#would you have bribed or threatened me not to tell my parents?

[moonnlsbn]

Hot tgirl said to me "I could've been your baby sitter" 🥴🥴🥴

men dni

[butchreg]

big bro vi with a trans male regressor headcanons !!

requested by @littlestsheriff !! i'm sorry this is so late i've been swamped with finals , i sigh. ( ps if you are into arcane and are a regressor check out his stuff !! ) i think i said this last time but i love writing cg vi bc he's one of my fictional cgs so this got me excited (>///<). you know the drill by now (i hope), vi will be referred to with he/him pronouns. if you disagree with this headcanon that's perfectly fine but any hate / transphobia will be blocked. arcane masterlist here , upcoming list here

vi is so supportive of you when you come out. he's always threatening to beat up anyone who would potentially unsupportive and if he had to he would no questions asked. he's not a trans man but he is transmasc so he knows all about trans stuff and is more than happy to help you out with your t shots and with getting trans tape or a binder !

vi teaching his little brother (you !) how to do t shots, doing his with you and giving you a big smile and a high five when you're done. he's impressed with how good you are with it, telling you how much he cried his first time (his one thing is needles... bleegh).

vi mostly calls you "little man" but of course being the silly guy he is he gets in a couple silly nicknames as well like "stinky" and "squirt". you mostly call him bubba. he doesn't really like parental titles cause he's your brother not your parent !

if you're both really small then caitlyn will take care of you guys but usually he's old enough to take you on adventures himself. even if he's feeling smaller than usual he's still really proud of being your big brother. he always wants to give you your bottle, or to give you his blankie to keep you nice and warm. he's really protective of you even when he's feeling younger. "mama, can i see bubby?" "not now, silly, you've just seen him 5 minutes ago, let him have his nap."

if you're feeling fussy, vi will slip you a sweet from his secret stash. he sometimes will try to bribe you with his candy which if you're being honest always works. he's never trying to get you to do anything really naughty but maybe bribing you to not tell caitlyn on the rare occasion he has an accident or so you'll keep quiet for a little while.

vi is always bragging to his friends about you, telling them how awesome you are. he's so so proud to have you as a brother, always trying to be a good role model for you. if someone even jokingly says something at your expense he'll give them a threatening look and make a fist at them.

playfighting !! oh you guys are always playfighting or rough housing. it stops immediately if someone is hurt though, if you ever cry out he jumps back immediately going from silly to serious in a second. "i'm really sorry, did i hurt you? should i get mama? please don't cry !"

gets you two matching stuffies as a surprise. his is named after you and yours is named after him.

vi trying to give you your first gender affirming haircut. he's so proud of himself, then caitlyn comes in to find you two and gasps. "d'y'like it mama?" he asks and she's all "vi, my love, what have you done to your brother?" she tries to sound angry, but a chuckle slips through. you actually kind of like it, at least it's better than your old long hair, but caitlyn insists you get to a real barber asap. poor vi is really bummed.

vi helping you dye your hair, proudly ruffling it when you're done. "oh yeaahhh, that's badass, little man !" he gives you a high five, going on and on about how cool it looks. you wanted to look just like him so it delights you that he approves.

[vladdyissues]

I wonder if Danny could bribe Technus into doing something about the nano bots in Jazz’s bloodstream.

Seriously, I love this so much. You could build an entire episode around it. Nano My Business or something like that, and takes place after Masters of All Time but before Kindred Spirits. (Episode pitch below cut)

Danny notices Jazz has been behaving a bit weird lately. He puts it down to her working too hard studying for her college entrance exams, but when she passes through some kind of electromagnetic field (perhaps generated by the latest malfunctioning Fenton ghost device), she collapses and goes into a coma.

At the hospital, the doctors can't find anything wrong with her. Danny just knows it's something ghost-related (insert macguffin here?) but he can't talk to his parents about it because it'd mean revealing his secret identity. (He considers it seriously, though, because he's so worried about Jazz.) But he knows who might be able to help him.

Danny, Sam and Tucker steal the Specter Speeder and crash a Superbowl party being held at Vlad's Wisconsin castle. Vlad isn't pleased, but Danny doesn't care.

"You owe me and my parents for finding the cure to your ecto-acne," he reminds him, and Vlad grudgingly agrees to visit Jazz in the hospital and covertly scan her with some of his own ghost gadgets or maybe the macguffin mentioned previously.

Eventually they discover that the nanobots, without any programming to guide them, have gone rogue and are attacking Jazz's body. She's going to die if they don't do something.

"Unfortunately, you destroyed my controller, Daniel," Vlad tells him bluntly, "otherwise I would have been able to initiate the self-destruct sequence and dissolve them. I'm afraid there's nothing we can do for her now. Pity. She was a brilliant girl, so much like your mother."

Danny's eyes go green. Cue the first onscreen, purely human fistfight between Danny Fenton and Vlad Masters, though really it's just Danny leaping on Vlad in a blind rage and punching him repeatedly while Vlad tries to shield himself. Tucker and Sam manage to drag Danny off of him and restrain him.

"This is all your fault!" Danny screams through his tears, but he knows in his heart Vlad is right. If he hadn't destroyed the controller, they wouldn't be here watching his sister get slowly poisoned by nanobots.

Tucker is the one who poses the million-dollar hypothesis: "Wait, these nanobots just need a new program to overwrite them, right? Something that'll take control of them?"

Three pairs of eyes stare him.

"Don't we know a ghost who regularly takes over technology and reprogams it to do what he wants?"

All four of them start at each other for a beat, then start scrambling for the Specter Speeder.

Once more, Danny and Vlad are forced to team up and work toward a common goal. It's a race against time to find Technus in the Ghost Zone and convince/bribe/threaten him into doing what they want—if it can even be done.

But of course they succeed. At the last minute, Technus removes the nanobots (maybe they all flock to him like a trillion little baby chicks and, charmed, he absorbs them), and Jazz is now safe. Danny traps Technus in a Fenton Flash Drive™ per their arrangement but promises to let him out to have fun in a little while. Jazz wakes up, hugs ensue, Maddie runs to her daughter weeping with joy, Jack tackles Vlad, thanking him for his unwavering support during this difficult time, and Vlad wiggles his way out of Jack's embrace and flees the hospital as fast as he can. Danny, Jazz, Sam and Tucker share a few closing words, then iris out.

Psych!

Back in Wisconsin, Vlad returns to his Superbowl party but finds a strange flash drive in his pocket. Curiosity wins over common sense, and he plugs it into his laptop.

"Holy hectobytes!" Technus shrieks in his Gilbert Gottfried voice. "The ghost boy wasn't kidding! Just look at this spiffy new playground!"

Technus is unleashed through the WiFi, to Vlad's abject horror, and takes over every TV screen, radio, and electronic device in his castle—including his home network and private server. The party descends into screaming chaos, champagne pyramids crashing over, cheese logs going airborne, just million-dollar mayhem. Green and gold pandemonium.

The camera settles on Vlad's tired face. "I should have seen that one coming."

The end!

[artiststarme]

Eddie Saves Steve's Birthday

Part 2 of the "The Party Forgets Steve's Birthday" fic! I hope you guys like it and please leave your thoughts in the comments!

~*~*~*~

Eddie felt awful, in fact, he’d never felt worse. He would rather go back to the Upside Down and get torn into by bats again than have to hear Steve say that the Party only cared about him as the babysitter. He couldn’t think of anyone more deserving of a big birthday celebration than Steve and instead he was working a long shift at Family Video alone without any acknowledgement of his birthday from the kids. It wasn’t fair. 

He used to think Steve had everything. He was the cool jock, rich kid with rich parents, huge house, and tons of friends. Eddie never could have imagined then that Steve was just another lonely kid with absent parents and friends that forgot about his birthday. Even now, they were both part of the same group that had literally risked their lives to save them from the creepy-crawlies in the Upside Down and no one paid enough attention to realize it was Steve’s birthday. 

Just thinking about the defeated look on Steve’s face made Eddie’s heart stutter in grief. He didn’t care what it took, he was going to fix this. But to do that, he was going to need Wayne. 

By the time Eddie got home from his talk with Steve and the minor freakout he had in the back of his van, Wayne was getting ready to leave for work. That just wouldn’t do. So Eddie did the one thing that always worked for him and threw his arms around his uncle in a restrictive embrace. 

“Uncle Wayne, I need your help. It’s absolutely urgent, life-threatening, you could say. I need you and if you don’t help me, I will die.”

Wayne was far too used to his dramatics to fall for that. He patted Eddie’s back before trying to gently pry himself free. “Kid, my shift starts in an hour, I gotta get goin’.”

“No, I’m serious, I really need your help. Everyone forgot Steve’s birthday today! He’s devastated, I’m horrified, Robin is on a date, and the kids are unhelpful! I need you!” Eddie broke out his most potent puppy dog eyes and blinked up at his uncle. 

Wayne sighed. “I’ll tell Craig I have a stomach bug. What do you need me to do?”

“Steve gets off work at ten tonight. I need you to distract him towards the end of his shift and get him to come back here. Kidnap him if you have to, that’s what the Chief does and it always seems to work.”

“Kidnap him? Eds-” Wayne started but Eddie cut him off. 

“Please! I have to steal a camera from Jonathan, break into the Harrington house, and bribe the bakers into giving me a cake. I don’t have time to force Steve to come over too.”

“Now wait a minute, all of that sounds criminal. Eddie-” Wayne sounded the most alarmed that he ever has but Eddie took it in stride. 

“Wayne. He said he hasn’t celebrated his birthday in years, literal years. And considering you have a birthday every year, that’s a lot of birthdays that he’s spent alone. So we have to get him here by any means necessary and show the pretty bastard that we love him. Okay?”

Wayne looked at him for a long time but eventually he gave a little nod. “What time should I head out?”

~*~*~*~

Steve wasn’t used to seeing Wayne around town and he had never once come into Family Video. So when the bell rang and swung open to reveal a stressed Wayne Munson, he didn’t really know what to think. Wayne looked around the store slightly before walking directly up to the counter. 

Steve nodded at him and narrowed his eyes in confusion. “Um hey, Mr. Munson. Welcome to Family Video, how can I help you?”

Wayne scratched a hand through his beard before humming. “You, uh, you have any good recommendations?”

“You want to hear about my recommendations? Really?” Steve looked at him, flabbergasted. No one had ever cared to ask what he watched. 

“‘Course, that’s why I asked. What do you like to watch? Anything good?”

“Have you seen Back to the Future? It was a little hard to understand because he actually goes back to the past and I think he wanted to bang his mom, it was really confusing. It’s a good one but I’m not sure if it’s really good or if I only liked it because I was super high.”

Wayne nodded at him, not even phased at his enthused rambling. “That does sound interestin’. Any other ones?”

“Oh my god, yes! Have you seen Clue? Tim Curry is in that one, he’s the guy from the Rocky Horror Picture Show that has the nice legs. He shows less leg in this one but oh, you should see Miss Scarlet. It’s truly the best of both worlds, Mr. Munson, let me tell you-”

If this was the best his night got on his birthday, Steve would be content. Wayne was listening to him rant about his current favorite movies with rapt attention and kept asking questions in the appropriate places to keep the conversation going. Steve couldn’t even remember the last time someone actually wanted to listen to him talk. The Munsons always managed to surprise him in the best way possible. What could get better than this?

~*~*~*~

With Wayne on Steve Duty, Eddie had more than enough time to coerce Jonathan into letting him borrow a camera, sneak through Loch Nora to collect some of Steve’s favorite tapes, and guilt-trip the bakery ladies into giving him a cake on short notice.  

After assuring Jonathan that he wasn’t trying to record a sex tape with any of his equipment, he lent him a small Polaroid (he didn’t trust the odd request from Eddie so there was no way in hell he was letting him borrow a tape recorder). Eddie didn’t argue though. He just needed something to commemorate Steve’s first birthday in the family and a Polaroid would do just that. 

The trip to the bakery though took longer than anticipated. Florence, the owner of Flo’s Baked Goods, was not in a generous mood at 4 PM on a Tuesday. Luckily, Eddie was known for being very persuasive which worked in his favor. 

“Florence, come on. Do me a favor, please?” He asked with his most woeful puppy dog eyes.  

“Edward, I told you already, you need to place an order ahead of time.”

“Florence, my dear, I didn’t anticipate my grandma to die! I didn’t have time to place an order and I need a cake for her funeral tonight. Please Flo? For me?” His lip wobbled slightly as if tears were close to follow. He needed to pull out all of his stops to get that cake. 

She sighed in exasperation. “I can give you a small one, alright? And you’re not getting extras, I actually have orders to work on.”

“That’s okay! Thanks Flo, I appreciate it and so will St- my dead grandmother. May she rest in peace.”

That worked out great! Sure, Eddie had to make an extra stop at the grocery store for some red frosting to write Steve’s name on it but the smile on his face would be well worth it. Or rather a pitying grimace. 

Unfortunately, Eddie was not a baker or a designer by any means. So the red lettering on the cake turned into a drippy mess that looked more like a crime scene than a birthday cake. He also didn’t have great space management. Instead of making the font smaller to fit on the cake, Eddie largely wrote “BIRTH STEVE” and couldn’t fit anything else. Eager to make the best of the situation, he threw some colorful sprinkles on there to liven things up. Ah, Steve would love it. 

The situation only got more complicated when he went to pick up Steve’s favorite movies from his house. Eddie parked his van in the driveway and picked the lock to the front door. Steve was at work, his parents weren’t home (not that they would have let him in if they were), and the emergency key under the doormat wasn’t there so he had to take drastic measures. 

He grabbed a few of the movies in Steve’s room that he knew were his favorite that he didn’t have at the trailer. Fast Times, Back to the Future, Clue, The Breakfast Club, Teen Wolf, basically everything that Eddie hated but he was willing to watch anything for Steve. He grabbed a few cassettes too in case they decided to listen to music instead. All of the tapes were disappointingly mediocre and Eddie made a mental note to introduce him to some real music. After that, Steve would never listen to fucking Tears for Fears ever again. Or Wham!, the bane of his existence. 

What Eddie had neglected to consider was how the nosey neighbors would react to seeing a random van in the Harrington driveway and a random kid messing with the front door. He should’ve expected the cops to come. He opened the front door to the barrel of Hopper’s gun.

“Son of a bitch, Chief! What the hell are you waving that around for?!” Eddie exclaimed, dropping his small duffel bag and throwing his hands in the air. 

“What the hell? Munson?” Admittedly, Hopper had shown up at a bad time. Eddie was lugging a duffel bag out of the Harrington house to his hastily parked van in a neighborhood he definitely didn’t belong in.

“It’s not what it looks like,” he told him quickly. 

“It looks like you’re robbing the Harrington’s place,” Hopper said deadpan.

“Well, I’m not!”

“What are you doing then?” Hopper asked him sarcastically. 

“I’m not robbing him! I’m trying to save Steve’s birthday. I was just getting some supplies.” Eddie explained hurriedly.

“It’s Steve’s birthday today?”

“Yep and he’s going to be pissed if he has to come bail me out of jail because you arrested me. Think about that,” Eddie said, pointing an accusing finger at him. Wayne and Steve would both be pissed if he got arrested again. 

“That doesn’t explain why you’re stealing his stuff,” Hopper stated in confusion.  

“I’m throwing him a little party back at my place, we’re having a movie night so I had to get his favorite movies. I don’t have this teen drama shit. But Steve does and I’m trying to give him a nice night.”

Hopper just looked at him blankly.

“So can I go? I know you don’t want to break Stevie’s heart by arresting me on his birthday and don’t you want to get home to your family this lovely Tuesday evening? Who needs the extra hassle of detaining little ole me?”

“Goddammit Munson, just get out of here. You’re making the neighbors antsy. And don’t do this again.” Hopper warned him before walking over to his cruiser. 

“Copy that, Chief! Keep protecting the people or whatever the fuck your pledge is. Have a nice night!” And then he was off again. 

~*~*~*~

Steve must’ve talked about his favorite movies for hours before he realized it was time to close and Wayne was still there. “Um, Mr. Munson? I’m sorry, you probably had things to do today and I wasted all your time ranting at you. I’m really sorry.”

“Don’t be, kid. It was nice hearing from you. Say, I’m sure Eddie would want to hear about some of those movies too. Could you come over tonight and tell us some more about ‘em?” Wayne offered. 

Steve could tell a pity offer when he saw one though. “No, that’s okay. I can tell him another time. I have to start closing if you want me to check you out?”

Wayne sighed and made direct eye contact with him. “Listen kid, I know today’s your birthday and you aren’t spending it alone. So, you can either follow me back to the trailer or I’m gonna kidnap you and drag you there. You got me?”

Steve just looked at him in shock. What was up with older father figures trying to kidnap him? Was there something on his face that told them, ‘hey, I’m a good target for kidnapping, take me’? Was Wayne in kahoots with Hopper because this trend was getting a bit ridiculous.

“Wayne-”

“Nope, Eddie wants you there and I want you there. What are you going to do instead? If you have a good excuse, I’ll leave right now and break that boy’s heart.” Wayne looked at him expectantly. When it became apparent that Steve wasn’t going to say anything, he nodded. “Good, I’ll see you at the trailer. Drive safe.”

What the hell? Was that how age twenty was going to be? Confusing and full of ups and downs? Jesus Christ. 

Steve finished closing the store quickly and made his way to Forest Hills. He wasn’t quite sure what was going on today but if they wanted to spend time with him, he wasn’t going to turn them down. The Munsons were some of his most favorite people and it’s not like there was a long list of people that wanted him around. 

As soon as he opened the door to the trailer, everything made a little bit more sense. There were party streamers hanging from the walls, the most gruesome cake he had ever seen sitting on the table, and birthday hats on top of a beaming Eddie and an indifferent Wayne. Tears filled Steve’s eyes as he laughed. He couldn’t believe that they’d done all of that for him.

“Happy birthday, Stevie! I love you!” Eddie yelled, pressing a chaste kiss to his lips and pulling him into a bruising hug. 

Wayne patted his shoulder a bit awkwardly and murmured, “I love you too kid but I ain’t kissin’ ya.”

Steve could hardly even speak through the rush of happiness he was feeling. Eddie had found a way to make his birthday special again. He’d cared enough to spend his day organizing a nice night for Steve to feel loved again, to feel happy on his special day. Sure, not everything was fixed and there was still a small amount of hurt that the kids and Robin hadn’t done anything. But he had Eddie and Wayne and they were all he really needed. He finally had a family and he couldn’t be any happier. Eddie was right, ‘86 truly was a great year. 

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[despair-to-future-arcs]

Show him the video to shut him up.

...Alright fine, I suppose seeing this footage wouldn't hurt if what Hatomi and Mahiru had say are true.

But it can't be that bad, can it? I mean it's just harmless bullying - it's not like she actively harmed anyone, right?

Do you think so? Then would it be okay if I ask you about Natsumi's relationships with yours parents?

Huh? Our parents...?

Well... I know Natsumi tries to get into dad's favor; often asking for stuff from him, he mostly complies to get her to be quiet; I even remember how she wanted to come to Hope's Peak Academy and dad was able to get her in.

Not sure how he did it but he likely pull some strings, but it involved money and lots of it.

So it was one of those bribes, right?

Maybe? I'm not sure, I know he pull the same for Peko when I enroll but that's all I know; not sure who they pick to kick out but it happen as soon as I got my acceptance letter, he soon got to work to get Peko in.

Okay then, can you tell me about Natsumi's relationship with her mom?

Oh boy that one, while I don't stick around for that mess but Natsumi really doesn't like mom at all, in fact the 2 get into a lot of arguments which it all started around middle school.

Which after that, Natsumi often whine to me about how mom is getting on her case and saying mom is nothing but a hard ass and should leave her alone; it even lead to a few transfers because of it and even then the bullying didn't sound that bad.

I have stuck around them a few times when her and Mistress Yukiko argue; Natsumi mostly started bullying other girls, I even remember she order me and some of the other men to threaten them or worse.

After that, Mistress order us to not follow Natsumi's orders as it was deemed a waste of our time.

Yeah she wasn't too happy about it and Natsumi couldn't use our clan anymore which dad thought the same and order all men to not follow Natsumi as he usually doesn't go after anyone unless they cross us; I just think that she's not actually harming them...right?

...

[moonchild-things]

Chapter Two: The Weirdo on Maple Street

Summary: There was nothing extraordinary about Bonnie Ward. A typical teenage girl who never says all that much and doesn’t have too many friends. Hawkins never felt all the strange or special to her, but her opinion changes after being dragged into the horrors that hide in the forests. Interdimensional monsters and psychic people are not what Bonnie would have ever imagined showing up in Hawkins!

Word Count: 2559 

Blog Masterlist | Series Masterlist | Last Chapter | Next Chapter

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TUESDAY WAS JUST ABOUT THE SAME AS Monday, nothing too special was going to happen. Bonnie was sure of that as she headed into school. She had the same tense car ride up to Hawkins High with her brother in the driver's seat. Though Bonnie did notice Samuel gripping the steering wheel a little tighter than usual and the way his jaw clenched in anger. No doubt angered by the scolding he had from his parents over not bringing Bonnie home. They had made it adamant that he had to pick her up after school, especially today. It took them threatening his allowance that he begrudgingly agreed with it.

‘He obviously blames me for his lack of responsibility.’ Bonnie had thought during the ride, ‘Though it’s not my fault he’s nothing but an immature child in a man’s body.’ Now he’ll either bribe or threaten her to lie about him picking her up from school.

With no parting words, Samuel dropped her off and Bonnie could head into school.  Walking into the school, Bonnie took quick notice of Jonathan hanging up posters on the bulletin board. She smiled, ‘finally, I can show him what I did with the project!’ Though as she came up closer, she took notice of the poster he was putting up.

The smiling photo of the innocent Will Byers stared back at her with the glaring words ‘HAVE YOU SEEN ME’. That caused Bonnie to pause. She’s never met Will, but she’s heard about him from Jonathan from time to time. Little things like how Jonathan shares his music with him, or Will’s love of D&D. From what she’s heard, Will is a nice kid. 

‘Missing?’ Concern flooded her mind, ‘I could neve imagine…’ Losing a sibling, especially a little sibling like this must be devastating. She wouldn’t even know what Jonathan and his mother are feeling right now.

Her light footsteps were heard by Jonathan as he looked over his shoulder to her. He appeared ragged, at the verge of crying, and completely lost. Honestly, he looked just as Bonnie would have thought he would now that she realized the situation he’s in.

She offered him a small, sad smile, doing her best to relay to him nonverbally that she was sorry for what had happened. Much like anyone else, sans the Hellfire Club, Bonnie wasn’t really friends with Jonathan Byers. They were partners in History, they’ve been in a few classes together throughout their years at Hawkins High and Hawkins Middle, but that was the extent of their relationship. He was an outcast much like her, but they were even outcasted from each other. While sharing classes happened often, neither made the effort to befriend each other outside of school. 

“Bonnie,” he greeted her in his familiar soft voice. He swallowed thickly, “I’m sure you heard about Will.” She shook her head with large brown eyes dripping with empathy. “Oh, I thought everyone knew by now. He didn’t come home last night…” He trailed off, obviously upset at the reminder of what had happened. A truly concerned big brother. It warmed Bonnie’s heart.

‘Samuel wouldn’t be the same way,’ Bonnie couldn’t help herself but think sadly. ‘He might even throw a party if I went missing.’ It’s a horrible thought, but she knows that she’s right to a certain extent. Does she love her brother? Well, she supposes. Does he love her? Maybe. She can’t tell. Would he care if she went missing? Probably not a lot. Samuel would probably find it annoying, complain that all the attention was on her again, and not even help with the search. It’s a horrible idea, but she accepts the possibility. Hell, if Samuel went missing, she probably wouldn’t be that bothered by it. So she can’t say she’d be any better than him.

She placed her hand on his arm in a form of comfort. One that he appreciated from the small smile that he flashed her and the understanding in his eyes. Bonnie wouldn’t speak, but she would provide him with the minimal comfort that she could through actions and contact.

��Hey,” a timid voice said besides Jonathan.

Bonnie and Jonathan looked over to see that it was Nancy who came over to greet them. Jonathan shuffled with the ends of his jacket, “Oh, hey.” Bonnie smiled slightly and nodded in her direction in greeting.

“I just…” Nancy started not really knowing what to say, “I wanted to say, you know, um... I'm sorry about everything.” She glanced over her shoulder to see that they had an audience. It wasn’t that surprising  Tommy, Carol Everyone's thinking about you. It sucks.” 

“Yeah.”

“I'm sure he's fine. He's a smart kid.” The bell then rang, signaling that they all now had to head to class. Bonnie groaned lightly, knowing where they had to go. Nancy smiled at Jonathan apologetically, “I have to go. Chemistry test. You ready Bonnie.” Said girl shrugged her shoulders with an expression that showed she was unsure. She probably should have asked Nancy to go over some things last night. Oh well.

Jonathan nodded, “Yeah.” 

“Good luck.” 

“Thanks,” he mumbled. 

So the two girls left Jonathan on his own, to wallow in his own thoughts and sorrows. Though he already had his own mission, to talk to his father. So he went on his journey while his peers went about their days like normal.

Nancy brought Bonnie along with her towards her little clique, to Bonnie’s chagrin. Greeted by the judgmental stares of the school’s popular kids caused Bonnie to become unnerved. The last thing she wanted was to have to deal with them right before a difficult chemistry test. That would just add to a growing migraine.

“Ah, the mute,” Carol sneered at Bonnie’s appearance. Her dark red painted lips were pulled back in a sarcastically friendly smile, so fake it made 

The notebook that had previously been held tightly against her chest was snatched from her hands. Tommy grabbed it, and pretended to be interested in it. “You've been studying up, huh?” He asked sarcastically, “Working real hard on these notes?”

Bonnie tried to reach back for her notebook, but Tommy just held it up higher. ‘Why must I be cursed to be this short!’ She huffed mentally while glaring at the boy.

Her obvious frustration just caused him to smirk, “Come on, I’m sure if you ask nicely, you can have it back. Just ask.” It was like playing with his food. Teasing her and baiting her was a passtime of his. People like him did what they could to get a reaction out of her, bullying her just to get a little peep from her. No doubt that if they could, they’d brag about it to their friends and make fun of her for some reason or other. Such a nuisance for Bonnie to deal with.

Whether it was of his own volition or the looks he was getting from Nancy, Steve decided to step in. “Guys, leave her be.” He wasn’t that convincing in his words, but took action and took the notebook from Tommy. She gave Bonnie a tight lipped smile before handing her notebook back.

Bonnie just rolled her eyes, snatched her notebook out of his hands, and walked away. She’s used to their teasing and bullying so she wasn't too fazed by it. Sometimes it gets under her skin, that’s for sure. She certainly has her limit for what she can handle, but some silly comments like that weren't going to get to her at the moment. As much as she would have liked to walk to class with Barb and Nancy, she wasn’t going to stay with those buffoons. Besides, she’s got a difficult chemistry test to focus on for the moment. 

---

Munching on her disappointing ham and cheese sandwich, Bonnie slumped down in her seat. The lunchroom was bustling with the normal cliques of students going about their business. Popular kids gossiped and bullied, the book worms kept their noses in their books, and the freaks were discussing D&D. Sitting besides Gareth, Bonnie was half listening to their happy chatter. For one thing, her mind was going over the chemistry test she took. Trying to think about the answers that she put and if they were wrong in any way. Another part of her mind was thinking about the poor missing boy that she had only learned about that morning.

Noticing how Bonnie wasn’t engaging in the conversation like she usually would, Eddie paused and turned to her. “You okay?” Bonnie blinked out of her thoughts and looked at him with wide eyes. He stared at her with a knowing expression, “I just feel that something is bothering you.”

She shrugged her shoulders, not really knowing how to tell him. A part of her was jittery about her chemistry test, which she's unsure if she did well enough on it. Another part of her was still thinking over the news of Will’s disappearance. After all, it was definitely going to be the talk of the town now. Bonnie could already hear the whispers and questions from the other kids around the school. Even quite a few of the teachers were talking about it. 

“Did you guys hear about Will Byers?” Peter asked the group. Bonnie slowly nodded her head, her heart feeling even heavier than it did before at the reminder.

“Yea,” Eddie sighed, “some kids were saying he went missing.”

Jeff’s eyes widened, “That sounds bad.”

“Well, obviously,” Peter scoffed.

“Think the kid’s just skipping?”

Eddie shrugged his shoulders, “Dunno. Maybe. If he’s anything like his brother, though, he wouldn't be much of a trouble maker.”

‘No one has gone missing, like, ever in Hawkins,’ Bonnie thought to herself. ‘What happened to Will?’

She could come up with her theories about what might have happened, but she felt like she most likely would be wrong. The last thing she would want to do is come up with her own story about what had happened to the poor boy. She didn’t need to make assumptions about if Will was safe or not. No need to give even herself a bit of hope about him being okay or coming up with horrible scenarios of him being in trouble. There wasn’t a need for her to think that way.

“Hope the kid’s okay at least.”

Everyone nodded their head, agreeing with him before deciding to delve into different topics. After all, they needed to go over when they wanted to meet up for their next band practice. Even if the topic was dropped, it still left a chill down Bonnie’s spine.

---

When the bell for the end of school rang through the halls, Bonnie found herself waiting outside. The stream of students pouring out of the school walked all around her as she kept an eye out for the familiar mustang. As everyone passed her, Bonnie could hear the talk of Will Byers. The never ending rumors and theories about what had happened. It still left an unsettling feeling in her stomach at the thought, though she suspected that to be common enough. Yes, she heard some less than savory comments made about Will himself as well as his family, though they were few and far between. The Byers were a family that quite a few people knew as a strange family. Kids in her high school saw Jonathan as a weirdo, she was certain kids at the middle school thought the same of Will. Bonnie had heard stories from her parents about how they found Joyce Byers, Will and Jonathan’s mother, a bit strange. Though Bonnie couldn’t really say what she thought of the family. She liked Jonathan, he was nice to her.

The sound of a car screeching up to the curb, brought Bonnie out of her thoughts. It was her brother’s red mustang gleaming in the afternoon sun. He certainly didn’t look all that happy with having to be there.

“Get in!” Samuel gruffly shouted out the window.

Bonnie shuffled herself into the car quickly, lest she annoy her brother even further with going slow. Though he’s usually annoyed with her for even the littlest of things. Her existence alone seemed to annoy him to no end.

“Just so you know,” Samuel grunted, “I’m not happy about this.”

Bonnie rolled her eyes and thought, ‘I couldn’t tell.’ 

He started to mutter to himself, “Should have just let that freak Munson take you home, he does it enough already.”

Bonnie wanted to defend her friend and tell off her brother for calling Eddie a freak, but she didn’t want to waste her breath on him. Samuel, just like the rest of the town really, detested anyone they saw as weird or strange. Eddie and the rest of the Hellfire Club fell into the category due to people thinking that they were satanic. Honestly, Bonnie knew that it was nothing but stupidity.

‘It’s not like he has anything better to do.’ Bonnie bitterly thought. She accepted that he found her to be a burden, but did he have to keep saying it over and over to her? He’s said it plenty of times throughout her life, she understood the idea.

“Hanging out with them is really giving us a bad name, you know that? People talk, and all they’re talking about is how you’re whoring around with every freak around town.” Bonnie bristled and glared at him for his comments. Though he barely glanced at her from the corner of his eyes, “don’t act like it’s a lie. Your type doesn't ever change, you’re the same as when I was at that school as it is now. Not able to just be normal.” He was growing more and more annoyed from how his cheeks were turning red and consumed in emotions. Samuel’s rant was ticking Bonnie off, as he gritted her teeth in anger. 

She’s heard enough from him about what he thought about her and ‘her type’. Bonnie hates how he talks down to her over whatever she does. She thought she would get used to it to tune it out after so many years, however, it’s just gotten worse. It especially became worse when she got into high school. She has no idea what’s wrong with Samuel, but he was just becoming so cruel for no reason.

The rest of the car ride was nearly silent. Every once in a while Samuel would make a small sour comment under his breath, but that was about it. Bonnie just tuned him out, hating to even be within a three foot radius to him. There didn’t seem to be a possibility that the pair of siblings were ever going to get along. As soon as they got home, she made quick work of bolting into the house and up to her room. She barely even gave her mother a greeting before rushing up the stairs. Bonnie made quick work of slamming her door shut to keep herself away from her brother. It left a bad taste in her mouth, having to be picked up by him and brought home. He was right about one thing, she did wish that Eddie was the one who took her home. She certainly would be in a much better mood if that were the case.

---

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[13urningstars]

✔

Send me ✔ and I will bold my preferences for your muse!

My muse(s): Cherrybomb (But i think chucking blaze and ace (my bounty hunter) at each other would be hilarious)

Do I know your muse(s):  yes | no | a little | tell me about your muse

Setting: our verse | my verse | your verse | modern | alternate universe | other | Fluff AU | Pain AU | Role reversal AU | Rich/Poor AU | Plague AU | Fox & The Hound AU | Bodyguard AU | Childhood Romance AU | Secretly Pining AU | Diplomatic AU | Dark Magic AU | Disowned AU | On the Run AU | Hate to Love AU | Love to Hate AU | Unwilling Partnership AU |

Pre-established relationships? yes | no | depends on the relationship | Depends on AU | Depends on age

Possible relationships: Friends | Classmate | Co-worker | Roommate | Squire | Family, real or adopted | Dating or blind date | Married | Friends with benefits | Unrequited love | Lending a hand | Teacher - student | Rivals | Allies | Partner-in-crime | Enemies | Protector - guarded | Business partners | Spy - infiltrated | Manipulator - manipulated | Star-crossed | First meeting | Villain with a conscience | Misunderstood good person | Misunderstood bad person | Prison buddies | The fearful and the brave | Abandoned | Rescued & Rescuer | Political Marriage | Arranged Marriage | Eloping Lovers | Involved in Manhunt | Bodyguard (?) | Clueless parent | Bad influence | Bickering duo | I’m-not-scared-of-you-but-should-be | You’d Never Hurt Me | Oh no, you hurt me | Betrayed/Betrayer | Abusive partnership | Reluctant alliance | Huge softie & ferocious small | Huge ferocious & ferocious small | Huge ferocious & small softie | Brawler & Mage | Older sibling relationship | I can talk trash about them but if you do I WILL END YOU | Magically bound together | Making the best of a bad situation | Reunited after many years | Constantly testing boundaries | No mutual respect | Mutual fear & distrust | Mutual curiosity | Guarded and withdrawn | Let me show you I’m not so bad | Craving forgiveness | Look past our history | Forbidden friendship | IT HAPPENED ONE TIME, LET IT DROP | Gaslighting | I’ll threaten you to get my way | I’ll bribe you to get my way | I’ll pull puppy-dog eyes to get my way | Rich & Poor | High-born & low-born | Fox & The Hound | Red Riding Hood & The Wolf | You only see the parts of me I let you see | Emotionally crippled | Unhealthy & Toxic | Tentative and desperate | Craving closeness | Craving Validation | Craving praise | Disapproving & Aloof | Cold & Distant | Loud & Irresponsible | Impulsive | Oversharing | Over-trusting | I’ve been nice to you for a very long time, but I’ll still be mean if I have to | I want to help you and don’t know how | I’m close to you but hardly know you | You’re using me | I’m stuck with you | Drinking buddies | Mocking other people | Mocking each other | Hysterical laughter at stupid things | Inappropriate jokes | The swearer and the innocent | Explosive arguments | Other

I’m in the mood for: betrayal | secrets & lies | parent/child | adoptive family | forbidden friendship | forbidden romance | war | breaking & rebuilding | corruption | love triangles | politics | death | fights | fear | warmth | bonding | character development | challenging ideals | fluff | angst | horror | romance | humor | crime | hurt / comfort | action | supernatural | slice of life | crack | dark threads | light threads | any genre | multi-para | shorter para | one-line | any length | plotted threads | unplotted threads | other

Feel free to: message me ooc | message me ic | tell me your ideas | write a starter | answer one of my opens | send a meme | reblog this with your preferences - let’s find common interests!

[vizthedatum]

So, since I'm working on myself and on my healing journey and all that…

I need to actually look out for myself and where I'm putting my energy.

I want to make my life simpler.

—

CW: suicide

For those who don't know me very well or even just through this blog: my brother has a lot of severe mental health issues that have plagued him for most of his life. My parents haven't handled it well but they are often his only support because both my parents and my brother are isolated from society due to their undiagnosed neurodivergences, traumas, and lack of resources/support.

Growing up with my parents was so hard - I have talked a little about this but I was both physically and psychologically abused. I don't care that they gave me shelter and food (sometimes they'd not give me food as punishment! Often they'd threaten to throw me out or have me kidnapped! One time they did but then CPS was called - that was when I was six). I don't care that they supported my academic career (please don't ask how they did that - that's a whole other story).

I am recovering from that abuse even now in my thirties. It has shaped my entire life.

And the undiagnosed autism and ADHD I suppose. That's shaped my life too.

The main reason why I am drawn to dubious people or people who end up taking up too much of my energy is not only because I let them... It is because I was conditioned to.

I have a lot of “empathy” because I'm not just a “good person.” I'm hypervigilant, and my nervous system is reacting in overtime because I don't want to get hurt.

—

My parents have been interfering with my brother’s independence and mental health for quite some time.

They coerced him, goaded him, and ended up bribing him to “give in” and come back to their place for the holiday weekend.

He just returned to his place after being there for weeks (the same visit that was supposed to be a weekend! The very same visit where my mom called the cops on my brother because she thinks I'm a tucking heroin addict and am influencing my brother to be one - NO, it's not true).

He just started his semester.

And now he's back there - where they just psychologically put him down and socially isolate him (and sometimes withhhold his medication, tell him to stop treatment, yell in front of him and at him, tell him he's gonna kill his dog, watch him shut down and sleep all day and then tell him he can't do stuff by himself, etc.)

They don't beat him like they did with me.

—

I have spent most of my twenties trying to save my brother’s life. How, you ask?

By being his care coordinator: by talking with his doctors and other healthcare professionals. By talking to schools (he graduated high school late because he was hospitalized so much).

By talking him down from suicide and from delusions.

By being in terror that I'd wake up and I'd hear he was dead. (he has tried to kill himself countless times and in so many ways)

I would spend hours every day on the phone with my family.

My parents even lost custody of him at one point (again, another story).

—

And he knows that my parents are abusive towards me. He knows they're transphobic.

He does stand up for me.

But he also associates with MY ORIGINAL ABUSERS. And (he hasn't put it in these terms yet) HIS ORIGINAL ABUSERS.

My parents refuse to change or help themselves. They don't want to, and they don't care.

I do have love for my family.

—

But I'm done for now, I think.

I love my brother more than anything in this world. I have been no contact with my parents for quite some time.

He knows my advice.

All of them have given me money (because I begged for it) as I've been rebuilding. (my parents refuse to anymore - and besides they hate that I'm transitioning - and they think I'm a fucking drug addict who ruined their life so fuck them)

But I can't keep listening to my brother being taken advantage of and treated like this anymore.

I can't do this anymore.

—

I don't know when I'll talk to him again, but I just can't.

I just made a really hard decision - I told my brother I wouldn't speak to him from now until Labor day weekend or up until whenever my parents are with him.

More context later.

[blueicequeen19]

You gotta do another part to Step Sister Desert, man. You can’t leave me hanging like that🥵

Part 1

Part 2

CNC! Fair warning!

Part 3 🧁

Next

I walked into JJ's house hellbent on finding my mother. It'd been two days and I hadn't seen or heard from her. All I knew is that she'd been with Luke. I throw all the doors open and come up empty handed. Thankfully the house is empty and I don't have to deal with JJ being a caveman. I make my way back to the front porch when the door opens and JJ stumbles in, dropping an empty beer can. I freeze as he starts to strip, thinking he's home alone. He unbuttons his shorts and I gasp as they hit the floor.

"Wait, wait! Stop! I'm leaving!" I shout, turning my face away so not to stare at the erection protruding from his printed boxers. Was that slices of pizza?

"Ahh, good. Just what I needed. A good fuck always gets me to sleep." JJ moves towards me and I round the kitchen table, keeping the distance between the two of us.

"I'm just looking for my mom. I haven't seen her in two days." I rush out as we continue to play a game of cat and mouse.

"And I care why?" JJ raises a brow at me in amusement. Maybe his dad disappearing for days is normal but not for me when it comes to my mother.

"Don't be a fucking dick. Just let me leave." I demand and he chuckles.

"What did I say would happen if you gave back here?" JJ's gaze darkens as we stop our chase, the table still between us.

"You're not touching me." I growl and he grins.

"Who said anything about touching? I said I'd fuck you stupid. I plan to deliver." He lunges over the table and I squeal, ducking underneath it. I scramble on my hands and knees, the door still open and so close but two hands wrap around my ankles and drag me back. I scream as I'm flipped over and his hand slaps over my mouth as he covers my body with his.

"Tell me, are you a virgin, little sister?" JJ smirks down at me as he starts to grind his erection against me. I stifle a moan, fighting to ignore the electrical current pulsing through my body. I shake my head and he nods.

"Good, I'd rather not get blood on my dick." JJ chuckles and I narrow my eyes at him, digging my nails into his shoulders.

"Take your hands and unbutton your shorts." JJ demands, his gaze threatening. "Play nice and I'll tell you where your mother is holed up." My tough exterior waivers as I look up at him.

"You're bribing me? Sex for information? You really are a piece of shit. Like father, like son." I spat and rage boils in his blue eyes before he forces a laugh.

"I bet you've never been fucked in the ass before have you?" I stiffen as I feel the threat in his words. I carefully slide my hands between us and undo my shorts then lift my hips to help move them down. He leans down like he's going to kiss me and I turn my head, the floor cold against my bare ass. His fingers toy with the thin fabric between my legs.

"If you're not soaking wet, I'll stop. But I know you feel it too. The anger that comes with being our parents children. You need a release too. One you won't be judged for because of how hard you need it. You're probably so numb that fucking is the only way you can feel anything." I gasp when his thick fingers dip into my panties and he rubs between my folds, finding me just as slick as he predicted. He chuckles and I go to slap him but he blocks it. I'm panting now, almost choked by desire. He's right. I do want this. I enjoy the game. The threats. Being manhandled by him. I want to see if he fucks as well as he talks. I open my mouth to speak but he cuts me off by shoving his two fingers inside me.

I cry out as he finger-fucks me ruthlessly while kissing and biting and sucking any of the flesh he can get ahold of.

"I'm going to fuck you on this floor. Then on the table. The counter. The shower. Then my fucking bed. You're going to cum until you cry."

"God, you're awfully full of yourself." I grunt, digging my fingers into his biceps as I feel myself clench around him.

"You're about to be full of me too." JJ smirks and I almost roll my eyes. He suddenly sits up on his knees and shoves his shorts down past his ass. I'm shocked by the size of him and how hard it is. The thick head is practically red and dripping as it bobs towards his stomach. I'm brought back to reality when he yanks my shorts the rest of the way off and then he's on top of me again.

"Condom!" I blurt just as he crowns me and he smirks that stupid fucking smirk.

"Please, we're family." JJ shoves his way inside and I groan loudly, a mild burning causes me to wince as I adjust to his size. He pushes until he's balls deep. I've never been so full.

"God, you're sick." I pant, then he starts to fuck me as hard as he can. There's nothing sweet or passionate about it. It's raw and claiming and furious. Punishing. I smash my lips to his as he rests on his forearms, his pelvis doing all the work. JJ groans low in his throat, the slap of our skin filling the air as he fucks me harder.

"Fuck, you feel good." He grunts, taking my bottom lip between his teeth. I wrap my legs around his waist, my head thrown back as I start to cum.

"One." I hear him mutter as my body shakes against his.

"What?" I mumble before I'm quickly flipped onto my stomach and he's inside me again, his chest pressed to my back. His thrusts are unrelenting. Surely bruising me as he fucks me into the floor. My second orgasm hits me hard and I press my cheek to the floor, trying to regain some train of thought.

"Two." He grunts, biting the skin of my shoulder blade. He's counting how many times I cum.

"Fuck, JJ." I groan as he sits back on his heels and I hear him spit between my cheeks. I tense as his thumb massages over my puckered flesh.

"Oh, I plan to. Hold on, baby."

[jakesimfromstatefarm]

notoriously yours | jay park

✰ summary: jay park is a rich kid. it’s safe to say he has everything every broke college student on his campus could dream of and more. but the one thing he doesn’t have, which money definitely can’t buy, is a girlfriend. and his friends won’t see of it. literally.

so what happens when his friends bet him to date someone for more than three months? what happens when jay decides that fake-dating someone would be easier than actual dating (because god forbid Jay–the campus’ notoriously known fuckboy–decides to commit to something once in his life)?

and what happens when that someone is you, his childhood best friend he hasn’t spoken to in years..who has absolutely no interest in being in his life anymore?

✰ pairing: jay park x y/n [ft. members of enha]

✰ genre: fluff, comedy, angst | fakedating!au, college!au, childhoodbestfriends!au, (kinda) e2l!au

✰ warnings: cursing, nothing suggestive but jay's a fuckboy so slightly suggestive themes, mentions of parental neglect/leaving, it's hella long (and i thought my last fic was long)

✰ wc: 14.7k (how did i get it this long oh lord)

✰ author's note: picture creds go to original owners/editors! peep that edit of jay that lowkey inspired this entire fic 👀also this took me so, so long bc i lost motivation half way thru and bc college is a thing,,,so i honestly don't know how to feel abt it so pls bare with me :')))) ALSO the dividers are weird bc idk how to add more than 10 pics for the dividers so pls excuse those ٩(× ×)۶i hope u guys enjoy!! <333

⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺

Jay Park is a rich kid.

Jay Park has enough to buy every textbook he needs for his courses without having to look up the free versions online. Jay Park has enough to bribe his professors to let him pass every class with a perfect 4.0 GPA (but because the boy has morals, he doesn't). Jay Park has enough to afford a car to drive to his furthest class from his dorm building instead of walk or bike like every other college student, meaning he also has enough to afford a parking spot on campus (those things aren't cheap!).

Jay Park walks around your school's campus like he owns the place (and considering the amount of money his family has donated to the school, he practically does), looking like he just walked out of your local coffee shop's newest fashion magazine. His blonde hair is never seen untouched, his attire usually consisting of an undoubtedly high-end all-black fit, accessorized with multiple earrings and rings that probably cost more than all the overpriced textbooks you had to rent out this semester. It's safe to say that everyone knows Jay Park.

Bottom line is, Jay Park has everything.

Well, his friends beg to differ.

In their eyes, Jay Park has everything but a simple factor in the equation of love (or whatever love is to the minds of a couple of 19 year olds): commitment.

So yes, it's safe to say that everyone knows Jay Park. Because everyone knows he's the campus' rich fuckboy. (What's a college fanfic campus without one anyways?)

Jay doesn't go unreminded of this by his friends, to the boy's annoyance.

Jay is aware of this on a Sunday afternoon, in his dorm building's first floor lounge, where he and his said friends are having a study session.

They're doing anything but studying.

In fact, no one has any books out or anything. Not a single laptop in site.

"You don't think it's the slightly bit concerning?" Jake's words are muffled as he continues munching on the fried chicken that he spent majority of this study session debating if he should have it delivered through UberEats or not.

"I really don't, no," Jay shrugs as he continues mindlessly scrolling through his Instagram feed. They're having the same argument conversation that they've revisited multiple times over the course of their friendship, one that Jay has been lectured on too many times for his own good. He thinks his friends could become his new parents if they really tried.

"Look at it this way, okay. You're about to graduate college in a couple of years, into the big world. Like the actual, adult world. And that means you'll have to settle down. Which you can't do when you. have. no. commitment!" Jake punctuates each word with a single clap of his hands, desperate to get his point across.

Jay simply rolls his eyes. He looks over to Sunghoon, who's minding his own business, not bothered by the same topic he's heard over and over again. His eyes tell Jay you're on your own, in response to his blonde-haired friend's look of despair.

Jay thinks that maybe he should get new friends. Yes, that's the only solution here.

"My love life," Jay reaches across the table for a drumstick from the greasy tub seated in Jake's lap until Jake swats his hand away, "is none of your business. Also, ouch."

"Uh, it kinda is. Because of you and your reputation around campus, it kinda affects us, your best friends. How do you think we look, hanging out with the guy who's known to ghost every girl in existence after one night with them? No offense to you," Jake deadpans to him. Jay mentally reconsiders the term best friends.

Tough love. Jay tells himself it's tough love.

"Yes, because every girl totally hates Jake Sim, the teacher assistant of a physics class who volunteers at the pet shelter every Sunday and brings their pet golden retriever to campus every two weeks," Jay rolls his eyes at his Australian friend.

Jake sighs. "Okay, then I'm coming from a place of worry for you."

Jay groans. "Again, none of your business!" This doesn't stop Jake. He comes from good intentions, really, but Jay wants nothing more than to stuff the kid's mouth with some of that chicken to shut him up.

"What are you gonna do if one day you meet someone you like, genuinely like, and you screw yourself over because you've never been in an actual relationship before? A real, committed one. Like one that lasts at least three months."

"You don't think I can last three months in a relationship?" Jay questions the boy currently taunting him.

"Honestly? No. What's the longest relationship you've been in?" Jake cocks an eyebrow at his friend across from him.

One month and two weeks. But Jay's smart enough to not say that out loud.

"I can so last over three months," Jay mutters more to himself than Jake.

Jake laughs at that, pausing to take another bite of the drumstick in his hand. "Jay, I am willing to actually bet you. Bet that you wouldn't be able to." He leans back on the couch, the ball now in Jay's court.

Jay freezes, looking up from his phone, narrowing his eyes at Jake.

"Forget it, Jake. He's not gonna agree even if you offered him money," Sunghoon finally perches from beside him. Well he's not wrong. It's not like Jay is exactly in need of more money, per say.

"What kind of bet are we talking here?"

Sunghoon's right. Jay doesn't need the money, but he does hate being wrong. Even if it's over something as stupid as this matter.

Caught off guard by the blonde's answer, Jake blinks blankly at him and takes a second to think.

"Hmm..what about...what about if you can date someone for at least three months, and I mean an actual, committed relationship, then I'll do all of your physics homework next semester."

Jay's eyes sparkle at that. If there's anything he despises more than commitment, it's physics.

"And if I win, you have to buy all of my textbooks," Jake sits back from the edge of his seat with a smirk lying on his face.

Jay pauses to think about it. I mean, what does he have to lose? A couple hundred dollars over college textbooks? No. Because he just simply won't lose.

And maybe he'll learn what it'll be like to actually be in a committed relationship for once. Maybe he'll finally learn what it's like to actually devote yourself to someone, open up to them. He shivers at the thought. Never mind. He'll warm up to it. Baby steps.

Nonetheless, what could go wrong? Even if he does lose, at least his money would be going somewhere productive––towards his friend's education. Jay was probably gonna use that money on something useless like a blanket that resembles a tortilla (a burrito blanket, he calls it)––something he doesn't necessarily need, but must have, he would argue.

"Fine. Whatever, okay. Deal," he grabs Jake's extended hand in front of him and shakes on it.

Jake's impressively smiling at the boy as Sunghoon lets out a sigh, in disbelief with the two guys he calls his best friends.

Jay concludes that this will be easier than his Introduction to Photography 101 course he took his freshman year. How hard is it to find someone to date the Jay Park? Surely, everyone will be lining up once Jay switches his FaceBook relationship status from "it's complicated" to "single".

Turns out, it's not as easy as his class where all Jay had to do was take pictures of a pretty sunset, slap a VSCO filter on, and call it a day.

He comes to this realization on a Wednesday evening, as he's seated at one of the many study tables lined in the middle of the campus' library, staring down at his phone's dry iMessage app, with his laptop and blank sheets of scratch paper scrambled across the entire table, as an attempt to look half as studious as the other students studying in the facility.

Turns out, being known as the campus' fuckboy who ghosts every girl on campus isn't a good thing when it comes to wanting to find a real relationship.

He comes to this realization after failing to receive a single text back to the many ones he sent out throughout the first half of his day. The ghoster gets ghosted. Oh how the turn tables.

Jay groans dramatically as he tosses his phone on the hard surface of the table, earning himself a harsh shush from the librarian filing books in the aisle beside him.

He sheepishly smiles back as an apology, directing his attention back to his open laptop screen, where his untouched calculus homework stares back at him––his mind preoccupied with the looming threat of Jake's bet. Not that it was threatening in any way, per say, but Jay just hates losing. And from the looks of things, it's safe to say that Jay won't be celebrating any victories anytime soon.

Jay thinks he should just change his identity and just transfer to some boarding school in Switzerland. Yes, that's a much better solution than admitting defeat to Jake.

Jay sighs as he lies his head on the table, figuring he might as well just write the check for Jake's textbooks now. He wonders how he got here in the first place. Not how he got into the bet, and definitely not how he's sitting in the middle of the library, having yet to start his calculus homework due at 11:59PM tonight (he should really start that).

But no, he wonders how he gained the reputation as the campus' playboy. To be fair, his friends (mainly Jake), are constantly reminding him of his notorious habits. But how did they come a habit in the first place?

The idea of being in a relationship is nice, sure, but the commitment that comes with it? The idea of being dependent on someone? It's scary, vulnerable, and one that Jay can't picture for himself.

Maybe some people just aren't meant to be paired. Maybe some people, like Jay, like being independent and are meant to stay that way.

But Jay also likes affection. He likes the fleeting, warm feeling he gets every time he finds himself under someone's sheets. He likes the short-lived comfort he receives from someone else's touch, even though he knows it's going to cease to exist the second he steps out of those bedroom's doors. He just likes affection, simple as that.

That and he's a 19 year old teenage boy with needs, what did you expect?

And so what if he likes the idea of affection minus commitment? Is that so bad? Apparently it is, to people like his friends and the entirety of his school's campus, at least.

At this rate, he might as well pay someone to date him.

Wait. Jay lifts his head off the table's surface in realization.

He might as well pay someone to date him.

There's no harm in that, is there?

He wouldn't have to endure through an endless amount of dates to find someone he clicks with, then continue going on dates with said clicked person, all while trying to develop an actual, serious relationship.

He'll win the bet, get his physics homework done for an entire semester, and some lucky girl out there will be making profit for the small price of hanging out with Jay Park for three months.

And lucky for him, Jay knows the perfect candidate for this scheme.

Simple as that.

Just as long as said perfect candidate says yes.

And as long as Jake and Sunghoon don't find out. Or else Jay might really have to move to Switzerland after all.

You love your friends, you do.

Hana and Heeseung have been there for you when others haven't––they were by your side when you knew no one entering high school, and they were still by your side when you were all graduating said high school. Needless to say, you're eternally grateful for friends like them.

But right now, in this moment––with you seated in the middle of the campus' library, trying to write your essay, as your two friends blabber on and on about the most recent gossip across from you––your two friends could be your villain origin story.

But again, you love your friends, you do. So you don't have the heart to tell them to leave. You've managed to naturally tune out most of the conversation, anyways, for this––your friends coming to hang out while you're trying to study––is no rare occurrence by any means.

"Oh yeah, Jay Park texted me last night."

You hate how your brain's filter suddenly turns off at Hana's words.

You hate how your ears catch the sudden mention of Jay Park's name.

You hate how the thought of Jay Park gets to even occupy a single brain cell of yours.

You hate how you even know who Jay Park is. Well, knew.

Past tense. Because up until eighth grade––when Jay decided to just suddenly pretend you didn't exist––he was attached to you like a koala to a eucalyptus tree.

And if you had asked past Y/N, ideally, Jay would've never left your side. Ideally, he would've never left you to fend for yourself when entering high school. Ideally, he would've stayed your best friend through out all four years of high school and ideally, you would've eventually told him how you really felt about him after growing up with him all your life. And maybe it would've lead to a completely different story. But for the sake of this fic, we don't live in an ideal world.

So yes, if it wasn't for his attendance at the very same university as you, you would've forgotten about the boy who brought you the painful memories of your childhood.

And since the universe clearly doesn't work in your favor, avoiding Jay Park's existence like he's the plague would have to suffice. And it works.

For the most part.

Until some people, bring him up uninvited into your conversation. Like now, for example.

"When was the last time you guys talked anyways?" Heeseung mindlessly asks as he reaches across the table to grab one of the many snacks you usually bring to your study sessions.

"Uh..like a few weeks ago. Give or take. Whenever you threw your house party. Can't say there was much talking involved however," she teasingly says with a giggle and wiggle of her brows.

Heeseung's rolling his eyes as you scoff and chuck a nearby crumpled piece of paper that was once one of your many essay drafts at her.

She bats it away right as it's about to hit her face as she laughs. "Doesn't matter anyways. He ghosted me the next morning, as he does with everyone else. Telling you this now," she extends a finger right at you, "stay away from Jay Park. That kid's just bad news."

You nod in response, mentally telling her she has nothing to worry about.

Been there, done that.

College. Ah yes, the very concept of spending four years of your life imprisoned on a campus where you'll be tearing your hair out from stress and spending all your life's savings just for a laminated sheet of paper with a golden stamp at the end of it all. We live in a society.

Because of said college, and all the weight that comes along with it, you had adapted a strict daily schedule in order to not completely lose your mind. It's a simple schedule really, one of a typical college student who's just trying to get by everyday with as little mental breakdowns as possible.

Wake up, get ready, go to class, go to the library to do your homework, walk all the way across campus to get back to your dorm, shower, then sleep. Oh and eat, of course. And maybe if time permits, be an actual social being and socialize.

It's gotten you this far into the college life without dropping out so, you conclude, you must be doing something right.

Sometimes, if you're feeling nice to yourself, you'll tweak the schedule a bit to fit in some exceptions. Maybe squeeze in a little trip to the bubble tea shop that's on the other side of campus, or maybe get dinner at that one dining hall that you don't usually go to because of the unncessarily long lines (but because they serve ice cream, you go anyways). It doesn't matter what the exception is, you still plan it out to fit into your schedule somehow. Everything is planned out.

Sometimes, however, the universe disagrees with your schedule, to your demise. Such as today, for example.

Because what you didn't expect for today was for a particular blonde-haired boy who you haven't spoken to in almost six years (but who's counting?) to approach your table in the library––a table you were sure no one could find you at, as it was quietly tucked away in the back corner, right next to the Astrophysics shelves. Because who browses the Astrophysics aisle for fun? Actually, maybe Jake Sim would. Anyways.

You definitely didn't anticipate a visit from the boy you've been actively avoiding, so you definitely didn't expect the first words coming out of his mouth when he sees you for the first time in six years to be:

"Fake date me."

You blink up at him.

Yeah, definitely not expected.

But you only let it phase you for a split second, until you feel a slight annoyance beginning to bubble up deep inside of you.

"Wow, hello to you too Jay! It's been what––half a decade? Yeah I've been pretty good, thanks for asking!" The sarcasm is practically dripping off your tongue.

You don't know what runs through Jay's mind, but apparently it isn't common sense––or the ability to read the room. Because next thing you know, he's sliding the chair across from you out from underneath the table and making himself at home.

And he's smiling right at you.

Curse him and his smile.

But no, you're not giving into it.

Not yet, at least.

"What do you want?" You deadpan at him when he makes no sign of making the next move.

"A girlfriend," he deadpans right back at you, as if he was casually telling you what he wanted for dinner. As if you two were close-knit friends that could approach one another without any proper greeting. As if you two had kept your friendship all these years. As if you two even had a role in each other's lives.

"Can't help you there," you scoff, deciding to not even question his lack of manners on top of his uninvited presence.

"Aren't you gonna ask me why?"

"Well gee, seeing that the first few words you decided to say to my face for the first time in forever were a demand, a demand to date you no less, then....no," your monotone voice says as you keep your eyes focused on your laptop screen, not daring to look at the boy across from you.

In the Introduction to Sociology course you took your freshmen year, you had learned of one important term: interactional vandalism. Textbook definition being: "ignoring signals of disinterest in a conversation, leading it to an offense."

Your definition being: "are you oblivious or just plan dumb, read the room!"

This was interactional vandalism, alright. Whether Jay's truly oblivious or just trying to annoy you until your head explodes (it's really the former, but you're convinced it's the latter), he takes your signals of disinterest and tosses it right out of his head to continue the conversation.

"I'm stuck in this stupid bet with Jake--do you remember him? He bet me that I couldn't date someone for more than three months and I figured having someone fake date me would be easier than actually dating someone, right? That's where you come into the equation," he proposes as he leans back in his chair, as if he had just finished a sales pitch to a prospective customer looking to buy a car.

You couldn't believe this. You're 98% sure this has got to be a prank. You're mentally preparing for a camera crew to jump out from in-between the library's aisles any moment now and scream into your ears that you've just been punk'd!

The remaining 2% of you, however, wouldn't put it past the two boys to get themselves in such a situation. The last memory you had of Jay and his friends were pretty much their childish selves back in middle school. And by looking at the current scene unfolding in front of you...it's needless to say they haven't changed much.

"Again, can't help you there. Ask one of the many girlfriends I thought you had." Ouch.

"But Y/N, you've known me all your life--"

"Up until you dropped me a few years ago but sure, let's call it that."

"--and convincing other people is gonna make me look--"

"--desperate? Yeah."

"C'mon, Y/N. What do you have to lose anyways?"

"Uh..my dignity? Pride? Self-respect? Sorry Jay, not happening," you turn your attention back to your unwritten essay in front of you, mentally checking out of this conversation. This would be a good time for that camera crew to jump out now.

"Look, no one else is gonna do it, Y/N." Jay has always been stubborn, you suppose. But so are you.

"Yeah, because you've managed to push every being of the opposite gender away from you. You gave yourself this reputation in the first place," you give it to him straight. It's not like you had a relationship with him to uphold anyways––Jay himself broke that friendship years ago.

Jay hates that you're right.

You're always right. He remembers how he used to always go to you for advice and clarity on the world's biggest problems. Granted, the world's biggest problems to him at the time equated to what he should dress up as for the fifth grade Halloween party, but still. A tough decision, for the mind of a ten-year-old.

You abruptly stop typing and begin putting your laptop and textbooks away as you huff in frustration. There's no point in trying to get your work done now. The longer you stay arguing with Jay, the bigger your headache gets. The longer he continues to occupy any part of your brain, the bigger your headache gets.

Getting up from your seat, packed and ready to slam your head into your pillow, you turn to the blonde one last time.

"Look Jay. We went on our separate ways years ago. If you weren't so notoriously known around campus and my friends would stop talking about you, I would've long forgotten you. I'm sorry you're in this situation, really. If I were you, I'd just tell Jake I can't do it. Or don't, I can't tell you what to do. Just don't get some innocent girl involved in whatever stunt of yours this is."

Jay stares at you, mouth agape, as you find your way out of the library and through the main doors. By the time he comes back to his senses, he realizes how he looks plain stupid––standing in the middle of the library, the look on his face screaming befuddlement, to say the least. Jay quickly makes his way out of the building, in hopes of convincing you one last time.

Jay catches sight of your figure already half-way down the walkway that connects the library to the main quad of your school's campus. Geez, you walk fast.

Not fast enough to outrun Jay's legs, however. If Jay running after you through the middle of campus in order to convince you to fake date him doesn't show how desperate he is to win this bet, I don't know what will.

"Wait, Y/N!"

You groan to yourself before turning to face the boy who can't seem to take a hint and leave you alone. You stare at his out-of-breath state as he heaves up and down from the slight jog he had to endure to get to where you are. If you're humored by him chasing after you, you do a good job of hiding it.

He meets your unimpressed state before stating his final proposition: "I'll pay you. Five hundred dollars."

You nearly stop breathing.

Now this catches your attention––after all, you're but a broke college student who's just trying to survive. And preferably not by feeding yourself instant ramen cups every night.

And so, naturally, you begin rethinking about the opportunity presented in front of you. You narrow your eyes at the boy as you weigh your options.

The first problem being, it's Jay Park––the bane of your very existence. You spent the last few years of your life pretending he didn't exist...for good reason. Not only did he do you dirty when you were merely a couple of 13-year-olds, but you just didn't want to be involved with someone like him. Someone known for his nature, someone who left your own current best friend ghosted. And not that Hana herself would care, for she has called herself the "female Jay Park", but you're sure this would be breaking some rule in the girl code handbook. Plus, if you agree to this, you'd be betraying 13-year-old Y/N, the one who decided to never speak to nor think of Jay Park again––which by now you've failed, but you get the gist.

Second problem being, three months is a long time. Three months is practically the rest of this semester, and did you really want to spend the rest of the semester tied down to the label of being Jay Park's girlfriend? There would have to be some negative connotations that came along with that title, right? No offense to Jay, but being his first girlfriend since, what, high school could make you come off as..naive, for lack of a better term. As if the only person you could settle for was Jay Park. As if you barely had any standards for yourself. Again, no offense to Jay.

Needless to say, if your school's debate club had to argue on why you shouldn't be doing this, you're sure the negating side could win with these two reasons alone.

But before you're rejecting the boy currently standing in front of you one last time, you find yourself mentally listing rebuttals.

First of all, you'd be getting paid. And again, you're merely but a college student living the stereotypical broke college student life––burdened by the costs of tuition, textbooks, and midnight McDonalds runs for when you're out of aforementioned instant ramen cups. Five hundred dollars could provide you with more than enough chicken McNuggets to last you the semester, and maybe some more to treat yourself to an online shopping spree.

Second of all, it's not like you were going to do anything better with your next three months anyways. It's safe to say you were too busy being a diligent student to actually look for anyone to date, per say. And if anything, having a fake boyfriend might actually be helpful in your case. Your mom would be off your ass about how you're still single, for one. And two, your friends (though it's really just Heeseung) would stop trying to hook you up on blind dates with guys that you would choose Jay Park over any day (and that really says something).

Third of all, it's Jay Park. As much as you despise the kid, you still know him. He's not a complete stranger to you, no matter how much you try to deny it. It could be worse, it could be a complete rando asking you to date him. At least you two have some sort of history, which would take care of the typical small talk and getting to know each other bit of this equation. And truth be told, you'd be lying to yourself if you said you weren't a tad bit satisfied by the fact that Jay chose you, of all people, to pull off this stunt with him. You don't know if it's the nostalgia of your childhood memories rushing back to you, but it reminds you of the endless schemes you two used to plan behind your parents' backs all the time. Granted, your childhood schemes––such as the both of you faking sickness so you could skip school together––don't even fall close to being in a fake relationship with one another, but still. It's the thought that counts.

All of those reasons plus, Jay isn't the worst to look at. He may have a spoiled reputation, but at least he has his looks going for him, you'll give him that (you're still secretly wondering when and how did he get his glow up, but don't tell him that).

And so by the guidelines of a college student's logic that states the pros outweigh the cons, you come to the overarching conclusion that maybe, this won't be so awful after all.

"Five hundred?" You ask, just for clarification. Jay's immediately nodding at your words. You continue to ponder on your thoughts as he stares at you hopefully.

The silent atmosphere of your campus heightens the tension so much, you swear you're in one of those overdramatic pausing scenes that occur too many times in k-dramas.

You sigh, then nod.

"Okay," you're internally praying that you won't regret this decision. "I'm in."

The next time you see Jay is at 12:17PM on a Friday afternoon, as you're exiting the doors of the lecture building that's home to your awfully long Capitalism in the Western World class.

You're going down the steps of the building, mentally deciding where and what you're going to treat yourself to for lunch––as the three hour lecture you had just attended drained all the life and energy out of you––when you hear the slight call of your name.

Turning to the source, you're met with a waving Jay, leaning against the passenger's side of his car, parked in front of the lecture hall building you were currently leaving.

Great.

You walk over to where he's casually waiting––he's unaware of all the stares he's attracted from fellow students leaving the same lecture as you. Can you blame them? It's not everyday you see a sleek, black BMW that probably cost more than your tuition pull up in front of your Friday afternoon lecture. It's not everyday you see Jay Park waiting for anyone outside of his said sleek, black BMW that probably cost more than your tuition.

"Hi," you simply let out as you plant yourself in front of him, not sure whether or not to question him why are you here? Surely, he wasn't waiting for you?

"Hi," he smiles down at you. There's a beat of silence. "I was waiting for you."

Bingo.

"Oh. What are you, my chauffeur?" You raise an eyebrow, unimpressed.

"Maybe. I am your boyfriend, after all," he says into the air, loud and clear, as if he wanted people to hear. Well that is the point, you suppose.

But still, all you want to do is smack the smirk right off his face.

Before you have time to put your next question into words, he answers it for you.

"I'm taking you out for lunch," he declares as if you have nothing else planned for the day. Well, to be fair, you didn't have anything else planned for the day. Except for your usual library run. But you figure the library could wait.

"Oh, like on a date?" You raise your eyebrows teasingly at him as you get into the car, Jay holding the door wide open for you. "Is Jay Park treating me to lunch as a date?"

Jay fights the scowl (or is that a smile?) growing on his face as he bends down to meet your eye level from inside the car. "Don't flatter yourself, princess. We've got fake lives to live."

"Call me princess one more time and you won't have a real life to live," you flash him a sarcastic smile and slam the door in his face.

Jay meets his own shocked reflection on the passenger's side window.

Cute.

"When you said you were taking me out to lunch, I expected like...I don't know...the diner on campus. Not whatever this is," you mutter to Jay as the two of you are brought to your table by a waitress at an upscale sushi restaurant, one that is undoubtedly out of your usual budget, but for sure an upgrade from your dining hall's pizza you were planning to have. You should've figured as much, the drive here was a little more than out of the way from campus, and who are you kidding, it's Jay Park you're eating with.

You stare down at your current outfit, which consisted of a hoodie you've owned since your junior year of high school and leggings that you threw on without second thought this morning––because you didn't exactly wake up and decide I'm going to go to a fancy sushi bar for lunch today!

"Why are we here anyways?" You ask him when you're both settled in your seats and the waitress walks away after listing the chef's specials for the day.

"Oh, they have killer dragon rolls here, you have to try it," Jay tells you nonchalantly as his eyes rake the menu in front of him, blocking your view of him.

How dense can one be? Your hand snatches his menu as you stare into his unamused eyes.

"No, Jay. I mean, why are we here? It's not like anyone's around to see us put on a show anyways."

"Oh. I figured," Jay's quick to grab the menu back from out of your hands as he continues, "that we should sit down and establish how exactly we're going to deliver this performance. After all, you're stuck with me for the next three months."

Again, smacking the smirk currently resting on his face would satisfy you beyond relief. Just once.

"If I drop out halfway through, do I still get $250?" You tease, leaning back.

"Ha ha. Funny. No," he narrows his eyes at you from across the table. "It's all or nothing."

You dramatically huff to make a show just for his annoyance.

"Worth a try. But sure, let's solidify this. What's the game plan?" You sit up in your seat, leaning over the table as if the two of you were hosting a secret meeting.

"It's simple really," Jay mirrors your actions, face leaning in close to where yours is hovering over the table. "Just pretend to be deeply in love with me for three months, and try not to actually be charmed by my cunning looks."

If someone gave you five dollars for every time you've already rolled your eyes at him today, you wouldn't even need to be in this deal for the five hundred dollars.

"Wow, smooth. Can I just remind you you're the one paying a girl to be in a fake relationship with you because you're just not competent enough to find an actual girlfriend?" You lean back, arms crossing over your figure.

Jay, unfazed, laughs, tongue briefly hitting the inside of his cheek. "Touché."

Your eyes go back to the menu in front of you as a silence falls over the table. Because you're not a loaded trust fund baby who comes to fancy five-star sushi restaurants for lunch on a daily, you don't recognize half of the entree names on the menu. You spot the dragon roll Jay suggested, but seeing that a basic California roll is less expensive, your natural broke-college-student-instincts figure the California roll shall do.

"Okay, in all seriousness," Jay begins as he puts his menu down. "It's simple really. We'll just go on weekly dates and post cute pictures of each other once in a while and a little after three months, I'll just say it didn't work out. I'll give you the five hundo and boom, we move on with our lives."

It's clear Jay's put some thought into this. Safe to say he's put more effort planning this out than the amount of work he's been putting into his classes. Someone's got their priorities straight.

You're impressed to say the least––you figured Jay would just be the kind to go with the flow and wait for the situation to unfold on its own and maybe blow up into flames. But seeing as he was just as serious about winning this bet as you were with making five hundred dollars, your doubts about this entire situation were slowly withering away.

Don't get it wrong, though, you still despise him. To an extent, at least.

"And don't worry about the dates. I'll pay on your behalf, as the loving, doting boyfriend I am," Jay finishes with a wide, cheesy smile you can't help but return a growing smile back at.

"Well then, as the loving, doting girlfriend I am, I shall gift you coffee, breakfast, all that fun couple stuff, whenever you please. Or maybe unannounced, if I'm feeling nice," you figure you should pitch in as much if he's paying for all your dates. And deep down, you find the idea kinda cute. But don't tell anyone that.

"Wow, look at us. We should become Dispatch's couple of the year already!" Jay exclaims, earning himself a small giggle from you, which pleases him to say the least. He thinks that maybe when this is all over, he'll hopefully make a good friend (well, for the second time) out of it.

And you're thinking that maybe the next three months won't be as bad as you initially had thought.

As the two of you delve deep into a debate about who would be the better significant other to each other, the waitress comes over to take your orders.

And because you're laughing and Jay's brightly smiling at you from across the table, you order the dragon roll.

The second time Jay takes you out––this time he gives you a heads up to get ready––it's at a, once again, high-class steakhouse.

The third time, you insist on the on-campus diner that's popular amongst the student population. Partially because you feel bad for the amount of money he's spent on you (even though he couldn't care less), but mostly because if you have to put on another fancy dress to just eat an overpriced meal that doesn't even fully satisfy your hunger, you might lose your mind.

And by this third time, Jake is aware of this newly blossomed relationship.

"Three dates! I didn't know you had it in you, going on three dates with the same girl!" Jake excitedly exclaims as he jumps into the empty spot on Jay's dorm bed and shoves his phone's screen into Jay's face.

The smaller screen displays Jay's most recent Instagram post: an image of you sitting behind your too-small-to-be-this-expensive-steak and smiling right into Jay's camera––a memory that brings a smile to his face:

~ ~ ~

"C'mon! We said Instagram posts would be a part of the deal! How else can we convince people we're dating?" A pout rests on Jay's face as he stares at you from across the table in the middle of the extravagantly decorated restaurant he picked out for your second date. You remember your eyes bulging out of their own sockets when you saw the "$$$$$" rating Yelp gave the place when you searched it up earlier.

"Okay, okay! One picture," you give in, already slightly annoyed that you were here instead of the comfort of your own bed, where you could be rewatching your favorite Netflix show for the third time. But because you made a deal and because you're desperate for money, you had to follow through––so here you were.

You flash an unconvincing smile to Jay's camera, which doesn't satisfy him, to say the least. "At least pretend you're somewhat enjoying this date," he frowns at you.

You sigh, until a thought crosses your mind and a smile grows on your face. "Only if you get me boba afterwards."

He narrows his eyes at you, but then meets your smile. "Sure, whatever you want. But only because I've been craving some mango milk tea lately."

"You're a fruit milk tea kind of guy? Sorry, but I might have to fake break-up with you," you tease as you take a sip of your overpriced drink to go with your overpriced meal.

Jay scoffs, feigning hurt by placing his hand over his heart. "Ouch. But before you break up with me, let me get this Instagram post in."

"Wow. Your priorities are so straight," you roll your eyes at him, eliciting a cheeky smile from him as he watches you through his held up phone screen.

"3,2,1."

"Hey, I wasn't ready! That was like mid-laugh!" You reach over the table to grab the phone, but not quick enough for him to put his phone back into his pants' pocket.

"Nope, nuh uh," he laughs as you quickly sit back down into your seat, not wanting to cause a scene in an establishment as proper as this one.

"It's fine. It's a good picture, you look cute," he casually lets out, unaware of the blush rising to the surface of your cheeks, thanks to the fact that you were suddenly interested in playing with the left-over food on your plate.

"Jay! Delete it, I'll let you take another one," you whine from your seat, imagining just how bad a candid picture of you could be.

"Ugh, fine. Ever so picky." He playfully rolls his eyes at you as he takes his phone out and opens the camera app as you prepare yourself.

"Okay, how's this?" Jay turns the phone screen to you after he takes a few snaps on his phone.

"I approve," you grin at him as he goes through the pictures himself, unaware of the smile growing on his face.

"Okay now delete the first one," you point your finger at him, narrowing your eyes at him.

"Okay, okay! Bossy," he laughs as he raises in hands in surrender.

When Jay gets home that night, he recovers the image from his Recently Deleted folder, telling himself it's for the sake of the memory.

Obviously.

~ ~ ~

"It's not that big of a deal," Jay mutters from his spot as his eyes go from the Instagram post to his Exile and Belonging in Modern Literature reading that's due tomorrow, bright yellow highlighter in hand. Typically, you'd find the reading buried deep at the bottom of his school backpack. But because Jay ran into you this morning and because he complained to you about the amount of work he's fallen behind on and because you had threatened him to do his work or else you're not going on another date––a fake date that is––with him, he figured he should at least get one reading done and annotated, despite his strong dislike for highlighters (they hurt his eyes, okay?)

What he doesn't know, however, is how your threat was completely full of bluff––but don't tell him that.

"It is so a big deal, for you at least!" Jake hops off the bed and lands on the wooden floors of Jay's dorm room so hard, Jay winces and sends a mental apology to the poor person who lives below him.

Jake suddenly gasps. "I have to meet her, Jay! As your best friend, it's practically mandatory that I meet her."

Jay opens his mouth to protest, but not before Jake interrupts him once again. "Oh! We can bring Sunghoon too, it'll be so fun! The best friends meet the girlfriend."

Jay can't think of anything worst. Jay imagines that bringing you to meet his best friends would just intimidate you out of dating him––fake dating him, that is. Obviously.

He stares at his friend in agony then back at the reading in front of him––the one Jake said he'd come over to help annotate, but the intention completely left Jake's head the second he heard about Jay's recent dating life.

"You don't have to meet her," Jay says pointedly. "Plus, you already know her."

Jake frowns at his friend's excuse. "Yeah, but that was in middle school! This is different."

Jay's hands shuffle through the reading's pages in front of him as he realizes there's no way the two of them are going to finish the assignment at this point. He supposes he'll have to save death by blindness from highlighters for another day and hope you still agree to go out with him.

Jake suddenly gasps in realization.

"Oh my gosh! Childhood best friends turned college sweethearts," Jake says so dreamily, he might as well plaster heart eyes on. Hopeless romantic, this one.

Before Jay can argue, the piercing sound of three loud knocks echo through the small room, followed with a:

"Jay, are you in? It's me!"

Jay stills at the sound of your sweet voice. He whips his head to Jake, who is also frozen in place.

But the widened-eye boy is quick to come to his senses––unfortunately quicker than Jay himself––because the next thing Jay knows, Jake's eyes are lighting up and he's running to the door, ignoring Jay's screaming whispers through this seething teeth that were somewhere along the lines of Jake––stop, I swear to god if you open that door I'm gonna fucking--

"Y/N!" Jake swings the door wide open, revealing an overly excited him and a frozen Jay half-way to the door, as if he was about to grab the very boy welcoming you in. It's as if we're living in a Sims game and the player clicked pause on this very moment.

Jake's eyes are wildly going back and forth between you and your supposed boyfriend, as if he was waiting for Jay to run over and smother you in hugs and kisses...or something couple-y like that. Jay wouldn't know.

"Uh––hi," you're awkwardly standing inside the room now, a relatively large paper brown bag resting in your palms as you look around for a surface to place it on. Jay makes his way to you without a second thought, quickly taking the bag out of your hold.

"You seemed stressed out earlier, so I figured I could bring you some food as a little pick me up. I didn't know what you liked, so I kinda just got a little of everything from the dining hall. Nothing fancy," you're rambling, but smiling so excitedly at him, Jay doesn't know what to say.

Instead, his mouth slightly drops open as he stares at you in awe, mostly because he's not used to being on the receiving end of such spontaneously generous actions––all while Jake's still excitedly looking back and forth between the two of you, as if he was expecting a marriage proposal to come next.

"Oh wow. Thank you. Really," Jay, still touched by your simple act of kindness, softly says as he places the bag on the limited amount of empty space on his desk surface––the rest of it is covered with his untouched textbooks and unfinished assignments. He wonders if you did this out of playing your role or just because you wanted to. He internally hopes it's the latter. "Seriously, you didn't have to do."

"Nah, don't worry. I wanted to," you shrug with such a genuine smile that Jay realizes he actually missed your smile.

Despite having seen you during your brief run-in this morning when you were fetching your morning coffee, Jay realizes he missed you. The two of you haven't been seeing each other recently because of your busy schedule and if Jay didn't realize it before, he's now sure he missed your company and presence around.

Weird.

"Well, you two have fun! Sunghoon needs me for something," Jake suddenly chirps from his place near the front door, halfway through with putting his shoes on already, breaking the comforting silence that fell between the two of you.

Jay frowns. "But you said you were free all da––"

"SUNGHOON IS CALLING BYE!" And before Jay can even register what's happening, Jake's out the door without another word.

"Er..sorry about him, he's...weird," Jay scratches the back of his neck as he returns to his spot on his bed, mentally setting a reminder to yell at Jake later for leaving the two of you alone. Jay doesn't know exactly why, but he's nervous at the fact that you're here in his room. It's not like you two are complete strangers––or whatever you guys were before––anymore. "Good job on your part, though. How'd you know Jake was here?"

"Oh uh, I didn't"," you let out an awkward laugh. "I just felt like doing it."

Heat rushes to Jay's cheeks and he's not sure 1) what this newfound feeling is and 2) how to respond, yet again.

Having expecting you to leave after dropping the food off, Jay's taken by surprise when you take your shoes off and come over to his bed to look at the pile of work he's spread out.

"Is this everything you have to do?" You question the stressed-out boy as you flip through the various assignments, readings, and essays he put off in the past week.

"More or less," he groans. This is no rare occurrence by any means––Jay being behind in his work––but this time, Jay realizes he may actually be in deep shit, considering he has no idea where to begin.

Right as Jay's expecting a scolding from you, he looks up to meet a look of sympathy on your face. "Well, I mean, I'm pretty much done with my day. I can try to help, I recognize some of these readings from last semester."

Jay thinks to himself that the universe has sent him an angel through the form of you.

"Really? Wow, you were't kidding when you said you'd be a good girlfriend," he sends you a surprised look.

"I'm just being nice, Jay. A concept I'm sure you're not familiar with," you remark back at him, causing his forming smile to grow into a laugh.

"I can too be nice! Need I remind you of who's paying you $500, covering all of our dates AND giving you rides to class everyday?" He remarks pointedly at you, a teasing look resting in his eyes as you're reminded of the first of many times he's come to pick you up before class:

~ ~ ~

You're late.

This never happens.

But then again, your life's been a series of unexpected occurrences lately. Such as the fact that you're currently known as Jay Park's girlfriend, for one.

You're scrambling out of bed once you take one look at your phone and realize shit, you're already late for class. Throwing on whatever articles of clothing your eyes land on first, you're already mentally groaning at the fact that you'll have to skip breakfast and run across your campus to get to said class.

Curse your professor for hosting her lecture at the furthest possible building away from your dorm. Curse the architect who decided to make your campus so large.

You're running down the steps outside of your dorm building's doors when you're abruptly stopped by a familiar sounding cough. You look up from trying to gather all your belongings together at once to meet the gaze of the source of the sound––Jay.

"Wow, you're a mess," he smirks as he gets up from the spot on his car he was leaning against to make his way over to you.

"Gee, thanks! Good morning to you too," you flash him a sarcastic smile before your default frown quickly makes it way back onto your face.

"Aren't you gonna ask me why I'm here?" He grins as he grabs hold of your backpack to sling it across his own back as the two of you walk towards his car.

"Why are you here, Jay?" you sigh, your sarcastic tone hard to miss.

"To give you a ride to class, of course!" He's beaming at you, as if he's a pre-pubescent teen who just won their first girlfriend a prize from the arcade's claw machine.

Oh. That explains the car, you figure. Deep down inside, you're relieved that you'll no longer be bursting through the lecture hall's doors as a sweaty mess––a result of having to run across campus to get to class.

Determined to not let your satisfaction completely show, you resort with a little smile directed towards Jay as he opens the passenger door for you.

The second your enter Jay's car, the strong scent of coffee hits you, and your attention is targeted at the two small cups of coffee sitting in the cupholders of the car.

"Breakfast?" Jay asks as he enters through the driver's side and reaches into the backseat to whip out a small pastry bag. A small, deliciously smelling, pastry bag.

Okay, well. You suppose you could drop the annoyed act now.

Your eyes widen with joy as you grab the bag from him and open it to reveal your favorite breakfast sandwich. He's been taking notes, you'll give him that point.

"Okay, you win. Thank you," you grace him with a soft smile before taking a bite into the glorious gift in your hands.

"Of course, I was just feeling nice," he grins at you as he starts his car. "But don't get used to it." His tone is serious, but his smile directed towards you says differently.

And the fact that he still showed up to drive you to class the next morning.

And the next.

~ ~ ~

"And need I remind you who has to date your dumb ass for the $500 in question?" Your eyes narrow at the boy who can't seem to get that damn smile off his face.

Jay sticks his tongue out at you, ending the conversation. Really Jay? What are you, five? Well, mentally––probably.

You're looking around his minuscule dorm room for a place to sit down, and Jay can't help but feel embarrassed now that you're here, in his messy single studio room that pretty much reflects how Jay treats every other responsibility of his oh so hard life: neglected.

"Uh...here, you can sit on my bed," Jay immediately offers as he moves to the side to make room for your presence––and it isn't much, considering the university only provided him a twin XL bed which is definitely not built for two grown college-aged kids.

If you told yourself a few weeks ago that you'd be shoulder to shoulder on a bed belonging to the guy you cringed at the very thought of, you wouldn't have believed yourself. You wouldn't have believed yourself if you said you were actually glad Jay let you stay instead of kicking you out after delivering the food. Huh.

Weird.

"You know, this kinda reminds me of when we were kids. I always carried us through those horrible multiplication tests in the fifth grade," you wink at him as you settle in the spot next to him, hands grabbing hold of the papers in his lap.

Jay let out a laugh, nudging your shoulder with his. "Hey! The twelve times table is hard, okay?"

You roll your eyes at him––a habit of yours he's noticed whenever the two of you are together, but more recently, he thinks it's been more out of fun than annoyance.

He wonders why.

When Jay had first brought up the idea of bringing you as his date to his father's company dinner, you had expected a fairly fancy five-star restaurant with a formal dress code––for you've become accustomed to Jay's lifestyle. Turns out, your expectations can continue to be exceeded. Because what you had expected to be a simple dinner with a few other business men and women turned out to be an entire party, hosted in a hotel whose interior resembled something close to a castle (Or what you assume a castle looks like, as you've never personally been into a castle yourself, but this hotel is close enough).

Your eyes sparkle at the extravagant columns and diamond chandeliers hanging high above you, and Jay smiles at the expression on your face; like a little girl being brought to the amusement park for the first time ever.

"Wow, this is...wow," you mutter as you drink in the scene in front of you: people dressed in formal attire likewise to yours and Jay's, mingling and drinking what you imagine to be beverages that cost more than your entire life's worth.

Jay laughs from behind you, "Yeah the company goes a little...extra when it comes to these company dinners."

You scoff as you look up at him. "Oh really, you don't say?" You look around and you're suddenly aware of the many people surrounding the two of you and the attention you've acquired ever since entering the building.

"Jay, people are staring." You shuffle closer to him, your voice lowering down to a whisper.

"Well, it's not everyday the son of the company's CEO brings his girlfriend with him, so...looks like we'll be the talk of the party tonight. Smiles on," he winks at you, and you just know he's loving the attention the two of you are receiving right now.

"Jay Park? Is that you?" You hear a warm voice call out from behind the two of you.

The two of you turn around to meet the owner of the voice, a middle-aged woman dressed in an evening gown that matches the pattern of high-end brands you've been recognizing ever since arriving.

"Mrs. Lee! It's so nice seeing you again," Jay cheerily addresses the woman as the two of you bow in greeting.

You internally giggle at the thought of your Jay being so picture-perfect in the eyes of his father's co-workers.

"This is Y/N," he continues, his hand finding its way to your back, protectively resting it there as you go to introduce yourself. "My girlfriend."

You swear you feel goosebumps rise from where he's lightly touching you, and more so when he introduces you as his girlfriend.

You tell yourself it's just your nerves. Yes, that's it, you're just nervous. I mean, you're in a room filled with people who could easily pay off all your college loans with just a snap of their fingers, who wouldn't be nervous? Right? Right.

"Y/N! It's a pleasure to finally meet you, I've heard so much about you!" Mrs. Lee excitedly exclaims as you turn to Jay with a slightly confused look plastered on your face. He mirrors your expression as he shrugs, moving to stand behind you completely, bringing his hands to rest lowly at your hips.

His hands feel like feathers on the thin fabric of your evening gown, so light, so delicate, as if he's unsure if he's crossing a line. It leaves you wanting more, wanting to naturally lean against him and his warmth. You quick to shake the thought of your head as Mrs. Lee chirps up again.

"Jay's father is always talking about how you've been keeping Jay pleasantly busy nowadays! Good thing too, about time this poor boy settle down for someone as beautiful as you," the woman rambles on as you feel a blush creep up on your cheeks at the thought of Jay talking about you to his dad. If only they knew.

"We should probably go find our seats, I think the dinner is beginning soon," Jay says from behind you, saving the two of you from having to listen to Mrs. Lee's story of how she's known Jay ever since he was five years old and seeing him grow into this mature, loving, young man is so amazing. Oh look! I have baby pictures.

Yeah, he was more so saving himself from embarrassment.

The two of you bid your goodbyes before Jay gently uses the hand on your back to maneuver you through the crowd of socializing business moguls.

"She's not wrong, you know," you feel Jay dip his head so he's speaking near your ear, his warm breath tickling your earlobe, as the two of you make your way through the large foyer room.

"Hm?" You hum in question, turning your head up just enough to be able to make eye contact with him as he responds to your look of confusion.

"You look beautiful tonight," he says, eye contact not breaking once. You freeze in your steps.

You stare back at him in silence. Oh.

Your mind is panicking as it flips through your mental book of responses, unsure of what to say back. But because your mind is cloudy from staring at a put-together Jay in a dark navy suit to match your dress (mixed with the nervous butterflies in your stomach––have they always been there?), the only sound that's able to leave your lips is the small stutter of a:

"Huh?"

Wow Y/N, you had one job. A simple "thank you" could've sufficed! And you went with "Huh"?

You felt like a fifth grader who just learned from a friend of a friend of a friend that their crush likes them back.

"U-um. Mrs. Lee. What she said about you. You look good, really," somehow your nervousness made its way over to Jay now––his eyes flickering from yours to anywhere, anything, else in the room––the awkward tension growing tenfold each second.

Goddamnit Y/N, this is just Jay you're talking to, get a grip.

You're knocked back into reality when he slightly nudges your back to continue making your way to the main ball room, where the dinner is being held.

"Is that a compliment from the Jay Park?" Your smirk can't be seen by Jay, since he's still trailing behind you, but he can definitely hear it through your tone.

"Don't make me take it back," he chuckles, his words felt against your neck, leaving behind a tingly sensation you're not sure why you're feeling. You're glad he's behind you, so he isn't able to see the blush creeping onto your face for the second time tonight.

Jay gives a small nod to the people behind the check-in desk stationed at the entrance as the two of you waltz right into a large ball room lined with countless circular dining tables. So much for a small business dinner.

As the two of you approach one of the tables placed at the front of the room, you notice a familiar figure seated next to the seats reserved for you and Jay.

"Y/N!" Jake exclaims as he gets up from his seat to greet the both of you. "I'm so glad you made it, Jay was so excited to bring you tonight. Deadass would not stop talking about it."

Jay lets out a noise that falls somewhere between a cough and a goose being strangled, his widened eyes warning his talkative friend to just shut up. He's silently cursing the company for always seating his and Jake's family at the same table for these events.

"Aw, is that so? He's lucky he's cute or else I wouldn't have agreed," you grin, winking at your assumed boyfriend sitting next to you.

"Hey, YOU were the one excited to come! I recall a certain someone's face lighting up when I suggested we go shopping for tonight," Jay immediately retorts.

"Only because you were buying," you giggle, causing Jake to laugh as well.

"Damn, Jay. Tough," Jake jokingly adds as you laugh alongside him. The scowl sitting on Jay's face expresses the opposite of what he's feeling right now: warmth filling him up from the sound of your laughter and the image of you getting along so well with his best friend.

"I'm gonna get us some drinks, you two have fun making fun of me," Jay narrows his eyes at the two of you as he gets up from his seat. You bid him off with a smile before turning back to Jake.

"No but really though, this boy would not stop talking about you coming tonight. Then again, he doesn't really ever stop talking about you," Jake nonchalantly says, not knowing how much he was exposing his friend to you right now.

You raise an eyebrow up in response, "Oh really?"

"Seriously! I don't know what you did to him, Y/N, but this Jay I've been seeing recently is new. He complains a lot less about life nowadays, especially on the days he sees you," he leans back in his chair as his comment brings a smile to your face. Little does he know.

You stretch your neck up to find the boy in question and spot him right as he's returning to your shared table, two drinks in hand. You lock eyes with him from across the room and without a second thought, you're giving him a genuine smile that he's immediately returning.

Your heart beats faster at the view.

You wonder why.

It's 3:07AM when you hear the first ding.

You're not 100% sure as of why you're awake at this hour on a Tuesday night––perhaps a combination of your restless thoughts and feelings not letting you sleep plus the typical stress that comes hand-in-hand with the life of a college student.

It's 3:09AM when you hear the second ding, and you brush it off, assuming it was just Heeseung spamming you with memes again––something he does often when he also can't sleep (you found this out the hard way).

It's still 3:09AM when you hear the third ding, and at 3:10AM , you finally reach over and decide to acknowledge the being who's bothering you at this godforsaken hour.

Jay [3:07AM]: Y/N

Jay [3:09AM]: hi

Jay [3:09AM]: r u awake rn

Y/N [3:10AM]: unfortunately so

Y/N [3:11AM]: why are you up

Jay [3:11AM]: come outside

Y/N [3:13AM: jay it's 3am

Jay [3:13AM]: ye and? don't tell me ur a college student with a curfew

Jay [3:14AM]: plus im alrdy waiting for u outside so u have no choice

Jay [3:15AM]: :)

You groan at your bright phone screen currently illuminating your dark dorm room.

You ponder the consequences you may have to suffer tomorrow if you stay up any later than you already have. But considering the fact that you're probably just going to stay awake lying in bed for god knows how long anyways, why not?

(And you would like to point out that this decision has nothing to do with the fact that you haven't seen Jay in a few days and that maybe a tiny, tiny, tiny, part of you may have missed his presence. Nothing.)

And since that logic is obviously valid (you really gotta work on justifying your life choices), you're suddenly grabbing a hoodie from your closet and hoping it'll be enough to keep you, who's merely in an old band t-shirt from high-school and pajama shorts, warm.

The breeze hits your skin the second you open the doors to your dorm's building, and you're met with the view of Jay's sleek, black BMW that probably costs more than your tuition. He waves at you from the driver's seat, motioning for you to get in.

"To what do I owe you the pleasure at this hour," you deadpan at him with a stone-cold voice as you enter through the passenger's side door, hoping your tone was enough to hide the fact that you're giddy at the fact he invited you out at 3AM in the morning. Like a high-school girl sneaking out of her house to meet up with her bad-boy boyfriend that her parents dislike.

The second you enter his car, you're instantly comforted by the warm air blasting through his vents and his playlist softly playing in the background. Jay's pajama pants and messy hair give you more than enough information to know that he probably just rolled out of his own bed as well. You don't know why, but your view: Jay in his oversized hoodie with his unkept hair in front of your dorm building at 3AM on a Tuesday night, gives you comfort in weird ways you can't explain even if you tried.

But it's obviously just your cloudy, 3AM mind not thinking straight. Obviously.

"When I can't sleep, I go on drives around campus. It helps clear my mind," he says, looking over at you to give you a quick smile before starting his car. "Plus, SnapMap said you were still awake, so...figured you'd wanna join."

"Oh so what, you're my stalker now? You're not driving to the woods to kill me now, are you?" You tease, an eyebrow brought up. Jay lets out a laugh from beside you as he begins to drive further into your campus.

"Guess you'll just have to wait and see," he throws you a wink before reverting his gaze back to the road, mindlessly driving to wherever the road decides to take him.

A comfortable silence falls in between the two of you as Jay continues to drive endless routes around your campus. You look over to the boy driving next to you and take in his features––you don't know what changed, but you no longer feel the same anger or annoyance bubbling within you when you're around him. You're not sure when this changed, but you figure it's just the effect of desensitization. After all, you've been spending so much time with him, you're bound to get used to it. Right?

"Why were you up?" Jay finally asks after a few minutes of just the two of you silently basking in each other's presences.

"Ah, you know. The usual. Endless thoughts running through my mind, stress from school, nothing new," you sign, giving him a soft smile followed with a shrug.

"Penny for your thoughts?"

You answer him with silence as you search your head for the answer.

"I don't know. This is kinda weird, isn't it?" You don't know why you get a sudden surge of confidence, but before you can stop yourself, you find yourself rambling on. "If you had told me a month ago that I'd be here driving around with you when it's nearly 4AM, I would've laughed in your face."

Jay doesn't know whether to laugh or scoff. "Is the idea of hanging out with me that unappealing to you?"

You give him a serious look back. "I mean, up until a month ago when you needed me for whatever this game is, you literally pretended I didn't exist."

Oh. Awkward.

You freeze at your own words, mentally screaming at yourself for letting the words leave your mouth. Why, why, why.

"Y/N..." Jay says after clearing his throat after a few seconds of silence.

"No it's fine, it was a joke," you awkwardly cough and direct your attention to anything else around you right now. The view of your campus' buildings zooming by. The clicking of Jay's blinker when he switches lanes. The quiet roaring of his car's engine. The nervous tapping of his fingers against the steering wheel.

The rest of the ride is excruciatingly silent as he exits the main road and into an empty parking lot of some administration building made out of glass that has too many floors for you to count.

You don't know why you feel your heart beating in your throat as Jay puts the car into park––why you feel uneasy. You slightly turn towards him in your seat, hoping to pick up any sign of well...anything from him.

You don't know why you feel a twinge of guilt––it's not like what you said was necessarily wrong. If you were being honest, you were slightly bothered by how the two of you seemed to silently agree not to mention your past all this time. You were always one to seek answers, to seek closure. You couldn't help but bring it up––Jay was your best friend during those years. For him to just wake up one day and pretend you were nothing to him hurt you, and you couldn't help but still wonder what in the world you did to initiate his actions.

"I'm sor–" You're interrupted with his timid voice, as if he was almost afraid to speak.

"I'm not good with people." He's nibbling on his bottom lip, fingers nervously picking at a spot on the steering wheel.

You're opening and closing your mouth, unsure how to respond. You're 100% positive you look like a fish right now. Good for you.

"I don't know why. Jake calls it commitment issues but in order to have commitment, people have to stay in my life. And people just...don't. They're all bound to leave at some point. So what's the point of putting in effort into relationships if they're just going to leave you at the end?"

You're stunned by his sudden confession, not having been prepared for such a heavy topic to arise between the two of you. Up until tonight, your interactions had always been light-hearted and easy––you guys got along well. You didn't know this is how he felt all along.

But you knew where he was coming from.

You knew what Jay had gone through as a child––his mother having left him and his dad when he was young. You remember when your parents had told you the news at the young age of 13, and you remember the pain and sorrow you felt for your then friend. All you wanted to do was go to him and comfort him, but he had already cut you out from his life by then.

"Or maybe I'm the problem. My dad barely acknowledges my existence because he thinks giving me an allowance is all the parenting I need, my friends probably only stick around because they feel bad for me, you wouldn't even be here if it weren't for the bet, and, fuck, I'm literally known as the campus' fuckboy," Jay continues, falling deeper and deeper into the hole he dug himself.

He hates this, he hates opening up and feeling vulnerable, so he doesn't know why he's doing it now. He doesn't know why he feels comfortable voicing out his fears and worries when he's around you. But he does know it's a new feeling––one he doesn't know how to deal with.

"Jay," you lace your voice with as much comfort as you can provide. None of this is his fault, you want to tell him. "I'm sorry."

"Why are you sorry? You didn't do anything," he says with a hint of bitterness and you can't tell if it's directed towards you or the topic at hand.

You're completely turned in your seat now to face him––despite the fact that he refuses to meet your gaze, afraid that looking at you is gonna bring out the most vulnerable in him. "You can talk to me. Talking about it makes it a lot easier. I'll always be here for you, as a friend."

Jay doesn't know what it is or why, but something in him snaps at the sound of a certain word falling out of your lips. Friend. Friend.

Friends don't make his heart beat nervously whenever he's around them. Friends don't keep him up at 3AM in the morning, pondering about his feelings for them. Friends don't provide him with this new, warm comfort he's become accustomed to whenever he's around you.

Deep down, Jay knows you didn't mean to add fuel to the fire. But because he's strong-headed, stubborn, and hates how vulnerable he feels next to you, he unleashes his emotions without thinking about the destruction coming along.

"It's none of your business, Y/N. Forget I said anything. You're just a toy for this stupid game and when it's all over we can go back to our own lives and forget this ever happened."

His sudden words cut deep, but they hurt him more than you. The second the words tumble out of his mouth, he's hit with the feeling of instant regret washing over him, and the lump forming in his throat restricts him from finding the right words to take them back.

The silence that falls between the two of you this time is different. It's a cold silence. A loud silence.

Jay feels his walls coming back up around him––the ones you managed to get through––and all he wants to do is apologize but he's terrified. Terrified of seeing your reaction, terrified of losing you again. For the second time.

You tell yourself he doesn't mean it. You tell yourself that he's just enduring more pain that one should ever receive.

But you also tell yourself that this wouldn't be the first time Jay leaves you in the dust.

You tell yourself that you're foolish for ever believing a friendship, or more, could come out of this act at the end. That you're so naive for feeling those stupid, stupid butterflies you've started to notice in your stomach whenever you see, or even think of, him.

"Okay," you begin with a firm tone. You're hurt, but you refuse to show it. You won't let him hurt you for a second time. Not again.

"Just...find me when you need me. As your fake girlfriend or just...me. I'm still here for you," is the last thing you say before un-clicking your seatbelt and leaving his car, beginning your walk back to your dorm hall.

Jay is unsure about many things in life. He's unsure about what he wants to do in the future, he's unsure of where he's going to settle in life, heck, he's unsure about what to have for lunch tomorrow. But he's sure about one thing.

That he's wearing his heart on his sleeve right now, and it's all because of you.

That you've become this new lifeline and he has to choose between holding onto you or drowning.

When Jay wakes up the next morning, his first gut instinct is to get ready to pick you up for class. But today's different. Jay doesn't know where the two of you stand now, especially after last night.

Jay doesn't know how to deal with this combination of unknown emotions he's been feeling lately. They didn't come out of no where, by any means, he realizes. They've been slowly growing over the past month of seeing you so often––like a plant he's been watering overtime, not expecting it to bloom into a flower so suddenly––but he figured it was nothing more than just enjoying the company of a friend.

Until he realizes that the term friend just doesn't suite you anymore––not to him, at least. And that scares him. It scares him that you've made him genuinely smile more in this past month than he ever has in his 19 years of living. It scares him that when he's around you he can't comprehend his own thoughts, his feelings. It scares him that you make him vulnerable, that you've changed him. That you've managed to make the walls that he's spent so long building and polishing to crumble with a simple tap of your finger.

In a perfect world, Jay would have already told you all this––he would be unafraid of how you would react, unafraid of your rejection, unafraid of losing this growing relationship with you. But alas, we don't live in a perfect world. And so when Jay drives to class that day, he drives right past your dorm building.

"Where's Y/N?" is the first thing Jake questions when he enters Jay's car that morning, confused by your absence, having been used to you being in the front seat every morning when Jay goes to give Jake rides to class as well.

"I don't know," Jay mutters, unemotional eyes focused on the road in front of him, not interested in continuing a conversation that involves thinking about you.

Jake hesitates as curiosity gets the best of him. "Did you guys get into a fight or something?"

Jay's hands tighten around the steering wheel of his car. "Or something. Let's just leave it at that."

There are a few beats of silence before Jake speaks up again.

"Well, I guess this works out because I wanted to talk to you about something."

Jay continues to stare straight ahead of him, focusing on just trying to get by without mentally beating himself up at the simple thought of you.

The simple thought of you and your smile. Your witty remarks. Your stupid eye rolls. Your laughter. Your kindness. So much for not thinking about you.

"I'm calling it off," Jake's words catch Jay off guard.

"Huh? Calling what off?"

"The bet. I'm calling it off. I don't care about the textbook fees I'll have to pay next semester. Look, fight or not, you and Y/N are good for each other, everyone can see it. And I really don't want this to end up being one of those messed up teen TV shows where the girlfriend finds out the entire relationship was based off of a stupid game and then they break up and the boyfriend falls into eternal sadness and regret. And I don't wanna see you sad, dude. So yeah! Congrats," although he's admitting defeat, Jake's beaming widely, just content with the fact that his best friend has finally found happiness through the form of you. "You win."

But Jay feels like the opposite of a winner. Because even though his only intention coming into this was simply winning the bet, his life isn't as simple as it was a month ago. Because he discovered something much more valuable than some stupid textbook fees or five hundred dollars or getting his physics homework done for an entire semester.

Something he's scared he's already lost.

You.

⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺

The next time you see Jay is at the same time and place as when he first ever appeared to pick you up––at 12:17PM on a Friday afternoon, as you're exiting the doors of the lecture building home to your awfully long Capitalism in World History class. This time, however it's different.

Because this time, it's one month later, and Jay Park is no longer a forgotten side character in the story of your life. This time, you're frustrated because it's been three days since you've last heard from Jay. And because it's been three days since you've last heard from him, you can't focus on anything else, and because you can't focus on anything else, you're falling behind on every other aspect in your life. Jay's somehow managed to become the center of your life without even having to be present.

Well, up until now. Up until you go down the steps of your lecture hall's entrance and look up to be met with a figure leaning on a car you're far too familiar with. You freeze in your steps as you make eye contact with the boy you've been thinking about non-stop for the past month three days.

Your mind tells you to walk away, to just follow your flight instinct instead of fight, to just go back to your normal life. But here's the thing. Ever since Jay's made his way back to your life, it's been far from normal.

And if you're being honest, you had no interest in going back to your normal life. Normal's overrated anyways. You find your legs bringing yourself over to him, your heart leading the way.

"Hi," you simply say, planting yourself right in front of him.

"Hi."

"What are you doing here?" You already know the answer, but you want to hear him say it.

"Waiting for you," Jay doesn't hesitate in answering you. This time will be different, he tells himself.

"I can walk myself home, thanks," you state, but your actions tell differently, as you make no sign of moving from your spot in front of him.

Jay's mind contemplates telling you everything. About how he regrets that friendship-breaking decision he made that one fateful day in the eighth grade, about his true feelings, about how he first suspected these feelings when he was 11 years old and saw you in your fancy get-up for the sixth grade dance but put it off as a little crush, and about how the same feelings grew into something so, so much more in the present. But seeing that putting all these thoughts into words would involve more than one functioning brain cell (which is all he's convinced he has in the moment, for the view of you staring up at him, looking like that, has his brain short-circuiting), he settles with:

"He called it off. It's over. The bet."

"Oh."

Silence.

Okay, Jay. This is your chance. Say it.

"Is that it?" You lift an eyebrow, awaiting for more explanation. When it doesn't come, you slightly nod and start backing away. "I'll see you around then."

Is that it? Do the two of you just go back to your respective lives now? How can Jay do that, when he doesn't even recall what his life was like before you entered it––and especially when he has absolutely no interest in going back to that life?

Fuck it.

"Y/N!" He stands up straight, a newfound confidence taking over. This time will be different, he tells himself. Because now, he knows what he wants. For sure.

You turn towards him, to see him already making his way towards you, stopping in his steps when he finds himself close enough to you that he can't concentrate anymore.

"I'm sorry for ditching you in the eighth grade. I'm sorry for ignoring you since then. I'm sorry for dragging you into this stupid mess and for pushing you away and I'm sorry for calling you a toy. Because it's far from truth. I like you. A lot. And––and I'm scared. I'm scared of what this means for us, because I just keep messing things up and all I know is that I don't wanna wake up tomorrow and realize you're not in my life anymore and––"

"Woah, woah, Jay. Slow down," you look up at him, the corners of your lips threatening to curve up into a smile. "You're an idiot, you know."

Jay's never really confessed his feelings to anyone before, per say, so he doesn't really know what to expect. But he's watched enough Netflix rom-coms in this lifetime (which is still not that many) to know that hearing the words "you're an idiot" isn't what you're supposed to hear after pouring your heart and soul out. Surely not, right?

"I––I'm not sure how to respond to that," he quietly says, searching your eyes for a sign, for anything. You giggle at his sudden shyness as you grab both his arms and look at him right in the eyes.

"It's okay. I get it, if anything, I'm also scared. But you somehow got me wrapped around your stupid finger, and I hate it," you smirk at him, your hands slowly making their way up his arms to circle around his neck.

Jay's hands naturally fall at your waist as he lets out a breathe he didn't even know he was holding as he returns your smirk. "Well, I could say the same about you. And I also hate it, for your information."

"Hmm, is that so? I guess it cancels out then, right?" You smile at him as he's pulling you in so close, your head turns cloudy.

Jay grins at you, his eyes holding so much joy and endearment as they quickly flicker down to your lips before returning to your own eyes. "I guess this only means one thing then."

"Mm, and what's that?"

And before Jay can answer––and because your life's been anything but normal lately––you make the first move this time, moving your head up to close the small gap between the two of you.

His arms instinctively tighten around you as you capture his lips with your very own, and Jay swears he's about to lift off into space right now. He's on cloud nine, and he makes no plans to touch the ground ever again.

The kiss quickly becomes fervent, all the pent-up tension that the two of you had for one another finally finding its way out, all the words that were previously left unsaid finally expressing themselves. You don't even care if you're being judged by the conservative faculty members of your school right now, or by the looks of fellow students walking past the two of you.

You try your best to keep yourself from smiling as he continues to press his lips against yours, his hand moving to hold your chin, guiding your mouth with his.

Before you find yourself getting carried away, you step back to take a breath, resting your forehead against his chest as his hands rest against your back. He smiles at the sound of you giggling against him.

Jay takes a step back to take one look at you and realizes, in this moment, that change can be good. And he's willing to undergo this change. As long as it's with you.

⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺ ⸺

The next morning, you bounce down the steps of your dorm building's entrance to meet the wide, bright smile of your ex-childhood-bestfriend-turned-fake-boyfriend-turned-real-boyfriend waiting for you in front of his car, small pastry bag in hand. You smile back at him.

Jay drives you to class that day.

And everyday after that.

. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ : -˚̣⋅ .. ⋅ ˚̣- : ✧ : – ⭒ ⊹ ⭒ – : ✧ :

✰ let me know what you think! if u made it til the end, mwah :') <3

[eightmakar]

calgary | c.m.

Pairing: Cale Makar x Original Character

Word Count: 10.9k

Warnings: cursing, a little making out

A/N: read accidental blessing (18+) before this if you want background on the established relationship

“Cale,” Charlie Evans said sternly to her boyfriend, “you’re really fucking lucky I love you.”

“I know I’m asking a lot. You can say no, that’s completely okay,” Cale Makar replied softly and apologetically.

Cale had asked Charlie to take his toddler, Willow, to Calgary for him. The Avalanche had a two-game away stint against the Flames, with a game on Christmas Eve and a game the day after Christmas. His parents wanted to see Willow, and he insisted they wanted to see Charlie too.

“Tell me again why she can’t go with you,” Charlie said, trying to think clearly.

“If we were going straight from Denver to Calgary, then yes, I’d bring her myself, but we aren’t. We’re going to Vancouver first, then to Calgary, then back home to Denver. I can pull some strings so you guys can fly back on the team plane with us.”

Charlie closed her eyes, fighting back tears. The idea of flying with Willow to Calgary without Cale was a frightening, stressful thought. She loved Willow with all her heart, but if something happened to her while they were traveling, she would never forgive herself. 

“Hey,” Cale whispered, taking Charlie’s face in his hands. She immediately looked away, the tears threatening to well up. “Hey, look at me.”

Charlie’s tearful eyes met Cale’s pale blue ones. “I’m scared,” she finally managed. “I don’t want something to happen to her.”

“I don’t either, which is why I asked you. I trust you with her like I trust my parents with her,” Cale muttered, stroking her cheekbones with his thumbs. “I know it’ll be stressful on you and I promise I’ll take you on a trip just me and you to make up for it.”

“You don’t have to bribe me,” Charlie giggled and brought her hands up to rest on top of Cale’s. “But I won’t say no to a trip just for us.”

Cale smiled softly. “I didn’t mean that as a bribe,” he chuckled, “but I guess it kind of is, eh?”

“It definitely is. But I’ll do it anyway, bribe or not,” Charlie said quietly. 

“I’ll also fly your parents out for New Year’s,” he insisted. “Since you’d be going to Calgary for Christmas instead.”

“What about Santa? For Willow?” Charlie furrowed her brow.

“I’ll take care of everything,” Cale said. “You just have to take her on the plane. My parents will probably do most of the caretaking when she’s there anyway, so you’ll really have minimal Willow duties during the actual trip. It’s just getting her there I need help with.”

“I’ll do it,” Charlie said softly. “I’ll take her. It’ll be fun, a little girl’s trip.”

Cale beamed and kissed her all over her face, sending Charlie into a fit of giggles. “Thankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouthankyou!”

“Oh no,” Charlie gasped.

Cale stopped dead in his tracks. “What?” he asked in a panic.

“I have to get your family Christmas gifts now, and how the fuck am I going to compete with your salary?”

The night before Cale left for Vancouver with the team, he was a mess.

Charlie walked in through the garage door after work and was surprised to see Willow, alone, sitting on the couch watching Doc McStuffins. She clutched the Baby Yoda plushie Charlie got her a few months ago when Willow began her Star Wars obsession. 

“Hey, Willow girl,” Charlie said, dropping her backpack next to the kitchen counter. She walked into the living room and plopped down on the couch next to the toddler. 

“Hi,” Willow replied, mesmerized with the television. 

“No Star Wars today?” Charlie leaned in and kissed Willow’s blonde head. 

“Daddy said no,” Willow said sadly. 

Charlie nodded, remembering Cale’s rule that Willow had to watch any Star Wars with him or Charlie. “Where is Daddy?” 

“My woom!” 

“I’m going to go see Daddy for a second, then I’ll come turn on Star Wars for you, how’s that?”

“Yes pwease!” 

Charlie smiled, kissed Willow’s head again, then pulled herself up off the couch and padded towards Willow’s room. The door was closed, so she gently knocked on it before opening it to reveal Cale sitting in the middle of the floor, surrounded by a wide variety of Willow’s things and looking very overwhelmed. 

“Cale? Baby, are you okay?” Charlie hurried to sit down in front of him and gently pushed some of his hair back.

“No.” Cale’s voice cracked as he barely muttered the word, and Charlie’s heart broke. 

“Oh, Baby,” Charlie whispered. She pushed his hair out of the way again and gently held his face while he tried not to look her in the eyes. 

“I—,” he tried to say, but then tears spilled out of his eyes as he let out a quiet sob. He pulled his face out of Charlie’s hands and buried it in his own. 

“Sweetheart, oh, come here.” Charlie leaned up against Willow’s bed and tugged Cale’s large, shaking body into hers. He gave into her touch, collapsing into her and burying his face in her thighs, still crying. Charlie gently stroked his hair with one hand and rubbed his back with the other. 

Cale sobbed into her legs for a few moments, then turned his tear-stained red face up to hers. “I’m sorry,” he hiccuped. 

“No need to apologize,” Charlie mumbled. She used the sleeve of her shirt to wipe away some of the lingering tears from his face. “How many times have you come home to me crying over something? We all have to just have a good cry sometimes. Do you wanna talk about it?”

“I’m just having a breakdown over getting Willow packed up before I leave,” Cale said sadly, his voice wavering. 

“Honey,” Charlie whispered, “I can pack up her stuff. I know what she likes to have with her and her favorite outfits and all of that. I can help you, baby.”

“I know, I just don’t want you to feel like I’m taking advantage of you or anything,” Cale sighed. 

“I wouldn’t have said yes if I felt like that, Cale. I wouldn’t have moved in if I thought that, either.” Charlie gazed down at him in her lap.

“I just feel so guilty. She’s my responsibility, it’s my job to take care of her.”

“By letting me take her to Calgary, you are taking care of her. It’s not like you’re up and leaving her forever, you’re flying to Vancouver in the morning and the day after we’ll fly to Calgary. You’ve always taken the best care of her, Cale, and anyone can see that, including Willow. She wants to be exactly like you. Kids don’t do that if they don’t like the person,” Charlie said, awkwardly leaning down and kissing Cale’s nose.

“She wants to be like me?” Cale asked lovingly.

“Oh yeah, when I hang out with her she tells me how she wants to play for the Avalanche when she grows up. If I ask her any details, she says she wants to be number eight and wants to play defense. When I took her skating the other day, she tried to tell me her skates were too small and she needed new ones, specifically ‘Premes.’”

Cale chuckled. “She wants Supremes now?”

“Yep. She said she needed ‘Premes like Daddy.’ I told her she didn’t need new skates, and I even made sure the guys in the pro shop measured her feet just to check. But she’s now insisting she needs skates like you,” Charlie explained. “That kid adores you, Cale. And I promise I’ll keep her safe.”

Cale went silent for a little bit. “You’ll keep me updated, right? You’ll send me pictures and videos and stuff?” Cale finally sniffed. 

“Of course,” Charlie insisted. “When I ask her if she wants to take pictures for Daddy, she always says yes. She loves sending you pictures. I’ve been downloading shit like crazy for her to watch, amongst other things.” Cale beamed, and Charlie remembered, “Oh yeah, she also figured out how to call you. I’ll give her my phone and she immediately tries to call you or FaceTime you, especially if you’re on the road and she misses you.”

“Shit, that kid is smart,” Cale laughed.

“Of course she is, you’re her dad.” Charlie smiled down at Cale.

“Thank you,” he said softly, “for everything. You’re incredible.” He gently grabbed her hand and tugged it from his hair to his mouth, kissing the back of it softly.

“Daddy? Chawlie?” the couple heard from the hallway. Willow’s little bare feet patted the hardwood floor as she walked down the hall and pushed the door to her room open.

“Hi, baby girl,” Cale greeted her. He sat up and leaned against Willow’s bed next to Charlie.

Willow walked over and clambered into Cale’s lap. He wrapped his arms around her as she furrowed her tiny brow looking at his tear-stained face. “What wong, Daddy?” she asked, grabbing his face. 

“Nothing, sweetheart, Daddy was just a little sad,” he explained, turning his head into her small hand and kissing her palm. 

“Why sad?” She cocked her head as she examined Cale’s face.

“Because I have to leave you and Charlie tomorrow, and I’ll miss you.” Willow poked his face with her tiny toddler hands and he smiled.

“Oh,” she simply replied. 

Cale kissed his daughter’s forehead. “But Charlie is gonna take you to see Gamma and Gampa, and I’ll see you there.”

“Gamma Gampa!” Willow squealed with delight.

“And,” Charlie added, “Uncle TayTay.”

“UNCLE TAYTAY!” screeched Willow, making Cale laugh.

“Yeah, baby, Charlie’s gonna take you to see Gamma, Gampa, and TayTay. Daddy has to go play a game first, but then I’m going to come to Gamma and Gampa’s house too,” Cale said. Willow played with his cheeks while he spoke to her.

“Yeah, we’re gonna have the best time going to see Gamma and Gampa!” Charlie said excitedly. 

Willow wrapped her arms around Cale’s neck. “Daddy?” she whispered.

“Yeah, baby?” 

“Can I watch Staw Waws?”

“I’ll come turn it on for you, Will,” Charlie said. “Daddy’s gonna pack up some of your stuff for our trip!”

Willow reached out to Charlie, who stood up and took the toddler out of her dad’s arms. Wrapping her arms around Charlie’s neck, Willow smiled and cooed as Charlie walked out of the room and into the living room. They curled up on the couch together and Charlie turned on A New Hope, settling in to watch the movie.

Cale left the next morning, having packed up all of Willow’s things she’d need for the trip and leaving notes all over the house for extra things Charlie would need. He’d left notes for her before, when he left for trips, and Charlie was forgetful, so she actually appreciated the extra reminders. She did a load of laundry, and that was all she needed to do before she and Willow headed to Calgary.

Charlie’s alarm went off far too early. She wasn’t a morning person, but seeing Willow in the mornings helped. She crawled out of her and Cale’s enormous bed and padded down the hall to Willow’s room.

“Good morning, Willow girl!” Charlie sang as she walked into the room. 

Willow sat up in bed with a huge, toothy smile. “Goo mowning Chawlie!” she said. The toddler clambered out of bed and ran to hug her legs.

“Are you ready to go see Gamma and Gampa?” Charlie asked. 

“YEAH!” 

Charlie got Willow dressed first, helped her brush her teeth, and made her some oatmeal for breakfast. She left Willow in the kitchen to eat while she went and got dressed. She packed up her last toiletries and tucked them into her carry on bag. Charlie packed the car the night before so she’d only have to grab a few things. As Willow finished her oatmeal, Charlie scarfed down a bowl of cereal, then got their final bags loaded into the car, and they were off to the airport.

Charlie was only nervous about one part of the trip: security. She was terrified that she’d get separated from Willow somehow, a TSA agent would think she was kidnapping her, or any other variety of disasters. Cale had written a letter stating that Charlie had permission to travel with Willow, but she was still scared.

After checking their bags, Charlie picked up Willow and walked nervously to the TSA line. Cale insisted they get Pre-Check, so they waited in a very short line before the TSA agent called Charlie up.

“I need your license and her full name, please,” the agent said. 

Charlie handed her license over and replied, “Willow Grace Makar.”

The agent scanned Charlie’s license, then sent them on their way to Charlie’s surprise. She assumed the agent thought Charlie was Willow’s mom, which she didn’t mind. It made traveling much easier. 

The girls got through their security scans and once they had their shoes back on and their bags back, Charlie picked Willow up and helped her into the chest carrier they had. Charlie wasn’t taking any chances. She texted Cale that they were through security and that she’d call him when they got to their gate.

“Alright, Will, you ready?” Charlie asked.

“Yeah!” She replied. 

Charlie adjusted her backpack, grabbed her carry on, and headed towards her gate. She checked a few screens on her way just to make sure she had the number right, and they were at their gate within a few moments of walking. Charlie helped Willow out of the carrier and they settled into a couple seats in the corner.

“You wanna call Daddy?” Charlie asked, pulling out her phone and AirPods. 

“YEAH! Call Daddy!” Willow squealed. 

Charlie put one AirPod in her ear, then held the other one to Willow’s ear. She clicked Cale’s name and the phone began to ring.

Cale answered, his shining, smiling face on screen. “Hi!” he said excitedly. 

“Hi Daddy!” Willow shouted. She sat calmly in Charlie’s lap, giggling at Cale.

“Hi, sweetheart,” he said. “How are you?”

“Good! We goin to see Gamma and Gampa!”

“You are! They’re excited to see you. Are you excited to see them?” 

“Yeah! Daddy, I miss you.”

“I miss you too, sweetheart, but I’ll see you tomorrow, okay? Daddy has to play tonight, but then I’m getting on a plane to come see you!” Cale explained. 

“Okay!”

“I love you, baby,” he told his daughter. “Can I talk to Charlie?”

“I wuv you too, Daddy!” Willow kissed her hand and threw the kiss to the camera, and Charlie put her other AirPod in her ear.

Cale sighed. “Hi, babe.”

“Hi,” Charlie sighed back. “We’re at our gate.”

“I figured,” Cale chuckled. “How’s it going? How’s she doing? How are you doing?”

“I’m good, we’re good. She’s been a champ, honestly. She’s excited to see your parents, so that helps.”

“She slept okay last night? You slept okay? I know you said you don’t sleep as well when I’m gone and frankly, I don’t either.” Cale smiled softly. 

“I didn’t sleep great, but she did. I’ll sleep tomorrow when you get to Calgary.”

“Well, about that…”

“Cale—.”

“I’m gonna come over tonight instead,” Cale said. “I can’t stand the thought of being in the same city as you and Willow and not being with you guys.”

Charlie’s heart swelled. “I would love that,” she said softly. “And so would she. We’ll see you tonight, babe.”

“Sounds good. I love you, Charlie.”

“Love you too.” Charlie smiled softly, then said, “Bye, Cale.”

“Bye, babe.” Cale hung up the FaceTime call and Charlie put her AirPods away.

“Chawlie,” Willow said when she saw her putting things away. “Can I have a snack?”

“Of course! What do you want? I brought all your favorites.”

“Goldfish?” 

“I gotcha, girlfriend.” Charlie began to dig around in her backpack for the cup of Goldfish she packed. She produced the cup and handed it to Willow, who immediately shoved her hand in the toddler-friendly spill-proof lid. Willow crunched away on her snack until it was time to board the plane. 

Charlie picked Willow up when the staff made the announcement about people with small children needing extra time to board. She scanned their tickets, then headed down the hall to the plane. 

“You excited?” Charlie asked, kissing Willow’s forehead.

“Yeah!” Willow squealed. She shook her hands around in excitement. 

“Alright,” Charlie chuckled. She ducked onto the plane and found their seats at the front of first class, which Cale had insisted on buying them. Charlie buckled Willow in and handed her iPad and headphones to her, settling in with her for the nonstop flight to Calgary.

“Ma’am,” a flight attendant said, shaking Charlie awake. “We’re landing soon.”

Charlie yawned, thanked the flight attendant, and turned to check on Willow. She was fast asleep, curled up in her chair. Charlie smiled softly, snapped a picture of Willow, then gently rubbed her back.

“Willow, baby,” Charlie whispered. Willow stirred a little, then sleepily opened her eyes. “We’re here!”

Willow blinked slowly and sat up. “We’re here?”

Charlie pushed some of her wild blonde hair out of her face. “Yeah, we’re here. Let’s go see Gamma and Gampa!”

Charlie gathered their stuff, then exited the plane clutching Willow’s tiny hand. They walked through the airport and left the terminal. Charlie saw Gary, Laura, and Taylor Makar waiting for them ahead. 

“Willow, who’s that?” Charlie asked. 

Willow squinted, then recognized her grandparents and uncle. “Uncle TayTay!” she squealed, letting go of Charlie’s hand and sprinting towards Taylor as fast as her tiny legs would take her.

“There’s my girl!” Taylor said. He scooped her up and kissed her rosy cheek as she cooed happily.

“Hi, sweetheart!” Laura said, rubbing Willow’s back while she nuzzled herself into Taylor. 

“Hi Gamma,” she giggled. “Hi Gampa!”

“Hey, sweet girl,” said Gary softly. 

“Charlie, honey, how are you?” Laura turned her attention to Charlie and pulled her in for a big hug. 

“I’m good,” Charlie replied. “Tired, but good.”

“We can’t thank you enough for bringing her up here, and we’re so glad you’re here, too!” Laura said as she rubbed Charlie’s arms. 

“I’m glad to be here, and I’m glad I could bring her.” Charlie smiled softly, then tugged her phone out of her pocket. She took a picture of Willow in Taylor’s arms and sent it to Cale to let him know they’d made it safely.

“Charlie!” Gary said, hugging her. “So good to see you!”

“Thanks, it’s good to be here. This is my first time in Calgary, so I’m excited!” 

“Gamma,” Willow said to Laura from Taylor’s arms, “where’s Daddy?”

“Daddy’s playing tonight, honey,” Laura replied. “But we can watch him on T.V.!” 

“Okay!” Willow giggled.

“How about you guys take Willow to the car and I’ll get your suitcases?” Gary offered, gesturing to the rest of the family.

“I’ll come with you,” Charlie said, “cause my bag is pretty heavy.”

“Will, we’re gonna go wait for Charlie and Gampa in the car, okay?” Taylor told the toddler. 

“Okay, Uncle TayTay!”

“We’ll see you in a bit,” Laura said. She squeezed Charlie’s hand lovingly, then she and Taylor headed to their car.

“Where's the baggage claim?” Charlie asked Gary, looking around for a sign.

“Oh, it’s this way.” Gary motioned for Charlie to follow him and began walking towards the baggage claim area. She followed him in sleepy silence, more than ready to get to the Makar’s home, curl up on the couch, and watch Cale’s game against Vancouver. She was relieved that the worst part of the trip was practically finished.

As Charlie and Gary arrived and stood together at the baggage claim carousel, Charlie checked her phone to see a text from Cale, to her surprise. His game was about to start, and although Vancouver was an hour behind Calgary, Cale usually didn’t check his phone close to game time.

Cale: Someone looks happy! Her favorite person!

Charlie: Wow, pregame phone time huh?

Cale: Being a worried dad will do that to you. Trip okay?

Charlie: Yep, everything went great! She was a champ on the plane. Took a nap the whole way. 

Charlie: [picture of Willow asleep on the plane]

Cale: 😍 she’s an Angel

Cale: See you tonight! Game time!

Charlie: Good luck, crush it! 😘

As the carousel started up and bags began circling around it, Gary asked Charlie, “What do your suitcases look like?”

“Mine is a huge blue one, it’s like, got a hard shell and one of Cale’s old Avs tags on it. Willow’s is purple, and it has unicorns and her initials on it. I’m pretty sure he put one of his tags on hers, too,” Charlie said, standing on her tiptoes and straining her neck to look for their bags.

“Oh, there’s Willow’s!” Gary exclaimed. He hurried forward, grabbed the small suitcase, and set it on the ground. He stayed there for a moment, waiting for Charlie’s large blue suitcase as it came around a few suitcases behind Willow’s. He grabbed it too and rolled them both back to Charlie. 

“Thank you,” Charlie said with a soft smile. “Want me to take one of them?”

“You take Willow’s,” Gary said. “I’ve got yours.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

Charlie’s heart swelled, like it did when Cale told she was part of their family. His parents had always loved her, always treated her like she was their child, too. Before the trip, Laura asked her what snacks she liked, what food her family ate for Christmas, if she had any family traditions she wanted to do with them. Charlie told her that her family always watched Die Hard, but she didn’t think that would be appropriate for Willow. Laura insisted they’d find a time to watch it while she was there. The Makars always went skating on a frozen lake nearby their home, so Charlie brought her and Willow’s skates with them. 

“Oh,” Gary said as they walked toward the exit, “they brought the car to us!”

Charlie smiled and walked over to the car door, opening it. Willow sat in her car seat behind the driver’s seat with a bag of Goldfish in her hands. 

“Where did you get more Goldfish, missy?” Charlie asked as she clambered into the car.

Willow grinned. “Gamma!”

“Ah, I see,” Charlie said with a nod. 

Willow grabbed a Goldfish and turned to look behind her at Taylor, who was sitting in the back seat. She offered the Goldfish to him. Taylor stared at her hand for a moment, then suddenly opened his mouth wide and gulped the cracker out of Willow’s hand with a loud snort. Willow cackled at him and he grinned back at her as he crunched on the Goldfish. She offered him another and he did the same thing, making her cackle even louder. 

The Goldfish chomping went on periodically throughout the car ride to the Makar’s home. Charlie admired the scenery, occasionally looking over at Willow and smiling. They arrived after a short time, and Charlie emerged from the car to stretch her legs. She walked around to the trunk and began unloading her and Willow’s stuff. 

“Hey, I’ve got it!” Gary said as he came around the car. “You go on inside. You look exhausted, and Cale won’t be here til late tonight.” He checked his watch, then continued. “It’s only one o’clock, so you can get a good few hours before dinner.”

Charlie wanted to cry. “Y’all are too kind, I swear.”

“You’re family,” Gary said simply. “Go inside, I’ll bring your stuff in.”

“Thank you,” Charlie whispered. She grabbed her backpack and walked into the house. 

Laura greeted her with a warm smile. “Going to bed?” 

“Yeah, I think so.”

“Go for it. Taylor’s got Willow, and we’ll be down here watching the game. You’ve had a long morning and you deserve some rest.” Laura stepped closer to Charlie and gently rubbed her arm. “You and Cale are in the guest room, it’s up the stairs, first door on the left. Willow’s gonna be in Cale’s old room, which is across the hall from you two. I’ll come get you for dinner.”

“Thank you.” Charlie hugged Laura, then trudged upstairs, crawled into bed, and fell deep asleep. 

“Charlie, honey,” Laura said softly, rubbing Charlie’s back over the comforter. “Dinner’s ready.”

Charlie opened her eyes and yawned. “Mmm, thank you,” she mumbled. “I’ll be down in a second.”

Laura patted her arm, then left her alone to get up. Charlie sat up and checked her phone. It was almost seven-thirty in the evening, and she had several text messages, a few from her mom, one from her sister, and a couple from Cale. She didn’t really read them; instead, she got out of bed, locked her phone, and shoved it in her pocket. She padded downstairs, smiling when she heard Willow’s giggles. Rounding the corner at the bottom of the stairs, Charlie stopped in her tracks when she saw Cale laying on the floor playing Barbies with Willow.

“Cale!” she exclaimed. “I thought you weren’t gonna be here til late!”

“Surprise!” Cale grinned up at her, then quickly got up. He wrapped his arms around her and squeezed her tightly, kissing her forehead gently. “Hi, babe.”

Charlie gazed up at him. “Hi, my love.” She stood on her tiptoes and kissed his lips. “I missed you.”

“I missed you more.” He kissed her again. 

“Daddy!” Willow fussed from the floor. 

“I’m being summoned,” he whispered. 

“You are,” Charlie giggled.

Cale released her and rejoined his daughter on the floor. Willow handed him a Sleeping Beauty Barbie that was dressed as a hockey player, babbling away in her Barbie world as she moved the dolls around. Charlie wasn’t sure what the story was this time, but she was sure she’d hear about it later.

Laura called them to the dinner table after a few moments of Barbie play. Cale scooped up Willow and took her to the table while Taylor helped Laura bring plates of food over. Cale immediately began cutting up Willow’s food into tiny pieces on her plate. 

“Wow,” Charlie said as she sat down across from Cale, next to Willow, who sat at the foot of the table. “I finally get to try the internationally known mayonnaise chicken!”

Everyone laughed as they took their seats at the table. They began eating, silverware occasionally scratching their plates and making something in Charlie’s neck feel strange. She dug into her mayonnaise chicken and was pleasantly surprised at how delicious it was. 

The Makar family made small talk while they ate. Cale occasionally directed Willow to sit back down in her chair, to finish her broccoli, to ask her if she needed help. Charlie felt at peace with the Makars. She knew she was meant to be with them.

They finished dinner and Taylor and Cale cleared the table. Charlie tried to help with the dishes, but Laura shooed her away to go spend time with Cale and Willow, so she joined them on the couch, Willow curled up into Cale’s side. Charlie gazed at the two of them lovingly.

“Daddy?” Willow asked. “Can we watch Fwozen?”

“Of course, baby,” Cale said. “Taylor, do you have the remote?”

“Yeah, I gotcha, Will,” Taylor replied, picking up the remote. He quickly turned on the movie and they all settled in to watch. 

Willow fell asleep almost instantly, her soft snores barely audible over the movie. Cale gently picked her up and took her to her room to put her to bed. The moment they were out of sight, Taylor stopped the movie and turned on the end Penguins and Devils game.

“Ew,” Charlie said, “I hate the Pens.”

“How do you hate the Pens?” Taylor asked incredulously. “Sid the Kid’s a legend.”

“Yeah, a legend who I hate. And I hate the Devils except for Ryan Graves.” 

“That’s understandable, Gravy’s a great guy.”

“Oh, I only like him ‘cause he’s hot.”

“You only like who ‘cause he’s hot?” Cale reentered the room without Willow.

“Gravy,” Charlie said simply.

“Ah, I see.” Crossing in front of the TV, Cale laid down on the couch next to Charlie, resting his head in her lap. “Too bad he sucks at hockey.”

“His hockey abilities definitely don’t have anything to do with my attraction to him. Or the fact that he’s 6 foot 5. Or his hair. You should grow your hair out like Gravy, babe.” Charlie ran her fingers through Cale’s hair.

“I’d look so stupid!” Cale exclaimed with a laugh. 

“I’ve seen some photoshops on Twitter and you’d actually look amazing, thank you very much.”

“No, absolutely not.”

Charlie looked at Taylor. “Taylor, back me up here.”

“Will would love it,” Taylor contributed.

Charlie gasped. “Oh my god! Willow would love it!” 

“Oh god,” Cale shivered, “toddler fingers in long hair.”

“I don’t want to hear it! I do not wanna hear it, Cale Douglas Makar!” Charlie swatted at him teasingly. “Your daughter wants to play princesses and hair salon with me like, every day, dude.”

Laughing, Cale gazed up at her. “You know what you signed up for.”

“You got me there.” She continued to play with his hair, enjoying how soft it was.

Gary and Laura joined them after they finished the dishes, and they all watched hockey together until Cale began falling asleep in Charlie’s lap, much like his daughter.

“Cale,” Charlie whispered, gently cupping his face. “Cale, baby, let’s go to bed.”

He opened his eyes and breathed deeply in surprise. “I fell asleep?” he asked, confused.

“Yeah, you did. Let’s go to bed,” Charlie suggested again. 

“Mmkay.” Cale sleepily got up off the couch and hugged his parents. He fist-bumped Taylor, then followed Charlie to the guest room. 

Charlie and Cale quickly changed clothes, spent some time in the bathroom, and climbed into bed together. Charlie curled into Cale and laid her head on his bare chest. 

“I’m glad you’re here,” she muttered to him.

“I’m glad to be here with you,” he mumbled back. “Love you.”

“Love you too.”

The couple fell into a soft, happy sleep in each other’s arms.

Charlie decided the moment she and the Makars left for Cale’s game that they needed to move to Denver. Having help for a gameday made everything about it easier. Laura got Willow up and dressed in her tiny number eight jersey, put her hair in pigtails with red and blue bows, and had her game bag all packed up before Charlie finished her breakfast, but the best part was that Willow didn’t ask Charlie where Cale was. Instead, she started asking Taylor or her grandparents, and they had much better answers for her than Charlie did. 

They drove quickly to the arena, and once they parked, Taylor carried Willow on his shoulders. She giggled and cackled the whole walk over to Will Call. He bounced Willow on his shoulders while Gary picked up their tickets, and Charlie took a short video of it for Cale. 

The Makars and Charlie entered the arena and found their seats easily. Taylor didn’t sit down, but headed straight for the glass so Willow could watch Cale during warmups. Charlie followed, excited to see how Charlie reacted with Taylor. 

After a few minutes, the Flames began coming out of their locker room, so Taylor held Willow up to stand on the boards. She squealed as the Avalanche took the ice in their white away jerseys. 

“There’s Daddy!” she yelled to Taylor, enthusiastically pointing at Cale. She began to wave, and Cale smiled and waved back, sending Willow into a fit of giggles. 

“Will, who’s that?” Charlie asked as André Burakovsky skated over to see her. He had a big, goofy grin on his face. 

“Burky!” Willow shrieked. “Hi Burky!”

Burky stood in front of her for a moment before he skated away to finish his warm up. As warm-ups began to wind down, Cale skated over a final time, a puck in hand. He tossed it over the glass for her, and Charlie retrieved it and handed it to her. She squealed and smiled at Cale as he blew her a kiss through the glass before he retreated to the locker room. 

Taylor, Willow, and Charlie returned to their seats. Willow immediately clambered into Gary’s lap. 

“Gampa, Daddy gave me a puck!” she said proudly, holding it out to him.

“He did!” Gary said. “How exciting!”

Willow babbled away at her grandfather and her uncle while they waited for the game to begin. Laura, who was sitting next to Charlie, leaned over to speak to her. 

“It’s so much easier when it’s not just you,” Laura said. 

“Oh god, it is,” Charlie sighed. “I don’t know how Cale did it alone for so long.”

“Cale’s determined,” laughed Laura.

“I’ve always wondered, how did you guys feel when he told you about Willow?” Charlie shifted in her seat to look at Laura.

Laura took a deep breath. “Well, we were surprised, to say the least. We thought of the two of them, Taylor was more likely to do something like that.” Charlie laughed as Laura continued. “But he knew it was his responsibility, so he asked for help.”

“He’s a good person,” agreed Charlie. “Maddeningly good.”

“I don’t think he’d have it any other way, though. He loves Willow more than anything.” Laura looked over at Willow, who was sitting in Taylor’s lap.

The game started, and Charlie had the time of her life. She loved taking Willow to Cale’s games, but she loved watching them alone even more. Cale played well and had assists on both the goals the Avs scored, but towards the end of the game, Matthew Tkachuk managed to get in his head and they nearly got into a fight. Gabe and Devon came in to defend Cale, but it sure was fun to watch. Charlie desperately wanted to see him get in a fight.

The game finished with the Avs beating the Flames, and Charlie and the Makars piled back into the car to head home. Willow fell asleep in her car seat, so the moment they got home, Gary and Laura took her upstairs to put her to bed, leaving Taylor and Charlie alone downstairs. 

“I’m pretty sure Mom told you this,” Taylor said as he turned on the television, “but you’re great with Will and she loves you to death.”

“I love her to death,” Charlie replied. “I never thought I’d feel like her mom, but I do all the time.”

“Would you adopt her? Like if you and Cale got married?” Taylor changed the channel to another hockey game. 

“Definitely. I don’t know how that would work, though,” admitted Charlie.

“It’d be pretty easy. Her birth mom signed away all her parental rights after she was born, so basically Cale gets to decide, but he’s already started looking into it.”

“Did you ever meet her?”

“Who? Birth Mom?”

“Yeah.”

Taylor shook his head. “Nah, she really wanted nothing to do with Will. She wanted to go to law school or something, and Cale offered to get married to her and move in and all that stuff, but she didn’t want that life. I think her parents had some weird thing and may have guilted her into having Will. I think they wanted to adopt her as their own? But Cale got precedence, and I think they realized she’d be fine with him.”

“I’ve always had so many questions about the whole thing, but never asked him,” Charlie said quietly. 

“Asked me what?” 

Charlie turned around to see Cale entering the house. She grinned at him as he walked into the living room, pausing by Charlie to kiss her. Taylor gagged, and Cale shoved him as he passed him on his way to plop down on the couch with Charlie. 

“Hi,” Charlie said, leaning into his body. 

“Hi. What have you never asked me?” Cale repeated. 

“About Willow and that whole thing and her birth mom.”

“Oh. I would’ve told you whatever you wanted to know.” Cale blinked sleepily at her. 

“I know you would’ve, it’s just a weird me thing.” Charlie strained her neck to kiss him again. “You played really well tonight.”

Cale laughed. “Til Tkachuk got in my head. That kid is a menace. Like someone else we know.” He dramatically looked at Taylor, who put his hands up. 

“Hey! I’m not that bad!” Taylor laughed. 

“Remind me to tell you some of his junior hockey stories,” Cale muttered.

“Quit the low talking romantic thing,” Taylor called them out. “You guys do it all the time. Some of us single people think it’s gross.”

“Do we?” Cale asked Charlie in the same low voice, just to piss off Taylor. 

“You’re such an ass!” laughed Taylor, throwing a pillow at him.

“Maybe you’d find someone if you didn’t spend all your time in sorority houses,” Cale chirped with a raised eyebrow. Charlie cackled, knowing exactly what Cale was referring to. 

“It was one time! No one would give me a ride home!”  

“You still slept in the sorority house, Taylor.”

“Because I was drunk, Cale.”

“But did you get laid that night?” Taylor made a face at Cale’s question, so Cale added, “Exactly. I win.”

“Whatever,” Taylor rolled his eyes and said. “We don’t talk about your sexcapades.”

“You do have actual living proof of yours,” Charlie added softly. 

Taylor threw his head back and laughed, Cale’s face going even brighter red. 

“Damn,” Cale chuckled. “That’s a low blow.”

“I’m right, though,” Charlie said. “Do I win now?”

Cale and Taylor laughed, then Taylor said, “You definitely win, Charlie.”

“Daddy!” Willow squealed far too early, jumping on the bed between Cale and Charlie. “Santa came!”

Charlie groaned and tugged the comforter over her head, but Cale sat up and pulled the squirming toddler into his lap. 

“He did?” Cale asked. His morning voice was low and gravelly and made Charlie want to jump his bones. 

“Yeah! Cmon!” 

Charlie felt Willow clamber off the bed, then heard her tiny footsteps as she ran to Taylor’s room, screaming his name. Cale rolled over and pulled the comforter over his head, too, so he could snuggle up to Charlie.

“Your kid is just like you,” Charlie teased. “Far too happy to wake up in the morning.”

Cale chuckled, “Can you blame her? Santa came.”

“I can and I will. My sister used to do the same thing when we were kids.”

Cale and Charlie had been up late with Laura, Gary, and Taylor finishing up Willow’s gifts. They’d all come in time, and Cale had most of them wrapped and shipped up to Calgary.

Charlie and the Makars all got up and made their way down to the Christmas tree to open gifts. Willow opened her stocking and screeched over the candy and stuffed animal, among her other small gifts. She sat in Cale’s lap and demanded he help her unwrap her presents. 

Charlie was impressed at the gifts Cale had picked out for Willow. She’d helped with some of them,  but some of the others she was very impressed by, like the giant, rideable Sven from Frozen and the tiny, Willow-sized purple lightsaber. 

Willow loved the hockey Barbie and new purple hockey gloves Charlie got her. Laura and Gary got her a couple play sets from some of her favorite shows, and Taylor got her a giant stuffed sloth. 

“How the fuck are we getting that back to Denver?” Charlie muttered to Cale about the sloth. 

Cale laughed. “I’ve got it taken care of.”

While Willow played with her new toys, the adults began opening presents. Charlie was nervous; she felt like her gifts for Gary, Laura, and Taylor were so lame compared to what Cale got them. How could she compete with $9 million a year?

It turned out very well. Charlie got Laura a couple cookbooks she’d been wanting, which she joyfully declared she would try that night, plus some picture frames she’d filled with her favorite pictures of Willow. She’d gotten Gary some new golf equipment with Avs covers, and he happily hugged her in thanks. Charlie got Taylor a PS5, shocking him. 

“How’d you find this?” Taylor asked incredulously. 

“Honestly? I’m just really lucky,” Charlie laughed. 

Cale got his parents a trip to Europe. Charlie gaped at him when they opened the envelope, and hissed in his ear, “Show off!”

He laughed, and replied, “Wait til you see what I got you.”

Charlie felt faint. She hated people spending  money on her, even Cale. 

Taylor got several games for his PlayStation from Cale, plus some stuff for his dorm room. Then, it was time for Charlie and Cale to open their gifts. 

“You first,” Cale insisted. 

Charlie made a face at him, but began opening the stack of gifts he placed in front of her. The box she opened had a Bauer label on it, and she knew immediately what Cale had gotten her. 

She opened the box to reveal brand new Bauer Supreme skates, the newest model of her current skates. They were already sharpened in preparation for their family skating later, and Cale had even partially laced them with the wax laces she preferred. 

“Your skates were falling apart,” he said, rubbing her back gently. “6.5, fit three, just like yours, just not falling apart. I hope they’re okay.”

“I love them.” Charlie kissed Cale’s cheek, then picked up the next box in front of her, and an envelope fell off the top. She picked it up and opened it to see plane tickets to Orlando. 

“You keep saying how much you wanna go back to Disney World,” Cale explained. “And Universal. We’re staying in the Grand Floridian. This isn’t the trip I offered you for bringing Willow, either, cause you get to pick that one. And Willow isn’t going with us to Disney.”

“Cale…”

“Keep going,” he encouraged. 

Charlie did. She opened the new Avalanche jersey she’d asked him for (a reverse retro with his name), and the final few computer parts she needed to finish building the PC she was working on. Finally, she opened a small, velvety box, her heart pounding even harder. Her face softened as she opened a small, beautiful locket, with the number 8 inscribed on the front. On the inside, one frame was a picture of Cale and Charlie, and the other a picture of Cale and Willow. 

“Cale, this is beautiful,” she mumbled, looking up at him. 

“I know you told me other people think lockets are stupid and cheesy, but you loved them,” he said a little shyly. 

“I do love it. Thank you.” She kissed him gently.

“Can I help you put it on?”

Charlie nodded, so Cale reached around her neck and fastened the locket behind her. He kissed the base of her neck, sending a shiver down her spine before she turned back to him with a grin. 

“Your turn,” she said evilly, knowing he hated gifts even more than she did. “Willow, come give Daddy his presents!”

“Okay!” Willow screeched and sprinted over, grabbing a small box and proudly handing it to her dad. 

“Can you help me open it?” Cale asked. Willow nodded and plopped down in Cale’s lap to open up his gift, her tiny hands clawing at the wrapping paper until they revealed the picture frame Willow had made for Cale. It was covered in purple marker and Avalanche stickers and Star Wars stickers, with a photo of Cale and Willow skating together. Willow had written “I Love Daddy” on the bottom, and Charlie had carefully written the date on the back. 

“Do you wike it?” Willow asked with wide eyes. 

“Oh, baby, I love it,” Cale choked, his eyes teary. He kissed her forehead, then said, “This is the best present I’ve ever gotten.”

Willow stood up in Cale’s lap and put her small hands on his rosy cheeks. She squished them together, giggled, and kissed him on the nose. “I wove you, Daddy!” she yelled, then sprinted away. 

“She wanted you to have a picture for your locker,” Charlie explained. 

“God,” Cale croaked and wiped his eyes. “I love that kid.”

“She loves you, too. Here, open this one. It’s from me and her.” Charlie blushed as she handed him the next box. 

Cale dug into the box and pulled out an Avs jersey. His eyebrows furrowed in confusion until he turned the jersey around to see the name “Willow” over the number eight on the back. 

“I figured she’d probably be like, a Mini Av or something,” Charlie explained quickly. “Or some team who uses the Avs logo or something and when you go to games, you get to be her dad.”

“Charlie,” whispered Cale, “thank you. This is perfect. I, I love it.” He leaned over and kissed her softly. 

“There’s more,” she mumbled back. 

Cale picked up another small box, tore the wrapping paper off it, and slid the top off. Inside was a silicone bracelet and a metal chain necklace with a “W” charm. He pulled out the silicone bracelet to see a small photo of Cale, Willow, and Charlie covered in resin built into it. The back of the “W” charm had Willow’s birthdate and initials carefully etched in. Cale took a deep breath and blinked away a few tears. 

“So you can play with her with you,” Charlie said. 

“And you,” Cale said with a soft smile.

“And me.” Charlie returned his smile, then leaned in and gently kissed him. 

“Daddy?” Willow asked as she clambered into his lap. 

“Hey, baby,” Cale greeted. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her face. 

“I wanna go skating!” 

Cale laughed, “Soon, honey, soon. Gamma and Gampa are gonna make us breakfast while you play with your toys!” 

“Pancakes?” Willow questioned hopefully. 

“Of course!” Gary told her loudly, walking into the living room and scooping Willow up. “Only the best pancakes for my favorite girl!” 

Willow ended up helping her grandparents cook breakfast while Cale, Taylor, and Charlie sat and small-talked. When breakfast was ready, they all ate quickly so they could go spend time on the ice together. 

“Chawlie?” Willow asked after breakfast, “Will you help me get dressed?”

Charlie smiled softly. “Of course, Will!” 

Charlie took Willow’s hand and went to her room. They dug through her suitcase, Willow picking out her favorite pants and her favorite sweatshirt, which was her bedazzled Avs sweatshirt complete with her last name and an eight. Charlie helped her get dressed, helped her get her shoes on, and tugged a beanie over her curls. 

“What’s this called, Willow?” Charlie asked, pointing to her hat. 

“A beanie!” Willow said proudly. 

Charlie grinned. “Good, let’s go tell Daddy!”

Charlie walked out and Willow went running out of the room, calling, “Daddy! Daddy!”

“Well don’t you look cozy,” Cale said and lifted her into his arms. 

“Will, what’s your hat called?” Charlie asked, her grin widening.

“A beanie!” Willow pointed to her hat and Cale laughed. 

“Are you trying to turn my kid into an American?” Cale asked with raised eyebrows, smirk on his face. 

“I hate to break it to you, my love, but she is American,” Charlie chirped. 

“Willow, baby, where are you from?” Cale asked her. 

“Cawgary!”

Cale’s smirk widened. “What country is Calgary in?”

“Canada, where Gamma and Gampa live!”

“Okay, okay,” Charlie rolled her eyes and said. “I get it, I can’t corrupt your kid.”

“In all honesty, you already have,” Cale laughed. “She said ‘y’all’ to me the other day. There’s only one person she knows that says that.”

 Shrugging, Charlie turned on her heel and said, “I don’t know anything about that. I’m gonna go get dressed.”

Cale said something, but Charlie didn’t hear him, so she continued down the hall to their room. She picked up her suitcase and plopped it on the bed to search for her warm clothes. Footsteps echoed from the hall as she found her sweatshirt from the hockey school she helped teach, the one she was wearing when she and Cale met for the first time. 

“Hi,” Cale said from behind her, closing the door then coming over to her to wrap his arms around her waist. 

Charlie turned her head in his arms and kissed him. “Hi.”

Suddenly, Cale flipped her around in his arms, shoved her suitcase back, and laid her down on the bed, gently laying himself over her body. His lips came to her neck, hot breath tickling her as he kissed her neck. Charlie greedily tangled her fingers in his hair, tugging on it to elicit a groan from him. His hands gripped her thighs and she wrapped her ankles around his back. 

“Cale,” Charlie breathed, “we can’t right now.”

“It’s okay, Taylor’s covering for us,” Cale breathed back. He dragged his lips to hers and fervently kissed her before mumbling against her lips, “He’s got Willow and Mom and Dad are cleaning up and stuff. We have time.”

Charlie tugged him towards her again. She traced her tongue across his lips, encouraging him to open his mouth and let her slip her tongue in. Charlie’s heart was pounding so loud and hard she thought Cale’s family could hear it in the other room. 

The door opened suddenly, a shout of “Shit!” coming from the hall. Willow’s shoes slapped the ground as she ran up to the bed, cocking her head at Cale and Charlie’s position. Before they could move, Taylor came racing in after Willow, then stopped dead in his tracks at the door and stared at them like Willow. 

“What are you doing, Daddy?” Willow asked curiously.

Cale hurriedly leapt off of Charlie, and Charlie immediately noticed how messed up his hair was, how ruffled his shirt was, how puffy and red his lips were. Charlie bit her lip and tried not to giggle as Cale tried to think about how to explain what they were doing.

“Oh, I was, uh, just, giving Charlie a hug,” Cale said quickly, leaning down and picking Willow up under her arms.

“Is she okay?” Willow’s face crunched in concern.

“Yeah, baby, don’t worry.” Cale tried to suppress a laugh. “Charlie’s fine.” Taylor looked apologetically at them and mouthed, “I’m so sorry,” but Cale just shrugged it off.

“Are we going skating?” Willow asked excitedly.

“We sure are! Charlie and I just need to change clothes and then we’re going. Sound good?”

“Yeah, Will, come wait with me, okay?” Taylor held his arms out to Willow, who leaned over to him. “I’m sorry again,” Taylor whispered as he took Willow out and closed the door behind him.

Cale and Charlie made eye contact, then burst out laughing. Cale helped Charlie up and kissed her forehead. 

“The joys of being a parent,” Cale chuckled.

The two of them quickly found their skating clothes, changed, and took their beanies and hockey gloves with them out to the living room. Cale had left his skates by the front door, so he went and grabbed them while Charlie retrieved her new skates. Gary and Laura had theirs, and Taylor clutched his and Willow’s skates. 

“Ready?” Gary asked. 

“Yep,” Cale replied, “let’s go!”

The Makars and Charlie piled into the car, Taylor sitting next to Willow in her carseat and Cale and Charlie in the far back. As they drove, Willow asked a question that made the whole car go silent.

“Daddy? Is Chawlie my mommy?”

They sat for a moment and Charlie stared at Cale, almost seeing the thoughts in his head. Would Willow think her mom hated her? Abandoned her? Would she understand? He didn’t have the answer, but surprisingly, Charlie did.

“I didn’t have you in my tummy, Willow,” Charlie began, “but I help take care of you and I love you like I did. Sometimes, you get to choose who your mommy is. So if you want me to be your mommy, I would love to be.”

Cale looked over at Charlie, tears streaming down his face. All he could do was grab her hand and kiss the back of it. 

“Yeah,” Willow said thoughtfully, “I want you to be my mommy.”

“Then I’m your mommy, Will.”

“Good. I love you, Chawlie.”

“Love you too, Willow Girl.”

Charlie looked over at Cale, who was a mess. He wiped his eyes, sniffing, and just smiled at Charlie. 

Willow heard him crying and turned around in her car seat. “What’s wrong, Daddy?” 

“Nothing, baby, I’m just happy. I’m so glad you love Charlie, too.”

“Oh. I do. Can I have a snack?”

The whole car laughed. Only a toddler would move on so quickly from such an emotional conversation. Laura dug in her purse and produced a bag of Goldfish, which she passed back to Willow, who took them and immediately began to chomp away. 

They arrived at the park a few moments later. When she got out of the car, Charlie was excited to see that the rink was built over a large frozen pond. 

Gary got Willow out of the car, then everyone grabbed their skates and headed over to the bunch of benches for people to put their belongings on, while Cale went to pay the entrance fees. A couple people began whispering and pointing at Cale, who patiently waited in line to pay. Charlie watched him take a selfie with the attendant, then a few kids surrounded him asking for autographs. 

“That’s gonna be you one day,” Charlie teased Taylor as she pulled off her boots. 

Taylor snorted. “Yeah, right, like I’m gonna do half the shit he’s done already.”

“If they make another deep playoff run, you could get called up this season.” Taylor was playing for the Colorado Eagles after leaving UMass, but had yet to break into the Avs lines. He’d been quite frustrated with himself over it, but Charlie privately thought it was good for him to get more AHL experience before moving up. Taylor was big and fast, but tried to be the hero too often, in Charlie’s opinion. 

“I could,” Taylor shrugged, “but I don’t know.”

“The Eagles have been good for you and you’ve been doing well with them,” Charlie encouraged. “I bet you can do it.”

Taylor smiled softly. “Thanks.”

Cale returned with wristbands for all of them. He handed them out, helped put them on, then sat down next to Willow to help her. 

“Will, do you want to put your skates on yourself or do you want me to help you?” he asked. 

“Help me, please,” Willow said sweetly, kicking her foot up on the bench next to him. 

Charlie tugged on her skate laces, making sure her skates were tight to her ankles. She tied them, then stood up to make sure they were tight enough. She was satisfied with the tie, so she sat back down and watched Cale tie Willow’s skates. 

Cale stuck his tongue out a tiny bit in concentration as he fiddled with the laces on his daughter’s tiny skates. Willow kept trying to move, so Cale had to chase her a little bit, but finally got them tied. She stood up and started towards the ice. 

“Willow Grace!” Cale called sternly. “Wait for us, please.”

Willow turned around and crossed her arms, a pout taking over her face. “I wanna skate,” she retorted. 

“I know you do, but you need to wait for me or one of us. It’s not safe for you to skate without an adult, right?” Cale explained. 

“Right,” Willow sighed grumpily. “I’m sowwy.”

“It’s okay, sweetheart, I just want to keep you safe.” Cale sat down to put his skates on, then patted the bench next to him. “Would you like to help me put my skates on?”

“I’m ready to hit the ice,” Taylor said as he stood up. “I’ll go ahead and take her out.”

“You sure?” Cale tugged his right skate on. 

“Yeah, I’m good.” Taylor turned to Willow and said, “Alright, Will, I’m gonna go skate with you, then Daddy and everyone will join us in a second, okay?”

“Okay!” Willow hurried to the rink door, Taylor taking large strides to keep the toddler in his view. He opened the door for her, then she disappeared behind the makeshift boards around the pond. 

“Oh, I don’t like that,” Cale mumbled and began tying his skates. 

“What?” Charlie asked, leaning on his shoulder. 

“That I can’t see her over the boards. I mean, obviously we can see Taylor, but I really don’t like that I can’t see her.”

“It’s okay,” Charlie comforted. She pushed a strand of his hair under his beanie he’d shoved on. “Look, your mom and dad are heading out there too.”

Cale and Charlie looked over to see Gary and Laura walking over to the door. Gary opened it for Laura, and once she stepped out onto the ice, he stepped out behind her and closed the door.

“How sickeningly cute,” Charlie laughed. 

“Funny, they’ve said the same thing about us.” Cale scrunched his nose at Charlie, and she kissed his cheek. 

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Charlie teased and pressed her nose into Cale’s cheek. 

Cale began to dig around in his pockets. “Wait, keep doing that,” he said as he produced his phone. Charlie kept her nose against his cheek as he held up his phone to take a selfie of them. At the same moment, Cale and Charlie watched Taylor’s huge figure fall and disappear below the boards, sending them into a fit of laughter, which Cale continued to snap photos of. Charlie kissed his cheek one more time, then stood up. 

“You know I could sit here and kiss you all day, but if you don’t get on the ice soon, I think your kid is gonna throw a tantrum,” Charlie said, offering her hands out to him. 

He grabbed them, stood up, and led Charlie over to the door. “You’re absolutely right.”

“Hey,” Charlie said as Cale opened the gate for her. “Please don’t show off.”

Cale chuckled, “I’m not the show off of the family, he’s over there.” He motioned to Taylor, who was crouched over skating with Willow. 

“You’re gonna stand there and tell me you don’t skate around and show off during warmups?” Charlie teased and stepped out on the ice. She pushed away from the boards and spun around, nearly falling until Cale leapt forward and caught her. 

“You okay?” he asked, face furrowed into concern. 

“Yeah,” Charlie said, “yeah, I’m good. The ice is weird.”

“It’s a lot different than skating at a rink.” Cale took Charlie’s hand, interlocking their fingers, and encouraged her to skate with him. It took a few strides, but Charlie got the feel of the ice fairly quickly, and before long, she was nearly matching strides with Cale. They caught up to Gary, Laura, Taylor, and Willow easily. 

“Daddy!” Willow cried, skating towards him. 

Cale leaned down and scooped her up. “Are you having fun, baby?” 

“Zoom me!” Willow giggled. 

“Zoom you? Already?” 

“Yeah!”

“Okay, hang on tight!” 

Cale clutched Willow close to his chest, then took off skating ahead of them. He carefully weaves between people, spinning on his skates occasionally, swooping and swerving to Willow’s delight. Charlie could hear her cackling across the pond. 

“I’ve never seen him do that with her before,” Laura said softly. 

“It’s a pretty new thing,” Charlie admitted. “She was having a meltdown on the ice one day during one of our classes, and she ended up just sitting on the ice crying. He came out onto the ice, picked her up, and skated her around like that and it just…worked.” 

They watched as Cale sprayed snow to a stop. He stood for a moment talking to Willow softly. Charlie’s heart warmed watching them, knowing how much they loved each other, feeling honored that they had let her into their little family. 

Cale skated Willow back over to the rest of the family and placed her back on the ice. She skated ahead of them, fell, then quickly got back up. Laura skated up to her and took her hand as they continued to skate.

“How long have y’all done this?” Charlie asked, taking Cale’s hand again. 

“Since Cale could stand up on skates,” Gary said with a happy sigh. “The first time we brought Taylor, I had to hold him the whole time, or he’d start screaming.”

“Ugh, drama queen,” Charlie scoffed sarcastically.

Cale grinned over at her. “Damn, I love you,” he shook his head and said. 

Charlie grinned back, and they settled into a comfortable rhythm. She adored skating with Cale, loved the feeling of the ice under her skates, hand in hand with the love of her life. They skated for a while longer, until Willow decided her feet hurt and wanted to be done, so they returned to the bench where their shoes were. 

“Hot chocolate, everyone?” Gary asked, quickly taking off his skates. 

“Yeah, that’d be great, Dad,” Cale said. 

“Alright, I’ll be right back!”

Willow furrowed her brow as Gary walked away. “Where’s Gampa going?” she asked. 

“To get you some hot chocolate,” Cale answered. “Foot up, please.”

Willow swung her foot up so Cale could untie her skate. Charlie, Taylor, and Laura all untied their skates in silence. They tugged their shoes back on, then Charlie offered to put Willow’s shoes on so Cale could untie his skates. 

“Special delivery!” Gary sang, holding a tray of six cups of hot chocolate. 

Willow squealed in delight and stood up on the bench. She held her hands out to her grandfather, but Cale turned around with wide eyes and one shoe on to stop her from taking a cup.

“Hey, Will, I’m going to help you, okay?” he said. 

“Why?” Willow fussed. “I wanna do it by myself!”

“No, it’s really hot, and I don’t want you to get burned.”

Willow crossed her arms and stomped her foot on the bench. “I’m a big girl!”

“You are a big girl,” Cale agreed, “but even big girls need help sometimes.”

“I can do it, Daddy!” 

“Willow…”

“I wanna do it!”

Cale sighed, “Willow, honey, please listen to me. Daddy’s going to help you because hot chocolate can burn you. Remember when we were making pancakes and you touched one while it was cooking? And how much that hurt? If we aren’t careful, that can happen with this drink, too.”

Willow plopped down on the table in defeat. “Okay, Daddy,” she said softly. 

“Here.” Cale picked up the cup of hot chocolate that Gary had placed on the table for her, held it up to her mouth, and tipped it back a little. Willow put her hands on it, too, but Cale was in control. She jumped a little, then swallowed her drink. 

“Ow!” she yelped.

“Are you okay?” Cale asked.

“That’s ouchie,” Willow said. 

“It is, that’s why I’m helping you with it.” Cale helped her take another sip.

The Makars and Charlie sat around Willow and drank their hot chocolate. Laura snapped a few photos, sending some to Charlie’s mom, and before long, they were all finished with their drinks. Willow began to rub her eyes, and the adults all knew it was nap time.

“Daddy,” she asked sleepily, “will you cawwy me?”

“Of course, baby.” Cale picked her up and she settled into his chest. Charlie bent down and grabbed Cale’s skates, and Taylor grabbed Willow’s before they headed back to the car. 

Taylor clambered in the back with Charlie as Cale snapped Willow into her carseat, so he could sit next to her on the short drive home. Cale reached an arm back behind him to hold Charlie’s hand, earning a gag from Taylor. Cale made a face back at him. 

“I can’t wait for Taylor to have a girlfriend so we can gag every time he looks at her,” Cale said to Charlie. 

“I pity her already,” Charlie replied, earning a shove from Taylor.

When they arrived back at the Makar’s, Cale carefully walked a sleeping Willow inside and to her room to finish her nap. The rest of the adults found their respective spots in the living room, and Gary turned on the T.V..

“Cale said your family always watches Die Hard on Christmas,” Gary said, searching for the movie and selecting it. 

“Oh, it’s okay, we don’t have to—.”

“You did our tradition with us, so we’re doing yours with you.” Gary flashed her a warm smile as Cale rejoined them in the living room. 

“Oh good, I was just going to suggest we turn the movie on,” Cale said and plopped onto the couch next to Charlie. He threw an arm around her and lightly tugged her into his body.

Charlie asked, “Have y’all seen it?”

“It’s been a while,” Cale admitted. “I think I watched it on a plane ride one time. But I’m excited to watch it with you.”

Charlie smiled as Cale leaned down and kissed her forehead. 

“Hey,” she whispered, making him lean down again. “Merry Christmas, Cale.”

“Merry Christmas, Charlie. Thank you for being here with us,” he whispered back. “I can’t tell you how much this means to me.”

As Charlie snuggled closer to Cale, she was pretty sure she knew how much this meant to him.

some tags: @bitchinbarzal @jostyriggslover96 @fallinallincurls @taking-shots @burkymakar @hockeylvr59 @matbaerzal @capsvsducks @xsyntheticsensation

[locus-p0cus]

THIS IS CALLED ABLEISM! MAYBE THEY DON'T MEAN TO DO BE ABLEIST ON PURPOSE, BUT IF YOU DON'T LIKE A FOOD FOR A REASON YOU CAN'T DESCRIBE/ A REASON YOU COULD RANT FOR HOURS ABOUT, AND THEN SOMEONE TELLS YOU TO GET OVER IT, OR GROW UP, OR NOT BE SUCH A PICKY EATER, THAT'S FUCKING ABLEISM!

When I was a kid, I hated tomatoes. I didn't know why, and I still don't. Maybe it was the texture, or the taste, or something else entirely. Doesn't matter. I would rather fucking die than eat that shit.

My parents didn't get it somehow. They haggled and bartered and bribed and threatened and just wanted me to eat my fucking tomatoes that my mom had so generously cut into little bite-sized pieces just for me. And I didn't fucking want to! Because I fucking hated them! And I didn't know how to explain why, and it didn't make sense to me that this was a big deal.

One time, when I was probably about 5 or 6, I decided I was going to try a tomato. just one. something small, to ease myself into it. It had been probably years since I last had one, maybe my opinions had changed? So I put a tomato in my mouth.

My opinions had not changed. I fucking hated it. It was watery but also weird and gelatinous and the taste was fucking awful and I would have done anything to get that weird fucking freak of nature out of my mouth. But I knew if I spit it out, my parents would make a big deal out of it. So instead, I put some salad also in my mouth. Block out the taste, right?

Wrong. Now there was weird gelatinous tomato guts and then also salad in my mouth. there was no blocking that out. So I drank some water, and then I couldn't swallow. There was too much stuff in my mouth, and the taste and texture of the tomato was making my gag and I couldn't swallow. My parents, having caught on to the fact I wasn't swallowing whatever was in my mouth, told me to swallow. Since I had water and also a tomato and some lettuce in my mouth, I tried to mime that I could not. They became more insistent, I became more and more disgusted by the thing in my mouth.

I ended up spitting it out into the sink. I don't remember what my parent's reactions were, but they were probably Not Great. I most likely got in trouble, and my whole family probably thought I was being dramatic and annoying on purpose for no reason.

Here's the thing: When your child's genuine, heartfelt reaction to a food is that it makes them gag- don't make them eat it. Don't make them feel bad for not eating it, like it's somehow their fault that it makes them feel gross, and don't put it on their plate when it's obvious they don't want it there.

I was Known for my Picky Eating as a kid. It got to the point where I started making self-deprecating jokes about it, when I was probably 9. About how some foods physically grossed me out. I joked about how it made me a worse person. And other people laughed and agreed.

I know now, about a decade later, that this was called Sensory issues. It was a Thing that I Could Not Control, and had Very Real Effects on my mental health. I was an obviously Autistic Child that nobody was willing to give any compassion.

I am now an Adult. I have a Job, and I can buy Whatever Food I Like. Sometimes, that includes things with Tomatoes! Things I would never have eaten as a child, things like flour tortillas, or salsa, or celery, or graham crackers, or granola, or Fucking Pepperoni, are things that I can and sometimes will eat as an Adult.

Does this mean that I was Lying, about a decade ago? That All Along, I was Forcing my Stuck-Up, Snot-Nosed Bratiness on my mother just because I could? Does this mean that I was somehow Morally Worse, when I was a kid? That I'm a better person now that I can eat things I previously wouldn't?

No. It means my Sensitivities have changed. I was never a bad person for not eating things that made me Uncomfortable, no matter how much people made me feel that way. You do not have to eat things you don't like in order to be a Grown Up or a Good Person or a Graceful Guest. Not wanting to eat Specific Things doesn't make you Evil or Picky or Bad.

You don't have to Swallow the Fucking Tomatoes.

TLDR: Being Picky and Having Autism/ADHD often are the same thing and Shaming People for Not Eating Specific Things, whether or not you personally knew about that Person's Autism/ADHD, is fucking ableism and if I ever see it again I will go for your fucking kneecaps because that shit messed me up as a kid

You hate soup????? What did soup ever do to you??

So have you ever wondered why it is that if someone dislikes or hates a food it's treated as a massive deal and everyone feels extremely entitled to demanding that the person explains themselves? And have you ever wondered why people so often act as though disliking foods is some sort of moral failing--that being a "picky eater" is something to treat like a personal flaw, something immature that needs to be grown out of?

[ramzawrites]

Just a day with MICHAEL and wine aunt y/n?

Babysitter Y/N Is On The Case

GN

Pairings: none

Characters included: Ranboo, Tubbo, Michael, Fundy, Philza

Warnings: While this is Gender Neutral, Reader refers to themself as Aunt/ gets referred to as aunt by others

Series: a request drabble!

Summary: Y/N was asked to play babysitter for Michael so of course who would they be if they didn’t bring some toys with them or tell him some funny stories about his parents.

Words count: 3103

Authors Note: I’m sorry I wasn’t sure what kind of pronouns you wanted me to use so I stuck to Gender Neutral but Reader still gets referred to as Aunt. 

I also was really excited to write it but lost steam halfway through, I apologize but it did help me get back into writing after being stuck with studying so much! So thanks for that!

Ranboo was sitting on the ground. Busy watching Michael draw with crayons on scraps of paper. He was currently making his own rendition of a family portrait and Ranboo couldn’t help but be amused with the way he drew him, Ranboo, and his best friend Tubbo.

He was tall, sure, but seeing how Michael drew clouds right next to his face was for some reason quite comical to him.

Tubbo was pacing the room up and down. His thoughts lingering on something else. Foolish was currently building their new home, a mansion to be exact, and he needed their help to map some stuff out.

At first the two wanted to bring Michael with them but Foolish brought up that a construction site might not be the safest place for a toddler. So, the two had to find a babysitter. It would be the first time they entrusted someone else with their adopted child and it made both of them nervous to say the least.

This place didn’t have the best track record when it came to important things like that and yet they still found someone who they felt like they could trust.

It was none other than Y/N.

Y/N did help the two numerous times. They were always there when trouble arose and they made their best effort to help the two through it. Both Tubbo and Ranboo felt close enough to them to even consider them family.

Ranboo mentioned this off handedly the day Y/N first met Michael and they looked shocked but also as if they were about to melt right then and there. It was this reaction that reaffirmed to them that, yes, they could trust Y/N.

A knock made Tubbo finally stop pacing and instead he practically sprinted down towards to the front door. Ranboo wanted to roll his eyes towards Tubbo’s agitated state but he felt similar. He just had more experience on how to hide it.

When Tubbo finally opened the door he was met by a smiling Y/N. They were holding a small bag in their hands as they gave Tubbo a short hug as a greeting.

“Hello, Tubbo! Babysitter Y/N is here and ready to take care of my little nephew Michael.”

A bit overwhelmed Tubbo let them in and closed the door, shutting away the cold winter air “Nephew?”

“Well you two told me that I’m somewhat like family to you, so, that would make Michael my nephew, definitely not grandson. So nephew.”

Tubbo just stared at Y/N for a short moment “I- I guess?”

Frankly he was a bit confused with how enthusiastic Y/N seemed to be about this whole situation. On one hand it was proof to him that Y/N did indeed take this somewhat serious and on the other hand this seems like it could somehow spell trouble.

Shaking off his confusion Tubbo began making his way up back into Michael’s room, closely followed by Y/N.

“Ranboo! How are you!” Y/N greeted the Enderman Hybrid as they softly put down the bag.

Michael looked up from his drawing and let out a happy squeak as soon as he noticed Y/N. He slowly got up and stumbled his way towards them and effectively hugged their leg as a greeting.

Y/N giggled as they slowly knelt down and put one hand on his head, ruffling through his bristle like hair “Hello, Sweetie. I’m happy to see you as well.”

“So, um, we need to go then. We made some extra food and put it to the side. Please don’t give Michael too much cookies or too much from the cake. He likes to-“ Ranboo begun to ramble off but Y/N interrupted him.

“Don’t worry, Ranboo. You won’t be gone for weeks. It’s only a day, probably even just a few hours. Nothing will happen to him. I’ll make sure of that.”

“Okay, but don’t let anyone else close to him, okay? Especially not Fundy. He has threatened him before!” Tubbo added.

Y/N put their hand above their heart “I hereby swear that I will protect little Michael with my life and make sure no harm will come to him while you two deal with your own business. Now, go.”

They were now physically pushing the two towards the stairs.

“You are awfully forceful today.” Ranboo noted, now worried after all that they chose Y/N as the babysitter.

Even so the two begun making their way down away from Michael’s room, all the while Y/N would continue push and poke them towards the door.

They scoffed “I’m not being forceful I’m helping you guys out. Besides, do you want to let poor Foolish waiting?”

“Alright, Alright! We are going! But should anything bad happen to Michael… Just saying, I have extra nukes.”

“Tubbo!”

But Y/N just rolled their eyes “I know. Don’t worry. Really. You guys have been good to me so I want to repay your kindness. Besides I have gotten quite attached to the little gremlin as well.”

Finally the two seemed to relax and grabbed their jackets as they walked out of the door. Y/N waved them goodbye and softly closed the door once they couldn’t see them anymore.

Now with the two parents gone Y/N made their way back to Michael, not wanting him to be alone for too long.

Back in his room Y/N found Michael staring out the window, probably watched as his parents left the home without him. Usually at least one person would stay behind so it must have been a surprise for him to see both of his parents leave at the same time.

He let out a few sad squeaks as he desperately tried to jump around, hoping he could somehow find his parents again if he just took a better look.

“Hey, it’s fine. They’ll come back and while they are gone I’m taking care of you, alright?” Y/N begun speaking, hoping he would turn his attention towards them instead the outside but he ignored them.

Y/N stepped closer, sitting down on the ground next to him while he was standing on the tip of his hooves, holding on to the corner of the windows with his hands.

Carefully Y/N stretched out a hand to Michael’s shoulder in order to gain his attention this way and it seemed to work. He let go off the window and instead twisted around to look his babysitter in the face. Both his eyes wide and glossy. Michael seemed to be close to tears.

“They will be back soon I promise, alright? In the meantime we can hang out!”

He still seemed to be close to tears and sad squeaks where still leaving his mouth so Y/N decided then and there it was time for their special weapon.

As Y/N got back up they held their hand out for Michael who slowly put his hand into theirs. Together they walked towards the brown bag Y/N brought with them.

An almost mischievous smile made it’s way on their face as Y/N opened up the bag in a way that Michael could look inside.

His expression immediately lightened up. The gloss seemed to disappear and instead he looked like he was in awe. He took his hand out of Y/N’s and moved it inside the bag only to stop and look Y/N into their eyes. Obviously asking for permission.

Ranboo and Tubbo really did a good job when it came to teaching Michael manners apparently which surprised Y/N a tiny bit. For some reason they suspected that Ranboo played a bigger role in this than Tubbo though.

Y/N nodded “Go ahead. I got them for you after all.”

Excited Michael almost dove into the bag as he got the little toys out. They were just simple wooden toys like horses, people and the like but still hard to come by around in this place. He sprayed them out on the ground only to take a closer look at the figures that seemed to represent certain people.

There were four of them. One looking like Ranboo, Tubbo, Michael and of course one looked like Y/N. They had to admit part why they did this was to bribe Michael but only a tiny bit. He was adorable and they did get kind of attached to this young Pigling as well so giving him gifts like that was only natural, right?

He grabbed all four of them and hugged them close to his chest, his gaze once again on Y/N’s face with a pleading expression.

“Yeah, they are yours! Just remember who got you them.” It felt like their heart was swelling up in their chest as they watched Michael hugging the piece that looked like them.

To Y/N’s sudden surprise Michael softly put the wooden dolls down, got up only to crash back into Y/N, hugging their body with his tiny arms. His previous sad squeaks exchanged by happy grunts.

“Alright. You want to play a bit? Read something? Or would you want me to tell you stories about your parents? Don’t get me wrong they are amazing but they are also idiots.”

Curious Michael looked back up which gave Y/N the chance to boop him on his little snout “Embarrassing stories about your parents it is then.” Which resulted in Michael to let out a sequence of grunts that mirrored a giggle.

Michael moved back away from Y/N and sat down on the ground. Grabbing the figure that represented Y/N as well as a brown horse.

“What could I tell you about... There is so much. Oh, if I tell you about that I think both Tubbo and Ranboo will kill me. Then again. You can keep a secret right?”

Without hesitation Michael nodded enthusiastically as he continued to play around with his new toys.

“Let’s start then.”

For the next hour or so Y/N begun telling stories about Ranboo and Tubbo. At first they only wanted to tell him about the little embarrassing things they did but it soon turned into a bit of a nostalgia trip for them. Briefly talking about how L’Manberg started, Tubbo’s presidency, Ranboo’s first day in the SMP and all the hijinks in between.

They made sure to let out the bad parts and mainly concentrated on the funny bits and pieces in between all the stressful situations and wars they have been through. That was something they didn’t feel like they had the right to talk about. Not without talking with Ranboo and Tubbo about it.

During all of that Michael was patiently listening though he was still rolling around on the ground playing with his new toys. Whenever Y/N thought he might not be listening anymore he let out a few squeaks urging them to keep on going.

The two new parents probably have never talked much with Michael about what they have been up to before they adopted him. To them there was a lot of pain connected to their past so instead they tried to work on their future instead. A future that involved Michael and hopefully a happier one.

For Y/N it wasn’t that different to be honest. They were right there at the beginning of it after all but when it came to the two parents they could tell Michael probably better than they themselves about the funny little bits in their past.

The time went on and at some point Y/N stopped telling stories and instead joined Michael in him playing with his new toys. He was also very adamant about the fact that Y/N used the Y/N-Doll while they played out scenarios like fighting off zombies.

It has already been after mid-day when Y/N came over to babysit so it didn’t take long for the sun to slowly set, soon the world turned dark.

When Tubbo and Ranboo first talked with them about Y/N babysitting they also made sure to tell them that once the sun is down it’s bed time for Michael which was a rule Y/N tried to follow at first.

“It’s bed time Michael. You can play later with the dolls but this is one of the rules your parents set up for me.”

He just put his arms in front of his chest and huffed out an annoyed grunt, still holding on to the toys.

Y/N smirked “Man, you sure are lucky that cool auntie Y/N is here. Let’s move bed time another hour or two but if your parents come home soon you have to get in bed asap?”

Once again Michael was enthusiastically nodding.

When Tubbo and Ranboo did finally came home again they heard a ton of noise coming from upstairs as the door fell shut. They were tired from the visit to the mansion since it took longer than expected. Foolish took the chance with them there to properly map out all the rooms. And with properly map out it really meant thoroughly.

He was so happy to see them since apparently having to build all this while having to guess how to build the rooms was a stressful endeavor. So, as much as they missed Michael and worried for him, they felt the need to stay and help out Foolish as much as possible.

He really seemed to be on the edge of losing his mind.

Though now they were curious why in the world they heard a rumbling from upstairs and Tubbo, determined as he is, climbed up the ladder as fast as he could.

Though all he saw in the room were toys strewn around, Michael in his bed with his eyes closed, clearly taking in deep breaths as if he was just running around while Y/N sat next to the bed with a book open upside down in their hand.

Ranboo was now joining the group as well, his expression showing his confusion to this situation.

“Ah, uh, hey! How was the day with Foolish? As you can see I got the kid some toys, I hope that is alright.”

“Michael?” Tubbo asked and to Y/N’s detriment his ears twitched for a moment and he clearly squinted his eyes even closer shut.

Now Tubbo turned to Y/N with his hands on both of his sides, his eyebrows turned down into a frown “Y/N!”

“We told you he had a strict bed time!” Ranboo chimed in.

Y/N set the book down and got up “Yes, you are right. I should have listened. I am sorry. He was just so happy with the toys! Anyways, I have to go now as well. Hope you guys aren’t too angry with me since babysitting him was a ton of fun. If you need my help again don’t hesitate to ask me.”

And with that they made their way out of the house. Ignoring the call outs from the two. Effectively fleeing.

While they were not thrilled that Y/N let him stay up way past his bedtime nothing really bad happened to him hence why in the end they had to admit that Y/N was a good choice for a babysitter.

So whenever the need for a babysitter arose they still asked Y/N to fill that role.

Of course whenever they appeared they would bring in more presents. Either more toys or things like books and building blocks. Over time Michael seemed to be mostly interested in the little dolls that depicted actual people from the SMP so Y/N made sure to at least bring always one little doll over whenever they visited him.

Telling him fun little stories about them and who they were. At some point this turned into their favorite little tradition with the Piglin kid.

This seemed to also be the same case for Michael judging by one little instance.

They were visiting Michael once again, this time carrying a Ghostbur-Doll with them only to meet Philza and Fundy at Tubbo’s and Ranboo’s place. They were all deep in a discussion concerning Michael which Y/N used to sneakily hand him his new toy which he happily put next to his others.

Both Philza and Fundy have visited Michael a few times already as far as Y/N knew but not as often as they themself did.

“Oh, good that you are here, Y/N. I ‘ve been wondering something.” Fundy suddenly approached them, missing the subtle gift exchange just beforehand.

Y/N raised one of their eyebrows, somehow sensing trouble from him “Hey, Fundy. Hello Philza, Tubbo, Ranboo. Sorry that I’m late? Didn’t expect to see Fundy and Phil here.”

Ranboo scratched the back of his neck nervously “Yeah, we didn’t as well. It just kind of happened.”

“I get that. Either way it’s nice to see them. What is it that you were wondering about Fundy?” Y/N turned back to the Fox Hybrid at the last part.

He had a mischievous smile on his face which didn’t seem to only worry Y/N but the other residents in the room as well “You have not been the only one visiting Michael from time to time, so we have to settle one thing. Who is the better aunt or uncle.”

“Just ask him then.” Philza threw in, sounding somehow tired of Fundy already.

This seemed to pull Michaels attention back towards the adults. Ignoring his new toy for now but still holding on to it.

Y/N didn’t want to show it but a satisfied smile appeared on their face. They had it on good authority what Michael would probably go for.

Fundy knelt down on the ground, so Y/N followed suit.

“Hey little guy. Uncle Fundy has been wondering who you like more. The super cool fox dude? Or the boring Y/N?”

Normally Y/N would have said something against it but instead they just rolled their eyes and made sure to put on a soft smile for Michael. No words were needed.

When Michael looked at bit unsure on what to do Tubbo let out a weary sigh, probably tired of Fundy’s hijinks “Go ahead Michael. Don’t worry no one will get mad it is just a question.”

“You- You don’t need to answer if you don’t want to.” Ranboo tried to further calm Michael’s worry down but before he even properly ended the sentence the kid was already on the move.

Without even hesitating he ran into Y/N arms. Y/N put their arms softly around him and ruffled through his hair “Yeah! Suck it Fundy! I’m the better one! Hah!”

“Y/N!” both Tubbo and Ranboo exclaimed angrily at the same time but Y/N just continued to snicker as Fundy got back up and begun sulking in a corner. Philza was of course busy laughing.

There was no way that Fundy even stood a chance against Y/N from the very beginning.

“This was unfair! They clearly bribed him! Look at all the toys he got from them!” Fundy exclaimed angrily.

“All is fair in love or war, Fundy.” Philza reminded him between him laughing.

[river-bottom-nightmare]

i’m not sure if i sent this ask to you but bestie 😩 i have a headcanon that dick didn’t get the flying grayson’s poster from the circus, so one day bruce goes online and sees the AUTHENTIC FLYING GRAYSON’S POSTER and bids FIVE MILLION DOLLARS ON IT and then gives it to dick and he cries 🤠🤠🤠

well goddamn babe now i need a 12k fic about bruce’s quest to find the Authentic Flying Grayson’s Poster

there are a lot of fakes and copycats out there, because the flying graysons were notoriously incredible, and everyone who went to see them, even if only for a night, immediately wanted a poster in their room because it was the closest they could get to flying alongside them for real.

but an authentic flying graysons poster is a little lopsided because it was cut with an uneven ruler, has a wash of lighter colours than the rest of the poster on the upper left hand corner because dick accidentally spilled soapy water on a stack of them once, and the three signatures on the bottom of the poster of john, mary, and dick are in high-quality india ink. your average, everyday, knockoff poster doesn’t have all that.

so bruce trawls the depths of the internet and goes onto black market trading sites and bribes, threatens, gaslights his way into finding a first-edition, authentic flying grayson’s poster. except the owner of the poster is an old member of the circus, and they refuse to give it up unless bruce pays an exorbitant amount of money. 

bruce, of course, has the money, but he’s not entirely willing to give up that much for a poster. the seller gives him two days to think it over, and bruce is mulling around, trying to decide if an old piece of cardboard paper is worth millions of dollars. 

it is. bruce figures out it is. he figures it out because dick crawls into his lap one night when he’s in the study, having assumed dick had long gone to bed. and he had, but he’d woken up in the middle of the night because he’d just remembered that a week ago was his parents’ anniversary. it was their anniversary and he forgot it. granted, he never used to remember it anyway, but now that they were gone, it felt like he should have, but he didn’t. the date completely slipped his mind, and dick felt like he was going to break apart from the guilt.

so he went to bruce, trembling and holding onto zitka so tightly that his normally tan skin was almost white. he’d huddled into himself, half wedged in the space between bruce and the chair, half on bruce’s thigh, as if wanting to be held and pulled close like his parents used to do, but too raw and hurting to ask for it. 

bruce didn’t pull him close, didn’t hug him and wipe away his tears and tell him that it wasn’t his fault and he shouldn’t feel guilty. but bruce did put his arm around dick and drew him closer to his side, and as dick fell asleep tucked into bruce’s arm, bruce bought the poster without a second thought for the price. 

it was a meaningless sum to pay compared to the look of pure awe and joy as bruce handed dick the poster a couple weeks later, and the memory of dick reverently tracing his parents’ signatures at the bottom of the poster before throwing himself onto bruce for a hug would be one of the fondest reminiscences bruce had.

,,,,,,,,,,,so this may have gotten a bit out of hand but in my defense. young dad bruce and baby dick give me emotions. (also idk if you were talking about this happening when dick’s a child or when dick’s an adult, but this was the first thing that came to mind lol.) dear god i love this headcanon. love it.

[thefanficmonster]

When You Put It Like That

Corpse Husband x Reader (Female)

Warnings: Swearing

Genre: FLUFF, Humor, RPF (Real Person Fic)

Summary: After a long time of trying to convince the angel-like Y/N to utter a single bad word, Corpse’s attempts are finally met with success but not the way he expected.

Requested by Anon. Hi hun! Thank you so much for this fluffy request, it was a ton of fun to write! I’m so sorry it’s taken me so long to complete and post it but here it finally is and if you happen to come across it and read it, I hope you enjoy the experience hehe. Love, Vy ❤

“Wait, wait, wait, what did I miss?“ I say as I hop into the Discord call and the Among Us server, running five minutes late since I got carried away reading my chat. My fans tend to do that to me - make me lose track of time and everything else. That’s why I usually try to connect to the call and game before I turn to look at my chat. Unfortunately, I forgot that bit today.

“Omg, Y/N! Put the cat ears on! It’s for the greater good, just trust me!“ Rae commands urgently. Amusingly enough, in the background, muffled a little by her voice is Corpse’s, telling me not to.

“Not that I need a reason to wear cat ears...“ I trail off, equipping the cat ears both in-game and IRL. Yes, I own a pair of cat ears, is that so surprising? “But can someone fill me in on what’s happening?“

“’Cat girls are ruining my life’ just surpassed twenty million views on YouTube, so we’re celebrating! And Mr. Popular Pants over here keeps being a party pooper, saying it’s not a big deal and refusing to put on cat ears.“

That’s when I notice that Corpse’s avatar is the only one wearing a different accessory than the rest of us. It’s this kind of tantrum-throwing-toddler that gets me laughing my butt off every single time. Add to it the witty sibling banter between him and Rae, fun for the whole family. Well, ok, not quite for the whole family with the curse words they sometimes drop left and right.

Speaking of cursing, I don’t do it. I was raised in a household where a curse word would earn me and my siblings a punishment - always different and never not creative but most importantly - always intense enough to make us regret saying a no-no word with our parents or grandparents around. That’s kind of stuck with me and I can’t really get over it. Even when I’m upset, the first thing that comes out of my mouth is that censor word YouTubers use to not get demonetized. I’ve been using those words all my life: shoot, freak, frick, crap, darn etc. - so my channel is always kept kid-friendly in that aspect.  Now with that context in mind, you’ll understand better the shock I received for this next move I made.

“Corpse, Corpse darling, listen to me. It’s not a big deal, it’s a HUGE deal. Don’t play the humble card with us, we know you too well. Allow us to be as excited as you were when you find out!“ I start off sweetly enough, “Sounds good?“

Corpse hesitates for a second, mumbling something under his breath before replying, “Ok, I guess.“

“Great!“ I clap my hands together, “Then put on the fucking cat ears!“

To say everyone in the call, especially Corpse, is stunned would be an understatement. Hell, I’m even stunned for a second or two, my eyebrows raising at my own out of character words. And, as a person who’s only cursed a countable-on-the-fingers-of-one-hand times in her life, boy did it feel freeing and relieving. Why haven’t I been doing it sooner, for fuck’s sake?!

This must be a huge success for everyone present, once again - especially for Corpse who’s been trying to get me to curse basically since the start of our friendship. He seems too shocked to even claim and flaunt his win over my willpower to keep my language clean, which I honestly appreciate.

“Well, when you put it like that...“ He finally mutters, his voice barely reaching me through the ‘oh my Gosh‘ squeals from Rae, Poki, Lily and Leslie who never thought their tries would lead to success. On the screen, I watch as his little black colored avatar equips the famous cat ears, “...How could I possibly complain?“

“Hell fucking yeah!“ I shout, clapping my hands together, “Wooo fucking hooo!“

“Ok, how the hell are we gonna stop her now? Is there a switch we can flip?“ Toast asks, faux concern in his voice.

“Shut it, Toast. I’ve worked far too hard to have her going back to being an angel!“ Corpse retorts, sending me and the rest of the players in a fit of laughter.

It’s true! He’s been working hella hard to get at least one curse word out of me, bribing me with immunity, threatening to kill me first in Among Us, offering an alliance or being my bodyguard or whatever else I could possibly fall for.

Hey, at least I didn’t get bribed into it, right?

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[darkenedpunk061]

The punk man himself was barely keeping it together as he thought of everything that's happened to him. Now he was petrified that those heroes wouldn't get to UA in time to escort his sister safely back here. However despite this he did see his friend's breathing getting faster and it snapped him into a bit of clarity. Especially when she stamped her foot on the ground.

"Uh, right... I'm sorry..." Piers looked away, tugging at his choker charm a bit in his guilt and anxiety. He then looked back to Endeavor as he speaks and sighs a bit in relief. At least he had backup in this in regards to keeping Marnie safe. He follows after the others to the meeting room.

Once inside Piers tries to calm his own building anxiety while recalling all that's happened to him. So the singer shakes his head and looks a bit more determined, Rima was here and she had met the bastard man himself.

"So this all started my first year of UA after my parents were attacked and killed by a random villain attack. I had to get a job and Rose was the only one interested in hiring me. I was just a errand runner and that bastard of a man seemed so nice and sincere at first. That is, he was until I discovered he was doing illegal shit - money laundering, bribery, planting moles in other businesses, you name it." Piers glared at the ground as he recalled the next part, "I went to confront the man thinking he couldn't possibly know but he let it slip it was him. He gave me a choice - stay and work for him indefinitely but live comfortably or leave and live in hell."

The hero began to shake with so many emotions swirling inside of him, "I left and tried to go report Rose to the police but I didn't have evidence and was turned away outright with a warning for filing a false report. I tried so hard to tell any police station or hero agency I could but no one would give me the time of day.He then began to bribe, lie, and threaten those involved with me so I could hold no jobs, friends would abandon me and we were evicted from every home we were at. I had to take any job I could get just to keep us off the streets and that agency I was just fired from had been the last agency untouched by his criminology..."

"I just... gave up finally, unsure of who I could trust and just tried to mitigate the damage he was doing to my life all while trying to protect my sister from that damned man's influence so she can be a hero."

While the 2 introduced themselves, Rima's blood continued to boil more and more. Question after question popped into her mind, and then the PANIC. What if something had happened to him? To his sister?

She visibly SHOOK at that thought. It reminded her of... Alicia.

The reminder hit her. Piers and Roses situation mirrored HER situation with her own mother. THAT was what made her uneasy. She'd been in that situation before.

The more she thought about it, the more upset she became. Her breaths became shorter, as the panic rushed in. IN an instant she was tossed into the past, struggling to keep herself up right.

For anyone who didn't know, she looked like she was just out of breath from the questioning, BUT for someone who knew her past. They'd recognize the anxiety attack beginning to form.

She'd be damned if she let what happened to Alicia, happen to Piers. Not a chance.

Her foot stomped against the pavement, forcing the panic to go away. AT least until she could be somewhere alone.

They had bigger issues to deal with.

"Yeah well he picked the wrong person to challenge this time around, you get a pass for not answering, BUT you're still not off the hook for not TELLING me. You're my friend, like HELL Im going to let someone take you away." her head snaps to Endeavor, eager for directions. It wasn't easy to think straight in her current state. At the very least she was strong enough to fight through it.

"I can get one of the meeting rooms ready, and prepare 2 of the spare rooms? What else do we need for something like this?" A simple task would help give her a chance to clear her mind.