#2. shes there sometimes to play the for shenanigans | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

cyberwulf · 1 year

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Jamie is a Shameless Flirt, pt 2

James took a deep breath and let it out slow, then lifted the videophone receiver and slowly punched in Professor Oak’s number.

He didn’t have to wait long.

“James!” The professor greeted him with a smile. “I was hoping you might call.”

“…Professor Oak.”

“I told you, call me Sam, please,” the older man chuckled. Behind him, Meowth leaped gracefully up on the laboratory bench and glowered in James’ direction.

“…Professor,” James replied. He launched into the speech he’d rehearsed after Meowth outlined all the reasons dating the man was a bad idea that guaranteed a bunch of wacky shenanigans everyone could do without. “Listen – I was a teeny bit sloshed, and I was in drag, and Jamie’s just a character I like to have fun with, so –”

“…Oh.” He winced at Professor Oak’s disappointed look. “Well, that’s too bad. I was hoping to get to know you better over dinner…”

James forced a laugh. “Well, there’s only one place in town, and I work there…”

“I was thinking more along the lines of Viridian City,” Professor Oak continued. James straightened at that. Dinner someplace fancy? Behind the professor, Meowth frowned and shook his head furiously at him. “But since you aren’t interested…”

---

“Are you out of your mind?”

Jessie pulled a face at him across the kitchen table. “Professor Twerp? Isn’t he a grandpa?”

“Sam is a gentleman who sees a lady home safely,” James retorted haughtily, taking a sip of coffee. He arched his eyebrow and gave her a sidelong glance. “Unlike certain rude little boys who unceremoniously eject their guests because they can’t control themselves.”

Jessie turned bright red. “You were the one who made her all sexy!” she hissed. She crossed her arms and scowled. “I can’t believe you’re going through with this. You can’t possibly like him.”

“I don’t have to like him,” James shot back. “He’s taking me to dinner, Jess. I’m going somewhere nice to eat a meal I didn’t cook.” He nodded at her girlfriend, currently folding laundry on the countertop. “Delia knows what I mean.”

“Yeah, where’s he taking you, the Early Bird Special?” Jessie asked sarcastically. “I will bet you ten – no, I’ll bet you twenty Pokébucks you’re home by eight with a cup of hot cocoa.”

“I’ll happily take twenty dollars of your student loan money,” James laughed. “Have it ready next Saturday morning.”

“Jessie? Sweetie?”

Both former Team Rocket members looked up. Delia hadn’t turned around, and when she next spoke, her voice was strangely flat.

“Could you take these clean clothes upstairs for me? I’d like to speak to James alone.”

Jessie and James exchanged glances before Jessie rose and took the basket of laundry out of the room. Once she was gone, Delia turned, leaning back against the counter as she crossed her arms.

“I don’t care what Jamie did after a few glasses of wine,” she said quietly. “And we did kick you out so that we could…” She nodded at the ceiling. “…you know. But if this is just a big joke to you, don’t do it. Samuel Oak is a dear friend of mine, and he’s very important to Ash.” She shook her head at him slightly, her expression putting ice in his veins. “Don’t play with his heart.”

“Delia – I –” James swallowed and had another sip of coffee – his mouth had gone dry all of a sudden. “Look, all that with Jessie…” He wilted under her steely gaze. “Look, I was going to tell him I wasn’t interested, but he wants to take me out. No one ever wants to take me out.” He gazed into his mug. “I know the three of us have wine nights, and now and then we all go dancing, but sometimes I feel…”

He risked looking at her. Delia’s expression had softened slightly, and she was nodding.

“I understand,” she answered. “But – I mean it, James. I’d never look at you the same way if you were cruel to him.”

“I won’t, I promise!” James insisted. “He was nice to me. I’m not mean to people who are nice to me.” Getting up, he crossed the room and placed his arms gently on her shoulders. “And you know that I’d never want to do anything to jeopardise our friendship, Delia.”

Delia let out a sigh. Finally, she smiled up at him. “Okay. I trust you.”

James nodded. “You’ll see. By this time next week, I’ll have had a free – but boring – dinner, Jessie’ll have an extra twenty Pokédollars, Professor Oak will be thoroughly disillusioned, and everything will be back to normal.”

---

Meowth scowled as his human housemate tried on various combinations of shirts and pants, fretting over which ones looked best. “Thought you was only doing this for the free dinner?”

James cast him a sour look. “Excuse me for wanting to look nice in front of your boss.” He settled on a pair of chinos and a white shirt.

“Yeah, he is my boss,” Meowth growled, “and I gotta look him in the eye Monday morning, so no funny business.” James rolled his eyes and applied some cologne. Meowth sneezed as it wafted his way. The doorbell rang and James flinched.

“Get that, will you?” he said, a note of panic in his voice. “I haven’t even decided what shoes to wear!”

Grumbling under his breath, Meowth trudged to the front door, jumped up on the end table, and tugged on the handle.

“Hey there, Prof,” he mumbled, moving to let the older man in. He gestured through to the den. “Have a seat. His Majesty’ll be right out.”

“Thank you, Meowth.” The professor settled himself on the couch, laying the bouquet of flowers he’d brought carefully on the coffee table. He plucked a comb from the pocket of his sport coat and ran it through his hair. Meowth slunk into the den and eyed him suspiciously from behind the armchair. He didn’t like the flowers or the sport coat or the black shirt which looked kinda tight on the prof but in a flattering way. And here he’d done everything he could to try and stop any shenanigans from shenaniganing.

His ears twitched at the sound of a door opening and closing down the hall.

“Yoo-hoo.”

Professor Oak stood up, taking the bouquet with him. James stepped into the den, leather jacket slung over one shoulder.

“Well!” The professor looked up at him. “You certainly look handsome.” He looked down at the flowers. “I, er, I wasn’t sure who I’d be taking to dinner…but I suppose these are for you.”

“Ooh.” James giggled and Meowth frowned. “Oh, these are expensive.” He blushed. “Sam, you shouldn’t have.” He turned to the surly Scratch-Cat. “Meowth, be a dear and put these in some water, will you?”

With a growl, Meowth snatched the flowers out of James’ grasp.

“Shall we?” Professor Oak asked, offering James his arm.

“Let’s,” James answered. He petted Meowth roughly on the head. “Don’t wait up now!”

Meowth followed them to the entrance, frowning again as the professor opened James’ door for him. “I ain’t never gonna sleep tonight.”

---

“Thanks for coming, honey.” Delia glanced up anxiously at the clock again. It was almost time to open up, and there was still no sign of James.

“Oh I’m not missing this,” Jessie replied with a smirk. “I want my twenty bucks.”

“If James doesn’t show up soon, I’m going to need you to be a server,” Delia warned. “I’ll have to do all the cooking.”

“I dunno what to tell ya, Delia,” Meowth remarked from the counter. He had another mouthful of milk. “He was at home this morning and he left before I did.”

The back door flew open.

“Sorry I’m late!” James called. He snatched his apron from its peg and put it on. “Let me just get ready –”

As he made for the kitchen, Jessie leaned over and hooked him by the collar. “Hold it right there, mister. We all want to know how your date went.”

A dreamy look came over James’ face.

“Oh it was a magical evening,” he drawled, resting his chin in his hand. “He took me to this swanky Kalosian restaurant, and then we went for a walk in the park. And then we drove down to Route 21, and the moonlight was shining on the water…”

“Aww…”

Delia glanced at Jessie. She was mirroring her former team-mate’s posture, a goofy smile on her face. Note to self – take Jessie to Route 21 after sunset. Dressed as guy(?)

James pushed himself off the counter and began to saunter back and forth. “And we just talked and talked and talked…”

“Yeah, what about?” Meowth asked sourly.

“Poetry,” James retorted good-naturedly. “And Grass-types. And overly affectionate Pokémon. And Ash.” He scratched the cat behind his ears. “And you.” He crossed his arms and shot Jessie a smug look. “And you owe me twenty Pokédollars, because I didn’t get home till after midnight. No hot cocoa involved.”

Jessie looked to Meowth for confirmation. The cat shrugged.

“I hate to say it, but he’s right,” he declared. “Pay the man, Jess.”

“You know, I’m not even mad,” Jessie chuckled, reaching for her purse. A teasing note entered her voice as she handed over the cash. “You’re sweet on a grandpa.”

James giggled. “You know, I think I am,” he admitted. “Did I tell you he brought me flowers?”

“Midnight’s not so late,” Delia remarked. She arched an eyebrow at James, her smile belying her serious boss act. “So why are you, Mr. Sasaki? Explain yourself.”

“Oh, I had to drop Sam’s jeep back to the corral,” James replied. “I wound up driving him home.” He looked away coyly. “He wasn’t really in any shape to.”

“Really?” Delia asked in surprise. “That’s not like him.” She chuckled. “I suppose it has been a while since he had a night out, he probably doesn’t know his limits anymore.”

Delia – as most people would, in her position – assumed that the blank look which appeared on James’ face was just one of his many himbo moments. Jessie and Meowth, on the other hand, understood loud and clear, with the latter just managing not to spit milk across the restaurant.

“Oh – yes,” James laughed nervously. “We brought a bottle of wine with us to Route 21 and he had a few too many. That, that is definitely what happened.” He looked past her at the clock. “Is that the time, I’d better get in that kitchen!”

Delia turned to look, jumped a little at the time, and quickly headed to the front door to open up. Behind her, Jessie and Meowth exchanged a wordless glance.

So much for looking the prof in the eye come Monday morning.

We are never telling her.

@yamujiburo

#my fanfic #james/oak #james #professor oak #hanamusa #delia ketchum #jessie #meowth

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convoloutedinjoke · 1 year

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Rating Disco Elysium characters based on how funny I think their kinks have the potential to be

Harry: the DSM of getting off on things. He likes piss he likes feet he likes the idea of being soooo small and tiny you could step on him like a bug, and while none of these things are funny on their own they are when he does them on account of his being a clown. He would also fuck a clown, incidentally. 8/10, knocking two points off because this lacks the element of surprise.

Kim: Leather and uniform fetishist. No wise guy shenanigans here. Will fuck you serious will fuck you professional. His strap is extremely normal, his daddy/boy dynamics are not a laughing matter. 4/10 because he wants to have relations with his car and is embarrassed about it

Jean: No idea what gets him off but he genuinely believes whatever it is means he’s evil and weird, making him the proud owner of The Worlds Funniest Kinks. 9/10, steals mustard from the homeless without remorse but has a moral crisis every time he cums while fantasising about getting gangbanged in a holding cell. Sad!

Trant: not funny. too passionately open about the things hes into. if you tried to make light of his trampling fetish, he would recite the wikipedia entry on cock and ball torture to you from memory and look delighted to be sharing his interests with you the whole time. 3/10

Klaasje: not funny to most on account of being conventionally attractive and good at billing her sexual encounters as suffused with romantic, literary ennui but it SHOULD be funny to be such a Lana Del Rey motherfucker in the sheets so I’m pulling rank and saying 7/10

Joyce: cringefail class dynamics fantasies. Bodice rippers and the opposite of CEO erotica feature heavily here. This wouldn’t be funny if not for the fact she literally owns a yacht. Also wants to get stabbed a little bit. 5/10, probably read the elysium version of lady chatterlys lover as a teen and still jerks off about it.

Garte: a normal man if there ever was one. has kinks but they aren't funny. wears a bra sometimes and it looks cute. 1/10 probably fun to hook up with and a decent communicator

The Deserter: given the 5 decades of loneliness, im willing to bet his brain has rewired itself into having some interesting potentially bug-related reward pathways but whatever he's got going on is too sad to laugh about. 0/10 :(

Sunday Friend: his kinks would be funny on anyone else, but he’s very very very boring. 2/10, you can pay a twink to do raceplay with you, but it wont dispel the grey miasma of being a mid tier government employee

evrart: I don’t know honestly, the lying and manipulating and petty power plays scrambled my brain despite the rube-Goldbergian elements of all his little tasks. Maybe he’d do predicament bondage? Uh. 3/10. Id let him hit, but he also has kind of a Wallace n Grommit thing going on so I can’t say 0

Steban: big on role playing but isn’t very good at it. Starts giggling halfway through when it becomes apparent how silly the fake muttonchops are. 4/10, less funny than it could be because he has a sense of humour about it

Ulixes: probably has a guro thing but also hasn’t had sex since he started focusing on reading theory and feints at the sight of real blood. This should be less funny than pretending to be Kras Mazov in bed, but he takes himself extremely seriously. 6/10 until he starts getting laid again, then still 6/10 but for other reasons

Gary: cuck chair. 10/10. I am not elaborating because I’m tired now, but someone else made a convincing post at one point

#disco elysium

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ticklishbeans4 · 4 months

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Welp, since my friend has pulled me into it, Hazbin Hotel Tickle Headcanons! PT. 1!

This got really long so I'll make a part 2 soon lol

Charlie-

Lee-

Charlie LOVES tickles, adores them really!

It's her favorite way to bond with her friends!

Her worst spots are her belly, her hooves, her ribs, and her neck!

When she was little she got into tickle fights with her parents fairly often. She very rarely won, but she never minded.

She has a bright bubbly giggly type of laugh, sometimes snorting if she laughs hard enough.

Ler

She's a ruthless ler, shockingly enough, and super teasy.

I HC that her true demon form is like her dads, aka 6 wings, all for tickle attacks! >:3

She usually starts slow, in a not super ticklish spot, and works her way up!

Very verbally teasy, likes to sound out the word tickle if that word flusters her lee.

She'll use all tools at her disposal, but her favorite way to tickle is nibbles and raspberries.

Her most common target is Vaggi, at least until she get the other Hotel guests into her shenanigans!

Vaggi

Lee

She's not the biggest lee in the hotel, but she enjoys it from time to time

She only really lets Charlie tickle her at first, but slowly as she gets to actually like and care about the other members of the hotel, she lets them tickle her occasionally.

Her worst spots are her belly, ribs, knees, and hips.

She's got a loud laugh, and hiccups a lot when she laughs really hard.

Light tickles make her melt, especially light tickles on her neck or under her chin.

Ler

Evil. She is evil when she tickles others.

She doesn't tickle anyone but Charlie at first, but once she start tickling the others, they're done for.

She'd got nails, and she's known for scribbling them all over her victim.

She also loved giving raspberries.

Horrible tease, she's got all the classics "Coochie coochie coo!" "Tickle tickle tickle!" and so on.

Angel Dust

Lee

He doesn't really enjoy being tickled at first. He associates it with his work with Val, since I'm sure Val has made him do videos for that side of the tickle community.

But when he had to do those videos they always went to far and it would often be a very unpleasant situation for him.

Once he got more comfortable with the others he did allow them to pull him into tickle fights.

They'll go slow with him, no restraining him and keeping a close eye to see if he starts to show signs of distress.

His worst spots are under his arms (all of them), his feet, knees, and hips.

Prefers softer tickles, especially feathers.

Ler

He's much more comfortable being a ler than a lee.

He uses his extra arms to tickle his friends silly.

Definitely a big tease! He usually likes to point out how ticklish someone is, or ask questions like "Oh? Is this spot more ticklish? Or this spot? You're not being very communicative ya know!"

His favorite target is Alastor, cause he thinks the noises he makes are funny.

Charlie is his second favorite, cause she just accepts the tickles and barely even tries to fight back. Plus, he knows she enjoys it, so it's to play with her sometimes.

Alastor

Lee

Super. Crazy. Ticklish. Bean.

This poor guy was cursed to be the most ticklish guy ever.

His worst spots are under his arms, his toe beans, his belly, and his ears.

Of course he's stupid ticklish all over, but those are the worst.

He's got a bright staticy laugh, and if he laughs hard enough it'll break up into static or even pick up radio signals. Sometimes he'll even accidentally take the power out.

Teasing takes him out, poor guy can't stand the word tickle. Can't even say it.

Once the others find out, he's a goner.

Ler

He gives as good as he gets, and loves doing it.

His static will sometimes fill the room and tickle the others a bit.

He liked to treat his tickling like a show "And here we see our dear Charlie is quite sensitive on her belly! Care to make a statement about that?"

His shadow sometimes helps to tickle his victims, holding then down or attacking the spots that Alastor isn't getting.

He absolutely uses his tendrils to tickle his victims, he thinks it's hilarious to make someone scream with laughter.

Sometimes likes to tweak someone as he passes by because they needed to smile in his opinion.

#hazbin hotel #hazbin hotel tickle #tickles #tickling #tickle #hazbin hotel tickle headcanons #hazbin hotel alastor #hazbin hotel angel dust #hazbin hotel charlie #hazbin hotel vaggie

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honeybeezgobzzzzz · 1 year

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Zoomies

Zoomies: Y/N likes to keep her private life private, especially from her close friends at Star Labs. Unfortunately, she is forced to reveal a secret of hers when her daughter’s day care closes for the day.

Warnings: Angst, Fluff, Toddler Shenanigans.

To Note: Barry Allen x Female!Reader, Reader has a Daughter.

Request: @twilightlover2007: My idea for the next is the team doesn't know about Y/N's life outside of working at Star Labs until one day she brings a special little guest with her due to some unforeseen circumstances. She brings in her 2 year old daughter. HR and her daughter become fast friends; I wanna see a kid fascinated by all the stuff in Star Labs and when she sees the flash suit she squeals as she's a huge fan of his. I would love for her to have feelings towards Barry but she never said anything mostly cus she's a single mama. (Dad either died or is not involved).

Authors Note: For some reason I get the feeling that HR would make a great babysitter, also, little baby gorl in flash onesie? So adorable! —🐝

Word Count: ~3.7k

“…sorry to inform you that the daycare workers of Central City’s Toddler Town are out with the flu and thus we are unable to open up the daycare to look after your little one. We offer our most sincerest apologies and will work to…” Lowering your phone, you looked at your daughter who was happily shoveling Cheerio’s into her mouth, oblivious to the troubles in your life.

“Well, looks like you’re stuck with me today, kiddo,” You sighed out, massaging the place on your forehead where you already felt a headache forming. This morning hadn’t gotten off to a good start. First, your alarm clock had failed to go off, then your daughter didn’t want to get changed into her clothes for the day, and to add to that, the daycare that usually looked after your daughter while you were at work had closed because most of its workers had come down with the flu.

It wasn’t the worse thing in the world, but life as a single mother wasn’t easy and you savored the moments you had to yourself. Well, a quick call into to work and you could work at home for the day… but your daughter would be a distraction, and a very good one at that. An idea came to you. Cisco and the others would be at the lab, and that meant plenty of extra eyes and ears to keep track of your daughter.

“Not the safest place but it’s better than stuck at home with you climbing up the walls.” You sighed to yourself, setting your phone down and reaching for a washcloth to clean up the mess your daughter had made while eating breakfast. She wasn’t that bad of a messy eater, but she did sometimes get enthusiastic with her food, and that usually ended up with food projectiles raining around the circumference of her highchair. Cleaning up the cheerios was a quick task, and by the time you were done, Y/D/N was kicking in her seat and waving her arms at you, obviously wanting down.

“Mama!” Y/D/N exclaimed, her feet kicking against the high chair. “Down, down!”

Setting aside the washcloth, you picked her up and set her against your hip before reaching for a wet wipe on the kitchen counter to wipe her… you guessed it… messy face.

“Were you eating your Cheerios or just playing with them?” You asked as she giggled and tried to hide her face from your attempts to wipe at her cheeks. Little meaty fists half heartedly smacked at your hands, and withdrawing the wet wiped, you looked at your daughter with a raised eyebrow. “What? You want to have food stuck to your face all day?”

“I want down!” She squealed, kicking her legs against your body. Letting out a soft chuckle, you lowered her to the floor and watched her dart off for her toys neatly packed away in her toy box. Keeping up with your daughter was difficult, from the moment she woke up to the moment she passed out, she was on the go. She didn’t walk, she sprinted. Where she got the energy, you didn’t know, but you did know one thing: Y/D/N was going to be a firecracker when she grew up.

You watched as she pulled out her beloved flash stuffed toy and started zooming around the kitchen, making noises as she went. She absolutely adored the Flash, he was her hero and idol. If she could grow up to be him, she would. Well, she’d be meeting Barry for the first time today, and while you wouldn’t tell her that it was him that was the Flash, she would probably be over the moon about all the Flash paraphernalia.

So while your daughter ran around, you cleaned up the kitchen and started gathering your required supplies to be working at the lab. Packing a backpack, you started adding a few things for Y/D/N to tide her over for the day, mainly a few books, some colored pencils, and several snacks. If you ran out of things to keep Y/D/N entertained at the lab, well, there was plenty there that she could play with safely. Tucking your wallet and car keys into your backpack, you shouldered it before looking around for your wayward daughter.

“Y/D/N?” You heard a giggle from the living room adjacent to the kitchen, and Y/D/N head popped up over the side of the couch, mischief in her eyes. Grabbing her coat, you held it out. “Come on, it’s time to go!”

She slipped from the couch and hurried over, her sock covered feet scurrying across the floor. Somewhere in the time you had been gathering your things, your daughter had managed to get herself into her favorite flash once complete with a hood that had little lightning bolts.

“Y/D/N…” Little lips pouted up at you as she wrapped her arms around her red covered body and turned her chin.

“Don’t wanna change!”

“What happened to the clothes you were wearing during breakfast?” You asked, your eyebrows pinching together as you looked around for the discarded clothes. She wasn’t the best at dressing herself yet, but she could wriggle in and out of clothes enough to change them. Currently, her favorite onesie that mimicked Barry’s suit, was only half zipped up, her left arm was bunched at her elbow, and the onsie itself was shifted on her body so it was longer on one side.

Just by the look on her face and the pleading in her eyes, you found yourself folding to your two and a half year’s wishes. Shaking your head while laughing, you fixed the lopsided onsie so it was on her body correctly and flipped up the hood, watching as her eyes lit up. With an enormous grin on her face, she let you put her coat on over her onesie, and that grin only widened when you pulled out her red Flash sneakers that had little wings attached to them.

“Gotta complete the look, right?” You explained as you tucked her feet into them. With her shoes and coat on, her flash stuffed toy in hand, and your backpack slung across your back, you picked her up and carried her out of the apartment.

“…above all, I need you to listen to the adults, okay?” You spoke from where you were kneeling in front of her. “No touching things that aren’t yours or we might not be invited back.”

Y/D/N nodded at you in all seriousness, and despite the seriousness of the conversation, it was hard to keep a strait face while she was dressed so adorably. Looking up at the building, you silently wondered how your team mates would react once they found out that you, a single woman not in a relationship, had a daughter. Your life outside the team was private, you had never really talked about it because, well, single mothers didn’t usually have a good reputation. That was going to change today and you only hoped that your friends would take kindly to Y/D/N.

Taking your daughter’s tiny hand in yours, you walked towards the entrance, wondering what you were going to say when the team set their eyes on the little girl next to you dressed as the flash. When people saw her, their hearts melted she was that adorable, but would the team be mad at you because you had never told them about her? You were about to find out.

Entering the building, Y/D/N started skipping along side you, kicking her light up flash sneakers. The lights flickered off the walls of the lab and as you neared the cortex, you heard a heated conversation between Cisco and Caitlin regarding the design of Barry’s suit and the sensors within it.

“I’m telling you, it will look ridiculously cool and help with Barry’s aerodynamics.” Cisco’s voice rang out.

“That’s absurd, Cisco, his suit needs to be affective, not aesthetically pleasing.” Caitlin argued back as you and your daughter emerged from the hall. Caitlin and Cisco were standing head to head, both with sour faces.

“Aesthetics is part of the package,” Cisco insisted. Caitlin snorted and shook her head, then she caught sight of you. You waved at her as her eyes went wide and next to you, your daughter tugged on your coat.

“Mama, who are they?” She whispered, hiding behind you but poking her hooded head out from behind your legs.

“These are my friends,” You explained, lifting your eyes from your daughter to your friends. “This is Cisco and Caitlin.”

“Oh my God that’s a tiny child,” Cisco eked out with strained tone. “Why do you have a tiny child, Y/N?”

Caitlin gave Cisco a look before stepping forwards and bending down.

“Hi, my name is Caitlin. What’s your name?” Caitlin asked. Your daughter edged a little further out from behind you and kept her eyes on the floor.

“I’m Y/D/N,” She said shyly, still hugging your leg. You cleared your throat.

“Y/D/N’s daycare is closed today,” You explained, looking down at your daughter.

“I’m still trying to process the fact that you have a kid,” Cisco said, his voice high. As you were snorting, your daughter let out a dramatic gasp and darted forwards.

“Y/D/N!” You exclaimed as she moved her feet across the cortex to body slam the glass screen that covered Barry’s suit when he wasn’t using it. She pressed her face against the glass, her body practically vibrating.

“Mommy, mommy! Look, it’s the Flash!” She gasped, only briefly glancing back at you for a moment before gluing her eyes back on Barry’s suit.

“That’s not the Flash, baby,” You spoke up, hurrying forwards. “That’s just his suit, you know, like how you have your suit?”

“OMG, she’s exactly like a mini Y/N.” Cisco whispered from behind you. You shot a dirty look over your shoulder at Cisco taking a dig at your mostly hidden love for Barry. Well, a lot of people knew you loved Barry, but you know, Barry wasn’t exactly the most observant of people when it came to the romantic feelings of others. Besides, you had your daughter to look after, your feelings for Barry would always come second to her. In addition, how could you ever compete with Barry’s first love, Iris? While Y/D/N continued to fawn and preen over Barry’s suit, you took a step back and rubbed your forehead.

“You look exhausted,” Caitlin commented, walking over to where you stood. You looked at her and shook your head.

“I’m a single mother of a child that seems to have an unlimited amount of energy through the day.” You told her. “Half the time I am watching I spend chasing after her and the other half I spend searching for her. She doesn’t give me a break.”

“You could always put a tracking device on her,” Cisco chipped in as he walked over with his hands stuffed in his pockets. Your head was snapping to his faster than a mother hearing her child talk back.

“You want me to put a tracking device on my daughter!?” You hissed under your breath. Cisco held up his hands.

“I’m just saying,” He said in his defense. “You’d always know where she is.”

Sighing out in frustration, you ran hand over your head and looked back at your daughter fawning over the various Flash paraphernalia scattered around the cortex. She was having the time of her life.

“I don’t want to become a helicopter mom,” You sighed softly. Caitlin cocked her head to the side and gave you a shrug.

“You are a mom, I think you are entitled of being a helicopter mom at this age. Toddlers get themselves into the strangest of situations.” Caitlin told you before you both looked to where your daughter had been standing. She was gone.

“Snicker doodles,” You cursed, your head swiveling around in search of your daughter. “This happens every time!” Trying not to panic, you began searching for your child with Caitlin and Cisco’s help.

“I think that tracking device would be helpful right about now…” Cisco spoke as you poked your head into the nearest bathroom. She wasn’t there.

“Not the time, Cisco!” You uttered out, feeling like a bobble head with how much your head was snapping around trying to find your naughty daughter. “Y/D/N!”

“I’m sure she couldn’t have gone far,” Caitlin spoke up, going to the cortex desk and pulling up the security cameras. Just as you looked at the possible hallways Y/D/N could have wandered down… you heard a squeal of laughter coming from the labs. The three of you hurried in the direction of the labs. You hurried to the labs and upon emerging into the spacious room, you stopped short.

HR had your daughter perched on his hip while he stood in front of a white board, and your daughter was currently drawing all over the board with what you only hoped, was a dry erase marker.

“Oh thank God,” You sighed out, putting your hands on your knees and breathing out a breath in relief. You literally felt like you had lost a few years off your life, loosing Y/D/N is the labs. “Y/D/N!”

At your sharp call, Y/D/N’s head snapped around and HR looked your way.

“This little precious Flash wandered in here!” HR happily explained as you marched up to him with a frown on your lips.

“Y/D/N Y/L/N,” You started. “What did I tell you about wandering off!?”

Her lip wobbled as her face fell, she knew she shouldn’t have run off on you. You let out a sigh at her face.

“You make me worry so much when you do that. If you want to go somewhere, you need to tell me first, okay?” You said as you walked up to HR and made sure you had eye contact with your daughter.

“Sorry,” Y/D/N whispered out, slumping against HR’s shoulder. She knew she had done something wrong, and that was all you needed out of her, to recognize that what she had done was wrong. So softening your face, you let your eyes lift to HR.

“I see you made a friend?” That had her perking up and a smile starting to grow on her face. Her little face beamed up at HR and she started kicking her feet in happiness.

“HR! HR!” She chanted, her little fist gripping his shirt. HR beamed back at her and tickled her side, making more squeals of laughter erupt from her lips.

“Mystery case of where Y/D/N went is solved, I’m gonna go work on that tracking device.” Cisco said, placing a hand on your shoulder as he passed you. You didn’t have the constitution at this point to tell him otherwise.

“HR, do you mind watching Y/D/N for a little while? I need to get some work done.” You softly asked while Y/D/N went back to dragging the hopefully dry erase marker, across the white board. This time HR was beaming at you and gave you a thumbs up.

“Me and the little one can spend hours drawing!” HR said excitedly, true excitement glowing within his blue eyes. You felt better about leaving her in his hands, after all you knew that Y/D/N already seemed to adore HR and he her.

“I owe you one,” You told him before back away and leaving the two to play with the whiteboard.

The day had gone wickedly fast, much to your surprise. HR had kept Y/D/N so entertained you were sure that the two were best friends by the end of your work day. Between drawing on the whiteboard, HR reading one of his novels to her, and the finger painting session, you were convinced HR was a God at babysitting. That or he had a natural disposition with children. Either way, the pair adored each other and you dreaded the moment you had to separate them.

Work ended for you and you were shifting into team flash mode. Barry had arrived for patrol for the night and had yet to cross paths with HR and your daughter, so that conversation hadn’t happened yet. The night kept everyone busy and at some point, Y/D/N had passed out while being carried around by HR, and he hadn’t bothered to put her down. So drool was slowly collecting on his shoulder. HR hardly seemed to care, or notice that he was still carrying her around. Looks like you found yourself a potential babysitter.

You got into helping Barry navigate the streets of Central City as Cisco monitored the police channels. There wasn’t much going on tonight, mostly just a few burgleries, one fire, and a cat stuck in a tree that had already scratched three firemen trying to get it down. Barry had manged it, but he had earned himself a nice set of scratches on his cheek. It was a good thing he healed fast or his coworkers would have questions in the morning.

You were clicking through a few feeds of security camera’s when Barry blew in, done with patrolling for the night. You looked up at his cheek as he pulled down his cowl and frowned.

“That cat did a doozy on you, Barry,” You spoke. Barry let out a snort at your words and walked over to where you sat at the cortex’s curve desk.

“First time I’ve dealt with resistance during a rescue.” Barry spoke, his fingers brushing over the healing scratches. “How’s your night been? Cisco said you had to work here today?”

And there is it… how exactly did you go about talking about this? How did you tell Barry that you had been hiding your daughter away from the team since the moment you found out you were pregnant? As it turned out, you didn’t have to say anything.

HR came walking into the cortex, your daughter still drooling away fast asleep on his shoulder, while twirling one of his drumsticks in his free hand. Barry spared him a glance and then did a double take, his brows pinching together as his mind worked over the fact that HR was carrying a child.

“B.A.!” HR exclaimed. “You’re back! How was your night?”

HR happily walked over, oblivious to Barry’s gawking, as he was his usual cheerful self. You watched as Barry’s eyes ran over your daughters form, dressed in her flash onesie, which was now dirty. It didn’t take a genius to figure out who she belonged to… she was after all, a spitting image of you. HR stuffed his drumstick in his back pocket and began patting Y/D/N’s back as he hummed and went to talk to Cisco.

Your eyes dropped to your lap as Barry turned back around to face you.

“Y/N?” Barry asked, his voice still soft. You pursed your lips and hesitantly raised your eyes to meet his in trepidation. “I— I didn’t realize you had a daughter…”

You cleared your throat, feeling your cheeks warm in shame.

“Yes, well, I’m not exactly proud to be a single mother.” You murmured softly. “Her daycare is closed today and I needed help watching her… she’s a handful since she never stops running around until she’s passed out from exhaustion.”

Barry’s face softened and he let out a breath through his nose.

“Nonstop the whole day? Sounds like she’s got a serious case of the zoomies.” He chuckled. You joined in and rubbed your tired eyes.

“Yes, well, she also idolizes the Flash. I think she’s trying to get as fast as him.” You reply, glancing at your daughter passed out on HR’s shoulder. “She’s obsessed with that onesie.”

“She’s cute,” Barry commented before studying you closer. “You know, Y/N, we wouldn’t have judged you for being a single mother.”

“I know, it’s my pride,” You admitted. “As a single mother I think I’m trying to prove that I am capable of providing for her the way she needs.”

“You don’t need to do that alone,” Barry told you, giving you one of his heart stopping smiles. “We’re here for you, just like you’ve always been here for us. Next time you need help just call me.”

“Barry, I can’t ask that of you. Not when you are dealing with your own issues and Iris…” You told him. Barry shook his head at you.

“Iris and I broke up a while ago, we just don’t seem to work.” He explained, rolling his head to the side. “We— it’s probably not ever going to work, I thought I loved her for so many years. I’ve been ignorant to those around me.”

You shrugged at him.

“You were in love, Barry.” He scratched the back of his head.

“Was I?” Barry asked, his eyes momentarily distant. “Look, Y/N, I know if this sounds weird, but do you want to go out some time? I feel like I’ve never really known you and I want to know you better.”

You stared at Barry, your cheeks warming. Barry must have seen something on your face because he was turning a shade of pink and scrambling for words.

“I know you’re busy with Y/D/N and all, but I also want to get to know her too, she’s important in your life. Probably the most important thing actually, I mean, she already likes the Flash? You think I have a chance at getting her to like me?” You started laughing at Barry’s word scramble.

“Barry, I’m pretty sure she’ll like you the way you are, no Flash needed to convince her.” You told him. Barry’s face turned bright once more.

“Great! Because there is this Flash day event involving kids, there’s support to be a bunch of little kid activities she might like and since she already likes the Flash…”

“She’ll love that.” You spoke, cocking your head at your sleeping daughter. “She eats, sleeps, and breathes, all things Flash.”

“Great! I’ll text you the details when I get home,” Barry said with a glowing smile before the two of you looked back over to HR who was still patting Y/D/N on the back. He really didn’t seem to even know he was doing it. “He’s a natural with kids, isn’t he.”

“Surprising, isn’t it.” You said with a tired sigh. “But those two sure seem to adore each other.”

Date Published: 6/30/22

Last Edit: 5/1/23

Barry Allen Masterlist

#barry allen x reader #barry allen #the flash #the flash x reader

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throwmethatcello · 7 months

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During campaign 1 Scanlan left the campaign. Just stood up and left the table, the rest of the cast was shook and furious, but it ended up working into a great storyline and introducing a new beloved character.

Keyleth fucking yeeted herself off a cliff because she though she was, and I quote, "basicaly a god". Instantly died what to this day one may consider the stupidiest death in critical role history, puting Vex (and Laura Bailey) in an awful situation that she must have hated but at the end of the day it was extremely funny and a moment to remember.

The campaign was over, Matt was preparing to close it all and have them live happily ever after, and Grog decides to pull a card from the fucking DECK OF MANY THINGS, JUST FOR FUNSIES!! Because it made sense to his character and also bc he was curious. Died in the act. All the characters had to press pause on their grief for Vax and their relief of it all being over to address the situation and a whole ass one-shot was made to bring him back. It was great.

Campaign 2, Jester went an pulled the fuckery of the century by attempting to modify the memory of an old, extremely powerful hag. The probability of that going south was real and for all we know, if the hag had succeded that wisdom save characters could have ended up dead. But it worked and I don't need to remind you how epic that was.

Also a lot of Mighty Nein shenanigans that were reckless and irresponsible and ended up turning out great, I'm just writting the ones at the top of my head.

What I'm trying to say is that maybe D&D is a game and maybe taking awfuly calculated risks pays off sometimes and others they don't, but maybe players have the right to be messy and reckless and even selfish sometimes, especially if it makes sense to their character. Yeah, what Ashton did was dumb and inconsiderate to the rest, especially Fearne. That happens. They are humans playing humans (or other races but you get where i'm going), it's bound to get messy and complicated and even ugly sometimes, that's what creates great storytelling, so be mad all you want but insulting Taliesin, calling him stuff and just attacking the cast in any way the moment they make a choice you don't like is dumb and unfair. I haven't forgotten the treatment Marisha got from the fandom during the entirety of Campaign 1 and I wont stand for any more of that shit. Learn to fucking behave yourselves.

#critical role #bells hells #taliesin jaffe #ashton greymoore #spoilers #campaign 3

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em-writes-stuff-sometimes · 10 months

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darilaros (princess) │ Chapter 4: Stepmother

terms of endearment ‘verse: see my Masterlist for the correct series order!

Chapter 1 │Chapter 2 │Chapter 3 │Chapter 4 │Chapter 5 │Chapter 6 │Chapter 7 │Chapter 8 (COMPLETE!)

Synopsis: As the second daughter of King Viserys, you experience firsthand what it means to belong to the House of the Dragon. Your father reconnects with you.

Hello! This one, in comparison to the last, kinda flew outta me! Keep in mind that this is Episode 2 from Reader's POV; a lot of the action here is centred on Viserys, Alicent, Rhaenyra and Daemon, and thus the canon events are sorta sidelined by Reader's Big Adventures as a Toddler, lol. Thank you to @ewanmitchellcrumbs for tolerating my bullshit and reading this thing, lol!

TRIGGERS: continued discussion of child grief, Viserys's courtship shenanigans with various underaged females, ranidaphobia (fear of toads), childlike angst.

You never really thought a lot about the things you used to do with Mama. Now that she is dead, you begin to see all the ways that your days and nights had so so much Mama and not much of everyone else.

When Brella woke you up and got you into your dress, you would go straight to wherever Mama is to break your fast. Sometimes, that was in her rooms or in her solar where the sun shone in from the window and made you yawn. Other times, she would be with Papa in the Council rooms or with ’Nyra, so you’d go there instead. Mama always helped you by cutting up your food with the knife because you are too little to touch it, and then she watched you with kind eyes while you used the fork very carefully. After you finished all your food, you would sit on the floor with Brella and learn each of your letters by tracing the etchings in your hornbook and thinking of all the things that started with that letter. Your favourite letter is ‘M’ for Mama. You also like ‘R’ for ’Nyra because her full name is Rhae-nyra, but you stutter when you have to say the whole thing. Then, you would play with your dolls for a while, and then have some more food, and then take a nap. When you woke up, Brella would teach you some of the steps to the dances that grown-up ladies do—one day, you’ll be grown-up and do them, too, so it is important to know them and practise all the steps so that the lords think you are pretty and marriage-able. Mama would then take you outside to play, or even just walk around the gardens so that you could touch all the flowers and feel warm in the sunshine. Brella would give you a bath, and then you would eat supper, and then Mama or maybe Uncle would come and read you a story and you’d go to sleep.

But Mama is gone now, and Brella is the only person that is the same from your days and nights before Mama went away and became not-real.

You never saw much of ’Nyra before, because she is ten years older and that means she doesn’t want to play with little girls like you all day. ’Nyra comes by lots now, almost as much as Mama did, and she sits and plays dolls or teaches you more words in High Valyrian. It is nice, even though she always has to leave for her Council meetings because she is the heir now. But you don’t mind. Usually, Alicent stays behind to practice your dance steps with you or to trace over the letters in your hornbook. When you get upset—letters are very hard and sometimes you want to throw the hornbook away, but Brella tells you “no” which makes you frustrated—Alicent sings songs her mama taught her, and when she hugs you, it is like it was with Mama, special and warm and love-feeling on the inside, like butterflies.

Even though ’Nyra and Alicent and Brella all try so so hard to fill your days and nights with all the things you used to do, like it is the same as it was, it’s not the same. You dance and play and eat and learn and sleep but Mama isn’t there to help with any of it like before. It makes you cry sometimes, sudden and coming from nowhere at all. You just stop and cry and cry and no hug or song can make it any better, and you cannot say exactly why you are crying because you don’t know how to put it in words. You don’t know how to talk about the way you miss Mama when you see the flowers and she’s not there to tell you their names, or when you learn the dances and she doesn’t hum the music that you do the steps to, or when you want a hug the most and no one can do it exactly right like she can. So, you cry, and you have to wait for all the tears to get themselves out before you can stop.

It isn’t all sad, though. Some things are good, too.

Like Papa. Since he had come to tell you that Mama and Baelon died, he has ignored you, which means he doesn’t look at you or talk to you or even think you exist. Brella and Alicent said it is because he is grieving, because he is feeling sorrow, so you try not to be so upset that he doesn’t love you anymore. But one day, instead of ’Nyra coming to see you, Papa does.

When Brella suddenly stands and curtseys, you see him in the doorway of your rooms, and your dolls don’t seem very important anymore. “Papa?” you ask, almost sick with the fear and excitement of him finally being there.

He smiles, a small one, and comes inside. As he looks around, it’s like he cannot remember where he is, but you suppose that he doesn’t spend a lot of time in here with you, so he finds all your things strange. Papa pulls out one of the chairs by the table—you never sit there, but all the rooms in the Keep come with tables so you aren’t allowed to have yours taken out—and holds out his hand to you like Mama did when she wanted to give you a hug without getting up.

You put Alysanne down on the floor beside Marya and Hana and Brella and go to your papa. His hand feels funny, not like you think it used to. Uncle’s hands—man’s hands, he always says—have hard skin in parts, which makes holding them scratchy. Papa’s aren’t like that. His are soft where Uncle’s are not, but there are bits where the skin doesn’t seem to want to stick down all over, and instead they come up and show the really red parts deeper inside, like when you fall over and the stone stings against your knee and makes you wail.

“Oh, my girl,” Papa says, and then he’s lifting you onto his knee. He is looking at you, just looking, and his eyes are shiny-bright. “My girl. My little Aemma.”

Lots of people say you look like Mama, whose name was Aemma before she was Mama, and you love love that Papa thinks you are like her. She is who he loves the most, so maybe he will visit more if she is gone and you are like her.

You don’t say that to him, though. “I miss you, Papa,” is what you say instead.

“I know.” He swallows hard. Maybe he has venison stuck there again. “I am sorry. I should have come much sooner. You are only… only a child.”

“I’m a big girl.” You try not to pout, because Uncle says only silly little babies do that when they’re angry or upset, and you’re not a baby.

That makes Papa laugh. “Oh, of course you are. My mistake. Tell me—what have you been doing as of late?”

He’s never asked you that before. Papa would only ever give you hugs or say nice things about you to other people back when Mama was not dead, so it’s very exciting that he wants to know about you now. You tell him all about how ’Nyra is teaching you High Valyrian and how you are learning your letters with Brella, which he seems interested to listen to. When you tell him about how Alicent helps you learn the dances, he starts talking again.

“The Lady Alicent? She has been spending time with you, has she?”

“Yeah,” you say.

“And what do you think of her?” he asks, staring very closely at you. “Do you like her?”

The question is strange. She has been ’Nyra’s friend for a long long time, so Papa should ask your sister instead of you if he wants to know if Alicent is good. But you think about it anyway—you think about how she takes you to the Sept to light candles for Mama, how she always sounds like she wants to hear what you are saying, even though you’re only little. You think about how warm she is, and how her hugs make the sad go away so well.

That stays in your mind longest of all, which is why you say what you say to him. “She’s good, like Mama. I like her lots.”

He makes a noise but doesn’t say anything more. Instead, he looks away from you, his eyes going far away like he’s seeing something different than what’s in front of him. It makes you wonder again about why he is here.

“Is there a bad thing that happened?” you ask.

He frowns, his knee jumping a little bit under you. “What makes you say that?”

“You don’t come and see me, Papa, but you’re here, so maybe you have to say something bad again.” It is hard not to think about the last time, when he told you Mama was dead and Baelon was, too. It’s even harder not to think about how long that was before now, how this is the first time in a while that you have seen him up close. “Do—do you still love me?”

Papa says your name in a very sad way and hugs you so hard that your arms feel pushed in too close. “You are my daughter, my blood. The very best of your mother and I. ‘Tis through my own weakness that I have not done my duty as a father, and naught of your own.” When he pulls away, he cups your face in his hands. “Never, ever doubt that I love you.”

It makes you feel so warm inside, like your heart is going pitter-patter or someone has wrapped a big blanket all around you. Papa’s words are safe words, because they mean he has not forgotten you and he still wants you and loves you. You are very, very glad, so you put your hands over his and squeeze to show him that you love him, too.

“Okay, Papa,” you say. He looks like he might cry, and you don’t want him to be so upset, so you think of how Alicent sings songs to you when you are sad to distract you, which means she tries to make you feel more happy. You cannot sing very well, but you do have nice toys. “Can I show you my dolls?”

All of a sudden, his sorrow goes away and he smiles, showing his teeth. “Why ever not? Go on, then.”

Beaming, you wiggle off his lap and get Alysanne and Marya and Hana to show Papa, and you are very happy because he loves you again and the whole world doesn’t feel so sad anymore.

You’ve known Laena and Laenor Velaryon for as long as you can think of.

It is very hard to think far far back, because you are only small and so there is a lot of time that you were only a baby for, and babies don’t really have memory, which is what Brella has told you. But Lord Corlys is one of the men on Papa’s Council, who help him run his kingdom well and make everyone happy. Because Lord Corlys is Master of Ships, he spends most of his time in the Keep, and he is Laena and Laenor’s father, which means that Laena and Laenor also spend time in the Keep.

They are both very nice to you. Laena, the older one, always makes sure to smile and give you a curtsey whenever she sees you, and Laenor likes to say that your hair is braided well or your dress is pretty. You are little, though, and that means they don’t really want to spend much time with you, so ’Nyra knows them better. When Princess Rhaenys, their mama, brings them to court, she and Lord Corlys usually spend their time with Papa and Mama while Laena and Laenor spend time with ’Nyra and sometimes Alicent.

Today, something strange is happening. It looks like Laena has come without Laenor to spend time with Papa.

They are walking in the gardens together, and Brella has told you that it means you cannot go out to play there. Instead, you have to be in the sitting area that looks over the gardens with ’Nyra and Princess Rhaenys. Both of them are watching Papa and Laena very carefully. You are glad you don’t have to do that—Brella has brought your hornbook outside so that you can do some more learning while you wait for Papa to finish.

You sit on a cushion on the stone next to Brella, the hornbook in your lap. Over and over, you trace the letter ‘T’, the big one and the little one next to it. “Tree. Trail. Toe”—you wiggle yours underneath the leather of your slippers—“Toy. Toad—”

“Toad?” Brella’s eyebrow is raised high. “Wherever is this ‘toad’ that you can supposedly see?” She looks around, chin tilting and eyes crinkling like a glare.

“In my mind.” You do see it there—brown, with big bulging eyes and feet that look like claws are at the end of them—and shiver. All the books make them look so horrible. “The toad is up here,” you say, pointing to the spot between your eyes and your hair. “It’s squishy and cold and has spots on it.”

Brella shakes her head. “That is not the game, is it? Real things only, please.”

“There’s no more ‘T’ words. I need more so I can go to ‘U’.”

“Hm.” Brella stares past you for a moment, and then her eyes fall on yours again. “How about I help? Over there”—she points to where Princess Rhaenys is sitting—“the bit that is dangling off the pillow? Tassel.”

“Tassel,” you say, stretching the ‘ss’ sound out like a snake. “Tassel.”

“And…” She stops, and from the way the skin between her brows scrunches, she must be thinking very hard. “Ah! What am I?”

“You’re Brella,” you say, confused.

“No—that’s who I am. What am I being, right now?” She hasn’t helped you any more with these words. She might have made it even harder to guess. “If I’m helping you to learn,” she says, “then I am tee… What?”

It’s almost like your head is on fire from how much you have to think. You squeeze your eyes shut and hold your breath and push like you sometimes do when Brella is showing you how to use the privy like a big girl. It is hard, because ’Nyra and Princess Rhaenys are talking and the sound is distracting.

And then, you remember the word. “Teaching! You’re a teacher!”

“Exactly, Princess! Well done!” Brella smiles.

“… to elicit some anger from me, you should know that you're failing, Princess.”

You look to the side. ’Nyra is being very loud, her voice so easy to hear even from where you are. Princess Rhaenys is no better.

“Quite the opposite. Whether it's to my daughter or to someone else's, your father will remarry sooner than late,” she says with a funny twist to the lips that doesn’t look very friendly at all. “His new wife will produce new heirs, and chances are, better than not, that one of those will be male. And when that boy comes of age and your father has passed, the men of the Realm will expect him to be heir, not you. Because that is the order of things.”

You do not even have the time to try and make sense of what she’s said—Princess Rhaenys has used a lot-lot of words—when Brella stands and grabs you under the arms. Your hornbook falls onto the blanket laid out on the ground with a quiet thud.

“Come along, Princess,” she says, already pulling you toward the stairs.

“But—”

“This conversation is not for us to hear.” She takes your hand and moves slowly onto each step so that you can go down them one at a time. Soon, you are at the bottom and your shoes are on the trail that goes all the way around the gardens.

You tug your hand free of Brella so that you can run to the grass, smiling wide because it’s like a cloud under your feet, so it is very fun to twirl around on. When you reach it, your footsteps go from hard and quick to soft and slow, and you pretend there are so so many pillows on the ground that you are jumping on.

“Be careful!” Brella calls, but you are not paying much attention.

You swing your arms out wide and spin so fast that the world stops being full of things and is only colours—blue and green and brown and yellow—mixing together in your eyes, and your heart speeds up and gets so loud that you can hear it inside your ears. When you stop spinning, your eyes keep trying to move quick and your whole body wants to tip over. You let it, giggling when you collapse and the grass pokes you in the back of the neck like tiny little swords, or needles. The sun is warm warm on your face and even through your dress, and it makes you so sleepy, so you get up before Brella decides you should go and have a nap.

Then, you see Papa walking with Laena, Lord Corlys with them. They are all going back towards where ’Nyra and Princess Rhaenys are. Where you are.

“Papa!” you say loudly, feet already moving before you know what’s happening. “Papa!”

You cannot see his face up close, but you imagine he is smiling, so you run even faster, trying not to listen to Brella calling out behind you. She doesn’t like it when you run.

It takes only a moment to know why. Your eyes are still going funny and your body still wants to tip over, so when your toes get stuck in the place where the grass becomes the trail that Papa is on, you fall.

Your hands are stinging when you realise you are on the ground again. It hurts so much that you cry before you even see what has made it hurt. Rolling over so that you are sitting, you lift your palms up. They are so red, like the colour of the dragons on your House sigil, and they are covered in all the tiny rocks that the trail is made up of, but they’re not coming off. You cry harder.

“Oh, Princess.” A little hand comes in right next to yours, gently grabbing onto your fingers. When you look up, you see Laena next to you. She doesn’t look scared or upset, which makes you feel a tiny bit better.

Brella is breathing very hard. “I am so very sorry, Your Grace—I did tell her not to run—”

“Not to worry, Nurse,” Papa says as he crouches down beside you. “Children hardly do as they are told all the time. Sh, my girl, you’re alright.”

He pats you on the back, but that doesn’t stop the stinging in your hands or the tears that are coming fast from your eyes and making your nose feel runny.

“I can help, if you’d like.” Laena gives you a small smile, her other hand on your shoulder. “Just need to brush off your palms, and you’ll be fine. Here.” She holds on to your wrist and runs her fingers over the rocks in your hands, which doesn’t feel nice but doesn’t hurt either, and they come away very quick. The stinging isn’t as much after. “See? All better.”

“Say ‘thank you’ to the Lady Laena,” Papa says, looking between her and Lord Corlys with a strange face.

“Thank you, Laena.” You sniff hard to try and stop your nose from running so much. Now that the pain is less, the tears are slower.

“As you can see, Your Grace,” Lord Corlys says, “she conducts herself beyond her years. Her age is inconsequential. She’d make for a worthy bri—”

Papa stops him from finishing his words. “Not—not now, my Lord.” He smiles the way Uncle sometimes smiles at Lord Otto, meaning it is not very nice at all. “We’d best save that discussion for… another time.”

“Your Grace.” Lord Corlys steps back, bending his head low.

Laena stands and leans down to help you up, wiping away the last tears from your cheeks with the sleeve of her dress. “Are you alright now?”

“Yeah,” you say. She is very kind, you think, feeling warm on the inside.

“Nurse,” Papa is saying, “take her to Mellos, just in case.”

“Understood.” Brella picks you up so that your head settles where her neck meets her shoulders and turns around. Over her shoulder you can see Papa and Lord Corlys talking while Laena just stands there, watching them.

And, across the gardens, ’Nyra looks over at them from where she is on the balcony. You cannot see her face clearly. From so far away, though, she seems almost… sad.

There are whispers all around the Keep.

One of the things you like best about being small is that people forget you’re there. It helps you to see and hear things that you wouldn’t usually be told. You don’t understand why you cannot know the things that others do, especially if they’re about your family.

Like now.

Uncle has been gone for a while. He left after Mama’s funeral, and he didn’t even say goodbye. You don’t like to think about it, because it makes you hurt in your chest when you do. When he left to see Lady Rhea, who he hates because of reasons-you-don’t-know, he still made sure to send you letters that Brella would read out to you. This time, he hasn’t sent you anything, and because no one will tell you where he is, you cannot send any to him to remind him that you’re still here and waiting. It’s one of the reasons you cry sometimes, though you’ll never tell that to ’Nyra or Alicent or Brella or Papa.

Even if Uncle is making you sad right now, you still love him, which is why you listen closely when his name keeps getting used by the lords and ladies around you.

“Prince Daemon has seized Dragonstone…

“… even now occupies it in spite of the King’s…”

“… he stole Prince Baelon’s dragon egg, the shame of it!”

Some of it, you don’t understand. But, slowly, a picture forms in your head. One where Uncle has gone all the way to Dragonstone, which Brella says isn’t even that far, to take the egg meant for your brother.

Uncle was angry when Papa made you and ’Nyra choose an egg for Baelon. He yelled at Papa about how he never gave ’Nyra or you an egg as a baby because you were only girls, and what would he do if the baby was another girl? Would he put the egg back and wait for Mama to have a son? Papa didn’t like that at all, and he pretended that Uncle didn’t exist for days until Mama made them say sorry to each other and get along again. But before they said sorry, Uncle asked you if you wanted him to get a dragon egg for you, because dragonriding is in the blood of all Targaryens and you are a Targaryen, too.

“Say the word, sweetling. I’ll take Caraxes right now, should you wish.”

Uncle is walking you back to your rooms after you spent time in the gardens, your hand in his. From the way he frowns as he stares out to the end of the hall, he must still be very angry from the fight he had with Papa in the morning.

You think about his words. “You and ’Nyra didn’t get a dragon from an egg. You found one that was already—already there.”

“I did. But if your brother is to receive a dragon in the cradle, you ought to have the opportunity to claim your own first.”

It would be nice to have a whole baby dragon, all for your own. But Uncle says that sometimes they don’t hatch, that the egg turns to stone and stays that way for so so many years that people forget it has a dragon inside it, and they think it’s just a shiny rock. You don’t want that to happen to you. You don’t want to wait and wait for something that will never come.

“I want a big dragon,” you say, thinking of Caraxes with his long-long neck and his funny noises, more like a bird than a scary monster. “One I can ride already.”

Uncle smiles, squeezing your hand tighter. “Alright, then. For now, you’ll wait, and you’ll get nice and strong. And when you’re older, you’ll go to Dragonstone and find yourself a hatchling, or a young dragon, or perhaps even one of the larger ones.”

“Like you and Caraxes?” You look up at him. “You got him when—when you were thirteen?” You don’t know how much that is, but you know it’s more than ten, which means it is a big number.

“That’s right,” he says, his eyes shining in that way that means you did a good job. You love it when he does that because it means he thinks you are very clever. “And I’m sure that when you’re of suitable age, you’ll have your own chance.”

The talk makes you think straight away that maybe he is trying to get a dragon for you like he said would that time, even though you really want a big dragon that makes your little-ness not seem so little. But then, you hear more.

“… he’s taken his whore to wife…”

“… styled himself the ‘rightful heir to the Iron Throne’…”

“It’s clearly an act of sedition!”

A new picture: Uncle has gone to steal Dragonstone, to steal an egg, and to steal being the heir from ’Nyra.

Stealing is naughty. Once, you stole a lemon cake from the platter after Mama said you couldn’t have anymore, but Mama caught you and you weren’t allowed to have any sweets the whole next day. You wonder how Papa will help Uncle to learn not to steal, if it will be as bad as that.

So many letters could have come from a place like Dragonstone by now. It means that he hasn’t sent any because he didn’t want to, not because he couldn’t. That makes the hurt in your chest even worse.

Because of Uncle’s being naughty, you spend the day with only Brella. Papa is in meetings with his Council and Lord Otto has gone to Dragonstone to tell Daemon he is bad for stealing. You don’t know where ’Nyra is, or Alicent. Brella is extra nice, though, and she lets you have three lemon cakes with your midday meal even though it makes you very giggly and want to run around everywhere. You do all the normal things: learn your letters and practice the dancing steps and play dolls and go outside to the gardens. It isn’t very fun with only one other person, but sometimes people are busy which means they don’t have time to do the things you like doing.

When the sun is starting to go down, Papa comes to see you again. But he’s not alone at the door—he has Alicent with him.

“Good evening,” he says, smiling wide as he goes to the seat he always sits in when he visits your rooms. Alicent follows, but she isn’t smiling as big as Papa.

“Hello, Papa.” You watch with a frown as Brella curtseys and leaves the room. She doesn’t usually leave you by yourself.

Papa holds out his hand, so you go forward and take it. “I have some news to share with you,” he says, patting your hair. “What do you know of marriage, my girl?”

You try to think about all that you can remember. “That—that you and Mama were in one, and Uncle is in one with Lady Rhea. And people aren’t supposed to have babies unless they’re in marriage, but sometimes they do and that’s bad.”

“Oh, my! Well, it sounds like you know a great deal, indeed!” Papa is laughing now, and Alicent’s face has gone bright red. She won’t look at you, which is strange. She is being very quiet.

“You know that I am King?” Papa asks, which makes your eyes go back to him.

“Yeah.”

“Well, a King must have a Queen. ‘Tis important for the stability of the Realm.” He nods like he is agreeing with himself, even though you don’t know what he means so you can’t say he is wrong.

“Mama was the Queen,” you say. It is the only thing you can think of.

“Yes.” Alicent comes forward. Her hand starts moving toward you, then changes to go near Papa’s shoulder, but then she puts it back down in front of her. You wonder what she was trying to do. “An excellent Queen,” she says quietly.

“She was.” Papa sounds sad, but he takes a deep breath. “But the time has come for me to take a new wife—to marry again. I have chosen the Lady Alicent to be my new Queen.” He stares at Alicent, who smiles even though her fingers are twisting around and around each other like she does when she is worried or scared. “Do you understand what I am saying, my girl?”

When Mama was real and not dead, she was the Queen. That meant she had to stand beside Papa and wear a crown sometimes at feasts or balls. She had to have tea with the ladies who come to court and make sure all the maids and servants and all the other people who work in the Keep got their coin for doing their job. She had to give out alms and talk to all sorts of different people all day and try to have babies who are boys and not girls.

Because she was Papa’s wife and he is the King, being the Queen meant she was your mama. You miss her lots and lots.

Papa wants Alicent to be the Queen, now. If she is the Queen, then maybe she has to do all those things, too. Maybe it means she will do all the things that Mama did with you that made you so happy.

“Uh-huh.” You stare at Alicent. “Does that mean that we’ll break our fasts and learn more dance steps and play outside together?”

She smiles. “If you like, Princess.”

You think you would like it very, very much.

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writingonleaves · 9 months

Text

i tell you that i think i'm falling back in love with you - luca fantilli

pairing: luca fantilli x original female character

warnings: swearing, slight angst, mostly fluff, like one mention of COVID, proofread maybe once, probably too many taylor swift references

word count: 9.2k

based on: "the alcott" by the national ft. taylor swift + "this love" by taylor swift. title from "the alcott"

author's note: first one ahhh!!! had this done months ago when i saw that day in the life video the umich social team posted of luca and then promptly went on a six hour plane ride and banged this out. apologies if some of the details are inaccurate — i tried my best though some are also made purposefully to fit with the narrative

*****

Melody Lin rarely talks about it.

In the instance that it gets brought up, she just shrugs, always giving just a brief overview because there’s no point in summing up 18 years of history in a few sentences, especially when she knows if she thinks about it too much and talks about it out loud she’ll get emotional.

Growing up in the suburbs of Toronto was the typical suburban experience. She grew up only a street and a 2 minute car ride from her best friend Shayla and even though Shayla ended up going to University of Michigan and she went to Northwestern, they remained the closest of friends. Melody’s close with the whole Gallo family to the point where she just walks in and no one bats an eye anymore. Wherever Melody is, Shayla isn’t far behind, and vice versa.

Being close with the Gallo family means she’s been to almost every family gathering, every big family event. Everyone in their families knows the other because the two girls are so close that they’re pretty much sisters.

Melody doesn’t even remember the day she met Luca Fantilli.

Luca is one of Shayla’s many cousins, only two years younger than Shayla. His family lives around a 10 minute drive away, so their parents love to gather on the weekends, therefore bringing the kids close together. Age wise, it goes Shayla, then Luca two years later, then Adam and Katie, Shayla’s younger sister, are the same age. There’s other cousins, older and younger, but these four have always been close, finding themselves naturally in a group when their families get together.

That means that naturally, Melody grew up also being close with the four, coming by many weekends when the cousins gathered and being dragged into their shenanigans, from playing tag when they were kids to piling in a car to get ice cream when they were teenagers. And they loved her too. Katie loved having another older sister figure with Melody being more calm compared to Shayla. Adam loved how funny she was and how no matter how much shit they gave her, she’d brush it all off with an easy smile.

And then Luca. Like his brother and cousins, he loved how friendly she was. During the few years they overlapped in the same school, she always said hi to him in the hallways, never treating him or his brother any differently just because they were younger. When he needed a ride, whether it was to the rink or gym or that he just wanted to get out of the house, he could always text her and she would drive him, even if she gave him flack for it. And even though she started out as just Shayla’s friend, they quickly grew to have their own friendship, texting from time to time even when he was at Kimball for two years and she went off to college. He loved how giving she was and how smart she was and how no one ever really seemed to have a bad word to say about her. He’d always light up at seeing her and looked forward to the crushing hugs she would give him, especially after a few months of not seeing each other.

Those weekends are imprinted in Melody’s brain, when the Gallo house is loud and lively and all the adults are chatting and laughing and the kids are off doing whatever they want, her and Shayla always being put in charge because they’re the oldest of the five. Sometimes there were guest stars — Shayla’s high school boyfriend, Adam’s high school girlfriend, whoever the hell Luca was dating at the time, Katie and her best friend — but it was mostly just the five of them.

It was always Shay, Mel, Luca, Adam and Katie.

(If you ask Luca now, he probably fell in love with her back when they were teenagers, somewhere between when she would drive him and his brother home after a rough practice and let them rant and when she’d laugh so loudly by the pool during the summer that she’d snort)

(Melody obviously loved everything about Shayla, thought Adam was one of the sweetest boys she’s ever met and adored Katie like a younger sibling. But even from the start, she had a special place in her heart for Luca, with his infectious smile and his positive energy. Somewhere along the way, he stopped being just Shayla’s cousin)

That friendship strengthened when he and Adam signed a commitment to play with the Chicago Steel starting Melody’s sophomore year at Northwestern. Shayla was thankful that her best friend was there for her two younger cousins, though the two hockey players never needed anyone to look after them. Since Melody had a car and her and Shayla’s breaks often overlapped, Melody would grab Adam and Luca in Chicago and then drive through Ann Arbor to pick Shayla up as they all headed home. The drive wasn’t all that bad, especially with the company.

Somewhere during the start of her sophomore year, she and Luca confessed to each other that they had feelings towards each other and started dating. It started out well. Inbetween her classes and college commitments and his practices and games, they’d find time to see each other. It helped that they both had cars as well.

There was this cafe / book bar place between them called The Alcott that she had discovered by a recommendation from a friend who lived around the area that wasn’t closed because of COVID. That started to become the place for them to meet. Whether she had to drag along her laptop and notebooks or not, it started to become their place. She tried to go to as many of his games as she could and he tried to come to campus to be with her, even when she was cramming for exams and couldn’t give him much attention.

She’d feel bad during the days where she wasn’t much fun, but he didn’t care. Being in her presence was enough, he’d always say with an encouraging kiss and a promise for milkshakes after dinner as a treat before he’d have to go back to Chicago. She met his teammates and he met her college friends and they tried and tried to make it work. When the Chicago Steel won the Clark Cup, she made it a priority to go to watch the final, not having been able to go to his last regular season game and all of playoffs due to final projects and labs. At the end, she had leaned over the boards to crush Adam in a tight hug before kissing Luca sweetly.

And then two weeks after that, when summer was about to start — which should’ve been the time they would be at their best and brightest together, things started to fall apart. Though, when Melody looks back at it now, things were slowly falling apart for a bit before then. Pointed questions about what each other’s plans were for the night when they could’ve been together, weak excuses for skipping the nightly FaceTime call, just generally not as much effort from both sides.

Even throughout it all, she still deeply cared about him. That didn’t change even during their last argument that led to their break up.

“Mel, I don’t know what you want me to do at this point,” Luca says, pacing around her room and running his hair through his hair.

“I don’t ask for much,” she says, biting her lip, watching him pace and trying to keep her control. “I know hockey keeps you busy. I get it. I knew what I was signing up for. But I didn’t hear from you for a week, Luca. Not a call. Not even a good morning text. What the fuck am I supposed to do with that?”

“I told you I was going to be busy, angel.” Even the pet name doesn’t soften her. She starts raising her voice.

“Goddammit, Luca. I know! But guess what? I’m also busy too. You think college is easy? I don’t know if I’ve slept for more than 5 hours a night this last month. But I still make the time.”

“Do you?” His eyes flash with something she’s never seen from him before. He’s not quite yelling, but he’s not talking at a normal volume either. “When’s the last time we went out to dinner? When’s the last time before the final that you came to one of my games? Jackson asked me before the final if we were still together since he hadn’t seen you. Do you know how fucked up that is?”

“Since when the fuck do you care about what anyone has to say?”

“Since all of their girlfriends are in the stands every week!”

She flinches. “I’m sorry I couldn’t make it to playoffs but you told me it was okay. I didn’t know you felt that way because you don’t talk to me anymore. I can’t read your mind. I’m trying my best here.”

“You know what? I can’t do this anymore.”

“Can’t do what?” She whispers.

“This. Us. It’s clearly not working.”

“Luca.”

He sits down on the chair across from her and puts his head in his hands momentarily. “You’re right. We barely talk. We’re both so busy. The last thing I want is for you to resent me.”

“So that’s it?” She croaks out.

His eyes are watery. “Please don’t make this harder than it has to be, angel.”

“You’re the one making this hard!” She bites her lip and looks up to keep the tears from falling, which isn’t working because a couple tears still slip out. She fights a brief battle with herself and then deflates. “I’m always going to be your biggest supporter.”

He lets out a shaky breath. “Mel.”

“I mean it. I meant it years ago when we were kids. I mean it now. I’ll mean it forever.”

He laughs hollowly. “This sucks.” He lets out a shaky breath. “Do you think we could still be friends?”

She tries to smile. “Well, I’m still best friends with your cousin and that’s not gonna change. So I’m sure I’ll see you around.” She swallows. “I need time though, if we want to be friends in the future.”

“I get it. Yeah.” He sighs. “I’m sorry.”

She shrugs dejectedly. “I’m sorry too.”

“Can I get one more hug?”

The hug is already sad enough. The kiss in her hair has her crying into his chest.

It was tough that summer especially, because she still wanted to spend time with Shayla and she also knew that Shayla still wanted to see Luca. But it was still too fresh, so when she knew that Luca was coming by, she avoided going to Shayla’s, which her best friend understood. She took Adam out for ice cream a couple of times, genuinely wanting to see how he was doing and catch up and everything was good and normal as they steered away from topics that were still fresh. Except during one hug as she dropped him off, where he whispered in her ear, “I know it’s too soon. I completely get it. But I know Luca would love to see you before you head back to school.”

(She doesn’t end up seeing him)

Junior year comes and goes. She has a great time despite the hours of studying for exams and the stress of classes. She makes new friends, gets closer with her old ones, collects new memories and laughs until there’s no sound coming out of her mouth. She sometimes wakes up with a hangover, but has to trudge to the library anyway to cram for a Monday morning exam. The first time she goes to The Alcott post break-up, she tries to sit in the spot by the corner and she has to leave within 5 minutes so she doesn’t have a meltdown in public.

Shayla tells her that Luca and Adam are both officially committed to play at Michigan next year, and she’s not sure if she should text them. She ends up texting them both separately right when they post on Instagram though because she’s so happy and excited and proud of them, even if Luca isn’t hers anymore.

i heard about the good news!! congrats on umich (officially)!!

Thanks Mel!! So good to hear from you. I hope all is good at Northwestern

all’s good here! seriously, luca. i’m so proud of you.

He simply had liked the text and it was enough for the both of them. It had to be enough.

She tried her best to steer away from hearing about him, but it was really hard, especially when both him and Adam were doing so well in hockey and were the talk of the town, especially back home. They always had been, but nowadays it was more and more and it was bittersweet to hear.

She didn’t come back home for the summer of her senior year, her internship leading her to New York City. And while it was sad because she couldn’t see Shayla, who herself was doing an internship in Detroit, it gave her a bit of relief that she wasn’t going to be in her hometown when a large reason she calls it home is because of the boy who she had given her heart to. She had fun in New York, went on a couple of dates — which was the most she’s done with her romantic life since her breakup — but while her friends were living up their summers and she was cheering them on, she couldn’t shake the feeling of the younger Italian hockey player away from her mind. She hated that she couldn’t shake him off.

(You’ve been friends for almost two decades, Shayla would remind her. Of course you’re not gonna get over it quickly. There’s too much history there)

As Melody entered her senior year, she set out a goal to have fun. Work hard, of course, but also to have fun and really enjoy her last year. With parts of her college experience being interrupted by the pandemic, she felt like it was only right to give herself some time before she’d be in labs and research the rest of her life.

She still followed Luca on social media, so she saw his Snapchat stories and his Instagram posts. He looked like he was having a blast at Michigan and she honestly couldn’t have been any happier for him, even if there was always a stab of something in her heart seeing him pop up on her feed. She still drove through Ann Arbor during school breaks to pick up Shayla, and now Adam and Luca as well when they didn’t have to stay for hockey commitments. Shayla tried telling her friend that she didn’t have to, but Melody always waved her off. Luca texted her happy birthday and she did the same and she ended up crying in the shower both times.

Shayla had convinced her to come to a Michigan vs Michigan State hockey game and Melody didn’t really have an excuse, since she was gonna drive up that morning from Northwestern to go home for winter break. She had been hesitant, not wanting to overstep but Shayla had just laughed in her face. Come to Michigan, stay the night with me, and then we’ll all head back to Ontario in the morning. Shayla had even gotten Adam and Luca to text her to convince her, with Luca’s text being the final push

Heard from Shay and Adam that you were hesitant on coming to the game. If that hesitancy is because of me, please don’t let it be. It’ll be a fun one.)

The game is fun and thrilling, just like Luca promised it would be. Melody’s met some of Shayla’s college friends before and they’re no less welcoming than they always are. After the game ends, Shayla and her are walking back to her apartment when Shayla stops. Adam just texted me, she says. They’re all at one of the hockey houses and they want to meet you. Let’s stop by. Melody stills for a moment before letting Shayla lead her in the opposite direction. She knows Shayla knows some of the guys, but she’s never met any of them and she doesn’t want to make it awkward.

But that thought immediately goes away as Adam hugs her and spins her around as soon as they walk in, causing her to laugh and Shayla to pout playfully. Adam just rolls his eyes after setting Melody down. Shay, I see you all the time, he says. Melody gets on her tiptoes and kisses him quickly on the cheek, rolling her eyes as he playfully wipes it off. He leads them into the house and Melody’s thrown into a round of introductions and she’s a bit overwhelmed but she’s smiley and friendly and congratulates them all on the win. She’s immediately enraptured in a brief conversation with Nolan Moyle, Mark Estapa and Luke Hughes and she pretends to not see the other guys eyeing Luca with a knowing look.

Melody Lin rarely talks about it. She wonders how much Luca Fantilli does, especially since they all seem to know who she is.

She would be the slightest bit uncomfortable, but a majority of them are younger than her and she knows how to deal with the rowdiness of hockey boys. So weirdly enough, she feels right at home, even though it’s her first time here.

When she finally makes her way to Luca, she smiles, even if it’s a bit dimmed. She’s keenly aware of eyes on her but she tries to ignore them as she hugs him tightly, trying not to breathe in his cologne too much.

“Good game,” she mutters into his ear before pulling away.

“Thanks, angel.”

She kinda wants to kill him. He lost his right to call her that when he broke up with her. But she just smiles before turning to introduce herself to Ethan Edwards.

When she pulls up to Adam and Luca’s place the next morning with a big yawn, Shayla in the seat next to her, Adam hands Shayla a hot chocolate and she’s pleasantly surprised when Luca hands her an iced coffee. She takes a sip as they dump their bags in the trunk. A latte with two pumps of vanilla syrup. He still remembers.

She hates him. She loves him. She’ll always love him

(She watches the game on her laptop and sighs sadly when Michigan’s run at the Frozen Four is cut short. She texts in the group chat consisting of Shayla, Katie, Adam, Luca and her rather than individually.

💛💙proud of you both always

When Adam wins the Hobey Baker the day after, she immediately calls him, not expecting him to answer and ready to leave a voicemail. But he answers after two rings, and the first thing he asks is if they can switch to FaceTime. Suddenly, her screen is filled with Adam with his shades on in the Florida sun with the disgusting mullet. She just grins and congratulates him while he’s positively beaming. He shows her the trophy briefly and she hears some of his teammates yelling their greetings and she just laughs at all the chaos. She lets him go after another round of congratulations and tries not to let her smile fade when Luca comes on the screen with a wave.

Her heart aches.)

Graduation week is crazy and bittersweet and wonderful as she says goodbye to her younger friends and holds on to make some last minute memories with her best friends before her family and loved ones come to celebrate officially at the ceremony. She has dinner with her parents, her older sister Elena, Shayla and Shayla’s parents the night before her school convocation. She cheers for her friends when they walk across the stage the next morning, tries not to trip when she walks across and honestly kind of blacks out. Shespots her family in the stands purely from Shayla waving like crazy and laughs, waving back. Through all the chaos, she finds her family afterwards and pauses.

Because there’s Luca. Dressed in a white short sleeved button down and blue jeans, hair out of a baseball cap for once and standing there with a sheepish smile, a beautiful bouquet of purple and white flowers in his hand.

Why is he here?

She tears her eyes away from him as she hugs her parents and sister with a big smile. She squeals as she hugs Shayla, swaying side by side, reflecting back to late April when Shayla was the one graduating and the positions were reversed.

But all she can see is Luca. You, you, you, her mind whispers.

“Hi.”

“Hey.”

“I didn’t know you were coming.”

He shrugs. “Wanted to surprise you.” He hugs her and she can’t help but smile being tucked into his chest. “Congrats, Mel. I’m so proud of you.”

“Thanks,” She mutters, blinking as he gives her the flowers. “These are beautiful. Jesus.”

“Here, let me hold something for you.” He takes her bag off her shoulder as well as her diploma out of her hands as she adjusts the three bouquets of flowers she’s gotten, trying not to crush any of them.

“Picture time!” Melody’s mom exclaims and then there’s a flurry of smiling and picture taking and lighting and angles and every combination possible, ending with Melody and Luca.

(When her mom sends the pictures later that night, she blinks at how couply they look. There’s a particular picture where she’s laughing at something Shayla said off camera and he’s looking at her like he might still be in love with her)

They stop by her apartment briefly so they can change before they all go to dinner. Apparently, everyone else knew Luca was coming because no one bats an eye as he comes along to their dinner. She’ll have to talk to Shayla about that later.

And it’s good, really. The conversation is easy and the food is good and she tries to ignore everytime her elbows brush against Luca’s and notes when his arm is around her chair so she doesn't lean back. They discuss the plan for the next day where Melody is just planning on packing before the all university commencement the day after. Her family is planning to explore the Chicago area while Shayla is attending another friend’s commencement at University of Chicago. When Luca’s asked of his plans, he hesitates. She doesn’t know what makes her say her next sentence, but she says it.

“If you wouldn’t mind, I could use another set of hands to help me pack.”

His head whips to her, mouth open a little. She tries to smile assuringly. He nods. “I don’t mind.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah. It’ll be fun.”

She snorts. “Packing is not fun ever, but I like the enthusiasm.”

The next morning, she picks him up from the hotel all of them are staying at (“I’m in a room with Shayla and it’s a nightmare. How does someone’s shit get everywhere in such a short period of time?”) and drives in the opposite direction from her apartment. It takes him a surprisingly short amount of time to realize that they’re going in the wrong direction. When he asks where they’re going, she bites her lip.

“I’m craving one last iced vanilla latte from The Alcott.”

Silence and then a small chuckle. “Are their blueberry muffins still as good?”

“Yup.”

“We gotta get some of those too then.”

And conversation is surprisingly easy. They talk about Michigan’s run to the Frozen Four and how that was cut short but what an amazing season they had, Adam’s World Championship win with Canada and his upcoming draft (she was invited months ago by Adam and the entire Fantilli family to Nashville, to which everyone but her was not surprised about), her last year at Northwestern, his first year at Michigan, and anything and everything in between. It’s so easy that it almost aches, the familiarity of The Alcott and what it means to her and what it means to them as she watches him order for the both of them and pays even though she tries to fight. She wanders over to the corner — their old spot — because she wants to savor this one more time before she has to let go. Before she has to let go of this place and this boy. Because she can’t keep him. He was never hers to begin with.

“Do you remember when we were snowed in here?”

She turns her head to look back at him before letting out a small chuckle at the memory. “Yeah. You were panicking because you thought your game was still on and I was surprised when it was cancelled, considering it’s Chicago and they never cancel anything due to snow.”

“And then they gave out free coffee refills and you were probably the happiest person in this place, just studying and humming along or scribbling in your journal.”

“We must’ve been here for, what, 6 hours?”

“Probably more, to be honest. Donna wouldn’t let a single person even think about driving until the storm had passed.”

She smiles, even if a bit sad. “Good times.”

He hums in agreement, and if she was looking at him and not out the window, she would notice that he’s looking at her fondly. “You’re a college graduate.”

She rolls her eyes. “It’s not that big of a deal.”

“You’re right. It’s not, because we all knew you were always the smart one. But it is a big deal because it’s just crazy how time moves so fast.”

“How do you think I feel watching you and Adam get old and go to college? Not that you were innocent before, but Adam sent me some snapchats of your shenanigans at frat parties and sometimes I genuinely wonder how you’re alive and kicking for practice the next morning.”

“Fucking Adam. Always painting me in a bad light,” Luca scoffs, before clearing his throat. “How have you been? How do you feel?”

She lets out something between a laugh and a sigh. “Okay, I think. Overwhelmed. Excited. Scared. Thankful. Thinking about all the stuff I have to pack.”

“Do you have most of it done?”

She snorts. “Absolutely not. That’s what you’re here for.”

“Glad I could be of service.”

She stands up with her drink. “Come on. Let’s get out of here.”

Once they get to her place, Melody puts Luca to work immediately, instructing him on which boxes to put things in as she cleans up her room. They work well together. When he’s stepping behind her to get somewhere or something, he always touches her back or elbow or shoulder gently and he doesn’t get annoyed at her indecisiveness on how to pack things, just dutifully following all her instructions. They’re about 70% done when her roommates Alison and Carey come in briefly and they meet Luca and they know exactly who he is but Melody’s thankful that they don’t let it show and gives them a meaningful look as they leave.

By the time most of her things are packed, it’s dinner time and she suggests that they drive to another one of her favorite spots on campus to grab a bite. A little sweaty, a little exhausted, she has to stop in her tracks when he shoots her the sweetest smile, adjusting the hat on his head and washing his hands before they head out.

And because it’s only seniors left on campus, it’s not surprising when she runs into a couple people she knows, weaving through to order and find a place to sit at the bar. More often than not she’s stopped and she introduces Luca to everyone and he’s smiling and she knows that everyone is immediately charmed because it’s Luca and that’s always been his effect on people, ever since they were kids. He’s wearing a Michigan hat and gets some chirps that he takes in stride and that make her giggle.

(If you were to ask Luca, it makes complete sense that everyone they’ve run into has nothing but a smile on their faces. Melody’s always been able to make anyone she’s come into contact with fall in love with her)

She heads to the bathroom at one point and when she walks back out, she sees a drop dead gorgeous blonde girl sitting where she sat and Melody’s not surprised but her heart falls a bit, watching the girl clearly flirt with him, if her body language indicates anything. She observes for a couple of seconds before taking a deep breath and walking back. She platers on the largest smile she can muster, her lips softening to a more genuine one when she sees him perk up.

“And there she is! The reason I’m here and the star herself.”

She can’t help but chuckle. “You’re sweet.” She turns to the girl. “Hey, I’m Melody. It’s nice to meet you.”

“Connie. Nice to meet you too. You graduated this weekend too?”

“Yup. You?”

“Yeah.”

“Well, congratulations.”

“Congratulations to you as well.”

Connie turns to Luca and Melody tries her best to not roll her eyes. “It was nice to meet you, Luca. I hope Melody gives you a proper tour of Evanston.”

“Best tour guide there is,” Luca responds easily, and Connie slips out of her chair with one last smile before Melody sits back in her seat. “Cool it with the death glare.”

“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Uh huh.”

She takes a sip of her coke, determinedly staring at his water. “You can flirt with anyone you want.”

“She was flirting. I wasn’t flirting back.”

“That doesn’t sound like you,” she tries to tease lightly. “I’m sure girls fall at your feet at Michigan.” I know what that’s like, she thinks to herself. “Speaking of, anyone I should know about? Just so I can prepare myself for when I get jumpscared when I take you out for ice cream.”

“First of all, that’s an Adam move. And nope. No one’s caught my eye.”

“No?”

“No.”

“Surprising.”

He shrugs.

She hums, letting it go and steering towards safer conversation topics.

In the car on the way back to the hotel, she gets the courage.

“Luca.”

“Yeah?”

“Why did you break up with me?”

A sharp inhale. The words linger in the air. She grips her steering wheel.

“I don’t know.”

Silence. A disbelieving scoff.

“Thanks, Luca.”

“No, no. Give me a second. I truly mean it, especially now looking back. At the time I thought it was what was best so that we would stay friends and not grow to hate each other, but when I think about it more and more, that reasoning is shit so I don’t know anymore. You deserved better.”

(Honestly, it’s probably good that they’re hashing this out now. She was far too nice to him two years ago.)

“If I deserved better why didn’t you do better?” She whispers. “Luca, you didn't even give me a chance to fix it.”

“I know. I know. I panicked and I ran and I lost you.”

“You’ve never lost me. I’m best friends with your cousin. I’ve driven you and Adam to and from school. I’m still here. The last thing I wanted to do that night was break up. You practically jumped at the chance..”

“But I lost you in the way it mattered.” He reaches over to grab her hand and she doesn’t pull away. He takes that as a good sign. “I fucked it all up, didn’t I? All this time we could’ve been together but we weren’t because I just ran away.”

“Why did you break up with me?” She repeats stoically.

“I guess, I guess I got it into my head that you deserve so much better than me. I mean, I was playing junior hockey and you were at fucking Northwestern and you’ve always been so much smarter than I am which I love, don’t get me wrong. You are so, so beautiful and kind to everyone and generous and you’ve literally been there for me since forever and… I just felt like I was holding you back and you deserve better and-“

“It’s not your choice to determine what I think I deserve,” she says firmly. “If you had just talked to me about it…Luca. All I wanted was for you to talk to me that night. And the few weeks before. I loved you for who you were, junior hockey and all or whatever the fuck else you said. Do you forget that we grew up together? I’ve seen it all, and I’ve stuck by you because I loved you.”

He takes a deep breath. “Do you know why no one’s caught my eye at Michigan?”

She freezes, having a feeling what the answer is but hoping it isn’t true (or hoping it is true). “Why?”

“Because the only girl who I see myself with is in Chicago.”

She swallows roughly. “You can’t just say that shit, Luca. It’s not fair.”

“I know, I know. I just-I…I’m sorry. I know I’m not being fair. I just…I miss you. And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you that I was coming to your graduation but I couldn’t miss it. I really am so proud of you. I’ve always been your biggest fan.”

She stops at a red light and looks at him. “I hated you for a bit.”

“I don’t blame you.”

“But looking back, I don’t think I ever hated you. I was just sad and heartbroken.”

He squeezes his eyes shut. He had always vowed to himself that he would never hurt her. The light turns green and she drives again.

She speaks up again. “Everyone always told me time is the best thing after a breakup. I didn’t know what they meant until I did. And seeing you got easier everytime, and I still wanted the best for you, even if I wasn’t the one by your side anymore. I still do. But at the same time, I wanted to forget you.”

“Would you consider trying again?”

“Luca-”

“I, just hear me out. I fucked up. I know that. God, I knew that the second I walked out of your place that night. I love you. I still love you. And I know I’m being unfair about all of this. But I just…my life is so much better with you by my side. I’ve realized that more than ever these last two years. And if you don’t feel the same way anymore, I get it. We can keep being friends or I can give you space if you want…whatever you need. I just had to say it. I love you. I can’t really see myself ever stopping, to be honest.”

In the middle of his little speech, she had pulled into the hotel and parked, killing the engine. It’s silent for a few moments as she mulls over his words.

“You really hurt me, Luca. I don’t know if I love you anymore.” His face starts falling, but she quickly continues. “But I think I could. Love you again, I mean. Maybe. But it has to be different this time.” He perks up but she holds up a hand and he listens. “We need to communicate better. We have to talk through our problems when they come up, not run away from them. We can’t just sweep things under the rug.”

“Deal.”

“I’m gonna be working in Chicago and you’re gonna be in Ann Arbor. The distance is still gonna be like before. We’re probably gonna be away from each other more than we’re together.”

“Worth it,” a soft smile appears on his lips. “Congratulations, by the way. On the job. I don’t know if I mentioned it yet.”

“Thank you,” she looks down at her hands. She sighs. “I wanted us to work the first time. I really did. God, Luca. You’re one of the most important people in my life.”

“I’m gonna try so hard to be someone that you deserved the first time and that you deserve now.”

She smiles a bit sadly at that. “All you need to be is yourself. That’s all I ask.”

“Deal.”

“I know things are kinda busy coming up, with your cousin’s wedding and Adam’s draft and me going on my trip. But, uh, maybe we can go on a date when I’m back? If it isn’t too late.”

“It’s never too late when it comes to you,” Luca says. “I’d love that.” He leans in to kiss her cheek.

“Come on. I’ll walk you up to your room.”

Things still don’t quite fall into place after that weekend. The next time she sees Luca is when she comes to Nashville for the draft. Luca’s been beaming all day, extremely proud of his brother, but it doesn’t compare to the feeling he felt earlier when Melody and Shayla walked out of their hotel room, Melody wearing a blue satin jumpsuit and looking as stunning as ever. When she greeted him with a hug, he planted a brief kiss in her hair and watched fondly as she embraced Adam, straightening out his collar and placing a sweet kiss on his cheek, muttering some words to him that only those two could hear, Adam closing his eyes and nodding as she smiled. Luca knows how much her being here means to Adam.

(Only close family knew that on Adam’s vest on the back are the names of the important people in his life. When he takes off the suit jacket to show Shayla and Melody, the former beams while the latter starts sniffling. Both so proud of him. Both honored to be on his back in cursive. And Luca just hands her a tissue when she sees a particular picture on the inside of his jacket of the four of them when they were younger at the beach. It’s one of her favorites. It means so much.)

She cries when Adam gets picked third overall to the Columbus Blue Jackets and squeezes Shayla’s hand in excitement as Adam walks onto the stage. Afterwards when she sees him, she practically leaps onto him and squeezes him so tight as he spins her around.

(“Oh, Adam,” she says with a sniffle. “I’m so, so proud of you. Congratulations.”

“Thanks, Mel.” He says into her shoulder. “Thank you for everything. Everything.”

She pulls away but can’t help herself and hugs him again. “I love you. I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” he says as she backs away, biting her lip while placing her hands on his cheek.)

She’s then traveling with a couple friends around Europe and he’s in Pittsburgh for a few days for development camp before hanging out with friends and training. They text semi-frequently but she’s abroad and having fun and he respects that. He’s trying to figure out how to show her that he’s serious about the second chance she’s given him while trying not to overstep.

When he picks her up from Toronto Pearson Airport in mid July, it’s 7 am and she looks and feels like shit. But she comes out of Arrivals and immediately sees Luca waving, big smile on his face, a Michigan shirt on, a hat flipped backwards on his hair and a bouquet of carnations in his hands, looking at her like she’s the most beautiful girl he’s ever seen. She hugs him, taking the flowers with a smile as he grabs her duffle from her shoulder. Whether from exhaustion or simply because she’s missed him in more ways than she’d like to admit, she leans into his side as they walk out of the airport and into the parking lot and he immediately responds by putting an arm around her shoulder and pressing a kiss on her forehead.

It’s so easy to fall back into rhythm with him, as she just admires him while he’s driving, too tired at the moment to recount her travels. Once they get off the highway, he puts the windows down and opens the skylight and there’s a pang of deja vu as he turns up the music a bit, humming along to some country tune. He slows down in front of Betty’s Diner and she furrows her eyebrows.

He smiles, stopping the engine. “I’m gonna go in real quick and grab some food, okay? Told Betty you were coming back today and she insisted on cooking you your favorite. I convinced her to put it in a to-go box but I promised her we’d come back to eat in at some point.”

Melody’s heart practically melts at the thoughtfulness. “Thanks, Lu.”

(He almost trips over himself getting out of the car. She hasn’t called him Lu in so long)

Luca’s house is empty, as Adam is training and his parents are both at work. Melody takes a quick shower to wash off the grime of the plane and when she comes out — in a UMich shirt and sweats she has to roll up that he laid out— the breakfast is all heated up on plates, the bouquet of flowers he gave her still wrapped but in a cup of water so they don’t die. Luca turns around at the sound of footsteps and something flashes through his eyes at the sight of her wearing his clothes again but he shakes himself out of it, instead just sliding a plate towards her. She slumps down on the kitchen island and thanks him with a hum before diving in.

Once she’s full and Luca’s taking all the plates and washing them before she can even blink, she speaks up. “Is this the date?”

“No,” he admits. “I figured I’d give you a couple of days to get over the jetlag before taking you out for real. I just, I wanted to do something nice.”

She wipes her lips with a napkin. “Not that I don’t appreciate all of this, because I do, but what…why?”

“You gave me a second chance. I’m not gonna waste that chance.” His eyes widen in fear. “I-I’m sorry if I’m overwhelming you or being too forward. I-if you wanna go home or to Shayla’s, I can drop you off or-”

She smiles slightly. “Relax, Luca.” He blinks. It’s times like this he remembers that she’s two years older and much more level headed than he is. “I was just curious. You don’t have to do this all for me, you know?”

“I want to,” Luca replies simply. “Making up for lost time, I guess.”

“Then come over and finish up these waffles for me,” she says with a small smile, laughing when he barrels over and inhales them.

After breakfast, he can tell she needs sleep even if she won’t admit it. So he puts on Abbot Elementary and puts an arm around her shoulder as she leans into him on the couch. Halfway through the episode, she’s fallen asleep on his chest and he just smiles, staring down at her. He very carefully turns the volume down and shifts so that they’re both more in a comfortable position.

(When Adam comes back from training, he walks into the sight of his older brother and someone who might as well be his older sister cuddling, both asleep with Abbot Elementary still playing. He turns the TV off and tosses a blanket over them, staring at them both thoughtfully before heading to his room)

They do end up going on a date a couple days later. Luca picks her up at the door of her childhood home, waves to her mom and dad and gives her another bouquet of flowers (daisies this time). He then drives them to a nearby park that she hasn’t been to in at least 5 years and then pulls out a picnic basket of sandwiches, fruit, pasta salad, chips and cans of seltzer. She blinks as he lays it all out, because he’s really pulling out the stops and she has to stop herself from just leaning in and kissing him.

And the conversation between them is, yet again, so easy, reminding her of one of the many reasons she always liked him, even before they started dating. Their ability to bounce off of each other and talk about practically everything isn’t something that she’s been able to replicate with anyone else quite yet. There are some instances where they slip into some dangerous territory, but they successfully steer away from it. Those are conversations that need to be had, but not today.

For awhile, especially after their breakup, Melody had only fixated on their differences, with his hockey and party life at Michigan and her research and much tamer college life at Northwestern. But during that picnic, laying down with her head on his lap, she had a realization that they were similar in many ways she hadn’t thought about before — their love for Toronto, their distaste for judgemental people, their passion for leaving an impact, the way they love their friends and family, their love for music.

(It probably only took that date for Melody to fall in love with Luca again, but she would never admit that to herself)

They book a last minute trip to Seattle in late July— it’s purely because Melody found tickets to Taylor Swift last minute that were a reasonable price. She would’ve taken Shayla, but she already saw Taylor in Detroit two days before Melody’s graduation. So the couple hike some trails, eat some good food and have a blast at Taylor Swift.

(During ‘Fearless,’ which is one of Melody’s favorites, she’s hyper emotional, feeling Luca’s hands around her waist and him singing softly into her ear. He must also remember all the times she played this in the car growing up. During ‘Love Story,’ which is Luca’s favorite, she swears the stadium is shaking and it’s such a wonderful feeling to be a part of something like this. In the middle of the second chorus, she looks back at him with a smile, and he kisses her probably too deeply for what’s considered proper in public. But she can’t care less. And when he sings the last four lines to her in her ear, it feels something like a promise.)

He drives down with her to Chicago mid-August to help her move into her new apartment with a mutual friend from college who’s coming in September. Just like when he helped her move out, he doesn’t complain once. But this time, inbetween moving boxes, he puckers his lips and gets a kiss. The moment she realizes that she’s in her new home for the foreseeable future is when she’s placing some framed pictures around in her room, this particular one being of Shayla, Adam, Luca, Katie and her at the draft just under two months before. She doesn’t have that many framed pictures around, but this one was important to her to have up. She sets it down on the desk and just looks at it, even as Luca comes up to hug her from behind, resting his chin on her shoulder.

Shayla’s off to Houston for her job, Adam is off to Columbus to play in the NHL, Luca’s going back to Ann Arbor to do what he loves, Katie is going back to UCLA for her second year and she’s starting her job in Chicago.

All five of them doing what they love, excited for the future, grateful for the past. And doing it together, even if they’re all in different states.

He stays with her for a couple of days before heading back to Michigan. That goodbye sucks in particular, as she clings onto him. She’s trying so hard not to let tears fall, but when he softly mutters that he loves her (the first time he’s said those words since they decided to try again), the waterfall starts and she just sobs into his chest as he quietly whispers sweet nothings and rubs her back, kissing her hair and face and fingers and whispering that they’ll see each other in no time — which isn’t true. She has no idea when she’ll be able to get some time off as a new employee and he’s not gonna have that much time to spare once hockey season officially starts.

(She doesn’t say it back yet, something inexplicable holding her back. But as he kisses her soundly at the airport before heading through security, she knows she does)

As she’s driving to Ann Arbor in December it takes her an embarrassingly long time to realize why it feels like deja vu.

Last year around this time, she made this exact same drive to see a game against the exact same team. Except this time, it’s different. Adam isn’t there. Shayla isn’t there. The team is different. Her and Luca are different.

And as she’s driving to Ann Arbor, she knows she has to let him know. She has to let him know she loves him.

This is only the third time she’s seen him since he helped her move in August. She would be lying if she said it hasn’t been tough and there haven’t been moments where she wonders if it’s worth it. But then her phone lights up, signaling a text from him or food she didn’t order ends up at her doorstep or she watches streams of UMich games and watches him score and then she’s reminded that she made the right choice in giving Luca a second chance.

She loves watching hockey. She loves watching Luca play hockey.

She got the number of Maggie, Kienan’s girlfriend, from Luca because she would only be able to make it to Michigan right before the game started, and Maggie was more than happy to lead her inside with her media pass and introduce her to some of the other significant others before she’d actually have to get back to work. It was a bit weird, being one of those significant others and being a bit older, but she was a college student up until June, so it’s not like she feels completely out of place.

She parks outside of Yost and texts Maggie, who directs her on which door to walk to. After an enthusiastic hug, she leads Melody through the back way into the arena, saying that the boys are already on the ice for warmups and that everyone is excited to meet her (“We’ve heard so much about you, from Luca and even from Adam last year, so we’re all really excited to meet you.”)

She gets introduced to Ellie and Kayleigh, Jacob and Rutger’s girlfriends respectively, and they’re so peppy and excited and nice that she doesn’t feel as nervous as she sits down as they immediately want to get to know more about her. They have decent seats, so she can see some of the players’ expressions if she looks hard enough. She immediately spots 63 and just smiles before turning back to the girls, not wanting to distract him from warmups, even though she finds herself eyeing him while talking. It isn’t until one of the guys, Ethan, if she remembers his number correctly, nudges Luca and nods in their direction does she smile and give a small wave. Even from this far, she sees him light up and wave back before focusing on warming up again.

The game, like any Michigan vs Michigan State one, is chippy, loud and exciting. She’s watched so many of Luca and Adam’s games growing up, yet she still finds herself nervously playing with her sleeves. Michigan ends up winning 2-1 and everyone’s in happy spirits as they leave the arena. She bids farewell to the girls and thanks them for letting her sit with them before Maggie’s back to lead her towards the locker room to meet up with Luca.

She waits patiently outside of the locker room with Maggie, just chatting casually, smiling when Kienan comes out and they embrace. Melody gives him a hug as well. The next guys to come out are Mark, Ethan and Seamus, who she remembers from last year and they all give her hugs before she wishes them a good holiday break. She tells them that they don’t have to stay and they all wave her off. (“Are you kidding? I’m not missing this reunion. Luca’s been talking about seeing you non-stop for forever.” Ethan jokes.)

They don’t have to wait long, as Luca’s the next one to come out. His cheeks are a bit flushed and he’s dressed in her favorite suit of his. His eyes dart all over until they meet hers. He immediately shrugs off his backpack and lifts Melody up in a hug. She lets out a little squeal and laughs as he spins her around.

“Hi.” She mutters into his shoulder.

“Hi angel.” He pulls away and kisses her twice. “I missed you.”

She pulls back and runs a hand through his hair with a light smile. “Missed you. Good game.” She looks beyond his shoulder to see the rest of his teammates smiling or smirking, some she recognizes, others she doesn’t. She detaches herself from him and nudges him. “Introduce me to your teammates.”

He groans playfully. “Do I have to?”

She rolls her eyes and smiles at the boys warmly. “Hi. I’m Melody, if we haven’t met.” She gives everybody a quick hug as the freshmen introduce themselves, laughing when Dylan wiggles her around.

Everyone’s a bit tired, so within 10 minutes, everyone’s saying goodbye and leaving the arena. She insists on driving Seamus, Rutger and Gavin since they all live together. When they get back, she’s helping him fold clothes to bring back to Toronto for break as he sits back on his bed, one hand behind his head and just looking at her. She’s grown out her hair and got a perm as a treat to herself after her first paycheck. And she had FaceTimed him immediately after she walked out of the salon, but seeing it in person is something entirely different. Still donned in his MIchigan crewneck that mysteriously disappeared from his closet over the summer and a yellow bow in her hair, she’s wearing flannel pajama pants now instead of jeans and folding a pair of his jeans before tossing it into his duffle and zipping it up. Luca’s suddenly overwhelmed by how blessed he is.

The next morning, after brunch at one of Luca’s favorite spots around campus, when they’re at the start of their drive back to Toronto and at a long stoplight, she remembers.

“Hey, Lu?”

“Hm?” He immediately looks at her and places a kiss on the back of her hand that he’s been holding.

“I love you.”

Luca’s eyes light up and she bites her lip so she doesn’t grin like a crazy woman. “Yeah?” He breathes out.

“Yeah. I love you.”

He leans to press a sweet kiss on her lips and then her cheek, and mutters against her skin. “I love you, angel. So much. Always have. Always will.”

And she chuckles under her breath when she tunes into what song is playing through the speakers of her car.

This love came back to her, indeed.

#k writes #hockey fanfiction #hockey fanfic #umich #umich hockey #luca fantilli #luca fantilli fic #luca fantilli x oc #adam fantilli #team 101 #luca fantilli blurb #hockey blurb

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tightjeansjavi · 4 months

Text

Catfish | Chapter 2

🫧 Estrella Del Mar🫧

A/N: ahoy there you minnows! Who’s ready for some more fisherman!frankie? He’s going to reel you all in after he casts his line. Won’t you hop aboard his vessel? 😉

~word count: 2.2k~

Summary: Frankie asks you to hop aboard his vessel and spend the day fishing with him.

Pairing | fisherman!Frankie Morales x bartender f!reader

Warnings: slowish burn, enemies to lovers, language, light Spanish, Frankie is a flirt and a bit of an ass, mean!frankie, grumpy!frankie,pining, banter, sexual innuendos, fish innuendos, pet names: Starfish, cariño, brief mention of Frankie’s past in the army, no age gap, reader has no physical descriptions, +18 minors dni!

¡Joder! Cómo ciega el sol - fuck! The sun is blinding

Estrella Del Mar - Starfish

“Buenos días, Starfish.” He was in a chipper mood this morning. Not that you were paying any close attention to his mood. After the shit he pulled a few nights back? You were beginning to believe that maybe Juniper was right about Frankie after all.

You ignored him willfully as he made himself comfortable on his usual bartop stool.

You looked over the brim of his hat when the side door to his vessel opened, and yet another tourist came stumbling out. This one however wasn’t dressed in her clothes from the night before. This one had an early morning booty call written all over her face.

“Is there ever a moment in your day when you’re not getting your dick wet, Catfish?”

His sunglasses tipped below the bridge of his nose as he rolled his shoulders forwards. He scoffed under his breath, ignoring your question. Meanwhile, his eyes traveled across the flushed look on the woman's face while she did her best to walk down the dock without making it too obvious that her legs were as wobbly as jello. So what if Frankie had fucked her less than 20 minutes ago..why should you care?

“Dunno what you're talking about, cariño.” He bluffed. “We were just playing an early morning game of scrabble. And what did I tell you about calling me Catfish, hm?” He raised his brow in your direction.

Yeah, scrabble..with my tongue.

“An early morning game of scrabble? Really, Fish Filet? Right, cause that’s why she’s having trouble walking..because you beat her in scrabble. Uh huh.” You weren’t convinced in the slightest. Your eyes met his in a challenging stare. “You’re annoying me, Frankie. That's why I called you Catfish.”

“If I didn’t know any better, I’d start to think that you’re feeling jealous, Starfish. Since when are you so concerned over who, and what I’m doing in my personal life? If you’re looking for—”

You cut him off coldly with half the intention to reach over the bartop and slap him across the face with your towel, but you refrained. “Is there something I can help you with, Frankie? I’m on the clock. I don’t have time to chit-chat.”

He brushed off your sudden coldness with a shrug of his shoulders as he leaned forward and crossed his arms over his chest. “Yeah, you can help me, Starfish. I’d like a coffee, black, like your soul.” The corners of his lips curved upwards in a small grin.

The look you gave him was nothing short of disapproving, and deeply unimpressed. “Get it yourself, Frankie.” You turned your back towards him, muttering under your breath about how it was too goddamn early to be dealing with him and his shenanigans.

“The fuck took a shit in your cheerios this morning?” He uncrossed his arms and reached over the bartop for a mug and the coffee pot. “Y’know, I am your customer and you really should—”

“Do you sleep on that thing?” You faced him once more after deciding that slapping him with the towel would not be worth it.

He took a sip of the steaming liquid as he leaned back against the barstool. “Pardon?”

“Your boat.” You clarified. “Do you sleep on it?”

“Depends. Sometimes I do, and sometimes I don’t.” He shrugged. “Why do you ask, Starfish?” He was intrigued, and it was written all over his smug, scruffy face.

“No reason.” Now you were the one bluffing.

“Oh, c’mon, cariño. There is always a reason to ask something. Even if it’s just out of curiosity.” He took another slurping sip from the mug and your eye twitched from the sound.

He’s doing that on purpose.

“If I tell you that I asked because I was curious, will you drop the subject, Fish Filet?”

“Sure. As long as you’re telling me the truth, Starfish.” He nodded.

“Okay. I was asking because I’m curious, and that is the truth, Frankie.”

He wasn’t convinced by your answer, and you didn’t like the way that he was studying your face rather intently. His head cocked to the side as a warm sea breeze brushed through the soft curls at the back of his neck.

“Do you want to see it?” He asked suddenly, catching you off guard.

“See what?”

He stifled a chuckle at your response as he set his mug down along the bartop counter and leaned forward. “My vessel, cariño. Do you want to see it?”

“Can you maybe..not call it a vessel? Just call it a fucking boat, Frankie. And no, I do not want to see it. And even if I did, I’m on the clock. So, go ask one of your tourist friends that you’re so acquainted with. I’m sure they’d love to see your vessel.”

He rolled his lips into his teeth to hide his growing smirk from showing because here he was crawling under your skin like a goddamn worm wriggling about.

“Can’t Juniper cover your shift this morning? All I ever see you do is work, Starfish. Don’t you ever get out there and live a little? It would only be for a couple hours, and it’s going to be such a beautiful day...” he trailed off with an almost disappointed sigh slipping past his lips.

“Oh, I think you and I both know that is a lie, Frankie. Are you forgetting about that certain beach party? Has it slipped your mind already?” You questioned with your arms crossed against your chest as you leaned back against the counter. The tips of his ears began to turn beet red. No, he had not forgotten about the night that you skinny dipped, and he stole a peek at your bare skin and got caught while doing so.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. Look, I’m gonna finish off my coffee here and then I’ll be on my way. I was just going to ask you if you wanted to come out fishing with me. Offer still stands if you change your mind, cariño.” He was thankful that his sunglasses provided him with a bit of cover so that you couldn’t see the redness flush to the highest points of his cheeks either.

“Fishing—? With you?” You questioned unsurely.

“Yeah. Like I said, it’s going to be a beautiful day out there, but if you wanna be stuck on shore all day...be my guest.” His usual banter was gone, and it was replaced with an emotion that you didn’t think Frankie was capable of showing; disappointment.

How bad could it really be?

He could throw you overboard

Feed you to the sharks

Or even worse! You might actually have a good time?

“I’ll..think about it.” You finally responded. He finished off his coffee, downing what was left and pulled out a few bills from his pocket and slapped them down on the countertop. “Sure.” He muttered.

Juniper had shown up shortly after Frankie sauntered back to his boat with that feeling of disappointment churning deep within his gut.

Maybe I should just ask one of those tourists that I’ve gotten acquainted with. I’m sure they’d love to see me cast a line and reel a big one in.

She did say she’d think about it.

Bullshit. ‘I’ll think about it’ really means fuck off, Frankie.

“Hey, June? Do you think you could cover the morning shift for me today?” You asked while fiddling with the end of your shirt.

“Does this have anything to do with Frankie looking like a lost puppy when I showed up a few minutes ago, Starfish?” Juniper knew the answer, and so did you.

“Now you’re calling me Starfish too?” You laughed and gently punched her in the shoulder before rubbing your hands down your face with a sigh. “June, before you get upset with me, he asked me if I wanted to go fishing with him. He seemed disappointed when I didn’t immediately say yes.”

“Well, what can I say? The nickname stuck.” She winked. “He asked you to go fishing with him? Like actually fishing? No funny business?”

“It didn’t sound like he was inferring any ‘funny business’ taking place. He really was just asking me if I’d like to go fishing and enjoy the beautiful day? Or, he’s luring me in just so he can throw me overboard to the sharks.”

You both laughed at this.

“I mean, if he’s really just asking you to go fishing with him, then I say there’s no harm? I’ll cover your shift, but don’t go with him just because you feel like you have to, okay?” She placed her hands on your shoulders giving them a gentle reassuring squeeze.

You weighed out your options for a moment because June was right, there really was no harm in going fishing with Frankie Morales. Maybe he was just being friendly. Maybe this was his way to show you that he’s sorry for being an ass. Maybe you were overthinking it for what it really meant.

“I’ll be back in time for the evening rush, okay? Feel free to call me if the afternoon rush becomes too much, and I’ll come right back, okay?” You were already grabbing your purse and the belongings and slinging the strap over your shoulder.

“Babe, you’re gonna be out in the middle of the ocean. I don't think you're going to have any service out there. Just go and have a good time, alright? I doubt the afternoon shift will get that crazy.” She reassured you.

“Shit. You’re right. I didn’t even think about that!” You laughed and gave her a quick hug and kiss on the cheek. “Have a good day, June!”

“Just stay away from those fish fingers!” She jokingly said, and you flipped her off playfully as you slipped past her behind the bartop. There was an undeniable pep in your step as you made your way down the dock to Frankie’s awaiting boat.

Estrella Del Mar (Starfish) was painted on the starboard side of the ship.The letters were beginning to fade, and desperately needed a fresh coat of paint. Well, his entire boat desperately needed some sprucing up. Frankie would disagree.

Speaking of the Catfish himself, Frankie hadn’t heard you approaching as he was too focused on pulling in the lines that held his boat docked in the harbor. He was shirtless, with a cigarette pursed between his lips. A nasty habit that he had picked up during his days in the army. It was a piece of his past that he kept quiet, under the wraps and hidden. At a time in his life he was proud to serve his country, but he carried scars. The kind that weren’t visible to the naked eye.

You could faintly hear the radio playing some catchy pop song in Spanish that lifted through the growing humidity. His bare muscles flexed and grew taut as he pulled in the lines and tossed them over the side of the deck without dropping the cigarette from between his lips.

“Need a hand with that, fish boy?” You were well within earshot with a grin plastered on your pretty face and hands on your hips as you looked up at him from the dock.

Frankie nearly dropped his cigarette when he saw you standing on the dock and looking up at him. His heart skipped a pathetic beat in his chest, and he wasted no time to toss the lines down to the side before he was hopping down onto the deck. He made it look way too easy, and your own heart skipped a beat.

“Who you calling a fish boy?” He asked teasingly. Frankie couldn't hide his apparent grin if he tried. And even though the sunlight was blinding, you could see the faint residue of sunscreen on the bridge of his nose. You watched as he took one last drag from his cigarette before tossing the butt off to the side.

“Uh..I am? I think?” You looked around the dock before your gaze settled back on him. “Surprised to see me, Frankie? That makes two of us.”

“I’m very surprised to see you here, cariño. You had me wondering if ‘I’ll think about it’ was your way of saying ‘fuck off, Frankie.’” He said with a chuckle and crossed his bare arms against his chest.

“Oh, it did. Well, at first. But I’m here now! So, are you gonna help me onto your vessel or do I have to do that myself?” You mirrored his actions.

“My what?” He blinked and swore that the blazing sun was already getting to his head.

¡Joder! Cómo ciega el sol.

“Francisco, your boat. Are you going to invite me on board?” You bit down on your lower lip to hide your grin when you saw his cheeks flush a bright red. He totally thought that you were referring to—his other vessel

“Oh! Right. Yes. My boat! Right.” He cleared his throat and brought one of his hands to rub at the back of his neck. He took a deep breath as he gathered his senses to clear his head. “Right this way, Starfish.” He offered you his elbow to show you that he could in fact act as a gentleman.

You placed your palm along the crook of his elbow feeling the bit of muscle there as he led you onboard.

“Welcome aboard Estrella Del Mar, cariño.”

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