#Dylan garner x reader

[puckarchives]

i can see you: l. hughes

blurb: falling in love with luke — a brother's best friend fic. / word count: 1.7k / pairing: luke hughes x fem!reader; fantilli!sister x luke hughes

It wasn’t meant to become more than a semester fling — nothing more than a few nights you had spent wrapped up in Luke, basking in all of his attention. What the two of you hadn’t expected, however, was the reality that you now faced: those nights had become something much more, and regardless of where you stood in each other’s lives, both of you were ready for the frenzied kisses behind closed doors to turn into daytime dates, and to finally take the next step in actually creating a relationship.

That, of course, would have been a lot easier if you weren’t a Fantilli, and if your brothers weren’t best friends with the boy you had fallen in love with over the past year. You knew Luke and Adam were friends; it was evident every time he’d come over, or when you’d find them lounging around after practice — hell, it was even evident in the way that people got the names  “Luca” and “Luke” mixed up on the ice, and would call your brother “Luke” before he realized that they were talking to him. 

Despite these feelings, you knew dating each other wouldn’t garner the best reaction from your brothers; they were protective of their baby sister, and despite playing on the same team as him, and being close friends, no one wanted their teammates to date their little sister, right?

Now, this wouldn’t have bothered the two of you that much; atleast, it wouldn’t have been if you hadn’t ended up at said boy’s lake house, where you would be spending the rest of your summer.

When the idea of joining the Hughes boys at their lake house was first brought up, you were privy to the conversation in a way no one would have ever imagined. In fact, when dates were being discussed between Luke, Jack, and Quinn, the older two Hughes brothers didn’t even know you were there, and how could they? You were wrapped up in Luke’s hoodie, the entirety of your face turned away from the camera, hiding the fact you were even listening at all — and to be entirely fair, you weren’t, considering you were half-asleep. So, it was set — the Fantilli’s would be invited alongside the rest of the UMich boys — and, of course, you’d be invited too; an extension of Adam and Luca that they all didn’t even think twice about. 

Now, though, as you sat on the floor of your bedroom in the lake house, you couldn’t help but also feel like, despite how much you were looking towards the weeks you’d spend out in the sun, that you still wouldn’t be able to enjoy the summer — not when Luke  was just two doors down, but was basically untouchable. Since you’d come along, and since the lake house only housed a good fifteen people, you had been given your own room — the small attic bedroom at the very top of the stairs —  while Luca and Adam shared the one next to you, and Luke and Dylan shared the other; Jack and Quinn were sharing, and Trevor and Cole had been sent to the couch. The rest of the boys were spread around the house, with some sleeping on the various air mattresses, while others cooped up in the remaining bedrooms.

So, in order to try and remedy this type of situation — to try and keep your relationship strong in the face of also keeping it private, you decided not to announce it to your brothers, or to the rest of the lake house crew. For now, you wanted to keep it just between the two of you — romance wasn’t dead simply because you kept it from everyone else, right?

This line of thinking, however, brought you into your current predicament — or, more accurately, the predicament you kept finding yourself in. While the days passed and you spent more and more time surrounded by the boys, you were always acutely aware that you were surrounded by Luke, too. But, in order to try and keep yourselves put together, the only way the two of you actually saw or interacted with each other was in the moments when you’d pass by each other in the hallway, or in the kitchen, or even on the couch — the moments in which you could feel your hands brushing against each other, your pinky finger wrapping around his until you heard someone else’s footsteps come along, and you were forced to separate. 

It was those small touches that led you to where you are now, a few days into the trip. It was nearing 2AM when everyone finally retired to their rooms, the boys finally giving up on their FIFA tournament they were having downstairs, and finally calling it a night after Quinn and Cole made Zegras clean up his spilled beer. When you were sure you had heard everyone finally pack up, you heard the sounds of a door quietly shutting — almost imperceptible if you weren’t waiting for it. 

After a few seconds, you saw your door knob move slowly — and you knew who it was. After the day the two of you had, when Luke had been caught looking at his phone a few too many times, and was chirped at by the boys, you knew he’d end up in your room tonight. 

As the door slowly opened, in came Luke — his curls still wet from his shower, and skin red from his time in the sun. He shut the door quickly behind himself, spinning to look at you. You were sitting on the bed, now in your pajamas and fresh-faced after washing out the lake water from your hair, the smile on your face soft, and solely reserved for the man standing in front of you. 

“Well, hello there stranger,” you whispered, still caught up in not trying to get caught by your neighbors. When you moved to the edge of the bed, Luke walked towards you slowly, until he stood right in front of you, forcing you to crane your neck in order to look up at him. 

Slowly, his right hand came up from his side to cup your jaw, his left hand copying the motion. Still looking at you, he lowered himself until he was hovering above you, his eyes meeting you. He still hadn’t said anything to you, but fuck, was that a sight — Luke looking at you in a way that made you fell like he was peeling back all of your layers; in a way that made you feel almost shy.

Still only millimeters away from your lips, he smiled softly. “Hi, pretty girl,” he whispered back, and god if his voice didn’t do things to you. It was raspy from his yelling earlier that day, but was still soft enough to remind the two of you what you were doing went against everything you had set for yourselves. In fact, anyone could have opened the door and pieced together what was going on between the two of you almost instantly. It was best if you simply moved fast and kept quiet, but you wanted your boy nonetheless. 

As Luke kissed you, you could almost feel every single time you had almost been caught on the trip — and the kiss was a reminder of how you were breaking your boundaries. Luke kissed you like a man starve — his soft lips grazing your own in a way that sent chills down your spine, but that lit you up at the same time; you were addicted to him, and he wouldn’t believe half of the things you thought about him n a daily basis, and most importantly, about his lips. In fact, Luke Hughes kissed like no other man you knew; he cradled your jaw in his right hand, while his left went to undo the ponytail you had thrown it up into earlier — unraveling your hair and pulling at the strands so he could tilt your head just right — and just so he could hear your little soft gasp as he bit on your bottom lip. 

Pulling away, his eyes (and your own, no doubt,) were hazed over. “You know, I saw you out there today,” you said. You didn’t mean that you saw him as simply part of the group, but that you had seen the moments that no one else caught. 

You saw him waiting for you at the end of the hall, always making sure you were never the last one to leave the house, and you saw the way his hand had flexed after it had brushed yours. You had even seen him roll his eyes whenever the boys would chirp at you — because, in a way, Luke wanted that. He wanted the ability to simply hold you in public, to be seen with you without fear of retaliation, or of the fear that you’d get hurt. 

“Did you, huh?” he asked. “I’m sorry I didn’t get to you earlier — I kept trying to get you away from everyone else, but it’s kind of hard to do that when they’re being idiots,” he laughed. He was right — the boys were a handful, and even more so that they had started day drinking earlier. 

Your only response was to laugh softly, and move yourself up the bed, dragging Luke with you. You knew it’d be risky to have him in your room for long, but you just wanted to be with your boy for a while — which is how, after Luke had shuffled off to turn off the lights and crawl into bed with you, you felt his arms encircle you as the two of you laid down facing each other. His right hand came up to move the pieces of hair that had found their way on to your face, and he simply smiled at you, bring you closer to him. 

It was in that position that, almost nine hours later, you were woken up by the sound of your door barging open, and the sound of your brother's voices cutting off mid-sentence. 

You and Luke had fallen asleep after all and before he could wake up and sneak into his own room, you heard Luca and Adam (followed by Duker, asking the other boys if they knew where Luke had gone,) arguing about something or the other, but didn’t really care until your door was opened — and whatever argument they were having turned into both brothers yelling “What the fuck?” as Duker followed them in, beginning to laugh almost immediately. 

Before you could answer, or even untangle yourself from Luke, who was wrapped around you like a koala at this point, you felt him kiss your forehead, and whisper — for your ears only — ”guess they see us too, now.”

#luke hughes #luke hughes is a sap #luke hughes x reader #luke hughes imagine #hughes brothers #luca fantilli #adam fantilli #fantilli brothers #umich hockey #umich boys

[fabricated-misslieness]

pairing: steven grant x tour guide m reader

req: no | wc: 1.5k | pre-ep 1

summary: You wonder sometimes how it feels to be held. You wondered other times how it feels to be held by him.

a/n: i need to use this prompt again i don’t feel like i wrote it quite as i wanted to before.

You wonder sometimes how it feels to be held, to be sure that he who holds you cares for you. To feel the skinship of their arms against your body, even if, in this imaginary situation, you’re both clothed. To sway under Khonsu’s moon, Sah’s stars, and the influence of Hathor’s sweet love. To feel loved.

You wondered other times how it feels to be held by him, the giftshopist. His name, Steven Grant, you barely even knew; and you didn’t even learn it from him at first. You were too shy to ask him yourself. Instead, you’d resorted to learning it from Donna, the mean boss with a snark tongue for you, and an even snarker one for the man you were asking about. Needless to say, she had not painted her impression of him in a nice light, though it wasn’t a nice art piece either.

Regardless, you were dumbly entranced by him. You often took to observing him at his spot at the gift shop counter as he rearranged an unorganized pen rack—which garnered many close calls for his attention, that’s for sure. It was a good thing your tours started and ended near the gift shop.

There was a place against his counter where you leaned when you waited between tours, a nice space you could take discreet glances from. At some point, however, you had become nothing like discreet, and he’d taken notice of how much time you spent there.

You stare at him, and he begins to turn, so you busy yourself with your phone again. You should really just ask him out already. Donna was starting to notice the staring and you didn’t want to have “the talk”.

Though it seemed your boss wasn’t the only person noticing your stares.

“Hey.”

You snap your head towards him and only catch on after turning. You hope he doesn’t notice your urgency. “Hey..”

“I’m Steven,” (You knew that already) “I work the gift shop. You’re the new tour guide, aren’t you?”

“Yes, yes I am.” You’d only been working for about a week. It was a little strange how long it took for introductions to take place. “I’m (y/n).”

“Nice to meet you, (y/n)!” He cheerfully replies. “Do you lead the standard tour?”

You quirk your head, “What is it that you mean? There’s only one type.”

“Oh, well, I mean…” He shakes his head, suddenly turning shy, “Do you say the same things Dylan does? The usual Pyramid of Giza exposition, some sputtering about the siblings Osiris, Isis, etc…”

“Oh! I don’t, actually. I improvise most of the time.” 

“You do?” Steven’s eyebrows raise high in a comical stare of surprise.

“Yeah. I, uh, studied Egyptology in college, and while “tour guide” wasn’t exactly my ideal job, I can still use what I’ve learned to my advantage.” You clasp your hands together and smile at him, hoping it subtly hides the nervous fiddling of your fingers.

There was a sparkle in Steven’s eye now. You suppose he’s not talked with someone this interested in Egyptology in a while now, if at all. Donna certainly didn’t seem the type. “Did you find any God in particular interesting?”

Each one was interesting in their own ways, but staring into Steven’s eyes now, engaging in a real conversation that you’d dotingly imagined for some time, there was one answer. “Hathor.”

“Which representation?” He follows smoothly.

“Love.”

Steven rambles on about her, Hathor, particularly her love aspect; not noticing how he’s not quite letting you speak–not that you mind–nor your obvious sheep’s eyes. For someone talking about the Goddess of Love, he was not aware of the foolish amour forming that very moment.

It was only about a few weeks later when you were fed up, not at him, not at the job, but at yourself. There was only so much patience to go around, and you were running out of it. This was a crush, that’s for sure, and it felt insufferable to even see him nowadays. You had to at least try.

So you did. You asked him out.

He accepted.

God, you were ecstatic. You were so foolish for waiting this long, but you were ecstatic!

Wait. Did he know this was a date? Oh Gods. Did you ask him out as if on a date? Did you specify this was a date?

You were meeting over tea and biscuits. That was a usual “friends” kind of thing, too.

Perhaps you’d simply forgotten. Perhaps you did-

“(y/n), hey.” Steven greets you with a deep inhale, snapping you out of your thoughts. “How are you?”

“I’m good… how about you? You seem,” You pause, gesturing at him vaguely, “breathless, as if you ran over here. Are you alright?”

“Yes, yes.” He quickly replies, taking a seat in front of you. “I’m alright, perfectly fine.” Subtly, he hopes, he wipes the sweat off his brow. He was not quite as discreet as he wished to be, but you weren’t one to point that out.

You stare at him uneasily and he gives in. “Okay, I slept in a little. Before I knew it, I was only thirty minutes away from our meeting time, and-” He checks the time, “Would you look at that, I ended up being late!”

“It’s quite alright, Steven.” You chuckle, which eases him a little. “I was deathly afraid of being late too.” You admit, “That's why I showed up early.”

“Right…” Steven smiled bashfully, his gaze drifting down. “Not that our date didn’t mean anything to me! I didn’t sleep in because I was careless- I’m not that! I’m not careless at all! If anything, I’m care-full. I just don’t have such a good track record with sleeping, and-”

Date. It was a date, and he knew that. “It’s alright, Steven.” You laugh, not at him, but at yourself. Of course, even if you were a fool for him, you wouldn’t be foolish enough to forget to mention it. “I swear.”

Steven nods slowly. “Right, yeah.”

If you didn’t know it already, Steven had practically just admitted that he was nervous. God, he was awfully nervous. He’s always been a nervous guy, that’s for sure; simply more so when you asked him out, and even more so today. You always made him more nervous, with your rolled up button up sleeves and colorful dress pants, bashful smile, eyes showing your full attention on him even as he rambled…even if you didn’t differ from that today.

Man, he was crushing on you hard.

Eventually, the time came when you didn’t have to wonder anymore. When the nights became sleepless, filled only with your love for each other.

Under Khonsu’s moonlight that seeped through the cracks of the cheap window blinds, he held you. Under Sah’s stars that twinkled in the sky just as his own eyes did, he held you. And, under a sweet, sweet love that you prayed your thanks to Hathor for every night, he held you.

And you held him.

Steven was never one for eye contact, it made him even more nervous, but your eyes were an exception. He could stare at them forever if he was allowed; if Khonsu and Thoth stopped time just for you.

It was a particularly cold night, and even if the heating of his apartment truthfully sucked, you were both warm. Steven felt your warmth as if it were his own, as if his bare arms were nothing but a vessel for the hot warmth yours brought. Even in your light pj’s, you were nothing but warm.

Steven knew he was in love, and he knew you were too. It was the feeling of being held; being held with care. He was by no means fragile, yet you held him tenderly just the same. It was the slight sway of your bodies moving along with the music produced by the press of your lips together, like it was your lips that was everything the world consisted of. It was your eyes, intent on him and his own; the dark lakes that reflected the night sky and the stars upon clear nights.

You kiss him again, and he hums against this one. There’s a smile to it too, he’s sure you can feel it against your lips. There’s always a smile when you’re involved.

“You look happy tonight, Steven.”

“Of course I am. You’re with me.”

You snicker bashfully, “I could say the same thing about you, handsome.”

Steven flushes, flustered. He’d never be able to get used to your compliments. He distracts himself by stealing another kiss from your lips, then continues with the confidence from that, “Say it.”

“Well,” You start with a smirk, “I feel like I’ve walked out of the gift shop with the clerk as my gift. Couldn’t help myself, y’see?”

He laughs out loud at the weird metaphor and your goofy smile and your playing it off as if it were a real line; and it interrupts your sway.

“What?” You laugh, as if not knowing the absurdity of your words, “What is it?”

“Oh, shut up!” He exclaims half-heartedly, “You know what you said.”

“But I didn’t! Explain it to me, dear.” You bring him into a sway again, fighting the urge to spin him like the ballroom dances. “I’ll listen, like I always do.”

“Okay, okay. You’ll be laughing at the end of it, though, and you’ll have no choice but to admit it.”

“Will I?”

“Yeah!”

He didn’t need to daydream anymore, and neither did you.

#steven grant x reader #steven grant x male reader #moon knight x reader #moon knight x male reader #💞 // darlings #🎟 // moon knight #🎫 // steven grant #🎫 // steven #🎫 // mr. knight

[msclaritea]

Don’t cheer the spate of media layoffs: Newspapers are essential to our republic

By Social Links for Daniel McCarthy

Bad news for the media often feels like good news for conservatives.

So word that Vice and BuzzFeed are laying off hundreds of journalists, weeks after the complete collapse of the Messenger, won’t elicit much sympathy from the right.

Then again, it’s not just conservatives who disapprove of the news business today: Gallup last year found a paltry 32% of Americans say they have “a great deal” or “a fair amount” of trust in the mass media.

The same survey found 29% had “not very much” trust in the media — and a record-setting 39% confessed they had “none at all.”

Last month, the Los Angeles Times announced reductions of its newsroom by more than 20%.

Jeff Bezos’ Washington Post has also been through rounds of buyouts and cutbacks.

But the troubles of traditional newspapers are often taken for granted.

A decade ago, online outlets like Vice and BuzzFeed were meant to be the future of media — new species adapted for the internet ecosystem.

First came “search engine optimization,” then gaming the algorithms that decide what content gets served to millions of Facebook and Twitter (now X) users.

BuzzFeed was notorious for “listicles,” which were addictively easy to share until Facebook became so saturated with BuzzFeed and Thought Catalog junk that Mark Zuckerberg’s platform decided to change the rules.

After all, how much clickbait could readers take?

Online media startups attracted investment by showing phenomenal growth, but it was like an athlete on steroids.

Entrepreneurial young journalists, well-connected with classmates and former colleagues at established outlets, garnered hype and headlines from their friends.

That sparked investor excitement, and with investors’ money, new sites could show a rapid explosion in traffic — since they were starting from nothing.

But how could they maintain investor-dazzling double-digit growth after the first spurt?

The social media on which the news sites depended faced the same problem.

The solution for Facebook, once new users started tapering off, was to get existing users to spend more time on the site, which meant no longer sending them to other sites, like news sources, through links.

Now Facebook and X make it nearly impossible to promote journalism on their sites — they want the eyeballs to stay on their own platforms.

YouTube and Facebook felt like the Wild West in those days, with neither copyright law nor political correctness putting a damper on what users could share.

Today politics isn’t the main reason social media suppress news, but it’s an aggravating factor, as the Wall Street Journal’s Kyle Smith recently noted on X.

Smith pointed out that progressive campaigns to shame advertisers into abandoning Fox News, or X itself under Elon Musk’s ownership, encourage advertisers to avoid all political risk.

Budweiser’s humiliating losses after turning the transgender “influencer” Dylan Mulvaney into a brand representative demonstrated how much it could hurt to alienate conservatives.

So why advertise with any politically charged news organizations?

If left-leaning sites like Vice and BuzzFeed are collateral damage in progressives’ war on right-of-center political expression, that may seem like just deserts, as well as a poignant irony.

But the wider lesson is that online media were never on a secure footing, dependent as they were not just on advertising — which is true for almost all media — but on the whims of Big Tech, which has its own growth worries.

Newspapers, by contrast, flourished as local institutions sustained by local retailers.

The emergence of online national and even global retail, however, has meant ad spending isn’t dictated by geography anymore.

Businesses can reach consumers directly or cast a wider net by buying a little exposure on large platforms like Google or Facebook.

Yet not only news but our very system of government is built on localism — on distinct cities, towns, states and congressional districts.

Newspapers served as their town halls, even more than physical town halls did.

The wipeout of hype-driven, placeless new media isn’t a cause for celebration, but it’s not a disaster for our republic.

The loss of local distinctiveness, on the other hand, is at the root of much of our polarization and deadlock today.

In “Democracy in America,” Alexis de Tocqueville argued “that the number of newspapers must diminish or increase amongst a democratic people, in proportion as its administration is more or less centralized.”246

Fewer newspapers means more centralized power — and more conflict over it.

Conservatives who don’t want that have reason to want newspapers to survive.

And newspapers that want to survive have to fight hard for local interests and values — including conservative ones.

Daniel McCarthy is the editor of Modern Age: A Conservative Review.

Twitter: @ToryAnarchist

Insert of the author of this crap. 👆

First off, none of it makes a damn bit of sense, especially the fact that this is an opinion piece in the CONSERVATIVE New York Post, written by a guber with the word, Anarchist, in his Twitter handle, it can't decide what to blame the layoffs for, and keep blaming all of this on Conservatives, when the Champagne Socialists pretty much alienated the whole country. Like, WTH. Beheaders, indeed.

#Don’t cheer the spate of media layoffs: Newspapers are essential to our republic #I SHALL CHEER AND LAUGH MISERABLE BEHEADERS #New York Post

[storiesforallfandoms]

surprise date ~ dylan gardner

word count: 2222

request: yes!

@bitweird1​ “Could you maybe do one where the reader is part of the squad and after Shane and the others see the reader and Dylan meet for the first time they see that they both like eachother and they set up a date for them (Like the one they did for Andrew and Megan in the video "BLIND DATE FOR MY CAMERAMAN!") and maybe Shane or one of the others sees them kiss while they're out side like that part near the end of the video?”

description: in which your friend group sets you up on a date with a guy you have a crush on...without telling you

pairing: dylan gardner x female!reader

warnings: swearing

masterlist

The first hint I had that something was going on was when I stepped into Shane’s house and was immediately met with Andrew holding the camera.

“What’s going on?” I asked him, noting that Shane was missing as well.

“Shane has a surprise for you,” Andrew responded.

I cringed. Shane’s surprises can be super crazy or super sweet, or both. Usually I was in on these surprises, so I didn’t have to worry, but today I wasn’t sure what to expect. I didn't know what Shane could even surprise me with.

Andrew led me over to the couch and told me to sit down and close my eyes. I rolled my eyes but did as he said. I felt my anxiety increasing as I waited for whatever the surprise was.

“Is she here?” I heard Shane call.

“She’s here!” Shane confirmed!

I heard footsteps approaching, two sets of them. I wasn’t sure if that was part of my surprise or if it was just Shane and Ryland, or Shane and Garrett.

The couch dipped next to me, indicating someone had sat next to me. I heard Shane’s voice in front of me, which told me that it wasn’t him next to me, saying, “Okay...open your eyes!”

Shane was stood in front of me wearing a button up shirt and a tie, matching what Andre w was wearing. I looked to see that the person sat next to me was Dylan Gardener, a friend of Shane’s.

I had to stop myself from jumping off the couch right at that moment, but I couldn’t stop the blush creeping up on my face. I had met Dylan about a week ago when the Squad filmed a video where we made a squad song as a joke for Garrett’s channel. I found myself developing feelings for Dylan, which of course Shane noticed cause Shane notices everything. He promised he’d keep it a secret. If he broke that promise...

“Welcome to your surprise date!” Shane announced. “An accidental series on my channel, apparently.”

…I’m gonna kill him.

I wasn’t sure what to say. Dylan had a small smile on his face but I could tell he was also feeling as awkward as I was. I stood suddenly, addressing Shane as I said, “Can I talk to you...alone?”

Before he could respond, I took his hand and led him somewhere more private.

“I thought we were keeping this between us,” I whispered.

“He doesn’t know you like him,” Shane responded. “I mean...not entirely. I told him I wanted to set you guys up because I think you’d be cute together and you’ve both been single for a while and you know how I like to exploit that.” I couldn’t help but smile a little at that. “I’m serious though, (Y/N), you two would be so cute together. Just give this a chance. Please?”

Shane smiled at me, expectantly. I sighed. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to go ahead with this surprise date. I definitely was too awkward to ask Dylan out on my own.

“Okay, fine,” I sighed. “Let’s do this.”

Shane clapped excitedly and I tried to roll my eyes but I couldn’t help but smile as I did.

~~~~~~

Moments later, I was sat at Shane’s dinner table with Dylan sat next to me. Shane and Andrew were in Shane’s kitchen getting our “meal” ready for our “date.”

Things were awkwardly quiet. Neither of us really knew what to talk about. What do you say to someone you had a date with sprung upon you out of nowhere?

“This is awkward, isn’t it?” Dylan asked after our prolonged silence.

I couldn’t help but laugh. “Very awkward. I’m sorry Shane put you up to this.”

“He didn’t put me up to anything. He asked me if I wanted to come over and do a surprise date video, but he said it’s also not just for the video that it could be a real thing. I thought you were pretty cool, so how could I pass up that opportunity?”

I felt my face heat up again. He thought I was "pretty cool”? What did that mean? Was that a good thing? It must’ve been if he was here on a date with me.

“I would’ve liked to get to know you more before being set up on a date,” I told him. “No offense or anything obviously. You’re really nice, and you’re pretty cool too. But I’m not really a person who meets someone and immediately plans to go on a date, you know? I prefer to get to know someone first and make that decision. I don’t even go to clubs to meet people. That scares me, actually.”

I was rambling. I needed to stop rambling.

But Dylan was laughing. He didn’t mind my rambling! “I understand that. Too many people are okay with jumping into relationships right away and I also prefer to get to know someone before I go on a date. It’s like what if you go on a date and they really like you but you don’t feel the spark and then it’s this awkward thing where you have to tell them you don’t see them like that?”

“That’s exactly what I say!” I told him.

“At least we have that going for us,” he said with a laugh. I laughed as well. I was starting to feel a bit more comfortable.

“The food is served!” Shane announced as he entered holding two plates.

The food actually looked pretty good. Judging on the food from the last two times Shane did this, I was expecting something like a plate of Cheez-Its and some Diet Cola. “This looks edible, wow.”

“Hurtful!” Shane exclaimed. “But that’s because it’s Hello Fresh, not spon but Ryland is so we have a lot.”

I shrugged and decided to start digging in. Dylan did as well, so there was no awkward silence in between us as we ate. Shane sat down across the table from us and Andrew stood beside him, filming everything. I looked up at the two of them, curious as to what they were to do next.

“Have you guys been talking? Getting to know one another?” Shane asked, leaning forward was near excitement.

“We were talking before you came in,” I confirmed. “About first dates and stuff.”

“Good start, good start,” Shane said, looking at Andrew and nodding as if they were both agreeing. “You should talk about something you’re both passionate about.”

“Like what?” Dylan asked.

“Music?” Andrew suggested.

“Yes!” Shane exclaimed. “I mean obviously Dylan has a passion for music, but what you may not know is (Y/N), too. She’s an amazing singer.”

I shook my head. “No way, singing is not my passion. Singing is something I do in the car or the shower when I’m joking around.”

“No, you are a really good singer,” Dylan said. “When we did that song last week I was honestly blown away with how good your voice was. Like you should sing more often, make a cover channel or something.”

I shoved another fork full of food into my mouth, not sure what else to say. Sure, the Squad was always telling me that my singing was good, but I never really believed them. To hear it coming from Dylan, who was an actual musician, and who I had a sort of crush on, was a whole other thing.

“I feel like this could be like a bad thing to talk about on a date,” Andrew started, “but maybe you could talk about like past relationships or past dates or something. You know, swap dating horror stories.”

Dylan chuckled. “Unfortunately my stories aren’t all that scary. The longest relationship I had was maybe six months long and we broke up because we just weren’t right for each other. After that I went on a lot of Tinder dates but nothing that really stuck.”

“I have plenty of dating horror stories,” I admitted. “Most my exes have been absolute nightmares; manipulative, mentally and verbally abusive, just all around toxic. I somehow have a type of guys who start out nice and turn out to be awful. It’s really scared me away from dating as of late because I’m afraid of how things will go with the next person.”

Dylan reached out and took hold of my hand. “That’s awful. I’m so sorry you’ve had to go through that. You deserve someone who’s going to treat you like the queen that you are, and give you the world and then some.”

I had never been told that before. I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep from crying. That would be real romantic on a first date. I smiled at Dylan and he smiled back. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Shane exchange a look with Andrew.

~~~~~~

After an awkward date that was mainly that way because we both knew we were being filmed, Dylan told Shane he wanted to talk to me in private. I started to feel anxious again as he took me outside.

“I really am sorry about this,” I told him. “I know tonight was super awkward. I really didn’t know that Shane was doing this.”

“I know, Shane told me the everything,” Dylan admitted.

I raised an eyebrow at him. “How much is everything?”

“He told me that he figured you had some feelings for me, and he wanted to help you act on those because he knew you wouldn’t do it on your own.”

I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. Shane did tell Dylan about my feeling for him. I was definitely going to kill him when Dylan left.

“I’m so sorry,” I said again, pinching my nose in slight frustration. “God, that’s so awkward! I’m so sorry, Dylan.”

Dylan was laughing. “No, don’t be sorry. Really, you have no reason to be. I mean, I agreed to this, and I did that because...well...I like you, too.”

I wasn’t really sure how to respond to that. It was like my entire brain shut down when he said it to me. How do I respond to that? What do I say?

I looked down at my feet, trying to find the words. “Do you really?”

He chuckled again. His laugh was so pretty, I liked it a lot. “I do. I meant what I said earlier, you’re pretty cool. You’re really nice. When Shane asked about going on the date tonight I was actually very excited. Like you said, I would’ve liked getting to know you first and then see where things take us, but if I’m being honest I’m glad to get the awkward first date out of the way now so the next one isn’t as awkward.”

I looked up at him quickly. “The next one?”

Dylan shrugged. “If you want I’d like to go on another date.”

If I wanted to? Of course I wanted to! I wanted nothing more than to go on a second date with Dylan, more than a second date. Many, many, dates! But I didn’t want to seem too forward just yet.

When I didn’t say anything, Dylan cupped my face in his hands and tilted my head back to look up at him. “I know you said you’ve had troubles in the past with boyfriends and you’re afraid to date, and I understand that with what you’ve gone through. You’ve probably heard this multiple times before, but I promise you I won’t be like that. I meant what I said, you deserve the world and more. If you’ll let me, I’d like to give you the world.”

Unable to voice a response, I leaned forward and kissed Dylan instead. I felt the smile against his lips as he kissed me back.

When this night started, I definitely did not expect it to go this far. I didn’t expect us to be talking about future dates, a future relationship, and I definitely did not expect us to be kissing. But I’m glad it was exceeding expectations. The kiss was definitely exceeding expectations, it was probably the best kiss I had ever had in my life.

He pulled away and I couldn’t help the wide smile on my face. Dylan’s smile mirrored mine. We stood like that for a while, just smiling, not wanting the moment to pass.

“I wish I could stay longer,” he told me, “but I have a full day of editing tomorrow and should probably get some sleep. But...can I maybe have you r number and we’ll plan a less awkward, more private second date?”

I nodded excitedly, taking Dylan’s phone and adding my number. As he took his phone back, he quickly dipped to place another kiss on my lips before walking to his car. I watched him go, up until his car pulled out of the driveway and drove away.

I took a deep breath, still a wide smile on my face, and turned to walk back into Shane’s house. When I stepped in, I was met with Andrew still filming and Shane with a wide smile on his face.

“Shut the fuck up,” I told them, but was still smiling. I didn’t think I’d stop smiling anytime soon.

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