#they would ALWAYS be like 'were gonna slow it down and pretend its prom' & do thar song for years & we always passed on participating | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

comic-nerd-dc · 4 years

Text

Dick Grayson x oc

Uhh I made star fire mean in this one and some sexual references

“And robin, you will take this lovely young lady to her junior prom” moth dude says and shows this annoying blond chick calling him Roby-poo and I stifle a laugh

“And Luominen you will take this young man” he shows us this guy who looks super uncomfortable but he’s actually kinda cute if only he wasnt with the bad guys

“Moth sir, she really doesn’t have to,” he says and I smile

“YES SHE DOES, IT THAT OR THE CITY BURNS” he booms

“One moment please” as we drag Starfire away

“ We can go keep him on end while Star, Cy, BB, and Ray find out what the connection is and save everything,” I say

“And we can keep an eye on each other” robin adds and I smile until star gives in

“Yeah ok well do it,” Robin says

“Ask her!” moth guy says and robin and the video guy start at the same time stop and video guy gets all embarrassed

“Uhh also you should probably know my names Jupitar,” the tv guy says as robin asks kitten is apparently her name

“ see you tonight,” I say and they leave and I pull up the communication device

“Are you guys coming or what?” Cy asks

“We cant star will help you find the connection between these two kid and moth guy ok,” I say and Cy looks confused

“Why aren’t yall coming to help,” Ray asks

“Because Ray we have dates” I smile and robin looks pained

“With each other because, I’ve seen it coming but now isn’t a good time,” BB says and my eyes widen, I’ve always liked Robin, he intelligent, funny, and altogether just hot but he’s never shown any interest in me so I assumed friends was as far as we could go

“BB no bad guys the kids we have to take to prom, and I have to get a dress” I laugh and close the device

“Star go we have the stuff to do” I smile and she flys away I go to change and robin grabs my arm to stop me

“Are you actually happy about this” he accuses

“Look, Rob, I never got to go to my prom, I turned into Luominen and dont get to live my life as s- as me anymore so yeah I’m excited, but he’s not the date I want” I stop after almost revealing myself, I pull my arm and walk away

“I would go get ready if I were you,” I say and finally get to my room, and raid my closet for something ohhhhh this one, I change into the sleeveless red dress I found that accents my curves without looking trashy and it has a slit in the bottom stopping mid-thigh, I do my makeup even though I still have my mask on and curl my hair and put on the heels, I walk to the living room area and think about how I should get there if I should drive or ask robin to take me on the bike I know he will use to get there, no ill just drive, I head to my car when I literally bump into Robin,

“Wow you clean up nice” I smile at him but he doesn’t respond just staring at me I see his eyes go up and down

“Earth to Robin” I wave my hand in front of his face and he shakes his head

“You look wow, uh we should go” he stutters and I smile

“Ohh, I was just leaving I was going to drive but apparently you had other plans” I smile and I can tell he rolled his eyes

“Let’s go” he grabs my hand and leads me to the bike we get on and once we get to the prom a pink limo pulls up

“Ohhhh Roby poo I’m so glad you came as my date to the prom,” the kitten girl says the way to loud wrapping herself around him and then I see Jupiter come around the other side and smile at me

“Hey, wow you look beautiful,” he says and I blush and look down

“Thanks, you dont look to bad yourself” I smile at him

“I'm really sorry about all of this, I never wanted this to happen, I had just mentioned to my sister that I had a minor crush on you and then this happened, I never wanted it to go this way” he smiles and we walk in as robin looks miserable, we get in and I smile,

“Wanna dance, or just look awkward all night,” I ask and he smiles as we go dance

“Why are you being so nice to me,” he asks and I smile

“Well one because your sister is insane, and two because you dont seem to want all of this” I smile as I see a robin and whats her name dance and a small part of me wishes it was me he was with instead until

“Get away from my girl” and the spider dude drops in

“Fang you do care” she squeaks and they kiss

“So we good to go now?” robin asks and she looks at us

“Never, give my brother the night to remember, kiss him or the whole city goes” and I panic as she has the button out, I look at Jupiter and he already has his eyes closed so I suck it up and lean in and close my eyes,

“No” I hear and then I’m kissing him, its actually a really good kiss until I hear a squeak

“That’s the wrong guy you whore” and my eyes snap open to see a robin and we pull away but she clicks the button

“We will talk about that later” I snap and he blushes and we all fight until everyone’s in handcuffs even Jupiter

“What?” he asks and I look at him

“I know you didn't want this but you still went along with it so jail time for you as well,” I say and he looks down but goes willingly

“And this year’s prom queen and king are robin and Luominen” and he looks at me

“I think I have one more dance in me” he smiles and takes my hand

“So what was that,” I ask

“What was what” he pretends to not remember

“Oh I dont know how bout when I went to kiss him you yelled no and jumped in to kiss me instead,” I say

“I uh, was trying to save you and we happened to kiss?” he says as a question

“Uh, huh, so if I went to that prison truck, and kissed him you’d just let me because it was my choice right,” I ask and he nod

“Ok I’m gonna go give him that kiss” I let go of our dance to walk over to him but robins grip on my waist doesn’t allow me to

“Dont, please, why are you so caught up in this anyway,” he asks

“Look robin, I became Luominen at 15, I’m 18 now and I should be having my own prom but because of my powers I can’t even go to school anymore, so I wanted to be normal for tonight, have the dance, and kiss on the dance floor, or at the end of the dance, I wanted my normal night” I look at him and he smiles down at me

“Well I can work that out, I mean you do have a ruggedly handsome superhero here, its a dance floor, I could kiss you,” he says almost shyly

“Robin I can’t do that, because as awkward as it may make this, I’ve always had some feelings for you and if you kissed me again, id fall more for you than I already am, and I know you dont feel that way for me so no,” I say and he lets go of my waist

“Yeah that’s what I thought” and I turned around to walk-off I just decided to walk back to titans tower and was about halfway there when the rain starts pouring down probably my fault as I can create based on my emotions.

“Get on the bike” robin yells but I dont stop walking

“Please Lu just get on the bike” he begs and I look at him

“No, ill walk thanks” I respond

“Please your gonna get sick,” he pulls over and gets off the bike running to me and I dont stop, except when I’m picked up and thrown over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes

“Let me go you asshat” I snap but he just sets me on the bike and gets on and starts driving once we get to the tower, I get off and start to walk inside

“Why are you so mad at me lu, I never even answered you,” he says

“You didn't have to, the way you looked at me the way you instantly let me go, all signs of disgust, dont worry tho I get it, it’s fine but you dont get to act like its normal either anymore, because it’s not and we both know that, and I’m mad because I let myself get there, I let my self fall for you and open up to you knowing you were into Star, knowing I wouldn’t be enough,” I say with tears in my eyes

“I wasnt disgusted honestly you’re beautiful and amazing and anything I could ever want, I was surprised, because here I was falling completely in love with a girl I dont even know her real name, and she took me off guard, also I’m not into Starfire shes just my, friend,” he said and I looked up at him and he kissed me, not the panicked one like before but, slow and hot like he was proving I was the one he wanted when we pulled away

“Sandy” I breathed out

“What” he questions

“My real name,” I say and he smiles, kissing me again but this time he picks me up bridal style bringing me into the tower we are both laughing until we see everyone standing there with pizza and Robin freezes

“Hi guys” I laugh

“Looks like they had their own celebration in mind” Raven laughs and everyone else does but Starfire

“What I do not understand,” she says

“They where probably gonna do the dirty deed, horizontal tango” BB laugh and star looks pissed

“ they would only do that if they were together and they are not together” she snaps

“Uhh yeah actually we are gonna go figure that out, in, my room” Robin rushes out the speeds walks up to his final setting me down

“You never even put me down” I laugh and he blushed

“I panicked ok” he defends

“Oh I bet, at least you picked me up bridal style not another way” I laugh and he smirks

“That was not an invitation” I smile and he fakes a pout

“Oh come onnnnnnnn” he whines and I kiss him

“We do actually need to talk about what we are,” I say and he looked down at me

“What is there to talk about,” he asks

“Are we together, are we not together, are we just messing around that stuff” I add and he smiles pulling me closer as I hadn’t realized I was pacing

“Of course we are together, mine now, and we will definitely be messing around” he winks and I release a sigh of relief and kiss him

“Pardon me the door was open, am I interrupting,” Starfire asks

“No at all, what’s up,” Robin says awkwardly and I mumbled yes under my breath

“Well I felt that before you made her your choice you should know that I also have the romantic feelings for you” she adds and I flop on the bed well it was a nice few minutes while it lasted

“Star that’s sweet, and I’m really sorry but I’m actually really into sa- Luominen,” he says and I punch his shoulder after almost revealing me

“Ouch I didn't” and I smile

“Oh I see, however, am I not prettier than she is, she is not as good as me, so why choose her,” Star asks and I look down, she’s right, how could I ever compare

“What did you say” he snaps and her eyes go wide and I instantly go to stop him

“Robin no it’s fine honestly” I grab his arm but he shakes me off

“Get out,” he says almost to calm

“GET OUT” he yells at her when she doesn’t leave, she then jumps out and he slams the door on her

“Robin what was that, it’s not like shes super wrong,” I ask he doesn’t answer just grabs me and pulls me into a very hard kiss when he finally pulls away I’m hurrying for a breath

“She’s right, you aren’t as good as her, your better, and also its Dick,” he says and my eyes widen

“Really that’s the card your puling now, you want to have sex?” I snap as I pull away from him and he busts out laughing

“Why are you laughing,” I ask confused

“Babygirl, Dick is my name, short for Richard,” he says with a huge smile on his face and I turn red

“I-i'm so, I’m so, I’m so sorry,” I say and he just laughs pulling me into him wrapping his arms around me

“Sandy it’s fine, that was by far the cutest misread of my name ever tho” he smiles and I hide in his chest

“I'm so sorry Dick,” I say again as he laughs

“I'm serious dont be,” he says and I smile up at him again and kiss him when there’s a knock at his door I move away from his death grip on my hips and open it and see BB and raven

“So wanna explain why are Stars crying?” BB asks and I look at him and roll my eyes

“Because she was being rude, she literally came in and asked me to choose her and when I did she said she was better than Lu, rudely so I told her to get out and when she didn't I yelled get out” Dick comes up behind me saying that and I nod

“Fair enough,” Raven says going to walk away but BB grabs her arm

“ you need to apologize to her” BB demands

“Ok ill go talk to her,” I say and then I’m wrapped in chains so I look at the raven

“Me or you?” I ask and she laughs

“You” I nod

“I guess I won’t be going to apologize, and you can’t get mad because I dont have complete control over this,” I say as BB looked pissed

“You done here?” Dick asks and BB looks surprised as the door closed in his face a few minutes later I’m able to get out of the chains, my powers allow me to create things according to my emotions, so the rain was when I was sad but the rain didn't go away when I was happy again, it was apart of the weather then, the chains were now physical things because I felt trapped

“ you didn't get your dream prom but would you like that final dance and kiss?” Dick asks and I smile at him and nod and he spins me around as we dance in our soaked clothes and dance around his room until we are both tired and in the last moment he kisses me

“ I think I’m completely in love with you,” he says and I smile looking up at him

“I think I’m completely in love with you as well!” and kiss him again that night!

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calpalirwin · 4 years

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According to Plan

A/N: Let’s see how college went for our boy Ash. Only 2 more chapters and an epilogue left guys! Hope you’re caught up!

And away, and away we go!

~~~

Chapter 14

Ashton

September 2016-May 2020

~~~

I fought with myself as my phone pinged, her name flashing across the screen, when she texted me that first week of September after I had left her apartment. Against my better judgement, I opened the message.

It’s Madison. I have news that I think you should hear, but I want to tell you face to face. So if you’re ever in Yale... Um, hope all is well. Bye.

I struggled with texting her back to see what she meant by news or deleting the message and moving on with my life like I had supposedly left her to do. In the end, I kept the message but never messaged her back.

I didn’t delete her number or the message, but I didn’t text her either after I left her apartment that August. I stayed in contact with everyone else, even staying with them when I played at their schools.

When I played Yale, I always went to her apartment building, but I could never bring myself to go up to her door. Just like I could never bring myself to text her back.

Duke itself was great. It felt good to be doing something I had always dreamed of doing. Not that it stopped the nights from dragging on for eternities at a time. Some nights I’d sit in the dark, nursing a beer or two, and flip through the photo album she gave me. Other nights, I’d dig through my drawers for the Yale sweater and cling to it for dear life. Then, there were the nights when I looked at that damn message. The message got me through my worst nights at Duke. I’d stare at it for hours and get a renewed sense of what I was trying to do with my life. Like the night she called me. I broke wide open when my phone rang, her contact flashing across the screen. In our short time together she had never once called me. I didn’t answer for two reasons 1.) the fear that it was a fluke and 2.) the fear that it would break me open more than I already was. I told myself that whatever news she wanted to tell me could wait for two years. I also told myself that I wouldn’t regret not texting her back or answering her call.

Only, she never turned up on my doorstep after two years. I guessed she had decided to chase after a Master’s degree after all. It stung, but I couldn’t hold that against her. I was the one who had ended things so she could be free in Yale. I had no one to blame but myself. So, I just kept going along with my life as best as I knew how.

I graduated from Duke, so with more free time on my hands, I worked more hours at my dad’s shop, now that I was officially hired. I was there that first Saturday after graduation, not wanting to spend the day alone in my apartment.

I spent the morning working on car after car, my mind blank except for the task in front of me. Around lunchtime, my dad finally kicked me out. “No, Ash. You don’t get to hide here,” he said. “Go live your life.”

“This is me living my life,” I told him, stubbornly.

“No, it’s not. You’ve been pretending for a long time. Ever since you left for Duke, you’ve been really good at acting like everything’s fine.”

“That’s because everything is fine. I went to Duke, like I always wanted. I played soccer for them like I always wanted. Now, I’m here, working on cars, like I’ve always wanted.”

“Still not enough, is it?”

I sighed, feeling seconds away from falling apart. “Why isn’t it?” I sighed again.

“Because you need the girl, Ash. So, stop moping and go get her.”

“I don’t even know where she is.”

“Yeah, you do. Go clear your head, and you’ll find her.”

So I drove. With the music up and the windows down, I drove. Occasionally I looked over, swearing she was in the seat next to me, like she used to be. When the growling in my stomach got to be too much to ignore, I drove to the diner.

I ignored the nostalgia that hit me as I opened the door and made my way to the booth. I did a double take as I noticed someone already sitting there. It couldn’t be, could it?

My truck keys nearly slipped out of my hand. I rubbed my eyes and pinched myself, hard, just to be sure this was real. Sure enough, there she was. Her long blonde hair framed her green eyes that were staring out the window, a fry making its way to her mouth. I wasn’t sure if I should laugh or cry. Nearly four years had past seen I��d last seen her and she still looked the same. Time had been kind to her.

I looked down at myself. My fingers were stained with grease. My jumpsuit looked in desperate need of a wash, as did the rest of me. I ran a hand along my jaw and under my chin. Yep, I could do with a shave, too.

I looked over at her again and all those old feelings came rushing back. It was like seeing her for the first time all over again. My memories of her and us flashed in front of me. And this time, I welcomed the flashbacks. I wanted to remember what it was like to be seventeen. Back before life got in the way. I close my eyes and let the memories flood my mind.

I shook my head to clear away that last goodbye and walked over to her. I waved my hand in front of her to get her attention as I slid into the seat across from her.

Her eyes lit up as she scanned my face, and realized that it was really me. “Hey,” she smiled. “You kept your hair short, it looks good that way.” She got up and gave me a quick hug. “You look good, Ash.”

I went up to run my hand through my hair, that I had kept short ever since Prom, then remembered how gross my hands were. “Yeah, decided I was long overdue for a new look.” Then, my mind processed what had just happened. “Wait… did you just? You can hear me?!”

She laughed as she sat down, motioning for me to sit across from her. “I got the implant after my first year at Yale. Figured it was time.”

“You sound great,” I told her, taking a seat. Her voice was less slow, and even more confident than it had been those times she had graced me with her voice. Damn, this was gonna be way harder if she broke my heart now.

“You do too,” she smiled.

We stared at each other for a moment, both of us processing the changes. She finally broke the silence. “I texted you. Called you even. You never came to see me.”

“You never came to Duke,” I countered, half-teasing, half curious to see how she’d respond.

“Yeah, I got a little busy. How was Duke? Did you graduate already?”

“Yeah, last week. So, now I’m working in my dad’s shop full-time.”

“Good,” she said. “That’s good. That’s what I wanted. Are you hungry? Should we order? I’m starving.”

“Yeah, food sounds good.”

We ordered and we swapped stories about Duke and Yale. I told her about how great it had been at Duke, while she told me how her time at Yale had been amazing; both of us refusing to admit to the less than wonderful moments of the last few years.

“Nice tattoo,” I commented, when she tucked a piece of hair behind her ear.

“Thanks. Yours is nice, too.”

“I have more,” I said, glancing down at the heart decorating my wrist. “So, what was the news anyway?” I asked, finally getting to the hard stuff. “When you texted and called me. Did you find somebody new?” I swallowed hard, the long wondered about question finally hanging in the air between us.

She played with a straw wrapper. “You could say that…” she said coyly.

“Oh,” I said, swallowing again. “That’s great. I’m glad.” I smiled a half-smile. She had done exactly what I told her to do. There was no one to blame but myself.

“He’s hanging out with Mike right now. Did you want to come meet him?”

“I don’t think…” I protested.

“Oh, c’mon. You’re gonna love him, I promise,” she told me. She smiled again and I knew that I’d let this girl take my heart and stomp all over it if it meant I’d see that smile and hear her voice.

“Lead the way,” I gestured. “Oh, you drive now?” I asked as she walked to her brother’s truck. I had been too stuck in my own head to take notice of the cars when I had pulled in earlier.

She nodded. “I can hear now.”

“So, did Mike get a new truck?”

“No, I have my own car. It’s just in the shop,” she lied.

I shook my head, letting her have the lie. I got in my truck and followed her the few blocks to a house I’d never been to before. “Nice place,” I commented as we walked up to the porch.

“Thanks. It’s no apartment at Duke, but it’s exactly what I need. Rent’s a little steep though, but Mike’s staying with me while him and Crystal figure things out.” she said, opening the door.

“No help from that guy of yours?” I asked, trying not to be smug.

“He’s a little on the young side,” she let out a small laugh as she opened the front door.

A small body came hurtling out of the kitchen, slamming his tiny body into Madison’s legs. “Momma!” the boy screeched.

She picked up the boy and put him on her hip. “Judder-bug!” she greeted, kissing the curly blonde locks.

He put his hands on her cheeks, pulling her face to his. When he did, I caught a glimpse of a pair of gold-flecked hazel eyes I’d only seen in the mirror. I quickly put two and two together and did some math in my head. The boy looked to be about three, and I had left Madison not quite four years ago. Although hazel wasn’t a far cry from green, I knew that the kid had my eyes, not hers. I remembered how she responded when I asked if she had met someone. This had been the news she wanted to tell me, I decided. “Who’s your friend, Momma?” he was whispering.

“A very special friend,” she told him. “Can you say hi?”

He looked at me, then buried his face in his mom’s shoulder.

She smiled at me, apologetically. “He can be a little shy.” She set the boy down, “Go find Uncle Mikey,” she told him. We both watched as the boy disappeared down the hall. “Should we talk?” she asked, sitting on the couch and patting for me to sit next to her.

I collapsed next to her. “Shit, Mads… a kid?!”

“I texted and called,” she told me like that was enough of an answer. Her head came to rest on my shoulder for a second before she thought better of it.

“What did you say his name was?” I asked.

“Jude Thomas Irwin.”

“Irwin” I repeated, closing my eyes. “Irwin as in…?”

“As in, he has his dad’s last name.”

“Okay, so I am his…” I couldn’t say the word.

“Where else would he get curly hair and hazel eyes from?”

“And you didn’t feel the need to tell me this fact at all during the last four years?” The shock subsided into anger. How could she keep this from me?

“I tried,” she defended. “I texted and called you. You never responded.”

“And what would you have done if I had?”

“Told you to stay in Duke. That I had everything under control, and that it wasn’t your problem.”

“Not my problem?! Mads, you hid the fact that I have a son! I think that makes it my problem, don’t you? God, you know how I feel about this! My biological dad walked out on my mom and me!”

“Look, I’m sorry if you’re mad. But, I know you. You wouldn’t have stayed in Duke if you had known.”

“So, you lied so I would go to Duke?” My words were harsh. Who was she to decide something like that without talking to me about it?

“Technically, I didn’t lie.”

“I have a kid, Mads!”

“I know… Look, I did what I thought was best for us. You left me so you could go to Duke. I wasn’t going to stand in your way.”

I rubbed my eyes and let out a small scream of frustration. “Madison, that wasn’t your decision to make,” I said, fighting to keep my voice level and my words calm. “Do you know what you’ve done? Whatever your intentions, you kept my son from me! You know what being a dad means to me! How could you?”

“Not my decision to make?! You wouldn’t answer the phone, Ashton! Bottom line, you weren’t there. What was I supposed to do?”

“I wasn’t there? Madison, I didn’t know! You didn’t tell me!”

“I tried, Ashton!”

“You should’ve tried harder! You think I wouldn’t have been there if you had told me?”

“I know you would’ve been! And that wasn’t okay with me!”

“Why? What justification do you have for keeping him from me?” I asked, the fight leaving me in my need to know why.

“Okay,” she said, her voice becoming calm like mine. “You had just left, and I don’t hold that against you, I don’t. Then, I was pregnant, and I didn’t know how to tell you. This wasn’t the kind of news you could send through a text. So, I figured I’d reach out to let you know I had news and let you make the decision from there. But all I got was silence from you- both times. Which I don’t hold against you, either. I personally think it was for the best. And he’s always known who you are. I was never going to keep him from you. You hide it well, but I know how much pain you’re in because Jeff is only your stepdad, and that you want to be better than your biological father was to you. I was always going to let you be a dad to Jude. I just needed you to finish Duke first. I didn’t want you to regret not going. I’m sorry. Okay? I am so fucking sorry.”

I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. “God, Mads… What about the possibility of me regretting not being there for you two?”

“You don’t have to forgive me. I only ask that you understand why I did what I did, and don’t let it spoil any relationship you might have with him.”

I kept my eyes closed. I couldn’t blame her for what she had done. She was right, there was no way I would have stayed at Duke if I had known. Because of her lie- or omittance- I had been able to go to Duke and play soccer like I always wanted. I let out a sigh and opened my eyes to look at her. “How old is he?”

“He’s 2. He’ll be 3 in a few weeks. I’m having a birthday party for him. It’s a small thing, but you’re more than welcome to come.”

I nodded. Of course I was going to his birthday. I wasn’t going to miss a single day of his life. “Okay,” I said.

“Okay what?” she asked.

“It’ll take me time to stop being angry. But, I can understand why you did what you did. I can almost forgive you for it. And, I want a relationship with him. Whatever you’re comfortable with at first, but I eventually want some sort of custody. I’m going to be his dad. I’m not missing anymore of his life.”

She nodded. “Of course, Ash. Whatever you want is more than fine with me. Do you want to go meet him?”

“Yeah.”

She led us into the backyard where Mike was standing in front of a small goal. “Kick it!” he was encouraging Jude, who stood a few feet away, with a small soccer ball at his feet. The toddler kicked the ball with his foot, sending the ball skidding towards Mike, who stepped aside to let the ball fall into the goal. “Goal! Jude Irwin with the winning goal! Syracuse wins!” Mike cheered.

“Goal! Go Yrcus!” Jude cheered, throwing his arms up and screaming. “Momma, I made a goal!” he continued to cheer, running up to Madison.

“Good job, Judder-bug! High five!” she said, holding out her hand.

He slapped his small hand against Madison’s. “Yrcus wins!”

She laughed. “Syracuse,” she said slowly, teaching him. “Who did Syracuse beat this time?” she asked Mike.

“Uh… who did we play, Judester?”

“Uke!” Jude told his uncle.

“Duke?” Madison asked. “Aw, the only way Syracuse will ever beat Duke is in this backyard,” she teased her brother.

I laughed. Every game we had played against Syracuse, we had won. But, how did she know that? “Wait, how did you know that?”

“I might have gone to a game… or four…” she admitted.

“Momma loves Uke!” Jude ratted her out. “Huh, Momma?”

“Oh, does she?” I asked him.

“Mhm!” he nodded like a bobblehead. “Dada goes to Uke.”

“He does?”

“Mhm! We watch him play occer.”

“You,” Madison said, scooping up Jude who let out a shrill giggle- an exact copy of my own, I noted with a smile- “are a bad secret keeper!” She flipped him upside down before she flipped him upright, holding him on her hip. God, she looked amazing as a mom.

“You watched my games?” I asked her, feeling all those old feelings come rushing back.

“I might have…” she admitted with a coy smile. “Hey, Judder-bug, did you know that Ash went to Duke?” she asked, turning the direction of the conversation.

His hazel eyes went wide. “You know Dada?!”

Madison whispered something in his ear and his entire face split into a grin. He reached out for me.

I took him in my arms and immediately felt both overjoyed and overwhelmed. “Momma misses you,” he told me.

“I’ve missed her, too,” I told him.

“And, that’s my cue to go,” Mike said, excusing himself. “I’ll probably just crash at Crystal’s, Mads.”

“Okay, bye,” she told her brother.

“Bye, Judester,” he said, kissing Jude’s head. “Good to see ya, Ash.”

“Good to see ya too, man.”

Mike disappeared inside, leaving the three of us alone. “Did you have your nap?” Madison asked her son.

He shook his head, “Nope! No nap!”

“Yes, nap,” she said, going in the house.

I followed, Jude still clinging to my neck. “What about Dada?” he asked.

“Uh…” I stumbled, not knowing what to say.

“He’ll be here when you wake up,” she promised before looking at me. “Right?”

“Yeah,” I nodded. I set Jude down, who immediately clung to my leg and wailed. “No!” he scream-cried.

“It’s ok-” I started to tell him, but Madison had already beat me to it.

She crouched down next to him and turned his face towards hers. “Look at me,” she coaxed, softly. “Jude Thomas, look at me. Thank you. I need you to stop. You need a nap. Daddy will be here when you wake up, okay?” As she spoke, Jude slowly stopped wailing. “Now, do you want me to tuck you in?”

He sniffed and nodded, grabbing her hand.

“You’re gonna need to teach me that,” I said, staring at her amazed as she put Jude down and closed his door. How was I mad at her a half hour ago only to find myself falling for her all over again?

She shrugged. “It’s nothing.”

“For you, maybe.”

She smiled. “Um, he’ll be out for at least 2 hours. So, if you had something… You don’t have to stay.”

I looked down at myself. “Uh, yeah, actually. I should clean up. What about…”

“Oh, you can come over whenever you want. I’m not… I just thought that… Sorry.”

“Thought what? That I only want to spend time with him?”

“Maybe…?”

“I’ll come back after I get cleaned up, okay? 45 minutes, tops.”

“Okay,” she agreed.

“See you in a bit,” I told her, heading for the door.

I drove to my apartment to shower and change, thinking the whole time about the time I had just spent with Madison. Four years of radio silence and a hidden secret- two, if you included the Cochlear implant- didn’t stop those old feelings I had for her from resurfacing. I drove back to her house, deciding that a relationship with Jude wasn’t enough; I needed one with her too. One that wasn’t strictly a co-parenting one. I needed her like I needed her when we were seventeen and in love; like when we were eighteen and I was too stubborn and hurt to tough out the distance.

I knocked on her door, flowers in one hand, a carton of ice cream in the other. She opened the door and stared at me for a minute, a look in her eye I’d only ever seen whenever we used to have sex. “C’mon in,” she recovered. “Jude’s still asleep.”

“These are for you,” I said, handing her the flowers. “Ice cream’s for later.”

She breathed in the flowers. “Peonies, my favorite. Thank you.”

“Yeah, you’re the only girl who didn’t like roses,” I remembered fondly, following her into the kitchen.

“Always reminded me of fun-”

“Funerals,” I cut her off. “I remember.”

She smiled at me, grabbing a small vase to put the flowers in. “You can put the ice cream in the freezer,” she said, nodding in its direction. “Do you want something to drink?”

I shook my head. “I’m good, thanks.”

We sat in the living room, unsure of what to say. “It’s been hard,” she finally said, breaking the silence.

“What has?”

“Everything since high school graduation,” she half laughed. “Being away from you was hard. Watching you leave every other weekend was harder. Balancing school, a job, and a baby was hard. Missing you was the hardest, though.”

“But, you did it,” I told her, feeling proud for her. She had done it all, just like she planned, with a baby on her hip.

“I did it,” she smiled in agreement. “How did you react when I called you? Not the text. The phone call.”

I let out my breath in a slow huff. “That one tore me up for a bit because you’ve never called me. Talking always made you tired.”

“It tore me up, too. But I needed to try to contact you again. And I needed to know what you sounded like.”

“Disappointed?”

“No, not at all,” she laughed. “I almost came to Duke. After my Bachelor’s.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“What was I gonna do? Show up on your door with a suitcase and a baby and say ‘Honey we’re home’ and give you a heart attack?”

We both laughed at the absurdity of it all. “It was hard,” she said again. “And I was scared.”

“Scared of what?”

“How’d you react. I didn’t want you to leave Duke. And then I was scared that you wouldn’t want us. That I blew it by not telling you sooner. That you had found someone else and there wasn’t any room for an ex and a baby in your new life.”

“There was never anyone else. Mads, I didn’t leave for my benefit. I left for yours.”

“Well that was stupid, wasn’t it?”

“I don’t know. I’m still waiting to see how things play out.”

#according to plan #chapter 14 #ashton irwin #5sos #galcal irwin #anybody else crying or is that just me?

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balmacedapascal-archive · 5 years

Text

THE ADVENTURES OF OLIVIA DELLAMONICA & VINNIE MALZAHN

Olivia Dellamonica first met Vinnie Malzahn when he came home with Ty after school one day. They were six and she was four. She’d started going to preschool at their church but she still wasn’t happy that Ty got to got to school and she couldn’t go with him. And she definitely wasn’t happy that he was bringing home some other kid bc Ty was her best friend and why did they need someone else? Especially someone who was loud and always bouncing around and eating the green popsicles that were supposed to be hers. He couldn’t stick around, he just couldn’t.

By the time Olivia was seven she’d resigned herself to the fact that there was no getting rid of Vinnie. Him and Ty had been stuck together like glue since kindergarten and there was no end in sight. She didn’t like it but she’d learned to put up with him. And by put up with, really it just meant she’d gotten big enough where she could shove him off their couch when she got really annoyed. The boys didn’t play with her much, something about girls having cooties and not wanting to play with dolls or do stupid girl stuff. Plus they were nine and didn’t want to do “baby stuff”. They’d still play with her every now and then when her mom would make them. And Jonathan would still play with her most of the time even if he wanted to chase after the older boys instead. She had the advantage there. They wouldn’t play with her because she was a girl but Jonathan was way littler than her so he definitely didn’t get to play with them.

By the time her 10th birthday comes, she doesn’t try to chase after Ty and Vinnie anymore. They’re in seventh grade now and it might as well be a different planet. Besides she has her own friends from school - Cassie, Hayley, Lauren - and she doesn’t need her big brother to be her best friend. But the boys are still at her party because it’s at the pool and her mom got an ice cream cake and of course Vinnie has to throw her into the pool cackling like an idiot. She gets him back and dumps a soda on him and then it’s war but that’s not new. She’s been fighting with Vinnie for years. But now her friends giggle and say how cute he is and that is definitely new and she doesn’t like it. She tells her mom Vinnie definitely doesn’t get to come next year

She’s eleven when she wakes up to the sound of their father yelling after midnight, sneaking downstairs to see Ty and Vinnie on the couch, looking more serious than she’s ever seen either of them. She doesn’t catch all of it - something about sneaking out and trespassing and the couple beers missing from the fridge - before her mom spots her and sends her back to bed but the next morning Ty’s grounded and Vinnie’s not allowed to come over for three weeks. It’s the quietest three weeks in their house that she can ever remember and it’s the first time since he started kindergarten that Ty spends his days willingly with her and Jonathan. She won’t say it but she’s glad when the punishment is over and Vinnie comes bursting back into their house like a hurricane of energy. She will deny it with every breath she has but she kinda sorta missed him.

The summer after eighth grade is kind of a big deal and she’s so excited to finally be starting high school and she’s gone up two cup sizes while all her friends are still waiting for the boob fairy to come and everything is great. Except now boys are noticing her and she’s noticing them and Ty’s noticing all the noticing and he is not okay with it. And normally she can handle that but this time he’s convinced Vinnie “never been serious a day in my life” Malzahn to back him up and she’s lucky she can talk to a boy without one of them scaring the poor guy off. There’s also the fact that sometime after 4th of July, when their parents let them have a big party and there were high schoolers there and Vinnie wound up getting hit with some water balloons and stripping off his shirt without a care in the world, she started having the occasional dream of pg-13 romance starring the boy in question. It’s only happened like twice (okay five times but whatever) but it makes being around his loud and obnoxious self a little awkward. So she does her best to avoid him and Ty, for multiple reasons and before school starts she finally manages to get her first kiss despite their efforts to keep her away from boys. It’s wet and sloppy and kind of disappointing but it still counts for something.

Freshman years comes and goes and it’s filled with the usual ups and down of being in high school. Most people start to identify her as Ty’s little sister which she isn’t too excited about but it could be worse. Despite being back in the same school building she doesn’t see a ton of the guys but every now and then they pop up. Ty usually swoops in when she doesn’t really want him to, protective big brother mode activating. Vinnie occasionally finds her during lunch, being loud and obnoxious and stealing food off her plate until she shoved him away and he just laughs and her friends all still think he’s cute which is honestly more annoying than it was four years ago. She goes to all their baseball games like she has been for years and Vinnie still insists on giving her gross sweaty hugs afterwards when he smells like BO and dirt and she still hates it which is probably why he still does it.

The one moment where she actually gets along with Vinnie is at the spring formal. She’s there with a sophomore named Tommy who’s on the basketball team and is super cute but winds up spending more time drinking spiked punch and joking around with his teammates and she’s only danced with her girlfriends until Vinnie shows up at their table during some slow 80s ballad and pulls her onto the dance floor before she can protest. He’d come stag after him and the girl he’d been dating broke up last month so she just assumes it’s a pity dance cuz he’s bored while Ty’s with his date. But it’s still nice and he smells like Old Spice and he’s actually pretty good at dancing which she’ll tease him about later and she tries not to blush when he spins her around and dips her and she doesn’t run away when the song ends and a new one starts. They wind up dancing together for four songs before he disappears to talk with Ty about something.

Jonathan hits his growth spurt when he turns thirteen and she’s suddenly the shortest one in the house. She spends the entire summer hearing every short person nickname in the book and by the time schools starting back up its a miracle she hasn’t murdered Vinnie.

It’s senior year for the boys and they’re a little too busy to really pop into her life at school but she still sees them. Sees Ty stressing about keeping his grades up and doing good when college scouts come and making sure the team dominates this season. He goes out of town one weekend with their parents for a college visit and it’s the first time she gets to stay home alone. Well not alone. Jonathan’s there (she refuses to call him Dells, even if all his friends think it’s cool) and Vinnie shows up halfway through Saturday, bored and looking for entertainment. It’s one of the only times she’s hung out with Vinnie without Ty there as a buffer. They watch a ton of movies and order pizza and eventually wind up getting ice cream before going back home and falling asleep on the couch halfway through Field of Dreams and wake up in the morning in a tangled mess of legs and arms and she can still smell his cologne (still Old Spice) six hours later when her parents get home and he’s gone back to his house. Neither of them ever mention it, not to each other and not to Ty but she doesn’t shove him away as often when he crowds her on family movie nights.

Her and her mom both cry at graduation along with Mrs. Malzahn and she says it’s because she’s just so relieved that Ty actually graduated and that it’s a miracle he didn’t get kicked out because of one of Vinnie’s hijinks but really she’s a little sad she won’t have them around anymore. Jonathan will be starting his freshman year in the fall and she’s excited to have him around and get to be the big sibling for a change. But she’s still gonna miss her idiots.

The boys leave for college and the house is just too quiet. Like unbearably quiet. Like she didn’t realize how much noise they made and how much she would hate the silence once they were gone. She gets more involved with extracurriculars at school, finding stuff to keep her busy and out of the house and away from all the quiet. She pretends not to be thrilled when they come home for a long weekend and drive her a little crazy with all their stories and antics and she hugs them both longer before they leave on Sunday

Throughout junior and senior year she dates a couple different guys and it’s nice. Just nice. Nobody gets her blood boiling, nobody gives her those big romcom feels, nobody drives her crazy. And it doesn’t have anything to do with the dumbass who comes home and steals her food and tells her stories about college life and flops on top of her when she’s on the couch. It definitely has nothing to do with Vinnie fucking Malzahn. Not at all.

Senior prom is a Big Deal™️ and she spends a couple weeks searching for the perfect dress with her girlfriends - the same girls who’ve stuck with her since sixth grade and they’re trying to just have fun and not think about them all going their separate ways in the fall. She just wants to have fun and dance and enjoy herself. And she’s got a date who’s one of the better looking guys in their grade and has been a friend for the last couple years. And it’s going to be great. Except then he calls up about twenty minutes before he’s supposed to pick her up with the news that his ex is back in town and they’ve been talking and they’re gonna give it another go and he hopes she understands that he has to cancel for prom. Which leaves her in a pretty blue prom dress and no date. Her mother says go anyways, have fun. Ty has to be talked down from going and taking a baseball bat to the guys front bumper. Vinnie disappears and she doesn’t even notice until she’s trying to figure out how to unpin her hair and suddenly she’s being told to stop what she’s doing and get her butt in the car and Vinnie’s back in a suit and has corsage and she doesn’t really understand what’s happening but her mom snaps a couple pictures of them in those classic prom poses before he all but drags her out to the car and heads to the dance

They argue in the parking lot once she finally finds her voice “Vinnie, I’m not walking in there with your dumb ass as a pity date!” “For the love of god it’s NOT a pity date, Liv!” “Yes it is” “Jesus woman why are you so damn stubborn?!” “Fuck off!” “Just get out of the car! We’re going in, we’re dancing, it’s going to be a grand fucking time and you will thank me one day” “no!” “Do not make me throw you over my shoulder woman! You know I can! I’ve done it before!” “I swear to god Vin, I will murder you”

They eventually get inside and she has to explain a couple times the change in plans and eventually she calms down and remembers how much fun she can have with Vinnie when he’s not picking on her and he dances with her on just about every single song for an hour straight until she’s out of breath and laughing and she tries not to think about how he actually looks good with his hair a little messy and his shirt unbuttoned and the sleeves rolled up, making her snort and laugh as he attempts to do the running man in some weird dance off between him and Cassie’s boyfriend. They stay until the very end when she’s ditched her heels and has lost a handful of bobby-pins from too much dancing and not enough hairspray.

They both just sit in the car when they finally get back to her house. The lights are off and she knows it’s only because she’s with Vinnie. If she’d actually gone with her original date both her dad and Ty would be waiting up for her like a couple of crazy people. She’s almost too tired to move, shoes somewhere on the floor and Vinnie’s suit jacket swallowing her smaller frame up. He kills the engine and they both just sit there and it’s quiet and she doesn’t know why because god knows he never shuts up

“Vin, why’d - why’d you go with me?” More silence as his fingers tap a random little tune against the steering wheel. “Vinnie?” “Did you have a good time?” “Wh-yeah… yeah it was great Vin. But -“ “you deserved a good time. Gotta go big for senior prom. You only got the one shot.” “You did it twice.” “Yeah well I didn’t get it right my first time” “Vin?” “You look really beautiful Liv…” she doesn’t know what to say because this is the sweetest he’s ever been to her, first time she’s gotten a compliment that didn’t have a teasing tone or a smart ass remark following and she just looks at him like she doesn’t know what’s happening

And then he kisses her like she started dreaming about when she was a kid and it’s all the fireworks she’d hoped for when she was 14 and then some and when he goes to pull back she chases him for more. They don’t leave the car for another hour.

Ty is furious. The one person he trusted to never touch his baby sister is now cuddled up with her on the couch during movie night, holding her hand and making flirty comments. Jonathan finds it a little weird and a little gross but for the most part he doesn’t care. Mrs. Dellamonica isn’t surprised in the slightest and just keeps adding an extra place setting at the family dinners like she’s been doing for Vinnie for years.

#undrafted #vinnie malzahn #jay hayden #ty dellamonica #undrafted fanfic #pls show up in the tags #this is kind of garbage bc i wrote it on my phone #but also it's just like 2500 words of love #i've had this idea since i first watched the movie #and heard the line about them being brothers in law #long post #text post

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jocksaved-a · 5 years

Text

@jocksoft ✉ ;-) five times kevin didn’t send a text and one time he did | accepting

unsent

its been two hours since he woke up, one hour and fifty nine minutes since he remembered that he had kissed jason the night before. he’d been panicking for one hour and fifty eight minutes. pacing his room for one hour and fifty seven minutes. had the text typed out for one hour and fifty six minutes.

𝚒 𝚖𝚎𝚊𝚗𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚎𝚗 𝚒 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚗𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝

too scared to send it, too scared not to. caught in a loop of indecisiveness. he’d considered texting joe for help, but there was one issue with doing that: joe would actually make him do something. and somehow that wasn’t what kevin wanted. words are deleted carefully, slow and intense precision to make sure nothing accidentally sends. and then the words are gone from the screen, and his phone is thrown into his bed, but the pacing doesn’t stop and the panic is only growing by the second and he can’t help but wonder if jason even remembers it, or if he even wanted to remember it.

unsent

things had gotten out of hand quickly, and when joe had called him an idiot for being so stupid he certainly wasn’t wrong. they’d just been making out, they’d thought they were safe, they were idiots. kent had come in without the boys noticing and things quickly got bad. there was yelling, screaming, and before kevin had known what was happening his father was grabbing jason by the back of his shirt and dragging him away. kevin had followed, but he’d been so terrified. he’d barely watched as his father lifted jason enough for his feet to leave the ground and threw him out, had ran back to his room as his father turned around, barricaded his door and pretended he couldn’t hear the yelling from his father. pretended things weren’t going to get worse the moment his father got through his badly made barricade.

𝚊𝚛𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚘𝚔𝚊𝚢?? 𝚒𝚖 𝚜𝚘 𝚜𝚘𝚛𝚛𝚢 𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚍𝚗'𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚒𝚗𝚔 𝚑𝚎'𝚍 𝚌𝚘𝚖𝚎 𝚑𝚘𝚖𝚎

shaking hands had barely managed to type it, but his finger lingers over the send button and he’s not sure he can do it. all he can hear is his father yelling about how he’s never allowed to talk to jason again, how jason’s not welcome in the house anymore, about how he thought kevin was a decent kid but that had all been shattered. hand shakes as his fingers move away from the send button, instead moving to erase the message. just in case. in case somehow his father got in, or saw his phone, or somehow just knew. he wouldn’t risk anything that could make things worse for jason. wouldn’t dare.

unsent

the pair have been messing around for a while, and kevin knows more than anything that this is beyond what he felt for carrie. he loved her, he did, but he wasn’t in love with her. and he certainly didn’t want to do things to her the way he wanted to do things to jason. he’s so scared to admit it to himself let alone anyone else, but as time goes on he sees wendy and jason seeming to get more serious and he hears rumors of what carrie’s doing behind his back and he feels like he’s about to lose everyone he loves. jason’s gonna fall for wendy and leave him and carrie’s just going to leave him. he feels like he’s about to be completely abandoned.

𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞

he wants more than anything to press send, to make his feelings known. but they’ve barely talked since his dad threw jason out, and they’d barely even talked about it all before that. it feels so stupid to be sat there, so scared of three words, but he’s terrified. almost as terrified as he is to lose jason. and he can’t do it, the words are deleted. but it’s not a defeat. he can’t send the text, but only because he knows he has to say it in person.

unsent

he’s been feeling guilty since it happened, only hours before he’d been plotting to hurt jason and then he had no idea what happened but before he knew it he was kissing ian and it very quickly turned into more. much more. and he feels terrible for doing that to jason, but he feels even worse for how good it had felt. for how much he wanted it again. and he knows that the plan was to hurt jason, knows that they were going to kiss in front of him to make him jealous, but kevin didn’t want to hide this from jason. he knew from what jason had done that it hurts more to find out later than it would to just be told when it happened.

𝚒 𝚑𝚊𝚍 𝚜𝚎𝚡 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚒𝚊𝚗

it seems so much worse now that he’s written it down, and he knows it would kill jason to hear it. but he should hear it from kevin, right? he shouldn’t find out because he catches them making out and someone else makes an effort to tell him the truth of what they were doing. especially if that someone was trevor. but he cant send it. can’t make himself do it. so the message is erased, and the secret lingers in the air, and kevin wonders just how much longer he can keep it hidden. and just how much longer he’d go before inevitably being back in ian’s arms.

unsent

kevin isn’t popular, not the way people think he is. yes, he’s on the football team. yes, he’s best friends with the prom king. yes, girls love him. but the boys hate him. the football team is against him. half the school wouldn’t care if he was gone. it had all become painfully obvious as time went on, but no one had ever made it more obvious than trevor powell. if kevin was even just a little better at noticing things he would’ve noticed that trevor was crazy into jason, would’ve seen the obvious signs. but he doesn’t see them. all he sees is a boy that hates him, that’s turning everyone against him. and jason, sweet jason, he’s so oblivious. trevor knows how to be nice to jason, knows how to make sure that gossip is kept within the team but without jason. knows that as long as he’s nice when jason’s around then the boy would never suspect a thing.

it had been a particularly bad day, trevor noticing the slight rift between the boys and using it to his advantage. of course, he has no idea that the reason they’re fighting is that jason found out about kevin and ian having sex, but he doesn’t need to know that that’s the reason, he can use their fight to his advantage even without knowing what it was about. terrorizing kevin, saying that jason was talking about never forgiving him, it had been so easy to get kevin riled up. and maybe kevin did throw the first punch, and maybe he had won the fight, and maybe that had been trevors plan.

𝚒𝚏 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚜𝚘 𝚒𝚗 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎 𝚠𝚒𝚝𝚑 𝚝𝚛𝚎𝚟𝚘𝚛 𝚓𝚞𝚜𝚝 𝚐𝚘 𝚏𝚞𝚌𝚔 𝚑𝚒𝚖

it’s a bad thing to say, but he’s angry. jason had shown up out of nowhere, saw kevin beating the crap out of trevor. it didn’t look good on kevins part, that’s for sure. jason had pulled kevin off of him in a heartbeat with surprising ease, kevin always going soft when it came to jason. but then jason had rushed to trevors side, had made sure trevor was okay, had acted like kevin was the bad guy. and he’d seen the look on trevors face when jason had looked away, the smug smirk that said that he’d lost the battle but won the war. kevin had been moments from sending the text, had been millimeters away from pressing the button, but then he’d gotten a text from ian, the intent behind it pretty clear, and kevin had quickly gotten rid of the message, deciding that it would be much easier to take his energy out while fucking ian than it would be yelling at jason. and he doesn’t even see how hypocritical he’s being by running off with ian like that after almost sending that text, but he’s a dumb teenage boy and he wouldn’t see anything unless it punched him in the face.

sent

things had always been strange since jason died, but things had only gotten stranger when he’d started getting texts from jason. and it was jason. that had become painfully obvious when he’d confronted kevin with the fact that he kissed wendy. he regrets it, but only because he got caught. jason’s right, he hasn’t even been dead a month. but kevin didn’t have feelings for wendy before, he just had spent every minute of every day trying to keep her safe for jason and it had been so easy for that to lead from one thing to another. he’d never meant for it to happen, but it did, and jason saw it, and he’d been so upset. and as much as kevin loves him he can’t pretend that he doesn’t feel something for wendy too. and it didn’t matter how much he loved jason anymore, because he couldn’t make a life with a ghost. there was no future with jason anymore.

𝚒 𝚕𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚍 𝚢𝚘𝚞. 𝚒 𝚍𝚒𝚍. 𝚒 𝚍𝚘. 𝚋𝚞𝚝 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚍𝚎𝚊𝚍.

the words hurt to write and hurt even more to send, but he does it. he can’t avoid it anymore. he’d avoided sending so many texts while jason was alive, had avoided so many important things because he’d been scared. but he can’t be scared anymore. he’s already lost jason, this ghost has not been the jason he knew, and there’s no way he can get through this without facing the fact that jason was gone, and he needed to move on.

#WELL I SURE AM SAD #this is a literal timeline of plot points we've done sdkjfkhsdkfksj #jocksoft #「 i — answered 」#「 i — answered memes 」#「 ii — in character 」

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emeraldwaves · 6 years

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Title: Undercover Emotions Chapter 3 Pairing: Promptio, Highspecs Rating: E Word Count: 4,142 Read on Ao3 Summary: Rookie cop Prompto Argentum gets sent undercover with veteran Aranea Highwind in hopes of taking down the Caelums, longtime leaders of organized crime in Insomnia. After being assigned to assist Gladiolus Amicitia and Ignis Scientia, the pair dive deeper into the criminal underworld and find themselves caught up in a variety of shady dealings. However, when Prompto starts to learn who Gladiolus really is, his loyalties begin to shift in a direction he never expected.

In this chapter, Prompto and Gladio grow closer, Aranea hopes to crack Ignis’ shell.

Full fic under the cut! thanks to @its-love-u-asshole for betaing this!

Tap-tap. Tap-tap. Tap-tap.

Prompto's fingers hit against the desk in the corner of Gladio's office. So far, it was Monday morning, only about a week since he had officially started being undercover, and Prompto was... bored.

Really, he'd expected being a part of the mafia would be more thrilling than this.

He glanced his eyes over to Gladio, who sat at his desk, thumbing through various papers. He was wrapped up in his own work, adjusting his glasses from time to time, and Prompto couldn't help but stare.

Gladio was an attractive man, and the more time Prompto spent cooped up in the office with him, the more he watched him. His firm muscles moved with every gesture, every hand motion, and his deep golden eyes were always so considerate.

Gladiolus Amicitia was the exact opposite of everything Prompto had expected.

So far, he'd had Prompto organize his shelves, which had taken up the majority of the first week. Prompto had hoped to find some sort of information, instead, he'd come to learn Gladio seemed to be a collector of romance novels.

Attempting to stifle a yawn, Prompto covered his mouth, and leaned back, stretching out his muscles.

"Oi, kid, ya' bored?" Gladio asked.

Prompto jerked forward, immediately sitting up straight. He adjusted his own glasses and shook his head so fast they almost flew right off. "No, sir!" he said quickly. He couldn't come across as bored. If he was bored, Gladio would maybe fire him, which would mean he was off the case, which would mean-

Oh gods, he was standing up. Gladio pushed away from the desk, stretching up as he walked towards Prompto. "I dunno why you always act so jumpy when I ask ya' a single question," he snorted, placing his hand on the desk in front of him. "I just thought maybe we could... have a little fun?"

Prompto swallowed, his cheeks immediately turning red. He couldn't help but stare into those perfectly golden eyes. "F-Fun?" he stammered, unsure of what Gladio meant exactly. He was known to have relations with his female assistants but... what about the male ones? Or maybe Prompto was his first?!

"Yeah," Gladio said, pulling his gun from his holster. "Let's go shoot a couple," he smirked.

"A COUPLE!?" he exclaimed, pushing away from the desk.

"Yeah?" Gladio shrugged casually. "What? You never shoot a couple of rounds before?"

"Oh... rounds... " Prompto breathed, his chest heaving up and down.

"Yeah what the hell did you think I meant? A couple? Like some lovebirds or somethin'?" he asked, tilting his head. "You're a real naive kid, ya' know that?" Gladio smirked, his lips pulling at the corners. Damn, he was too handsome.

"I, uh... I dunno what you meant at first," he admitted, shrugging his shoulders.

"C'mon Prom, I know I'm a part of the mafia, but I'm not all that bad," he sighed, rolling his shoulders back.

"So you've never killed anyone," Prompto asked, raising an eyebrow. Was Gladio cleaner than he thought?

A dark look crossed his golden eyes, and he placed the gun back in the holster. "Never said that," he grunted. "But we're going to a closed range, and I'll teach ya' everything I know. It'll be good for us to blow off some steam."

Prompto swallowed. As a cop, he was of course trained to use a gun. But Gladio probably thought he was some newbie... Should he... pretend like he was?

"Y-Yeah," he stammered.

"Don't be so nervous," Gladio chuckled, gently patting Prompto on his arm. "We've been hanging out in this office for too damn long. I know Iggy gets intense about planning shit, but we've got plenty of time. Plus you organized my office way damn faster than I thought you would. You deserve a gift."

Shooting guns really didn't sound like Prompto's idea of a gift, but if it meant getting closer to Gladio, he figured it best to accept.

"And hey," Gladio continued. "If you do a good job, maybe I can suggest you come with me on my next few pickups," he smirked.

"Pickups?" Prompto asked, perking up. That sounded promising, the closer Prompto got to Gladio, the more time he spent with him, which of course, meant a higher chance of him spending time with Noctis in the future.

"Yeah," Gladio nodded. "Now that, is probably exactly what you're thinkin'."

"Is... it?" Prompto swallowed.

"Yeah, people don't pay us on time for our services, I go and pick up the money they owe us. Just part of my job," Gladio smirked. "Apparently once I take over for my father, I don't get to do shit like that anymore, so I figured I best make the most of it now, huh," he chuckled.

"You... like doing stuff like that?" Prompto asked. Alright, so now they were talking more, perhaps Prompto had been mistaken, maybe Gladio was exactly the guy he had thought he was.

"I dunno if 'like' is the word I would use, but it's more interesting than paperwork," he sighed and moved back to his desk, taking a seat. "Look Prom," he began, his eyes looking tired all of a sudden. "I don't like hurting people, but when my family is on the line, there are certain things I'm more willing to do, ya' understand?"

Prompto blinked. "I... I do..." he admitted softly. It was oddly similar to how he felt being a cop. He didn't like hurting people, but when innocent people's safety was on the line... it all became a very different story. The only difference was, Gladio was willing to hurt innocent people to protect his shitty family, presumably.

"You gotta have people you wanna protect," Gladio said. "Which is why tomorrow, I'll teach ya' how to use a gun. It'll be fun, I promise."

Fun. Right. Definitely. Prompto swallowed, nodding his head with a smile.

"Good!" Gladio smirked, but quickly slammed his hand on the desk, making Prompto jump. "But don't tell Iggy! He'll get pissed if he thinks I'm slacking off."

"My lips are sealed," Prompto chuckled, trying not to act nervous. He couldn't be transparent tomorrow, no matter how much experience he had.

"It's only been a week kid, this better be good," Aranea said, holding a cigarette up to her mouth as her and Prompto stood in the locked mailroom. "We can't keep meetin' like this, if anyone sees us-"

"I know, I know," Prompto said, waving his hands up and down, "but... I got a serious thing to tell you!" he hissed.

"Okay, spill it," she said, taking a long drag.

"Gladio wants to take me to a shooting range," Prompto began.

"And?"

"And he said if I do a good job, he might take me out when he does his 'pickups'," Prompto said. "Who knows what that could lead to! Noctis maybe!" His face lit up with excitement, proud of his own ability to do his job decently well.

"Mmm," Aranea hummed, puffing out smoke. "Not bad kid. Gladiolus must really like you. Ignis told me he usually takes to his assistants fast, but you're a boy, so I wasn't sure how well that would carry over. Seems he's just an open guy."

"Right..." Prompto blushed, trying not to think about how much he had been staring at Gladio lately. "A-Anyway," he continued, "he thinks I'm real green when it comes to guns. He said he wants to teach me the ropes but I-"

"You let him," Aranea said, cutting him off.

"Eh? Really? But I know how to use a gun-"

"Doesn't matter," she snapped, stomping the cigarette out on the floor. "I know it sucks, but your job is to befriend Gladio. You're moving a helluva lot faster than I am, and even if you look like an idiot, let him teach you."

Prompto twisted his lips. He knew Aranea was right, but something about the whole operation didn't quite sit well with him. Everything about Gladio was so uncertain, and made Prompto question what type of person the mafia man really was.

"I just don't wanna mess it up..."

"You won't," Aranea rolled her eyes, scoffing at Prompto's concern.

"Yeah, but what if he realizes I'm lying and I get caught, or I have to explain why I know how to use a gun?!" he exclaimed quickly.

"Then you explain," she sighed. "Come up with a story. You're good at that, like when you always tell Cor reasons why you messed up."

Prompto puffed out his cheeks. "Those usually aren't stories..."

"Alright, well tell him the truth and get us both killed then," she shrugged.

"I'm not gonna do that," he snorted.

"Exactly. So come up with some bullshit," she teased. "Prompto, you got this, okay? And when it goes well, we'll meet back up and check in with Cor, especially if he really is going to take you out on certain jobs," she explained. "You'd be more than an assistant and who knows where that would lead."

"To Noctis, hopefully."

"Just what we came here for," she smirked.

"Yeah," he nodded, rubbing his hands together. "I know I can do this."

"You can," Aranea said, gently placing her hand on his shoulder. "Shoot like you've never shot before. Literally."

Admittedly, Aranea was a little jealous by how fast things had been moving for Prompto. So far, Ignis had only had her working on smaller jobs, mostly paperwork involved. She was able to listen in on his conversations, but Ignis seemed far less interested in getting to know her.

It had been over a week, and not much had happened. She knew these sort of undercover jobs were often a slow burn, but Ignis was not only boring, but he was also a little uptight.

"Did you order these?" he asked, handing her a list of party decorations she had already ordered the week prior.

"Yes," she said, handing him the receipts from the folder on her desk. "I showed you these already, but in case you're doubting me..."

He sighed, waving his hand in front of the folder. "No... No I'm not doubting you. I apologize."

She bit her lip, watching him flop down into his chair. He rubbed his forehead, and rolled his neck back, letting out a long huff of air.

"Mr. Scientia?" she asked slowly. "Are... you alright?" She hadn't actually talked to the man very much, so her voice was hesitant.

"Yes... fine, Ms. Biggs," he said.

Folding her arms, she popped her hip out. "Really? Because I didn't believe you for a damn second."

Ignis blinked and turned his gaze up towards her. His jade eyes were wide, filled with shock for how frankly she had spoken. "P-Pardon?"

Aranea could only keep her personality in check for so long, especially when the man was so clearly suffering. She snorted. "You're not a very good actor, Mr. Scientia," she said, quirking her lip up.

He couldn't help but chuckle. "I suppose you are right, Ms. Biggs," he sighed finally. "I am quite flustered about the state of this gala."

"Really? No..." she teased, raising her eyebrow. "I couldn't tell from all your long sighs, forehead rubs, and grumbles under your breath."

"I haven't been very subtle."

"Not at all," she chuckled. "What are you so worried about?"

"Goodness... Everything?" he admitted, pressing his glasses up on top of his head. "I feel like I'm handling it all alone. Even though I technically have your help, which... I greatly appreciate by the way."

Finally, he seemed more willing to open up. "'Course," she nodded.

"But minus you, Noctis and Gladio haven't been very helpful. Noctis is a wonderful person and he has interesting ideas on a very... general sense. I don't believe he can actually execute some of the things he wishes to do."

"Like... what?" she pushed, hoping this could be her chance to dig deeper.

"So many things, it's impossible to go into it all," Ignis sighed. "I want to help him and Gladio... they're so idealistic, and of course I want to be feeling positive but there are just so many factors," he babbled. "Half the time, I don't even think either of them think."

"I'm not sure I... understand what you mean."

"We... wish to make things better. Less violent, more... clean," he explained, and Aranea couldn't help the shock which crossed her face. "I know," he chuckled. "I'm sure that is an odd thing to hear from a man who has killed men before... for practically no reason. This is why we want to change..." he sighed.

Aranea bit her lip. Hearing he had killed men wasn't surprising, but knowing he wanted to make such a drastic change... seemed far too good to be true? Had he somehow realized who she was? Maybe he was trying to sway her off the course...

"Gladio wants to start enacting different programs now, but our business is based around a certain... style... so to speak," Ignis attempted to explain. "It's going to be a slow transition. Especially with Clarus... ah... Gladio's father, still around. Same with Regis, Noctis' father," he said. "And... not that I wish ill upon them, oh no... it's just... not going to happen as soon as we want it to. It's incredibly frustrating," he whispered. "Plus, I feel incredibly guilty, planning all this behind my Uncle's back while he's sick... dying no less."

Aranea swallowed. It was oddly genuine... the way Ignis spoke. It made her blush far more than she realized... Was Ignis really a good man?

"Hey," Aranea said, making her way around the desk to gently touch at his shoulder. "You're going to be okay," she said. "You're... trying to do the right thing. In the end, that's all that matters," she smiled. "And... maybe your Uncle might understand?"

"I don't believe he would," he chuckled softly. "But I suppose you're right... even if it takes a while, steps in the right direction are still moving us forward," he muttered.

"Of course they are," she said, cheering him on quietly.

Her heart throbbed in her chest, and she tried her best to keep her hand still. She didn't want him to feel the way her body trembled with confusion. What if... Cor was wrong? What if Ignis and Gladio weren't bad people... or maybe they were but they didn't want to be any longer? What was she supposed to do then? Arrest them for a shorter amount of time? Give them a chance to redeem themselves?

Things had always been so black and white, even in undercover missions she'd done before. The people had been deplorable... criminals were deplorable... when she locked someone up she never felt guilty. They had broken the law, and she was doing her job. It was simple. Or it had been.

"I apologize, Ms. Biggs, it seems I have gone off on quite the tangent. I didn't mean to completely dump all of this on you," he sighed.

"Hey, I was the one who called you out," she shrugged. "You gotta give yourself some credit. You're working hard. If you need to rant once and awhile. I won't mind," she winked.

"Thank you, Ms. Biggs," he nodded, a lovely smile pulling across his lips.

She couldn't help but smile back. "You can just... call me Nea."

"Ah...yes, and you should call me Ignis. There's no need for such formalities," he said.

She chuckled. "My thoughts exactly."

Gladio held the cigarette up to his lips and took a long drag. This was exactly what he needed. A little break. Ignis had been breathing down his neck lately, which he knew was caused by stress, and Noctis’ inability to get anything done on his own, but Gladio could only take so much.

"Alright Prom, ya' ready?" he chuckled.

He loved his silly little assistant. At first, he'd been disappointed he wasn't a beautiful woman, but Prom was beautiful in his own way... or perhaps cute was more the word he would use.

The guy seemed on edge more often than not, and Gladio liked watching him get a little worked up. Plus, he'd seen the way the guy stared at him sometimes, and damn it was cute.

"This is... your idea of a closed shooting range?" Prom asked, his large blue eyes blinking at the space.

Cute. Definitely cute.

"Ya'," he shrugged. "We're in a field, miles away from civilization. What's the problem?"

"We're in an open field with targets you set up!" Prom flailed, but Gladio could only laugh.

The field was far away from the city, it had taken them almost two hours to get there, and Gladio had set everything up himself, but it looked good! Even if most of the targets were crooked scarecrows he'd stolen from the farm a couple miles down the road.

"Hey, I did a damn good job!" he exclaimed.

"I... guess..." Prom said, twisting his lips.

"I do this all the time, stop worrying!" Gladio snorted. "Besides I'm right here. I already told ya' I'd help ya'."

"Yeah..." he grumbled, looking nervous as he always did.

Stepping towards him, he handed the small revolver to Prom. He turned it around in his hand and gripped the small gun hard.

"Ya' don't gotta hold it so hard," Gladio laughed, flicking some of his cigarette ash on the ground. "We're not here to hurt anyone."

"I dunno... " Prom sighed dramatically. "I don't know if my heart can take shooting through those... amazingly built... scarecrows," he snorted, unable to keep his face serious.

"I know," Gladio chuckled. "They're a little too pathetic. S'why I saved 'em."

"Yeah, saved 'em just to kill 'em!" Prom teased, nudging his shoulder.

"Yeah, yeah," Gladio snorted and flicked his cigarette onto the ground. "Alright. Lemme show ya' how to do this." He rolled his shoulders back and gripped the gun in his hand. "Place both your hands around it like this," he said, cupping his hands around the handle. His left held the small butt, holding it in place, while his right gripped the side, his pointer finger hovering over the trigger. "Plant your feet, aim, and-" there was a loud shot as the bullet flew from the gun and smacked right in between the eyes of the scarecrow, "-fire," he smirked.

He hadn't been trying to impress Prom with his shooting skills, but if he did... well, he wouldn't be upset.

Prom blinked, looking at the gun in his own hands. "Wow."

"Yeah, I'm a pretty good shot," Gladio smirked, nodding his head towards Prom. "You try."

"O-Okay..." he murmured, his hands shaking as he raised the gun up, attempting to aim at the crooked scarecrow a few feet from him. He took a deep breath, or a few, as Gladio noticed the way his chest seem to rise and fall rapidly.

"Hey," he said, and walked over to him, standing behind him. He slid his hands over Prom's wrists, gripping them as he helped him raise his arms. "You can do this, okay?" he whispered, helping him keep his hands steady as he aimed.

"R-Right," he stammered.

Being this close to Prom, Gladio could hear his breaths. They were loud against his ear, and obviously the blond was more nervous than he let on.

Cute.

He wrapped his fingers around Prom's, helping him to press down on the trigger as the bullet fired and just barely missed the scarecrows neck.

"Not bad. Try and keep yourself steady."

Glancing back at Gladio, Prom's blue eyes met his own, and Gladio swallowed. Prom's cheeks were flushed, and he looked surprised by their close proximity. Maybe he hadn't expected Gladio to touch him.

"I, uh, yeah... I can do that! Totally!" he stammered, trying to regain what little composure he seemed to have.

Prom planted his feet and held the gun up, his hands shaking a little less than before. He fired it off, this time hitting the scarecrow in the shoulder.

"Nice shot!" Gladio laughed. "See? I knew you could do it!" He cheered, giving Prom a gentle pat on the back.

"Y-Yeah..." he laughed with him, his cute smile looking prouder with Gladio's praise.

He'd known this would be an amazing idea.

They shot a few more rounds, Prom seeming more confident the more they did. "I'm gonna have to take you out with me," he said.

Prom froze. "Take me out!?" he gasped, his blues looking at Gladio with confusion.

"Yeah?" Gladio said, confused by his intense reaction. "I just meant out on jobs..."

Did Prom think he meant a date?

The blond's face turned bright red and he locked the safety in place as he put the gun down. "R-Really?"

"Yeah!" Gladio had been watching the blond shoot, hitting the target with ease by his third round. "You're a freaking natural," he laughed. "Y'sure you've never shot before?"

"N-No!" Prom shook his head quickly. "I promise I haven't!"

"Okay, okay, I believe ya'," Gladio laughed, wrapping his arm around Prom's neck. "Look, you're worth way more than an assistant, and I feel like you're just as bored as me sitting around all day. So whaddya say? You wanna do some jobs with me? You might have to get your hands a little dirty," he grinned.

Prom's blue eyes darted down to the gun, but immediately turned to Gladio, a smile pulling across his face. Gods, he was so damn cute. "Yeah, let's do it!" he said, holding out his hand.

Gladio grasped it, shaking it up and down. Prom really was the best assistant Ignis had found him thus far.

"I hear you took Prom shooting today," Ignis hummed, rocking his leg back and forth at the cafe table.

Gladio groaned, rolling his eyes. "Cut me some slack, Igs! I've been dying in that office. Day in and day out, just paperwork. Ya' know I need a little more action than that."

"Mm... I'm well aware," Ignis scoffed. "But why did you take your assistant."

"In case I needed, uh, assisting..."

"Right," Ignis chuckled. "I'm sure you didn't."

"No... I didn't. But hey, the kid's a good shot! I think he's gonna be more useful than we think. You did good Igs," he smirked, giving him a thumbs up.

"Why thank you, Gladio, I did try," he chuckled.

"Yeah, I like him!" Gladio said, scanning the menu for something to eat. Since he'd actually been out of the office all day, he was starving.

"Good. Hopefully you don't like him too much," he hummed, sipping on the coffee in front of him. He raised his eyebrow expectantly at Gladio.

"I dunno, Iggy," he smirked, peering over his menu. "He is pretty cute."

"And here I thought you only preferred the company of women," Ignis sighed.

"Yeah that was your first mistake," Gladio chuckled. "He is cute. Plus, he's hardworking. I want to take him out on some jobs. I think he could be really good at all this shit," he shrugged.

"Oh, Gladio..." Ignis sighed, pressing his glasses up the bridge of his nose.

"Are you telling me you haven't had any indecent thoughts about Ms. Biggs?" he hummed.

"As a matter of fact, I have not," Ignis huffed. "She is a very lovely woman and has been very supportive, but I don't look at her like that."

"Maybe you should give her more of a chance. Prom and I have been really hitting it off," Gladio shrugged.

"Please, be careful, Gladio," Ignis warned.

"Be careful of what? He's a cute guy who works hard," he said. "He's my assistant, he's gotta do shit for me, that's his job."

"You're not wrong, but there is still plenty you don't know about him."

"Yeah, but ya' screened these guys, right? You did as much research as you could, and you trust the guy who hired them for us. I don't see the problem. You worry way too much Iggy."

"And you don't worry enough," he sighed. "I do trust him... but with our job and what we're trying to do... we need to be wary. Do you understand?"

"Yeah, yeah," Gladio sighed. "I'm hungry, let's eat!"

Ignis sighed. As much as he trusted his sources, he knew he'd have to do more research on Prom and Nea before he let Gladio fall in too deep. Himself too... as much as he had claimed his innocence... Nea had... captured his attention.

Unlike Gladio however, Ignis wasn't one to give into his internal desires. Nor had he given work to Nea he didn't feel he could trust her with.

No, Ignis, as always, was going to play it safe. Even if it meant keeping the beautiful Nea at arms length.

#Promptio #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia #highspecs #Final Fantasy XV #ignis scientia #aranea highwind #undercover emotions #tw: guns #mafia AU #au #chaptered #FFXV fanfiction

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montybadun · 6 years

Text

THE HAPPENING → PARTY

TAGGING → Monty Badun & Pari Nasir (@perfectlypari)

TIMELINE → May 19, 2018

SETTING → Walt High Gymnasium

SUMMARY → Monty does his best impersonation of a ‘prince’ to try and give his friend Pari the perfect night at morp.

Pari couldn't believe how well the morp was going. She had said sophomore year was going to be her year, and here she was, starting a whole new tradition in the school and making her mark. It felt pretty great. And it definitely helped that she felt super cute in her outfit and was getting compliments left and right for the decorations. After making her rounds on the dance floor, taking selfies with friends and such, she spotted Monty off to the side, very characteristically standing in a corner with his Freddie Kreuger outfit on. With a smirk, Pari took up some bloody punch in two plastic cups and approached him. "So? Are you like slayed, O M G murdered, O M G hashtag-dying in a good way, or totally hashtag-kill-me in a bad way about this dance? It's okay if it's the latter, I'm open to criticism!"

Monty had been spending so much of this evening avoiding his cousin and any weird prodding about girls he should be dancing with that he’d accidentally ended up avoiding everyone. It wasn’t bad, though; there were few people he really liked talking to anyway, and the less people that got near him, the less likely he was to be called out for having taken off the finger-knife component of his costume. Still, Pari’s excited face was a welcome change from the watcher-on-the-wall act, and he offered her a half-smile, better than anyone else had gotten all night. “Can I create a new hashtag? I don’t want to have to share with Brandon,” Monty grumbled, even though he’d been having his own version of fun. “Hashtag-Pari looks like she’s having an awesome time so Monty’s glad she convinced him to come? Or is that too long?”

Pari couldn't contain the little squeal that rose up in her throat from learning that Monty was having fun. If he was able to enjoy himself, this dance must have really been a success. "Ah, you're having fun!" she exclaimed, clutching him by the bicep out of excitement. "That's great, though, I'm so glad this thing is really coming together." She bit her lip and glanced around the gym, unrecognizable in all its horror-y goodness. "And I'm glad that you're glad you came -- and dressed up. You look really good!" she eyed his Freddie Kreuger getup with a nod of approval, and crossed her arms over her chest.

Monty looked around. He didn't go to a lot of parties, but it seemed like it was a good one. Better than the cheesy Valentine's decorations and how nervous and weird he'd felt when he'd gotten paired with Ember after his dumb secret admirer gifts, at least. "Yeah, the decorations are cool. I hope they give people nightmares, how totally real would that be?" he asked her, wondering if he started to sound too much like Brandon around her. But oh well. She was his friend; she made it easy to get kind of excited and almost care about stuff. "Yeah! Also part of the whole nightmare thing, not just me being mean," he promised, tipping his Freddy hat towards her. "I mean, your costume's like you just walked out of a bucket of blood, the least I could do was wear a sweater and say '1, 2, Freddy's coming for you' when I want people to go away." He stood a little straighter at the compliment, still not used to them even after almost two whole years in Walt. "So did it turn out the way you wanted it to? I mean, it doesn't look like anything's missing, right? Except maybe your Boo-shadow, but I'm sure he'll find you again soon."

Pari laughed at Monty’s idea, knowing better than to be fooled by his costume and think that he was suddenly some social butterfly. He was still telling people to go away, and for some reason she was glad he hadn’t changed. It just meant she could keep trying to get him to come out of his shell, and even if he never did, at least this little game was fun. She shrugged at his question, beaming at the entirety of the dance. “I mean....I dunno! It’s horror and stuff, and it’s a huge success so I’m so grateful, but — and I wasn’t gonna tell anyone — but it’s also my birthday...? So I was kind of hoping for something a little more....magical. No matter how off-Brand and counterintuitive that would make this whole thing.” Pari shook her head, laughing at herself. She was just never satisfied, that was all.

Crap . Monty should have known when her birthday was, but he'd been completely unprepared for that. And he'd proven firsthand how rotten he was at gift-giving, but if he'd remembered he would have at least tried to do something nice for her. Now all he could do was be nice with his words, and that was always awkward for him; nice things didn't just flow out of his mouth without any effort the way they did for other people. "That's cool! So it's like, an unofficial party for you, everytime you see someone having fun you can think that it's in your honor," he tried tentatively, but the words felt clumsy and off-brand coming out of his mouth. Monty cleared his throat and tried again. "That's not dumb. I mean, if you said you wanted like, someone to carry you around while you sat on a throne or something and strangers showered you with presents, that would be dumb. But what, you just... want morp to be more like prom? With like, someone to give you flowers and dance with you and kiss you and tell you look pretty and stuff? Seems normal," Monty shrugged.

Pari scrunched up her nose at the idea of it being like a party for her -- that was so bougie, throwing an entire dance just to feel like people were celebrating her birthday. "I mean, kind of? Not really? I honestly forgot my own birthday when I planned this," she shrugged, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. "Okay, getting carried around on a throne and showered with presents doesn't sound bad..." she chuckled, "I'm totally joking. But yeah! I was so anti-prom but I guess since the Valentine's Ball went so bad for me, I feel kind of robbed of a magical night or something." She loved it all, but totally wished she could be wearing her pretty red dress and sparkly flats at an event that was so successful, not her bloody everything. Twiddling her thumbs, Pari looked up at Monty and gave a sigh as the song that was playing on the dance floor slowed down to a haunting balld. "Will you dance with me, Monty? I know I like to force you to do things out of your comfort zone but that isn't the reason I'm asking this time. It could be like a birthday present."

Monty scrunched his face up in disgust. "Nope, no way, if you're putting me on a portable throne you better be taking me to an alligator pit, because all the attention will make me want to get ripped apart by a bunch of chomping gators or something," Monty informed her matter of factly. "You're also just a sophomore and not allowed to go to prom anyway, so like... screw the system. But mostly screw the jerk who ditched you on Valentine's Day. Did you ever figure out who it was?" Monty tried to ask the question casually, but if Pari did know... well, Boo probably would have beaten him up already, but for Pari? Monty would definitely go back and beat him up again. Or at least pee in his shoes or something. Monty got distracted by Pari's question instead, though, and he swallowed the lump that instantly formed in his throat. He was a terrible dancer, and Pari would just end up disappointed... but even as he started to shake his head no, his words betrayed him. "You're not going to have fun, Brandon would be way better at this, but uh..." Monty rubbed his gloved hands together, giving Pari a second to change her mind, but when she actually seemed serious, he said, "But yeah, of course I'll dance with you. I got a little practice on Valentine's Day, so at least it was good for like, one thing." Monty extended his arm to her, using his free arm for a one-shouldered shrug. "Most magical dancing I can muster, here we go."

Pari laughed quietly at Monty's joke. "Attention isn't bad!" she smiled, "Except when it is bad. But most of the time, it's fun." That was one thing she'd learned this year -- that attention sucked when everyone was making fun of you, but was great when everyone was wanting to be your friend. "Yeah, screw him I guess -- and no. And I kind of never want to find out, for his own safety," she chuckled. Not that she would do anything, but Valentine's Day proved that she had some very dedicated friends and she didn't put it past Ember or Boo to fight for her honor or something. She shrugged when Monty responded to her request, having expected some kind of resistance from him. "I don't want to dance with Brandon, I want to dance with you," she chuckled, taking his arm and leading him out to the dance floor. "Oh yeah, you and Ember! How'd that go? Your secret admirer thing was super cute -- I hope it paid off," she smirked, putting her arms up on the boy's shoulders.

Monty pretended to gag, even though Pari was right. Monty just wasn't used to attention, at least not in any sort of normal way; and even if he started getting it now, he doubted it would be the good kind like Pari wanted and deserved. It wasn't about him, though; it was about her, and he was totally happy to step up and help her out whenever she needed him. "Hey! If you really didn't want us to hurt him, I'd just send Brandon to annoy him to death, that would probably be worse anyway," Monty grinned, amused by his own terrible ideas. "Okay, if I have to," Monty added, but he was still smiling; Pari would know he didn't mean it. Even if he'd been scowling, he had a feeling she knew he liked her enough that he didn't mean it. "Oh -- uh, she didn't think I was a total creep? She just also didn't like me, which is fine. I like, temporarily lost my mind anyway, I'm not like the secret admirer type," Monty shrugged as he gently put his hands on Pari's waist, hoping he was doing this right. It was what he'd done before, and for some reason, he was just as nervous tonight as he'd been at Valentine's Day, dancing with a pretty girl who was totally way too cool for him but who was like, willing to hang around him anyway. "Besides, if it had gone well, I'd probably be here with her tonight and then I wouldn't be able to be your poser-prince."

Pari stifled a laugh at the boy's jab at his cousin. She loved Brandon, really, she did, so that's why she didn't want to outwardly LOL at Monty's comment, but she also very much understood where Monty was coming from. "That really does sound like a better plan!" she mused, nodding with a giggle. Once they were dancing, Pari settled her arms around his neck and gave a contented sigh. This was nice -- exactly what she'd hoped for out of prom night (er...morp night). "She didn't like you?!" she asked, admittedly a little shocked -- Ember was so cool and so was Monty so like, why not? "That sucks, but at least she didn't think you were a creep. That's good," she chuckled, holding him a bit closer once his hands found her hips. "Yeah, I guess that's true! But I mean, there's nothing bad about being a poser prince. Aladdin posed as a prince and he got his princess and a whole kingdom," Pari shrugged. She'd always loved listening to her dad tell that story of how he helped a street rat woo the princess. "So you could totally be Aladdin in this scenario."

Monty pursed his lips. "Close enough," he admitted. He wasn't sure if Ember had actually said those words directly, but it had felt a lot like an I don't like you to his fragile ears. Enough like one to where he'd managed to put the other girl out of his head almost entirely since Valentine's Day had happened, at least, and just focus on the friends thing. He didn't want to be gross and extra like Brandon was about that Liam boy, anyway; if something ever did work out between Monty and a girl, he had every intention of being more cool and chill about it. Or at least, he thought he did, but hearing Pari talk about how he could be cool like Aladdin gave him a weird surge of confidence. Aladdin was cool, Aladdin got the princess, Aladdin was all kinds of stuff Monty usually was not. But tonight, maybe Monty could be. He seemed to be doing a good job of giving her the fantasy night she wanted, dancing with her and complimenting her and stuff, but didn't prom movies always have kisses? Without overthinking it too much, Monty ducked his head down and pressed his lips to Pari's, like cool guys always seemed to do at the end of the stories she liked so much.

Pari gave a small, sad sigh when Monty admitted to Ember not liking him. That must have really sucked — he went through so much effort just to get kind of rejected, and on Valentine’a Day, no less! And she had been so engrossed in her own drama that night that she didn’t even notice. Planning this morp had really taken a lot out of her — she was so out of the loop from her friends’ lives. Giving him a little ego boost with the Aladdin talk seemed like the best she could do. But then, suddenly, Monty’s Head dipped down and his lips were on hers. Pari’s eyes widened at first, glancing around to be sure this was really happening. She’d never been kissed before, and once she got over the initial shock, it felt...great. She kissed back for just a second before pulling away. “Whoa,” Pari gulped, looking up at Monty’s eyes with a little bit of confusion and fear in her own. She was speechless. Part of her wanted to know what possessed him to do that, and the other part of her didn’t care — she just wanted to kiss him again. But the first side was winning, and she continued to stand there, staring at him, frozen.

Monty hadn't really been reading any logical, decipherable signs to get to deciding he was going to kiss Pari; he'd just sort of lost his mind and let it happen. At least this mind loss was more spontaneous than his weird gifts for Ember, although he'd been scared it was about to have the same results. But then Pari kissed back, and Monty stopped worrying if he was doing it wrong or if his friend totally wanted to slap him or get Boo to murder him instead and just went with it, for as long as she seemed like he wanted to. It felt good, and he almost wished he'd thought of kissing people as like, a thing he could actually do way sooner... Except a part of him sort of thought kissing other girls wouldn't be as good. Pari was his favorite one, even if he'd never thought about just how much better he liked her than the other's before. "Oh, uh -- was that a good prince impersonation, or would I have been a better prince if I'd asked if it was okay first?"

Pari gulped, gazing up at Monty. She was unsure of what was supposed to come next. She'd never kissed anyone, let alone a good friend. Where were they supposed to go from here? In movies, this was where the credits would roll -- but then again, if this were a movie, there would've been some kind of epic narrative that all led up to this. As Pari started recounting what had to have been romantic moments with Monty that she'd somehow missed in their time together as friends, he asked some kind of cute and funny question and her mind went blank. A smile grew on her lips and she stood on her toes to kiss him again before deciding this would be a good time to 'go check things' as the organizer of the dance. But really, she just wanted to leave things on a positive note without them getting too awkward. "No, you were a perfect prince," she nodded, before kissing him firmly one last time. She pulled away and started backing up into the crowd. "I'm gonna go check around. See you at school on Monday!" And with that, Pari ran off into the crowd with the biggest, dopiest smile on her face while she tried to process what could've possibly just happened.

#para #para:pari #para:thehappening #perfectlypari #✦EVENT: MORP 2K18 #pari

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ffxvthingies · 6 years

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how the chocobros dance

ignis

NEVER dances in public!

the only exception is citadel events

and even then that’s only if he MUST

It’s to no ones surprise that he’s really good at waltzing and slow dancing

move smooth and percise

but that’s the only time people have ever seen him dance

until Noct came home early and saw Ignis dancing while he was cleaning

to say surprising would be an understatement

Noct just stood there, jaw to the floor, watching silently

iggy was doing a ballet routine with some hip hop mixed in.

the music was some Kpop type group (they’re actually his guilty pleasure)

He looked beautiful dancing!

all flowy and elegent

Noct couldn’t get enough of it (was quickly getting a hard-on due to the beauty)

Then the song ends, Iggy does his final pose

Noct is clapping

Ignis shrieks and leaps back

he crashes into a book case

comics and games are crashing onto him

“what are you doing here, highness!!”

“uhh, i live here? Why did you never tell me you could dance like an actual angle????”

iggy his tomato red with embarrassment

Noct feels bad and helps him up

cleans up the mess while iggy is just standing there too horrified to move

“apologize Noctis, I did not mean for you to see me doing such... things.”

“you’re shitting me right?? Specs you were so good!!”

Noctis demands iggy dance for him more now

it gives him an excuse to go home on time quicker in the hopes of seeing iggy dance

Noctis learns that iggy is the best at both ballet AND hip hop!

which is totally unfair because he looks so good doing both!

Iggy has begun to dance for/with noctis when he knows he had a hard day

he puts on some toons (which is how Noct learned that iggy not only loves classical music but also rap??? iggy stop having so many interests!!”

depending on the song he’ll dance accordingly to cheer noct up

classical? twirl around and leap while putting stuff away

rap? do some sick fuckin moves while cooking and raps along with the music

kpop? Those are special occasions, where he’ll do a routine from the song

he does it as a birthday present for noct every year

it may be Nocts favorite present ever!

Noct appreciates it always

prompto and gladio are finally allowed to see iggy dance while they’re on the road

each one has their jaw dropped to the floor getting boners

iggy learns to open up around them and becomes comfortable sharing his interests!

Noct

Like iggy, he’s not a big fan of dancing in public

but him being the prince means he got all the lessons in ballroom dancing and waltzing

not as good as iggy

but is still up there in talent

it’s a bit hard for him to do it with his leg

but with Gladio’s PT and Iggy’s magical hands

he’s able to dance for a couple of songs before his leg starts to give out

whoever he’s dancing with is always surprised by his talent

he’s graceful and strong when he dances, strict in his movements due to years of training

When Iris came to her first Gala, gladio made noct dance with her

outstretch his hand and ask her like a prince

it was the damned cutest thing!

she was giggling and dancing (poorly) with the prince who was smiling because he’s happy for her!

They dance every gala now

it’s not the best dancing

it’s two kids doing some slow dance at an adults party

but they make the best of it

Noct will expertly spin her around and she’ll giggle

they’ll pretend they’re some long lost lovers and run away hand in hand to the gardens (as an excuse to get away from everybody)

then they hang out and eat fancy foods

Noct likes it when he dances with Iris

but that’s gross boring people dancing

when he’s out with Prom (at the arcade, at home) he turns into a goofy dancer

he moves with the music

bouncing up and down and pumping his fists

hair flapping

its kinda funny to see the prince do this

he also totally dances like an old man

doing some dumb ass dance moves thinking he looks cool

he doesn’t

doing the sparkler and lawn mower

he looks so stupid but they love him all the same

he’s more reserved when he’s around people who are not prompto, gladio, or iggy

claims its because he’s the Prince and it would be a bad image to see the prince dance such a way

it’s because he’s emberassed

but the bros always find a way to bring noctis close and dance with him

Gladio

People assume he’s not the best dancer due to his size

and they’re right

this boy is too big for most dances

his leggys are too longg and they can’t get the movements right with fast pace music (hip hop, ballet, you name it)

but that doesn’t mean he has two left feet per say

this boy can waltz like a mofo

he made a deal with lil noct to learn along with him after Noct refused to learn

Clarus and Regis were proud of him and told him as much

that it was good that he was willing to learn and stay with his Prince

but he just REALLY wanted to learn how to waltz!

He’s seen the princess movies

and goddamn did he want to dance with a princess when he was little

he still does

the dork

but he didn’t let anyone know that

they just thought he learned so that his Prince would agree to learn

but that didn’t mean he had to dance well!

he does

he’s incredible

while Iggy is fluid and light on his feet

gladdy is strong and percise

the women who dance with him are amazed!

He’s lifting them and twirling them around like they’re nothing

ALL of the women (some of the men too tbh) are begging to dance with him!

but he can’t share the same enthusiasm

“they don’t even know the basic travel movements! Let alone know what to do to make a lift look GOOD and not just me lifting up a person while the cling to me!!1″

if he’s gonna dance, he’s gonna make it good!

No half assing it!

it makes him not want to dance anymore

they just don’t appreciate the art!

When Iris starts coming to the events, gladio dances with her because he knows its been her dream to dance like a princess

and he does

he spins her around and they dance around the room with her on his feet

everyone’s getting pics because its SO C U T E

Clarus is getting a picture

it hangs up in his office now

Gladio holding Iris up on his hip, one hand on her back like a gentlmen

the other holding her hand out as he dances around, their smiles bright and carefree

but then he realizes that she’s the perfect excuse to not dance with anyone else!

“Lord Amicitia, would you care for a dance?”

“Apologize, but I already promised my little sister this next dance”

take THAT unappreciative dancers!

Then noct makes him and iggy dance together at a gala

and it’s straight up like in the movies when a circle forms around the main character and love interest

they’re like the perfect match

they’re taking turns leading

the transition is seemless

when gladio lifts iggy continues to dance and its honestly mesmorizing

they get a huge applause when they’re done (gladio is dipping iggy who has a leg wrapped around him, head tilted back and arched beautifully)

but that’s all dancing within gladdy’s element

outside of that

it’s... not the best

again he can’t like do some sick moves because of his size

so he sticks to bouncing on his feet and letting the music guide him

Prompto

D E S T R O I E S at Dance Dance Revolution

don’t event try

you will lose to this man

no one is sure how he does it

Noct is a close second to his talent

but he just can’t compete with Proms quick reflexes

it is a sight to see him on that thing

he always gets a crowd

always gets money too??? but not like he’s complaining

the most open w/in the group with is dancing

will gladly bounce around to a beat and do some goofy dance move

he’s not very good at just dancing

if there’s no strict dance moves or arrows showing him where to put his feet

he just looks a bit like a drunk college student dancing at all times

but it’s still cute

out of the four he’s the worst at waltzing

he just can’t get the movements down

he goes to quick, mixes his feet up, just not a graceful dancer when it comes to it

“buddy you fucking crush it at the arcade! Why can’t you do a simple box waltz?”

“Because I wasn’t born doing a stupid 1 2 3 box movement noct D:”

he’s not really upset

he knows he’s the best dancer out of them all (at least he likes to think so)

the amount of times both him, noct, AND gladio have tried to convince iggy to do a dance competition with prompto is like... so many

he finally agrees when they’re on the road

it’s at a Haven

away from all signs of civilazation

even then iggy’s bright pink as he’s dancing

Prompto’s just having a great time

but it is a close call

they do a number from the Kpop group (for while iggy is shy about his appreciation for their music, prom absolutely LOVES it!)

it really is a close call

they’re both so concise and fluid

Gladdy and noct call it a tie

until gladdy sends the video he managed to take to Iris

she declares Iggy the winner

amongst ignis being utterly BETRAYED that his bf would do such a thing!

he’s a smug little shit

Prompto just shrugs and congratulates him

but now he tries to make iggy dance whenever he can

he’ll put on some music and challenge iggy

“c’mon iggy! you gotta defend you title as best dancer of the group!!”

slowly iggy starts to open up about dancing

he does a lil jig when driving (safely of course!!1!)

He’ll dance almost always now when he’s cooking dinner

prompto will always dance with him!

#final fantasy xv #ffxv #my writing #how the chocobros dance #i needed to crank something out so here #it have like 3 things in my draft #rip #the struggle is real #Noctis Lucis Caelum #ignis scientia #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia #dancing

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lamptracker · 7 years

Text

FIC: Prom Night

A request from #1 on This list

FIC: Prom Night

Request: yes. it didn’t specify who to make it about, so I made it about Peter. I tried with Tom but couldn’t come up with anything I thought was decent.

Pairing: Peter Parker/Reader, Reader/Flash Thompson

Word count: 1,575

Summary: The reader is in the running for prom queen. She’s dating Flash Thompson, who is in the running for king, but has a crush on Peter, who is also up for king.

Warning: Mild swearing. Fluff. D’aww.

Prompt: “Dance with me, and pretend the world doesn’t exist.”

“Are you about ready, babe? We don’t have all night, you know,” Flash Thompson yelled from (y/n)’s living room.

It was the night of Midtown’s junior prom. (Y/n) and Flash were both on prom court. He’d been insufferable ever since the nominations were announced, mostly because also on the court was one Peter Parker.

(y/n) has been friends with Peter since preschool. Truth be told, she’s always had a crush on him. But she was never sure if he felt the same way. So when Flash asked her to homecoming, she accepted. He was a perfect gentleman that night - opening doors, pulling out her chair at dinner, didn’t get handsy during the slow dances. His charm had won her over, so they started dating. And the first few months were great.

Then the (one-sided, mostly) rivalry with Peter reared its ugly head again. Flash had agreed to tone down the teasing because he knew (y/n) and Peter were close. But six months in, it had picked right back up to where it was.

Then, they announced prom court nominations. (Y/n) was nominated, as was Michelle Jones (who immediately withdrew, something about a “fake monarchy” and “call me when there’s a real monarchy” or whatever) and a few other girls. (y/n) was absolutely thrilled. What little girl doesn’t dream of being prom queen? (Well, Michelle. But that’s not the point.)

Flash was happy to be nominated, until they also announced that Peter was also up for prom king. Then, he just got whiny. And bragged about himself all the time.

So, she’d decided to break up with him. It was just a matter of when.

She decided that she would break up with him the next day. No sense making a scene at prom.

“Yeah, Flash, I’m ready.” (Y/n) walked into the living room. She was wearing a long, strapless dark blue sequined gown with matching dark blue shoes; her hair was up and she was wearing sparkly rhinestone earrings and a beautiful rhinestone necklace.

“Wow. You look awesome. We are gonna look so good when we win king and queen.”

“If we win king and queen, Flash.”

“Nah. We’ll win.” Flash grins at (y/n), who rolled her eyes. “Now let’s go.”

The dance itself was...well, it could have gone better. Flash spent most of the dance hitting on underclass girls that were there with upperclassmen. He refused to slow dance with (y/n). And the one time he gave in?

“I rented us a hotel room for after, babe,” he said. “Then we can finally… you know…”

“Flash,” she sighed. “I can’t. I’m working the photo booth at the after-prom party, remember?”

“Just ditch it,” he replied. “This is important.”

“No, Eugene. I am not going to ditch it. I made a commitment.”

“You made a commitment to me.”

(y/n) scoffed. “Whatever, Eugene. I’m not arguing about this right now. They’re about to announce king and queen.”

“We are going to look so good up there,” he said excitedly.

Betty Brandt took the microphone from the DJ. “Hello, Midtown students. I’m excited to announce the prom court.” She called the nominees up, one by one; (Y/n) shot a glance over at the boys’ side and caught Peter’s eye. He smiled warmly at her; she grinned back shyly.

“Are you all ready?” Betty asked; the crowd cheered. “Okay, first is Prom Queen. And the winner is…” She opened an envelope. “(Y/n)(y/l/n)!”

The other students clapped as (y/n) excitedly walked over to Betty to accept her tiara. “This is so awesome! Thank you, guys!” she said into the microphone as Betty pinned the tiara to her head.

“Congratulations! Are you ready to find out who your king is?” Betty asked; (y/n) nodded.

“It’s me,” Flash said confidently. (Y/n) rolled her eyes again, so hard this time she was sure it was actually audible.

“OKay! And this year’s Prom King is… Peter Parker!”

“Me? No way!” Peter exclaimed, walking over to get his crown.

“Way to go, Pete!” Ned shouted from the crowd.

“What the hell?!” Flash yelled. “I lost to Penis Parker? This is bullshit!” He marched over to (y/n) while Betty was slipping the crown onto Peter’s head. “You can’t dance with him, you know.”

“Who are you, my dad?” (y/n) retorted. “I have to, I’m the queen and he’s the king.”

“No girlfriend of mine is-”

“Well then, I guess I’m not your girlfriend anymore.”

Flash’s jaw dropped. “What are you saying?”

(y/n) scowled. “I’m saying we’re through, Flash. Now leave me alone.”

“You’re breaking up with me at Prom?!”

“Looks like it. Now get away from me.”

“But I rented a room, and-”

Ned suddenly ran up and threw an arm around Flash’s shoulders. “Eugene, buddy. I heard that (y/n) just broke up with you. What do you say, wanna give it a go? Don’t want that hotel room to go to waste.”

“Alright, fine. I’m leaving.” Flash stormed away. “I can’t believe I got dumped at freaking prom!”

(Y/n) sighed, as the DJ started the song for the official king and queen dance. “I’m really sorry, Peter. This was supposed to be a cool moment for both of us, and-”

“Oh, don’t worry about it.” Peter smiled at her as he led her to the center of the dance floor. “You know what you should do? Dance with me, and pretend the world doesn’t exist.”

(Y/n) just smiled as Peter wrapped his arms around her waist. She followed suit with her arms around his neck, and they gently swayed to the music.

“You look really pretty tonight,” Peter said softly as they danced.

(Y/n) giggled. “Thank you. You look awfully handsome yourself. So who’d you come with?”

“Oh, I didn’t have a date. Just came in a little group with Abraham and Michelle and Ned. I was going to ask you if you’d wanted to join us, but you were already with Flash.”

“Yeah.” (Y/n) shook her head. “Six months of my life, wasted on that goon. I should’ve turned him down when he asked me to Homecoming.”

Peter looked down at the ground for a moment. “I have a confession.”

“Yeah? What’s that?”

Peter cleared his throat. “Um… I was going to ask you to Homecoming. But Flash beat me to it. But I was scared to, and I really wish I’d just gotten over it because…(y/n)? I’ve been in love with you since, like, eighth grade. I know I had, like, a million opportunities to ask you and and I never did it because I didn’t know if you liked me. So I just… I didn’t ever do anything about it. And I realize I’ve been babbling on and on like an idiot. So I’ll shut up now. You probably don’t even-”

(y/n) cut him off with a soft kiss on the lips.

“Do you know how long I’ve been waiting for you to tell me that?” she asked after she’d pulled away. “I know I could’ve said something too, but I didn’t know how you felt either. So…”

“I don’t know. I want to. But you and Flash, like, literally just broke up.”

(y/n) shrugged. “If it were anyone else, I’d want to wait. But i’ve waited this long for you, Peter Parker, and I don’t want to wait anymore.”

Peter smiled. “Okay, if you’re sure.”

“I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life.”

Peter gently cupped her face in his hands and kissed her again.

They had kind of forgotten that everyone was watching them dance, so they were shocked when everyone started applauding.

“Forgot my keys. Everyone, get out of my-oh.” Flash had come back in, to get his car keys, when he saw Peter and (y/n) kissing. “Well, isn’t that great.”

“Sure is,” Michelle said. “That could’ve been you, if you hadn’t been such a douchenozzle. You know, Ned’s offer still stands.”

Flash rolled his eyes as he grabbed his keys. “Fuck this. He can have her. I can get any girl I want.”

“Good luck finding one that wants you back, asshat,” Ned yelled after him.

The song faded out and an upbeat pop song took its place. Peter took (y/n)’s hand and led her over to the bleachers; they sat down next to each other.

“Well,” (y/n) said, “this is not exactly how I envisioned my night going.”

“Yeah,” Peter replied. “But I’m glad this is where it went.”

“Oh, for sure. I was going to break up with him anyway. I really didn’t want to do it at prom, but…”

Peter smiled. “I get that.”

“So...Peter, are we dating now?”

“Of course we are.” He leaned over and softly pecked her lips. “You’re my queen. Officially.” He reached over and lightly tapped her tiara.

“And you’re my king. Officially.” She giggled as he wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I’m working the photo booth at After-Prom from midnight-12:30, if you’re not volunteering anywhere you should totally come by and hang out with me.”

“Oh! Yeah, I didn’t sign up to do anything so...it’s a date.”

“Awesome. I can’t wait.” (Y/n) wrapped an arm around Peter’s waist, settling her head onto his shoulder. She sighed happily as Peter kissed the top of her head.

#peter parker #peter parker fanfiction #peter parker x reader #tom holland #tom holland fanfiction

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caffeineivore · 7 years

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Still late, but...

Hey, I figured with an actual day mostly off, I should get to Day Two of @sailormoonreviewevent since I’ve got the time, yeah?

So for day one, I’ve listed a bunch of my absolute favourite authors, many of whom I’ve become friends with even outside of fandom constraints, and most of whom are quite well-known in our corner of fandom. Obviously, everything they write is just awesome. But for day two, I think I’ll list a few fics that are more obscure. I do not know these authors personally, and have never spoken to them either via gushing reviews or lj or tumblr or ficathon or any of the other methods we fanfic writers glomm onto each other.

Write a review for that one story you keep remembering, that doesn’t let you go.

That was day two’s prompt. And because I really don’t have any ultimate favourites, per se, I will list more than one fic.

Virgo by Quicksilver. Ami/Saffir. Unfinished, probably abandoned since it hasn’t been updated since 2003.

Okay, so you guys KNOW that I am a diehard senshi/shitennou shipper. Been there (for years), done that, got the t-shirt, etc. etc. Ami/Zoi OTP!!!11!!!11oneone!! 5EVA!!!!11111!!12233!! I myself have written a gazillion fics to that effect. However, this fic is NOT A/Z. It features what looks like a developing relationship between Ami and Saffir (of the Dark Moon arc), although at the point of the latest chapter posted, they are not established as a couple or doing any of the huggy-kissy-cuddly-sexy type stuff. And really, the ‘shippy aspect is not what I love the most about this fic, but rather the characterization.

Now, those of you who know me would probably know that I am a sucker for characterization. Like, I would far rather read a vignette where almost nothing happens if we get a good glimpse into the characters rather than a crapload of action-packed exposition in which a ton of stuff happens to people I have no interest in and can’t relate to. The fic is based on the premise of anime!Saffir who realizes that the Wiseman does not have the best interests of his beloved brother in mind and more or less lands in Ami’s lap. Ami-- studious and logical but quietly and deeply empathetic, more or less takes him in. It explores both their psyches-- Saffir’s inner conflict over his loyalty to his brother and his sense of honour, the slow and subtle attraction between him and his rescuer, the “other side of the story” that he’s gradually hearing from the redeemed Ayakashi sisters and the senshi themselves-- Ami’s reticence around him, both as a potential still-enemy and an attractive, intelligent male who is sharing close, albeit temporary, quarters with her, her reaction to finding someone, at last, who is an intellectual equal to her (though, of course, there’s always the lingering worry about the fact that up to now he has been using his powers for evil rather than good). The budding romance is very slow burn-- but that sort of fits for these two. The writing in itself is very good-- not gunked up by crappy mechanics or an overabundance of purple-prosey superlatives the way some fics are. In sum, I wish the fic wasn’t abandoned, as it is extremely well-written and engaging and I so wish there was more of it. And while I will always and forever ship A/Z and the rest of the senshi/shitennou ‘ships... if I were to want an alternative Ami-ship, this would be it. Because of this one fic. So there.

It’s Gonna Be Me by Firespirit1. Rei/Jadeite AU, Complete.

So this fic, if it’s not immediately apparent by the popular ‘90s boy band title, is just the type of guilty pleasure that we all love to read whether or not we’re willing to admit it. Just like the song in question is a bop and you guys KNOW you jammed to this back in the day and probably would still do now even if the jamming is internal. The premise is the stuff of the golden age of teen movies-- Rei wants to get together with Darien, but he hooks up with Serena. So she and Jadeite (named Jed here) pretend to be a couple so that they can make Darien jealous and so that Jed can get a chance at being prom king. It’s Sailor Moon meets She’s All That, and I’m totally okay with it. It’s a bit dated, perhaps, but it feels nostalgic-- sort of an ode to a more innocent time where we were younger and perhaps a bit more naive but not so weighed down with the mundaneness and harsh realities of adult life-- where our main concerns were going to the mall and high school cliques and crushing on a boy rather than crippling student loan debt or periodic car maintenance or how to set up an IRA. The relationship that develops between Rei and Jed starts on teen movie cliche, perhaps, but it feels realistic in its way-- we see hints of their individual personalities outside their arrangement, and when they start falling for each other, we root for them. You almost want to have the end-of-story montage that some teen movies do, in which the hero and heroine are shown going to college, growing up into full adulthood with all its trials and tribulations dulled somehow because they’re still together and have never lost that starry-eyed, heady, honeymoon feeling of first love. This fic is fluffy lighthearted fun, and it has an unfinished abandoned sequel called Underneath It All (M/K) which makes me sadfais because it is unfinished and abandoned. But, still, guilty pleasure fluffy lighthearted fun, with banter and well-written characters? Sign me up!

#sailor moon #sailor moon review event #fanfiction #fanfic #sm review event

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whyldkratts · 7 years

Note

for the ask meme: all of them, but if thats too much maybe just the last 10?

Sorry for the long post aaaa1: Let’s start with a tricky one; what is the real reason you are confused right now? [I bought lottery tickets bc I was in texas and they’re not legal where I live and the cashier at the gas station didn’t even ask for my id. I tried to show him and he just shook his head and let me go???? He didnt even care wtf]2: Do you ever get “good morning” texts from anyone? [Nah]3: If your significant other smoked pot, would you care? [Yea a little bit. I mean if it was just occasionally that’s probably fine? But a lot of my family has fucked up their entire lives with drugs so anything like that is iffy for me. It depends on how often they smoke ultimately]4: Do you find it easy to trust others? [I’d say yeah, probably. As long as you don’t fuck me over or guilt me within the first few weeks of knowing me id probably feel comfortable messaging you if I needed someone to talk to]5: What were you doing at 11PM last night? [Scrolling Tumblr]6: You’re drunk and lost walking down the road; who is with you? [Probably my irl bffs lindy and raven!]7: What would you do if you found out you had been cheated on? [Dump them. Adios fucker. I hope they’re happy with whoever they cheated on me with]8: Are you close with your dad? [Yeah I’d say so? I love him and he usually let’s me do my thing]9: I bet you kissed someone last night, right? [Nah]10: What are you listening to? [Run by hozier]11: You can only drink ONE liquid for the rest of your life - what is it? [Sweet tea!!!! I’m from the south baby]12: Do you like hickeys? [Never has one so I don’t know!]13: What time do you go to bed? [Uhhhhhh 5am?]14: Is there someone who continuously lets you down? [My siblings.]15: Can you text as quickly with one hand as you do both? [Nope I fuck up spelling a lot and have to go back and fix it no matter how many hands I’m typing with]16: Do you always answer your texts? [I try!! Unless I’m emotionally tired or forget]17: Do you hate the person you fell the hardest for? [No. She’s my best friend now, actually]18: When was the last time you talked to one of your best friends? [LIKE 3 MINUTES AGO I was complaining about how long it car ride home is]19: Is there someone that makes you happy every time you see them? [My irlbest friends, the cars discord chat I’m in, and a lot of my wk friends]20: What was your last thought before you went to bed last night? [I was writing ducktales fanfiction in my head]21: Is anyone else in the room with you? [I’m in a car with my mom for the next uhhh 7 hours?]22: Do you believe what goes around comes around? [Karmas a bitch]23: Were you happier four months ago than you are now? [I was visiting family in Indiana, so yea probably? Tho I am pretty happy now too]24: Is there someone you wish you could fix things with? [Sometimes, with my old pal cat. She did some bad things so I stopped talking to her, but sometimes I want to catch up and see how she’s doing.]25: In the past week, have you cried? [YEAH over a darkwing duck episode]26: What colour is the shirt you are wearing? [Grey. It has Mickey mouse on it!]27: Do people ever call you by your last name? [Noooope]28: Is anyone ignoring you right now? [I wouldn’t know]29: Do you have a best friend? [YEAH everyone in the cars discord and raven and lindy]30: Would it be hard seeing someone else kiss the last person you kissed? [No it was my great grandma lol]31: Who was your last call/text message from? [Call: red cross asking for my blood. Text: raven saying “dang”]32: Are you mad at anyone? [Not really? I don’t get angry very easily at all]33: Have you ever kissed someone older than you? [When I was a freshman I was dating a junior]34: How old will the last person you kissed be on his/her next birthday? [My great grandma! 88 I think]35: How many more days until your birthday? [LIKE a whole entire year. August 2nd]36: Do you have any summer plans yet? [Help my friend after her spine surgery p much. Visit family around the 4th of july]37: Do you have any good friends of the opposite sex? [I have tons of girl friends!! All my best friends are girls (except em but they’re a good friend still!!!)]38: Are you keeping anything from your best friend(s) now? [Lindy doesn’t know I’m trans]39: Do you have a secret that you’ve never told anyone? [Uhhhhhhhhhhh next question]40: Have you ever regretted kissing someone? [I try not to regret things like that]41: Do you think age matters in relationships? [UH YEAH?? An adult dating a minor ain’t my deallll]42: Are you available? [Lmfao yeah but don’t hold your breath I’m awful at relationships]43: How many people have you had real, strong feelings for since high school ended? [My ex and bff dksdkdiajsai kill Me. I’ve had small crushes but I don’t rly let them grow too much if I realize they’re poppin up]44: If you had to get a piercing (not ears), what would you get? [Septum]45: Do you believe exes can be friends? [Yeah!!!!! I just reconnected with my ex from freshmen year and he’s cool]46: Do you regret anything? [Times where my mouth moved before my head could think and I hurt someone I cared about. Times where I didn’t listen. Times where I hesitated. But the past is a different country, and I try not to waste the present lamenting what I could’ve done.]47: Honestly, what’s on your mind right now? [Home. And the mistakes I’ve made.]48: Did you ever lose a best friend? [Yeah. She moved away and we just… talked less, and less, and less.]49: Was your last kiss a mistake? [Nah it was my great grandma]50: Why aren’t you pursuing the person you like? [They have a bf and also dont like me plus im unlovable and bad at relationships and feelings *shrug emoji* the other person I’m interested in lives too far away and also doesn’t like me like that]51: Has the last person you kissed ever seen you cry? [Twas my gg and probably when I was a baby]52: Do you still talk with the person you LAST kissed? [All these last kiss ones are so angsty and sad and it was literally my grandma 5 hours ago I’m laughing]53: What was the last thing you ate? [McDonald’s French fries!!!!!]54: Did you get any compliments today? [Nah I’m in my road trip attire so I look like a mess]55: Where are you going on your next vacation? [New Orleans in October for voodoo fest!! Gonna see the foo fighters B)]56: Do you own anything from other countries?[I think I have Canadian money somewhere…]57: Are most of your friend guys or girls?[girls!!]58: Where have you lived most of your life?[Sweet Home Alabama]59: When was the last time you took a long drive?[DOING IT RN!!!!! 13 HOURS]60: Have you ever played Spin the Bottle?[yea but it was like, mashed up with truth or dare. Instead of kissing we asked them truth or dare]61: Have you ever TPd someone’s house?[nah I’m pretty mild]62: Who do you text the most?[raven probably? Or max]63: What was the last movie you saw?[spirited away I think??? First time I ever saw it]64: What’s preventing your current boyfriend/girlfriend from going back to their ex?[I’m single, don’t remind me :P]65: How many boyfriends/girlfriends did you have in 2011?[I was 12 and right smack dab in the middle of my ugly awkward phase (thays still going on today!) So I had none lmao]66: Is the last person you kissed younger than you?[nah]67: Do you curse around your parents?[GOOD LORD NO]68: Are you happy with where you live?[I? Hate Alabama. My city is okay but I want to move somewhere nicer]69: Picture of yourself? [I have a selfie tag. I would upload but I’m lazy. Maybe if I find a pic I like later I will]70: Are you a monogamous person or do you believe in open-ended relationships?[polyamory All the wayy!!!!! But monogamy is cool too]71: Have you ever been dumped?[probably in elementary school but I don’t remember? I usually am the one to end it bc I get freaked out and skittish around people genuinely caring about me so I break it up before they’re disappointed]72: What do you most like about making out?[being comfortable and close enough with someone to do it.]73: Have you ever casually made out with someone who you weren’t seriously involved with?[yup!]74: When you kiss someone for the first time, is it usually you who initiates it or the other?[depends? I’ve asked to kiss someone and I’ve been asked equal amounts.]75: What part of a person’s body do you find most attractive?[eyes? Idk there’s a lot that goes into finding someone attractive it’s hard to narrow it down]76: Who was the last person you talked to last night before you went to bed?[my mom]77: Had sex with someone you knew less than an hour?[virgin]78: Had sex with someone you didn’t know their name?[virgin]79: What makes your heart flutter and brings a big cheesy smile to your face?[Any cartoon character I’m currently hyperfixated on]80: Would you get involved with someone if they had a child already?[yes. But i would go slow and I wouldn’t want to meet their child until we were both sure this was something we wanted long term.]81: Has someone who had a crush on you ever confessed to you?[no its usually me? Wait i take that back!! One girl did while I was in hs but I’m pretty sure she only did it bc she just figured out her sexuality and I was queer and there.]82: Do you tell a lot of people when you have a crush?[nope I bottle that shit up!!!! But if it’s a long standing crush I’ll tell a few people eventually]83: Do you miss your last sweetie?[No.]84: Last time you slow danced with someone?[my friend Franklin at prom. We pretended to be spies on a mission forced to act casual as we scoped out potential enemies]85: Have you ever ‘dated’ someone you’ve never met?[??? Don’t like the skeptical quote marks. I’ve been in long distance relationships before, yes.]86: How can I win your heart?[just like…… be nice to me, ever, and I’m into it. Talk about things you like, ask me about things I like, try and get into/understand my interests and I’ll do the same?? Don’t make fun of me and don’t belittle my interests. The bar is low]87: What is your astrological sign?[leo]88: What were you doing last night at 12 AM?[sleeping]89: Do you cook?[pasta!!!!!!!]90: Have you ever gotten back in touch with an old flame after a time of more than 3 months of no communication?[yeah!!! 3 years of no talking and I reconnected with max recently]91: If you’re single right now, do you wish you were in a relationship?[uh it’s complicated. Yes but idk if I’m in a good place for a relationship. I haven’t even begun to transition at all.]92: Do you prefer to date various people or do you pretty much fall into monogamous relationships quickly?[you say that like I could get multiple people to date me]93: What physical traits do you look for in a potential interest?[nice dress style?? Glasses are good too. Idk questions like this are hard augh]94: Name four things that you wish you had![money, a job, plush darkwing duck toy, a car]95: Are you a player?[no]96: Have you ever kissed 2 people in one day?[nooooope]97: Are you a tease?[hahahahaha no]98: Ever meet anyone you met on Tumblr?[nope!!! Not yet]99: Have you ever been deeply in love with someone?[maybe. But I don’t think you can love someone too deeply who doesn’t love you back]100: Anybody on Tumblr that you’d go on a date with?[sure, plenty]101: Hugs or Kisses?[both??? Both is good]102: Are you too shy to ask someone out?[It’s Not shyness, it’s rejection I have a problem with]103: The first thing you notice about the opposite sex?[girls are pretty]104: Is it cute when a boy/girl calls you babe?[Yeah I guess]105: If a sexy person was pursuing you, but you knew he/she was in relationship, would you go for it?[If it was an open relationship and everyone knew the situation, then yea prob?? If not, then no.]106: Do you flirt a lot?[not really]107: Your last kiss?[my grandmaaaaa]108: Have you kissed more than 5 people since the start of 2012?[not in a romantic way]109: Have you kissed anyone in the past month?[not in a romantic way]110: If you could kiss anyone who would it be?[next question]111: Do you know who you’ll kiss next?[nope!! It’s a hopefully nice surprise for future me]112: Does someone like you currently?[probably not lol but ive got no idea!!]113: Do you currently have feelings for anyone?[sure]114: Do you like to be in serious relationships or just flings?[I want to fall in love.]115: Ever made out with just a friend?[yeah]116: Are you happier single or in a relationship?[in a relationship I think?]117: Your own question that you want me to answer. Just write it.[just send me an ask and ill answer it]

This got a bit of self hatred dashed in there whoops sorry!!!

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inxsatiable-blog · 7 years

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To SAV,

I remember the time when I first saw you, you were a few weeks late for school and that intrigued me. I was filled with questions, “why now? is this guy running away from something?” These very questions drove me to try and get to know you.

You looked lonely — well it was a given, we were all new students but you missed the vital “getting to know each other” stage that we all experienced in the first few weeks. Although I didn’t start talking to you right away, I occasionally greeted you a good morning. There was this art project wherein we had to go to an art gallery, we weren’t groupmates but it was a coincidence to have gone to the gallery the same time you did. I think I was the one who took the picture of you and your groupmates and teasing you about your much vain pose. At that point, I realized that I wanted to get close to you.

I go out of the classroom every recess period because I have friends outside of our classroom but there was this one time that I stayed. I stayed and there you were sitting on your desk, 2 seats away from the back of my seat. The guy sitting in between us was out and I took the chance and sat there to talk to you. It was nice, I remember it being nice; you opened up to me so quickly which actually put me in a state of shock. But the conversation ultimately led to another conversation that we were together for the most part of the coming days — you even switched seats with the boy in between us! — I can go on and on about how nice it was talking to you and I have to admit it was nice getting messages from you as well. I remember smiling to one of your snaps when you sent me a video of your dog.

With all these, I wanted to fall for you as you did for me. There was nothing wrong with you, I wanted to fall for you; I really did. However, there was this one day where I thought about a you and a me together and I felt my heart close — if it was possible I felt my ever slow-beating heart beat slower to the point that I thought I was gonna faint. Which led me to question myself — was I really falling in love with you or am I just forcing myself to fall in love with you out of loneliness? And after days and days of thinking about it, the latter proved to be true. By that time, it was already too late. Why did you fall for someone like me? I didn’t know what to do with that. I’ve always known that I’ve been afraid of commitment and the idea of it but I didn’t know it was this bad. It hurts me to know that I can’t reciprocate it back and it hurts even more especially when our classmates tease us about being together. Together. Together :( I felt so caged to the point that I couldn’t breathe. I tried to push you away by telling you about my fears and how I eventually drive people away. But, you accepted that about me which killed me even more. So I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry that I ran away from you and what could’ve been. I’m sorry for ignoring you. I’m sorry for pretending to be busy just so I wouldn’t talk to you. I’m sorry for leaving without saying goodbye. I felt the very questions that drew me to you was now the very questions I ask myself — “what am I running away from?” I’m sorry, I’m so so sorry and I know that time healed all the wounds I left but I know what I did was so painful — to leave with no explanation and not know what you did that drove me away. But it’s not you, you did nothing wrong. Even now, I can’t explain or put into the right words of what I’m trying to say. And I know these words don’t rectify the pain I caused you.

Two months went by and we went on with our lives without a word. I heard from people that you weren’t doing well and I was blinded by the thought of moving forward that I forgot to grieve over you. I guess I would also like to apologize for not feeling the sadness that I should’ve felt with losing you. I don’t know why but I was blinded by the ambition to never be satisfied and to want something more. So I’m sorry for not being content in the idea of an us. It's not that you weren’t good enough, its just you weren’t what I needed right now. And feelings are the biggest part of me and it never felt right.

But I would like to thank you for taking me back. I got myself into trouble and nothing was going right but one thing did, you and I fixed the rift between us. You gave me a palanca letter telling me how much I’ve hurt you but you forgave me. You forgave me and I felt so happy that even though things were utter hell, I had you to talk to it about again. Amidst all the heartbreak and pain, you stuck by me and remained my friend. At this time, you were already part of your own group and I was well into sorting the mess I was in. You met another girl in one of your hangouts and you quickly became infatuated by her. With you talking to me about her, she didn’t seem right. It was as if the way she acted was how I acted before but even worse. Because she was intentionally keeping you on the hook and not telling you that you that deep down you didn’t have a chance. I didn’t grow tired lecturing you about her and telling you not to fall for her, I actually enjoyed teasing you about how you fall for the wrong kind of women but deep down I wanted you to experience the kind of love that you give without asking for anything in return.

So our days would usually go by us making fun of our Disaster Readiness teacher while we talk in his class, exchange confused looks in our Math class and talked about heartbreak and lessons as much as we talked about things under the sun. You were heartbroken with that girl who always kept you on the hook, it was a fight where she was completely in the wrong but she found a way to make you the one who felt the guilt. And I was dating this guy, CJ. CJ who also deserves an apology for what happened. You disliked him. I remember crying to you about him because it was a relationship even more tangled than my hair. And you were right about him. Moving on, our talks ultimately led us to come to an agreement on going to prom together. And I was okay with it, they gave warnings on why people shouldn’t go to prom alone so I guess that convinced me. Unfortunately, I was met by a friend who needed a date; loneliness would get to him if I didn’t. But, I remembered one of my promises to my best friend, J, that we would go to a prom together. So I had the idea of matching you both, I just had this feeling that you and she would go together. To me, there is a resemblance in features and personality that it’s not hard to picture you and her together. So I told you about my seemingly outrageous idea of taking her to prom (someone you’ve never met), a few “please”s here and there and you agreed.

The hardest part was convincing you to talk to her before prom. You and she were so reluctant and shy that it was almost frustrating. But as my relationship started to fall apart with CJ, I found myself enjoying seeing a new relationship blossom. I was so happy when you both were well into talking to each other, but you were scared like a little boy. Your fears of a long distance relationship were so evident and I would take the time and make speeches of how worth it, it would be in the long run. And how love is worth everything, the feeling of security and bliss. And as prom night has come, I saw the way you both first laid eyes on each other and I knew that finally, I did something right.

If I could take it all back, I wouldn’t. You don’t know how much you made me happy knowing my best friend is finally happy in your arms. And I know we’re in different classes right now, I’m still really glad that we talk to each other when we have the chance to and that you are taking good care of J. And maybe someday, I’ll get to have that too but for now, thank you. Thank you for the memories, the forgiveness and the gift of love.

All the love, (TSD 11-26-99)

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calpalirwin · 4 years

Text

According to Plan

A/N: They’re back together! Now what?

And away, and away we go!

~~~

Chapter 12

Ashton

~~~

Madison and I fell back into our pattern, quickly making up for the week we had missed out on.

With the windows rolled down and the music cranked up, I drove our way up to the lake one weekend to make good on a promise that seemed so old now, but it was really only a few weeks ago when we had laid on that dock at Ryan Cooper’s party.

I sang along to the radio as the wind whipped at our faces. Madison had her blonde hair pulled back to keep her hair out of her face. I reached over to grab her hand. She looked over at me and smiled. I smiled back and squeezed her hand, still amazed that she was mine.

I had no sooner parked the truck before she was bounding out towards the water. She stripped her flannel off, before peeling off her tank top. Then, she shimmed out of her shorts and kicked off her sandals before running on the dock. She turned at the edge to smile at me. I bit my lip, taken aback by how good she looked standing there. Hurry up! She beckoned me with her finger.

I jogged over, kicking off my sandals and taking off my shirt. A thought popped into my head, and as I got to where she was I wrapped my arms around her, letting my momentum throw us into the water.

We came up gasping for air, laughing. Ashton Fletcher Irwin, she pretended to scold me, you are, without a doubt, the craziest boy I have ever met. She wrapped her arms around my neck.

“Madison Grace Clifford,” I told her, “I’ll have you know that I was perfectly sane until you came into my life.”

She let go of me to sign. Oh, so this is my fault?

“Absolutely,” I nodded. “And I’ve loved every second.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon in the water, or laying on the dock catching our breath. Before the school year was over, we made several more trips; sometimes on our own, sometimes with everybody else.

With May rapidly approaching, the school hallways were flooded with posters advertising the upcoming Prom. Like with every school dance before, I asked Madison if she wanted to go, half hopeful but knowing that she would respond the way she had all year: It’s just a waste of money and time. I can’t hear. Yet, still hoping that she’d change her mind, I nodded at a poster as we walked the halls. “Hmm, Prom… Do you wanna go?”

She looked at the poster, then back at me. I braced myself for the typical blow off response. You’re gonna have to ask better than that. She grinned at me, taking me by surprise.

“Wait, what? Seriously? You’ll go?”

She shrugged, with the smile still on her face. Maybe…

The next day, I got to school early to decorate her locker and buy us tickets. I leaned against the wall and waited for her. At 8:40 sharp, she walked through the doors at towards her locker. Spotting me, she smiled. Hey, she signed, kissing me. You’re here early.

“I had something to take care of,” I told her slyly.

She gave me a look and then opened her locker. A small disco ball spun around inside. The note I had stuck in her locker fluttered to the floor and she bent to pick it up.

Dance with me and have a ball? Or will I be lonely after all?

She laughed as she read my note. It rhymes!

“Well, what do you say?” I asked, showing her the two tickets.

Yes.

“You’ll go with me?” I asked, needing the clarification.

You only get one senior prom. Besides, who else would I go with?

I didn’t stop smiling for the rest of the day.

With Prom figured out, we focused on studying for our AP tests that were coming up. We quizzed each other as we drove around town. Our textbooks crowded our lunch table and our table at the diner on Sundays.

The last day of AP testing we all went out to the diner to celebrate.

“It’s over!” Luke cheered.

“Thank God!” Sierra added, kissing Luke.

“You better pray for a good score on that Stats test or your mom’ll flip,” Calum said, pushing Luke’s shoulder.

“Please, I could do that one in my sleep,” Luke told him. “I’m a math genius, C-Swizz!”

“I bet Mads does better,” Calum taunted.

“Oh, you’re on,” Luke agreed, shaking Calum’s hand. “You better hit up the bank, Hood. That money’s as good as mine.”

“Ooo, Mads, you gonna let him talk smack on you like that?” Calum asked.

20 says you’re both wrong because Luke and I tie.

“Alright,” Calum nodding. “I’ll take that bet, Mads. You in, Lu?”

Luke shrugged, “All I’m hearing is that I'm getting 40 bucks.”

A week later, Calum and Luke each slapped down a $20 in front of Madison, both of them grumbling. Madison smiled and handed the money to Mike for safe-keeping. “How’d you know you’d tie?” I asked, once we had all stopped laughing.

I knew I couldn’t do worse than Luke because every test we’ve had we’ve either tied or been off by a single point. And no one can get higher a 5 on the AP test.

“Fuck, I forgot about that part… damn it!” Luke cursed while we all laughed again.

The next week, I stood in front of my mirror. I shrugged into my jacket and fixed my tie, giving myself one last look in the mirror. My tie made the flecks of gold in my eyes more pronounced, my mom and sister told me. My hair, which had always been unruly on the best days, was more manageable after I got it cut the day before in preparation. It wasn’t a haircut I normally got; I had always liked my hair to have some length to it, to keep its consistent “just got out of bed” look. But, I decided on a whim to do something a little more sophisticated for Prom. I had slicked back my shorter-than-usual hair with some styling product- again, thanks to my mom and sister. So far, I was liking the shorter length more than I expected.

I stood on her doorstep a few moments later, my heart pounding. I had the tickets in my jacket pocket, and her corsage in a box in my hand. With my free hand, I rapped on the door.

Madison opened the door in a stunning dark green dress that cut off mid-shin and showed off her shoulders. The green of her dress only enhanced the green in her eyes. “Wow… you look gorgeous,” I breathed.

You cut your hair, she responded. It looks good. You look good.

I felt my face flush. “Uh, here,” I said, fumbling with the corsage box and slipping it on her wrist.

Peony, my favorite! She twisted her wrist this way and that to look at the flower. Oh, I have yours, too. She disappeared inside and coming back out with a small rose with a gold ribbon wrapped around it. I’ve always hated roses, she admitted, as she tried to pin it on me. Always reminded me of funerals.

“I didn’t know that,” I said helping her pin it to my jacket. “Ready?” I asked, offering her my arm.

She nodded, smiling. Her parents called out reminders to take pictures and to call if we’d be out late as she closed the door behind her.

Oh, wow, it’s loud in here, she signed as we handed over our tickets and went inside the large ballroom. I can almost hear it myself.

I took her hand and led her onto the floor. We twirled in slow, lazy circles to the music. The ocean air that blew in from the open windows gave a nice breeze that broke up the hot stagnant air that came with the start of summer nights and too many bodies in one area.

I continued to twirl her around in circles as people appeared and disappeared beside us. The song and the interruptions didn’t matter. Tonight, we were two kids, in love, dancing on the beach, and that’s all we wanted to be.

About halfway through the night, the music stopped and someone stepped to the microphone “It’s time to announce this year’s King and Queen!” our student body president, Ryan Cooper, said while we cheered. “And our Prom King is…” a drumroll started and stopped, “Ashton Irwin!”

A spotlight hit me square in the face, causing Madison to flinch away. I kissed her cheek and went up to the stage to accept my crown.

“And for Prom Queen…” Ryan said to another drumroll, “Claire Stevens!”

Claire stepped forward to get her crown. She smiled at me; a smile I had once loved to get lost in. My stomach churned and I wanted nothing more than to be back with Madison.

“Now, for the King and Queen dance!” Ryan announced, as a slow song started up.

Claire looked over at me and I took a deep breath. Deciding to be a good sport, I offered my arm to Claire and led her to the dance floor. I spun her half heartedly in circles, to the cheers of our fellow classmates, the spotlight shining down on us.

I danced us closer to where Madison stood, a plan forming in my head. In one fluid motion, I spun Claire out away from me with one hand, and grabbed Madison with my other one, pulling Madison to me and leaving Claire by herself. Claire, embarrassed, smiled at our classmates who looked at me wondering what I would do next. No Prom King had ever ditched his Queen mid-dance to dance with his own date. Then again, most Prom Kings and Queens came together. I smiled, and shrugged as I continued to dance with Madison, who had rested her head on my shoulder. I caught Calum’s eye and without a thought, he grabbed Riley and started dancing with her next to us. Luke and Mike grabbed their girlfriends, following suit. So it was the eight of us, twirling around on the dance floor, surrounded by dumbfounded classmates, and a pissed off Claire.

When the song ended, we all stood there in the deafening silence. In an attempt to ease the situation, Ryan jumped on the mic. “Now, traditionally, the Prom King and Queen dance for the whole song, Irwin,” he fake scolded.

I rolled my eyes, “Yeah,” I told him back, “Well, this King prefers a Prom Queen that doesn’t cheat on him.” I took my crown off my head and tossed it at Ben Anderson, who stared at it as it clattered to the floor. “Consider it a parting gift, Anderson. To you and Claire. May you be the man that I don’t want to be.”

To cover the awkward silence, music started playing again. I looked down at Madison. “If you want, I rented a room.”

She looked at me with wide eyes. You got us a room?

“Not like that! Well… I mean, I thought about it. But, no, I got a room in case you were too uncomfortable here.”

It is a little crowded, she hinted.

I took her hand and led her upstairs. I dug around my jacket for the room key and let us in. The silence swallowed us as the door shut behind us. I shrugged off my jacket and laid it carefully on the edge of the bed. Madison sat down and undid the strap of her heels. She winced as her feet came free and she gave them a wiggle. “Sore feet?” I asked.

She nodded. I don’t wear heels.

“I know,” I said, sitting next to her.

She let out her breath in a huff. So, I know that there’s an unspoken expectation to have sex on Prom night. And, I’m not opposed to it. I’m still ready if you are. But, I think I should tell you something first.

“What is it?” I asked, pushing away the thoughts of sex she had just put in my head.

It’s about Yale. I know we thought we’d spend the summer together, but I actually have to be there a week after graduation for summer courses. There are some prerequisites I want to get out of the way so I can actually graduate in two years.

“Oh…” I said, not knowing what else to say. We hadn’t really talked about college since our fight. We knew the distance would be a challenge, but we also thought we’d have the summer together. Summer classes hadn’t even crossed my mind.

Yeah, I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure. They have financial aid just for summer, and I didn’t think I would get it, but I did. So, I was able to register for some classes.

“That’s great,” I said, choking on air.

Are you okay? Her face was half-concerned and half-sad.

“Yeah. I mean, that’s really cool. For you. I’m happy for you. But, it kinda sucks on my end.”

I’m sorry if you’re mad, but I have to go. Unless… should I stay?

“I’m not mad. I’m a little upset, but I’m not mad. But, if you’re looking for me to tell you to stay, I won’t do it. I won’t be the reason you don’t go to Yale. You wanted to go to Yale longer than you’ve known me, and I’ll be damned if you give up that dream for a summer with me. I’m not worth giving up Yale, Mads. I’m not.” As much as it sucked on my end, I wouldn’t be the reason she gave up on Yale. I knew if the tables were turned, she’d ship me to Duke herself if it ever came down to her or Duke. And it didn’t have to be either or, did it? We could both go to our dream schools and have each other, couldn’t we?

I can take longer to graduate… she signed, starting to compromise.

I shook my head. “No. The sooner you graduate, the sooner we get that apartment.”

I’ll miss you...

“I’ll visit,” I promised, wiping away her tears that were starting to spill down her cheeks.

Her breath came out in a shuddery sigh. Okay. Enough college talk. Tonight, I just want you. I don’t want to think about what happens tomorrow, or in a month from now, or three months from now. Tonight, I just want to think about tonight. And tonight, I’m at my senior prom; and I’m alone in a hotel room with the boy that I love. She reached up and undid the knot on her dress. I watched breathless as it fell to the floor and she got under the covers.

We took our time, memorizing every inch of each other’s skin. Tonight, there was no one or anything else besides her, me, and the bed holding us steady.

We lay in bed, under the covers, her head on my bare chest, both of us catching our breath. After a moment, she rolled her body onto mine and looked at me. I don’t want this to change anything between us. I still want to play videogames and watch you work on cars and all that stuff. I like this… sex. But, I don’t want it to become the only thing we do.

“The only thing this changes is that now I know I’ll always love you.”

I’m going to love you forever.

Two weeks later, during the second week of June, we graduated. Due to the alphabetical order, we were all scattered in our seats, but Madison managed to be seated right in front of me.

She looked elegant, somehow more grown up, in her dark green cap and gown. I looked at her feet and took notice of the sandals she had first worn to church all those months ago. She looked back at me at smiled. I smiled back and adjusted my own black cap and gown. I remembered her laughing as we bought our caps and gowns last week. It’s nice that they make the boys wear one color and the girls another, but who’s really gonna notice when it’s this dark of a green. I noticed, I wanted to tell her. The green made her green eyes that much more vibrant as they danced; much like her Prom dress had.

The stadium erupted in cheers when they finally announced us as graduates. People immediately ran off to find their families, or stood around taking pictures on their phones. I grabbed Madison’s hand and kept her close as we found our other friends. Pictures were taken and tears wiped away. The eight of us finally broke away from our families long enough to go celebrate at the diner.

Oh! Madison signed suddenly, digging through her bag. I almost forgot, I got you all presents!

“Presents?” the girls asked, eyes wide with excitement.

“Aw, Mads, you didn’t have to,” us boys told her.

Just take the damned present! her hands scolded. Out of her bag she produced 6 picture frames and 1 album. She passed the 6 picture frames around the table to everyone, finally handing me the album. So, I’ve never really had friends before. And, I wanted to thank you guys for all you’ve done for me this past year. I know we’re all going our separate ways here in a bit, but I wanted to give you guys all a reminder that you are all my best friends in the entire world.

Everybody glanced down at the picture in their hands- the eight of us dressed to the nines and grinning at Prom.

“It’s beautiful, Mads,” Sierra breathed, dabbing at her eyes.

“Fuck, Si, if you start crying so will I!” Riley scolded.

“Yeah, Mads, way to make the girls cry,” Luke choked.

“Wait, what did Ash get?” Calum asked, nodding at the album in my hands.

Something extra special. Madison smiled at me. Open it.

I opened the album to reveal picture after picture. Pictures of all of us either at the diner or in the Cliffords’ basement. Pictures of the soccer games. Pictures of me working in the shop that I didn’t know she had taken. Pictures of just me and her, grinning, laughing, kissing. A year of memories with my best friends and my best girl. I cleared my throat, “Thanks, Mads. This is beautiful. I love it.”

“Damn, this is amazing,” everyone marveled, getting lost in the memories and nostalgia of a year gone by too fast.

“This isn’t supposed to be sad,” Crystal interjected as I closed the album, dabbing at her eyes. “We just fuckin graduated. Let’s do something crazy!”

“Like what?” Sierra asked.

“We can start Grad Night early,” Luke suggested.

We closed down the amusement park, all of us scared for the future, but desperately clinging to the idea that we would always find our way back to each other. Eight teenagers trying to make these feelings last forever.

Madison and I had sex again that night in her bedroom. What are you thinking about? she asked, as we lay there, staring at each other, her lamp just bright enough for us to see each other without straining our eyes.

“Trying to figure out how to fit an entire summer into a week,” I answered truthfully.

You love me right? Her green eyes peered into my hazel ones.

“Always.”

Then we’ll make this work. It won’t be easy, but we’ll manage the distance until I can meet you at Duke.

After one of the most whirlwind weeks we ever had, I helped her pack up her things, then kissed her long and hard in her driveway. Her family was going with her to help her get settled before going up to Syracuse so Mike could look around before he went there in August. I was going up next week to spend the weekend with her. “Get settled and I’ll see you Friday,” I promised.

Friday, she repeated, nodding.

The week that followed her leaving was one of the longest in my life. I drove to the airport early Friday morning and hopped on a flight to New Haven. I was jittery the whole flight, wondering how the week had changed her.

Every fear I had got erased when I saw her standing there in the airport, scanning the crowd for me. The way her face lit up when she finally saw me made me know that this would all be worth it.

We barely left her little apartment that whole weekend. She talked nonstop about her classes, her new job, and how much she loved it here. Oh, Ash, it’s everything I ever hoped it would be!

“That’s great, Mads,” I told her.

So, how’s home?

“Lonely,” I admitted.

That was how we spent the summer. I flew out every other week to spend the weekend with her. She was too busy to fly out herself, but What do you expect, Ash, it’s Yale. You’ll be busy at Duke in a few weeks yourself.

After a weekend in bed with her, flying home to face the oncoming weeks without her slowly ate away at me. I kept busy in my dad’s shop, honing my skills. If I wasn’t at the shop, I was at the field practicing drills, praying my knee wouldn’t give out on me again. I spent time with our friends when I could. But, nothing I did seemed to ease the utter loneliness I felt at night without Madison.

In July, she surprised me by having everyone come out to her apartment for a surprise birthday party she had planned with Sierra for both Luke and I, and sort of as a last hurrah for our friend group before August made us part ways.

So, how does it feel to legally be an adult? she asked me once it was just us.

“Surprisingly normal,” I told her, echoing the words she had told me on her own birthday.

The last time I flew out, it was mid-August. We went out to celebrate both our one year anniversary and because when I got home I was packing up for Duke. It was the only time we had gone out besides to go the airport out of all the times I had visited. I was excited, but as I sat across from her at the table at the restaurant, the excitement faded as I slowly realized that I couldn’t keep doing this.

The next morning, we laid in her bed like we had every other Saturday I visited. I had been up all night watching her sleep, trying to figure out how to say goodbye without breaking her heart, or my own. It wasn’t that I wanted to break up necessarily. I just didn’t want to feel like I was holding her back. I didn’t want her to worry or miss me anymore. I didn’t want to worry or miss her anymore either.

Hey. She rubbed the sleep from her eyes, yawning. What are you thinking about?

“About how I have to leave,” I told her, fighting against a sudden urge to cry.

Your flight’s not until tonight, she reminded me.

“That’s not what I mean.” My words barely registered in my own head.

Oh… was the response. You want to say goodbye for real, huh?

“I don’t know what else to do,” I whispered, before confessing everything I felt when I wasn’t with her. The loneliness I couldn’t shake. How I felt that when I visited, I was only making things worse for her. I wanted her to truly experience Yale, without worrying about me. That I would always love her, but right now, this was just too hard for me. “I’m so sorry,” I finally said, a tear rolling down my face. I went to wipe it away but her hand beat mine.

She gently rubbed her thumb across my cheek. I understand, she signed, keeping her face calm. This hasn’t been easy for me either. And I know it hasn’t been fair for you to always come up to visit me.

“I’m sorry,” I said again, not knowing what else to say.

There’s nothing to be sorry for.

“I know this means I risk losing you to someone else. All I ask is that you make sure he truly makes you happy. You’re too great to settle for anything less, so promise me you won’t.”

I promise. But, you gotta promise not to hold back on your own life. Go to Duke, and give them hell, Ash. You belong there more than anybody. Find your happiness, and don’t you ever settle for less than what you deserve.

“Promise,” I choked back tears. “I’ll always love you, you know that?”

I know, she smiled sadly. I’ll love you forever, too.

#according to plan #chapter 12 #ashton irwin #5sos #oh so that's what's next...#but wait!#story's not over yet!#galcal irwin

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