#this was so much fun to write so thanks joey

[thebiggerbear]

CJ Braxton x Reader - Prompt Response - "I hate you." "You have a weird way of showing that."

Summary: You had only meant to call once, remaining anonymous while feeling out the whole helpline thing for yourself. Now, you talk to CJ every Friday night around the same time. When you don't call one Friday, CJ is worried and comes looking for you which presents its own host of problems.

Pairing: CJ Braxton x Female!Reader; CJ Braxton x College Student!Female!Reader

A/N: Prompt from @creativepromptsforwriting (#941). I initially wasn't going to write anything for CJ but this idea popped into my head for this prompt and I just had to write it. And I absolutely fell in love with the dynamic between CJ and the reader (and had so much fun with this). Please forgive any timeline tomfoolery or anything time wise that makes you go "huh?"; I was trying to make this work throughout the season from CJ's entry into the show (and his conversation with Jen about the helpline) to the end.

I wasn't much of a Dawson's Creek person back in the day (I still haven't seen seasons 2-5), so I hope this came out alright. I tried to keep it as 2000-ish as possible. I remember back in the day not everyone had a cell phone like Dawson, Audrey, and Pacey (though a lot of people were getting them moving into the beginning of the decade) so that rule kind of applied here so to speak.

This is meant to take place during s6 before Jen joins The Stand.

Warnings: implied sex; panic attacks; implied anxiety

Word Count: 15k+

CJ Taglist: @heartlessdelusions; @nancymcl

"I hate you." "You have a weird way of showing that."

Soldier Boy version | Beau version | Dean version | Jenny version | Jason version | Tom version | Rachel version | Anael version | Alec version | SDV Leah version

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You glanced at the clock, seeing it was 6:59. One more minute and you’d pick up the phone as you did every Friday night and make the call you always did. Your nerves thrummed in anticipation as you stared down the clock, willing the numbers to turn.

Eventually, you got your wish and as soon as the 7 appeared on the clock face you picked up the phone, dialing the number you now knew by heart. After a few rings, the call finally connected. 

“Hello, Helpline. This is CJ.”

You couldn’t help but smile at the sound of his voice. “Hey.”

“There she is.” You could hear his own smile in his tone as he recognized you. “How are you, Jo?”

You winced at the fake name you had given him. At the time, you had quickly scrambled and chose the first name that came to mind. Granted, Joey Potter was in the same school as you so you weren’t too worried about him finding out about either of you seeing as he was from Boston Bay. But as you had talked with him more and more, you really wished you hadn’t given him any name but your own. Even if you were beyond terrified; you felt bad for lying to him.

Why should it matter, right? He was a volunteer counselor for a teen helpline at another college. Why would you care what this one person thought out of you?

Well, unbeknownst to him, you had seen him once and you knew who he was. Thanks to Joey and Audrey’s friendship with Jen, you had come to hear quite a bit about the cute tall guy whose voice made your heart rate speed up way too fast. Jen had even invited him out to a house party and that was when you saw him for the first time. Your nerves got to you and you bounced before one of your friends could make an introduction. Partly because you were afraid he would recognize you from your voice and immediately put a face to the name and possibly be disappointed or worse: he’d know you lied to him. So you avoided him at all costs — well, in person.

It wasn’t like you had planned for this to happen, where you would call a helpline weekly just to speak to a certain boy. That’s not how this started at all.

When you got to Worthington, you were homesick, overwhelmed, and overall terrified. While you eventually eased into the college student lifestyle and Boston was now home, you never really got past the overwhelmed feeling, and terrified had dialed down to being anxious all the time: anxious that you would mess up, anxious that you would fail, anxious that your future wouldn’t turn out the way you planned — all of it. There were days you felt like you were just scraping by, barely making a passing grade (though your final grade usually proved you wrong), and you felt like you were some sort of imposter who was soon to be found out and didn’t really belong. Meeting Joey and her roommate, Audrey Liddell, who lived down the hall from you, helped some, and their introducing you to their group of friends helped even more. But there were still times that you just felt…tightly wound and about to snap. As if you had too many balls in the air and you were about to trip, and all the balls would fall to the ground.

So when Jen mentioned to the group about some guy wanting her to join a teen helpline for the college, you quietly paid attention. She laughed it off — his approach, not the helpline — and she didn’t think she would be right for it so that was that. While everyone else began to talk and laugh about another topic, the wheels in your head slowly started to turn inside your head. A helpline where you could remain anonymous and talk to someone who would listen and could possibly even help. You knew your school most likely had one of those but you wouldn’t even dream of risking it. But a helpline elsewhere where you could talk to someone who maybe understood how you were feeling most of the time, maybe experienced similar things, and you were able to stay anonymous? That you could look into.

After much back and forth in your mind over it, you took the leap and made the call one Friday night after a particularly rough week. You really didn’t think anyone would pick up, it was close to 7:00 and most college kids were either out or getting ready to go out…right?

Before you could answer your own question to yourself, the line connected.

“Hello, Helpline. This is CJ.”

You did what any other person would do; you promptly hung up. You stared at your phone in terror. Someone had picked up. A guy. Just when you were convincing yourself that this was stupid and you needed to take a chill pill and deal.

You argued with yourself in your head for about another minute, hemming and hawing over it all. Wasn’t the whole point of you calling to try to do something about how you’d been feeling? You supposed you could always see a therapist here in town but that could be costly, even with insurance. You also had no desire to tell your parents because they would respond the same way they did the last time you tried to allude to how overwhelmed you were when you had returned home for the summer.

“You should be grateful you got into such a great school, Y/N. Most people would kill to be in your position, going after their degree. You don’t see your classmates moping about, do you? Just because they have classes and homework,” your mother had made sure to prick you with that pin of guilt. “Make the best of it.”

“You know what I think? I think you need to get yourself some friends and then you’ll stop focusing on this so much. If you have nothing to fill your time, of course your mind is going to obsess over what you’re viewing as negative. Try to join a club or a social group. They have keggers all the time. I remember back when I was in college. It was party city every weekend. Maybe let loose a little one of these Saturday nights and things will start to get better. And who knows? Maybe you’ll even make some friends.”

“Thanks, Dad,” you mumbled, tossing your overeasy egg onto its side with your fork, your eyes trained on your plate. You knew he was just trying to help — they both were — but their attitude seemed to imply that you could simply hit an off switch somewhere and you’d stop feeling so overwhelmed. If only.

It wasn’t like you hadn’t tried to take their advice. You had gone to some frat party and it had been one of the worst experiences of your life. You weren’t a big drinker and you weren’t really a party person in general. You didn’t really recognize anyone from your classes or your dorm and the music was so loud, it seemed like a ridiculous notion to try to approach someone and start a conversation. Not something you were very good at anyway. You had no idea how to play the drinking games you saw, other than what you’d seen on TV, and you didn’t want to do something to mess up anyone’s scores if you didn’t do it right. Then some hulk of a guy accidentally knocked into you, deluging you in beer, and he was so drunk, he didn’t even apologize, just kept on going. After about an hour (and the unintended beer bath), you decided to call it quits.  

That night, you had gone back to your dorm room which was blissfully empty, taken a hot shower, and then sobbed into your pillow. So much so that when a drunken Audrey accidentally stumbled into your room, she saw your tear-stained face when your head snapped up and immediately asked what was wrong and why you were crying in her room of all things. Despite the back and forth over whose room it actually was and her drunken state along with the slurring of her words, you two actually kind of hit it off. Before long she had you laughing, something you felt like you hadn’t done in some time. She passed out in your roommate’s bed, much to your roommate’s chagrin, but when Audrey’s boyfriend and roommate came to get her the next morning, you figured that had been it. Your one social interaction with someone who didn’t look at you as an unwanted intruder every single day (like your roommate) or like you were some loner weirdo (like most of your classmates). You knew that Audrey would probably either ignore you the next time she ran into you or she wouldn’t remember you at all. 

Boy, had you been wrong. The day after her hangover, she had been knocking on your door, smiling and telling you that you were going out with her for the night. Just like that. She introduced you to her roommate, Joey, and their group of friends. You had been inducted into their group of friends, just like that.

Eventually, Jen mentioned the helpline that one night and now here you were, staring at the phone as if it was about to come to life and do a dance or something. You waited a few more minutes, deciding you’d try again and hopefully get someone else. There couldn’t be only one person answering phones at a helpline, could there? That would make for some backed up phone traffic and not a good look for a helpline at all. Maybe you’d be lucky and the guy would have already had another caller he was speaking to so another counselor would have to pick up.

When the clock turned to 7:11, you slowly picked up the phone, took a deep breath, and dialed the number again. You began to jiggle your leg as you waited for the line to connect.

“Hello, Helpline. This is CJ.”

Oh crap. You froze.

“Hello?”

What did you do? You wanted to hang the phone up again but you were unable to. 

“Hello?” He asked again.

No. You were going to be a mature adult about this and answer him. Just as soon as you could breathe. You covered the mouthpiece with your hand and exhaled a breath.

“Look, if you’re in trouble or can’t talk, just hit a button. Any button will work.” A minute passed while you were trying to breathe, getting ready to talk. “If you don’t have a crisis and you’re not calling to speak to someone here, then I think you should hang up and let other people who need us call in. No use in tying up the phone lines.”

Another minute passed. You really were trying your hardest to get words out but your chest was tight and you felt like you couldn’t breathe. Your heart was racing yet you were frozen. This happened sometimes but usually you were by yourself, not with someone waiting for you to speak on the other end of the phone line. It also happened a couple of times while you were out with your friends, but usually you hid out in a bathroom stall until it passed and then you left to go back to your dorm with the excuse of a test the next day or a project due, whatever you could come up with on the fly. You didn’t understand why it was happening to you right now, though.

“Alright, I’m going to hang up now.”

You smashed a key on your phone so fast that you heard a loud annoying sound in your ear. Immediately, the guy’s tone changed. 

“Okay, I’m here. If you’re in trouble, hit the key again. If you’re not but can’t talk at the moment, don’t hit it.”

You didn’t hit any more keys and gasped for air that just wasn’t coming.

“Good. I’m glad you’re okay. Is someone in the room with you and that’s why you can’t talk? If so, hit the key again.” 

You moved over to your bed and laid down. That was the fastest way to get your body to relax when you had the option you’d found out.

“Okay, so you’re alone but you can’t talk but you’re not in trouble. Can you just try to say one word or make a sound so I know you’re really okay?” 

You removed your hand from the mouthpiece. “T-Trying,” you rasped out. Holy crap, this was a bad episode you were having. You were completely mortified. Perhaps you really should hang up. You were worried, though, that now he might notify someone or think you really were prank calling the helpline. Either way, you were bound to get in trouble and even more embarrassed, and that just made your chest tighter.

“Okay. That’s good. I’ll take that. Do you have asthma or something similar?” 

Great. That’s how bad you’d sounded; he thought you might actually have some sort of breathing issue. Well, technically, you were struggling to breathe right now so it made sense that he would think that but if he only knew the actual answer was something that was beyond ridiculous and couldn’t be explained away as something as serious as asthma. 

“No,” you whispered, rubbing at the spot in your chest where a mix of discomfort and a heavy-rock-feeling sat. 

“And you’re sure you don’t need to go to the hospital to get checked out?” He sounded concerned now. 

“No,” you repeated, staring up at your ceiling, your vision blurring with building tears. All you wanted to do was give this helpline thing a shot since nothing else seemed to be working, and here you had gone and made it so much worse. On top of that, you were frustrated that you couldn’t even do something as simple as answer a person when they said hello on a phone call that you made to them. What was wrong with you? 

“Okay. That’s good. Why don’t I talk for a minute so you can relax?” A tear slipped down your cheek when you realized he must have heard your heavy exhales over the phone. “Like I said before, my name is CJ. I’ve been with the helpline for a while now. I’m here four days a week. I try to schedule shifts around my classes and pick up a few extra when I’m able. Before you called, I was doing some reading for my Philosophy class. It’s not my major but I had to take another humanities course. It was that or religion so…philosophy it was.”

You closed your eyes and focused on his voice. It was actually very soothing and it was helping.

“Between you and me, I’m not the best student.” Your eyes opened and you stared at the ceiling, listening intently. “I mean, I do okay in terms of grades, but I’m not exactly a frequent flier on the Dean’s list.” He chuckled and after a moment, he asked, “How about you?”

You swallowed, feeling the slightest bit of easing up on your chest, almost if it was allowing the words through. “I do okay.” You didn’t sound as raspy as before but you still had a faint wheeze at the end. You were coming out of this, slowly but surely.

“That’s good. College sure isn’t easy, by any means. When midterms roll around, I always get a little more stressed. I usually have to blow off some steam to keep it all balanced, you know? Or else I get easily overwhelmed. I have to remind myself to take it one class at a time, one day at a time. But easier said than done sometimes, right?”

“Right.” You knew what he was doing but since it seemed to be helping, you played along. He was getting to the heart of the issue while also giving you time to come back down. You’d only been on the phone with him for close to ten minutes and already you felt much better than you had when the call started. 

“How are you feeling? Any better?”

“A little.” 

“Good.” He sounded genuinely pleased. “Is my being the one to talk helping any?”

“Actually…yeah,” you breathed out. 

“Does this happen a lot?”

You bit at your lip, not really wanting to admit it, but you had called for this very reason, hadn’t you? “Yeah.”

“Around midterms or anytime?”

“Anytime.”

“Even when you’re not in school?”

“Sometimes,” you whispered. “But mostly when I’m here.”

“So school related then?”

“Kind of.”

He was quiet for a moment and you wondered if you had said something wrong or if he was looking instructions up in a pamphlet or something for this sort of thing. 

“Hey, did you see Phantom Menace when it came out last year?”

That caught you off guard. You hadn’t expected to switch gears so quickly. “Um, no?”

“You’re not a Star Wars fan, I take it?”

He didn’t sound disappointed so you chalked that up to being a good thing. Most guys you’d met either were completely into Star Wars or weren’t into it at all. “I don’t know if I’d call myself a fan but I’ve seen the original movies.” 

“Uh oh, you’re not one of those prequel snobs, are you?” He teased.

“No? I just saw the trailer and I wasn’t interested.”

“Well, a buddy of mine and I went to see it when it came out. The theater was packed. I’m talking bursting at the seams.” A small smile started to creep onto your face at his energy. “And when the lights went down and the opening credits started rolling and the music started up, everyone was cheering and clapping. It was pretty awesome. My buddy ended up loving it. He’s the biggest Star Wars fan you’ve ever met.” A moment later he asked, “So besides anything in a galaxy, far far away, have you seen any other movies that came out?”

“I went to see The Green Mile. My, uh, my dad is a big Tom Hanks fan and a Stephen King fan so he really wanted to go.”

“And you?”

“I liked it. Though it was sad.” 

“I didn’t see it yet but I got the feeling that it was going to be a bit of a heavy one.”

“It was, but it was worth it.” You noticed then that you were talking to him normally, you were breathing normally, your chest was still a little tight but that was to be expected, and you were sitting up with your back to the wall. You had gotten through your latest episode and this CJ had helped. Perhaps there was something to this helpline thing after all.

“I’m definitely going to check it out then. Thanks.” 

“You’re welcome.”

Almost as if he had heard your thoughts, he then said, “You sound a lot better than earlier. Hopefully, you’re feeling better, too?”

“Um, yeah.” You anxiously tucked your hair behind your ear. “Thanks for earlier, by the way. You know, being patient…”

“Of course. That’s what I’m here for.”

“Right.”

“So, you feel up to telling me what’s going on and why you called tonight or did you want to talk about something else?”

You bit at your thumbnail, unsure. “I feel bad. I’ve taken up so much of your time already.” You glanced at the clock and saw that you had been on the phone with him now for almost half an hour. 

“Don’t worry about the time and I don’t want you feeling badly.” He sounded completely genuine when he said it and it made you feel a little bit better about monopolizing his time like this. “This is why I’m here. So, if you want to talk, I’m here to listen.”

You still weren’t certain you should take him up on his offer. “Are you sure? What if there’s someone else who needs to call in who is having an actual crisis and you’re stuck on the phone with me? I would feel bad if they didn’t get to talk to you when they needed to because of me.”

“I’m not the only one here so if someone else does call in, they’ll speak to one of the other counselors who can help them. While we’re on the subject, what you’re experiencing is just as valid as what anyone else might be experiencing. I’m not stuck on the phone with you, I want to be talking with you and try to help you in any way I can. And yes, I’m sure.”

You contemplated it, turning it over and over in your brain. This was why you called. This was why you decided to give the helpline a try, to speak to a stranger who would listen and possibly be able to help you and if not, at least maybe understand where you were coming from. If he was willing (and he had been helpful so far), then why not?

“Would it help if I promise not to make any more Star Wars references?”

You couldn’t help but smile. “Tremendously.” 

“Deal,” he laughed. You liked the sound of his laugh; it was warm, inviting, and put you instantly at ease. This CJ seemed to know what he was doing and you could now see why people called in to speak to him and other counselors like him. 

You nervously licked your lips and decided to take the plunge. You told him everything. You told him about how it started when you began college, how the classes and workload immediately overwhelmed you. How you struggled to keep from drowning in assignments and tests and projects and papers. How you started to develop these episodes and how badly you felt during them. How you had tried to talk to your parents but they just didn’t seem to hear you, dismissing it as an issue that would be resolved by you being more outgoing and feeling more grateful that you had such an educational opportunity when many didn’t. How you could be in a room full of a hundred people and still feel completely alone, especially when an episode kicked in. You’d even told him about your failed attempt at attending the frat party. He had rarely talked, giving you the floor, but he had interjected a couple of times to either support you or make some helpful suggestions. Other than that, he just listened. By the time you finished, you felt like you had told him your whole life story, but you had to admit that you felt a lot better once you got it all off your chest, which incidentally, was feeling lighter. And this time, someone listened and actually heard you. That made all the difference.

You glanced at the clock for the first time in a long time and noted it was 10:16. Your eyes widened and your jaw dropped, your cheeks immediately heating up. Had you really been talking nonstop for over three hours? “I’m so sorry, I didn’t realize it was so late. I should let you go so you can speak to other callers.”

“My shift ended fifteen minutes ago actually.”

Your heart stopped and however much better you’d been feeling, felt like it went right down the drain. How could you have been so self-absorbed and only concerned with your problems that you’d talked his ear off and used up his whole shift? Not one other person got to talk to him tonight and you didn’t even go to that school. Seriously, how selfish were you? “I-I’m so, so sorry. You should have stopped me or told me there was a time limit per call.” You were full on babbling now. “I didn’t mean to— I am so beyond sorry. I’m going to let you go. Thank you so much for your help and I hope you have a good rest of your night. Don’t worry. I promise I won’t call again. Good night.”

You went to hang up the phone when you heard loudly, “Please don’t hang up.”

You put it back to your ear, your brows drawing together in confusion. “But you said your shift was over.”

“Yeah,” he chuckled. “But that’s okay. If I wanted you to stop talking, I would have said something. And did I ask you to stop?”

“Well, no, but—”

“Then I didn’t want you to stop talking. It seems like there’s a lot on your plate at the moment or else you wouldn’t have called, right?”

“Okay, yeah. But—”

“So it’s good that you called and I’m glad I was able to help. And for the record, there’s no time limit on a call.” Someone said something to him in the background and he quietly responded though you couldn’t hear what he said. “I’m actually gonna get going because my replacement is here and they don’t have another place to sit.” 

“Right. Of course. Again, sorry.”

“But,” he continued. “I’m going to be here Monday afternoon around 2 so if you want to call back then we can talk again.”

“I have class then.” You truly did but even if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be calling him back. You had taken up enough of his time.

“I’m here until 6:00 that day.”

“I have a study session after that class.” Okay, maybe that was a lie. “But I appreciate the offer. Thank you and have a good—”

“I’m back on again next Friday. Same time. Why don’t you call me then if you’re free?”

“I appreciate it, CJ, but don’t worry. If I need the helpline again, I’ll call, but you helped me a lot tonight and I feel better so…I won’t need to call. Again, I’m sorry I monopolized your shift.”

“Do me a favor and call me again anyway, even if you are feeling better. I’d like to check in with you and the only way I can do that is if you call me back.”

“Right. Being anonymous and all,” you mumbled. Thank God for that. You didn’t think your embarrassment at talking his head off for over three hours while you complained about your life would ever go away.

“Yeah. So, please, if you can call me next week, same time, even if you just tell me you’re feeling better and hang up. That’s all I ask.”

You supposed you could do that, after he’d generously taken the time to hear you out, after he’d helped you through your episode. “Okay.”

“Friday, 7:00. Promise me.”

“I promise,” you whispered.

And so had begun the tradition of you calling him every Friday night at 7:00. You hadn’t intended for that to happen, honestly. But each time you would talk to him, ranging in times from twenty minutes to an hour and a half (you refused to ever get near that three hour mark again, no matter what he said), he would always ask you to call him back the following week, making you promise that you would. Over time, you noticed that your overwhelmed feeling had lessened considerably (though not completely gone) and instead of having an episode (or panic attack as CJ called them) twice weekly, they had now diminished to one every couple of weeks. And even then they weren’t as bad as they had been, thanks to the techniques CJ suggested you try using. Things had gotten better for you and you had to admit, the helpline definitely was a useful service for students, though for your own personal experience, you attributed a lot of that to CJ.

Speaking of which, that was how you two began to get to know one another, moving from strictly counselor and caller into a tentative friendship. When initially speaking to him, he began to feel like a friend you were just catching up with on how your past week had been, and then it actually sort of became that. He started to tell you more details about himself and now you knew what type of music he liked, what he was majoring in, where he had grown up, and why he had joined The Stand. He had even shared his backstory with you and why he didn’t drink when you told him how uncomfortable college parties made you in general. The conversation was no longer one-sided and you’d come to like it that way.

Until the day came when he asked your name. 

“My name?”

“Well, yeah, so I know what to call you. It feels weird calling you “you” all the time,” he laughed.

“Um…” You were practically crapping bricks. You didn’t expect this.

“Just your first name. You’ll still be anonymous,” he reassured. “It could be a nickname if you want. Or your middle name. Just something.”

You ran over it in your mind. What if he still somehow managed to find out who you were if you gave him only your first name? Sure, you weren’t going to the same schools, but what if somehow someway…? Plus, your friends weren’t exactly fans of CJ right now. Apparently, Jen had a major crush on him but her hopes were dashed when he told her he didn’t date (something he had told you long before you heard it via your friends) and then hooked up with Audrey the same night. You hadn’t been there that night, opting to stay in and study for a huge test you had coming up in your Lit class, and after hearing that not only had CJ been present but also what happened, you were glad you had made that decision. Audrey and Joey were on the outs thanks to the events of that night and now so were Jen and Audrey once it was revealed that CJ and Audrey had slept together, right before Pacey punched his face in. 

When that Friday rolled around, you almost didn’t call him. You were angry and hurt yourself. Angry because his careless actions had hurt more than one of your friends, and hurt because truth be told, you had started to crush on him yourself from afar. You trusted him with the details of your life, very personal details (without giving specifics obviously), and he’d helped you. How could he be this helpful, compassionate guy working at a helpline but turn out to be this scummy, advantage-taking, selfish player? You couldn’t reconcile in your head the CJ you were getting to know with the CJ your friends saw.

“That’s just the thing, Y/N,” Jen told you when you wondered aloud how a helpline counselor could do something like he had with your friends. “Most people who go into those positions to help other people are usually a thousand times more screwed up than the people they’re helping. Audrey’s been hurting, as you know, and she’s been acting out and he saw an opportunity. Case closed.” But it wasn’t case closed for you. Not by a mile. You wanted answers, but how could you get them while remaining anonymous?

So that following Friday at 7:00, as you angrily punched in the helpline number, you had no idea how you would do it but you were determined to get them. And if you didn’t like what you heard, then this would be your last call and you would close the book on CJ and your budding friendship for good.

It caught you off guard, though, when you heard a different voice this time.

“Hello, Helpline. This is David.”

You nearly hung up. You knew David; he was starting to hang out with your group more and more, especially Jack. What if he recognized your voice?

“Hello?”

You forced yourself to ask the burning question on the tip of your tongue, albeit with a slightly higher pitch of voice. “Hi, is CJ there?”

“No, I’m sorry.” You covered the mouthpiece with your hand and let out a sigh of relief. Whether it was because David didn’t recognize you or you didn’t have to confront CJ right this second, you couldn’t be sure. Probably a bit of both. “He called out sick and asked me to fill in for him. He should be back next week, though.”

“Oh, okay. I’ll call then. Thank you.” You quickly hung up before he could ask you anything else.

The next Friday you called, you got CJ.

“Hey,” he greeted, sounding relieved when he heard your voice. “How are you?”

“I’m okay.” You were standing in your dorm room, staring out the window and watching the rain, your arms crossed. You weren’t as angry as last week, the extra time allowing you to let a cooler head prevail, but you still wanted answers. “How are you?”

“Honestly? I’ve been better.”

“I’m sorry. I know you were sick last week. Has it not gotten any better?”

“Uh, yeah, I’m sorry about that. I was feeling lousy and just needed to take a day, you know?” And he didn’t need to be parading around a still-healing black eye that might prompt questions, you bet. 

“I get that.”

“God, I wish I had your number outside of this so I could call you.” Your jaw tightened. Perhaps your friends were right; there was a whole other side to him. A side you didn’t really want to get to know. “I really could’ve used a friend to talk to.”

You unclenched your jaw when you realized he wasn’t hitting on you and when you thought about it, he sounded genuinely miserable and he never had in any of your previous conversations, even when your friendship formed. It was unlike him, or at least the CJ you had gotten to know. Just like this behavior your friends had told you about sounded unlike him. “Well, I’m here now, if you want to talk.”

“Are you sure? I don’t want to make this about me. You called in to talk, not to hear about my problems,” he laughed, sounding nervous. That was a first.

“I’m sure. What are friends for?”

He told you everything while not naming anyone. He didn’t hold back anything and you realized that while he didn’t know who you were, he was giving you the side that had been missing from the story your friends told you: his side. Every side has a story after all. He admitted he had messed up big time. He had hurt Jen (or Blondie as he called her), he had been an ass to Pacey (or The Guy Who Punched My Face) when he had no right to be, and he should have never hooked up with Audrey (or The Girl That Came Out of Nowhere). Apparently, Jen had said to him the same thing she said to you and it got him thinking, along with some things Audrey had said. He felt like a huge jerk and all he wanted to do was keep his head down and move forward, get back on the right track that his life had been headed in. You stayed silent as he talked and before you knew it, the clock read 9:47. 

“Your shift is over soon,” you whispered once he was done.

“Yeah, but I still have a few minutes. So what do you think? Am I a complete jackass or what?” He let out another nervous chuckle.

You briefly pressed your lips together as you thought of how best to answer that. In the end, you were as honest as you could be without giving yourself away. “I think we all make mistakes sometimes. But as long as we recognize them, apologize to those we’ve hurt, and try to do better, then that’s all that matters. So no, not a complete jackass.” 

This time when he laughed, it sounded relieved. “Thanks.”

“Of course. That’s what I’m here for,” you repeated his words back to him, teasing him slightly.

A moment of silence passed between you before he asked, “Will you call again next week?”

That made you do a double take. He never asked you to call the following week like that. Usually he asked in the form of making you promise you would call or he’d tell you he’d talk to you the following week. But when he asked like this, he sounded uncertain, vulnerable. You knew then that more than just his face and ego had been hurt by recent events. Perhaps you were a fool but you believed his remorse to be genuine. 

“Yeah,” you assured him. “I’ll call next week.”

And when you did, he immediately hit you with the name question. 

“Earth to you…” He called, snapping you out of it and reclaiming your attention. “See? It doesn’t really work,” he laughed.

You had to be careful here. Not only because you didn’t want him to find out who you were but also because if your friends ever found out, especially Audrey��you were toast. 

You opened your mouth to give him the name of a classmate that couldn’t be traced back to you but “Jo” came tumbling out instead.

“Jo?”

Oh crap. You had Audrey and then Joey on your mind and it just slipped out. Crap, crap, crap. “Yeah,” you lied. “Jo.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Jo.” You could practically hear him smiling, happy to have gotten a name out of you.

You squeezed your eyes shut, angry with yourself. “Nice to meet you, too,” you mumbled before you dropped your head into your hands.  

So now here you were, him thinking you were Jo from the college he was attending, and you were calling him every single week at the same time like clock work. You had long ago stopped questioning the morality of what you were doing and it seemed that he didn’t appear to question it at all. He was always happy to hear from you and your conversations were more personal now. You couldn’t deny the way your heart rate spiked every time you heard his voice when he picked up the call or how whenever his name was mentioned in passing by David or Jen (though rare these days), you would specifically tune in, listening for anything that had to do with him. You had it bad and you knew it, but it was also a safe crush from a distance and would be staying that way.

You shook your head, snapping yourself out of your reverie and remembered CJ has asked you a question. “I’m good. Really good. How about you?”

“Really good, huh? I’m happy to hear it and happy to be hearing from you.”

You couldn’t help but smile. “Yeah, I got that paper back and you were so right, The Writing Center really helped. I can’t believe I never thought to try it before. Thank you so much for that idea.”

“I’m happy to be of service,” he chuckled. “I’m glad it helped. And the club thing? Did you give that a try as well?”

Your smile dropped. He had been trying to urge you to join a club or a group where you had shared interests with other students. His theory was that if you gave a small group of people a shot doing a social activity you might enjoy, that it might help decrease your nervousness in other social settings. Even though you told him you had a group of friends you regularly met up with, he didn’t think expanding your social circles would be a bad thing to consider. “No? I told you, CJ, that’s not really my thing.”

“I get that, I do. How about this? If you want, I could meet you at Student Activities and we could take a look around together, get some info. No pressure, of course, but you wouldn’t have to walk in there alone. I know it can be a bit much sometimes. I remember my first semester here and I didn’t know where to stick my head.”

You froze. That was the first time he’d ever mentioned the possibility of you meeting in person. Perhaps if you were really Jo from Boston Bay College, you could take him up on it or give him your number like he’d asked you for or call his room number like he’d offered up a few times now so you could talk outside of the helpline. But you weren’t and so you had to decline. “I appreciate the offer but it’s not my thing so I’m going to have to pass. Sorry, but thank you, though.” 

“If you’re sure.” He sounded slightly disappointed but maybe that was just you imagining it. 

“Yep, I’m sure. Uh, so listen, I can’t stay on long. My roommate and her boyfriend will be here in less than ten so I’m gonna go so I can get out of here before I get hit by the clothes hurricane that’s most likely to happen.” It was a complete lie. Your roommate, Stacey, had actually gone to visit her boyfriend for the weekend. You would have peace and quiet and the dorm to yourself for two whole days. 

He chuckled good-naturedly. “I don’t blame you. If you get bored later, I’m here at The Stand until 10:00, like you already know, and then I’ll be back in my room. You can call me then if you want to talk. I”ll be up for a while so don’t worry about calling too late.”

“Oh. Thanks. Maybe I’ll do that.” You weren’t going to and he knew you weren’t going to. You hadn’t the last two times he’d made the same offer and the last two times you’d given him the same response.

“Jo?”

“Yeah?”

“If I don’t hear from you… Call next week, okay?”

“Okay,” you agreed, smiling, like always. You said your quick goodbyes and you hung up, letting out a heavy breath. While he had been urging you to contact him personally, he had never mentioned meeting him before. That was different. And it worried you at the same time. Why the offer now? Granted, he was just trying to be helpful to you, given the context, but what if he began to find other ways to work it in like he already had about your phone numbers? What if he continued to push to meet Jo? 

You shook your head, telling yourself that you were doing it again, worrying over things that might not happen. You would cross that bridge when you came to it, something CJ had once said to you that you kept for yourself as your own personal mantra. You would wait to see how next week would go.

But unfortunately, the call never happened.

You had been out with Jack and David on Thursday night at Hell’s Kitchen, when Jen waltzed in, smiling and taking a seat. Joey and Emma were working and Pacey was supposed to join you later.

“You worked late today,” Jack commented. 

“Training took a little bit longer than expected. We were supposed to be done at 6:00 but then our relief called and said they were going to be late. Of course, since CJ was going to stay, I wasn’t going to just leave him there.” Your ears perked up at the mention of CJ. You knew Jen was training as a counselor and he was the one training her. Jen had begrudgingly forgiven CJ but it was also obvious to you all that she still had a crush on him. While you couldn’t blame her, you also felt for her. CJ told you that he had to make it clear once more to Blondie that he wasn’t looking to date though he was happy she had finally started training at the helpline. He really believed she would make a great counselor once she settled into it. 

Talk about complicated. Jen was your friend and you didn’t want to see her get hurt, but you could also understand if CJ didn’t see her that way, he just didn’t. They were both your friends now and you just wanted them both to be happy, whatever that looked like.

“But then, listen to this,” she continued. “Our relief, this guy named Seth, sees me there with CJ and starts teasing him about how he’s racking up all of these beautiful girls through the helpline, not leaving any for him.”

“Jen,” Jack warned. 

“No, listen. This is good. You’re going to like this.” 

Jack sighed but let her finish.

“CJ laughs it off but then Seth mentions how he has this girl calling him every Friday night, around the same time, and she talks his ear off for hours.”

You were about to take a bite of your french fry when you froze. Your heart dropped down to your feet. 

“And so I ask if this is true and CJ says that we’re there to help everybody, time limits aren’t a thing, and it doesn’t matter how many times a caller calls back or they speak to the same counselor. As long as they get the help they need.”

“He’s right,” David chimed in.

“But then Seth starts teasing him again and asks if CJ can give him tips on how to get dates using the helpline. CJ laughs and says sure. I mention how he said he wasn’t looking to date and Seth says he tells every girl that so he doesn’t have to commit but can still get what he wants.” You dropped your fry back into your basket, trying to ignore the rolling nausea in your stomach. 

“I don’t know about that,” David chuckled nervously.

“He didn’t deny it, David. He just laughed and walked away. Can you believe it? He’s using the helpline to get girls. Talk about abusing the system, not to mention the absolute lack of morality.” You definitely felt like you were going to be sick. “I quit. If that’s what guys like him and Seth are using that helpline for then I don’t want any part of it. And CJ? Audrey was right. He’s a skeevy player. I can’t believe I didn’t see it this whole time.” Jen shook her head. You were getting that all-too familiar falling feeling again. 

“Wait, seriously? Guys are using the helpline to pick up girls?” Jack turned to David.

“No. Jen, I’m sure Seth was just kidding and CJ was just playing along. Nobody is using the helpline to pick anyone up. Everyone that works there knows the rules and they’re there to help callers. How could they pick anyone up, anyway? It’s all anonymous.”

“Yeah, but if they pushed for a date or something… It could happen.” You immediately felt your stomach jolt and like someone had punched you in the gut at the same time.

“It could,” David agreed. “But I doubt it does.”

“He has the same girl calling him every single week at the same time. What would keep her calling like that?” Jen interjected. You glanced away from the table for a moment, not sure if you wanted to hear the answer David would give.

“Is that true? Every week?” Jack asked in disbelief.

“It’s true,” David confirmed. “I actually got her once when CJ was out sick. She sounded nice.” If you could have, you would have given him a smile, thankful for David’s attempt to defend CJ and the helpline and unknowingly you. But right then, you were trying not to hyperventilate. “And CJ appears to be helping her. He said she’s made a lot of progress since they started talking.”

“He talked to you about her?” Jen looked shocked. Oh God. Your chest started to feel tight.

“Only because he was going to be out sick that one day and in case she called and then decided to talk to me, he wanted me to be up to speed in case she needed something. That’s all.”

“I feel badly for this girl. She probably thinks CJ is some great guy and she can trust him but based on what Seth said, he’s simply playing the long game with her. A girl whose trust he’s taking advantage of. I’m telling you, Audrey was right about him and I should’ve seen it.” Jen rubbed at her forehead. It was beyond hot in here and even though it wasn’t crowded, the room started to feel smaller.

“I don’t think that’s true, Jen,” David defended. “I don’t think he’s looking to take advantage of this girl at all. I think he truly wants to help her.”

“Yeah, that’s how it started with Audrey and look at how that turned out.” David dropped his gaze to his food, continuing to poke at it with his fork. There wasn’t much he could say to that though he wished he still would. “And if that’s true, he only wants to help her, then why was he laughing along when Seth talked about her and how she keeps him on the phone for hours? How is that helping her?”

You felt like your feet were locked in cement but your legs were wobbling to and fro. And yet you also felt like a large boulder was now sitting on your chest, making it difficult to breathe. How could any of this conversation be happening right now?

Jack glanced from David to Jen. “Perhaps David’s right, Jen. Maybe he was just playing along. That’s what guys do sometimes. You know that.”

“I don’t think that’s what that was. Either way, I quit.”

Jack and David started to urge her not to quit, but at that point you’d had enough. Your hands were clammy and you felt that feeling on your forehead, too. You needed cold, and air. “Excuse me,” you nearly rasped out and beat a hasty retreat to the bathroom. You could feel your dinner coming back up. Joey stopped you in your trek.

“Hey, Y/N, are you okay? You don’t look so good.”

You shook your head and dodged past her, hurrying to the bathroom. Once you reached it, you locked the door and pushed into a stall just in time. You emptied the contents of your stomach and once you were finished, you made your way towards the sink, splashing cold water on your face. You could feel the panic attack you were having and you tried your best to ward it off but to no avail.

You slid down the wall and struggled to breathe, trying the techniques CJ had taught you. You didn’t want to think about him right now but you also didn’t want to be having this happen while your friends sat right outside. Not to mention, you knew Joey was going to come check on you. You gasped for air and rubbed at your chest. Once it passed, you unlocked the door, made excuses to Joey and your friends, went home, showered, and cried yourself to sleep. For the first time in a while, you’d had a particularly bad episode and ended the night in tears: two things you hadn’t done since you’d started talking to CJ regularly. You felt as if all the progress you’d made was like a house of cards that fell to the ground after one card was pulled out from under you. And all because you’d trusted the wrong person. 

So you stopped calling and instead, spent your Friday nights at the library, studying, so you wouldn’t be tempted to pick up the phone and call to confront the guy who’d betrayed your trust.

<-->

A few weeks later, you were sitting on Joey’s bed, watching Audrey unload her closet onto her mattress. Apparently, she was going to rehab, for real this time. She was ready to confront the fact that her drinking was out of control. Joey was helping her sort through everything and handed you things to fold and place in her suitcase. Eddie had already taken one heavy suitcase down to the car, along with a very high Bob. 

You all looked up when there was a polite knock on their dorm room door. Joey got up to answer it, most likely thinking it was Eddie, but when she opened the door, it revealed another guy altogether.

There stood CJ, in jeans and a long-sleeved shirt with a jacket covering his tall frame. Your heart skipped a beat before falling into your stomach but then leaping back into place and pounding faster than before for a whole other reason. You immediately grabbed a magazine from the nightstand and began sifting through it, your jaw clenched and you refusing to look in his direction.

Before anyone could say a word, Audrey groaned. “You’ve got to be kidding me!”

Out of the corner of your eye, you saw CJ hold up a placating hand in her direction. “I’m not here for you, okay? I’m actually looking for someone.”

You froze.

“I bet you are,” Audrey grumbled.

Joey crossed her arms. “Who?”

“A girl by the name of Jo who lives in this building.”

You mentally cursed yourself. You knew you had let the name of your dorm building slip once by accident but he hadn’t appeared to have heard you so you thought you were in the clear; apparently, he had heard you. Crap.

Joey tensed. Uh oh. You had a feeling this was going to come back to haunt you at some point. Here it was. “Why are you looking for me?”

CJ’s brow drew together. “You’re Jo?”

Audrey was suddenly at Joey’s side. “Yeah, why are you looking for her?”

“Jo is a girl who called the helpline. I haven’t heard from her in a few weeks and I just wanted to check on her.”

Her distaste for CJ forgotten, Audrey turned in shock to her roommate. “Joey Potter, you called the helpline?”

“What? No. Don’t be ridiculous, Audrey.” Joey then looked at CJ. “I don’t know who this girl is but it’s not me. Good luck in your search.” She went to close the door but CJ stopped her.

“Wait, so you’ve never heard of a girl named Jo who lives in this building?”

“No,” Audrey snapped. “Now, go away.”

“Hold on a second. Because Joanna Martin who lives on the 2nd floor isn’t her and has never heard of her. Now you’re saying you’re not her and you’ve never heard of her either?”

Audrey gave him a nasty smirk. “Imagine that. A girl using a fake name calling an anonymous helpline. She probably knows what a sleazeball you are and didn’t want you stalking her. If she was calling the helpline, she’s probably got enough on her plate. Best of luck, Stalker Boy.”

Audrey went to shut the door in his face but again, he stopped it.

“I don’t really care what you think of me. You want to think I’m the bad guy in everything that happened with us? That’s fine. But I’m actually trying to find this girl to help her.”

“Help her into your bed, you mean.”

His jaw clenched. “It’s not like that.”

“Oh, I bet it is but whatever.” Audrey rolled her eyes and turned back to you. “Y/N, have you ever heard of this girl he’s looking for?”

Your eyes snapped up to them and all three of them were now staring at you, waiting for your answer. Crap. CJ was looking right at you. Double crap. You shook your head and went back to your magazine. 

“There you go. No one here has heard of her. Buh-bye now.” 

Audrey was closing the door when Joey’s phone started to ring. Joey, who had gone back into the whirlwind of clothes, looked over at you. “Hey, can you get that? Eddie might be calling from his cell phone.”

You nodded and picked up the line. “Hello?”

“Hey, Y/N. Can I talk to Joey? Audrey’s friend, Bob, is getting a little impatient down here.”

“Sure. One sec.” You handed the phone to Joey. “It’s Eddie.” She took it and began rolling her eyes when Eddie was most likely telling her the same thing he had just told you. She came over, zipped up the suitcase you had been working on after dumping more things into it. “Do you mind taking this to Eddie downstairs? He’ll meet you in the lobby.”

“Sure thing.” You tossed the magazine back onto the night stand and grabbed the suitcase handle, picking it up and placing it on its wheels. You slipped your worn paperback copy of your book into the back pocket of your jeans, intent on returning it to your room when you came back up. Now that you knew CJ was trying to track you down and he was in the building, you didn’t feel comfortable having any clues pointing to your identity out in the open like that. 

You grabbed the tail of the suitcase and began to pull it along. “Oh my God, Aud. Do you really need this many outfits?” 

She looked up from her cell phone and gave you a smile. “Of course. Rehab is bound to be drab so I’m going to make it fab.” She shot you a wink and opened the door for you. 

You laughed and shook your head, crossing over the threshold. You made your way to the elevator and pushed the button. While you were waiting, you heard behind you, “Need some help with that?”

You nearly jumped out of your skin. CJ was right there, behind you, talking directly to you. While a part of you wanted to tell him to take a hike, your desire for anonymity was greater. You turned and gave him a wan smile, shaking your head. His green eyes were intent on you and you didn’t care for that one bit. It was like he knew who you were without you even having to say it. Luckily, at that moment, the elevator dinged and the door opened. You went to roll the suitcase onto it when a hand picked it up out of nowhere.

“Let me give you a hand,” CJ offered, not waiting for you to reply and stepping into the elevator. You paused for a moment, considering not getting onto it with him but Eddie was expecting you and Joey and Audrey were waiting for you to come back. You let out a quiet sigh and stepped inside, hitting the button for the Lobby and waiting for the doors to close.

Once they did and you started descending, CJ glanced over at you. “So, Jo, were you planning on ever calling me again?”

Your heart started to pound but you forced yourself to remain cool as a cucumber, hoping he wouldn’t recognize your voice. You arched a questioning brow up at him. “I don’t know who you think I am but my name’s Y/N. Sorry to disappoint.” You turned back to the door.

“The Green Mile book in your back pocket says otherwise.”

Crap. You tried to think quickly. “That’s just a book I’m reading for class.” You decided to channel Audrey, the queen of mean when she wanted to be; perhaps that would get him to leave you alone. The doors were opening and you turned to give him a smirk. “NIce try, though, Sherlock. Better get back to Watson before he misses you.” You grabbed the tail of the suitcase and nearly stormed out of the elevator. 

CJ was suddenly at your side. “I know it’s you. Why are you trying so hard to act like it’s not?”

You shook your head, choosing to ignore him. Thankfully, Eddie came into sight, rushing to get the suitcase. 

“Thank you, thank you.” He picked it up and gave you a look. “About how many more of these are coming down, do you think?”

You shrugged. “I don’t know. She has a lot of outfits. Joey’s got her work cut out for her.”

Eddie groaned and then noticed CJ standing next to you. “Good to see you again, man.”

“Likewise.”

Eddie glanced between you and CJ before walking away. Great. He was bound to mention that to Joey who would most likely question you about it later thanks to CJ’s impromptu appearance earlier. You spun on your heel and headed back to the elevator, punching the button.  

CJ was suddenly next to you. “What happened? Why did you stop calling?” He quietly asked you. 

You didn’t answer him, just kept staring straight ahead, your jaw clenched.

He leaned in slightly, his voice even quieter. “Did I make you nervous by offering to meet you? I was only trying to help. Nothing funny, I promise.”

When the doors opened, you stepped inside and of course, he followed you. The doors closed and your ride up began. 

“Are you going to talk to me or just keep ignoring me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I know your voice. It’s you.” After another quiet moment, he begged, “Would you please just talk to me? What happened?”

You shook your head.

“Something obviously happened to make you stop calling. So, talk to me. I want to make sure you’re okay.”

You glared over at him. “Again, I don’t know what you’re talking about. Now please stop bothering me.” CJ looked as if you’d slapped him for a moment and you felt guilty but then you immediately remembered what Jen had said that night at the bar. 

He gave you a curt nod and turned to face the door. Once it opened, you went to step out when he lifted the book out of your back pocket. 

“Hey! Give that back!” He held it out of your reach, opening it to find the note from your dad on the inside page that he’d written after he bought it for you. Why did you have to mention that in your phone conversations? That was a dead giveaway that yes, Jo was indeed you. How could you have been so stupid?

CJ gestured to the note. “Tell me again how it’s not you.”

You snatched the book out of his hands and hurried down the hall to your room. You would’ve gone back to Audrey’s and Joey’s room, but you were afraid he’d out you to them. Even if they didn’t believe him, you still remembered Audrey’s reaction when she thought it might be Joey for a moment and the latter’s response. 

“Y/N, wait,” CJ begged behind you. “Please, can we just talk for a minute?” You were unlocking your door when he was right next to you. “Just one minute. Please. That’s all I’m asking. Then, if you want, you’ll never see or hear from me again.”

You mulled it over for a moment. You could do one minute, you supposed, and get this over with. You glanced up at him and nodded, pretending not to see the relief that filled his expression. You opened the door and then held it open wider for him to follow.

You saw your roommate sitting on her bed, talking on the phone to her boyfriend. “Stace,” you interrupted. “Can you give us a minute?”

She frowned. “I’m kind of in the middle of—”

“I need the room.” Your tone brooked no argument. You surprised her; usually, you kept to yourself and never really stood up to her if she got mean or demanding. But you were not in the mood for any of her crap right then. You were at your limit.

Stacey scoffed but got to her feet. “One second, babe.” She glared at you, which you were more than happy to return, and then turned it onto CJ as well. “Boys aren’t allowed to stay up here so make it quick. You know the rules.”

You huffed out a snort. “The rule you break almost every other night? Got it, Stace, thanks for looking out.” You practically shut the door in her scowling face. You turned to find CJ’s eyes trained on you.

“So that’s the roommate, huh?” You shrugged. “Exactly how I pictured her, scowl and everything.”

You didn’t laugh at his joke and instead, crossed your arms. “You wanted to talk?”

He pressed his lips together and thrust his hands into his jacket pockets. “Why did you stop calling?”

You wanted to tell him the truth but it also seemed best to just get him out of there as soon as possible. He knew who you really were now and that was a problem. Especially if your friends found out you were the girl that had been calling him every week. Because sooner or later, they would want to know why and you weren’t ready to talk about that or have them look at you funny. You knew they’d be supportive, especially Joey and Audrey, but you also knew things would change. And you weren’t quite ready for that to happen. 

“I’ve been doing better so there was no need. You should know, you made me your pet project after all.” You didn’t mean to be harsh but you were still angry. 

His brows furrowed. “What does that mean?”

“You know. I’m the girl who calls you every week to talk your ear off and keeps you on the phone for hours. The girl you’ve supposedly been trying to pick up through the helpline, though apparently I’m not the only one.”

His eyes widened. “Y/N, that’s not true at all. I don’t use the helpline to pick up girls or try to get dates. I don’t date, you know I don’t. I don’t know who told you that but it’s not true.”

“But the other part is?”

“No. Not at all.”

“Because that’s how your buddy Seth put it, the way Jen tells it.”

CJ huffed out a mirthless laugh, rubbing at his forehead and giving a nod. “Jen. That’s who you heard this from.”

“Don’t even,” you snapped. “David also mentioned how you told him all about me and my issues.” You used quotation marks on the last word.

His hand dropped. “Okay, first off, you don’t have issues, no more than anybody else around here, myself included. Second, I only told David because I was going to be out that one night. I wanted to make sure if you called in that you were taken care of. That’s it. David is one of our better counselors, he’s a friend, and I trust him completely.”

Your jaw tightened. “That still doesn’t explain why Seth would even say anything like that. And you laughed! You stood there and laughed as this guy, who I don’t know by the way, is turning me calling you for help into a joke! Is that what I am? The joke at the office? Does everyone there know how I’ve been calling you every week and boring you to death with my problems?”

“What? No! You’re not a joke. And you’re not—”

“Really? Because it sure sounded like it to me based on what Jen said.”

“Okay, let’s get something straight. You’re not boring me to death when you call, you’re not talking my ear off, or keeping me stuck on the phone with you, or anything else that someone else might have said. I wanted to talk to you. I wanted to be there for you and try to help. Then when we started talking about more than that, I wanted to talk to you even more. If I didn’t want to talk to you at all, if you were such a nuisance, then why would I ask you to call back every week or give you my phone number even?”

“But you weren’t trying to pick me up.”

“No, I wasn’t. I wanted to be available to you if you needed to talk to me outside of the hours I had at The Stand.”

“Yeah, because I was your pet project.”

“No, you weren’t and why do you keep saying that?”

“It’s true, isn’t it?”

“No, it’s not.” 

“Isn’t that what you do, though? Isn’t that why you tracked me down? Isn’t that why you kept trying to get my number and even suggested we meet though the helpline’s supposed to be anonymous? You look for girls who are messed up and try to be their white knight. It gives you some sort of satisfaction, some twisted sense of purpose… That’s what happened with Audrey, right?” Again, he looked like you slapped him but this time, you didn’t feel guilty. You were only speaking the truth. He had told you how much he wanted to help Audrey and how somehow they ended up in bed together and before he knew it, he really liked her and wanted to see more of her. In the end, he’d admitted to you that it might have been him confusing his desire to help her with his interest in her. That maybe Audrey had been right in what she’d said.

You watched as his shoulders deflated slightly and he let out a heavy breath, hanging his head. You bit your lip and glanced away from him, not wanting to see him look so defeated. You had to be strong, you had to stand up for yourself and not let him or anyone else take advantage of you. That was the silent vow you’d made to yourself after you’d cried yourself to sleep that night you found out how you were being used and made a mockery of.

“I tracked you down because I was worried,” he spoke softly. You turned back to find him staring at you, remorse radiating from him. You felt slightly bad for hurting him but you had said nothing but the truth, from his own lips. “It wasn’t like you not to call so I thought maybe something happened or maybe I made you nervous with that last call. Like I said, I gave you my number because I wanted to be there for you anytime you needed me, even if I wasn’t working. So this way you always had a way to get a hold of me if you needed to. I only asked for yours because I did like talking to you and I thought we were becoming friends. I know that’s not the norm for the helpline and it’s never happened before, to me or to anyone else that I know of, but like I said, I enjoyed talking to you. I only offered to meet you at Student Activities that day because you seemed nervous to try it alone and I didn’t want you to feel like that. I would’ve made that offer to anyone that needed it.” He nervously licked his lips. “I do like you but it has nothing to do with my wanting to help you or make sure you’re okay. I made a mistake with Audrey but I learned from it. I told you that.” He sighed before continuing. “I like you, Y/N, because you’re funny and smart and kind. Even if we didn’t meet through the helpline, I still would have liked you once I got to talk to you, once I got to know you better. That’s the truth.”

He turned to leave when he stopped suddenly. “By the way, Seth is the guy who usually relieves me on Friday nights. That’s how he knew about you calling every week. He always liked to razz me about being on the phone with you since I made him fifteen minutes late for his shift that one time. I only laughed because it was obvious he was showing off for Jen, that he likes her, and I was trying not to embarrass him in front of her. I did end up talking to him later about it, though, and asked him not to mention it again in front of her or anyone else. He agreed; he’s not a bad guy.” He glanced back at you over his shoulder. “I’m sorry this happened. If you call the helpline again and want to talk to someone else, I understand. If you don’t want to call at all, I understand that, too. Just…take care of yourself, alright?”

You averted your eyes, not wanting him to see the tears building in them, and you gave him a curt nod. You only looked up again when the door snicked closed. You pretended a tear didn’t suddenly roll down your cheek and you told yourself that you had done the right thing. Though it certainly didn’t feel like it in the moment, deep within your chest. 

<-->

You stared at your phone, pacing back and forth as you chewed on your thumbnail. It had been almost a month since CJ walked out of your dorm room, leaving you more conflicted than you felt prior to his arrival. You had turned his explanation over and over in your mind so much that you had begun to dream about him every night. You had more panic attacks during that time, to the point where you’d finally taken the plunge and made an appointment to see a therapist. You’d told your parents everything you’d been experiencing, making sure they heard you this time, and told them you needed help. Your mother was still annoyed with you but your father was supportive, especially when you told him that you had a group of friends you met up with pretty regularly. He agreed to help with payments for your therapy. 

You were doing better, just like you had been while talking to CJ, and the therapist had even more techniques in her toolbox that she taught you how to use. You’d even opened up to her about CJ and everything that happened with him. She was the initial reason why you were considering making a call that you hadn’t made in quite a while. 

When you saw the clock hit 7:21, you made your decision. You huffed out a breath, picked up the phone, and dialed the all-too familiar number.

“Hello, Helpline. This is CJ.”

You resumed your pacing, nervous, unsure of how to say what you wanted to.

“Hello?”

You’ve got this.

“Hello?”

Just do it already. Talk to him.

“Listen, if you’re—”

“What are your plans for tomorrow afternoon?” You rushed out before you lost your nerve.

 “Jo?” You appreciated him using your fake name. “Is that you?”

“Well?” You asked.

“Uh, tomorrow? I’m free...”

“Would you…want to get some coffee? Maybe?”

“Coffee, huh?” You could hear the smile in his voice. “Jo, you’re not calling the helpline to ask me out on a coffee date, are you? Because that would be a serious misuse of this valuable resource the college provides,” he teased.       

“Oh. Okay. Well, I’ll just wait until Seth is on shift then and call him up to ask him instead. Thanks, though. Bye.”

“Don’t you dare,” he laughed. You lifted the phone back up to your ear. “What time and what coffee shop?”

You couldn’t help but smile. “Got a pen?”

<-->

You walked into the coffee shop ten minutes early, intent on getting a table and settling in before CJ arrived. To your surprise, he was already there, waving you over. You approached, feeling your heartbeat speed up with every step. “You’re early.”

“I wanted to make sure we got a good table.” You had a feeling that wasn’t the only reason. The worry shadowing his expression confirmed it. Did he really think you had called him up to ask him to meet you only for you not to show? Then again, you supposed you couldn’t blame him.

“Good thinking.” You gestured towards the line with your thumb. “I’m going to get some coffee. Do you want anything?”

He was immediately on his feet. “I’ll get it. You sit down. You still like lattes?”

You gave him a small smile and nodded; he remembered. 

He returned your smile. “Okay. Here, take a seat. I’ll be back in a minute.” You watched him walk over to the line as you did just that. 

You would be lying if you said you weren’t nervous, but you were taking your therapist’s advice. You were moving your friendship with CJ away from the helpline and out into the real world. You were giving him another chance while also allowing both of you to start over. If CJ agreed to, that is.

A few minutes later, he returned and placed your cup in front of you. You gave him a smile of thanks and waited for him to join you.

“So,” he started once he was settled. “You called in.”

“Only to ask you to meet me,” you pointed out.

The corner of his lips tipped up in a genuine smile. “I’m glad you did.”

“Me, too.” And you meant it. You were happy he’d said yes. “I actually asked you to meet me because I wanted to thank you.”

His brows drew together. “Thank me?”

You nodded and began to tell him about all of the recent developments in your life, including therapy. You also apologized for how harsh you’d been the last time you saw each other but he waved it off, saying you didn’t need to and he understood. He listened intently and his smile grew when you mentioned how the therapy was helping and your panic attacks were starting to lessen. 

“I’m really happy to hear it, Y/N, and I’m glad you’re doing better.”

You bit at your lip, feeling nervous about speaking this next part. “It wouldn’t have happened if you hadn’t helped me the way you did, especially that first night. So, thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he murmured.

Your heart began to pound against your rib cage but you bravely surged forward and kissed his cheek. When you sat back in your chair, his eyes were wide and you felt your face get hot. “Sorry. I just really wanted to do that for a long time. I hope that was okay.”

He grinned. “More than okay.” You felt relief sweep through you. “I was just thinking—”

“I know. You’re not dating, and we’re friends. Don’t worry, I understand.”

He studied you for a moment before speaking again. “I was going to say ‘I was just thinking what a coincidence because there’s something I’ve wanted to do for a really long time, too.’” His hand gently covered yours and he slowly leaned in, giving you time to pull away or tell him to stop. You weren’t going to do either. 

His lips brushed gently against yours and you felt a thrill rush through you at the contact. You had imagined kissing him so many times but the fantasy did absolutely no justice to the real thing. When you broke apart but he didn’t lean back right away, he murmured, “Was that okay?”

“More than okay,” you whispered before pulling him back into you, both of you grinning like idiots before your lips connected again.

<-->

You stopped, seeing the front of the building you were about to go into. “Are you sure we should be doing this?” You asked nervously.

CJ turned back to you and gave you a reassuring smile before cupping your cheek and kissing you. “Yes. We should.”

“But—”

“Everything’s going to be fine,” he assured you. “Trust me. I’m right here with you, okay?” He pecked your lips one more time, tightened his hold on your hand, and began pulling you forward. 

“Okay.” You didn’t sound so sure about this and truthfully, you weren’t.

CJ chuckled and led you inside. The Stand office was decorated with balloons and streamers and there was even confetti on the floor. One of the counselors was leaving since she was soon to graduate and a party was being thrown for her last day. You tried not to get overwhelmed at the amount of people filling the small space. It was overly warm in here and you could barely hear yourself think over the din of multiple conversations going on at once. Somewhere music was playing at a decent level. You noted a room in the back where through the window you could see two people sitting, talking on the phone, a closed door in between them and the noise. 

CJ intertwined your fingers and moved you both towards a group of a few people that he was intent on talking to, people greeting him as he passed. You remembered the techniques you had been taught and tried to put them into action while reminding yourself that you were with CJ and he wasn’t going to abandon you. 

He stopped and greeted the group before he turned to you smiling. “This is Y/N, my girlfriend.”

One of the guys laughed. “Ah, so this is Y/N.” Your heart started hammering inside your chest. “CJ hasn’t shut up about you since you two started dating.” You nearly sighed in relief.

CJ shrugged, grinning down at you. “Seth’s not wrong.”

Your eyes widened before you turned back to the guy. “Oh, so you’re Seth.”

Seth beamed. “Aww, CJ, you told her about me? I just knew we had something special,” he joked.

You frowned. “Hey now. Go get your own CJ. This one’s mine.” You winked up at CJ who laughed. 

He let go of your hand to wrap an arm around your waist and pull you into him. “Definitely yours,” he whispered huskily. 

Seth pretended to gag. “Ugh. Young love. Gross. You can have him, Y/N.”

“Damn right I do,” you laughed as CJ wrapped himself around you from behind and leaned down to kiss your cheek.

From that moment on, it wasn’t so bad. CJ circulated around the room to different groups, introducing you each time. With him by your side, you began to feel more comfortable and you opened up bit by bit. At one point, CJ took your hand and led you away. “I want to show you something.”

“Again?” You teased. “Didn’t you already show me something back in my dorm earlier? Twice?”

“Ha ha. No, this is something different. Though there will definitely be a third time when I get you out of here and back to my place.”

“Ooo. You sure know how to sweet talk a girl, Mr. Braxton.”

He smirked, wiggling his eyebrows playfully, and pulled you into a kiss that left you breathless. “Just a small preview for later.”

“A small preview?” You panted. You just loved teasing him and couldn’t resist.  

He rolled his eyes in amusement. “Come on.”

CJ led you over to a desk and with his free hand, he swiped confetti off of the seat. “This is it. My station,” he told you.

Your eyes roamed over the computer, the keyboard, the notepad and pens, stopping on the corded phone. So this was it. This was where CJ had sat on those Friday nights during your conversations. You smiled to yourself at the memory.

You let out a squeal when CJ quickly sat down in the chair and pulled you into his lap. You wrapped your arms around his neck to keep from falling, glaring at his laugh. You softened though when you looked back over the desk. “So this is where you sat on those nights we talked?”

“Uh huh. Though I much prefer you here on this end with me.” He gripped your chin between his fingers and turned you to him, kissing you sweetly. You snuck your fingers into his hair and tilted your head to deepen it, not caring right then about anyone or anything else around you. 

You and CJ had been dating for a while now and it was starting to become serious. He had met your parents when they came to visit. Your dad had liked him right away. Your mom, on the other hand, had given him a bit of a hard time but underneath the harsh exterior she was presenting, you could tell she liked him, too. He had initially planned to transfer to a school in New York, which you more than supported (though you were secretly heartbroken). You reminded him that you had done the phone thing once upon a time and you could do it again, if he wanted. After contemplating it, he decided to stay in Boston. 

“Please don’t tell me you chose to stay because of me. I’m not going anywhere. If it’s a great opportunity for you, you should go. I don’t want you to regret not going.”

He’d simply smiled. “I have a great opportunity right here and I would regret leaving.” He’d kissed your nose. “Besides, Boston’s home.”

“CJ, you should go. I’m almost done and I can come visit you. It’s only a few hours’ drive. You could show me things like the Empire State Building or take me to a museum or a play or show me Times Square.” You’d tried to make it sound enticing but inside it was killing you. Everyone knew long distance relationships had their problems and who knew? Maybe he might meet someone new in the Big Apple. But you also wanted him to do what was right for him, just like you’d spoken with your therapist about. You didn’t want him to resent you later on if he didn’t take this opportunity now and you certainly didn’t want him to have any regrets. “We could even visit Jen and Jack, see how her Grams is doing.”

Jen and Jack had transferred to New York. You had been worried to tell her that you and CJ were dating but while she was a little miffed in the beginning, she was more focused on the developing situation with her grandmother who had been diagnosed with cancer. Eventually, she forgave you before she left and gave you her blessing. You had been relieved; Jen was a good person, a good friend, and you didn’t want to lose her friendship. Jack had been worried about Jen’s reaction but for the most part, he had been fine with it. David was happy for you both. Audrey was doing better these days and though she had wanted to know what the hell you were thinking by shacking up with The Sleaze (as she referred to him), she had eventually told you she loved you and just wanted you to be happy. Joey asked you if you were sure when you told her and when you assured her that you were, she pretty much said the same thing as her former roommate and gave you a hug. She gave you a look when you pulled away and you knew that she had connected the dots on who you really were to CJ, but to her credit, she mercifully never said anything. Pacey and Emma had shrugged (CJ had apologized to Pacey at some point after what happened with Audrey and they had resolved things), wishing you well. Dawson…well, you never really got to know Dawson all that well during his brief visits so no conversation needed to be had there really. All in all, your friends were supportive, even if still a little wary of how things were going to work out. You were happy, though. It was strange but shifting from friends into romance proved to be an easier transition then you thought it would be.

CJ laid his forehead against yours, staring into your eyes, as he stroked your cheek with his thumb. “I’m not going without you.” You went to speak, to remind him you weren’t going anywhere, when he cut you off. “I know what I want. I’m okay with my decision. I need you to be, too.”

You tenderly stroked his arm. “Are you sure?” You whispered, worried he was making a mistake.

“More than sure.” He then pulled you to him for a kiss.

“Okay,” you whispered to his lips before kissing him again.

And now you had met all of his co-workers at The Stand and had seen where he worked a few days out of the week. He had offered to bring you several times before, but you had been hesitant to take him up on it, still worried someone might figure out who you really were. It’s not that you were embarrassed that you had called the helpline for help, but your business was your business and you didn’t want to be seen as that girl CJ got himself through the service. You both obviously knew that wasn’t the case but people talked, people judged, and you just wanted to steer clear of both as long as you possibly could. You knew you shouldn’t care what anyone thought or said, just like CJ didn’t; it was something you were currently working on in therapy. 

“So,” you teased when he finally broke away for air. “Is there a switchboard somewhere that you have somebody directing all the girls to you when they call? Is that how I got you every single time I called?” 

He grinned. “Not exactly. I told everybody that any calls that came in on Fridays at 7:00 were mine.”

“You didn’t.”

“I did.”

“Well, how did you know I would call every single time?” You huffed out. “How do you know I might not have gotten held up? Or made plans at the last second? Or got fed up with you?”

He gave you a cocky smirk. “Because you liked talking to me. I could tell.”

You playfully swatted at his shoulder, making him laugh, and rolled your eyes. “It always amazes me that you’re able to make it through doorways with that massive ego of yours. That can’t be how you knew I would call you every time.”

His smirk grew and he nodded. 

“I hate you,” you mumbled. You didn’t really mean it and he knew you didn’t.

CJ pulled you closer up against him. “You have a weird way of showing that.” He inclined his head towards your embrace around his neck. 

“True,” you murmured and kissed him again.

“Plus,” CJ added when you pulled back. “You always said you would call back and I believed you.”

“Better,” you decided. “Though I will begrudgingly admit that I did like talking to you.”

“Like I said, I could—”

“Hush.” You covered his lips with yours and he chuckled into your mouth. When you pulled back this time, you laid your forehead against his, your eyes closed, smiling. “I love you,” you murmured.

“I love you, too” he whispered back to you, lifting up to press a kiss to your brow before you buried your head into his neck and he discreetly snuck his hands under your shirt to rub your back, just the way you liked. 

“Want to get out of here?” He asked you after a few minutes had passed.

“Mmm.” You lifted your head to look him in the eye. “No Fleetwood Mac this time, though.”

He laughed and helped you to your feet. “What have you got against one of the greatest bands of all time?”

“Nothing. It’s just weird to listen to that chorus when we’re about to…you know.” You could feel your cheeks starting to warm.

He grinned salaciously at you. “Oh, I know. Hey, at least it’s not the Star Wars theme.” He snickered at your glare and picked up your hand, kissing it. “No Fleetwood Mac tonight. Got it.” He intertwined your fingers and his grin softened into an affectionate smile before he led you out of there. You quickly made your goodbyes and hurried back to his place where he kept his promise of no rock group music track playing along to your own soundtrack. 

Later, as CJ slept, you repeatedly ran your fingers through his messy hair in soothing strokes as you studied him. Who knew calling the helpline that one Friday night would lead you here? Where you were happy, in love, and doing much better than you ever thought possible? You had gone from feeling overwhelmed by your education to feeling a different type of overwhelmed together. Overwhelming love and affection for the special person in your life; overwhelming gratitude for the progress you’d been able to make in managing your anxiety and panic attacks as best you could; and overwhelming contentment with every single moment, no matter the ups and downs that was best known as life. Regardless of whatever happened from here, you knew you’d be okay and you’d handle whatever was thrown your way. Like CJ had once said, one day at a time.

In his sleep, your boyfriend reached out for you and pulled you in closer to him, snuggling into your side and burrowing into your neck, making you smile.

And to think, you almost hadn’t made that call. You laid your head against CJ’s and closed your eyes. You were so glad you did.

#cj braxton x reader #cj braxton x female reader #cj braxton x you #cj braxton x y/n #cj braxton #dawson's creek fanfiction #dawson's creek #prompt response #dawson's creek fandom #cj braxton x female!collegestudent!reader #female!collegestudent!reader #jensen ackles #jensen ackles character #cj braxton fanfiction #thebiggerbear

[hayleythesugarbowl]

CHANDLER HCS PLEASE 🙏😭 i know you have some pretty popular Joey hcs and i would love some for Chandler Bing i love him so much thank you in advance

chandler bing x reader headcanons

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • f•r•i•e•n•d•s masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

a/n: happy to give you the chandler content you deserve. i imagine this to take place in s1. hope you enjoy!! 💌🍒

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

dating chandler would include…

so when he first saw you he thought you were way out of his league 

but joey convinced him to ask you out 

and you found his awkwardness adorable 

but you had to say ‘yes, I’ll go out with you’ a few times before he believed you 

‘are you sure? because don’t worry if you’re rejecting me, i’m good at this part.’

he took you to an aquarium for your first date because he had free tickets

(‘you know, i’ve never really seen the appeal of these things. i mean, do you think in another world fish go pay to see us walk around in our homes?’ you laughed at that.)

and one of the tanks broke and soaked you both

after giving you his jacket and walking you back to your apartment he said:

‘let me guess, you’ll call me?’

‘what? you think one wet, fishy date is going to stop me from seeing you again?’

‘from your tone im guessing no, in which case I’m thrilled and I’ll call you as soon as i get to my apartment.’

you kissed him as he stood there blushing 

and you were all he could talk about for weeks. 

he found ways to bring you up in every conversation 

‘speaking off coffee, you know (y/n)…” 

he loves cuddling with you

and watching tv in his chair together

which started because joey didn’t want anyone else siting in his chair 

he brags about you all the time to his friends

Joey flirts with you whenever you go back to chandler’s apartment 

but it’s all in good fun and joey is thrilled to see chandler so happy 

chandler asks you for fashion advice constantly 

‘ok be honest: do i look like my grandmother in this?’

he gets so easily flustered like 😫 ajhfsfagajslf 

‘you’re so sexy’

‘i—you—you think I’m sexy? i mean, um, i—i just made it un-sexy didn’t i?’

he even quit smoking for you 

he needs reassurance that you love him and that he’s good enough for you all the time 

when you’re at work or he’s at work he calls you literally every hour just to say ‘hi’

he asks Rachel and Monica and Phoebe for advice on how to please you 

you become really close with all of his friends and they love you so much 

chandler can always make you smile or laugh even on your worst days 

and he enjoys doing so

you play with his hair all the time

‘my parents? are you sure we don’t want to go see your family for the holidays?’

he said i love you first 

and then panicked that you weren’t going to say it too, as he tried to backtrack 

but you assured him that you loved him so much 

when you first started going out, he knew that he really liked you 

but as time went on he found himself falling more and more in love with you 

and that scared him 

until he realized that he was ready. that he wanted to be in a long-term relationship with you

maybe spend the rest of his life with you 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~°~❦~°~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

ˋ°•*⁀➷ hope this is what you wanted. i love writing for chandler so much. also rip matthew perry 🤍

#chandler bing #chandler bing x reader #chandler bing headcanons #f•r•i•e•n•d•s #friends headcanons #friends imagines #fanfiction #fanfic #reader insert #x reader #headcanon #matthew perry

[joesheistyy]

Family Barbecue

anon this was such a cute request, i love it and i hope y’all enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it!! <3

——

It was your favorite time of year, the summer time. Time to spend with family and friends and especially some drinks. Every July, the Burrow family would host a family-wide barbecue. You had been attending for years, and Joe’s parents made sure that their planning always worked with your schedule and Joe’s schedule.

Ever since Joe brought you to the first family barbecue after being together for 5 months, his family knew that you were the one for him. You always offered to help cook, clean, entertain the kids, or do anything else they needed. They all saw how Joe looked at you too, with pride in his eyes.

This was year 5 of going to the family Barbecue, and Joe’s family kept poking fun at him about how he hasn’t popped the marriage question yet. They wanted it just as bad as you did.

“Joey, are you ready to go?” You yelled up the stairs from the kitchen. Joe took just as long as a girl getting ready some days.

“Yes baby, I’ll be down in a sec,” he responded back as you heard frantic footsteps up the stairs. You were a planner, and Joe was not. You had a timeline of what needed to be done when, and Joe just went with the flow until he got distracted and needed to be directed back to what needed to be done.

You headed out the garage door, loading your cooler of drinks into the backseat of Joe’s car. The snack bag you had packed followed the drinks. Your overnight bags were packed last. Since his parents lived an hour and a half away and there would be drinks consumed, his parents offered up their extra bedroom for the two of you.

After double checking your list that was stationed on the island, Joe finally came down the stairs, looking as handsome as ever. He was wearing just a basic pair of gym shorts, a bengals tshirt, and his white Nike athletic shoes. Of course, the dork had his shirt tucked in. That was something you always messed with him about.

“Cmon babe, we gotta go or we’re gonna be way late,” you said, leading the way to the garage to finally leave. An hour and a half drive still ahead of you.

Joe grabbed a bottle of water from the garage fridge and got in the car. You settled yourself in the passenger seat with your Nintendo Switch Lite with Animal Crossing ready to go. While you didn’t hardcore game, some Animal Crossing and Minecraft here and there were sometimes what you did to entertain yourself.

After hitting the road, Joe played his music and hummed along as you were focused on your game. His hand rested on your thigh as he drove along. Eventually, you got tired of playing your game, so you decided to take a short nap. You leaned your seat back a bit and propped up your pillow between your shoulder and the window.

"Can you let me know when we're like half an hour away?" you asked, Joe replied, "Of course babe, you gonna put on your makeup then?" he questioned, glancing over at you for a second. You replied with a hum and curled to a semi-comfortable place to nap.

pat pat pat

Joe patted you awake, you stirred and lifted the back of your seat up.

"We're half an hour away honey," he said, smiling in your direction as you rubbed the sleep out of your eyes.

"Thanks Joey, now don't brake check anyone," you joked with him, poking at his arm. You pulled your makeup bag out of your car bag, opting for just some eyebrow filling and mascara, and of course highlight. That was your favorite step of your makeup routine.

As you pulled into Joe's parent's neighborhood, you collected your things in your bag and freshened up your outfit. You chose to wear your favorite pair of jean shorts and a cute flowy tank top.

Pulling into the driveway, Joe's parents came to greet you. The 3pm air was hot but with a breeze. Hugs were given and passed, and as you approached the house, Joe's nephew Jordan came running up to you.

"Y/n!" he cheered with his little 3 year old voice. That alone melted your heart.

"Hi Jordan! How's my big guy doing?" you asked and picked him up, resting him on your hip.

"Good! Let's go play!" He squirmed, wanting to be put down to go run around. You could tell he was fresh from his nap that was taken earlier. If only naps for adults were that rejuvenating.

"We can play here in a minute, but could you use your big, strong muscles to help us?" you tickled his stomach. He pretended to flex. He ran out to the car where Joe and his parents were, clinging to Joe's leg. Joe picked him up and gave him a little fist bump.

"Y/n said I can use my big muscles to help!" Jordan said with a smile on his face. Joe set him down and handed him the smallest bag. You grabbed your overnight bag and the cooler and headed inside with Jordan leading the way.

After placing your things in the guest room, you followed Jordan outside to go say hi to Joe's siblings and their partners. You cracked open your first drink of the night while Jim worked on grilling up some hamburgers and hot dogs.

Jordan pulled you over to the swing set, you set him in the swing that looked like a little car, pulling him toward you to get the momentum going. You continued to push Jordan in the swing as he laughed the cutest little laugh.

Joe was admiring from afar with a beer in hand. He was standing with his dad while he grilled, watching you play with Jordan, a smile spread along his face. You two had talked about kids before, but a ring needed to come first.

The next thing that Jordan wanted to do was race you and Joe. Of course, Joe said yes, setting his beer down to race.

"Okay, Jordan count us down," you say, lining up to begin to run.

"Okay y/n, 3...2..." and Jordan was off before the count of 1. You and Joe giggled, but eventually ran and tried to catch up to him. Jordan had passed the established finish line before you and Joe could get there. He jumped in excitement.

"I'm not letting you beat me, y/n" Joe huffed out as he began to run up to you, tackling you to the ground.

"Burrow, you're a quarterback, not a defensive end, my god," you groaned after hitting the ground, allowing laughs to escape your mouth. Jordan came over and giggled, climbing on top of Joe who was still on top of you.

"Uncle Joe sandwich!" you cheered and grabbed for Jordan's hand. You all giggled and eventually, Joe wormed his way out of being between you and Jordan. He outstretched a hand to you, helping you up.

Eventually, dinner was served and everyone gathered in the screened in porch to eat. Jordan insisted on sitting between you and Joe. Jordan's mom plopped his booster seat down in the chair between you and Joe. Jordan dug into his food as soon as it was set in front of him, ketchup ending up all over his hands, face, and clothes. As you ate, you would use your napkin to dab off Jordan's face, causing your napkin to turn red from the mess he had made.

Joe looked at you admirably, adoring how good you were with kids. You secretly hoped that Joe would see how good you were with kids and want to hurry up and propose already.

After dinner, Jordan helped you clean up the dining space by taking the empty paper plates to the trashcan and leading you to the paper towels so he could help you wipe down. You lifted him up to grab the roll off the island inside, carrying him like Buzz Lightyear back out to the patio, giggles filling the air.

The rest of the family had gone to sit out by the fire pit, insisting that you not do any cleaning up. But you couldn't just not help, it wasn't like you. And you could maneuver Jordan into doing anything with you, which also gave his parents a break.

Out at the fire pit, you could see the rest of the family laughing and joking. You admired Joe from the screened in porch while you waited on Jordan to run in and take the dirty paper towels to the trash can. Jordan ran out, tugging at your arm to go join the rest of the family.

You and Jordan joined the rest of the family, sitting down on the outdoor blanket. You sat criss cross applesauce and Jordan sat in your lap and played with your fingers while letting out yawns.

After a few more drinks, Jordan was asleep in your lap. His parents seemed ready to go, so you offered to help Jordan into his car seat.

You headed out to their car, carrying Jordan with his head resting on your shoulder.

"Thanks for playing with him and taking care of him today, y/n. It was a really nice break for us, he's a wild one," Joe's brother said.

"It's really no problem, I had so much fun with this little ball of energy," you chuckled as you set Jordan in his car seat, buckling him in.

"One of these days, I want y'all to give him a cousin," Joe's brother laughed out. You hugged and went your separate ways.

Joe and his parents had transitioned to inside the house, working to clean up the kitchen.

"How can I help?" you asked as you walked in on them all doing different cleaning activities.

"Babe you helped plenty today, go take a shower or relax. We got this," Joe said as he brought you into his embrace. There really wasn't much left to clean up.

After things had been cleaned up, everyone moved to the couch to sit and relax a bit before bed. It was about 9:30 and the exhaustion from the day was hitting you. You let out a soft yawn as Joe pulled you to lean into his shoulder.

"I think we're gonna head to bed. It's been a long day," Joe announces to his parents as he stands up off the couch. You follow.

When getting to your room for the night, you headed straight for the shower. Playing with Jordan all day got you sweaty and stinky, not to mention the July heat.

"Babe I loved watching you play with Jordan today. I can't wait for us to have our own kids one day. A little Joe and y/n stumbling around," Joe said, leaning down to kiss your forehead.

"Me too Joey, me too," you sighed as you stepped into the warm shower.

After such a long day, a shower and some snuggles were great.

You and Joe were cuddled up into bed when he blurted out, "I love you, y/n and I want to marry you some day. I promise it'll be soon,"

"I love you too Joey, and I can't wait for that day. It'll be the best day of our lives," you smile as you close your eyes, drifting off into a peaceful sleep.

The next morning, you woke up alone. That's not normally how things went when you and Joe stayed with his parents. He'd wait for you so you could leave the bedroom together.

You slid on your slippers and headed for the kitchen, following the smell of bacon. When you began to approach the entrance to the kitchen, you heard conversation. Sometimes, you loved to eavesdrop, but you also hated to butt in during conversation, so you stood by the doorway, out of sight of Joe and his parents.

"So when are you finally gonna pop the question?" his dad nudged at him.

"Soon, I swear. I've got the ring picked out and everything, I just need to send it to my jeweler," Joe said as he set out silverware.

"We love her and it's about time she became part of the family for real," his mom spoke out, walking up to Joe to lovingly rub his back. His family had been pestering him for a while to propose, but he wanted to do it on his own time, which you understood.

"It'll be soon, I promised that to her and I promise that to you all. Cause after seeing her with Jordan yesterday, I know she is who I'm meant to marry. Not that I didn't have those thoughts before, it just really proved to me that it's about time I asked her to marry me," Joe responded in a soft voice, trying not to allow his voice to carry.

You stood in the doorway for a minute more just to make sure the conversation was over. Soon, you approached Joe and pulled him into a side hug. He held onto you for a minute before leading you both to fill your plates with breakfast food.

You had a peaceful morning with Joe and his parents. You loved his family and couldn't wait to officially join it.

#joe burrow #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow fic #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow asks #joe burrow oneshot #bengals quarterback #cincinnati bengals #bengals #nfl imagine #nfl #imagine #x reader #fanfic #football #joe sheisty

[pensat-i-fet]

More Gavi (Pablo Gavi x Reader)

**Another cute request. It was fun writing this one and adding a bit of Spanish. I never want to put too much because some people might find it annoying but it obviously makes sense here. Let me know your thoughts about that. And enjoy reading ❤️**

Word count: 2328

Masterlist

Wattpad

"Hey".

"I need your help", he said, getting inside the house without looking back.

"Hello to you too, mister rude".

You walked to the living room right when Gavi turned to look at you, expression serious.

"What's going on?"

"I have to do an advert for Nike".

You couldn't help but hit his arm when he said that.

"Don't come into my house talking as if something horrible has happened and then say that, you idiot. You scared me!"

"I have to speak English!!", he said, raising his hands as if that explained everything.

"So?"

"I don't know how to. You do. So you need to help me".

“Alright then. First lesson. How do you say por favor in English? Easy one to warm up?”

But as much as you wanted to tease him, when you saw his worried face, you knew you would help him. Of course, you were going to. You’d do anything for him.

“I’ll help you”, you said, rolling your eyes.

“Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!”

When he hugged you, you sighed. You didn’t need to ask him how to say that you were the stupid girl who fell in love with her best friend and that kept getting friend zoned because you knew that one already.

“What do you need to say?”

“I’ll show you the script they gave me”.

You cleared the table you had been using for work and picked up a notebook just in case you needed it at some point.

“Here”.

A quick look at the list made you frown. “That’s it?”

“Yes”.

“Pablo, it’s just a couple of words that are almost the same as in Spanish”.

“But I pronounce them weirdly!”, he complained again.

“Because you’re Spanish!”

“So are you and you can speak English well”.

“I’m the exception”, you joked, flipping your hair.

Gavi groaned and hit his head against the table, making you laugh. He was so extra.

“How do you say mi amiga es insoportable? (My friend is unbearable)”

“My friend is the most beautiful girl in the world”.

“Hilarious!”

While he still looked at you, pouting, you picked up the notebook and wrote the words down.

“Ok. So we got intensity, which is intensidad”.

“Yeah”.

“So repeat: in-ten-si-ty”.

“In…tensi…ty”.

“You sound like you are afraid of the word when it describes you perfectly”.

“I’m afraid of saying it. Did I do well?”

“Could have been worse. Let’s just say it again but a bit faster”.

You kept practising until he felt confident and you could move to saying the whole sentences in one go.

“Ok, precision now”.

“What?”

His confused face made you laugh. He was so adorable…and you needed to stop thinking about him being adorable.

“Why are you looking at me like that?”

“The way you said it was funny”.

“Also, the correct way. It’s almost like precisión. Come on…”.

“It’s nothing like precisión”.

“We’ll go slowly with this one then”.

You wrote the syllables down and pointed at each one so he could repeat after you.

“Pre”.

“Pre”.

“Ci”.

“Ci.”

“Sion”.

“Sion”.

“Precision”.

“I can’t!”

This time, instead of putting his head against the table, he put it on your shoulder. One of his hands went to the back of your chair, but the other was on your thigh. You knew he’d always been like this but ever since you were aware of your feelings for him being so strong, it became hard to deal with him touching you so much.

“You know what this reminds me of?”, you said, moving so he could go back to his chair and changing the subject to distract yourself.

“Of what?”

“That episode of Friends in which Phoebe is trying to teach Joey French and she talks slowly and he’s doing fine. But then he has to say the whole thing and says some gibberish. That was you, literally”.

“I’ve never watched Friends. I don’t know”.

You were shocked. How could you have known him for so long and not know this dark secret?

“We can’t be friends, then”.

“Why?”

“I love Friends!”

“We can watch it later. I’m not leaving until I know how to do this so get the guest room ready. Or maybe I’ll fall asleep in your bed again if I convince you to keep teaching me until you literally fall asleep”.

Yeah…that wasn’t going to happen. That was something that happened “before”. Not now.

“You’re doing really well. We’ll be done soon”.

“Really?”, his happy face always made you smile. “How do you say eso es porque tengo la mejor profesora?”

“That’s because I have the best teacher. And yes, that's exactly why".

You continued working on his pronunciation until it was time for dinner. Teaching was exhausting and Gavi run from training straight to your house so you were both starving.

“You don’t have to cook after all you’ve helped me. Let me order something”.

Before you had time to move, Gavi was right behind you, hugging you and putting his chin on your shoulder to look at what you were preparing.

“It’s just pre-made stuff. Move back so I can put it in the oven”.

The way you took his arms off you made him frown. You’ve never reacted like that to him hugging you.

“Are you ok?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”, you asked, putting the food in the oven and avoiding looking at him. Too afraid he’d noticed the reason why you didn’t want him to touch you. “Should I make a salad too?”

“Sure”.

Once the food was ready, you took your plates to the sofa and you found online the episode of Friends you were talking about before. “The one where Joey speaks French”.

You loved screening movies and shows for people. You would look at them whenever you knew something interesting was about to happen and most were annoyed by the spoiler, but Gavi never minded. Especially with horror movies. You saved him from being scared so many times.

“I’m cold”, he said suddenly, and you took your blanket and gave it to him.

He moved closer to you so it could cover both of you and you tried to just focus on the show. No longer interested in looking at him because he was too close and your heart was beating fast enough already.

“I’m still cold”.

“I’m not turning the heating on in March”.

“Cuddle me, then”.

It was too dark, thankfully, for him to see your face at that moment. “I can get you a hot water bottle if you want”.

“Or you could just cuddle me like we have done a million times”.

“My back hurts. I’m comfortable in this position, sorry”.

“Really? Is that why you pulled away from my hug earlier?”

Now you did turn to look at him. Not only had he noticed but he was worrying about it.

“Yeah”.

“Do you need some medicine? Or I could buy some pomade and help you apply it”.

Why was he coming up with the worst ideas?

“I’ll take some paracetamol later, don’t worry. It’s nothing”.

Even though he wasn’t convinced, he didn’t talk about it more. At least he had an answer now for your weird reaction when he hugged you. It had hurt him so much to feel rejected by you…by the best friend he was in love with.

                                    **

Having Fridays off was a blessing. You got to sleep in after a week of early mornings…except for when you got calls at 8.30 am.

“Who on Earth is calling me…”, but then you say the name on the screen and answered immediately.

“I need you!”

Oh God…

“And I need sleep, Gavi”.

“You have to come to film the advert with me, please. I’ve forgotten everything you taught me”.

“No, you haven’t. You’re nervous. And I’m sure they have people there who can help you”.

“But I don’t want them. I want you”.

How you wished he was saying that in another context.

“I’ll be there. But you owe me one. Well…another one”.

“I love you!”

“Yeah yeah yeah”.

Getting out of your warm bed was hard but knowing you were going to spend the morning with Gavi made it a little easier. Even if it was getting harder and harder to just be his friend.

By the time you got there, everyone was getting a bit impatient about having to wait for “a friend”.

“Sorry, traffic was bad”.

“Can we start now?”, said one of the guys with the cameras.

“Yes”, told him Gavi, side-eyeing him. “She has to come with me so she can help me read the lines”.

“As long as we can start working, I don’t care if she wants to be your foot stunt double for the shoots”.

The guy’s grumpy tone made you laugh.

“You don’t want me to kick the ball”.

“I know”, laughed Gavi, kissing your cheek and telling you to follow him.

It was hard, but you managed to resist the urge to touch the area where he had kissed you. You could still feel his lips there. He was making it so difficult…

Gavi was actually way more nervous about speaking those few English words than you expected. He was criticised so much for his on-the-pitch behaviour that he didn’t want this to be another reason for people to make fun of him. So you took this even more seriously than back at your place.

Finally, after some struggling, he was done. And you could tell the crew was so happy to be done with this advert. Something so simple had taken so long.

“More Gavi, yeah…just what the world needs”, you joked when he was going back to where you waited for him.

“It’s what you need, don’t lie. How do you say cuanto más Gavi, mejor?”

“The more Gavi, the better. But that’s a lie so don’t say it to people. Your mum taught you better than that”.

He laughed and put his arm around your shoulder, bringing you closer to his side. And even if you knew this wasn’t helping, at all, you let him. Putting your arm around his waist, you let him hold you because it felt so good to be that close to him. Better than it should.

“How do you say…”, he wasn’t going to stop now, “te como la cara?”

You snorted at that. “I wouldn’t recommend you telling people you want to eat their face. It sounds weird”.

“It doesn’t sound weird in Spanish”.

“That’s because we are weird. So one weird cancels the other”.

“I want to do it anyway”, he said, pretending he was going to bite your cheek and making you move away from him.

“Stop that!”

“But I’m hungry!”

And you kept bickering on the way to your car, not realising once again that the feelings were mutual. That you moved away from him to protect your feelings or that he wanted to be always as close to you as possible because there was no one else that made him feel the way you did.

                               **

Pablito ❤️: the ad is out. I posted on IG. Go see it!

You: compliment your teacher on my behalf. Brilliant job she did.

Pablito ❤️: I’m on my way.

You: I didn’t mean literally!

The doorbell alerted you that Gavi was already there. This boy…

“What is that?”

“Your favourite cupcakes as a thank you”.

“You still owe me but thank you for always enabling my sugar addiction”.

He stayed in the living room while you went to the kitchen to get some napkins and plates for the cupcakes.

“Ok, the one with all the fruit for you and the one with all the chocolate for me”.

“Can I have a bite of your one?”

“Sure”.

You watched the ad while you ate, laughing at all the moments you knew had to be redone more than 20 times.

“You really made that crew earn their salary that day, Pablito”.

“I don’t think they’ll ever want to work with me again”.

“Who could blame them?”

Seeing you laugh was always special for Gavi. It was while you were laughing at one of his jokes that he thought, for the first time, about how beautiful you really were. He always knew you were but…he fully noticed what that beauty meant to him. The sound you made when you laughed was music to his ears, but it was the way your face lit up that hypnotized him.

“What?”, you asked when you saw him staring at you. “I have chocolate on my face?”

But he couldn’t talk, so he just shook his head.

He was tired of hiding his feelings. Of pretending he wasn’t in love with you for fear of you turning him down. It could ruin your friendship and he knew that. He feared that could happen. But living in fear was painful too. He had to do this.

“Can we have another lesson?”

“Sure”.

You didn’t look very convinced because he was worrying you a bit.

“How do you say te quiero?”

You swallowed. He should know that. Why was he asking? “I love you”.

He nodded. “And how do you say te quiero pero no quiero quererte solo como un amigo?” (I love you but I don't want to just love you as a friend).

“Pablo…”.

“Or should I just say it in Spanish so nothing gets lost in translation?”

“Do you mean it?”, you asked, full of hope.

“I do”.

Seeing you’re reaction gave him the final push to get closer to you. He held your face with his hands and spoke quietly.

“You’re the best friend I could ask for. And a pretty good teacher too. But I want more. Do you want more?”

“More Gavi?”

You both laughed and then you kept leaning forward until your lips finally connected. Finally showing each other how much you really wanted this. And kisses had no language. Everyone could understand what they meant.

#pablo gavi #gavi #pablo gavi imagine #pablo imagine one shot #pablo imagine fluff #footballer imagine #footballer one shot #footballer fluff #friends to lovers

[makiwife]

joe burrow on obx??!!

Joe Burrow x Reader Instagram au

authors notes: face claim is Madelyn Cline. these are so fun to make lol. ooc?? all pics are from Madelyn Clines Instagram. joes pics are from his Instagram. enjoy!!

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

Y/nInstagram

Liked by madisonbaileybabe, obx, joeyb_9 and 532,712,364 others

Y/nInstagram thank you instyle for the photoshoot!! I love you.

view comments

madisonbaileybabe: YOU LOOK SO GOOD!!

↳ Y/nInstagram: lover💋

drewstarkey: my sister is that you?

joeyb_9: Sarah Cameron?? arent you supposed to be in pougelandia?

↳ Y/nInstagram: bengals qb?? i thought you weren’t an social media kinda guy?😁

y/n444: marry me pls🙏🙏

jonathandavissofficial: instyle did you good

lahjay10_: ain’t no way burrow commented

↳ liked by Y/nInstagram

obx: def not a Sarah Cameron dupe

oliviarodrigo: stunna

Ilovey/n: how can someone be so gorgeous

obxfan1: praying we get obx 3

——————————————————————————

Y/nInstagram

Liked by obx, nfl, joeyb_9 and 2,437,832,910 others

Y/nInstagram catch us on february 23th🤞

view comments

nfl: any spoilers??

↳ Y/nInstagram: make football an all year-round sport then we can talk.

hichasestokes: OBX 3!!!!

madisonbaileybabe: you ate in that pic

austinnorth55: cover is so sick

sam_hubbard_:will be watching the second it comes out

Obxlover: I NEED IT NOW

Jaira5: need more jaira and jarah

bengals: obx 4?

↳ Y/nInstagram: maybe?? maybe not??

joeyb_9: holy shit it’s happening

↳ Y/nInstagram indeed it is

Zendaya: can’t wait!!

obxfan1: THE GODS HEARD MY PRAYERS

rudeth: WOOOWHOOO

——————————————————————————

joeyb_9

Liked by Y/nInstagram, bengals, and 834,927,120 others

joeyb_9 football and beaches

view comments

Y/nInstagram: we’ll be in the sand forever🥰

↳ joeyb_9: isn’t that cute

Evan_Mcphearson: YOURE DATING THE ACTRESS THAT PLAYS SARAH CAMERON?!??

Y/nInstagram: yes I’m the football he’s holding

nfl: THE BIGGEST PLOT TWIST EVER???

lahjay10_: are you gonna be in the new szn?

↳ Y/nInstagram: damnit how’d you know🙄

sam_hubbard_: as if people didn’t know from joe’s thirsty ass comments😹

Y/nInstagram: love you joey!!

↳ joeyb_9 love you more baby

bengals: makes obx that more interesting

joeburrowlover: HES DATING Y/N???

teehiggins: way to tell everyone!

haydenrhurst: this is actually crazy

joshallenqb: 🔥🔥

joeyb61: NO WAYY

——————————————————————————

Y/nInstagram

Liked by madisonbaileybabe, rudeth, obx and 1,798,472,321 others

Y/nInstagram my second family🥹

view comments

obx: we love you!!

madisonbaileybabe: miss filming w you🥲

↳ Y/nInstagram: we’ll be back😉

joeyb_9: orange looks so good on you

drewstarkey: Sarah and kie best duo??

jonathandavissofficial: hottest cast ever

rudeth: frickin P4L

bengals: repping our iconic orange

↳ Liked by Y/nInstagram

obxforever: HOW IS EVERYONE SO HOTT

nfl: 4️⃣

carlaciagrant: looking so fineee

charles_esten: miss yall

hichasestokes: the pics go crazy

y/nloverr: Y/n and madison best girls

——————————————————————————

joeyb_9 Instagram Story

Y/nInstagram replied to your story: I love you Joey 🥹🥹

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

thank you for reading!! I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoy writing these series.

・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・・

#joe burrow x you #joe burrow fluff #joe burrow x y/n #joe burrow fan fic #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow #instagram au #jamarr chase #sam hubbard #madison bailey #madelyn cline #joe burrow x reader #rudy pankow #chase stokes #obx x reader #obx3 #nfl fan fic #joe burrow fanfic #joe burrow fic #sarah cameron #faceclaim #nfl #obx sarah #drew starkey #jj maybank

[lushlovers]

C*ntmuffin, J Burrow

summary; you're just having a bit of harmless fun, but joe doesn't seem to enjoy it as much as you are.

warnings; fwb type beat, swearing, joe's actually a dick and a hypocrite, mentions of smut(?), alcohol consumption, lsu!fratboy!joe (yes that needs a warning), cameos from jj and ja'marr:D, literally all the things you'd see at a college party, use of the c-word like twice lolll.

word count; 811

note; ummmm i love lsu joe and i need a frat au because there's so little its criminal. my friend called me a cuntmuffin earlier and i wanted to write about frat joe so.

If looks could kill, you'd be six feet under right about know. You can feel Joe's eyes burning holes into the material of your best little black dress, he watched as your hips pushed back onto the crotch of some guy you had no clue or desire to even learn what his name was. His hands feeling you up was just enough.

"D'ya wanna come get a drink?" He's slurring into your ear shamelessly, his accent was thicker than it was a couple drinks ago. You nod, grabbing his hand and pulling him behind you in the direction of the kitchen. Glancing in the direction of Joe, his brows raise, looking at you in a way you didn't quite understand or maybe you didn't care to acknowledge.

He scoffs catching the attention of Elaine, who was running her mouth about whatever she could think of, "You okay, Joey?" Her voice is obnoxiously high pitched, almost like nails on a chalkboard, even worse because she didn't understand the concept of shutting the fuck up. "'M fine, thanks. Gonna go get another drink," he murmurs, pushing himself off the wall and quickly walking away before the girl could think to muster a response.

He brought this upon himself when he walked through the door with an overly chatty, but quite pretty brunette cheerleader on his arm. Karma's a bitch and you were gladly playing him back in this game. All night you kept you options open, bouncing between different guys, some of them even being some of his fraternity brothers.

Speaking of, one of his good friends was leaning against the counter chatting up a pretty girl, "Yo, JJ," you heard his voice before he pushed passed you to clap his friend on the shoulder. Justin smiled wide, introducing the girl at his side as Aiyanna, "It's nice to finally meet you, we hear a lot about you," Joe smirks obviously trying to embarrass his friend. It's true though, Justin never shuts up about this girl.

You decided to not join in the conversation simply listening in as you poured yourself a generous amount of vodka and following it with some juice. The guy who's name you still have yet to remember watched you closely, like he was in a trance of some sort. "You're staring," you mumble, tilting your head to the side a small smile playing on your lips. Guys are so easy sometimes.

"Sorry," he stutters, "You're just really pretty." His face flushes, resembling a tomato, as you closely watch his reactions. You hadn't realized how close Joe was to you both until he leans in to whisper in the boys ear loud enough for you to hear, "Should see her on her knees, Blake. Fuckin' incredible."

Blake's eyes grow ten times the size, "Fuck off, Joe," you grit pushing at his chest until he's out of the kitchen and into the crowded hallways. "'M really sorry about him, he's a dick." Not really sorry, the jealousy he was radiating was the hottest thing ever. Now your face is warming at his words, you groan as you cup your face in your hands, no way he just said that to this poor dude.

As Joe walked back over to his "date," he had this shit eating grin on his face, Ja'marr was well aware he was up to something, "The hell'd you do, JB?" He barks out a laugh, shaking his head. "That smirk, you did something." He knows he did, but he's not going to tell him just yet.

The cheerleader looked between both of them confused as ever, "Did-" Joe cuts her off with his index finger on her lips, shushing her. Ja'marr's laughing now, all this time it took for him to do that. Her brows furrow and she storms off to god know's where.

Before Ja'marr can ask again, you are standing in front of them with the biggest crease in your brows and hands on your hips, "See her on her knees? Really, asshole?" His friend gapes, feeling just how angry you were, "It was nothing, babe. Calm down," he reached out for you but you slap his hand away from you.

"Don't 'babe' me, you cuntmuffin." He keels over at your insults, his eyes clouding over with tears as he cackles. "Nothing about this is funny," your arms are crossed over your chest now, huffing you punch him in the shoulder, making him grunt and stand up straight.

"It's just, that's a first, I've never been called a cuntmuffin before, baby."

#joe burrow #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow x you #joe burrow fic #joe burrow imagine #joe burrow fan fic #joe burrow smut #joe burrow fluff #frat!joe burrow #nfl fan fic #nfl

[ash5monster01]

Hi love your andrew fic! Thank you so much for writing it <3. if you dont mind, i would like to request another. im not sure if you watched friends but theres an episode when Rachel and joey go on a “date” and they show off their date moves which is when Joey starts having a crush on Rachel lol. i was wondering if u can write something like that for Andrew. Where they’re close friends & costars & both single with an age gap? The key thing about the episode was when their date was over they showed each other what they do to get their date to kiss them and oof the tension it brings

Seal The Deal

pairing: Andrew Garfield x Femreader

warnings: mentions of sex, teasing, fluff, slow burn

summary: as friends you go on a date, wanting to remember what it was like to be taken out. In the midst of showing each other what kind of moves you would do on a real date they end up working on each other. (I love Friends and I thought this was a really clever and cute idea for Andrew even though I never shipped Joey and Rachel, but this was a fun one to write)

Masterlist

You hadn’t been on a date in a very long time. No one had asked you to join them in a dimly lit restaurant in ages. You had missed being wined, dined, and pursued by another. You hadn’t been on a nice date in so long you had started to wonder if you were losing your game. So when you voiced this to your older costar he offered to wine and dine you, and allow you to feel like you’ve still been in the game despite how long it had actually been. So here you were, sat across from him, in a four star restaurant, and one of the greatest meals you’ve ever had in front of you.

“So did I do a good job?” you perked your head up to look in your costars dough eyes which were glimmering with the light from the candle in the center of the table.

“Good job on what?” you asked and he chuckled as you took a quick bite of your food.

“The date, I want to make sure this will hold you over until you finally find another guy to date” you gave him a deadpan look which filled his lungs with laughter. The belly laugh filled the restaurant and yet you couldn’t help but smile that your one look gave him that reaction.

“It’s fine Andrew, and I wouldn’t have died from withdrawal but I’m still glad to be here” you told him as his laughter quieted down.

“I’m just making sure, you were really worried about your game” he teased and you rolled your eyes as you continued to eat your meal.

“Nothing could deter my game, I’m the best there is” Andrew rose his eyebrows at this statement, intrigued by your sudden cockiness over this subject.

“Oh really, what makes you say that?” he folded his arms over, more interested in your answer than the food on his plate.

“I have date moves, they haven’t failed me yet” you acted coy not wanting to let on to too much.

“Date moves?” he asked as he leaned forward, curious now.

“Don’t look at me like you don’t have your own moves” you told him and he shrugged, falling back into his chair.

“I have tactics” you laughed as he responded, knowing he had moves of his own.

“Alright, you show me yours I’ll show you mine” Andrew rose his eyebrows but sighed and leaned back forward nonetheless despite the dirty undertone to your sentence.

“Well sometimes if a girl is talking to me I’ll reach forward and grab some hair and play with it” then suddenly Andrews long fingers reached across the table and grabbed one of your soft curls, wrapping it around his finger and moving it with such gentleness you could barely feel it, but your body felt it everywhere else.

“Doesn’t that distract her?” you asked after you struggled to find the words.

“If it does it means I have some sort of effect on her and it makes my other moves go so much smoother” Andrew spoke as he released your hair and moved back into his space of the table.

“Clever” you offered and he smiled before clapping his hands.

“All right, show me one of yours” he said before setting his hands down on the table. As he waited you smirked a little bit before setting your own hand on his. “You call this a mov-”

His sentence was cut short by your slim fingers slipping under his shirt sleeve, brushing along and making it very clear they were under the fabric. It alluded to wanting to get him out of his clothes while looking so innocent at the same time. Andrew found himself gulping as he tried to calm his heart rate the further your fingers moved up his sleeve.

“That’s my maybe you’ll get lucky move” you continued to smirk at him, noticing how he reacted the same all the guys did to that move.

“I’ll admit, I’ve never seen that one before” Andrew said as he pulled his arm away, your fingers still in his sleeve and doing things to him he hadn’t expected.

“Alright, give me another” you grinned, your focus now completely off of your food and on this fun little game you were playing.

“Okay, just start some conversation with me” he told you and you cleared your throat as you thought of a topic to discuss.

“I’m not sure if you ever knew this about me but I’m a memory hoarder. I like the keep mementos that remind me of fun moments in my life and I’m so bad about it I have the most random stuff stockpiled just because it reminds me of those moments. Do you keep anything?” but Andrew didn’t answer. In fact he had seemed too zoned in on you to even be listening. His deep stare made you start shifting in your seat and quickly you moved to make more conversation. “Andrew? Are you listening?”

“Sorry” the boy shifted upwards and shook his head as if he was shaking his thoughts away. “I wasn’t ignoring you I just got so distracted by how beautiful you are. I can’t believe I’m the lucky guy sitting with the prettiest girl in the restaurant” your blush was a deep crimson red that flowed all the way to the tips of your ears. Now that was smooth.

“So ignoring your date while she’s talking is a tactic? Good to know” you teased quickly, not wanting him to realize your whole body was now warm because of his comment.

“I was listening Y/N. I think it’s adorable you keep things that remind you of good moments. That might be my new favorite thing about you” he spoke before focusing on his food, taking some bites before it got cold.

“You have a favorite thing about me?” you couldn’t help but ask and he offered a quick smile your way.

“Yes Y/N, you’re one of my favorite people. I’d have to enjoy things about you for it to be that way” you hadn’t known Andrew had thought so highly of you and you were surprised by the feeling it gave you. You had worked on films in the past before but usually if you weren’t in the same project you both sucked at keeping in touch.

“Well that’s good to know” you told him with a soft smile and he returned it just the same. The rest of the night continued filled with good conversation and greats laughs. You actually didn’t remember the last time you had been on a date you had enjoyed the other persons presence so much. But maybe being friends made it all that much easier. So the date was a success and you found yourself sitting contently in the front seat of Andrews car.

“I’ll walk you to the door” he told you as you both exited the vehicle. It had gotten a bit cooler in the night air and he quickly shoved his hands in his pockets as you approached the door to your apartment.

“Thank you for tonight, really” you smiled at him as you turned to bid him goodbye.

“No problem, I actually had a really good time. I don’t remember the last time I enjoyed a date knowing it wasn’t leading to sex” you both laughed as he said this and you shook your head.

“Crazy that men forget how fun dates can be” you told him and he shrugged, knowing he was guilty just like every other guy.

“So, any end of the date moves you want to show me?” he whispered into the night air and you felt yourself shiver lightly.

“You first Garfield” you told him and he grinned as he stood up a bit straighter.

“Well usually when I walk a girl to her door I stand as close as I can-” he took a few steps in, his chest an inch from your face and you were forced to look up at him, his breath falling towards you. “And I tell her what a great time I had and I wish her goodnight, and when I know she’s waiting for me to kiss her, I take a small step back. When she starts to look disappointed before she even realizes I lean down and kiss her good and hard. Then hopefully she’ll invite me in”

“And what’s the success rate on that?” you asked, breathing heavily because he was still in your space.

“Nine times out of ten she invites me in. Now what about you Miss moves” you smiled and started to shake your head.

“It’s embarrassing” you started to step back from him and he quickly grabbed your wrist and pulled you back.

“No, come on. Remember you show me yours, I’ll show you mine” sighing you knew you couldn’t escape this one.

“Fine, but you can’t laugh” you glared and he nodded quickly, agreeing to your terms. Wanting to get it over with quick you prepared to move into your seal the deal move.

“I can’t believe how incredible tonight was” one by one your hands grabbed his suit jacket tugging him the tiniest bit closer without it being to noticeable. “To bad the night has to end”

Then slowly you slid your hands under the suit jacket, circling around his waist and pressing yourself flush against him. “I’m never very good at goodbyes”

Your hands traced random figures into his back and you finally looked him in the eyes, pressing your chest to his own, any space between you now disappeared. “I hope you don’t mind, it’s a bit cold”

“It’s fine” Andrew wasn’t sure if this was your move or not but it was working and he found his heart rate accelerating as he stared down into your eyes which glowed in the moonlight.

“If only tonight could last forever” you whispered, leaning up, so your mouth was only an inch from his own. The words fell from your lips and landed on his and he quickly closed his eyes as he tried to calm himself down. He had never expected to feel this towards you.

“And then I pull away and go inside, and that usually earns me the second date” you pulled away and Andrews eyes quickly snapped open, surprised you had such an effect with just your touch.

“Yeah, I can see how that works” a nervous hand reached to rub the back of his neck and you offered a smile but he saw it in your eyes. The disappointment.

“Goodnight Andrew” you turned to unlock your door. Suddenly a hand gripped your wrist and spun you around “What-”

Then just like that Andrew was kissing you on your doorstep. All the air sucked out of your lungs as you feverishly kissed back, surprised that you had wanted him to kiss you like this. When he realized you weren’t fighting him he pushed you against the door, his tongue roaming your mouth. You hummed slightly and you felt him tense as you did so. His fingers laced with your own and he quickly pushed your hands against the door on either side of your head as he continued to roam your mouth. The tension you both had built through the night was so thick that this kiss felt like a breath of relief.

You wanted to pull back but this kiss had reached the point of no return. He either needed to be in your apartment or ruin the best night you’ve had in a long time. But your stomach was on fire, your skin burning against his own, the slight scratch of his beard giving you a sensation you had never expected. The kiss was tender, but heated, and he was confident to the point it felt like you were his best kiss to date. You gripped at his collar, pulling his mouth impossibly closer to your own until you had to break apart for air.

“At least now you know your moves work” he told you, his forehead pressed against your own as he continued to pin you to your own front door.

“Yeah well so do yours, now get inside before we give my neighbors to much of a show”

#imagine #andrew peter parker #andrew garfield x reader #andrew garfield imagine #tasm x reader #tasm peter parker #tasm andrew garfield #tasm imagine #andrew garfield #fanfic #marvel #requests open

[mamaestapa]

Instagram Official

•pairing: Joe Burrow x reader

•series summary: Y/N Y/L/N moved to Cincinnati, Ohio for a new start. Move in day arrives and she discovers something terrible...the apartment complex gave her the wrong lease. Instead of living with who she originally was supposed to, she's now living with the hottest quarterback in the NFL, Joe Burrow. Y/N is stuck living in the same apartment with him for a year...which the two are not thrilled about. However, as time goes on, they realize that maybe this wasn't the worst thing that could happen to them. Will Y/N and Joe stay enemies, or will they find themselves falling in love?

•chapter summary: You and Joe go Instagram official

•word count: 291

•warnings: some mean comments and fluff

series masterlist

——————————————————

*Liv is Y/n in these pics<3*

January 20, 2023

liked by joeyb_9, itsmemacee, and 587, 249 others

tagged: @joeyb_9

yourusername- Alexa, play Lover by Taylor Swift🤍

comments:

joeyb_9-❤️

lahjay10_- HELL YEAH❤️‍🔥

shiestysbae- my day=ruined. she's not even that pretty😭

itsmemacee- The cutest couple! So happy for you guys🥰❤️

joeybfan- this girl is definitely with him for his money. but i'll take the new joe content👀

emhubbard- AH this makes me so happy🥰

bengalsbabe- you haters need to get a life, she is GORGEOUS🤩

body_by_hollyyy- I knew the second I took this picture something was up...SO happy for you two!❤️

jbfan- SHES SO CUTE! and Joe looks so happy omg🥹

view more comments

liked by loganwilsonlb, bengals, and 803,910 others

tagged: @yourusername

joeyb_9- Hard launch

comments:

bengals- new couple alert❤️

yourusername- you did me so dirty with this picture. buts it's fine, i still love you😚

joeyb_9- @yourusername I love you❤️

joeybnumb1fan- yikes...

evanmcpherson- YAY!!!!

loganwilsonlb- Macee and I already planning the double dates!😉

shiestysbae-joe you could do so much better😭 LIKE ME

bengalsbabe- they're so cute🥹

lahjay10_- It's about time my man!

bakermayfield- Wife her up, Joey!😉

view more comments

hey loves!

so this chapter is sort of a filler chapter before i get into the last few important chapters of this story ;) i figured i'd do an instagram chapter or two in this book because they're so much fun to make!

i don't have much to say, just once again that i appreciate all of the love and support you’ve shown me with this story! it keeps me motivated to keep writing, so thank you🤍

these next few chapters are hopefully going to be good, so stay tuned!👀

tags: @jackharloww @ilovejoeburroww @dandelionwrites8 @ijustcrypretty @sinners-98-world @a-moment-captured @stainednailpolishremover @spooky-stoner @xoxokiaraaxoxo @kkrenae

#joe burrow #joe burrow x reader #joe burrow x y/n #joe burrow x you #welcome to the jungle

[specialagentlokitty]

Monica x brother!reader - brotherly love

Hiii, hru? I was wondering if maybe you could write a Monica Geller x younger brother reader in which the reader finds out about her's and Chandler's secret relationship and gets overprotective with Monica. Thanks! - @benjibing 💜

You were always so busy with your job that you never had much time to spend getting to see your brother and sister even though you lived in the same city as then.

But you had just started your holiday and before doing absolutely nothing you decided to go see them, so you stopped by Monica’s apartment hoping they were both there.

You flung the door open.

“Your favourite brother is here!” You shouted.

Hearing a scream and the sound of somebody falling over you snapped your head to the couch to see Chandler stood there looking guilty and Monica getting up from the floor.

“Well, this has been fun I’ve got to go.”

He went to walk past you, and you blocked his path.

“What were you doing to my sister Bing?” You asked lowly.

“Definitely… not kissing her…?” He whispered.

“(Y/N) wait!”

Before Monica could stop you, you had grabbed Chandler by the collar of his sweater, slamming him against one of the walls making him groan in pain.

“Okay! Okay I’m sorry I won’t even look at Monica again!”

“Chandler!”

Monica stormed over, placing her hand on your arm, giving your a soft look.

“Please put him down and let us explain.”

“No, I’m not having some guy making out with you, especially not Chandler. He’s Ross’ best friend he should know you don’t get involved with your best friends sister.”

“Please! Please just let him go!” She pleaded.

You looked at Monica and sighed, letting go of her boyfriend and he immediately hid behind her.

“Seriously? That’s a coward move.”

“You’re terrifying man!”

You went to step forward and Monica stopped you.

“Hey! Just sit down.”

You grumbled, sitting down on the kitchen chair and you looked at them, gesturing between the pair of them.

“How long as this been going on?”

“Since London…” Monica mumbled.

You slowly nodded your head.

“Does anyone know?”

“No, please don’t tell them. We’re not ready to tell anybody yet.” Chandler said.

You flicked your gaze to him, pointing to him and a chair, and he slowly walked over to sit down.

“Mon, can we have a few minutes?” You asked.

“You’re not going to kill him right? Because I really don’t want to visit you in prison.”

Getting up, you walked over and hugged her gently, patting her back a few times before you pulled away from her.

“I’ll come over in a few minutes, can you go keep Joey busy?”

“Yeah, of course.”

Monica walked over to chandler and kissed his forehead.

“Good luck…” she whispered.

With that she left, and you sat back down.

“Why my sister?”

“She’s.. she’s just amazing. Monica is the best woman I’ve ever been with.”

“How did it start?”

“It was supposed to be a causal thing just in London, then it progressed into a relationship but we’re trying to keep it just to ourselves.”

You slowly nodded your head.

“Do you love her?”

Chandler went quiet.

“Do you love my sister?”

“Yes! I.. I love her okay.. I love her so much she’s just amazing…”

You stood up, walking over to sit on the back of the couch as you carried on watching him.

“A lot of people have hurt Monica. She’s cried over a lot of guys, and I’ve had to beat down a lot of guys because of it.”

Chandler seemed to grow a little nervous, and he pushed himself away slightly on the chair.

“I couldn’t think of a better guy to date her.”

His face immediately lit up with a smile, and he stood up.

“Seriously?”

“Yeah man, I’ve known you a long time, I know you’re not a player like Joey, I know you won’t cheat on her.”

“That’s such a relief honestly I thought you were going to straight up murder me and this throw me over the Brooklyn bridge…”

You shrugged a little bit making his eyes widen.

“Look, I approve of you seeing my sister Chandler, but if you hurt her, if you make her cry, if you cheat on her, if you treat Monica less than anything than a literal queen that she deserves to be treated like I’ll find you, I’ll make your life a living hell. I’ll destroy every relationship you get into, I’ll run you out of every apartment, have you constantly looking over your shoulder.”

“No…”

You walked over, placing your hand on his shoulder as you smirked a little bit.

“I’m a cop Chandler… trust me I can find you anywhere…”

With that, you pat his shoulder a few times.

“Later buddy, I’m taking Monica, Rachel and Phoebe out for lunch! And don’t worry, you secret is safe with me!”

With that you left the apartment leaving Chandler rethinking all of his life choices.

He decided to go to his apartment in the hopes maybe Joey could help distract him, but your words hung heavy over him.

He knew you were protective of your sister, and what scared him even more is he didn’t know if you would actually follow through with your threat or not, but he wanted to show you that he was for real.

He was going to show you that you could trust Monica to him, no matter what it took in order to do that

#friends #friends x reader #friends x you #friends imagine #monica geller #monica geller x reader #Monica geller x you #Monica geller imagine

[lukabitch]

Hello there my friendo! Apparently since you liked one of my requests (wesker calling his so masc pet names lol) I am HERE ONCE AGAIN!! Again no pressure to write this, I just understand writers block so if you need something, use this one!! How would any killers of your choice react to their so entering a trial in a shirtless skin (like davids?) bonus for trans kings if they notice the top surgery scars and kiss them awh <3

- handsome anon

I’ve been dealing with some writers block recently. So thank you so much Handsome Anon!

Tw: suggestive

Killers: Wesker, Ghostface, Legion(Frank & Joey), Trickster.

Wesker:

Oh my? He definitely likes.

Your skin looked so soft. He just wants to get his hands on you.

But he’ll wait until the perfect moment.

When he does have you he won’t let you go. Not that you wanted to be let go.

He’ll take his time running his gloved hands over your body.

He would take notice of the top surgery scars. Would run his fingers over them ever so gently.

“I appreciate the show love. Next time leave it for my eyes only.” His still possessive remember?

Of course you being you teased him about it. Making a bit of fun of his possessiveness.

He really did find the confidence that you had to be extremely attractive.

Just saying if you can match his confidence he’ll love you more.

Ghostface:

He wants to go honka honka on your moobs.

The things this man would do if he had his hands on you.

But first it’s photo shoot time.

He’ll ask you to pose for him. You said yes mainly because he looked too happy to disappoint.

He even shows you what poses he wants you to do.

After he was satisfied with the photos he’ll just press his face into your chest.

He was giggling like an idiot which would bring a smile to your face.

“You like being down there Danny?”

A very muffled ‘yeah’ left his mouth, fallowed by a kiss pressed into your scars.

He stayed like that for the rest of the trial. The entity was very upset at him.

Frank:

If you thought this man was bratty before you haven’t seen anything yet.

He was fuming that you showed yourself to other people then himself.

He would zero in on you having you under him in seconds.

He would try and reach to touch your scars. He was going to be gentle but you had other plans.

You somehow managed to turn the table and had him pinned.

“You have to ask nicely.” This man was squirming and whining under you.

Eventually he would cave and start begging.

You’d let him touch your chest ever so gently.

“Good boy.” He didn’t liked being called that too much.

Joey:

Oh.

He didn’t know exactly how to react to this.

He just knew you were really pretty.

Eventually the two of you would end up in a chase.

The chase would end in a locker, the two of you just staring at each other.

He watched you shiver and got very concerned. Taking off his je let handing it to you.

“Oh no honey I’m fine don’t worry.” You say very clearly cold. He wasn’t having it.

“Please wear a shirt next time.” He watched you pout at him.

He immediately starts to crumble and you had to quickly tell him you were goofing.

Trickster:

He was definitely the most excited. He gets to see your drop dead gorgeous bod.

Though that doesn’t really stop the sadistic side of him. He’ll through a knife at your back not hard.

You let out a yelp and glared at him. He just winked and walked up to you.

“Aw handsome look at you! My pretty boy!” He just leans against your chest.

If he does kiss your chest he’ll get lipstick on you.

You’ll complain about the lipstick but he doesn’t care.

He just lets you hold him while he just cuddles you.

You tired reminding him about the trial but he didn’t care.

He just wants to stay here with you.

#dbd #dead by daylight #dbd killer #request #dbd x male reader #killer x survivor #dbd headcanons #danny johnson #danny jed olsen johnson #danny johnson x male reader #dbd ghostface #ghostface #albert wesker #dbd mastermind #albert wesker x male reader #legion frank #frank morrison #frank Morrison x male reader #legion joey #joey dbd #joey x male reader #legion joey x male reader #trickster #the trickster #trickster x male reader #ji woon hak #dbd x reader #sub reader #sub male reader

[flanaganfilm]

Hi Mike! Just wondering about the wonderful Katie Parker. Since she’s been a part of the Flanaverse for a pretty long time, I was wondering how she joined Absentia and which of her roles in your work is YOUR favourite? Personally I can’t get over how good she was as Poppy.

Also just want to quickly say I’m so excited to see T’Nia again in Usher. Thank you and have a lovely day!!

I first met Katie back in - I want to say 2008? Somewhere in there. She was friends with my girlfriend at the time and soon we were friends too. She was an actor struggling to find footing in LA and used to come over for movie nights and crash on our couch, and as time went by I started to think of her as a sister. I was working full-time as an editor on reality TV shows and trying to get something started. I wrote Absentia as a project for my friends to star in, so Katie's role was custom tailored just for her. Same with Courtney, Dave, Morgan and Justin. We were all living in LA and had similar dreams, but were all struggling to pay the rent and this was a chance to make something together that might get noticed.

(Above: The first table read of ABSENTIA, sometime in 2010)

We had a blast making that little movie, and it actually did what we all hoped it would do - it kicked open some doors, and led to Oculus being picked up by Trevor Macy at Intrepid Pictures (who has produced everything I've made since).

Katie had a small cameo in Oculus, playing the phone store clerk who sells Brenton Thwaites his first cell phone after being released from a lifetime in a mental institution. The scene was sweet and Katie was great, but it wasn't in the final cut of the film. I think it may be available on the blu-ray but I'm not sure to be honest. Katie remained a great friend, but there weren't really roles in the following movies that were a perfect fit. When I got my first shot at making TV, though, I really wanted her to be in The Haunting of Hill House. She auditioned to play Joey, the recovering addict who befriends Luke. The studio wanted to go another way with the part, and so I decided to write the new character of Poppy Hill for Katie instead, and she absolutely crushed it. It was meant to be.

(Katie as Poppy Hill on the set of The Haunting of Hill House)

After that, she was kind enough to take a smaller role in a much bigger film, portraying Silent Sarey in Doctor Sleep.

(Katie signs autographs at the premiere of Doctor Sleep)

When it came time to make The Haunting of Bly Manor, I had a fun idea for Katie and my wife Kate to play the doomed sisters in one of our coolest episodes. It was exciting for Hill House fans to see them together, but it was really terrific for me to have so much trust in two actors who could make such a huge impact in one episode.

After Bly, Katie joined us for The Midnight Club, and has a wonderful role (and does some of her absolute best work) in the upcoming The Fall of the House of Usher. Just before those, though, she joined us at the Saturn Awards in LA, where we had an impromptu Absentia reunion with my sibling Jamie Flanagan and my dear friend Doug Jones, both of whom acted in that little movie all those years ago. It was really neat to see everyone in the same place again, and think back about how far we've come since those days filming in that pee-covered tunnel.

Katie is a phenomenal actor, and I was lucky enough to work with her at the very beginning of my career, and now five more time since. She's unique among the family of actors that I've accumulated over the years, in that she was there from the very beginning. We sat in a tiny apartment in Glendale dreaming of making movies, worrying about paying our rent, and trying to figure out how the hell to get where we wanted to go. I'm proud to know her, proud to collaborate her, and proud to call her family. I expect you'll see her in many, many more Intrepid productions for years to come.

#Katie Parker #makemovieswithyourfriends

[suchawrathfullamb]

hey Lamb, I really love your writing, can you give some advice? Maybe general things to pay attention to when writing fic, specifically Hannigram?

Thank you so much, although I don't feel like I am in any position to give advice, I'm still learning my own style and idk, I feel like giving advice is too big of a task and title for me lol. I also feel like writing fic should be mostly about self indulgence, I know we tend to be perfectionists and desire external validation, but really we're just having fun with something we're passionate about, you shouldn't be so worried about making it in a certain way. Although I understand that many of us do wish to professionalize our writing someday and maybe publish non-fandom work, so I also understand how important feedback can be when we're trying to learn and get better if it's something we want to pursue in a professional way :). Because I want to actually help you, I'll just list a few things that I personally notice in fics, but then again, I'm not at all in any position to be taken as some sort of authority and I honestly think I'm mid, I'm hardly satisfied with what I write, although I appreciate when anyone compliments my writing. With Hannigram in particular I notice I tend to try too hard when it comes to Hannibal's pov and narration, which granted, it is a harder pov to write for, but I feel like we forget to put a little more emotion and tone down on the overly intellectual language. Hannibal prosed a lot but he was still understandable and sometimes I'll write something for him and I'm like, what the actual fuck does that even mean, too much thesaurus on every single word lol. I feel like I'm Joey in that one Friends episode, ykwim? The one he needs to write Chandler and Monica's adoption letter and he uses thesaurus for every single word and it ends up sounding crazy? lol Another thing is the self awareness. Because the show is about a psychiatrist, and the main characters are extremely intelligent, we tend to think they're self aware and although they certainly are in a few aspects, they're still realistically human when it comes to not realizing their own feelings. I feel like it takes me out of the story when the author explains the characters feelings, for example: "Will knew Hannibal was bad for him, but he also felt like he was the only person who truly understood him, and so, even though he was conflicted, he(blablabla)", sometimes it's better to hold back a little, let the character's actions and inner dialogue speak for itself...show, don't tell. And the last thing I noticed that really takes me out is when the characters are cartoonish: Will reeeally likes dogs, and fishing, and flannels. Or something like "This person was rude. Hannibal would like to eat them because he despises rude people" (I see it so much but now all the examples flew out of my head lol). There's something about it that makes the characters less realistic, which is totally fine if that's the vibe, yk? More funny, cute, crack even, idk, but I see it when it wasn't the intention of the author, they just thought it was in character so they needed to point it out, you know? As if every action is "this is sooo will, omg, this sooo hannibal" vibes, you know? As if all they do is fish, eat people, wear flannels, pet dogs, drink wine and well actually maybe that is all they do,

#lol jk it just makes the reading super enjoyable when you feel as if they're real people #if that makes any sense #i'm not at all someone with authority to give writing advice lol #hannigram #nbc hannibal #hannibal #will graham #murder husbands #fanfic #writing #writers #advice #ask the lamb

[hayleythesugarbowl]

Please write for Monica Geller x Phoebe's younger sister

I trust you with the plot

The One With Phoebe’s Sister || Monica Geller x Phoebe’s younger sister!reader

⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚ masterlist • f•r•i•e•n•d•s masterlist ⋆ ˚｡⋆୨୧˚

summary: oneshot where phoebe introduces the friends to you, her younger sister, and you are instantly attracted to monica but don’t know that monica is equally smitten with you

word count: 3.1k

warnings: none 

a/n: hope you enjoy this and thanks so much for requesting it. also many apologies it took so long for me to get to this ask and i hope it was worth the wait!! enjoy ✧🍒🎀

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      “Alright everybody this is my sister, (Y/n). (Y/n), this is everybody.”

     Smiling widely, Phoebe gestures from the doorway to you and then to her friends, who are all lounging around the apartment. 

     “Hey,” you say shyly, taking off your jacket and looking around the room at your sister’s friends. “It’s nice to meet you. Phoebe talks about you guys all the time.”

     Your older sister had practically dragged you out of the airport and into the waiting taxi, overly excited to show you New York and everything she loved—you’d already been to her apartment, massage studio, and Central Perk, her favorite coffee shop. Now she beams as she leads you into a cozy apartment with purple walls and nicely arranged furniture. 

     You hang your jacket on the coat hanger and set down your bags as you gaze around the room. 

     “Ok, yay! Now I get to introduce you to everyone!” Phoebe leads you across the threshold into the living room, pointing at her friends as she goes. “This is Ross—” 

     You watch as the man who must be Ross gets up from his seat at the kitchen table and shakes your hand welcomingly 

    “It’s nice to finally meet you,” you say. 

     “The pleasure is all mine,” he replies and you smile.

      Phoebe pulls your arm, “And this is Chandler—” 

     Chandler waves awkwardly from his spot on the back of the couch. “Hey. Hi. Wow you look just like Phoebe. Well not just like Phoebe. Obviously. Because that’s Ursula. What I mean is, I can see the resemblance and you’re pretty, very pretty, and I’m going to stop talking now.”

    You chuckle and look back at your sister. 

     “Oh don’t worry about him, he’s just Chandler.” Phoebe waves a hand in the air. Chandler clutches his chest in mock offense.

     Phoebe continues. “Anyways, oh! This is Rachel.”

     The woman Phoebe refers to walks towards you “Hey sweetie, you must be Phoebe’s little sister. Oh it’s going to be so much fun having you here for…” Rachel looks at Phoebe.

     “Three weeks,” you interject, answering for Phoebe and smiling at Rachel’s kindness, “My flight back to (Y/h/t) is in three weeks.” 

     You can’t believe Phoebe’s life here. Lively city, amazing friends, and also apparently really good coffee, if Central Perk was any indication. You wish you could stay here for months, but unfortunately you have only a few weeks before you need to go back home to your city and everything that comes with your daily life. 

     “So that’s everybody!” Phoebe cheers, interrupting your thoughts, “Except for Joey but he said he’s coming over after his audition. And Monica…” Phoebe looks around the room questioningly.

     “Went to pick up some detergent or something,” Rachel informs her with an exasperated look, “Because you know, it’s not like the apartment isn’t already clean enough.”

     Chandler feigns a shiver, “Oh right, her Spring Cleaning Frenzy. Not to be confused with her Christmas Cleaning Madness or her New-Years Cleaning Hysteria. Although all are equally terrifying.”

    You chuckle. Your sister had told you about Chandler and his jokes. “We’ll I can’t wait to meet her.”

     As if on cue, a woman with dark hair holding grocery bags in both hands walks through the door. 

     Having set the bags down on the kitchen table, the woman begins rifling through her purse.

     Looking down into her purse she says, “Alright, before anybody says anything, I need these supplies and if anyone thinks differently they can start by cleaning the bathroom floors and—”

     “Oh Monica!” Phoebe exclaims, “You’re back! We have company!” She smiles excitedly. 

     You smile at the woman who must be Monica. You can’t help but notice her vibrant blue eyes and how her dark hair frames her face. Your sister didn’t tell you how beautiful she was. You suddenly catch yourself staring and quickly speak. 

     “Hi, I’m Phoebe’s sister, (Y/n). It’s nice to meet you.”

     Monica finally looks up. She sets her purse down hurriedly and walks toward the living room over to you.  

     “Oh, hi,” she says quickly, pushing her hair out of her face. You follow the movement with your eyes. “I’m Monica. But Phoebe already told you that. Make yourself at home. Please, sit.”

     Monica indicates one of the chairs in the apartment’s living room. You sit down.

     Monica takes the seat across from you next to Rachel and puts her hands in her lap eagerly. “So, your Phoebe’s sister, huh? Where are you from? What do you do? I mean, tell me about yourself.”

     “Woah, Mon, slow down!” Rachel says putting an arm on her shoulder, “You don’t want to scare the poor girl off the minute she gets here.”

     Monica looks at you sheepishly and Rachel laughs. 

     “No, it’s ok,” you say, amused and flattered by Monica’s enthusiasm. “I’m from (Y/h/t) and I’m currently going to school there, but I graduate next year. Not nearly as exciting as New York, though. I’m thrilled to be here.” 

     Monica smiles at you, “Well, my apartment is always open! You know, if you ever needed to stay here.” She clasps her hands together. 

     Chandler walks around the couch and sits on the back next to Monica. “Interesting, because when I asked to stay here last week when my apartment was being repainted because Joey thought ‘Fireball 2: now with more fire’,” he gestures in the air as if announcing a movie title, “was a good idea, I believe your exact words to me were to ‘take a hike’.”

     Monica shoves Chandler off the couch and glares back at him, “Yeah? Well then maybe you should take that hike right now.”

     Ross stifles a chuckle from the kitchen. Monica glares at him too and he quickly turns away. 

     Phoebe sighs, “Ok, guys? Totally ruining my whole meeting thing.”

     A chorus of “Sorry Pheebs” meets your ears but you just giggle. 

     “Anyways,” Monica says, “we’re all really glad you’re here.” She smiles at you and as she does her eyes light up causing you to smile back. She has a fire in her eyes and it makes her see like someone who is passionate about everything she does. Before she can catch you admiring her yet again, you get up and seize Phoebe’s wrist, guiding her away from her her friend and towards the other side of the room.

     “Pheebs, you didn’t tell me your friend was gorgeous,” you whispers emphatically.

      “Really? You think so? I mean compared to me…” she trails off and you roll your eyes at her. Phoebe suddenly gets an excited look on her face. “Oh hey, you should totally—”

     She gets cut of as someone else walks through the door. A man with dark hair wearing a New York Knicks jersey under a large coat steps into the apartment. 

     “Joey!” Phoebe shouts, dragging you to the door. “Meet (Y/n), my sister!”

     Joey looks you up and down admiringly as he takes his jacket off. “So you’re (Y/n).” He gives you a charming smile. 

     “Yeah, that’s me,” you say. “It’s so great to finally put all of your faces to names.” 

     “Oh, right, that’s everybody, yay!” Phoebe goes over to Joey. “So how was your audition?” 

     “Terrible, I blew it, there’s no way I got the part,” Joey mumbles distractedly and waves her off and saunters over to you, “So, it’d be rude of me if I didn’t ask you, how you doin’?”

     You open your mouth to respond when Monica rushes over to where the three of you are standing. 

     “Come on Joey,” Monica says, “I’m sure she doesn’t want to be flirted with by you the minute she walks in the door. Right?” Monica wrings her hands together and looks to Rachel for help. 

     Before you have time to contemplate what she just said, Rachel jumps in, turning to you.

     “Oh, honey don’t worry, Joey flirted with all of us when he first met us.”

     Chandler looks at Joey, offended. “You never flirted with me!”

     You laugh at the expression on his friend’s face. 

     “Anyways,” Joey starts, “(Y/n), it’s nice to meet you but Chandler we gotta go.”

     “Right, sorry guys, Joey and I have to bounce.” Chandler takes a last swig of the coffee in his hand and heads towards the door.

     “Knicks game,” Joey adds in explanation as he follows his friend, making to leave the apartment. “It was nice meeting you.”

     He winks at you. You give them a small wave and then they’re out the door. 

     Phoebe turns around, “So seeing as it’s finally just us girls—”

     Ross clears his throat. 

     “—oh right and Ross.” She gestures toward him and Monica snorts. She quickly covers her mouth, looking embarrassed. 

     “No no, I have to go anyway,” Ross says, with an air of confidence, “I have a date tonight.”

      “You?” Monica raises an eyebrow.

     “Yes,” Ross insists, “just because your love life is non-existent doesn’t mean mine is.”

     “Hey! I go on dates.”

     “With other people?”

     Monica wraps her arms around her torso. “I just haven’t found the right person yet.”

     You almost sense her glance over at you but you keep your eyes trained on her brother as he too walks towards the door. 

     “Bye,” you call out as he leaves. You like him and enjoyed the way he bantered with his sister. It reminds you of yourself and Phoebe. You two have always been close—closer than you are with Ursula—but you definitely get on each others nerves sometimes. 

     But mostly you liked hearing that Monica’s romantic life was less than perfect. It makes you feel better about your own love life—or lack of it—that someone as beautiful and kind as Monica is having trouble too. 

     You find yourself watching her as she and Rachel talk in tones you can’t hear over in the kitchen while Rachel helps her friend unload her remaining cleaning supplies from the bags on the table. Monica tucks a strand of hair behind her ear and you watch as she carries an armful of her purchases across the room.

     “I can tell you like her,” you hear Phoebe whisper from behind you. 

     “What?” You say, caught off guard.

     “I see the way you look at her. Like she’s, I don’t know, a goddess or something.”

     “I do not!” But you find yourself blushing in spite of yourself. 

     “It’s ok, I can tell she likes you too,” your sister offers encouragingly.

     “How could you possibly tell that?” You run your fingers through your hair nervously.

     “I know these things, (Y/n),” she says with a hint of mischief in her eyes, “I’m kind of a love genius.” She waggles her eyebrows. 

     “Oh yeah? And that’s why you haven’t been in a relationship in four months?” You tease. 

     “Ok, my powers don’t work on myself, you clearly don’t know how the cupid thing works.” 

      You laugh and she puts a hand on your arm, her ringed fingers laying gently on your sleeve. 

     “But seriously. I saw her looking at you too. And come on, she let you sit on the furniture with your shoes on! She’s never let me do that. Plus, Monica’d be lucky to have you. Your sweet and funny and pretty and, oh, you’ve had, like, no cavities! I mean anyone would be crazy if they didn’t want to go out with you.”

     “Thanks Pheebs,” you say, laughing and giving her a quick hug, “I love you”

     “I love you too, now go over there and tell her how you feel.”

      You glance at Monica, now sitting on the couch, a magazine in her hand as she shows something to Rachel. You look back at your sister with an eyebrow raised.

      “Yeah, no. I just met her and I’m not exactly the type of person to just go up and ask people out.”

     Phoebe gives you a look and then pushes you over to the living room and sits you down in the same chair you had previously occupied. “Hey guys, I forgot I have an, um, appointment with my psychic today that I just, like, totally forgot about so I’d better be off.” 

     She looks at Rachel pointedly, “Rach, would you care to accompany me?”

     “Uh, me? Why Pheebs?” She responds.

     “Oh, I don’t know. I just sensed this aura around you,” she gestures wildly with her arms, “and I thought you might need a psychic so….”

     Rachel, seeming to suddenly understand something, gets up quickly. “You know what you’re right! I felt a little weird this morning but I thought it was just bloating.” She shrugs and goes over to get her jacket.

     Monica turns around and fixes a look on Phoebe, “What so I don’t have an ‘aura’?” She puts air quotes around the last word.

     “No, sorry,” Phoebe says apologetically but then turns to you and Rachel, coughing, and mumbles a little too loudly, “Noteverything’sacompetition”

     Monica crosses her arms and turns around.  

     “So,” Phoebe starts and the other woman turns around to look at her again. “This is perfect because now you and (Y/n) can get to know each other until we get back. Ok? Bye Mon, bye sis!” She winks at you. You slap your forehead internally at Phoebe’s obviousness. You hope Monica didn’t notice. Phoebe shuts the door quickly and then they are gone, leaving you and Monica alone in her apartment. 

     You both turn to look at each other at Phoebe’s hasty departure. For a moment, the only sound is the far away noise of traffic until finally you decide to break the silence.

     “So, you know what I do, but what about you?” In reality, you knew exactly what she did because your sister talked about her friends to you all the time and you loved hearing about every detail. But you had to make some small talk. 

     “I’m the head chef at Allesandro’s restaurant,” she says, obviously proud of the fact. “I kind of like to cook.”

     “Phoebe says your food is amazing,” you compliment. 

     “Maybe I could cook for you sometime while you’re here? If you want.” She adds hurriedly. 

    “I’d like that,” you smile. 

     “So, what’s it like in (Y/h/t)? I’ve always wanted to go there.”

     “It’s nice,” you say “but I miss Phoebe a lot…it’s nice seeing how great her friends are here though. I mean, I’ve loved meeting all of you and seeing how caring and fun you are. She’s lucky to have you as a friend.”

     “She’s lucky to have a sister like you.” 

      You pick up a drink from the coffee table and hold it up in the air. “To Phoebe and how lucky she is to have us,” you say playfully.

     Monica picks up another cup and touches it to yours in a cheers, laughing.

     “You know, she’s told me all sorts of crazy stories about you…all of you,” you say. 

     Monica looks mildly frightened, “What has she told you?”

     “Oh, well nothing that embarrassing,” you lie. She gives you a look.

     “Ok, we’ll she did tell me that you dated your ex’s son…” 

     “What? I can’t believe she told you that! I’m going to kill her!” Monica looks outraged.

     “Told me what? I don’t know what you’re talking about.” You look at her knowingly and she smiles. “Yeah, Phoebe’s a lot of things but she’s not exactly…discreet.”

     Monica laughs, “I know!”

     You laugh with her. “So, are you still seeing him? The son, I mean.” 

     “No, that was a while ago,” she points at herself now, “Hasn’t been on a date in months remember?” 

     She pauses and then asks you casually, almost too casually, “Well, I-I guess it’s my turn to ask a question so…are you seeing anyone right now?” 

     You take a deep breath. “No, I’m not. Like you said, I just haven’t found the right person.” You mean to stop talking there but you find yourself continuing. “Sometimes I feel like I’m waiting for something that doesn’t exist though, you know? Like what if I’m missing so many wonderful opportunities because I’m holding out for something unrealistic. I don’t know, I guess I’m just an idealist. I just want someone who cares about me and who understands me, someone who I can love and be loved by, not just something superficial, you know?”

     Monica looks at you intensely. You try not to squirm under her gaze as you fidget with the ties on your shirt and contemplate everything you just said. Usually you don’t open up to people that much or so quickly, but there’s something about Monica you just trust. You just felt like she’d understand. 

     Monica leans forward. “Wow, I-I totally know what you mean. So, is it ok if I ask you another question?” 

     At your nod she continues slowly.

     “If you did, um, have an instinct about someone…you know, that you thought was attractive and kind and charming and someone that you felt like you’d regret not having a chance with, would you maybe ask them to get coffee with you sometime?”

     She’s leaned forward even more and you two are close now. You breathe in as you look into her blue eyes and the way she’s looking at you, almost shyly.

     “I think I would,” you manage. 

     “Would you like to get coffee sometime?” Monica asks you. 

     “I would.” And you smile bigger than you have in weeks. Monica places a hand on yours. 

     At that moment, your sister walks in the apartment. 

     “Ok, you’d think after forgetting my ‘spiritual coat’ this many times—” she stops abruptly when she sees you and Monica, sitting there so close to each other, your hands interlocked. 

    “So you? And you?” Phoebe trails off and you and Monica both look at each other and then nod. “Oh yay, see I knew it!” She cheers. 

     You look at your sister, looking so happy for you and at Monica, looking at you the same way you feel about her and you think how lucky you are to have these people in your life and how glad you are you came to New York with your sister 

     “Well, that coffee isn’t going to drink itself,” you say to Monica. 

     “Let’s go,” she says. You both head towards the door. 

     Phoebe raises her eyebrows at you, “You two kids have fun!”

     You look back at Phoebe and mouth, “Thanks, Pheebs”

     “What are sisters for, (Y/n).” She smiles.

     You smile back as you follow Monica outside, shutting the door to the apartment and possibly opening the door to a wonderful new relationship. 

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ˋ°•*⁀➷ i hope you enjoyed this!! i love writing for the friends characters so much and i hope i did them justice. have a wonderful day/night <3

#monica geller x reader #monica geller x phoebe buffay’s younger sister #f•r•i•e•n•d•s #monica geller #phoebe buffay #friends x reader #friends #friends imagines #friends tv #joey tribbiani #ross geller #rachel green #chandler bing #fanfic #fanfiction #reader insert #x reader

[emuthec0w]

Surprise Party !

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!! AUTHORS NOTES !!

Hehe >:) A littlebullet point fic of how the yugioh characters would react to their s/o throwing them a surprise party !! Gender neutral reader as always :)

P.2 will have , Ishizu Ishtar, Téa Gardner, Joey Wheeler, and Mai Valentine !!!

Characters ; Seto Kaiba, Yugi Mutou, Atemi / Yami Yugi, Ryou + Yami Bakura, Marik Ishtar

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Seto Kaiba

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Birthdays.. he didn’t really enjoy them. Not his own , anyways. When it came to yours and Mokuba’s, he found some enjoyment in them. You and his brother’s smile of glee healed his heart just a bit, knowing you two could have the things he never could in his childhood- and now- made him.. happy.

Though, he may not admit it. Not right away, anyways.

His birthday was like any other day, loaded with work. What could he expect? A break on his birthday when he was the head of a giant company? Not a chance. It hardly even crossed his mind that it was his birthday to begin with.

On his way home he may pick up a coffee as a little treat for himself, but other than that, the festivities are pretty much over before they even began.

“I’m ho-,”

“Surprise!” “Happy birthday big bro!”

Little did Kaiba know you and Mokuba had been planning a huge surprise party since his last birthday. His lips parted in as he stared at his now decorated living room and kitchen. Blue and silver ribons all over..

“Hm,” He hummed, a grin settling over his previous look of shock, “Not bad, for the world champion himself.”

He would never admit it, but this is the happiest moment of his life. He didnt have to though, as you could read him like a book. And he was acutely aware of this fact.

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Yugi Muto

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Yugi has always celebrated his birthday by bringing cupcakes to his class to share the joy. “It’s not as good if you’re celebrating by yourself!” was like his motto, or something.

Afterwards he may invite a few friends over to play Duel Monsters on this special occasion, just for fun of course. Though he didn’t expect you and Grandpa to pop out of the door with a “Happy Birthdayyy Yugiii!!” the moment he got home..! But, it was a pleasant surprise.

“You guys..,” He may tear up a little, “Woah..”

He’s more or less speechless at first, but he makes sure to show his gratitude through physical affection such and holding your hand and hugging you tight.

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Atem / Yami Yugi

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The pharaoh is rather used to celebrations of days such as his birth, or the anniversary of his crowning- it’s hard to ignore the public’s gratitude. But, he was used to it by now. Their weren’t a lot of surprises on days like these anymore.

He spends most of the day in his study writing down the past few major events on papyrus sheets. His ability to write out perfect hieroglyphic symbols still impressed you to this day, honestly.

When he had finally decided to put his quill down for the night he noticed the sounds of excited squealing from the pharaohs sleeping chambers. His dear Queen/King, what could you be up to now, he wondered? You were always warm and happy like the sun, he wondered if you ever could truly harbor hatred for another human.

As he stepped into the temples sleeping chambers he was immediately met with the sight of red and white lights illuminating the walls, and petals covering the ground. He wasnt very good at expressing it, but it made his heart flutter. Making his way to your shared qaurters .. wow.. before him was a heartwarming sight.

You, his lovely queen/king sitting in a pure satin laced night gown, holding out a cake to him. ‘I ♡ you Atem!’ was written across it with icing.

His lip trembled, it brought him such .. happiness that you found him this precious to you with no strings attached. He took the cake and nodded his head;

“Thank you, my- my dear..”

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Ryou Bakura

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Ryou had lived alone for quite a while, so.. on his birthdays, there was never anything to look forward to to begin with. Plus, what if he shared a birthday with someone else? He.. didn’t want to be a bother by bringing it up.

This is why none of his classmates ever batted an eye on his birthday; he never told them about it. But you..

Oh, he couldn’t hide a thing from you. In the end you had forced his birthday out of him- it turned out you were right. You shared your birthday.

On his way home from a tournament, he’s fully intent on buying you the best gift he can find! Stepping into your favorite little shop he immediately spots what he’s gonna get; a huge Hello Kitty plush that’s way bigger than either of you. Thank god the clerk running the check out was able to smush it down into one of their bags.

That would make it a much bigger surprise!

Opening the door to your apartment he’s greeted with the sweet smell of strawberry shortcake. Oh wow.. he was so lucky. If one thing was clear, you knew the way to his heart ; good, homemade food.

He made his way to the kitchen, the sight of presents piled on the table making him stop in his tracks. His cheeks flooded with a dark hue of red, brown eyes softening like a puppy begging for food. Could it be? Had .. you really done this all for him? On your birthday too? Oh.. oh wow.

He had never felt so loved.

The whole night was just like a dream come true- what he had always imagined real birthdays to be like! You’d both gotten presents from your friends, and you had gotten him a deck of all the rarest cards you could find.

“My fairy.. you shouldnt have..!”



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Yami Bakura / Thief King Bakura

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The entire day you were by his side, on such a special day that should have been celebrated for milenia.. he didnt want his pretty prince/princess wandering from him. Though the days prior you had set up a small ‘party’ in your home.

After cheering him on in a duel against some chump- who was it? Oh, right. Kaiba, who he obviously won against; you brought him back home, making sure to stop at little shops you both liked to buy him treats.

“C’mon Bakura!” You called, “I have a surprise!”

“Tsk, so eager. I never quite understood birthdays, anyways..”

He grumbled but followed en-suite. He had no such good memories of birthdays. His was hardly ever celebrated, instead that Pharaohs was what everyone gushed over. But no matter, back then he could have always just stolen himself any trinket he desired - it didn’t even need to be his stupid birthday.

As the two of you returned you took the pale hand of his host’s body and lead him inside. His eyes widened at the view.. so many sets of cards.. so many random trinkets, and a table set full of food, drinks, cake- everything.

“I knew there was a reason we were destined to be together, my Prince/Princess..”

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Marik Ishtar

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From his earliest memory of it, his birthday has always been a dreaded time in his life. One year closer to having to accept the ritual. And when that time finally arrived, his birthday had officially been deamed the worst day of the year. Somedays, he wished he had never been born at all.

It was no wonder it took him a good while to open up to you about his past, and even what day his birthday was. He wished he could just purge the day from the year. It would make everything much.. easier.

On the “special” day he had locked himself away in his room, hugging his pillow just- just waiting for it to be over. The memories he had to relive- the stinging from his tattoos.

But.. hearing your voice from outside he almost immediately shot up.

“My Prince, may I come in?..”

You were acutely aware of how hard this day was for him. But that’s why you wanted to give him some new, good memories of it. When he opened the door you brought him into your warm embrace, seeing the tears in his eyes broke your heart. He was.. comfortable being vulnerable around you. And that meant something- it meant a great deal to you. You hushed him softly, humming a sweet tune.

“I dont want to be seen like this.. come in.” He grumbled, “Not even Odion can see me cry anymore.”

The tan boy pulled you in, locking the door behind you two. He sat you down by his side on the edge of his bed. You watched with a small frown as he wiped the tears from his eyes and his sniffling nose.

“Marik.. I have a gift for you, my pharaoh.”

“What?..!.. Please dont- nno- dont do it to me again-..!”

Marik immediately pulled back, pulling his rod out as quick as he could. That look of fear in his eyes- you’d never seen it before. You shook your head, pulling out a small box.

“Please trust me, it’s something good.”

With your reassurance he lowered his gaurd just a bit.. but he was still weary. That was until you pulled- could it be? The Millenium.. the Millenium Eye from your little box. You held it out to him. He silently took it , rolling it around in his palms.

“Happy Birthday, my Prince.”

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#x reader #atem yugioh #yugioh #yu gi oh #yugioh x reader #yugioh bakura #yugioh marik #yugioh seto kaiba #seto kaiba #yugioh yugi #yugioh fanfiction #ygo fanfiction #thief king bakura #bakura x reader #yami bakura #bakura ryou #ryou bakura #yugi mutou #yugi muto x reader #yugi muto #kaiba seto #seto kaiba x reader #marik ishtar #ishtar marik #yami marik #marik x reader #marik ishtar x reader

[deadbydangit]

I hope it isn't weird to say but I've fallen in love with your writing ^^

Could I have reader who's a bit touch starved? Like they can do anything, pick them up to hook, subtly touch their face to get something off, or even grab off a pallet and the reader just... leans into it. Bonus if reader is too afraid to act affectionate with anyone else other than said person ^^

Could I have this with Knight, Huntress, Frank, Joey, and Ghostface please? Thank you!

Aww thank you. That makes me feel so happy. I can absolutely do this. That's such a cute idea! Sorry this one's a little shorter.

With a Reader who is touch starved.

Knight, Huntress, Legion (Frank), Legion (Joey), Ghostface

Knight

Please... Please stop.

He can't move if you're clinging to him.

He doesn't understand why you'd want a hug from him anyways?

He isn't exactly soft.

And why do you only do this with him?

There are three other knights you could bother.

Why him?

Ugh! Fine!

Tarhos will pick you up and carry you around for a little while.

But he has things to do!

So don't expect too much.

How did you get that cut on your face?

Let him clean it off.

He's really going to be confused when you lean into him.

He's not a super cuddly guy, but, for you, he'll make an exception.

Huntress

Despite her looks, she's super cuddly and touch starved herself.

She grew up all alone after he mother was killed, so she craves the same sort of affection you want.

But, please, don't hide in lockers just to get her to pick you up.

She'll give you a hug any other time.

But this is a trial and she's got to work.

She wasn't planning on hooking you anyways.

She never does.

Also, you don't need to hold her hand every time you two walk anywhere.

She needs her hands ready to swing her axe if she needs to protect you.

Still, she loves all the hugs and kisses.

Her favorite is when you pet her hair.

No matter how clingy you may be, she's always going to love you.

Legion (Frank)

Okay, so, he's pretty touch starved too.

But like, he needs some space.

He'll totally give you a hug after the trial.

As many as you want!

But you can't keep sitting by hooks so he can pick you up to hook you.

Frank knows you crave attention, but you can't hurt yourself for it.

Trials over, he's pulling you into his arms.

Kisses. You'll be drowning in kisses.

He moved from foster home to foster home.

He never received any affection.

He was never able to show anyone affection.

So having someone like you who is willing to give and receive all that attention?

A dream come true.

You're a dream come true.

Legion (Joey)

Joey loves all your snuggles.

And, don't get him wrong, he loves the attention.

The realm is a cruel cold place.

Everyone has their own way of dealing with it.

But, darling, don't sit on top of the pallets to get him to grab you.

This is a trial and he's got work to do.

And please don't run in the way of the frenzy!

Look, he'll give you all his attention after the trial, just please don't put yourself in harm's way to get it.

He loves you so much.

He knows how starved you are for love. He knows it isn't your fault.

You drive him crazy, but he loves you anyways.

Ghostface

Uh, you can let go of him now.

You're on the hook.

Why are you holding onto his hand?

He's got other survivors to hook.

And isn't that painful? Don't you want the others to, you know, save you?

You're making the hunt really awkward, you know that, right?

Ugh, fine!

You can have one kiss before he goes after the others.

And you still won't let go.

He promises he'll snuggle you all you want after the trial, he's just got to do his job.

Alright, fine, one more kiss. But that's in.

Please stop trying to ruin his fun.

Danny loves you, he does.

But this is getting out of hand.

He won't be hooking you anymore.

You are going to help your team, and you are going to like it!

#dbd imagines #dbd ask blog #dbd killer #dbd frank #dbd ghostface #dbd joey #dbd knight #dbd huntress

[fritz-federleicht]

Can you do Joey with reader who’s taller than him? I’m 5’9 and kinda insecure abt my height and ik I would’ve been much taller than him cuz he was like 5’3 (Also I love your writing!)

You are perfect/ Joey Jordison x fem!reader

Summary: you're insecure about your height

Notes: Thank you anon, I'm glad to hear that you like my writing

Words: 362

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"Joey you have to go alone." Joey stands in his suit, ready to leave the house.

"No honey. Why? You look fantastic." He looks at you endearingly and takes your hand, spinning you once in a circle. "Look at your little dress. It looks stunning."

You shake your head.

"Why?" You can clearly hear the desperation in his voice. "Why won't you come with me?"

"Don't you think I'm too tall for a woman?" You ask him in no uncertain terms.

"No. There are women like you who are taller. You are perfect the way you are. Look at me. I'm not exactly the tallest person either." He pushes a strand of hair behind his ear and screws up his face. "Most men are taller than me."

"You're perfect the way you are, too."

You look into each other's eyes. "We make a fun couple." You say with a smile. "You short and me tall."

"Yes we do. We both have our problems." He pulls you close, his eyes pleading. "But when we're together, they don't matter."

He stretches and kisses your lips. "Will you come with me to the release now?"

"When you look at me like that I can't say no." You lean down to him and cup his face.

He wraps his arms around your waist. "I'm glad you did. Because if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't have gone."

You laugh. "No matter what anyone else would have said?"

He grins. "Let them kick me out." (Alluding to Craig. I really wonder why they kicked him out).

"Honey, don't make this about me okay? What else would you do?"

He looks at you in horror. "I'm in another band too. In case you didn't know."

"Oh right. Speaking of. Tell them I said hi."

"Will do. But can we go now? Otherwise, I might lose my job after all."

"All right. Let's go." You grab his hand. "But one last thing."

You lean in and kiss Joey gently.

"So now we really can." You pull him behind you to the car. Joey, completely caught off guard by your actions, walks after you.

#joey jordison x reader #joey jordison x y/n #joey jordison x reader #joey jordison one shot #joey jordison imagine #joey jordison #slipknot x y/n #slipknot imagine #slipknot #slipknot x reader #slipknot one shot