the spread before you somewhat in awe.

“Oh, um, this morning - I went for a run, and stopped at the market on my way back. Town’s not far.”

You couldn’t even fight how impressed you were, shaking your head in disbelief.

“How long have you been up?”

“A few hours,” he said, shrugging. He cut into the frittata and started loading it onto one of the porcelain plates, passing it to you before sitting down. “I’m usually up pretty early, you know that. I wanted you to sleep in though, glad to know I didn’t wake you.”

“Right. Well, thanks.”

It almost felt like too much, him going to all these lengths for you. Yes, buying you a meal was one thing - he did it all the time. But cooking for you, and with such care… it felt like a different thing entirely. But, you accepted it gratefully, not even realizing just how hungry you were until you started digging in.

You could get used to mornings like this - breakfast on the beach view balcony, fresh coffee and breakfast, Steve’s knee brushing yours under the table. After a while, Steve leaned back and smiled, taking a sip out of his cup of coffee.

“So - are you feeling up for an adventure?” he asked, sounding slightly mischievous.

You raised an eyebrow, taking a bite out of a strawberry.

“What kind of adventure?”

“The kind you need a bathing suit for,” he said. “Preferably a bikini, but that’s really just for my benefit.”

You laughed. “Is that so?”

That was how you found yourself pulling on a bathing suit, pulled out of your bag along with a cover up and sun hat. Steve was already waiting for you when you emerged, a cooler bag slung over his shoulder, holding your beach bag out to you. You were finally starting to learn to relax, not even asking what he was planning - if it kept going the way this trip already had been, you knew he had a good surprise in store.

He took your arm in his, leading you out of the villa and to the car, tearing down the small dirt road until it became a larger, cobblestone one, descending down the hills into the main little town. The day was warm and bright, prompting Steve to lower the roof of the convertible. You let your eyes close, leaning back against the seat to feel the sun and breeze. You barely even noticed when Steve’s hand came to rest on your thigh.

You didn’t really open your eyes until the car slowed to a stop, realizing where you were. It was the pier, with boats of all different sizes and grandeur bobbing in the water. There was a bit of a hustle and bustle, with people loading and unloading, motors starting, dockhands untying boats and sending people off. You looked over at Steve quizzically, only to be met with a smile.

“You ready?”

“Are we -”

“Taking a boat out? Yes, yes we are,” he said, killing the ignition and hopping out of the car. He came around the other side to open the door and let you out before you had a chance to do it yourself. You had to fight the urge to roll your eyes as he took your hand, deciding to indulge him.

He led you to the dock, and you couldn’t help but start eyeing the prospective boats waiting for you. Eventually, you stopped at a small motorboat, docked and ready to go.

“We - you’re driving?”

Steve nodded, throwing the bags onto the boat and hopping on.

“Yes - I’ve got a boating license.”

“Since when?”

“Since my dad made me get one when I was 16.”

Somehow, Steve Harrington remained an enigma - what else didn’t you know about him?

He turned, offering his hand up to you to help you on board.

“Do you trust me?”

You nodded, not even hesitating.

“Yes.”

“Good - then come on, I promise it’ll be fun.”

It was so easy to believe Steve, to trust him - when did that happen?

After passing some cash to the dockhand, the boat was untied and sent out, Steve manning the wheel as he headed out into the harbor. You leaned back in the leather seat behind him, holding onto your hat as the boat picked up speed. The waters gradually became less busy, the expanse of blue before you growing greater as you headed out to the sea.

“Where are we going?” you finally asked, practically yelling over the sound of the engine.

“A surprise,” he said.

“Of course.”

This earned a chuckle from him, followed by a gesture towards the cooler pack.

“By the way - I packed some drinks, if you want them. And food, too, but that’s for later.”

You grinned, unzipping it and pulling out a bottle of rose, still cold and wet with condensation. You poured it into a plastic cup that you found in the bag, smiling endearingly at the thought of Steve doing all of this - shopping, planning, packing, doing everything with you in mind. You sighed, sipping your wine as the boat cut through the waves, the breeze blowing through your hair. Finally, you reached what you presumed was your destination: a smaller island came into view, surrounded by big rocky outcroppings sticking out of the water. You couldn’t even see any other boats docked around it.

“Where are we?” you asked, standing as the boat slowed to a stop. Steve threw the anchor down, with more ease than you expected.

“It’s called Sand City,” he said, propping a leg up on the boat’s edge as he tied the knot. “Well, that’s what locals call it - I’m not sure what it’s actually called. But, barely anyone knows about it - if I had to guess, we’re probably the only ones here.”

You glanced over at the rocky beach - from what you could see, there wasn’t another soul.

“Knowing you, you probably rented out the place,” you joked.

Steve chuckled. “I mean, if I could, I definitely would’ve.”

You laughed, but when he didn’t, you stopped.

“Wait, you’re serious?”

“Completely.”

You came up next to him, glancing over the side of the boat - the water was crystal clear, the current gentle and calm.

“So, how do we get out there?” you asked.

Steve grinned, pulling his shirt up over his head in one movement.

“We swim.”

You couldn’t help but smile as you dove in after him, the water a relaxing relief from the sun. The pair of you made your way to the shore rather quickly, pulling yourselves out of the water and onto the beach. Here, there wasn;t much of the soft white sand that you had seen on the main island. Instead, the coast was rocky, Steve taking your hand as he helped you weave through to spare your bare feet from the brunt of it.

“You know, for a place called ‘Sand City’ - there’s not a lot of sand,” you observed, following Steve up the beach.

“There’s a reason for that,” Steve said, leading you further up the beach. “See, like a hundred years ago, this place was used for sand mining - and it was a major port. But, they drained the resources, and couldn’t develop anything. See?”

He gestured further down the shoreline. Sure enough, in the distance there were larger wooden posts sticking out of the water, worn and dull with time.

“Those used to be the dock, before it collapsed. But, since there’s a steep dropoff after the sandbar, people like to dock their boats and make day trips out here. Like us, for example,” Steve explained.

“How do you know all this?” you asked, tone laced with surprise.

“I did some research,” he said, shrugging. 

“Why?”

“Honestly? I wanted to impress you,” he admitted somewhat sheepishly.

You laughed, louder than you meant to.

“What?” he asked indignantly, stopping in his tracks.

“Nothing! It’s just kind of cute that you’re trying to impress me, I guess.”

“Shut up,” he muttered.

You stayed a few steps behind him, smiling to yourself. This was maybe the most relaxed you had ever seen Steve - he seemed younger, almost boyish. You wondered if this is what he was like, years before you met him. When he was your age, was he less hardened? Did he have less walls around him? You had to assume he did.

At one point, he leaned down to pick up a pebble, skipping it across the water.

“Nice, that skipped like, five times,” you remarked.

“You try,” he said, extending a flat pebble to you.

“I’m not any good at this,” you confessed.

“I’ll help you, here -”

He placed the stone gently in your palm, his hand engulfing yours.

“Just follow through like this, and kind of flick your wrist.”

You did your best to ignore how your skin tingled at his touch, following through on his guidance a few times before finally letting go. The stone skimmed the water’s surface, skipping once, before plopping in.

You threw your hands up in the air in celebration.

“Okay, I know that wasn’t much, but - better than anything I’ve done before!” you exclaimed, throwing your arms around Steve’s neck.

He pressed a kiss to your cheek, and you pulled away quickly. Before he could say anything, you gestured for him to keep leading the way.

******

The rest of the afternoon was a bit of a blur. Steve led you up the island to a thatch of trees, where you came across the old ruins of a submarine. You spent a while investigating it, grabbing a fresh peach hanging off of the trees. You and Steve shared it, eventually returning to the water and swimming out to one of the rocks past the sandbar. You let yourself lay out and sunbathe, Steve by your side. Eventually, though, the one peach you had split didn’t seem to tide you over, your stomach grumbling. You groaned.

“Don’t worry, we’ve got a picnic on the boat,” Steve assured. “Want to head back?”

You agreed, welcoming the cool water as you dove back in, clambering back up onto the motorboat. Steve produced a true spread from the cooler, of crackers, cheeses, and grapes, topped off with a bottle of white wine to split. It was so idyllic, floating in the middle of the ocean, with the fresh charcuterie that Steve had so carefully packed for you. After you were full and satiated, you couldn’t help it - you had to start touching Steve. You found it hard to keep your hands off of him, tracing his constellation of moles on his back beneath the sun, both of you laying across a towel. You began to trace letters and words, asking him to guess - Steve’s name, your own, smiley faces and stars, anything you could think of. Steve, as it turned out, was shit when it came to guessing.

You found yourself feeling just a bit mischievous, deciding to press your lips between his shoulder blades instead.

“What’re you doing?” he asked, voice a bit rougher than it had been.

“What’s the chance of another boat passing us here?” you asked.

“Uh - minimal. Really slim, we’re pretty isolated,” he answered quickly.

“Good,” you whispered. “Because I wanna ride you, if you’ll let me.”

And he did, scrambling onto his back, gripping onto your hips as you straddled him. Your bathing suits were shed in a matter of moments, and you wasted no time in sinking onto him. The boat rocked precariously, but it was part of the thrill - Steve came undone in a matter of minutes, cumming deep inside of you. You followed shortly after, convulsing around him with your head thrown back, underneath the bright afternoon sun.

*******

The next few days passed in a blissful blur - Steve took you all around the island. One day, he rented a Vespa, having you wrap your arms around his waist and hold on tightly as he drove you around to the other side, where a music and art festival was happening. He followed you around, dancing with you and buying you whatever you wanted from the vendors, insisting that you picked out whatever you wanted. Used books, fresh pastries, a sunhat, handmade mosaics, seashell earrings - whatever caught your interest.

One of the items you picked up was a pack of disposable waterproof cameras, which you immediately made quick use of. You began snapping photos of the town, the ocean views, and most of all, Steve. You caught candids of Steve walking down the street, running his hands through his hair, or his side profile, when he wasn’t paying attention. You got him to pose on occasion too, insisting on taking pictures at each new site you visited. Soon, Steve took one of the cameras, playing your own game and sneaking photos of you throughout the trip.

“Pose for me, baby, for the memories,” he insisted, pulling back to capture you every chance he got.

You and Steve made use of the villa, too. On the third day, you woke up to the sound of rain pattering on the roof. Steve bemoaned the inclement weather, but you just snuggled further under the covers.

“What are we going to do, then?” Steve grumbled.

“We can just stay here… in bed… all day,” you replied, pressing a kiss to his neck. 

“Oh yeah?”

“Mmm hm - actually, today’s a perfect day to practice your Italian,” you added, smirking.

“What do you -”

“Here’s the deal,” you said, sinking a bit further below the covers. “I’m going to quiz you on what I’ve taught you so far - if you get it right, I keep sucking you off. You get it wrong, though… I stop, until the next one you get right. What do you say?”

You spent that morning edging Steve, who quickly became a whimpering mess at your mercy. His language retention, it turned out, wasn’t great. Every time he screwed up an Italian word or phrase, you pulled your lips off his cock, looking up at him with disappointment.

When he finally did cum, he begged to do it all over your tits, which you obliged. That, of course, led to a bath in the clawfoot tub, where Steve happily joined you, insisting on reciprocating. The rainy day, as it turned out, wasn’t a waste at all.

Another day, he took you out on a small ferry cruise to go snorkeling. You both dove through the shallows, exploring coral reefs and swimming through schools of fish. You were fairly certain that you’d never get over the color of the sea here - the bright, aquamarine water was stunning, and you were certain that if it was flatter underneath, you’d be able to see through the ocean for miles. You snapped a few photos underwater, hoping that they’d reflect what it looked like in-person. You doubted it, though. At one point, when you both broke the surface and climbed back onto the rowboat you had taken out, Steve was holding a lump of sand in his hand.

“What is that?”

He smiled, shaking it off under the water to reveal what looked like a gray rock. You furrowed your brow, confusion only growing and Steve produced a pocket knife. He cut into it along the edge - it was an oyster.

“In the mood for shellfish, Harrington?”

He just shook his head, prying the shell open. He squinted, then smiled.

“Well, looks like I’ve got some pretty good luck today!”

Before you could ask what he meant, he reached into the shell and pulled out -

“Is that a pearl?” you asked, eyes widening.

He nodded enthusiastically, holding it out to you.

“For you.”

You shook your head.

“No, Steve - do you know how rare that is? Just to find a natural pearl? I shouldn’t -”

“I was hoping to find one, just for you,” he assured. “Seriously - I want you to have it.”

You took it hesitantly, turning the small white stone in your hand. It was so small, perfectly round, with a few grains of sand still clinging to it. You shook your head incredulously.

“I - thank you,” you whispered. You fished your wallet out of your beach bag, tucking the pearl safely inside.

******

The evenings were filled with sunsets and wine, Steve insisting on bringing you to the best restaurants that the island had to offer. When you returned to the villa, you would take a dip in the pool - bathing suits optional. That’s why, by the time your actual birthday came around, it wasn’t a surprise that you were physically exhausted.

The morning of your birthday came on a Saturday, the last full day of your trip. You had attempted to stay up until midnight on Friday to properly ring it in, but you were so exhausted from the sun and copious amounts of wine consumed during the day that you were asleep before 11.

That night, you dreamed. Often, your dreams weren’t very vivid. If you remembered them at all when you woke up, there wasn’t really anything concrete. And, you supposed, this wasn’t really any different. You felt warm, only really seeing flashes of golden light, dancing behind your eyelids like stars. Your skin tingled, and you were just relaxed. You sighed in contentment, suddenly feeling your brow furrow at the realization that you could feel the mattress you were lying on, the soft sheets fisted in your fingers.

You weren’t sleeping anymore, not completely. You weren’t exactly sure when you had stopped, crossing the line between dreaming and consciousness. But suddenly, you were acutely aware of the air on your skin, the quickening of your breath, and, most notably, the feeling of warm lips pressed to your skin.

“Mm - Steve?” you grumbled, voice still groggy from sleep.

“G’morning, birthday girl,” he murmured from below the sheets, pressing a kiss to your navel.

“What’re you -”

“I wanted to make today extra special,” he whispered. “Starting right now.”

He continued to pepper kisses across your abdomen, traveling further down, down, down -

“Fuck,” you gasped as his breath ghosted over your bare cunt. “Steve -”

“Shhh, baby,” he whispered. “Today’s all about you - just relax, okay?”

Anything else that you wanted to say died on your tongue, your breath hitching as soon as his mouth made contact with your core. He licked a stripe up your slit, his tongue settling to swirl around your clit.

“Steve! Oh, shit - just like that. Oh my god -”

You felt your back arch as your hips bucked up to meet his mouth. His fingers were digging into the soft flesh of your thighs, spread wide for him as he devoured you.

Soon, one of his hands wandered from your thigh, gathering your slick as he circled your entrance.

You moaned, eyes squeezed shut as you threw your head back.

“Please, Steve,” you whined. He paused for a moment.

“Please what?” he asked, pressing a kiss to the inside of your thigh. He started sucking, and you already shivered at the thought of him leaving a mark there, a reminder for later.

“Please - your fingers,” you begged.

“What about them?” he asked, feigning innocence.

“Inside me - please - fuck me with your fingers,” you exclaimed.

“If you insist, darling.”

That was your only warning. He plunged two fingers into your sopping entrance, returning his tongue to your clit. You practically screamed, writhing in the sheets as he loved on you in the best way he knew how.

He kissed and licked at your cunt like he was worshiping it. He grinned against your skin at the sound of your whines when he added a third finger, pumping in and out of you at an unrelenting pace.

You found your own hands wandering, looking to grab onto something, anything. Between his ministrations, you heard Steve murmur, “Your tits, baby.”

“What?”

“Touch your tits, sweetheart, you know you want to.”

You didn’t even question it, obeying as your hands found their way to your breasts. You cupped and palmed them, moaning at the added stimulation as Steve continued to eat you out.

“I’m close,” you breathed, feeling your face flush, your heart thudding in your chest. There was pressure building in your core, ready to snap at any moment. You continued feeling your tits, toying with your nipples and squeezing at the soft flesh. 

Your orgasm felt like a dam breaking. You screamed Steve’s name as the pleasure washed over you, intense and white-hot like a tsunami. He worked you through your high, continuing to lap and lick at you, gradually slowing down as your whole body shook. By the time he removed his fingers from you, you were a mess. You felt boneless, certain you’d sink all the way through the mattress if you weren’t careful.

Your breathing was deep and labored, not even capable of forming a coherent thought as Steve pressed soft kisses to your inner thigh. Just as he had started, he kissed his way back up your body - your stomach, your breasts, sternum, collarbone, neck - and, finally, your lips. You still faintly tasted yourself on him, and sighed into his mouth.

After several moments, you finally spoke.

“Jesus Christ, Steve.”

“So, that was good?” he asked.

You turned your cheek down to your pillow, bringing you face-to-face with the man lying next to you.

“Yeah,” you breathed. “I - I think that was the hardest I’ve ever cum in my life,” you admitted.

Steve practically puffed up with pride, fighting a smile.

“Is that so?”

You reached across the bed, running your fingers through his hair.

“Yeah, really. Best birthday ever.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s barely started yet!”

“Still - that would’ve made it just perfect, no need to do anything else.”

He laughed, throwing his head back against the pillow.

“Well, that’s definitely not all I have planned. We’ve got a whole day ahead of us.”

You sighed, shaking your head.

“Of course we do. Well, if that’s the case, I’m going to take a shower.”

You rolled out of bed and padded towards the bathroom, not even bothering with the fact that you were stark nude. You felt Steve’s eyes practically burning a hole through you, prompting you to cast a glance over your shoulder.

“I might need help, you know,” you said suggestively.

He didn’t need to be told twice.

********

Most of the day passed without a hitch. In fact, you would call it perfect. Almost, at least. You had breakfast on the balcony, the morning relatively slow and relaxed. Then, Steve took you to the sea, renting another boat until you reached what you learned to be Aragonese Castle. The ruins sat on a volcanic rock formation, accessible via a footbridge going across the water. On the island, you explored the castle, marveling at the sight from the top. You stood atop the structure, something older than you could even comprehend, staring out across the sparkling sea. Steve took your camera, snapping a few photos of you before you noticed.

“Come on, birthday girl, pose for me,” he begged with his go-to line, smiling as you grinned and threw your hands up in the air for the camera. 

After, you took the boat around the coast to another smaller island, making your way up to the little village there. Steve made good on his word, and as you wandered through the market, did his best to name all the items in Italian. Every time he got something right, you kissed him. For everything he got wrong, he had to buy you something from that vendor. In the end, it was working out much better for you, your bag filling more and more as you walked through.

You both walked along the beach, finding yourselves carrying your shoes as you let the water wash over your feet on the shoreline. The afternoon waned to the early evening, the sun moving from beating on your backs to golden, slowly sinking towards the horizon. You had returned to the main island, Steve insisting on returning home briefly to change out of beach clothes. You followed his lead, trusting whatever he had planned. As you were throwing on some makeup, you barely noticed him come into the bathroom behind you, too focused on yourself in the mirror.

“So,” he started, leaning against the doorframe. “I know we haven’t exactly had an occasion for something like this yet, but I had this made for you - I was kind of hoping you’d wear it tonight.”

He held up a clothing hanger, shrouded in a garment bag. You smiled at him through the mirror, bounding over excitedly to unzip and look at what was inside.

“I - wow.”

“Put it on for me?” he asked. “It’s part of your birthday present.”

You obliged, kicking him out of the room, insisting that you wanted him to be surprised. You slipped on the dress easily, your breath catching in your throat as soon as you saw yourself in the mirror.

It was a vibrant, deep red, made of some kind of shimmering silk. Somehow, it both flowed over you and hugged you in all the right places - more than anything else Steve had gotten made for you, this had to have been done with you in mind. Somehow, you were certain it was the best you had ever looked. Valentina had outdone herself.

You opened the door slowly, mainly for dramatic effect. Steve was sitting on the edge of the bed, dressed in a suit jacket over his button-down, the first few buttons notably undone. At the sight of you, he sat up quickly. His eyes widened, looking you up and down as he scrambled to his feet.

“Well, what do you think?” you asked.

It took Steve a moment to say anything, his mouth opening and closing a few times as he searched for words. Then, softly:

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.”

You felt your face heat, the blood rushing to your head creating a dull roar in your ears.

“You’re a liar,” you insisted.

“With you? Never.”

“Well, just one thing,” you said, coming closer to him before turning around. “I need help zipping it up.”

You felt Steve’s hands at the small of your back, pulling the zipper up slowly. His fingers brushed your exposed skin on the way up. And, when he finally reached the top, he pressed a soft kiss to your shoulder.

“I have something else for you,” he whispered in your ear. Before you could ask, you felt something cold around your neck, a weight resting against your sternum. Your hand came up to touch it - a necklace. A ruby pendant to match the dress, the chain lined delicately with diamonds.

“Steve-” you said, turning to face him.

“Don’t say anything,” he said, beating you to what you were about to say.

“But - you’ve already put together this whole trip… I can’t -”

“You only turn 21 once,” he said. “It’s a big deal, you know.”

“Maybe in the States - not really so much here -”

“I guess that’s why I wanted to make it special, just for you,” he whispered. “Will you let me?”

His eyes were so soft, begging you to just say yes, and your chest suddenly felt warm.

“Thank you,” you finally said. “Really.”

Then, he was kissing you. It wasn’t hungry, or heated, or demanding. It was soft and slow. When he pulled away, hand cupping your jaw, it felt like you should say something else - but what? Before you could decide what it should be, he was holding out an arm to you. You hooked yours through it, letting him lead the way.

Sunset hadn’t happened yet, but it was probably soon - the sky was bathed in the deep golden of the sun, the day aging and giving way to the evening soon enough. You took the Ferrari, the top down as Steve drove down the hill and into town.

The place Steve had reserved for dinner was tucked into the mountain, made of old stone and terraced into the Earth. You were on the rooftop, your table set out so that you had a view of the city below, and the sea beyond. The sky was turning shades of orange and pink, promising a stunning sunset.

“Steve,” you started once you were settled into your chair, “this place - it’s stunning.”

You couldn’t even hide your awe, realizing for maybe the hundredth time that week just how lucky you were. 

“Just wait until sunset,” he said. “This is the most in-demand restaurant on the island.”

“And you got a reservation?” you asked, perusing the wine menu.

“I pulled some strings.”

“Naturally.”

You brought your feet to rest on top of his under the table. 

After ordering a bottle of wine, Steve reached into his jacket pocket and pulled out his tobacco and rolling papers.

“Hope you don’t mind,” he said. 

“As long as you share,” you replied, grinning as he started rolling a second cigarette. 

As you lit yours up and took a deep inhale, you allowed a moment to fully take in the sight of Steve.

The last week had changed him. You thought about him, and how he had said that this was the first time he had taken a vacation from work. His skin was tanned, his hair a bit lighter from the time in the sun. It had grown a bit longer, too, since you’d first met him. 

As he breathed out smoke, donning sunglasses and bathed in the golden light of dusk, you felt your chest ache. For better or for worse, Steve Harrington has changed your life. 

After enjoying a decadent meal of seafood, flatbreads, and pasta, all shared with Steve, it was properly dark out. The only light came from the strong lights hanging around the patio, and the candlelight on the table. You were a bit tipsy from the shared bottle of wine, feeling warm and hazy. It was during dessert, as you were sipping a cappuccino and tasting your tiramisu, that Steve cleared his throat.

“So, I have one more present for you,” he announced, straightening up in his chair.

“Steve - no.”

“But -”

“You’ve already gotten me the dress, the necklace, this entire trip. And, well… everything else.”

The arrangement, which you two barely spoke of anymore. At least, not directly. He just sighed, pulling an envelope out of his pocket and sliding it across the table to you.

“It’s the last thing, I promise - please?”

You stared at him for a moment before finally conceding. Grabbing the envelope, you tore it open, pulling out the piece of paper inside. You stared at it for a moment, squinting in the dim candlelight. It was a map - a map of the night sky. You vaguely recognized it, thanks to the astronomy class you had to take during your first year of school.

“It’s - the sky?”

“Well, it’s a certificate, for proof.”

“Proof of what?”

He pointed to the text at the top. You read it once. Twice. Five times. You felt your eyes widen, your mouth hanging open.

“Did you - did you name a star after me?”

Steve nodded slowly, assessing your reaction. 

“Yes. Well, specifically - it’s kind of stupid, but… it’s a star that’s over Rome in late May, right around when we met. I don’t know, I just thought - it was just an idea.”

When your eyes met his again, he was asking a silent question - expectant, nervous, his gaze asking, do you like it?

It was then that it hit you. It was like a train, knocking the breath out of you. And, without thinking, you said it:

“I’m in love with you.”

As soon as it tumbled out, you swore your heart stopped. Everything was spinning, and you were certain you were going to be sick. But, after an agonizing moment, Steve just raised an eyebrow.

“So, am I supposed to know what that one means?”

“I - what?”

“Are you quizzing me again?”

A wave of relief washed over you - you had said it in Italian. What Steve had heard was sono innamorato di te. You let out a deep breath, laughing nervously.

“Oh - yes. Yeah!”

“Okay - what does it mean?”

“Just, um - it means I love it. The gift, I mean. It… it was really thoughtful.”

He breathed a sigh of relief, visibly relaxing in his chair.

“Oh, good. I’m glad. I wasn’t sure what you’d think, to be honest.”

You stared down at the paper, avoiding his eyes. You did your best to just focus on the page, hoping he couldn’t tell that your hands were shaking.

“No - it’s great. Thank you, really.” 

You forced a smile, meeting his eyes again. Then, you stood up suddenly, your chair sliding out behind you. Concern flickered across his face.

“Are you okay?” he asked.

“Me? Yeah, I just - I need to use the ladies’ room,” you mumbled. You took a step towards him, placing a quick kiss on his cheek before heading downstairs to the lower part of the restaurant.

As soon as you were locked in the bathroom, you braced yourself on the sink. You did your best to steady your breathing, gripping to porcelain for dear life. That was a close call - too close. You immediately started chastising yourself - you were an idiot, a fool. Your one job was to not fall for him. It was the most important part of the agreement. Wasn’t the whole point of this to avoid complications, and heartbreak? 

You took a deep breath, assessing the facts:

You loved Steve Harrington. 

You weren’t supposed to love Steve Harrington. 

Now, every time you were with him, you’d be lying to his face

In a month, he’d be out of your life.

You felt nauseous, the room starting to spin. This couldn’t be happening. But, it was. You stared at yourself in the mirror - your eyes were glassy, threatening to break into full-on tears at any moment. No, you couldn’t do that - you weren’t going to ruin this perfect day, perfect week. This was so you, to ruin everything for yourself at the last minute. You gathered yourself, fighting the urge to cry. You were going to make this work - you had to. Steve never had to know how you were feeling, how much you had fucked this whole thing up. So, you straightened yourself up, doing your best to regain composure, and headed back upstairs to the table.

Steve visibly relaxed when he saw you approaching.

“Everything okay?” he asked as you slid into your chair.

“Oh - yeah. All good, it’s just - I’m stuffed!” you declared, laughing half-heartedly. “Seriously, this was delicious, but - I can’t eat or drink anything else.”

Steve nodded. “Oh, no problem - I can get the check.”

“Yeah, okay.”

You had to seem normal - to make yourself feel normal. Nothing had to change between you two, as far as you were concerned.

So, you let Steve take you home, your hand on his leg making him drive the car borderline recklessly. You both stumbled through the door of the villa, shedding one another of your clothes like your lives depended on it.

Maybe you were reading too much into it, or maybe something truly had shifted. More likely, the reality was somewhere in the middle. But, the sex wasn’t desperate, or urgent. You took your time with one another, exploring each other’s bodies like it was the last time you’d ever do so. Steve held you close, kissing every inch of you, his lips whispering prayers and sweet nothings into your skin.

You gave it all back to him, thanking him for everything he’s done for you with filthy words whispered in his ear, telling him how good he was making you feel.

He sucked bruises into your skin, and you left scratches down his back. When you came, it was together, the pleasure peaking and flowing through both of you in unison. After, he laid on top of you, your fingers running gently through his hair as you stared at the ceiling. You just let yourself bathe in the afterglow, hanging on to Steve like he’d disappear if you didn’t.

It was later, after your head had settled onto his chest with his arms wrapped around you, that he finally spoke.

“So - did you have a good birthday?”

“Mm,” you hummed blissfully. His heartbeat thudded steadily against your ear, grounding you.

“Best birthday I ever had,” you added.

“Really?”

“Yes,” you affirmed. “You - you made me feel special. I don’t think anyone’s bothered to do that before, not like this.”

A pause.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Steve said solemnly. “You deserve better.”

You shook your head, burying your face further into his chest.

“You’ve made up for that,” you assured him. “Trust me.”

His hand rubbed soothing circles on your back.

“Good,” he said. “I mean, we’re doing round two next weekend, with Robin’s not-surprise party.”

You groaned.

“I forgot about that.”

“It’s only because she loves you, you know.”

You swore your heart skipped a beat at the word. You immediately felt stupid for even letting that happen, as if it was voluntary.

“Yeah, she does,” you conceded. 

“I don’t want this trip to end,” Steve admitted. His voice was lower, words slurring a bit. You realized that his breathing had slowed down considerably - he was drifting.

“Me neither,” you admitted. “Let’s just stay forever.”

It sounded like a joke, earning a low chuckle from him. It didn’t feel like one, though.

“Whatever you want,” he murmured.

After a few moments, Steve went completely silent. His heartbeat was slower, and you sighed, rolling over to stare at the ceiling.

Without him to distract you, your mind started racing. The anxiety was gone - no, the feeling now was pure and utter dread. But, the most horrible part was when you glanced over at the man beside you - all you felt was butterflies, churning in your stomach like some sweet sickness.

You stared at Steve for a while - the rise and fall of his chest, his disheveled hair, the way the moonlight cast over his form, highlighting his silhouette.

“Hey, Steve? You awake?” you whispered through the darkness. No response.

You brought yourself up onto your elbow, leaning in just a bit closer. You’d never be able to tell him to his face, but this was the closest you’d get - maybe you just needed to get it out of your system. At least, that was what you told yourself.

“I love you, Steve,” you whispered. No response.

You promptly turned over under the covers, burying your face in the pillow. And, finally, the tears came. Fast and hot, they leaked onto the pillow, marking it like acid as you did your best to sob silently.

You were fucked. Completely and utterly ruined. For the first time in ages, you cried yourself to sleep. Before you finally drifted off, one question was on your mind:

What were you going to do when Steve left for good?

author's note: hi everyone! Thanks for your patience for this update! Work has been kicking my ass, and it's been harder to make time to write. Before anyone says anything, no, I don't speak Italian, nor have I been to Italy. I did my best, but some details were fabricated for the story, so if it's not accurate - oh well! Thanks to everyone for all the kind messages, and to my bestie Em for the endless inspiration. Likes, reblogs, and comments are always appreciated!

[pollymorgan]

Teacher Negan - The Football Game - Part 5

Warnings: Of course, there's still a big age difference and Negan is an asshole. Smut!

-Several months later-

I am probably the only student in the entire school who looks forward to Monday every time. Even though the classes before my sports block are always a little torture and never seem to end. But I am rewarded for my patience. After the double lesson, Negan and I always spend a good hour together, secretly. Every time I sneak back into the hall, where he impatiently waits for me.

Otherwise, we only see each other occasionally by chance on the schoolyard or in the hallway, and every time I feel this incredible tingling in my stomach. By now, I have to admit to myself, I am incredibly in love with him. Even though I tried to suppress it for so long.

My evenings, or rather nights, are often spent playing online games with Negan, while we talk for hours on the phone and discuss everything possible.

Only two topics we successfully avoid. Firstly, his wife and secondly, what this whole thing between us is or could become.

It was also on one of those late evenings when he suggested that I join the cheerleading group, whose football team he coached in his free time.

"Me? A cheerleader?" I asked in surprise into the speaker of my phone, while the situation on the PlayStation was getting pretty intense.

"Of course, you are super athletic and phenomenally beautiful!" he stated without hesitation.

I laughed, "So that's what you're into? Bouncing girls in short skirts?"

"No, I'm into you ... bouncing in a short skirt..." he stated and added "...even if it won't be easy for me to train the guys with a constant hard-on, but the main thing is that we can see each other more often."

So it happened that I really became a cheerleader, and surprisingly, I even had a lot of fun. Not only because I could see Negan more often, but also because the other players and cheerleaders were really nice.

After a while, our team was so good that we planned our first away game. It was so far from our hometown that we rented a bus and planned to stay in a hostel afterwards.

Everyone was pretty nervous and trained hard. The boys, as well as us girls. Even Negan could be seen tensing up as the game approached. Because if there's one thing he absolutely hates, it's embarrassing himself. So he put a lot of pressure on the players during training.

But his worry was unfounded. We won our first away game, and we won big. The joy was immense.

-The evening after the game-

Together we enter our small accommodation, which more resembles a youth hostel than a hotel. We never thought our team would actually win, so the mood was very high.

We settle into our rooms and agree to meet in the common room right after to celebrate the victory. I share my hotel room with Layla. She is also a cheerleader and a few years older than me. I am once again the youngest, but by now, I don't mind. We get along great, and she has become like my best friend. I trust her, and we tell each other everything, well, almost everything, I can't tell her about Negan, which is really hard. After all, he is constantly on my mind.

After freshening up a bit, we head to the common room with the others. It consists of a few seats, a large TV, and a foosball table.

As soon as I enter the room, I look around, but Negan is not here. As I scan the room with my eyes, I see Liam fixating his gaze on me and interrupting his conversation. Liam is a pretty good player on the team, and I have noticed that he has been seeking my attention for some time, which doesn't bother me because he is really funny and considerate. I enjoy spending time with him - of course, only as friends.

Suddenly, he jumps up and stands right in front of me, "Want to go outside for a smoke?" he asks with a smile on his lips.

I shrug nonchalantly, "Sure, why not?"

So we walk down the narrow hallway, at the end of which is a tiny balcony that can only accommodate 3-4 people. Together we step out onto it, and Liam immediately holds out his pack of cigarettes. I gratefully take one and let him light it for me. After the first deep drag, I smile, "Thanks for a great game!"

He grins somewhat embarrassed and waves it off, "Oh, that was a team effort..."

"Don't be so modest!" I encourage him and tap his shoulder, feeling how his confidence is boosted even more.

"Well, you also cheered us on pretty well, so we can only be motivated..." he states, and I notice how he comes much closer to me, "I'm really glad you're here..." he adds in a soft voice.

Speechless, I look at him, as I hadn't expected the conversation to take this turn so quickly.

Suddenly, I startle as the silence is interrupted by the opening of the balcony door.

My heart races even higher when Negan suddenly stands right next to us. He must have just come out of the shower, as his hair is still slightly damp and a wonderful scent of soap and aftershave surrounds him.

Instinctively, I move away slightly from Liam, which is not easy on this small balcony. After all, the three of us are quite cramped.

Without saying anything, Negan snatches the cigarette from my hand and puts it in his mouth. He holds it between his lips and addresses Liam in an annoyed tone, "What's wrong with you?! No cigarettes for minors."

Liam raises his hands in resignation, "Coach, Sam is not a kid anymore... she's almost 19."

"Exactly, almost 19 means 18! So, three damn years until she's 21... or have you become too stupid to do math because all the blood has rushed elsewhere in your head?" he asks calmly.

Liam stutters slightly, "That... that's really not fair," and I have to try not to laugh.

Negan is definitely jealous!

I've experienced a few situations where I thought he was, but always convinced myself that I was imagining things. But now the whole situation is pretty clear, and I secretly enjoy it because it shows me that he really cares about me.

"That's not fair," Negan mimics him.

Offended, Liam shakes his head and extinguishes his cigarette on the wall beside him.

"I'm going back inside, are you coming, Sam?" he asks me, trying to ignore Negan as best as he can.

I briefly catch Negan's gaze and say uncertainly, "Oh... um... you go ahead... I'll be right there... the fresh air is really nice right now."

Annoyed, Liam leaves the balcony, and Negan silently watches through the window as he walks down the long hallway. As soon as he disappears from sight, Negan turns to me.

"That sleazy guy is trying to get in your pants!" he exclaims.

"Mh, could be..." I say, unfazed.

Negan looks at the long hallway once more, and when he sees that no one is there, he pulls me close and kisses my lips.

Slightly surprised by the risky move, it takes me a few seconds to respond to the kiss. But now I don't want to let go of his lips at all. It feels so good to finally feel him again. Seeing him constantly but not being able to touch him is really torture for me.

As we separate, I wipe my lipstick from his mouth.

"Pretty risky, don't you think?" I remark.

He looks at me with a broad grin, "I know how these daring actions make you wet, don't I? And besides, I had to make it clear who you belong to, my sweet! Oh, I have something for you..."

"For me?" my smile turns into a questioning look.

I watch in amazement as he pulls a small black box from his jeans and opens it skillfully. Inside is a delicate golden chain with a small heart pendant featuring a sparkling blue stone. My heart starts to race. Negan has never given me anything, not even flowers. And now he's standing there with a beautiful necklace in his hand.

"I saw it and immediately thought of you... so, what do you say? Do you like it?" he asks.

I take a deep breath and try to hold back my tears with all my might. Quickly, I take a critical look towards the hallway, and when I see that no one is there, I wrap my arms around him.

"You didn't have to do this, it's beautiful..." my words rush out before I kiss him.

-Several hours later-

Some guys are sitting in front of the TV watching some sports show, while the rest of us are gathered around a large table, engaging in lively conversation over a few beers.

Everyone is in this small common room, except Negan.

I catch myself playing with my new necklace and thinking about him. Suddenly, I'm pulled out of my thoughts when Liam loudly announces, "Okay, guys, spin the bottle!"

Everyone cheers, but I ask somewhat annoyed, "Are you serious, isn't that a bit silly?"

But everyone protests, so I resign myself to my fate, and we start the game.

After a few rounds with typical tasks and questions, the door suddenly opens, and Negan walks in.

Some startle and try to hide the hard liquor. Even my heart pumps, but for different reasons, suddenly very strongly.

"I'm officially off duty, so if anyone starts crying because they miss their mommy or gets a paper cut, please don't come to me... and anything else you plan on doing tonight, I don't care..." With this announcement, he grabs a full beer from our table and briefly catches my eye before opening the bottle on the edge of the table and sitting down with a few other guys in front of the TV.

Now I can only see his back.

"Let's continue!" someone suddenly interrupts the silence at the table, "Whoever the bottle points to, has to kiss their neighbor, whether it's the left or right one, they can decide!"

The bottle is spun with full force, and of course, this time it points to me.

"Haha... Sam!" everyone cries out excitedly, and I immediately look to Negan, who discreetly turns around and looks at us. To my left is Liam, and to my right is Layla. I playfully take my time with my decision, even though it's clear from the start. After some hesitation, I slowly lean in towards Layla and take her chin between my fingers. We grin at each other before locking eyes and our lips gently touch. I feel her tongue lightly press against my lips, which initially startles me, but it actually feels quite good, and the thought that Negan is watching us closely spurs me on even more. I let my tongue cautiously explore hers, and the kiss becomes more intimate, with the comments around us getting louder. We take our time exploring each other's mouths hesitantly. Only then do I slowly pull away and give her a loud smack on her full lips as a final touch.

I pause for a moment and look at Negan, who is just turning back to the TV.

"Whoever the bottle points to has to reveal the most unusual place they've had sex..." I say after a brief pause and spin the bottle.

But I don't get to hear the answer because my phone vibrates in my lap. Curious, I look at the display and see a text from "Mister N." My heart skips a beat. I glance at him, but can only see his back. Eagerly, I lean back, making sure no one can see my screen.

"You naughty girl! 🔥" I read and quickly respond.

"Didn't you enjoy the little show? 😉"

"I can't say no. 😉 I just have some worry about leaving you alone with Layla tonight after what I just saw!"

"Don't worry! My pussy belongs only to you! And she misses you so much..🥺"

"I miss her too! How much I would love to run my mouth over her right now and catch every sweet drop with my tongue... I know how much you love that, right?..."

We exchange a few more messages back and forth, even though we are sitting just a few meters away from each other. Each message from him makes my lower body tingle more and my throat gets drier.

-Later in the hotel room-

Layla is already pretty out in bed, while I disappear into the bathroom. When I step out of the shower, I am wearing nothing but Negan's necklace. I look at myself in the mirror, then pick up my phone from the edge of the sink and quickly take a selfie covering my nipples.

"The necklace is so beautiful! 😍" I type underneath and nervously send it to Negan.

My heart is pounding wildly as I brush my hair and keep glancing at the screen. But there is no response. Is he already asleep? I put on my pajamas, and as I'm about to pull the top over my head, I hear the reassuring sound of my vibrating phone.

"Damn, sweetheart. That's not the only thing beautiful in the photo! 💕 Do you know how much I love your enchanting titties? Come on, show me more of them!" he texts.

Unconsciously, I smile immediately and after a few seconds of hesitation, I pull the straps of my top down, fully exposing my breasts, and once again set the camera function on my phone. I take a few photos and quickly choose one to send to Negan.

"Sweetheart, you are way too good to me! Can you imagine how rock hard my cock is right now because of you?"

I type, "No, show it to me, please!" on my phone, and as I send the message, my cheeks glow so much that I feel they might burst any moment.

It doesn't take long before I actually receive a picture of his hard arousal. I never thought something like this would turn me on, but with Negan, it's different. I instinctively squeeze my legs together and bite my lower lip.

"I really want him deep inside me right now..." I type back.

"That's all I can think about right now, damn! We should sleep now, my sweet! The sooner we can be close again..." he writes.

"You're right... pleasant dreams!" I reply, already missing him terribly in that moment. Disappointed, I set my phone aside and put my clothes back on. Then I step out of the small bathroom and, just as I'm about to say something to Layla to distract myself, I open the door. But she doesn't react. Confused, I look at the bed and see her sleeping peacefully.

"Hey Layla?" I ask a bit louder, but there's no response. I look at her once more and make sure she's really fast asleep. Then, quietly, I leave the hotel room and tiptoe barefoot down the hallway. Feeling slightly disoriented, I look at the room numbers on the doors. Of course, I remember Negan's room number. As I get closer to the number, I feel my body pumping with adrenaline. Finally, standing right in front of it, I hesitate for a moment. The risk is quite high. But then I timidly knock on Negan's door, not sure what makes my heart beat faster - the fear of getting caught or the excitement of being able to embrace Negan in my arms.

In the dark hallway, clad in a short pajama shorts and the matching tank top, I look around anxiously. Eventually, I hear movement behind the door and the doorknob turning, sending even more adrenaline rushing through my veins. I try to appear as calm as possible as Negan opens the door a crack and looks me up and down, his grin growing wider with every passing second.

I, too, let my eyes wander. He's wearing only dark gray boxers. Unconsciously, I bite my lower lip as my eyes travel over his slim, defined upper body. His dark chest hair and tattoos make him even more attractive.

On Mondays, after sports, I don't often get the chance to admire him like this. Everything always has to be quick, and we only take off the essentials, so I savor this sight even more. I take a deep breath and meet his gaze once again.

Innocently and softly, I say, "Mr. Smith, I can't fall asleep..."

He slowly licks his lips, and his dark eyes begin to sparkle. Leaning casually against the door frame with one arm, he asks, "Oh, my poor girl, what can I do for you?"

A smile tugs at my lips, and I try to keep my composure and stay in my role. Nervously, I nibble on the fingernail of my right thumb.

"Could you maybe... fuck me hard?" I ask in a pleading tone.

He grabs my wrist firmly and pulls me into his room with a swift motion. As soon as he closes the door, he presses my back firmly against it and starts kissing me passionately.

"I've been wanting to do this the whole damn time," he whispers into my open mouth, just before our tongues meet again.

His tall body presses against mine, and only the thin fabric of my pajamas prevents me from feeling his skin against mine. His right hand travels from my cheek, over my neck, to my shoulder. Skillfully, he takes hold of the strap of my top and slowly pulls it down, fully exposing my left breast. I let out a soft moan as he takes it in his large hand and massages it with considerable pressure. My nipple is caught between his index and middle fingers, and his firm grasp makes it harden. His more dominant touches, which I have yearned for, send a warm sensation directly to my lower abdomen.

"We don't have much time! I want you deep inside me. Please, Negan, I need your hard cock..." I beg him softly. This is not only the absolute truth, but I also know how much he enjoys it when I ask him like this.

With a satisfied grin, he leans his upper body back a bit and lets his dark, sparkling eyes roam over my body.

"You look like a sweet angel, but such dirty words come out of your mouth... My dear, you have no idea how incredible you are! Come on, get on the bed, but undress completely first," he says, smiling, taking a step back to make room for me.

I look at him and remove my top. The way he looks at me with so much desire excites me even more. Slowly, I also rid myself of my shorts and panties, standing completely naked in front of him. Then, I confidently walk past him. His intense gaze feels like it's physically touching me. I'm just about to sit on the bed when he speaks up.

"Oh no, get on all fours... Show me your sweet ass..."

His direct command makes my pussy twitch, and I know he enjoys the fact that I immediately obey his command. So, without hesitation, I turn around and climb onto his bed, ending up in the middle. I stretch out my bottom even more, feeling Negan getting behind me. He places his hand on my back and firmly presses my upper body down. My face presses into the pillow as I grip the sheets tightly.

I feel his teeth on my right buttock and his beard scratching against my skin. It sends a shiver down my spine, and I can sense his warm breath on my sensitive skin. I can tell he's grinning from my reaction. Then, his hand glides lightly along my inner thigh, moving higher, causing me to spread my legs a bit more. Just before reaching my most intimate area, he pauses and then moves back down. Disappointed, I let out a protest.

"What's wrong, my dear?" he asks mockingly.

"Touch my pussy, please..." I plead in a whispering tone.

He immediately grabs both cheeks of my bottom and pulls them wide apart.

"Oh man, you're practically dripping..." he states contently, "... you look so damn hot..". With those words, he buries his face between my legs. His warm tongue leisurely licks through my slit, catching every drop until he reaches my entrance. Slowly, he penetrates me.

Everything in me tightens, my body trembles under his touch as if I'm about to explode.

"Negan, that feels so good..." I moan softly.

With a gentle kiss right on my center, he pulls back.

After giving me a rather hard slap, he then digs his fingers into my butt firmly.

My whole body is addicted to him, to his touch, his tongue, his voice. I want him so badly.

"I want you inside me..." I say, unable to think of anything else.

"First, show me where you want my hard cock, my dear. Come in with your fingers..." he instructs. "I want to see them disappear into your sweet wet pussy."

Without hesitation, I move my hand between my legs and moisten my index and middle fingers with my arousal before sliding them inside me.

"So good..." Negan whispers behind me. Then, I feel him slowly press his index finger into me as well, widening me further. Once his finger is fully inside me, he starts massaging my swollen clitoris with his thumb. My moans grow louder with each passing moment. His index finger is pressed closely to mine inside me, and the more he massages my clit, the more everything inside me tightens, a sensation we both feel clearly.

"Do you feel how good you are...? So damn warm and tight..." he murmurs.

"I'm going to come, Negan..." I pant.

"I know, my dear, I know... come while our fingers are inside you..."

His rubbing on my clit intensifies, and I can barely hold myself up on my knees. My legs tremble as I experience such a powerful orgasm that it takes my breath away.

[illiterateaffairs]

DISTRACTIONS XI | SOMEONE TO STAY

pairing: jamie tartt x f!reader (ted lasso)

rating: T

word count: 6,369

summary: ted has some news to share with the team that unexpectedly leads to other secrets coming out. 

A/N: here it is - the penultimate chapter of distractions! i’ve had the events of this chapter planned out for what feels like forever, and i finally get to share it with you all. thank you for reading and i can’t wait to see what you think💙💛

distractions masterlist | previous chapter

It should come as no surprise that you and Jamie end your night after the Man City win doing some…not-so-innocent activities to celebrate. You’re hesitant at first, not wanting to agitate Jamie’s ankle, but your attentiveness only turns him on more. You’re not entirely sure what time you actually fall asleep, but in the early morning light, you’re awoken by Jamie leaving a trail of kisses on your face and down to your neck, and before you know it, you’re going another two rounds. 

You bask in the afterglow side by side as you catch your breath. When you look at Jamie, there’s a dopey smile on his face.

“You happy or something?” you ask teasingly and his smile only widens.

“Just a little,” he murmurs, leaning over to give you another kiss.

You lay on your sides facing each other for a few quiet moments, as you trace the tattoos on his arm. 

“Have I mentioned how much I like your tattoos?” you whisper. 

“Mm-mm,” Jamie shakes his head.

“Well, I do.”

“Have you ever thought about getting one?”

“A couple times, but not seriously,” you tell him, “Not sure what I’d get.”

“I think you should get a big number 9 plastered across your back,” he suggests with a faux-serious expression.

You snort, “And why would I do that?”

He shrugs innocently, “So you can have a piece of your favorite footballer wherever you go.”

“That’s funny because you and I both know my favorite footballer is…”

“I swear to God if you get the number 24 tattooed anywhere on your body, I’ll scream.”

You laugh out loud, placating your boyfriend with another kiss. “I think I’ll have to keep thinking of other tattoo ideas before I commit to anything officially.”

“Fine,” Jamie agrees.

You move your fingers up the length of his arm to run gently across his face, “With everything that happened last night, I never got the chance to ask you about your dad. Was he at the game?”

Jamie looks down, but covers your hand with his, “No, he wasn’t. Which I think honestly messed with me more. I ended up texting him afterwards, but I haven’t heard back yet.”

“I’m sorry, Jamie,” you whisper, knowing their relationship was complicated, but that he still begrudgingly cared about the man, “I think reaching out could be good. You don’t have to forgive him, but you deserve a little closure.”

Jamie nods, “Yeah. Ted said something like that, too.”

You smile internally. Of course he did. 

Jamie lifts his head to glance at the clock on your side of the bed, “I think we overslept.”

You roll your eyes light heartedly, “Yeah, I wonder why.”

Jamie smirks giving you yet another kiss, “We should get ready. Can I drive you to the club today?”

Your heart flutters at how excited he seems to publicly take you to work for the first time. Unfortunately, you had a few loose ends to tie up this morning, so you’d be going to the club later this afternoon, getting the all clear from Rebecca over text on your way home last night. 

“I’ll actually be in a little later today. I have some things I need to do first,” you’re attuned to the way Jamie’s face falls, so you quickly reach out to stroke his cheek again, “I promise there’s nothing to worry about. I want to tell you everything. I was thinking over dinner tonight? I can make my lasagna that you like so much.”

Jamie’s expression relaxes, though you can tell he’s still a bit weary of what exactly you’ll be telling him. Still, he gives you a tiny smile, “That sounds great, babe.”

“Good. Now hurry up and get ready. Don’t want Roy to yell at you.” 

Jamie groans, but reluctantly pushes himself out of bed. You eventually manage to get up yourself once he’s ready, pulling on one of his tee-shirts so you can kiss him goodbye at the door. 

Once he’s gone, you take a deep breath. Despite your indecision about your job situation, spending the night carrying on with Jamie, Keeley, and Roy made what you wanted to do become clear as day. You weren’t sure how everyone would react, especially with the trouble Keeley and Rebecca had gone through, but you knew in your heart you had to follow your dreams on your own terms. And that’s exactly what you were going to start doing this morning.

Jamie arrives at Nelson Road with a sense of self assurance he’s never had before. Sure, he’s always had an air of confidence and cockiness about him his entire life, but today Jamie feels a special sense of pride when he enters the locker room. Not only had he helped his team win a game in his home city the night before, he was dating the most incredible girl he has ever met and now everyone knew it. 

As if they didn’t hype him up enough about it the night before, his teammates greet him with pats on the back and teasing remarks about the match, and about you. Jamie rolls his eyes, joking right along with them, but on the inside he’s admittedly enjoying the praise. He knows the team loves you, and is very protective of you. And while he knows they’ve grown to love him too since returning to Richmond, it warms his heart that they not only approve of his relationship with you, but are almost as excited about it as he is. Almost. He was definitely the most excited.

The Greyhounds go about their morning, getting ready for training, and the spirit continues to be high. For whatever reason, though, Jamie senses a shift in the mood when the coaches enter the locker room. They’re probably going to want to get serious about their final game of the season, he assumes, but another piece of him worries that something else is going on.

“Hey, everyone listen up,” Ted calls out and he’s missing the usual pep in his voice, “I’ve got something I want to say to you all before training.”

The team instantly stops whatever they’re doing to give their coach their full attention. Ted exchanges a look with Coach Beard who nods reassuringly. Roy and Trent stand off to the side, seemingly in the loop as well, and they don’t look thrilled about whatever it is. 

When Ted turns back to face the team, he’s scratching his face nervously, but he takes a deep breath and continues, “There’s been a lot going on in my life lately, mentally, as you may know. And while I’ve been handling things better, there’s still one thing I can’t fix here, and that’s my relationship with my kid. He hasn’t said anything himself, but I know I’m not present enough in his life. So, that’s why I decided after our season’s over, I’m going to go back to Kansas. Permanently. So...this will be my last week as your coach.”

It takes everyone in the room a second to process this, but when reality hits them, there’s an uproar of confusion, sadness, and frustration. It's unclear what each of them say, as they talk over one another, but most are just trying to tell Ted to stay in their own way. 

Ted nods his head, letting them get it all out, before raising his hand to calm them down. “Hey, hey, hey. I know it’s sudden, but trust me I didn’t think this through lightly. Coaching you guys the last few years has been one of the greatest honors and privileges of my life. But now I need some time to focus on my family and I hope you all will come to understand that.”

Silence blankets the room again, before another chorus of murmurs echo their understanding, though the mood in the room is still solemn. For Jamie’s part, he’s mostly remained silent from his seat on the bench, too shell-shocked by the news to say or do anything. He understood that Ted was leaving, but the actuality of it wasn’t hitting him completely yet. Probably because he didn’t want to let himself believe it, with how important Ted was to him, even if he didn’t always acknowledge that. 

“So, who’s gonna be our coach next year?” Dani asks, and few teammates tack on ‘yeahs’ in equal curiosity. 

Jamie notices Ted’s eyes briefly flit to Roy, but the assistant coach just continues starting straight ahead with his arms crossed.

“Uh, I’m not sure yet. Think that’s up to Rebecca, but I just told her the news this morning,” Ted answers honestly. 

“Coach Beard, are you leaving, too?” Colin questions this time.

Everyone’s heads whip to the man in question at the front of the room next to Ted.

Slowly Beard nods his head, “Yeah. I’m leaving, too.”

Another round of depressed groans carries through the locker room as the team processes a second loss.

“Wait, what about Y/N?” Sam brings up before he can even stop himself, but as soon as he sees the alarmed look on his coaches faces, he realizes his mistake. “Shit.”

The team grows quiet again, their heads turning to Sam this time, and Jamie’s heart skips a beat at the sound of your name.

“Uh, what does Y/N have to do with this?” Isaac questions.

“Yeah, just because she’s American doesn’t automatically mean she’s leaving, too.” Jan Maas adds on.

While Jamie’s equally confused, his heart continues to pound against his chest. With furrowed brows, he looks between a guilt-ridden Sam, and Beard and Ted, who exchange looks of their own. An uneasy feeling forms in the pit of his stomach, as he and the rest of his teammates wait for an explanation.

A nervous Ted clears his throat, nodding again, “I think what Sam is referring to is that...Y/N is actually my niece.” To the chorus of gasps, Ted continues, “Yeah. She didn’t want you fellas to know, so you didn’t think she got her job because we were related.”

Jamie’s heart drops. So many things become clear in that moment; why it felt like you’d been keeping something from him, how you’d become so close to Ted in a short period of time, why you were so good with Henry when he visited. You’ve known him your whole life. He can barely hear Ted continue as he processes all of this. 

“I’m sure this isn’t how she pictured you all finding out. But either way, me leaving doesn’t necessarily mean she’ll want to go as well,” he tells everyone.

However, no one has time to feel relief when a small voice pipes up.

“But what about that job she’s interviewing for?” Will asks from the back of the room, drawing everyone’s attention to him. Suddenly nervous with everyone’s eyes on him, he carries on with a stutter, “I-I heard her talking to Sam in the boot room about it one day. She’s interviewing for a writing job in New York.”

Once again, everyone’s heads sharply turn to Sam, who looks apologetically at Jamie across the room. That’s when it sinks in for everyone. You in fact could be leaving them too. 

Jamie can barely hold eye contact with Sam, turning his attention to his shoes. His breathing goes heavy, and he barely makes out Coach Beard ordering everyone to start heading towards the pitch for training. Sam is the last one to file out besides Jamie. He wants to apologize to his friend, for helping keep your secret, and letting Jamie find out this way, but he doesn’t know what to say to make him feel better. So, he just defeatedly follows the rest of his team out of the locker room doors.

Jamie’s not sure how much time passes when a hand on his shoulder brings him back to reality.

“Hey, Jamie,” Ted’s soothing voice says to him, “Want to chat in my office for a sec?”

Jamie nods absent-mindedly, rubbing his face before following behind his coach. He passes Roy who only gives him a pat on the back before leaving with Beard and Trent. 

Ted shuts the door behind Jamie, before rounding his desk to sit in his office chair. Jamie fidgets for a few seconds before leaning against the shelf near the door. 

After it's clear Jamie’s not going to start this conversation, Ted speaks up again himself, “Well, first off I want to say I’m sorry that you found out about everything this way. I’m sure she wanted to tell you all of that herself, and I’m sure Sam didn’t mean for it to come out that way either.” 

Jamie nods, still not looking at Ted. Internally, he laughs bitterly. You were probably going to tell him all of this tonight; feed him a nice meal just to break his heart.

“If it’s any consolation, this is the first time I’m hearing about this job in New York, too,” Ted adds, “So it has nothing to do with my decision to go back to the states, if that’s really something she’s considering. In fact, I haven’t had the chance to tell her my news either.”

“So, she’s really your niece?” Jamie finally says. He definitely knows it's the truth, but he’s still in disbelief that it's been right under his nose the whole time. 

“Sort of,” Ted snorts, “Her dad is Michelle’s brother. So, in a way she’s not technically my niece any more. But she’s still my family in the way that matters.” 

Jamie nods again. A piece of him is touched by the way Ted has clearly been looking out for you the last few months; especially after your breakup. But another part of him is horrified that he’s been sneaking around with a relative of Ted’s this whole time. 

It’s as if Ted can sense his uneasiness as he speaks again, “I’m really happy for you two by the way.”

“Really?” Jamie asks, making eye contact with him for the first time.

“Really, really,” Ted nods, with a kind smile on his face, his head resting in his hand, “I think it’s great. I mean, I just found out yesterday, but she is clearly very smitten with you.”

Jamie’s cheek’s flush and he prays Ted doesn’t notice. “You’re not going to threaten me or tell me I’m not good enough for her?”

“Nah, that’s more of a dad’s job; and she’s got two so I’m sure you’ll hear that speech plenty,” Ted teases, “But I also know you, Jamie. I’ve seen you come into yourself the last few years, and that person is a good guy. Getting to see your growth has been one of the best parts of coaching this team, and one of the things I’ll miss the most. I don’t need to tell you not to hurt her, because I know you won’t. Besides, I can see that you’re just as smitten with her, if not more.”

If Jamie wasn’t blushing before, he definitely was now. Not only because of his comment about his feelings for you, but also due to Ted complimenting him. He was once again overcome with sadness thinking about Ted not being around anymore, but he couldn’t handle that thought right now. And he certainly couldn’t handle thinking about how he’d feel if you were leaving, too.

Unsure of what else to say, Jamie just settles on a simple thank you. 

Ted gives him another supportive smile. “Don’t mention it. Just go easy on her about this whole job thing. She’s probably confused by it all, and she might not even go. Just talk to her about it, okay?”

Jamie nods, managing a tiny smile of his own. “Coach?” he asks softly, “Would it be okay if I skip training today? Think I need to clear my head. Might end up going for a run on my own anyway.”

Ted nods assuringly, “Of course.”

As Jamie stands up and heads for the door, he turns to Ted one last time. “Coach?”

Ted looks at him curiously.

“Thank you. For everything you’ve done for me the last three years. I think it really sucks that you’re leaving, but I understand why. You’ve got to do what’s best for you and your family, and I’m sure your son will be glad to have you back around. I know the rest of the team’s bummed, but they’ll probably be over it by tomorrow and support you, too.”

This time Ted is the one overcome with emotion, knowing it's rare to get this much sentiment from Jamie Tartt. Trying not to show it, Ted just nods and gives him another smile. “Thank you, Jamie.”

With one last tight smile, Jamie pulls open Ted’s office door and disappears around the corner.

Your plan to have a productive morning was very successful. After treating yourself to a big, homemade breakfast, you hunkered down at a local café to get some things done regarding the job options you had. In effort to not get distracted, you turned your phone on ‘do no disturb’ and then spent a few hours drafting emails, tightening up your manuscript, and preparing what you were going to say to Jamie later in the day. 

After feeling satisfied with your work, you close your laptop and decide you have a bit of time before you need to be at the club, so you plan to go to the grocery store to get everything you need for dinner with Jamie. However, when you open your phone to type out a list, you see dozens of missed calls and texts.

Your first instinct is that someone had to have died. But that was ridiculous. Still, your nerves are spiking as you check your texts. There were a slew of them from various members of the team, and even Roy and Trent Crimm. In some shape or form, they were all asking about your relation to Ted, whether or not you were leaving Richmond, and if you were taking that job in New York. 

You feel like you’re going to be sick. How the fuck did they know all of that?

You get your answer when you finally listen to the one lone voicemail you had. It was from Sam.

“Hi, I can’t talk long, I’m meant to be at training, but I need to tell you that I fucked up and I’m sorry. The team knows about you being related to Ted. And about the New York job. It all just came out and I can explain more later, but I just need you to know that I’m so, so sorry. And I’m sorry if it hurt Jamie, but I know you two will work it out. Okay, I gotta go. Beard and Roy are coming. I’m sorry again. Okay, bye.”

There’s not an ounce of you that can be mad at Sam, especially with how distraught he sounds. And shit. Jamie. The one person that didn’t reach out. You can’t imagine what he’s thinking right now.

Running out of the café, you furiously navigate your phone to order an Uber to the club, furiously cursing yourself for not being able to drive on the left side of the road. Stupid England. 

Once you arrive, you race through the halls to the locker room. It's about time for lunch, and you count your blessings that most of the team must have already left the premises to eat. Among the few stragglers is Sam, who is anxiously sitting on the bench staring at his phone. His head shoots up when you enter, causing him to stand with wide eyes, meeting you halfway.

“Oh, my God, Y/N, I am so sorry, I completely messed everything up,” he begins, desperate to fix it all.

You shake your head as aggressively as you can, “You do not need to apologize to me. It’s okay. I just need to find Jamie, is he here?”

Sam frowns, “No. He didn’t end up training with us today, and no one’s heard from him since this morning.”

“Shit,” you sigh, rubbing your hands over your face. You rack your brain for where Jamie could have possibly gone, but one thing still isn’t making sense to you. Dropping your hands, you return your gaze to your best friend.

“Sam, why did this all happen?”

Sam’s shoulders sag, his expression unreadable. His eyes eventually leave yours to look at something over your shoulder. The sound of someone clearing their throat makes you spin around to see Ted standing in the doorway to the coaches’ offices. He nods his head for you to join him.

Glancing back at Sam one more time, he gives you a small smile and squeezes your shoulder. He apologizes one last time, to which you assure him  that everything is okay. But you were finding it hard to believe that yourself. 

Ted shuts the office door behind you and you dramatically fall into Beard’s chair as Ted sits in his own. 

You don’t bother beating around the bush, “What the hell is going on? I don’t come to work once and Sam ends up spilling the beans on everything. Did something happen?”

Your uncle gives you a sympathetic smile, “Yeah. I spilled some beans of my own.” At your confused expression, Ted plows forward, “I’m going back to Kansas.”

“For the summer?” you ask, though you fear you know the answer.

“No, Kiddo,” he sighs, “After the season’s over, I’m moving back to be closer to Henry. And Beard’s going back, too.”

“Oh,” you nod in understanding, but still find it hard to process, “When did you make that decision?”

“This morning, after my mom left,” he admits sheepishly, “But I’ve been thinking about it for a while.”

You sit across from him in silence, taking it all in. The only reason you were here in the first place was because of Ted. What were you supposed to do now?

“The team didn’t exactly take it well,” Ted explains, “And in the midst of the chaos, Sam asked what me leaving meant for you. Everything sort of snowballed after that.

You inhale deeply, taking it all in. 

“And Jamie?” you ask quietly, “How did he take it?”

“I think he was just caught off guard and trying to figure out how to process it all,” Ted tells you, “He was surprised about the family thing. And the whole job in New York thing.” 

“Jesus, he’s probably pissed at me again,” you groan, “I was literally going to tell him everything tonight. I just needed a few more hours.”

Ted’s lips quirk up, “That’s life, Kiddo. It doesn’t always go exactly how we’d like it to.”

You scoff, “Yeah well life is stupid.”

“Yeah, it can be,” Ted chuckles, “I think it sounds great; a writing job in New York. That’s what you’ve always wanted, right? To write and live in the Big Apple?”

“Yeah. It was,” you say quietly, “But I wasn’t sure if that's what I wanted still, so I was trying to figure it out before I told Jamie. Or anyone.”

“Hey, that’s fair,” Ted nods supportively, “If you want my humble opinion, I think it’s great if you want to go for it in New York. I also think it’s great if you decide to stay here and continue to figure things out. Heck, it would even be great if you wanted to come back to Kansas, too. But Kiddo, you have to make that decision, whatever it may be, on behalf of yourself. Not for me, not for Jamie, not for anyone else. Just for you.”

Ted’s words settle in the air and you take it all in. While you were already pretty dead set on what you were going to do, you definitely agreed with his sentiment. You had to follow your own gut for once, not anyone else’s.

“You’re right,” you eventually say softly, “I think I know what I’m going to do, but I think I owe it to Jamie to finally have him be the first to know.”

Ted gives you a supportive smile, and your stomach flips.

“So, you’re really leaving?”

Ted nods solemnly, “I’m really leaving.”

“Then who the hell is going to make ridiculous puns around here to annoy Roy?”

This makes Ted snort, “I don’t know. I’m hoping I’ve rubbed off on enough of them, that they’ll carry on the tradition.”

You laugh along with him. You wonder if Ted will ever fully understand the impact he’s had here. On the club, on the team, and even on you these past months. You have a feeling even if he did, it wouldn’t be enough to change his mind. 

You spend the next few hours trying to track down Jamie, hoping the sooner you could find him and explain things, the less damage would accrue. 

However, he wasn’t answering your calls or texts, and no one seems to know where he is. You fear, even after your promises to communicate with each other after your last falling out, Jamie had once again resorted to pushing you completely away.

Lucky for you, Keeley happened to pop by the club that afternoon, and after getting caught up on the drama, insisted on driving you to Jamie’s to see if he’s there. Unfortunately, after searching every nook and cranny of his lavish home, you resign to the fact that he’s not there. You feel defeated as you resituate yourself in Keeley’s passenger seat, unsure of what to do next. She offers to drive you around Richmond, suggesting that Jamie could be blowing off steam, running somewhere, and maybe you’d pass him. You take up her offer, less so because you hoped to catch a glimpse of him, and more so to avoid going home to any empty home for a little while longer. 

It was nearly 6PM by the time Keeley drops you off at your flat. Suffice it to say, you didn’t find Jamie jogging around Richmond. You also didn’t find him wallowing in Crown and Anchor, but that didn’t stop you and Keeley from doing so yourself over a quick pint before calling off your search for the night. As she drove you home, you briefly wondered if Jamie could have possibly fled back to Manchester, to see his mom again. But that was four hours away, and there was no chance you were asking Keeley, or anyone for that matter, to make that drive. And the Uber fare would be atrocious. 

As you climb your apartment stairs, you resign to a night of waiting by your phone, hoping to hear from him, and if not, trying to find him again tomorrow. 

When you walk into your home, you’re instantly overcome with the feeling that you’re not alone. You’re proven right when, as you’re discarding your coat and shoes, Jamie enters the living room from your kitchen. 

“Hi,” you breathe out, after getting over the shock of seeing him, “Have you been here the whole time?”

Jamie shrugs, “I went on a run for a bit. But eventually I got the urge to come here.”

You nod, still on edge, “You, uh, didn’t think to answer any of my calls or texts?”

Jamie cringes, “So, I’m pretty sure I left my phone in my bag in the locker room.”

You scoff in disbelief, “Jamie…”

“I know. I know. That was stupid. But I left the club in such a hurry, I wasn’t thinking.”

“I was worried sick all day, I thought you were shutting me out again,” you whimper tiredly, unable to stop yourself from giving into the emotion that built up all day.

“Shit,” Jamie mutters, taking large steps to close the gap between the two of you to gather you in his arms, “I’m sorry.”

You allow yourself to feel comforted by his embrace for a few seconds before you’re shoving him away abruptly, “Fuck! I shouldn’t be making you apologize to me, when I’m the one who lied to you and hurt you. Again!” 

You cover your face with your hands, frustrated at yourself for making Jamie feel even an ounce of guilt, when you were once again in this situation because of you.

Gently, Jamie pries your hands from your face and interlocks your fingers together. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“It’s not, though! I keep messing things up between us because I don’t know how to communicate like a normal human being. And you don’t deserve to be jerked around like this. But I promise, I can explain everything if you give me the chance.”

Jamie swallows, taking in your words, though a tiny smile plays at his mouth. “I promise I will give you the chance, but is it okay if I say some things first?”

You hesitate, your eyebrows furrowing over what he could possibly have to say, but eventually you nod. 

“Thank you,” Jamie whispers, giving your hands another squeeze and then he takes a deep breath, “You’ve been spending a lot of time lately reassuring me that I’m good enough, but I feel like I haven’t done enough to assure you that you are more than enough for me. Yeah, it has sucked to feel like you were keeping stuff from me. I knew you couldn’t have been doing anything wrong, but it still hurt that you either didn’t want me to know or trust me enough to let me in. But now I understand that it has nothing to do with me. I get that letting people in is hard and that you were afraid that the secrets you were keeping would make things harder. Sure, it would have been nice to know you were related to Ted from the get-go. I might have not tried so hard to sleep with my coach's niece the first chance I got.”

You manage a small laugh.

“Obviously, I don’t regret that though. And I get why you did it. I get that it might have made your job more complicated, and then even more so once we got together. Telling family is a big step. So, I get it, I do.

“I even get why you didn’t tell me about the job in New York. The thought of you leaving…I can’t even think about it too much. But I also know that it's your dream. And the last time you told a guy you wanted to go after your dream, he discouraged you. And even though I would never do that, I know deep down that still scares you. But I want you to know that I think it's amazing; that you’re writing again, and that you have the opportunity to do it in the city you’ve always wanted to live in. I’m so proud of you, and want you to be where you need to be. Even if it's not here with me. So, that's why, as much as it kills me to say, I think you should do it. You should take the job in New York.”

Jamie’s words weigh heavily on you. Firstly, you’re heartened by his reassurance that you were more than enough for him. You didn’t realize how much you needed to hear that. Secondly, you were simultaneously surprised and not surprised that he was encouraging you to pursue the New York job. It wasn’t a direction you had been expecting this inevitable conversation to take, but it was Jamie you were talking about. Of course he’d say exactly the right thing and support you, even if it meant you moving back to another continent.

Overcome with complete adoration for him, and since words are failing you at the moment, you can’t help but to plant a gentle kiss on his lips. As you pull away, Jamie is clearly surprised by the act of affection, but he’s also not complaining. He looks at you expectantly, hoping you do eventually have something to say in response to his speech. And you do. You just need to figure out how to word it best. 

You eventually inhale your own shaky breath, meeting his eyes once again, “Thank you, for saying all of that. It means a lot to me. Even if you say you understand, I’m still sorry for keeping everything from you, especially now that it has come out this way. It really all stemmed from not wanting to mess anything up between us, but of course the opposite still happened.

“I’ve been dying to tell you about Ted for so long, but like you said, telling family is a lot, and Ted’s an important part of your life too, so I didn’t want to make things weird between you two. 

“And the job…I knew you’d be excited for me. But I think I just never wanted to see the look on your face when you heard it was in New York. And then things got more complicated when Keeley told me she knew a literary agent, here in the U.K. who might be interested in meeting with me.”

“Oh?” Jamie’s eyebrows shoot up in hopeful curiosity.

“Yeah. So, as you may have guessed, I needed some time to sort out what I wanted to do and where I wanted to go.”

“And,” Jamie asks timidly, “Have you decided?”

After a few beats, you nod. “Yeah. I decided I can’t work for that agency here.” Jamie’s face falls and you’re quick to latch back onto his hand, “But I also can’t take the job in New York either.”

Jamie stares at you in total confusion, “What?”

You smile slightly, finding his expression oddly adorable. “I want to write more than anything, and part of me is happy doing it by any means necessary, but I also hate the idea of not being able to prove myself on my own. Back in Chicago, Mason got me the job at the advertising firm. Then, when I got tired of that, Ted and Rebecca got me the job for Richmond. My friend from Chicago got me an interview in New York, and Keeley knows a literary agent here. Everything I’ve done has been because some else suggested it or did it for me. I’m not naive enough to know that sometimes connections are how people get work these days, but I don’t want that to be my story. I want to succeed because I did it on my own. 

“So, this morning, I told the publisher in New York I was no longer interested in interviewing for the reading position, and then spent hours refining my manuscript and submitting it to a few small, independent publishing houses to see if any of them would be interested in working with me. I know it won’t be as lavish as the publishing houses in New York or the one Keeley had connections to. But all writers start from somewhere, and I want to start somewhere on my terms.”

Jamie digests everything you said, and eventually gives you a shaky smile, “And where are these publishers you submitted to?”

You give Jamie your own shy smile, “Right here, in England.” Jamie’s grin widens as you continue, “I’ve never felt more at home, than I have here. And with the exception of my own family, I’ve never been surrounded by more people who genuinely care about me. I feel more like myself than I ever have before and I’m not really keen on losing any of that.” You bite your lip, “And I also sorta really like a certain footballer that lives here, too. So that’s kinda the cherry on top of it all.”

Jamie lets out a disbelieving laugh, “So, you’re staying?”

“Yeah,” you nod, “Is that okay?”

Instead of answering, Jamie places both his hands on either side of your face and kisses you with as much passion as he can muster. You don’t hesitate to reciprocate, sliding your hands up his stomach to rest on his chest. You knew better now than to make a decision on behalf of a man, but god, were you glad that you got to keep doing this for the foreseeable future. 

When Jamie pulls away from you a few moments later, his eyes are watery, “I know I said I was okay with you going to New York - and I meant that - but, God, I’m glad you’re not.”

You giggle, “I’m pretty happy with my decision, too.”

Jamie leans in to kiss you again, but you lean back with your nose scrunched up. Your brain is less clouded by emotions now, and you finally pick up on the aroma flooding your home.

“Are you cooking something?”

Jamie smiles awkwardly, his face flushed, “Yeah, so during my run, I had this grand idea to surprise you with dinner like you usually do for me. So I grabbed what I could from the store and attempted to make your lasagna recipe. It’s probably nowhere near as good as yours is, and the garlic bread is store bought, but that shit still tastes fucking good, if I do say myself.”

You can’t keep the bright smile off your face, “I’m sure it’ll be amazing.”

Jamie squints, “Yeahhh, maybe wait to try it first before you give me too much credit.”

You giggle and shake your head, before pulling Jamie in for a warm hug, which he accepts without protest.

You couldn’t care less how the food was going to taste. It could be burned to a crisp and you still knew it would be the best meal of your life. Because Jamie, your Jamie, took the time to make it to make you happy. And push you towards a decision that he thought would be what you wanted, even if it hurt him. 

You were so lucky to have him, and you were comforted by the fact that he seemed pleased to have you as well. And now there were no more secrets between you threatening to unravel everything. Jamie wasn’t going to disappear on you again, and you certainly weren’t going anywhere either. Richmond was your dream home now, and the fact that your person lived here too was the best kind of bonus.

A/N: THERE IT ISSSS CANT WAIT TO HEAR EVERYONE’S REACTIONS! ALSO, was anyone else bummed we didn’t see the team’s reaction to Ted leaving in the show when they first heard? i’ve had the scene in my head as the ted reveal since i thought of this story between season 3 even came out because i knew they’d take ted away from us and i was shook we didn’t get a reveal. i get why and part of me appreciates them not focusing on the sad, but i really took away from my story haha

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[velvrei]

hihiii it’s the anon that asked if you had any hansumfella requests yet !! i just had to feel out the scenery …

this is like a very loose requests so you can like fill in the gaps, but i was wondering if you could write something where reader is someone who’s lowk kind of famous and fella mentions on stream that she’s his celebrity crush and the clip get’s really popular and she ends up seeing it and wowow turns out she thought he was cute too and they end up texing and blah blah blah!

it’s not very detailed but it’s just something that’s been on my mind lately hehehe thank uuu

omg this is so cute yes ofc i can do this

not so nonchalant (part 1)

pairing: hansumfella x famous!reader

warnings: fluff!

summary: fella reveals on stream that you are his celebrity crush, and the clip gets popular enough for you to see it

tyler was sat at his desk, streaming and answering questions from the fans. he chuckled as he read the chat.

“favorite twin tower? okay guys, let’s ask, i don’t know, normal questions?” he says, adding a laugh as the chat blows up with laughs and he starts to read the real ones.

“do you have a girlfriend?” he reads another question, wanting to face palm, “guys, i don’t have a girlfriend we’ve been over this.” he says with a laugh. “‘and i’m sure you stalkers will find out when i get one anyway, cause you guys have already found my address, so.” he says, calling out the chat as many people comment stuff like:

user27: oh that’s not..

kittyluvr: we love u!

fellasbff: HELP

he continued answering questions, most of them unserious, until he saw one in the chat that caught his eye.

“who’s your celebrity crush, and don’t say ice spice.” he read from the screen, laughing at the end comment. “damn, i was gonna say ice spice too,” he joked, his tone obviously sarcastic.

he began to think, even though he knew he didn’t have to, and you were immediately on his mind. he wasn’t sure if he should outright say it, but he was a few drinks in from recording beeriokart not too long before so he thought, why not.

“i’ll give you guys an actual answer, you guys have probably had enough bullshit from em when it comes to these questions.”

the chat angrily agrees, “okay, okay!” he laughs, holding his stomach. “she’s a pretty famous tiktoker. she’s known for her humor and positivity, and she has a huge following on both youtube and instagram is well.”

the chat blows up with guesses and he can’t help but smile when he sees someone guess your name.

“it’s y/n, yeah,” he said into the mic, as the chat begins to go crazy. “she’s like super beautiful, but has a huge following so there’s no way she’d even know i exist. okay, anyways. next question.”

the chat all begins to fangirl, they’ve never heard tyler seriously talk about someone like that in a nice manner, so they knew he was down bad and wasn’t afraid to point it out.

a few days later, you were sitting on your bed scrolling through your phone, it was around 10pm. you scrolled from a random edit to see a clip of this funny guy you’d been seeing on your for you page recently. you’d be lying if you said you didn’t have some of the edits of him saved to your phone.

you continued to watch the clip, it starting with him talking about the twin towers, which made you laugh, and then continues as he’s asked about his celebrity crush.

he joked before saying your name, making your mouth fall open. you weren’t expecting it, and given he was someone you had been watching recently, you were even more taken back.

you immediately went to his social media, slightly stalking as if you weren’t before, going to his instagram and following it.

on fella’s side, he practically jumped for joy when he saw the notification of your following him, however, once the realization sunk in of why you probably followed him, his heart dropped.

you decided to message him, kicking your feet as you sent the first message.

you: fella. i know what you did.

you said, laughing as you decided to scare him a bit.

him: i am quacking in my boots right now.

him: QUAKING. not quacking. god.

you: LMFAOO. i saw the clip, that’s all. just wanted to make your heart drop to your ass

him: you definitely succeeded! 😁😁😁😁😁

you: LOL i think it’s cute though like before i saw that i won’t even lie to you like im not gonna gas up your ego or anything 🙄

you: but i you were on my fyp a couple days ago and i may or may not have giggled at your videos…

him: WHAT.

him: is this a prank

him: am i being pranked right now.

you: NOO THIS IS NOT A PRANK FELLA I PROMISE.

you: but i saw the clips and may or may not have stalked your tiktok, instagram and twitter…

him: oh

him: OH.

you: LMFAO. anyways, staring over!

you: hi! you’re really funny

him: this is not happening rn

you: we should meet up

you: only for the fans ofc yk they would go crazy

him: wait no redo bc i’m supposed to ask you on the date

him: yk yk we should nonchalantly go on a date yk casually casual date where we get food and post pictures nonchalantly

you: HELP?

him: help is on the way🚨🚔

you: what if i say no now just bc you said that.

you: jk, yes i’ll go on the nonchalant date with you nonchalantly but you have to look nice

him: omg when okay

you: tomorrow?

him: OHBMY GOD

him: yes. that’s fine. i’ll pick you up at 7 tomorrow. i. am. being. nonchalant. i. promise. totally not freaking out rn

you: that’s cute awww

you: ILL SEE YOU TOMORROW!

him: SEE YOU TOMORROW 😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁😁 (i’m dying)

…

part two here hehehe

[meimi-haneoka]

Report of CLAMP's Twitter Space - April 1st, 2024 (part concerning Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card)

As it was quite predictable, CLAMP sensei opened a Twitter Space on April 1st to celebrate this important and special day, which they consider their "birthday" as a creative group. ✨

It is also the birthday of quite a number of characters in their works, but it's hilarious they mentioned later in this Space how April 1st is actually only CCS!Sakura's and TRC!Sakura's birthday, as all the other characters have "ambiguous" situations going on. 😂 I'll delve into this part later.

You will find the full report under the cut, since the post became considerably long once again - it was inevitable since they kept bringing Sakura things up and the Space was almost 50 minutes long! 😅I also wanted to feature as many info as possible, and where I could, I wanted to translate their conversations directly rather than making a summary of it.

CLAMP celebrated April 1st going to a beloved cafè in Kyoto (they later revealed in their IG stories it's called Mont and there's always a cute dog there), spending some nice relaxing time drinking something all four together. That's when they got the idea to open a Space to celebrate with their fans too. CLAMP reiterated several times during the Space how grateful they are for being able to do a creative job like this, even after 35 years. A job none of them really imagined when they were little, as "to become a mangaka" wasn't a specific dream any of them really had.

And then, Ohkawa introduced the part of the Space where they talked about CCS Clear Card, starting by the mention of the release of volume 16 (which happened precisely on April 1st)!

Ohkawa: A serialization that lasted 7 years and a half, isn't it? Mokona: So long, right? Ohkawa: Yeah, quite long! Satsuki: Elementary schoolers have already graduated by now. Ohkawa: Yeah, the readers who were in the first year when the serialization started have graduated elementary school long ago. We had decided that Sakura would start middle school when Clear Card Arc began, and readers of her same age reached adulthood by now. Satsuki & Mokona: Ah, it's true! Ohkawa: They've stayed with us for long time, right? And now the final volume is out. *they all applaude* Mokona: It's quite a happy end, isn't it? Ohkawa: Uh? Mokona: a happy, happy, happy end. 🥰 Ohkawa: 😨...you mean, an APPEALING end, right? (Nekoi echoing her: right?) (note: happy and appealing start with the same pronounce in Japanese) Nekoi: 😅(to Mokona) What are you talking about? Ohkawa: What do you mean, Mokona? 🙃 *Mokona laughs nervously* Nekoi: Is that your headcanon or something? Ohkawa: Is this okay to say? Nekoi: Or rather, is this your conspiracy? 😂

Of course they all joked like this because they wanted to avoid spoiling how the story ended 😂 Ohkawa thanked all the readers for sticking with this story for such a long time. Long time after Sakura Card Arc, when the right opportunity came, they were able to draw this "Clear Card Arc". In that regard, Ohkawa mused that she can't even recall why the previous arc is called "Sakura Card Arc", despite no one actually calls those cards as "Sakura Cards" in the story itself (she said the characters do call them "Sakura's Cards", but not "Sakura Cards"), and Mokona seemed to agree with her, but here sensei was simply forgetting that it was Tomoyo herself the one who named them that way in volume 7 😅(in the beginning she wanted to call them "Sakura-chan Cards", then she settled for "Sakura Cards"....unforgettable Sakura's comment: "It sounds like the name of a credit card..." 😂) It was long ago, we can forgive them. 😉And they made sure to repeat the same thing with Clear Card Arc, since in this story NO ONE ever calls those as "Clear Cards" but actually just "transparent cards" or "new cards". 😂

Ohkawa added that middle schooler Sakura grew up a bit more in the last part of the story, and people who have already read the last chapter can understand what she means by that. She also said that she'd like to leave a more in-depth talk for another time, when they get the right opportunity, but the biggest reason why they decided to open this Space was to talk about unknown "behind the scenes" trivia that the fans could ask about using the hashtag of "CLAMP day" and those of the campaigns organized by Kodansha (in particular, the one to win the big A4 size clear bookmark). She also said that she wanted to give this opportunity to Satsuki and Nekoi to say something about Clear Card since the last time they all talked together, they didn't get the chance. Ohkawa also brought up the last CLAMP Kanbukai podcast, where she talked about the trivia of Fujitaka's iron kettle and that shocked both her colleagues, cause they didn't know about that detail! 😆

Ohkawa: The story I'm about to tell you is something me and Mokona know very well, since there's a precise reason behind this trivia. In Clear Card Arc there's a "key character" called Akiho. Akiho's last name is "Shinomoto" and that was decided ever since the very beginning, but her first name was originally Sairi! Her full name was Sairi Shinomoto. Mokona: It gives off a different vibe, right? Ohkawa: Indeed. I had already decided the kanji for it and all, but at some point, before we even started to draw chapter 1, whenever I talked to Mokona...(to Mokona) please explain what happened. Mokona: Whenever I tried to write the hiragana for あいお (aio) in our conversations on Line, the autocorrect on my phone would change it to 秋穂 (Akiho). (Note: another reading of the kanji in Akiho's name is indeed Ai'o) Whenever I tried to write those hiragana characters, the autocorrect would change it to akiho once the message got sent, and I was like "what's that akiho?? I didn't want to write that". I couldn't understand, because it's not like I had ever used that word with other people (note: she means the autocorrect didn't learn it from other conversations). Ohkawa: The first 2-3 times it happened I was just perplexed, but then as this "akiho, akiho, akiho" kept happening every time, I just asked her "Mokona, are you doing this on purpose??" and she was like "no, not at all!" 😂 She told me "Look what (the phone) converts this into!", but when we tried to do the same on our phones, it didn't come out to any of us! Mokona: But I did show it to you, right? That it came out like that to me. Ohkawa: Yeah, you did! I found it strange cause she said she doesn't even have any friend who's called Akiho-chan, she even tried to recall if there was a character of any series that's called like that... Mokona: Right, but I didn't know any! 😅 Ohkawa: So we started to think about it...Akiho seemed like a really cute name, it combines the characters of "autumn" (秋) with the ear of rice (穂), we pondered about it for 0.02 seconds and then I said "Let's use 'Akiho' for her name". And that's how she became Akiho Shinomoto. Satsuki: You thought that the ear of rice was a nice "opposite pole" to Sakura's spring. Nekoi: What were Sairi-chan's kanji? Ohkawa: Well, it doesn't really matter now but initially, I had designed for her name to bear a kanji only for the "ri" part, and leave the "Sai" part in hiragana. In CCSakura all the characters have their name either in hiragana or kanji, and there isn't any character who's got a name that mixes both. So I thought to do that for her. Ohkawa: Speaking of Sairi-chan, it's a good moment to mention that there's this morning drama show on NHK starting right today, called "Tiger with Wings" where Sairi Ito is starring. I really love her as an actress and I think Sairi is a really cute name, so I had decided for Akiho's name to originally be Sairi, just like hers. It's not like I created the "Akiho" character in Sairi Ito's image, but I just thought that Sairi was a really good name and there was a time when I thought that it would be better for her to have a name closer to Sakura's one, so I had initially decided for that one. But thanks to Mokona's fated intervention, she became Akiho.

Many fans who were listening started to try to type "aio" on their phones and uploaded the screenshots of how their autocorrect would suggest "Akiho" as a conversion! Ohkawa and Mokona looked at the screenshots and commented that the same result can be obtained both on an iOS phone and on a Mac computer. Mokona felt relieved that it wasn't just happening to her! 😆 Ohkawa: It might be that Mokona-san unilaterally changed her name for us, but...😆 Mokona: it's not like I was scheming for it or anything! 😆 A fan also brought up the fact that in the prefecture of Yamaguchi there's an onsen facility called "Aio Onsen" written with the same kanji of Akiho's name, and CLAMP were quite surprised to find that out.

Ohkawa: If you look at the story you'll know what I'm talking about, but in the finale Akiho reveals her true name as a 'final move', and I did think in the past that the spoiler about her true name would show through the fact that we gave her an autumnal name, but Mokona writing that 'Akiho' all those times was just so guided by fate, to the point it shocked us. And it came from writing something trivial like "Yo!" (note: Mokona wrote "ai" as a colloquial way to say "yo", "hi!") 😆 Mokona: It seems like it's quite an unusual name but don't worry, it's not like I was scheming for it! 😅

Then, Ohkawa asked Nekoi and Satsuki if there was a particular scene or part of the story they liked or if they had a fun episode to tell about...while she was waiting for their answers, she said they received lots of praises for the cover of volume 16, with many comments saying how beautiful it is, and for them it's already enough if people can even just look at the cover on the internet.

Ohkawa: By the way, you said the tone used for Kaito-san after his eyes changed was quite bothersome to you, right? Nekoi: Yeah, because I kept forgetting it! Satsuki: I wonder if people will notice...his eyes are so tiny, right? Ohkawa: Were his eyes huge, before? Satsuki: No, I mean, when turned into a tankobon his eyes look so tiny... Ohkawa: Ah, I see, I see. Nekoi: it's because we're used to see it on a screen. Ohkawa: Lots of stuff happened to Kaito-san in volume 15, and....lots of stuff happened to his eyes too, as a result. Because of that, we added a tone finish to his eyes, and it would make me happy if people noticed it. Mokona: There's quite a non-human feel to his eyes, now. Ohkawa: Indeed, indeed.

Ohkawa then asked Satsuki for her own tidbit about Clear Card, and she mentioned a color spread she really liked was the one of chapter 55, with Sakura and Akiho seemingly springing out of water, each on a side of the spread. Satsuki commented it's "a pose quite common in our artworks". Ohkawa recognized it and said the spread was actually two pieces drawn separately (as it's quite deducible by how the spread is composed). Satsuki added that in general all the art of the last volume is quite cute.

Ohkawa: What about you, Mokona? Mokona: As for me.... As you know, right in the middle of the play written by Naoko-chan, they end up in the world of the book. Well, it's not like they really go to another world. When we reach the part of Syaoran's action, both Sakura's POV and Syaoran's POV progress simultaneously...and I think if this were a video, there would be a way to portray it smoothly, but when we were working on it, Nanase told me "I want you to find a way to portray it that is fitting for a manga". So when I've got down to draw the storyboard, I've arranged the panels in a way that was quite understandable to me, but I started to have doubts whether people would be able to get easily what was going on...💦 I could understand it completely because I knew the story, but what about somebody who was seeing it for the first time...? Would it be okay...? I was quite worried about that. Ohkawa: Ooh, I see. I think somehow they were able to understand it.

After this, Ohkawa mentioned Motoko Kumai (Syaoran's, Sumomo, Nataku's VA)'s quote-retweet of their announcement of the Space, where she wished them a happy CLAMP day and said all of the meetings with those characters are a treasure to her. She added "Thank you for pouring your heart in everything you do". It was very funny to hear Ohkawa say "I wasn't the right person to read this, I get embarrassed with these praises! 😳But no, really, thank you very much." ✨

Ohkawa then said "We've been told by Kodansha that they've never had a single manga that continued for two volumes after the end was announced...well, this is our volume 16 that was extended twice 😁"

Ohkawa: I say this every single time, but in my heart, this was the story where Sakura-chan acted as a proper main character, till the very end. I think this is the story Sakura painted for herself, following her own feelings. Sorry, but this is how I feel. Of course I think it's possible to not see it this way and you're absolutely entitled to it, but we think our Sakura-chan really did her best. Mokona: She truly did. Ohkawa: Also, we got lots of comments saying that Touya used too many cheats 😆But I would like to remind everyone that Touya was a "cheater" since long time ago. Mokona: Despite not appearing often, we stacked on him many strong points. Ohkawa: He was really a cheater all along. (note: of course here with "cheater" they're meaning his abilities that allow him to do unexpected and powerful things in the plot, in order to help Sakura at the most convenient moment) I'm talking about Clow Card Arc right now (note: this is a part concerning Sakura Card Arc, actually), but to have a magical power that allows you to transfer all of it to a magical being created by Clow is already a cheat to begin with. Satsuki: he can also see (non-living beings). Ohkawa: Sakura-chan was refusing to do so, but she's also someone who can see them.

While looking at the hashtags, I can't understand if this was Nekoi's personal comment or the comment of a fan, but she said "It's good that it wasn't Touya the one finding the Cards", mocking the way he would've said the incantation to capture the Cards, and Ohkawa replied "Well, he would probably be 'Cardcaptor Touya' now. But he was an high schooler! Feels a bit off..." and Nekoi along with Satsuki mused even more on the possibility of him having a transformation scene like shoujo heroines or if he would just go capturing cards in his school uniform 😂 Mokona: I don't really think Tomoyo would put that much effort in creating costumes for anyone other than Sakura-chan 😂 Ohkawa: Yeah, Tomoyo wouldn't make a costume for him. Therefore, despite it would be quite troublesome because I don't really think Yukito is particularly skilled in sewing, what I can think of is that he would make for him some kind of awkward outfits that don't even look like cosplay costumes. Satsuki: He'll make them by himself. Ohkawa: Well, it's not like Touya would make them... Nekoi & Mokona: There's no reason for him to do it, after all. Ohkawa: He wouldn't be doing this with a serious spirit. Nekoi: So he wouldn't feel a particular reason to change clothes. Mokona: What if he wants to hide his face? What do you think? Ohkawa: Ah, you mean a mask? Nekoi: Well, it's not like Sakura-chan herself had ever any eyewitnesses, after all... Nekoi: He gives me the vibe of someone who would go and capture cards swiftly like he just dropped an item...and hey ho! It would end immediately like a yonkoma (note: four panel manga)! Mokona: He might just pay attention to not get his school uniform dirty. Ohkawa: Then, if Sakura was in Touya's place, she would just go like "Oh, I think I've heard a noise" Satsuki: "There's some rustling" Ohkawa: But I don't think Touya would try so desperately to hide it from her, like she did with him! 😁

Then, Ohkawa tried to bring the topic back to the theme of the day, Clear Card and the release of volume 16.

Ohkawa: it was the first time we happened to draw again for one of our series after almost 20 years. Of course there's been a change in the design, it was impossible for us to keep it the same. I'd be happy if you could enjoy nonetheless. Moreover, at the end of the story, the front and the back of all the Cards changed. We were able to show the back of the Cards when the special chapter was published on Nakayoshi, after the story was over, but as for the front of the Cards themselves, we have just shown a peek. Mokona: Right, and just a few of them. Ohkawa: Truth to be told, we have modified all of the Cards in their manga version. (to Mokona) It was hard, right? Mokona: Yes. Ohkawa: Mokona has rewritten all of their names, too. Because the design is different. Mokona: Yeah. I had colored them too. I thought I would die. Ohkawa: Nekoi and Satsuki worked really hard on them too. Despite that, the truth is we have no opportunity to show the new designs of all the Cards in their manga version! Mokona: It would be good if we could show somewhere the colored version of even just one Card... Nekoi: Since we worked so hard...

Many people in the "CLAMP Day" hashtag suggested for them to show them at the CLAMP exhibition of this summer. Then, back on the topic of volume 16:

Ohkawa: I know there might be people who won't think in that way about volume 16, and everything we're talking about might be a spoiler for others, but I personally think that both Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun matured little by little during this last volume, and I'd be happy for you to see it. Eriol ended up being that kind of character, as usual... (note: she impersonated him saying something, but unfortunately I can't really understand that line) Mokona: Beside him, the "camera" of the story focused properly on all the other characters, including the Kinomoto family. Ohkawa: This is something I wanted to do since long time ago, but...Fujitaka himself didn't have any powers, and although he didn't understand very well what was going on, he trusted Sakura-chan and in the end told her something like "I knew you were going out of the house at night!" 😁 I'm really glad we could draw that scene for him. I've always wanted to portray at least once what the characters of the "parents generation" did inside the story, it's not like Fujitaka-san was spacing out in a corner oblivious to everything...and I'm glad I could portray that in the story. Satsuki: He's collected lots of suspicious books too, right? Ohkawa: Yes. There's something I asked my three colleagues to depict long time ago, and it's connected to what happens in the end. Akiho-chan in the end says something like "I want to aim for a job like this in the future!", but not only that, she also looks for rare books while travelling to many countries around the world. The first time I wanted to portray what kind of rare books she would be collecting was in a scene of long time ago, when the girls visit Fujitaka's library. I asked to please put an homage to Cthulhu over there. Mokona: It's true! Please look for it! If I remember correctly, they were some kind of grimoires that appear in the Cthulhu mythos. We have included them clearly so please everyone, have fun looking for them! Ohkawa: We have intended all of those as homages, so I'd be happy if you could look at them. (note: the chapter they're talking about is the 26th one)

Mokona: It looks like something terrible is going to come out at any moment from a corner of Dad's library....💦 Ohkawa: Yeah. But Fujitaka is like "any kind of book is welcome here!", even with books like those ones. Ohkawa: And then, there's the matter of the chocomint. There have been questions like "why do you keep bringing chocomint up?" before. Among CLAMP, the ones liking chocomint are Nekoi and Satsuki. Mokona, what about you? Mokona: I've recently started to be able to eat the chocomint ice cream from Häagen-Dazs. Ohkawa: You didn't really like it before, right? Mokona: Yes. People from the "chocomint side" will probably think it's pretty mild tasting, but...😅 Ohkawa: As for me, I can't really eat it. 😅But I feel like when a person you love eats it so eagerly, you can't help but wanting to try it too. That's the reason why we employed chocomint in the story. Maybe people who like chocomint will disagree with me, but to me it's quite a divisive kind of food, you either love it or hate it. Mokona: Its color is so overwhelmingly cute too. I always end up wishing to eat it. Ohkawa: Are you like "ugh! This was a mistake" or "well this is quite good" when you actually try it? Mokona: If I do my best, I can eat it till the end. Ohkawa: Well, we have Lilie, an older character appearing in the story, whose person she fell in love with started to like chocomint precisely because she likes it too. That's something that can happen too, right? Mokona: Indeed. For Syaoran it was the same. Ohkawa: Uhm, right, didn't Syaoran dislike it? Nekoi: Yes, but when he tried it he actually started to like it. Mokona: He could eat it because it was something Sakura made for him! Ohkawa: Isn't that amazing? Mokona: It is 🥰

After this, CLAMP started to read some messages from the fans, and also mentioned that the word "Sakura-chan" ended up trending on Twitter. Ohkawa: We have realized it today for the first time, but among our characters, Sakura-chan is the only one whose birthday is TRULY on April 1st! Satsuki: The double Sakura-chan, right? Ohkawa: Right. First of all, I'm not sure we can consider as a 'birth day' what happened to the existence of xxxHolic's Watanuki. Then we have the birthday of Tsubasa's Syaoran, which was decided deliberately by princess Sakura, so even in his case it's ambiguous. Another one is Seishirou from Tokyo Babylon, and in his case the birthday is a lie. So that leaves us basically with just Cardcaptor Sakura's Sakura and Tsubasa's Sakura as the only characters who are truly born on April 1st? Mokona: In the case of Sakura from Tsubasa, I wonder if we should consider her calendar the same as ours. Ohkawa: Ah, right!! Because she lives in another country, right? Mokona: And another world too.

After reading some more messages, Ohkawa said that she's very happy even just with fans of the old Clow Card and Sakura Card Arc loving the new arc too, but what makes her the happiest is to know there are people who have discovered the CCSakura series thanks to Clear Card Arc, and will keep treasuring it from now on. They also mused over the fact that they've been in activity as authors for more than half their lives and the time they've spent working together is far longer than the time they've lived at their parent's home. All four of them are extremely grateful for being able to do this artistic job as a creative group for such a long time.

Taking the opportunity of a fan mentioning the CLAMP Exhibition in July, Ohkawa gave a warm suggestion to try to visit the exhibition if possible, because judging by the current condition of their original artworks and the difficulties they're having moving them around, they don't think there is going to be another opportunity to do this again in the future. 💦

Then, a fan sent them a particular question: "Do you have plans for another arc of Sakura and Syaoran from CCS? Maybe about their wedding?" Ohkawa: Hum, in my idea it'd be best for everyone to imagine Sakura and Syaoran's wedding in their own hearts, but if there's the possibility of a continuation after the events of the last volume, we will certainly let you know.

The person asked about an xxxHolic continuation too, which of course Ohkawa re-confirmed (they're currently preparing everything to resume the serialization) and asked us to wait just a bit more for the announcement from the editorial team of Young Magazine!

After some more messages from the fans, CLAMP gave their final greetings on such an important day!

Nekoi: We only have you to thank for reaching this anniversary on this day. Thank you very much. (they all clap their hands) There will be lots of things to enjoy ahead, and I invite all of you to gaze at the pink color of Tokyo Tower. Ohkawa: It seems we'll be able to watch it from Youtube too, so please don't miss the chance. Satsuki: I want to thank everyone for your support. Just as Nekoi mentioned, we have plans for more things ahead, there's the return of xxxHolic too, and...I wonder if there'll be a new work too? Ohkawa: (laughs) Well, more than anything, there's the Clear Card anime adaptation too. I think it will take some more time but surely, without fail, the announcement from Kodansha will come, so please stay tuned. Mokona: This one volume marks the end of Sakura's story. (note: the term Mokona uses, 区切り, seems to not be a "definitive end", but rather seems to be indicating more a point of "break", a "delimitation", a "place to stop"; there's still a marked sense of "end" - whether it's just to an arc or the entire story is not clear, so I chose that translation but I wanted to point out the other nuances in the term). I am extremely grateful to everyone who watched over Sakura-chan's growth and even those who grew up along with her! We look forward to your continued support. Also, I would like to add something that is probably a bit off topic, but there are also some anime projects we have created character designs for. Ohkawa: Oh, right, of course!! That's very important. Mokona, I knew I could count on you, thanks for reminding me. Netflix announced the "The Grimm Variations" series, then Code Geass, which we've been making character designs for long time, will have a new series: "Rozé of the Recapture". Moreover, the new season of the Vanguard D anime series was announced too. Please watch those too. 🙏 And then, as a leader, this is my turn for the final greetings. I truly feel like you've been watching over us in many, many ways for the past 35 years. Whether you've liked us before and now you're taking your distance from us, or on the contrary you weren't interested in us before but now you're following us, please know all of you are still very precious to me. If you stopped reading our works, it's all right. I hope we can be reunited with you again one day through another work that you'd feel like you want to read. For the moment, I would like to thank all of you from the bottom of my heart for all of your efforts, your strength and lots of energy that allowed us to carry Cardcaptor Sakura Clear Card Arc to the final act. I'm sure Tokyo Tower will shine with a bright pink color tonight! Please make sure to listen to our podcasts, and to other Spaces we'll open when we can. Thank you very much! ✨🙏

[witchthewriter]

𝐒𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐦𝐚𝐬/𝐘𝐮𝐥𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐔𝐡𝐭𝐫𝐞𝐝, 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐧, 𝐎𝐬𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐭𝐡 & 𝐒𝐢𝐡𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐢𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞

⤷ gender neutral, ambiguous race, and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!  

a/n: why won't tumblr let me indent conversations???? AND I am so sorry this is late xx

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ | ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ ᴵᴵ

𝑺𝑭𝑾🌿

It was a bit disheartening that you all couldn't get back home in time. The harsh weather did not allow for hasty travel.

So, the group was a bit stumped on how to celebrate the holiday, not just because you're a mixture of Saxons and Danes, but because you did not have what you usually did. Not your families, or a roof over your heads, nor did you have a wonderful feast... that's what the group was most sad about in all honesty. (Besides Sihtric who has a wife and many chlldren of course).

But Uhtred settles everyone. Like he usually does.

"We can celebrate how we want to. Combine our traditions or maybe experience something new? What do you say?"

"Uhtred, our tradition goes for twelve days-" Sihtric replies, scratching the side of his head.

"Well at least we'll be back in time for some of it!" Finan claps Sihtric on the shoulder, slightly squeezing.

Everyone was onboard. (of course they were, all members of the group respect each other - and therefore their beliefs.)

With Finan first to agree, as always.

The night before Yule, you made everyone sleep in the same tent. Dragging everyone's sleeping rolls into the one space, ignoring the disgruntled comments from each man.

But as your found family, you wanted at least one night where everyone is together (even if there isn't much room).

Osferth and yourself are in the middle, with Finan and Sihtric on either side.

Uhtred comes into the tent late - making sure the area was secure (I know there would usually be a look out but just pretend it isn't needed for this night)

At first everyone fought over space, but as the time went on, a calmness settled in the tent...until Finan farted

Osferth was the first to wake. He stayed in the tangled mess of arms and legs for a bit; revelling in the warmth of his family around him.

Luckily, with Uhtred's forward thinking, he had gotten all your presents weeks in advance. And last night he wasn't only just securing the small camp. He had set up the presents outside, along with 'decorations' (which were branches and herbs he'd found. It actually looked very beautiful.)

Osferth quietly left the tent, standing in awe of what Uhtred had done. He started the food; as he's always done. Pulling out all the stops... truly putting in all his effort to make the food perfect

And Osferth really did outdo himself, because that's how the rest of you left the tent. By your noses.

Prayers and thanks are said before the food is dished out, and it isn't until minutes later that you and Finan spot the presents

"Aye, what do we have here?" Finan nearly squeals. His delight illuminating his grubby face.

"A surprise," Uhtred replies with an amused smile.

"Oh I love surprises, well, only the good ones -" you clarified. Finan nodding along in agreement.

"Well, go on," Uhtred said ushering you forward. Then he turned, cupping his mouth and shouted, "Osferth! Sihtric!"

When presents are handed out, Finan is the most excited to receive his, while Uhtred is excited to give them.

Sihtric does his best to keep on a happy face, but you can tell he feels guilty for not coming back in time for Yule. You know he misses his wife and kids.

Each of you took turns trying to cheer him up. But all he could find solace in, was that he'd be able to see them soon enough.

With full bellies and a twinkle in each of your eyes, you all laid down to stare up at the stars.

Shoulder to shoulder, you all felt each other's warmth, letting it sink into your body, into your very bones.

[solar-halos]

odesta week. day #2 - take me out tuesday

summary: a glimpse into how annie and finnick's dating life evolved. 3k, fluff, angst (bc it's them)

Do not listen to what everyone says about Annie—she is not bossy. Or a control freak. Or a bad listener. She’s just a natural born leader.

Finnick agrees with her, which is why he’s putting so much effort into planning their first official date. Sure, they’ve been friends since they were little, but that was different. Those were playdates. Not actual dates. 

This, on the other hand, was grownup. A celebration of their adulthood.

Well—okay. Annie is only thirteen, and Finnick isn’t much older, but still. This is exciting. Annie had to be careful about calling Finnick her boyfriend just in case the wrong person overheard and ratted her out to her parents, but her mom made it very clear that all she had to do was hold off until her thirteenth birthday. Then she could have all the little boyfriends she wanted.

Little boyfriend. Of course her mom would find a way to make their newfound independence sound so immature. 

It doesn’t matter. There’s still a lot of rules they have to follow—no straying from where they initially said they were going, no trespassing onto private beaches—but that doesn’t faze Annie. She’s been daydreaming about all the dates they could go on ever since her mom finally agreed that she could call Finnick her boyfriend.

Here’s step one of her master plan: getting ready. She pulls on her nicest dress and manipulates her swimsuit so that it stays hidden underneath the clothes, and then she bugs her mom for some lipstick to dab on. She even manages to swing for some perfume.

This brings her to step two: gather up all her money. Finnick will be paying for lunch—he says it’s the least he can do—but she self-appointed herself for snack duty. She intends on stuffing her face with salt water taffy.

With all the technical stuff out of the way, she occupies herself with some yarn and knitting needles until Finnick finally knocks on the door. She hurriedly swings it open.

He greets her with a hug. Annie works her fingers through the gel in his hair and traces the buttons on his shirt.

“Do you like it?” he asks, stepping away. “The shirt is my dad’s.”

“Same with my mom’s hair clips!” They were pretty and pearly. Perfect for dates. “Think they’ll let us keep it?”

“I dunno. It does make me feel older, though.”

“Same.” Annie grins. She can’t wait until she simply is old, but this will have to do. For now. “Okay. So I think we get lunch first then swim later, so we’re not sandy all day.”

“Sounds perfect to me—it’ll give us more time to window shop.”

Annie loves when he listens to her, and she loves it even more when he throws out equally fun suggestions. Why doesn’t everyone just date their best friend?

Annie’s parents make an appearance to give her one final reminder to be safe and get home before curfew. She nods and nods and nods, then gives them both hugs and kisses on the cheeks as soon as they give her permission to leave. 

Finnick holds his elbow out. “Shall we?”

She giggles, hooking her arm through his. They shall.

---

Ever since Finnick came back from the Games, he’s been very unwell. Annie doesn’t blame him.

He doesn’t wanna hang out with their friends. He hates going to the market. He doesn’t even like being in his house in the Victor’s Village.

Annie doesn’t blame him for that, either. There are way too many rooms and not enough people. It also makes weird noises at night. Mr. Odair claims the house is just settling—Annie is convinced that they’re being haunted.

Honestly, staying home doesn’t really matter to her, but she can tell it’s really started to frustrate Finnick. It’s like his body is working against him—he says he wants to go out with her, but he just can’t. Add that to the long list of things that Annie doesn’t fault him for.

The arena he spent three weeks straight in was literally outside, so Annie thinks he can afford to hole himself up in the comfort of his own room. He might even get acclimated to this strange house. 

He does not agree with her. And that’s fine—she hadn’t really thought about how the arena didn’t count as the real outdoors, but after Finnick points that out to her, she tries to be more supportive. Coddling him wasn’t gonna get either of them anywhere. 

So they go to the market. They have to cut their trip early when someone brushes past Finnick and he brushes back at them harder, but Annie isn’t angry about it. To her understanding, the hardest part about the arena wasn’t the arena itself—it was the people.

He doesn’t say anything the entire walk back to his house. Then, they’re unloading all their groceries, and he starts to cry.

“I’m sorry,” he says, but she doesn’t know what he has to be sorry for. He lashed out at some fully grown man at the market—not some little kid. He doesn’t seem very comforted by this observation. “That’s—that’s the thing, Annie. I don’t think that would have mattered to me, ‘cause all I felt was someone pushing at me, and I just—freaked. It could be a kid next time. It could be.”

It could be. That’s something he keeps coming back to, so Annie tries her best to be comforting. She pulls up a chair and starts rubbing at his back, relieved when he falls into her.

“I want to go out with you,” he says hoarsely. “I’m trying so hard to get better for you.”

“Don’t get better for me,” she says. That’s the one thing she’s sure of. “It’ll stress you out, you know, ‘cause you’re not doing it for yourself.”

“I don’t care about myself.” Annie doesn’t know why that unsettles her more than the crying. Probably because that’s a bit harder to fix. “I don’t mean that in a bad way. I just—I don’t really need to like myself to be happy. You know?”

Annie does not know. It’s not like she’s in love with herself, either—far from it—but life sounds like it would be so much harder if she didn’t like herself at least a little bit.

“As long as you’re happy,” Annie says, because that sounds like the most important part. “Besides, there’s a ton about you to like.”

Finnick shakes his head, like she’s wrong. Annie narrows her eyes. “We haven’t gone anywhere since I came back. We haven’t even gotten taffy.”

Is that what this is about? Going on dates? At least that’s something Annie can definitely find a solution to, so she examines the contents of their groceries.

Bananas. Jam. Those chocolate caramel squares Finnick loves so much. Ice cream that he can finally afford to purchase by the bucketfuls. They even have canned cherries.

It’s like the date planned itself. Annie is totally out of her element right now—for someone who feels everything so intensely, she sure has zero tact when it comes to comforting her crying boyfriend—but the best way she can think of to grab his attention is to simply tap on his shoulder. He emerges from his hands in no time.

“Are you in the mood for a sweet treat?”

Everyone knows Finnick can’t deny a sweet treat. His eyes trail over all the stuff she sprawled over the table. “Yeah…”

“Wanna help me make one? I’m thinking about a sundae, except with jam instead of peanuts.”

Finnick nods. “We always hated when sundaes came with peanuts.”

“Exactly,” Annie agrees, so they get to work. Finnick’s fingers start out shaky at the beginning, but he gets more giggly right as they start piling on all their fillings onto the banana. He ties one of the cherry stems into a knot. “Woah! Can you do a bow?”

“I don’t think…” He trails off. Then he plucks out another one. “I can try.”

They’re three attempts in when Annie realizes that he’s just using this as an excuse to eat more cherries. She snatches the jar away from him, but she’s not actually mad. She just wants a cherry for herself. 

He suggests taking their concoction to the private beach the victors have all to themselves. The tartness of the jam balances out the sweetness of the ice cream.

The (metaphorical) cherry on top is all the seashells Finnick scavenges for her, leaving them right by her feet. She holds out her spoon for him, offering him another bite. He lost his own spoon shortly after his seashell excursion.

“This is better than the stuff they have at the shop.” See? Annie knew Finnick would agree with her. He takes a swift look around, which bums Annie out—he must still be feeling jittery—but she perks back up once he turns to her. He’s smiling. “Should we kiss?”

“Um, duh!” His dad was still at work. None of the other victors could tell them what to do. It was a match made in heaven. She swallows down some excess jam on her tongue. “Okay. I’m ready.”

They kiss. They break apart. An ocean breeze skates over her face, providing some relief for her burning cheeks. Then they’re both taking identically frantic looks around, surveying their surroundings for anyone particularly nosey. 

They’re in the clear. They decide to stay outside for a while longer. 

---

Annie isn’t allowed to do anything with Finnick anymore.

And, contrary to popular belief, it isn’t because Annie broke up with him for being a Capitol whore (because, contrary to popular belief—contrary to Annie’s belief up until two weeks ago—he was not a Capitol whore). It’s not even because her parents are being unfair.

The truth is, President Snow hates romance. Annie never hears anyone in Panem talk about that.  

Finnick is still very sweet to her regardless. Obviously, or else she wouldn’t even be with him. She just means that he shows her off to the other victors (they can be trusted with this information) and invites her to all the dinners he has with Mags. 

Don’t get her wrong—she loves the beach. She doesn’t mind going to the beach at all. She minds that Finnick obviously minds, even though he shouldn’t. It is not his fault that the Capitol hurts him all the time. 

“Hey, my love?” That’s been his most recent nickname for her. It’s her most recent favorite. “Are you awake?”

She’s always awake. She had trouble sleeping even before the Games, but she still appreciates how soft and whispery he’s being. 

“Awake,” she confirms, turning over so she can sprawl herself all over him. 

“Wanna do something?” he asks. 

“Like what?” 

“Stargaze. Maybe a midnight snack.”

Stargaze. She considers that. District 4’s curfew was fully into effect, but there weren’t very many Peacekeepers watchdogging the areas near the Victor’s Village. And the ones that did weren’t even very trigger happy to begin with. 

She accepts. Why wouldn’t she? They have to keep their giggling down the entire time they get ready—some things are just so much funnier in the dead of night, but Mr. Odair didn’t know she snuck out of the guest room to be with Finnick—but Annie chucks on some shoes and walks out of the bedroom door Finnick opens for her.

He pulls an entire picnic basket out of the fridge, a tell-tale sign this wasn’t a spontaneous decision on his part. She’s so overcome with emotion that all she can do is smooch him.

“Thank you,” she finally says, ‘cause kissing always clears her head. “For packing the snacks.”

He smiles, obviously pleased with himself. Good. “You don’t even know what I packed.”

“So what? You know what all my favorites are.” She takes a peek inside to ensure he packed his favorite snacks, too. She insists on washing off a few grapes before they go, because he loves throwing them up in the air and catching them, and he does that the entire walk out of the Victor’s Village. Then they have to be more vigilant. They’re in civilian territory now.

There’s not much they can do—especially now that they’re dodging Peacekeepers—but they make it work. They unpack their picnic on a nearby bench and draw in the dirt with a nearby stick after they finish eating. Annie destroys him in a game of hop-scotch, but he reigns victorious in their tic-tac-toe match. 

They do manage to sneak far enough away to lay out in the sand and gaze at the inky black sky, though. Annie knows all about the stories the stars in the sky have, so even if she has to guestimate where all the constellations are, she tells Finnick all about it. He even pretends like she hasn’t told him the same stories a million times before. 

They scamper back home when they hear gunshots. At least it was fun while it lasted. 

---

Annie doesn’t want to do anything anymore. She has no idea why Finnick keeps asking her to.

Well—she does have an idea. It’s the same reason why she asked him to do stuff after he won the Games. She wanted to keep him company.

Annie doesn’t want company. She just wants her old self back.

She used to have so much fun before she became a victor. She used to do things. 

It makes so much sense why Finnick hated the market so much after he came back. Sometimes, Annie can barely stomach an interaction with her family, and she lived with them her entire life. 

She doesn’t want to do anything. She can’t do anything. 

Matter of fact, Annie doesn't know why the fuck Finnick is acting like he can do anything, either, when the Capitol is ball-and-chaining him so hard all the time. It makes her angry, but she supposes that’s better than not feeling anything at all.

Annie doesn’t want to go out. She just wants to sit in bed and deteriorate into dust.

That turns out to be a good thing. Being angry, she means. It makes it easier to cry, easier to apologize for pushing Finnick away. She clings to him extra hard after that, just to really make it clear that she never wants to go anywhere but his arms ever again.

Well— okay. She’ll make an exception for the beach, but that was the beach. She can’t remember the last time she’s seen her kitchen table—in the Victor’s Village, she means—so Finnick fixes that for her. The only reason she gets up in the first place is because he’s not next to her when she wakes up, and the force of that heart-hammering realization has her flying off the bed. Where could he have gone?

“My love,” he greets her, turning away from whatever they fuck he was sizzling on the stove. “Breakfast is almost ready, sorry, I didn’t think you’d—”

Now that Annie is back in his arms, her curiosity overpowers her jitters. “What are you making?”

She didn’t mean to interrupt him. She’s just never seen the stuff he has on the pan before. They look like pancakes, but way flatter.

He leans over and glances at the cookbook on the countertop. “They call them crepes. You can put all sorts of stuff in them—chocolate or cheese or eggs or whatever.”

Annie chooses chocolate. And strawberries. And some whipped cream. She likes how it makes her teeth ache—almost like she’s alive.

Actually, Finnick pulling out a chair for her and setting plates on the table and a glass of milk next to her makes her feel conscious, and she finds herself really enjoying the feeling, so she forces herself to cling to it. She will not disappear right now. She will not disappear right now. She will not—

She disappears. Doesn’t matter—not to Finnick, at least. He picks up right where they left off, except now that it’s days later, he has to settle on finding a new activity for them to do. He shuffles a deck of cards.

Annie loves cards, even if her reflexes are a bit fucked now. She beats him at Go Fish, but he absolutely crushes her at poker. Then she disappears again.

Disappears. Comes back. Disappears. Comes back. Eventually, all that disappearing stuff becomes less frequent and intense and draining to handle, but there’s still a definite pattern. 

No one seems to mind but Annie—Finnick least of all. He takes her anywhere she wants, and these days, she wants to be everywhere. The bakery. The market. The beach.

“Sky’s the limit, my darling,” he says, even though it’s not. Not like it used to be. “Where do you wanna go today?”

Annie wants to spice it up. “Let’s rent out some bikes.” No one will question that. They’ll just see a mentor taking his insane fucking tribute outside to play. Annie tries her best to suppress that thought. “Hardly anyone’s on the pier this time of day. We can race.”

“I’d be honored.”

He holds out his arm, the gesture as familiar as breathing to her. She flings herself at him, overcome with emotion. 

They have to break apart as soon as they leave the Victor’s Village. They both try to pretend that doesn’t kill the mood. 

---

For somewhere that’s so underpopulated, District 13 sure has a cock-blocking problem.

Coin whisks Finnick away to Command (for some fucking reason—she’s acting like Finnick’s her husband). The doctors force Annie to get therapy (they’d probably lock her up in the hospital otherwise).

Their only saving grace is the hummingbird room. They just have to cross their fingers that no one crashes their dates.

Annie and Finnick make up for all that time 13 forces them to spend apart by holding each other bone-fusingly close. It doesn’t matter what they’re doing or what they’re talking about—she’s getting in his face, and he’s getting in hers. 

She’s also climbing all over him. He flops onto his back, nice and soft under her fingertips.

“Hi, handsome.” He calls her so many nice names. It’s about time she started returning the favor. “In the mood for a kiss?”

“Uh, do birds fly?”

“Depends,” she says. “You know how penguins are.”

He stares at her. She stares at him.

“Kiss me, Annie. Baby. Love. Dar—”

She closes the gap between them before he can fluster her past the point of no return. She doesn’t care how long they’ve known each other—she will never get used to him addressing her so affectionately. 

She’s unzipping his trousers in no time. She doesn’t even register the blinking red light of the security camera in the room until he tries returning the favor.

Blinding, white-hot fear shoots through her before she remembers they’re in District 13. That usually didn’t mean much to her, but they literally recorded Annie and Finnick’s entire wedding, so what were they gonna do if she gave her very own fucking husband some head? Ask them both to do it again for a propo?

“Holy shit. I’m so sorry, Annie,” Finnick says, obviously worried for her sake, but he doesn’t need to be. He was the only one with his pants tangled around his legs. “I think it caught all that.”

Probably. Annie blows the camera a kiss on their way out.

[milawritesstuff]

Hii love can you write something on the reader playing fifa with pedri and terribly losing everytime and pedri just can't handle how adorable she gets being a sore loser.

I am reader. The reader is me. I cannot play fifa to save my own life.

Alsooo I'm the person who requested the scar fluff! So glad you liked it

A/N: I combined these two. Hope you like it.

No warning ⚠️

•••

Your subscribers had been begging for you to have your boyfriend on a livestream with you. Your game of choice was Minecraft but the only way he had agreed to come on was if you played FIFA.

The livestream started and you chose your teams. He began to smile when he got Barcelona. You had tried to play this game before with him but had failed miserably. You knew you were going to lose and it was going to be humiliating in front of everyone.

Pedri scored the first goal. He got up and cheered as if he had scored a goal at Camp Nou himself. You rolled your eyes which caused him to chuckle. -I don’t know if you guys know this but Y/N is extremely competitive.- He said into the stream. Hundreds of messages came in with people saying they had noticed you hated to lose and how you would not handle it well if he beat you.

-I like to be the best at everything that I do.- You commented as the two of you continued to play. Pedri scored again and you threw your controller to the ground. He laughed and put his face in his hands. He knew you hated not only losing but being made fun of losing and he had to make himself stop laughing.

-Here, I’ll go easy on you.- He said as you were about to score a goal. You did but did not enjoy it. You smacked him lightly on his shoulder. -Ow, why?- He said laughing. -Because now you’re going to say I scored just because you let me.-

The comments started to come in about how horrible you were in the game and you should go back to streaming Minecraft or anything else but Fifa. You rolled your eyes as Pedri read off some of the comments. -Guys, I'm sure she will get better if she practices.- You scoffed at him.

-You know I don’t like this game. And I only did it for you guys, so we could get Mr. Golden Boy here with us.-

-So it was just a bribe?- He asked.

You decided to ignore his comment knowing someone would be recording everything the two of you said. Soon enough the comments were coming in talking about how they were sure you could have bribed him in some other way.

He scored again and the match was about to end. He stood up and celebrated again. You rolled your eyes at him. - Stop acting like you’re scoring in a real match.- You said annoyed which only caused him to laugh eve more.

The match ended and you weren’t able to score any more. The two of you sat there as you read off some comments. Pedri answered some and laughed at others. You sat there scrolling through the comments with a pout on your face.

-Is she mad at you?- He read off a comment. -I’m not sure, babe are you mad at me?-

You rolled your eyes. -No.- You said coldly. He laughed. -Well, I think she may be, even if she says no.-

He waited for you to say something but you didn’t. -Amor?- He said and still no answer. The comments started to come in about how sweet he was calling you amor but you didn’t care.

-I’m not mad you guys.- You said into the camera. -But it’s time for us to leave. Subscribe, comment below, and I’ll see you guys later.- You said as you turned off the stream.

-You could have fooled me, I thought you were actually mad at me.- Said Pedri as he stood up from the chair and walked over to you. He tried to hug you but you pushed him away.

-I am mad at you.-

-But you just said you weren’t.-

You took off your headset and placed it on the desk. -I said that so they wouldn’t start the rumors that we are breaking up.-

He looked at your surprised. -Wait, we are breaking up now because I beat you in Fifa?-

You stood there pouting in front of him. -No, I mean, we’re not breaking up but I’m not very happy.- He shook his head.

-I’m sorry?- He said.

-Sorry for what?-

He laughed and scratched his head. -I'm sorry for being better at you in Fifa and beating you in front of all your followers.-

You grunted and as you were going to storm out of the room he grabbed your arm and pulled you into him.

-As beautiful as you look when you get mad, can we stop this? I’m sorry okay? Next time I’ll mine or craft with you or do whatever you want.- He lifted your chin up so you could look at him. He placed a soft kiss on your nose.

-Eres tonto.- You said and the two of you began to laugh.

-You know I love you, right? But you have to stop getting so mad when you lose.- He said. -You are such a sore loser.- You punched him on the shoulder and laughed. -Don’t push your luck Pedrito.

TAG LIST: @cinderellawithashoe @httpswiftie @simpingmyassoff @bubblebeep69 @fictional-l0v3r @httpspedri26 @0alanasworld0 @l0verl4ne @gaviypedrisbride @footballerficsposts @fashphotolife @beaschampagneproblems @jvsgnjrtpdar5stkd-tv-m @ikkehehe @jjishotasf @quemirasboboandapaya @maricciardo @gaviswh0re @pedriwifefrfr @dustell @elijahslover @formula1mount

[cuttergauthier]

New Jersey Three

Jack Hughes x Female Reader

This is chapter Three of Four

Can read chapter 1 | 2 here

Warning: Ex, fluff, cursing, Non supportive parents? Let me know if i missed any.

This has been in my draft for a while, I finally finished it.

word count: 1.7k

let me know what you guys think🤍

Today was New Year’s Eve, it’s always been a big celebration in Time Square except I didn’t want to go alone. This will be my first New Year’s Eve I’ve spent alone, ever since I was a kid, I was either with my parents and brother celebrating or in my teenage years I was partying with my friends.

This year was going to be different I just didn’t know exactly how. I talked to Luke earlier this morning and I had told him that I saw Jack yesterday, he was happy that we talk, he started jumping up and down which made me laugh, he even ran to tell his parents. I was happy that we finally talked again, I never should have waited a year to talk to him, but I guess running into him yesterday was meant to be.

I got ready for the day and decided to hang out on my couch and watch some movies. It was around 12 p.m. when I got a text from Jack asking if he could come over, I gave him my addressed and he said he would be right over.

I’m guessing he might want to talk more, we didn’t have a lot of time catching up yesterday, I just thought since it was New Year’s Eve he would have plans but I guess not.

About an hour later there was a knock on the door, it was Jack standing there smiling with two coffees.

“I brought you a coffee, do you still like cold brews?” he asked as he handed me the coffee

“I do, thank you” I replied smiling

We made our way to my living room and sat down on the couch.

“What brings you here? It’s New Year’s Eve I would have thought you’d have plans” I asked curiously

“I only have a team party tonight, I had time, thought I’d come over and we could catch up some more.” He said smiling

I’ve missed seeing that big smile of his.

“I’m okay with that”

“Did you still like going to Michigan? or did it make you want to leave even more?

“It wasn’t bad… but I was miserable, my friends were there but I still was following my dreams”

He nodded smiling

“well I am happy you’re in New York now”

“same here, how’s life been for you since you’ve been in Jersey?”

“pretty great, the team hasn’t been doing well but we’ve got some pretty great guys on the team”

“as long as you guys have a good group, I’m sure you could turn the season around”

“true, I still don’t think we’ll make the playoff’s this year though”

“There’s always next year Jack” I reassured him which made him smile.

“Do you have any plans for tonight?”

“Does drinking wine and watching movies count?” I ask making him laugh

“I guess it does but I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to the teams New Year’s Eve party”

I was surprise, this is only the second time seeing him in over a year, I didn’t expect him to invite me to meet his team already.

“are you serious?”

“Yeah why not, I’d love to have you there plus the guys that saw you yesterday… well more like PK wanted me to invite you”

“well we haven’t really been close in over a year and I don’t want to impose”

“trust me y/n you wouldn’t be imposing, plus everyone will love you, you’ve always been a social butterfly” he said making me chuckle

“Okay then… I’m in” I agreed smiling

“good, I can pick you up before, or you can bring your stuff to my apartment and get ready there if you want? It’s only going be Ty and I. we also have a guest bedroom if you want to spend the night.”

“if you and Ty really don’t mind me getting ready and staying the night it would be great actually, I’m guessing it’ll be hell trying to get an uber on New Year’s Eve” I said laughing

“probably” he chuckled

We spend the next 2 hours talking about our lives, what we’ve been up to since the last time we had seen each other, at around 5 p.m. I grabbed some my clothes for the party and to sleep in along with my makeup stuff, I put everything in a bag and grabbed my keys. Jack droves us his and Ty’s apartment after he picked us up some food.

Once we got there, he let himself in, you could tell this apartment building was new it looked modern. once we got in his apartment it was big, I was not surprise I mean two hockey players live here, there was no way I could ever afford a place like this.

“Y/n this is Ty, Ty this is Y/n” Jack introduced me to Ty

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you” I greeted Ty

“Hey, it’s nice to meet you too, I’ve heard a lot about you” Ty said smiling

I talked with both of them as we ate our food, once I was done Jack showed me where the bathroom was so I could start getting ready.

I did my makeup natural I didn’t want to go all out, since I was going to be meeting Jack’s team along with their families. I also decided to wear Black leather pants with a sparkly silver thank top that I would pair with some black boots along with a black crop blazer. It took me about an hour and a half before I was ready.

I made my way back to the living room with Jack and Ty, I saw Jack staring at me.

“what?” I asked chuckling

“Nothing, you look beautiful” he said making me blush

“Thank you” I smiled

“I ordered an Uber it should be here in 10 minutes” Ty told us

Jack and I both nodded as I joined them sitting on the couch.

Once the uber got here we made our way to the party.

I was still nervous to meeting everyone, but I knew Jack would have my back. Even after all these years I knew he’d always have my back no matter what.

Once we got there PK saw us and came over.

“Glad you guys could make it. You must be Y/n I’ve heard a lot about you” PK said

“It’s nice to meet you too” I said smiling.

“Make yourselves at home, drinks are in the kitchen” he said before leaving us there.

Jack introduced me to his teammates and their other half’s everyone was so sweet. Nico’s girlfriend Jenna (made up name) dragged me with her and the other girls.

“How long have you and Jack been dating?” Clare, Ryan graves girlfriend asked.

“Oh were not dating… I mean we used to when we were teenagers, but we broke up when he moved to Jersey” I said

“Oh sorry, it’s just Jack never brings any so we just thought maybe you were dating” she said embaressed.

“It’s fine don’t worry, were just friends” I said smiling. The girls nodded.

“Well from the way he looked at you, I can tell he really cares about you” Jenna said smiling.

I continued talking with the girl before they all went to find their better half’s since it was a few minutes before midnight.

“Hey” Jack said smiling when I made my way to him.

“Hey”

“You having fun?” he asked

“I really am, thanks for inviting me” I said smiling.

“I’m glad you said yes”

The countdown started

10…

9…

8…

7…

6…

5…

“Can I kiss you?” Jack asked I looked at him

4…

3…

2…

“yes” I said smiling

1…

Jack leaned in a kissed me. Our lips moved in sync. Everyone was cheering

“Happy new years y/n” Jack said smiling when we pulled away.

“Happy new years Jack”

We ended up making our way back to Jack’s apartment

We were just cuddling in his bed, both of us were smiling.

“This is a big city and we still happen to find each other again” I said smiling

“Maybe it was meant to be?” he said smiling before kissing me again.

“Maybe it was” I said smiling when he pulled away.

“I love you so much Y/n” he said nervously.

“I love you to Jack”

“Can we try this again?” he asked

“I’d love that” I said smiling, he smiled back.

“Can I take you on a date tomorrow night?”

“Yes, you can”

“Are families are going to be so happy” he said making me laugh.

“Oh definitely, Luke was begging me to tell you I moved here”

Jack chuckled.

“That does not surprise me one bit”

[coolmiaw]

Sharpuary 2024 #1 Candy

AU: Hogawarts Legacy full set up but in present time

Context: post seven year from "A strange school named Hogwarts" (Ao3). Alienor (MC) is in post graduate studies at Hogwarts (read the one shot to understand why she looks so young).

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

Since Alienor had disappeared in her room to finish a project on which she had been working for school, calm had returned to Fig's flat.

Well, Fig and Alienor's flat.

And Sharp's.

And it wouldn't be disturbed soon, for Alienor would join a party later that night.

After all, it was Halloween and a day like that deserved its own celebration.

Sharp settled on the couch near Fig, who didn't even acknowledge the ex-Auror, too immersed in his reading. A small smile played on Aesop's lips as he marveled at the older wizard's focus while wondering how he could disturb him to claim the attention he rightfully deserved.

His fingers were mere inches from Fig's face when a screech pierced the stillness of the early evening.

The two wizards leapt to their feet and were about to rush to Alienor's room when the young woman entered the living room. Although, she no longer looked like an eighteen-year-old woman but rather a young child, perhaps eight years old at most.

'I... I think I made a mistake in my potion,' she stammered sheepishly.

'I can see that,' Sharp replied , after a second of stunned silence as Fig was collapsing on the couch with laughter.

'It is not funny, Eleazar!' Alienor cried out in her delicate voice.

'I agree, it is not funny at all,' Sharp went on with a desapprobating glance at his partner who was trying to calm down. 'We can consider ourselves lucky that her mistake resulted in an Deageing Potion and not something more serious.' He paused, scrutinizing the girl for a few seconds before he declared: 'Let me guess. You switched the dried nettles of your Hair Dying potion with green leaves?'

'All I wanted was to have blue hairs for the party tonight,' Alienor pouted while crossing her arms.

And Aesop found it a bit difficult to take her seriously while she looked so adorable in her now oversized clothes. As for Fig, he had completely given up, but had wisely rounded the couch to stand in front of the window, attempting to conceal his amusement.

'I think I have the required ingredients to brew an antitode for your unfortunate Deageing potion,' Sharp said as Alienor raised a gaze full of hope towards him. 'But it won't be ready before tomorrow.'

She pouted again.

'But am I going to do? I can't go to the party like that,' she whined.

'No you can't,' Sharp sighed. 'And as horrible as this may sound, I am afraid you are stuck with us tonight then.'

'I don't mind staying with you,' Alienor corrected, afraid Sharp might have misinterpreted her words. 'I like staying with you. Even you, Eleazar,' she added with an irritated look towards the older wizard who was still resolutely looking at the window. 'But it's just... it's Halloween, you know?'

'I may have a solution,' Eleazar suddently declared. He turned to face Aesop and Alienor, a mischievous glint in his eyes. 'That is, if you can suffer my presence.'

'Eleazar I didn't mean...'

'I know what you meant,' Eleazar reassured her with a kind smile. 'I deserved it,' he added with a wink towards Alienor. 'You may not like my idea though,' he said while looking at Sharp.

'A typical friday in my life,' Aesop sighed with a small smile.

'You see, one of Halloween't tradition is for young children to dress up and go trick-or-treating. In the muggle world it isn't very interesting as you can't actually "trick" anyone. But I believe the shopkeepers of Diagon Alley always arrange something for the children to have fun.'

'But I am not a child,' she protested. She noticed the small quiver on Fig's lips. 'Don't!'

He raised in hands in defence, and Alienor crossed her arms again, pondering the idea. She knew about this tradition, but she never had the opportunity to join the other children. She hadn't even asked her mother then for she knew it was a world she didn't belong in. Her mother had died a few months before she received the visit of this strange wizard with his eccentric blue outfit. At Hogwarts, she had celebrated Halloween, but not like what Eleazar was offering.

"Dress up?' She questionned.

'Monsters, heroes, favorite characters, whatever you want,' Eleazar explained.

'And you'd come with me?' Alienor asked, her excitement tempered by a sudden shyness. 'Both of you?' She added while directing her gaze towards Sharp.

'Well it's safer if an adult comes along,' Aesop sighed. 'Therefore, I suppose I don't really have a choice.'

'There he is,' Eleazar chuckled fondly.

'I'll be right back!' Alienor exclaimed as she rushed towards her room.

As Eleazar and Sharp began to prepare for the outing, they noticed some of their belongings were missing. Fig was about to ask Sharp if he had, yet again, stolen his scarf, even though now really wasn't a good time, when Alienor appeared again.

She was wearing Sharp's coat, which was so large on her small frame that it would have slipped to the floor if it wasn't for the cauldron she was cradling in her arms. As for Fig's scarf, it was hanging on her shoulders, looking more like a cloak than anything else.

'Interesting attire,' Sharp commented, as he settled for his blazer for he definietely knew that he wouldn't get his hand on his coat anytime soon. 'What are you, a coat rack?'

'You're lucky I have to use both of my arms to carry this,' Alienor retorted with an offended look while nodding at her cauldron. 'Otherwise, I might just hex you!'

'Do you want me to help you with that?' Eleazar intervened while trying to reach out for the cauldron.

'Dream on!' Alienor protested. 'Candies will go inside, making me the Candy Master. Behave, and I might give you some.'

'All right I apologize,' Sharp said while grabbing the Floo Powder. He threw a pinch in the crackling fire before he indicated: 'Diagon Alley!'

'But seriously, what are you dressed up as?' He asked then, stepping aside to let Alienor pass first.

'Isn't it obvious?' She replied, rolling her eyes. She delicately stepped through the lukewarm fire, careful to not get any ash on Sharp's coat. She then raised her gaze on him, a fond smile playing on her lips: 'I am going as daddy.' Her eyes shifted towards Eleazar. 'Both of them.

[reimenaashelyee]

The World in Deeper Inspection UPDATE Read: (Chapter 1: Pages 1 to 4)

About the comic

TWIDI IS BACK! To celebrate its 10th anniversary since launch, I'm remaking the first chapter and posting pages every Friday, accompanied by my thoughts on the original pages and a breakdown of what I've changed or improved.

Analysis under the cut.

PAGE 1 and 2

It’s March 31st, 2023… exactly 10 years since I posted the very first page of TWIDI!! I haven’t done much to celebrate TWIDI’s anniversaries the past few years (due to general Busyness – yes, yes, check out the forever “TWIDI isn’t dead” sign up on the front page), but the official 10th anniversary is a special unignorable event.

Initially I wanted to make a simple remaster of Chapter 1 – better copyediting, fixing egregious lettering and art errors, alongside a retrospective author’s note… then long-time reader Caracan suggested, why not do a full remake? That’d be fun to see. And I agree – it would be fun to see! I’ve grown my craft and sensibility as comics artist since TWIDI’s debut, and I was so curious to see how 28 Year Old Me would interpret the material that 18 Year Old me produced.

So yep!

This first page used to be so cool-looking to my 18 Year Old eyes… I can definitely see what I was trying to go for, but wasn’t quite able to reach then.

A thumbnail from 2013, with notes to myself regarding the composition. In my mind I wanted the wolves to have a James Jeanesque rendering – I was really into his Fables covers back then (still am tbh).

For the remake, I leaned further into the graphic-designiness of the composition: every element had to sweep the reader’s gaze down onto our protagonist. The wolves are expanded to actually take up half the spread and simplified down to only white lines. The trees and sky are shaped like teeth pointing down to Grimsley. The intent was to evoke a sense of claustrophobia, of the wolves catching up to Grims and driving him into a corner.

Small improvements: the energy and line of action are clearer with the new running pose. Definitely a better silhouette. And a lot more angularity with the limbs which adds to the sense of movement.

PAGE 3 and 4

This spread is one of the most drastic rehauls in the remake. Here’s the original for comparison

It’s not very good! (Sorry @ 18 Year Old Me) I remember struggling real hard with the dynamicism required out of this sequence…

Fortunately after 1000s of double-page compositions and 10 years of practice, I’ve finally cracked this once-difficult composition.

This new page does away with the concept of grids or caring about whether anything is read linearly. The sequence is supposed to evoke chaos and panic as everything is happening everywhere all at once, so it doesn’t really matter if everything can be read or arranged in a neat grid. That was the problem with the original spread: it was too beholden to the grid.

(You can see how in the original, each page was (top row: left to right; bottom row: left to right))

The new page is like this:

The page is horizontally railroaded. The main action sweeps from top left to bottom right.

The AWOOO sfx is the anchor which leads the eye from left to right. As the eye travels it may glance up or down at the panels – there’s no real need to pay attention to them; hopefully the improved clarity of Grimsley’s emotional and body acting + me actually depicting the wolf biting his neck + the spiky graphic design elements instantly conveys that he’s in trouble without much or any processing.

The newest panel – the pink grass and canine paws – is a call back for later when we catch up to this in media res.

[alexanderlightweight]

Howdy, hope your week has been kind.

A Wednesday prompt: Alec's first birthday since he and Magnus got together. Preferably not super focused on immortality (angst or not)

Thanks! 💛

angst with a happy ending! no immortality angst because obviously Alec is going to be immortal at some point. i only write immortal husbands, though how they get Alec immortal can sometimes be left open to interpretation.

thank you! it has been a busy week with a couple unexpected dust storms that kicked allergies off and my asthma into gear so i spent like 18 hours yesterday in that 'i am medicated and semi-aware of the world but not really' stage and snapped out of it mostly in time to write today so i'm happy! i hope you are having a good week!

<3 lumine

-

Alec sighs in relief as he finally gets to the loft and when he enters, he hisses as the scent and presence of other nephilim and people hit him.

Magnus is standing there, splendid and magnificent and with a soft smile on his face… and he’s surrounded by Alec’s family and more shadowhunters and warlocks and even Maia.

“Nope.” Is all Alec says and he turns and walks out of the room, leaving to go for the rooftop stairs that had better still be warded to keep out pests. Because Alec is not in the mood for a party, surprise or otherwise and if anyone thinks he’s going to give in, they have another thing coming to them.

“Alec!” Izzy calls behind him, running to catch up and her strong, elegant and painted fingers catch on his elbow. “Hermano, it’s your birthday. Come on, we’re all here to celebrate.”

“And yet, I don’t want to.” Is all Alec says and he pushes her hand off and steps into the staircase, pleased when the door seals behind him.

He shrugs off his weapons as he climbs and leaves his boots and jacket on the bench near the roof door. He’s not sure what’s going on below, but he doesn’t care.

Alec’s made it clear that he doesn’t want a party, that he wanted to spend his first birthday with Magnus just the two of them. Especially when this week has been one exhaustion after the other and yet apparently, once again everyone else’s opinion matters more than his.

“Alexander—” Magnus says, when he opens the roof door less than ten minutes later.

“Are they gone?” Alec asks, interrupting him coolly and refusing to turn to look at Magnus.

“Yes, of course darling. If I’d realized how much you’d dislike it, I wouldn’t have listened to Izzy and Jace.”

“So why did you?” Alec bites out, because he can’t help himself. “I told you what I wanted and what I didn’t want, Magnus. So why did you even bother asking me if you were just going to ignore me? Why are Izzy and Jace’s opinions more important than my own? Especially when it comes to me?” Alec scoffs, “Izzy told me I owed it to myself and you to have a party the other day. I laughed at her, because you and I had already agreed to just take a day to ourselves. Now I realize it was her way of telling me to buck up and accept it, to just deal with the party.”

“Alec,” Magnus offers, and Alec just sighs and steps further into the garden and away from Magnus.

“I’m guessing the plans we actually made got canceled?” He asks and he can’t help that he’s being so terse. This is the first birthday he’s actually been looking forward to for ages and it’s once again ruined by his family.  The same way it is every year.

“Darling, I’m so sorry. I didn’t even consider how it might feel for you, Isabelle and Jace were so sure this would be what you wanted.”

“So, you cancelled them. Because Izzy convinced you she knew best. Which I don’t understand how she managed that, because you know how I feel about her ignoring what I want.”

“I know how much you love your family.” Magnus says, almost helplessly and Alec is getting really sick of his love for people being the reason why nothing he says matters.

“So? What does loving them have to do with always have to be punished for that love? I can’t have anything I enjoy? I don’t get to make choices? It’s all picked for me based on that love.” Alec sighs, “I was looking forward to tonight, for once. Now I just want to sleep and hope this day never comes again, the same way I’ve felt the last decade and a half.”

Magnus makes an involuntary noise and Alec ignores it, “I wanted to have this day, just with you. So I could enjoy it for once and now—” Alec sighs. “I think I’m going to take a walk, Magnus. I’ll be back later.”

Arms wrap around his waist before he can even think of heading to the edge of the roof and jumping off and then Alec is being bodily picked up and tossed through a portal.

“Magnus!” He yelps as he lands in sand, because this isn’t something he expected from his boyfriend. Magnus is normally great about giving him space when needed, a little too great sometimes.

“Yes, yes. You need to take a walk.” Magnus tells him, utterly sincere and his golden eyes calm and patient and filled with remorse. “This Isle is uncharted and undocumented to all but a few in the Spiral Labryinth, you can walk as much as you want for as far as you want. Around the whole Isle if you need to, there are no demons here to watch out for.” Magnus reaches out and then lets his hands fall with a soft, sad sigh.

“I got too swept up in the idea of showing you off, of proving how well we’re working together. Despite what we’ve talked about, it never occurred to me that Isabelle would be so inconsiderate as to…” Magnus pauses and sighs, “ah. In hindsight, that is something I should have realized sooner. I suppose I let my own hubris get to me, Alexander. Which isn’t an excuse, but I am sorry beloved. I never meant to corner you, especially not in our home.”

“Is it?” Alec asks quietly, because Magnus has never said or offered and Alec isn’t brave enough to go for it, not yet.

“Is it what?”

“Our home?”

“Of course, sayang.” And Magnus looks heartbroken, “have I never told you?” He asks, as if it’s unimaginable and when Alec shakes his head, Magnus reaches up his hands before he pauses. Unwilling to touch without permission when Alec is this upset.

Alec leans into the hold and sighs as Magnus’ warm hands cup his face and then he’s pulled so that they can both press their foreheads against each other.

“Walk with me?” Alec whispers, “I can’t talk. Not yet, but you can. If you want. Tell me about the plants and animals here? What kind of experiments you’ve done? Something just us, please?”

“Oh, darling. The stories I’m about to tell you.” Magnus promises him gently and his eyes crinkle like little gold moons when Alec takes Magnus’ hand.

This isn’t how he wanted it.

But this is what he wanted.

Magnus and he without any pressure of the future, just enjoying each other and learning more… after all.

It’s still new.

-

gonna be real, i get uncomfortable in the fics where izzy and jace pressure alec to do things he doesn't want to do and then he does them and meets magnus or makes magnus happy and alec's like 'wow yes i'm so glad my boundaries were ignored and my opinion mocked and it was totally worth being made intensely uncomfortable because i met magnus'.

and like, mood to meeting magnus but not mood to 'hey we know better than you because you're an introvert and a repressed queer so you need to listen to us because we know best' because i've had that vibe directed at me and it's so gross. and it's used in canon show too and never called out as manipulative and ick.

sorry to ramble on a fic fill and i don't think people should stop writing fics like that if they want them, i just tend to avoid them especially because it's a canon show trait that i hate and write out of my fics.