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arlestial · 7 months

Note

hi, could i please request nagi, isagi, bachira and chigiri when they forgot a date and accidentally stood up their s/o?

❝Break me like a promise❞

synopsis : Life is sometimes difficult, keeping them busy and away from you; until it turned to take you away from them.

pairing : Nagi Seishiro, Isagi Yoichi, Bachira Meguru x genderneutral!reader •— Blue Lock

tw : angst

word count : 2000 words

author-note : Hi !! As I said before, I’ve never been aware of my requests in my ask-box so here I am writing them 1 year after they’ve been given 💀 Sorry for the long wait, hope you still like it :) Took me a lot of time to write for my food wars ask so writing for this one was not my priority at first 😭 If you want a part 2, I’ll gladly do it 🫶🏻 I’ll do Chigiri in another post !! take care of yourself ♡

ISAGI YOICHI was, once again, lost in his thoughts. Soccer was keeping him busier than he’d like admit, sometimes leading to ghosting you for one day or two - but it was rare, fortunately for you. He was the sweetest, really. He couldn’t stop thinking about you, calling you at random hours in the night “just to hear your voice”, murmuring sweet nothings with this tired, hoarse, yet, mesmerizing voice of his. And then, no news for 4 or 5 days, if you were lucky enough. Sometimes, you felt like you were too clingy, too lovey-dovey, but he immediately was shushing your words by peppered kisses on your face, between giggles and intertwined fingers. And then, no news for 5 or 7 days, if you were lucky enough. This has been going on for months, and you were slowly - and painfully - becoming tired of it. You decided to confront him, puzzled by his sudden change of behavior. Was it Blue Lock ? Or you ? Why was he so distant ? One night, you took your phone and called him, concerned, fidgeting with the hem of the oversized shirt he gave you last time he came home.

“Honey ? Hi. What’s up ?”

“Hi, Yoichi. You busy ?”

“’Need to sleep soon, we have a big training tomorrow. Why ?”

“Am I a burden to you, Yoichi ?”

Isagi frowned on the other side of the phone, looking at the screen, as if he was checking he was calling the right person.

“Wait what- you’re speaking nonsense, are you okay ?”

“I am. Do you still love me ?”

“Obviously. Why are you asking me this ? Did I do something bad ?” His voice broke a little, your heart tightening slightly.

“Yeah- I mean, no. It’s complicated. I feel like you’re avoiding me all the time. You’re here, and right after a call or a text, you’re disappearing, ghosting me afterwards. I legitimately don’t understand. Is it my fault ?”

“N-No, not at all ! Blue lock is just keeping me busy, love. You don’t need to worry.”

You don’t need to worry. You never have to worry with Isagi by your side. However, the time, you couldn’t help but feel a knot in your stomach. This weird sensation caused you to keep your mouth shut; and it was visibly concerning to the raven-haired boy.

“Love ? You’re still here ?”

“Y-Yeah, sorry. I’m just a little bit tired, that’s all. You don’t have to worry about me,”, you nervously chuckled, before murmuring a small “love you” like you always did before ending a call with your lover.

After some time overthinking your entire relationship, you decided to talk to him face to face; meaning you had to head out directly to Blue Lock buildings. The following morning, you woke-up rather early, rushing your usual routine to take a random bus, supposed to drive you to the famous quarters.

You felt the knot in your lower stomach again; sweetly palms grabbing your tote bag to keep it from falling, opening the doors of the building. You gulped as you made your way to the receptionist, asking her if you could see your boyfriend just for some minutes. She refused several times, visibly quite annoyed by your presence. After endless pleas, a woman with sort of chocolate-brown hair appeared, scolding the receptionist for “the lack of respect she showed”. She apologized and introduced herself, Anri Teieri, Jinpachi Ego’s assistant, co-director of the Blue Lock project, as she walked in the large corridors, gesturing you to follow her.

So, you did, eager to see your boyfriend, your steps and Anri's echoing on the bare walls. You finally arrived to the dorms, and Anri knocked on the door, making sure nobody was changing or something. When she was assured that the room was safe, she flashed you a smile and opened the door for you to enter. You immediatly spotted a surprised Isagi, turning his head to look at the person who entered their shared dorm. When you two made eye-contact, a huge smile appeared on his features, and he ran to you, engulfing your form with his strong arms.

"Y/N ?? Gosh, I'm so relieved to see you. I missed you so much." Several shared kisses later, Isagi promised to take you on a date the following day, saying he had Ego's permission to take a break from training. So, as he said, you waited in the restaurant he booked the day prior. Anxiety was beginning to fill your mind as you desperately stared at the front doors, hoping with your entire-being for your boyfriend to show-up. But he never did. After one hour and four pity glances from the waiters, you left, your heart heavy in your chest.

Little did you know, that Isagi was actually playing a training game against professional players. When his teammates had asked him to join them on the field, he had bit his lower lip, letting his thoughts wander between you and the human yet unreachable figures he always admired. With some sort of "fuck it, I'll deal with the consequences later" curse, he let go of his bag and hurried to the changing rooms, not realizing what decision he had just taken. But it was an occasion he couldn’t miss, right ?

And when you saw him on the screen of your phone, more precisely, with the Blue Lock broadcast channel, in his blue jersey, tossing the ball to Nagi, the knot in your stomach disapperead.

Giving way to a boiling anger. And a message on his phone, lying on the bench of the field,

10:49p.m. | y/n ♡ : guess you made your choice then.

NAGI SEISHIRO was a bit lazy. It was his personality; you loved him that way, and you weren’t going to plead him to change his lack of motivation for you. But when he refused again to go on a date with you, you had just enough. And sighing was not an option. Your arguments with him were quite rare, because Nagi always found a way to shut you up and apologize sincerely. But this time, it felt like he genuinely wasn’t understanding your point. For the nth time that night, you growled in frustration, your face in your hands. Nagi was lying on the bed, not even bothering to turn off his phone when you were talking to him. He kept humming quiet “mmh”, “yeah”, too busy with his new phone game to actually listen to you.

“Nagi, please ! I’m sick of it,”, you cursed under your breath, fists clenching in order to keep your boiling anger to yourself. You didn’t want to lash everything on him right now. “Can’t you just look at me when I’m talking to you ?”

He frowned; hearing his last name instead of the usual petname for him seemed to get him out of his thoughts.

“What ? I’m listening.”

“You’re not. You’re never listening. That’s the problem with you.”

He sighed, rolling his eyes. You crossed your arms, lifting an eyebrow, clearly not amused by his nonchalant attitude.

“Really now ? Hey, come here. I don’t know why you’re so annoying, I guess it was a long day fo-”

“The hell ?? I’m not- you are the fucking issue here, Nagi. You’re always refusing everything.. I can understand that you’d rather stay at home but at least, can you grant me some quality time ? Grant us some quality time ?”, you sharply said, trying to keep your tone as calm as possible, rubbing your temples. He turned off his phone, giving you a hard glare.

“You knew I wasn’t the romantic type of guy when you decided to date me. You did anyway, so why are you complaining ?”

“Because I don’t want to be constantly the second choice, for fucks sake ! I can deal with your hobbies, with your passions and all. I’m just asking for one moment with you without your phone, or your stupid videogames, or-”

“Okay okay, quit it, I get it. I’m sorry, baby.”, he slowly approached you, gently stroking your cheek. “I’ll make it up to you, ‘right ?”

With that, you both fell asleep cuddling. The next morning, you woke up to a cold bed; Seishiro must’ve left early in the morning with Reo to train, you thought. You stretched, used to his absence. But you were glad that he had promised you a date tonight, telling you to wait for him at home. So the day goes by, doing your own activites, a smile on your face as you wandered about what you were going to do with your boyfriend later.

But your smile quickly vanished when you saw Reo’s story on Instagram. Angry tears covering your eyes as you threw your phone on the mattress. You were sending texts to Nagi for 20 minutes now, asking him when was he going to arrive. And you discovered - much to your dismay - that he was hanging out with his Blue Lock friends, sat on a couch of what seemed to be an arcade. Apparently, he was going to enjoy a long night with his friends, considering the story caption, “stayin up all night w homies”.

4 or 5 hours later, Nagi entered your shared appartement with a yawn. He called for you through the kitchen, frowning when he noticed you weren’t answering. He quickly went to the bedroom, searching you everywhere.

And suddenly, it triggered something in him; he forgot. He forgot about you. Again.

BACHIRA MEGURU was clueless. Clumsy. It was the main issue in the relationship; sometimes, he’d act before thinking, or say things he’d regret some time later. It’d lead to arguments, sobs, quivering lips and broken sorry’s, foreheads against each other. As much as Bachira loved you, he was still the bubbly man who often forgot things. Usually, you’d have laughed, his brows furrowed until you gave him his wallet, now smiling and kissing your cheek with a thank you. It was funny, earning a chuckle from you here and there, right ? Until you were the forgotten thing waiting for him. You felt useless, insecurities eating you alive as you cursed them constantly. Looking at the calendar, a red line encircling a somewhat random date, your couple’s anniversary. Well, not so random. You prayed, over and over again, that he would remember about it. Bachira was hard to read when it came to inner feelings : you tried to drop some hints, hoping he’d reciprocate them in a kind of way.

3:21p.m. | y/n ♡ : hi, meg :) ready for tomorrow ?

- read at 3:24p.m.

3:25p.m. | meguru ♡ : hi !! for tomorrow ? wdym ?

- read at 3:26p.m.

3:28p.m. | y/n ♡ : uh

well that’s awkward

Nevermind

- read at 3:29p.m.

3:30p.m. | meguru ♡ : no wait ! Sorry, did I forgot something ?

sunshine I’m sorry :( was it important ?

Your stomach churned at the question. You bit your lip, taking a long breath.

- read at 3:33p.m.

3:34p.m. | y/n ♡ : no it wasn’t don’t worry

just an hair appointment :)

- read at 3:35p.m.

3:36p.m. | meguru ♡ : don’t forget to show me then !! I have a surprise for you too !! <3

- read and liked at 3:39p.m. by y/n ♡

You felt your mood lighting up. He remembered ? Maybe he faked it from the beginning ? You smiled to yourself, now completely delusional; your brain was fully aware of it, but your heart kept hoping naively.

So when he showed up at your door the following day, you dressed up in your favorite clothes, ready to spend a day out with him. He greeted you with a hug, tilting his head to the side when he caressed your hair.

“You changed the color ?”, he questioned, perplexed.

“I canceled.”, you lied, a little too easily for your own taste, “It’d have been a waste of time, we have a lot of things today.”

“Not really, tho. It’s just a regular day, after all ! Isagi told me about a new restaurant he wanted to eat into. Want to join us ?”

“You.. Meguru, you don’t remember ?”

“About what ?”

He hummed; a smile displayed on his face . Yours quickly fade, your heart clenching. Oh. The pain was still here, even though you knew it from the very first start.

“Our anniversary. You don’t remember about our anniversary. Again.”

His smile faded at your words, faded at the sight of your wet cheeks. His mouth opened, trying to form words to express his sudden turmoil. You walked back inside your house, closing the door on a distraught Bachira. He tried to apologize. He really tried. He spammed your phone in calls, drowning you with apologies texts, but could you forget again his clumsiness ? Love is keeping a promise no matter what; and he broke it too many times for you to stay at his side.

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0cta9on · 1 month

Text

Unlikely Duet - 6

length: +7k words

Genre: Fluff

NewJeans Minji x Male Reader (OC)

(Author's Note: I could've taken another day to edit this, but I wanted to upload it asap so here it is :^) Hopefully my writing isn't too garbage and I hope y'all enjoy <3)

【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★【☆】★

Minji’s POV

I could do nothing but pace around my room, anxiety fueling every step. Danielle was supposed to be here 20 minutes ago to drive us to the fair, but on this particular day of all days, she decides to be late. My vice president, the one who I can lean on when I’m overwhelmed with responsibilities and even more of a stickler for rules and punctuality compared to me, is late.

The brunt of my morning was spent avoiding my parents like the plague, staying cooped up in my room and eating my meals as quickly as possible. To them, it probably seems like I’m giving them the silent treatment for what they said last night (which I’m still upset about), but in reality, I was riddled with anxious thoughts and simply avoided speaking in case I accidentally let it slip that I was planning on lying to them. I’ve done it tons of times before, but every single time is nerve wracking. While I hate that it’s gotten to this point, I owe a lot of my sanity to what I’ve been able to get away with by lying. Besides, it’s probably better this way - my parents still believe that I’m their perfect daughter and I still get to have some semblance of a social life.

Like the sonorous tones of a church bell, a resounding ding emits from my phone. They’re here. With shaky hands, I grab my tote bag from my bed and carefully tiptoe down the stairs. Right as I reach the front door, my father calls out to me from the living room.

“Minji? Where are you going?” He asks, a look of curiosity on his face.

“O-oh, uhh, I guess I forgot to tell you this but I was actually planning on going to the library to study with Danielle today.” I grin at him, trying my best to sound convincing. Our eyes lock as he studies my expression for what feels like an eternity. It might just be my stress causing my eyes to play tricks on me, but there seems to be a hint of sadness in his expression, as if he doesn’t want me to go. I shake it off and refocus on the task at hand.

“Well, I better get going-”

“Wait,” he interrupts before leaving the room for a moment. He comes back with a $20 bill in his hands and offers it to me. “Here.”

Panic began to set in. Did he find out I was actually going to the fair? If he did, why would he be giving me money? Shouldn’t he be angry at me for lying to him?

“Um, what’s this for? We’re just going to the library,” I reiterate in hopes that my initial worries were wrong.

“In case you two get hungry after, you should get some snacks. Food fuels the brain.” The relief I felt after he said those words is better than any award I got in my entire academic career up to this point. Normally it would raise red flags for my father to be doing something uncharacteristic like this, but I didn’t care. I’m just glad to almost be free.

“Thanks,” I say as I take the cash. “I’ll see you later then.”

“Don’t stay out too late. Don’t be messing around while studying. And-”

I shut the door behind me before I could hear the rest of his sentence. It was probably some other generic dad advice, like “Don’t talk to strange boys at night” or something like that. The sight of Danielle’s mom’s car parked on the other side of the street was like seeing a boat heading your direction after being stranded on an island for 15 years. Hanni beckoned me from the passenger’s side window, an excited grin painted on her face.

“Hurry up girl, let’s go!!” She shouted. As I open the door to the backseat, Hyein and Haerin wave back at me.

“Hi Minji!”

“Yo.”

“Hi guys, sorry, my dad wanted to talk to me before I left,” I replied as I got in the car. “Danielle, what took you so long, I was pacing around my room for the past 20 minutes anxious out of my mind!”

“I’m sorry, there was something I had to take care of before I could take my mom’s car,” she apologizes as she tampers with the rearview mirror, clearly annoyed with its inability to swivel properly.

Hanni pops her head from the front seat. “Okay y’all, we just need to take a deep breath and calm down. We’re going to the fair to chill out and have fun, let’s not let petty things like this ruin the day before it’s even started, alright?” Haerin and Hyein nod enthusiastically, peering over at me to gauge my reaction. I close my eyes and take a deep breath in order to allow my mind to forget about the stress from my morning. Today is the day that I get to let loose and forget about all the pressures I face in my regular life. Nothing else matters but having fun. As I open my eyes again, I am welcomed by the smiling faces of my four dearest friends (Danielle was especially happy about finally fixing the rearview mirror). My lips curl into a smile as I look back at them.

“Yeah, you’re right, Hanni,” I admit. “Okay, let’s go!!” We all cheer as Danielle steps on the gas. Hanni turns up the radio, blasting a loud pop song that blares out of the windows as we cruise through the neighborhood.

______________________________________________________________

The lights, the sounds, the smells, everything about the fair was overwhelming in the best way possible. Large groups of friends and families meandered along the concrete pathways, talking and laughing as they try their hand at classic carnival games or satiate their hunger with fried food and extravagant sweets. A giant ferris wheel sat in the background, the sunlight peeking through its rotors. A wave of nostalgia washes over me as I’m reminded of old family memories. Before they pressured me into trying to obtain some kind of impossible perfection, I used to be able to exist simply as their daughter, who they loved and played with like any other child.

“Hey Minji, are you okay?” Hyein asks me. I snap out of my thoughts to find the girls looking back at me with concern.

“Yeah, I’m fine, just thinking about something,” I reassure them. “What do you guys wanna do first?”

“I don’t know Ms. President, what do you wanna do?” Hanni asks with a wide grin.

“Well, I guess we can-”

I freeze as I see a familiar face in the distance, intermingled with the crowd. Yuno is here. With the convenience store girl.

______________________________________________________________

Yuno’s POV

“Where the hell did he run off to?” I grumble as I struggle to search for Yujin in the crowd. The fair was more overwhelming than I could’ve imagined - it was difficult navigating through the sea of strangers without accidentally rubbing elbows with them, all while trying to find oxygen through the constant stench of fried foods and sugar wafting through the air. At the very least, the lights were pretty to look at and I would be lying if I said the ferris wheel didn’t pique my interest.

Winter chuckles at my annoyance. “Relax, he’s just getting a corndog. See, he’s on his way over here right now,” she says, gesturing through a gap in the crowd. Lo and behold, Yujin skips towards us with a corndog in hand and a stupid grin on his face.

“Look what I got!” He presents his fried snack to us with the excitement of a child presenting a drawing to their parents. An ungodly amount of ketchup and mustard drips off the corndog, creating a gross glob of orange on the ground.

“Is that healthy?” Winter asks, concern laced in her voice. Her words fall on deaf ears as Yujin chomps off a large piece, covering his mouth in sauce. I chuckle in disbelief, both deeply disturbed and quietly impressed, while Winter hands him a pack of napkins from her purse.

I take the opportunity to look around at my surroundings again. As I gazed out amongst the crowd of smiling faces, I suddenly felt out of place in it all, like I wasn’t allowed to be here. Everything felt so foreign to me, I wasn’t sure if I should feel at ease or on edge. Whether it’s paranoia or just a hunch, I couldn’t get rid of this nagging feeling at the back of my head.

“Hey Yuno?” Winter nudges me.

I turn my attention towards her. “What?”

“Isn’t that the student council president?”

My heart stops for a split second as I look down the other end of her finger. In the heart of the crowd is Minji, huddled around her friends. She’s wearing a simple outfit of a gray collegiate sweater and jeans, yet my eyes were naturally drawn to her like a magnet.

“Y-yeah, that’s her,” I stutter, trying to maintain composure.

“Mm, issa Danielle? Les go shay hi!” Yujin exclaims with a mouth full of food, running toward them before I could stop him.

“God dammit…”

“What’s wrong, do you not wanna say hi?” Winter asks as we follow the trail through the crowd Yujin left behind.

“It’s not that, it’s just… Whatever, let’s just go.” With every step I take, my heart rate begins to accelerate as, once again, fate pulls me towards Minji Kim.

______________________________________________________________

Minji’s POV

He’s coming this way!! Why is he coming this way?? Did he see me? Should I run? No, why would I run? Pull it together, Minji!! Maybe if I pretend I didn’t see him, he’ll just walk past me. Why would I do that?? Agh!!

“Ketchup… and mustard,” Haerin blurts out, drawing puzzled glances from the group. Suddenly, a boy wearing a white eyepatch emerges from the crowd, carrying a corndog smeared with red and yellow condiments.

“Danielle!!” He calls out, waving excitedly. “Hi!”

“Yujin? What are you doing here?” Danielle questions, a hint of surprise present in her voice.

“I’m with my friends!” The boy, Yujin, exclaims as Yuno and the convenience store girl appear behind him, drawing an impish grin from Hanni. I couldn’t help but feel underdressed when compared to convenience store girl’s flowery sundress and cardigan. “I didn’t expect to see you here too! This is great!”

“Uh yeah, I guess it is,” Danielle responds awkwardly before turning to us. “Um, this is Yujin, I’ve been helping him and his grandma out recently.”

“We’re friends!” He adds enthusiastically.

“Yeah, I suppose we are.”

I couldn’t help but giggle at Danielle’s uncharacteristic awkwardness. Normally, she’s the serious voice of reason that stays calm under pressure, yet here she was, looking like an embarrassed older sister flustered by the antics of her younger sibling.

“It’s nice to meet you, Yujin,” I greet warmly. “I’m Minji, also a friend of Danielle’s.”

“Oh, you must be the student council president!” He replies eagerly. “These are my friends, Yuno and Winter. Yuno might look a little scary, but don’t worry, he only fights bad guys. He helped me and Winter out before! And Winter is really shy, but she’s really nice once you get to know her!”

“H-hello,” Winter stutters with a polite smile, while Yuno offers a simple nod. A flush of warmth colors my cheeks as our eyes briefly meet before we both quickly avert our gazes. Unfortunately, Hanni notices this and stifles a laugh, making my cheeks grow even warmer with embarrassment.

“Hello, I’m Hyein!” Our youngest chimes in. “This is Haerin, and that over there is Hanni! It’s nice to meet you all!”

As the group falls into casual conversation, I can’t help but peer over at Yujin’s eyepatch and be reminded of my conversation with Yuno last night. Despite his injuries, he’s chock full of energy and vibrancy that contrasts with Yuno’s usual solitary and soft-spoken demeanor. The difference in their personalities is cute in a way. Winter, on the other hand, shares many similarities with Yuno. Like him, she’s very soft-spoken and a little awkward, but has an aura of kindness around her despite that. I imagine the two of them got along well because of this - for some reason, this fact irks me.

“Since we’re all here to let loose at the fair, why don’t you guys join us? The more the merrier I always say, isn’t that right, Minj?” Hanni says, nudging my ribs with her elbow. I didn’t even have to look at her to know what kind of face she’s making.

Coincidentally, my eyes meet Yuno’s once again, and I quickly break away as I think of what to say. I would hate to butt into Yuno’s time with his friends, but a voice in the back of my head was telling me otherwise.

“Yeah, you guys can join us if you want to,” I say as I give into the voices. My lips curl into a smile, but inside, I couldn’t shake the feeling of butterflies in my stomach. Yuno appears taken aback at my answer as a slight pinkish hue grows on his cheeks. The group moves through the crowd looking for what to do first with Yujin leading the way and Yuno trailing close behind. I stay in the back, letting my complicated feelings fester.

“H-hello, Minji.” Winter’s soft voice interrupts my thoughts, and I turn to find her trailing behind the group alongside me. Her simple makeup look is subtle, yet it perfectly accentuated her natural beauty. Pair that with her cute outfit and she could have any guys she wants. A shiver went through my spine at the thought.

“What’s up?” I ask, trying my best to act natural.

“I just wanted to ask if you’re doing okay. I never got the chance to after what happened that night.”

My mind flashes back to when Yuno and Winter had saved me from that drunk man a couple days ago. I was too terrified and too weak to protect myself, yet this timid girl jumped in front of him to protect me. And here I am, feeling all weird because I think she looks prettier than me.

“I’m doing fine now. Thanks again for that, I owe you one,” I express.

She quickly shakes her head at my offer. “Y-you don’t have to do that. If you want, I can give you a can of pepper spray. I have a couple more of them at home.”

A chuckle escapes my lips, and Winter seems to loosen up at this. “I might have to take you up on that offer,” I say, half-jokingly. A wave of shame washes over me as I suddenly felt bad for being jealous of her. Maybe the events of this morning still have their effects on me or maybe I ate something bad earlier, but something feels off with me today and I’m not sure why.

“Guys, look over here!” Yujin shouts excitedly from the front of the group, pointing at a giant Spider-man plush sitting on a prize table for a basketball game. Two basketball hoops stood tall before him, much higher than a regular basketball hoop. “I HAVE to get this for my room!” He quickly pays the game attendant, who places three basketballs on the counter in front of him.

“Alright, the game is simple. All you have to do is make at least one basket and you get a prize,” the worker explains. Yujin takes the first ball and psyches himself up, giving the ball a couple dribbles before throwing it… And completely missing the hoop.

“Aw man,” he groans in disappointment. “Yuno, why don’t you try?”

Yuno accepts the challenge, gripping the second ball with steely determination. I watch with bated breath as the ball leaves his hands. It soars high into the sky… and completely misses the hoop. The ball shoots way over the hoop and ends up knocking a corndog out of someone’s hand. The girls and I struggle to stifle our laughter as Yuno’s cheeks turn a bright red.

“A-ah… Shit…” He curses under his breath. “M-maybe Winter should try…”

Winter steps forward, her hands shaking as she grips the final ball. We all freeze with anticipation as she shoots the ball towards the hoop. Miraculously, it arcs perfectly in the air and lands through the hoop with a satisfying swoosh. A scattered array of claps and cheers erupt from some bystanders that witnessed that moment, but none are as ecstatic as Yujin, who jumps and cheers with the excitement of a kid on his birthday.

“Congratulations, ma’am! Which prize would you like?” The worker asks her.

“T-the Spiderman p-please,” Winter stammers, accepting the toy and handing it to Yujin.

“Ahhh!!! Winter, you’re the best!!!” He screams, drawing a variety of reactions from passersby. Yuno flashes her a quick thumbs up while Hyein, Haerin, and Hanni shower her with compliments, which Winter modestly tries to brush away with a bashful smile. Meanwhile, Danielle is occupied with trying to contain Yujin’s overflowing energy.

“M-my dad really likes basketball, so he made me play w-when I was younger. I-it’s nothing really,” Winter explains. She’s kind, pretty, AND athletic? It’s almost as if God himself created the perfect person and placed them in front of me on a day I decided not to dress up. There’s no wonder I felt jealous of her. But why am I jealous of her?

“Are you okay?” Yuno asks me.

I startle slightly at his sudden appearance. “H-huh? Yeah, why?” I awkwardly chuckle. Yuno’s gentle gaze meets mine with genuine concern, momentarily distracting myself from my swirling thoughts. I found myself wanting to draw closer and get lost in his irises.

What?! Minji, what are you even thinking?! Have you gone insane?!

“You look… upset,” he admits shyly. “I just wanted t-”

Suddenly, a basketball bounces off of the other hoop and hurtles towards Winter. In a flash, Yuno turns and catches the ball right before it hits her in the face, his gentle expression replaced with a stern glare at the person who threw the ball.

“Watch it,” he growls in a calm yet menacing tone as he tosses the ball back. His face immediately softens as he turns back to Winter. “You alright?”

“Y-yeah. Thanks, Yuno,” she answers with an appreciative smile. I felt my heart drop from my chest as I watched their interaction, confusion and envy creating a storm in my mind.

“Sooooooo, you gonna make a move or no?” I jump as Hanni startles me from behind.

“W-what??” I sputter.

“I recognize that face anywhere. You’re jealous~.”

Heat creeps up my face as I struggle to find the words to explain myself. “Wha- I am not jealous!” I seethe, trying to keep my voice down. “I’m just… impressed by his reaction timing.”

“Mhm,” she hums, raising an eyebrow. “Well, I’m impressed by how close they look. Don’t you think they would make a cute couple, Minj?”

Her words leave a bitter taste in my mouth. “Y-yeah, I’m sure they would,” I reply, unconvincingly. “W-whatever, like I said I’m not jealous.”

“Oh sweet, sweet Minji,” Hanni sighs, shaking her head as she pats my shoulder. She follows the rest of the group as they move on, leaving me to watch Yuno and Winter as they walk side by side. No matter how hard I try, I can't rationalize this weird feeling in the pit of my stomach every time I see them together. I need to do something, but I don’t know why.

______________________________________________________________

We spent the next hour walking around, playing all the fair games, and filing our stomachs with an array of different snacks the fair offers. I tried to enjoy myself, but the pit in my stomach continued to grow and grow until it became unbearable. I even started to consider Hanni’s words, but no amount of inner turmoil would make me go that insane.

As the sun dipped low, casting an enchanting orange hue over the fairgrounds, it seemed like the perfect time to watch the sunset from atop the ferris wheel. As excited as I am to be able to watch the sunset, I still couldn’t get rid of this weird feeling as I watched Yuno chat with Winter and Yujin at the front of the group. Hanni seemed to notice this too.

“Girl, you look miserable,” she remarks, resting her chin on my shoulder with a sympathetic pout. “You’re supposed to be having fun.”

“I-I am having fun. This is my ‘having fun’ face.” I flash her a forced grin in a feeble attempt to mask my true feelings. Hanni sighs heavily right as we reach the front of the line.

“Each cabin only fits two people, so you’ll have to split into groups of two,” the ride operator explains. Naturally, Hyein and Haerin pair up together, waving excitedly at us as they eagerly step into the first cabin.

“Yuno, do you wanna ride together?” Yujin asks him. Before he could answer, however, Hanni takes matters into her own hands and pushes Danielle into Yujin.

“Hey Yujin, did you know Danielle is really scared of heights? She needs a big strong man protecting her while she’s up there.” Danielle silently curses at her with her eyes as Hanni pushes the duo into the next cabin. My eyes go wide with panic as I suddenly catch onto her plan.

“Winter, I love your dress! Let’s chat about it on the ferris wheel!” Hanni exclaims as she grabs Winter’s hand, pulling her towards the open doors of the cabin. Right before the doors close behind them, I catch a glimpse of Hanni flashing me a thumbs up. My heart threatened to explode from my chest as I found myself left alone with Yuno.

“S-soooooo… U-um, do you wanna, um, I-I gues-”

“Let’s go,” Yuno utters as walks ahead of me into the cabin. I mentally facepalm, cringing at my sudden inability to formulate a coherent sentence. I step into the cabin and sit across from Yuno. As the doors seal shut, the space suddenly felt a lot smaller and more intimate. I gaze out at the orange glow of the sun to distract myself, both mortified and oddly blissful.

______________________________________________________________

Yuno’s POV

My heart kept chugging like a speeding steam train, I worried that Minji could hear it echo off the walls of the cabin. Throughout the day, I could feel her gaze lingering on me and I don’t know why. Did she wanna talk about yesterday? Was something on her mind? Was there something in my hair? Did I smell? I would’ve showered before I left the house if I knew I was gonna bump into her.

A strange feeling fills my chest as I observe the way the sunlight reflects off of her skin. The same feeling that had been haunting me for the past couple of days. Minji constantly invades my thoughts, stirring emotions I couldn’t comprehend. Everything about her felt new and strange, but I couldn’t deny that being around her made me feel happy. I drop my gaze to the floor as she turns to me, hoping she didn’t catch me staring.

“Sooo…” She began, filling the silence. “Winter seems nice.”

I tilt my head in confusion at her sudden interest in Winter. “Uh, yeah. I guess so.”

“How’d you two meet?” She asks with an odd amount of intrigue

For the most part, Minji is an open book. I never have to guess what she’s thinking or feeling, and unlike her parents, she never seems to be hiding some ulterior motive beneath a gentle exterior - until now. At first, I thought maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me, but being the open book she is, it became clear as day that Minji was hiding something. But why? Maybe it wasn’t my place to pry, but my instincts told me otherwise.

“We have english together, but we didn’t start being… ‘friends’ until a couple days ago. She and Yujin kinda just… inserted themselves into my life. And now we’re here,” I explain. Minji’s brow furrows in response.

“Wait, you only started talking a couple days ago? I thought you two were dating.” She hurriedly clasps her hand over her mouth as if she didn’t mean to let that out. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“We’re not dating,” I say a little too quickly. “Just friends.”

The cabin falls silent as both of our cheeks turn a light crimson. Minji turns back to the window, and my eyes gravitate towards her face once again as if that’s where they’re meant to be. The light and the shadows dance on her skin creating a work of art right in front of me. She’s beautiful in the most impossible way, defying everything I know about the world just by existing. My heart pumps faster and faster as my mind begins to run wild, imagining the two of us together as more than friends. Going on dates and being close. Just like this. Maybe Minji wanted to know if Winter and I were dating because she’s interested in me. I quickly shot that idea down. Those kinds of thoughts only lead down a bad road.

“My parents used to take my brother and I to the fair when we were younger,” Minji says, snapping me out of my daze. “We would go around and play all the games, trying to win the prizes. The games were always rigged, so we never won any. One time, I got so upset that I couldn’t win a bear toy that I started crying. My dad ended up paying extra just so he could get me the bear.” A gentle smile graces her face as she recounts her memory.

“We would always ride the ferris wheel at the end so we could watch the sunset from the top of the ferris wheel, just like this. I was always too short, so my dad had to hoist me up so I could see through the window.” She chuckles lightly before her smile eventually fades from her lips and her gaze falls to the floor. “Sorry, being here must have made me nostalgic. It’s been awhile since I got to watch the sunset from a ferris wheel.”

“Don’t be sorry. I like hearing you talk.” My eyes grow wide with panic as I realize the implication of my words. “I-I meant I like you. I MEAN YOUR STORY!! I liked your story…” My face falls into my palms in an attempt to hide the deepening blush, and I let out a muffled “Fuck” under my breath. I can hear Minji trying to stifle her laughter, which only makes me feel worse. I wanted nothing more than to bury myself six feet under and stay there for eternity.

“I know what you mea- AHHH!!!”

I jolt my head up right as Minji jumps from her seat and into my lap. Bewilderment, accompanied by a million other emotions, runs through my mind as she wraps her arms around my head and hides her face in the crook of my neck.

“M-Minji, uhh w-what are you-”

“There’s a spider on the seat!” She exclaims, her voice tingling with fear. I maneuver my head around her and see the tiniest spider I’ve ever seen scurrying around the spot where Minji once sat. “Ahhh, I really hate spiders!!”

I try to pry her body off of me, but her grip is tighter than an anaconda. A wave of deja vu washes over me as I suddenly start to feel lightheaded.

“M-Minji… Y-you’re choking m-me…” Right before I feel like I’m about to blackout, Minji releases her grip on my neck and slides off of my lap into the space next to me. The seat is a little cramped, but it’s better than dying in such an embarrassing way.

“I-I’M SO SORRY, YUNO!!” She apologizes, her face a bright tomato red. She flinches as the spider continues to move around on the opposite seat, wincing with each movement. “I-I really, really, really, REALLY hate spiders.”

Even after she almost choked me to death, I couldn’t help but find her cute as she shields her eyes with delicate hands, her face nestled into my shoulder. A grin threatens to grow on my lips as I try to comfort her with a few gentle pats on the head.

“I used to be afraid of spiders when I was a kid,” I began in a calming tone. “Whenever I saw one, I always cried to my parents about it. One day, I found one in the bathroom, so I ran to my mom sobbing and told her to kill it. Instead of killing it, she held me in her arms and carried me to the bathroom where it was. I was just like you, hiding my face on her shoulder because I was too scared to even look at it. In a gentle voice, she told me about how it was alone and probably looking for its family. If I killed it, then its family would be sad. She told me that she would be sad if I was suddenly killed when I was out all alone. From that day on, I was never afraid of spiders. Every time I saw one, I would carry it outside so it could find its family.”

I chuckle under my breath. “I don’t think it actually works like that, but I don’t kill spiders because of her. Because of my mom.”

As I finish my story, I notice Minji’s eyes watering and her lip quivering as if she’s about to cry. “Ah shit, are you okay?” I ask with great concern.

“S-Sorry, that was just… really sweet,” she sniffles. I bit my lip, trying to suppress my smile as I simultaneously fought the urge to wipe her tears away. As she calms down, we sit together in silence, watching the tiny spider walk around the cabin.

“He’s just a little guy,” Minji utters, a cute grin on her face. “I wonder why I was so scared of you before.”

Just then, my phone buzzes in my pocket. I open up the notification to see a selfie of Yujin and Danielle with the giant Spiderman plush wedged in between them. Despite Danielle’s awful personality, Yujin seems to like her, so I guess it’s alright. If I didn’t know any better, I could’ve easily mistaken them for siblings.

“Aww, that’s cute. We should send one back,” Minji suggests, her eyes lighting up.

“O-oh, uh, sure. How do I…” After a minute of hopelessly fumbling through the labyrinth of options on the screen, Minji gently takes the phone from me and opens up the camera with a simple tap.

“Do you know how to use a phone, Yuno?” She teases.

“U-uh, no…” I answer, scratching the back of my head in embarrassment. Her eyes widened with surprise at my response. “It’s my first phone, and I just got it today so I haven’t really had a chance to properly look through it.”

“O-okay, well just press on this gray square over here if you wanna open up the camera,” she explains in a kind tone, free of any judgment. She raises her arm and I can see the two of us reflected onto the screen. “Scoot a little closer so we can both be in the frame.”

With a gulp, I scoot closer to her in the already cramped space. The flowery scent of her hair wafts through my nostrils, gentle and clean. Hypnotized by the scent, I don’t realize I’m staring at her until she nudges me with her elbow.

“Look at the camera,” she reminds me, a knowing smile playing on her lips. The phone camera manages to catch the redness of my cheeks as I glance back at my reflection. Minji snaps a few shots before reviewing her work.

“They came out pretty well, don’t you think?” She inquires, and I can only nod in agreement, despite my less-than-stellar appearance in the photos. Minji, on the other hand, looks as pretty as ever. Even when she’s not doing much, the camera seems to pick up on all her good sides. She fiddles with my phone for a little bit before handing it back to me.

“Here, I put my number in so you can send me the photos,” she says. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“N-not at all,” I stutter excitedly, my heart soaring in the air. Minji giggles at my elation and we share a laugh in that cramped ferris wheel cabin. In that moment, as the sunset bathes us in its warm glow, everything falls into place. The weird feelings, the incessant thoughts - they all lead to one undeniable truth. I’m in love with Minji Kim.

______________________________________________________________

As I step out of the cabin, I see the rest of our friends waiting for us at the front of the ferris wheel. Instinctively, I reach my hand out towards Minji as she carefully steps out, which she accepts with a small grin adorning her lips. Though the contact is brief, the memory of her delicate hand in mine etches itself into my memory.

“Soooooo, did you two have fun?” Hanni asks us with an unnerving smirk that could only mean trouble. Before I get a chance to answer however, Minji grabs her wrist and leads her away.

“I-I’m going to the bathroom, Hanni you’re coming with me!” Her voice echoes as she drags Hanni away, trailed by the rest of her friends like ducklings following their mother. Perplexed, Winter, Yujin, and I settle onto a nearby bench to rest in the shade.

“The ferris wheel was fun, I took a lot of pictures of the sunset!” Yujin shares, displaying the photos on his phone. Almost his entire gallery was full of sun from slightly varying angles, along with a few selfies with Danielle. Her gentler side she exclusively shows to Yujin is such a stark contrast from her usual coldness, it’s almost unsettling.

“I feel exhausted.” Winter slumps beside me, her head tilting to the side as if she was too tired to even hold it up. “Hanni is really nice, but I felt so drained after talking to her for five minutes. I don’t know where she gets all that energy from.” I quietly snicker to myself. That seems on brand for Hanni.

My mind wanders back to the epiphany I had earlier. “Um, can I ask you two something… odd?” Their heads perk up, looking at me expectantly. “Have you guys ever… ‘dated’ anyone before?”

“I’ve had crushes before, but I was always too scared to confess,” Yujin admits.

“What about you, Winter? Have you ever had a boyfriend?” I ask.

“Um, not exactly…” With a hint of reluctance, she retrieves her phone from her purse, revealing a polaroid tucked in her phone case - a snapshot of Winter with her arms wrapped around a girl with striking eyes and jet black hair.

Both of our jaws drop, simultaneously shocked and impressed.

“Oh shit…” I mutter before coming to my senses. She’s pretty, but not Minji pretty.

“Wow, that’s your girlfriend, Winter?!” Yujin exclaims. Winter smiles shyly as she puts her phone back in her purse.

“Y-yeah. She’s studying in Japan right now, so I don't get to see her often. I hope she visits soon; I think you guys would get along with her really well.” The look on her face as she thinks of her girlfriend reminds me of my mother’s face in old wedding photos. I don’t understand anything about love or relationships, but that face told me everything I needed to know. “Why did you want to know, Yuno?”

My cheeks suddenly turn warm. “Oh, uh… No reason.”

As if on cue, Minji and the rest of her friends return from the restroom, with Minji looking noticeably flustered and Hanni more excited than ever.

“It’s getting dark, so we were planning on heading back,” Danielle says. “Do you guys need a ride home?”

“O-oh, it’s okay, w-we were gonna take the subway home,” Winter replies.

“WAIT!” Yujin shouts suddenly before turning to her. “Winter, can we ride with them? Pleaseeeeee?” He grabs her sleeve and looks up at her with pleading eyes.

“I-I guess if it’s okay with them.” “WOOHOO!” Yujin cheers. “I call shotgun!” He dashes toward the parking lot, his Spiderman plush bobbing in his arms.

“Hey, that’s my seat!” Hanni exclaims, running after him. In the midst of commotion, I sneak over to Minji.

“H-hi,” I stutter, brimming with nervous excitement.

“H-hey.” Even with the sun completely set, her smile manages to illuminate everything around us. Maybe it’s just my imagination, but the air felt different compared to the times we’ve talked before. That strange yet euphoric feeling still lingers in my chest, this time I finally know what that feeling is - I think. Maybe it’s love, maybe it’s the fumes of fried food decaying my brain. The only thing I know for sure is that I like being around Minji.

“Are you two going to come with us or no?” Hyein calls out to us while Haerin glares suspiciously in our direction. Flustered, we walk side by side towards the parking lot, following distantly behind the rest of the group. The scattered murmurs of the crowd begin to fade behind us, the chirping of crickets and the subtle crunching of rocks underneath our feet taking their place. An ombre of growing indigo looks down at us from a cloudless sky, dotted with specks of starlight thousands of lightyears away. Despite their distance, they shine brightly against the night sky, almost as bright as the girl walking next to me.

“Yuno,” Minji voice breaks through my daydreams, pulling me back to the present. “You’re staring.”

“Ah… Sorry…” I turn my head away to hide the heat creeping up my face, prompting a soft giggle from her.

“You know, you’re not what I expected at all.”

Curious, I turn my gaze back towards her. “What do you mean?”

Her eyebrows furrow as she thinks about her response, and I bite my lower lip to stifle my smile at her cute expression. “Ever since sophomore year, I’ve always heard whispers about this scary guy that goes around fighting people. I never believed it because I thought it was too cliche to be true,” she begins, shooting me a playful glance I scratch the back of my head, suddenly feeling sheepish.

“That is, until two years later, when I come face to face with the ‘scary guy’, all bloody and bruised from a fight that happened two seconds ago. When I first met you, I thought you were some jerk who liked hurting others for the fun of it. I was wrong and I’m sorry.” Minji looks up at me, eyes full of remorse. I’ve seen others use this look on the people I’ve hurt, but never on me. To be on the receiving end of it felt disconcerting.

“You don’t have to apolog-”

“You’re kind and caring and you never hesitate to stand up for what’s right even when no one else will. While I don’t agree with your methods, I think the reason why you fight is very admirable, and if people just stopped being scared of you for two seconds, they could see how cute of a person you are.” Her hand shoots up to her mouth while her eyes go wide with panic.

Did I hear her right? Did she just call me… cute??

“I MEANT GOOD!!” She exclaims, correcting herself. “I meant to say you’re a good person…” We stand there, turned away from each other, too embarrassed to fill the growing silence. The chorus of crickets is quickly drowned out by my heartbeat echoing in my ears. My entire body feels both uncomfortably warm and freezing cold at the same time. The sudden honk of a car horn makes us both jump.

“What are you two still doing? Let’s go!” I turn to see Hanni yell at us from the back seat of an SUV. It seems that Yujin got to the front seat first. Minji and I both trudge towards the car, too embarrassed to even look at each other. Hanni steps out of the car and reclines the seat forward to let us get into the back, where Winter is sitting alone with two empty seats on either side of her.

As we settle in the back seat, I immediately shut my eyes, hoping that falling asleep would make things better. One final thing stays in my mind as I slip into unconsciousness.

She thinks I’m cute.

______________________________________________________________

A gentle shake rouses me from my slumber.

“Yuno, we’re here,” I hear Winter say as my eyes slowly open, finding my bearings. Outside the window, I see the convenience store where Winter works at.

“Winter said you guys live around here, so I hope you don’t mind,” Danielle explains from the front seat. Minji and Hanni step out of the car, allowing for Winter and I to exit.

“See you guys around,” Hanni says, waving goodbye. My eyes meet Minji’s momentarily before we swiftly break away. Not even a second of eye contact and I can already feel my body temperature rising.

“Thanks for the ride! Byeeeeee!” Yujin exclaims as the car disappears down the street. The three of us say our goodbyes to each other before we go our separate ways.

A flurry of emotions fills my stomach as I look back on the oddly eventful day. What started as an excuse to get out of the house turned into my first time at the fair, with Minji no less. I couldn’t help but feel like I’m in some surreal dream and that I’ll wake up one day to find out that none of this ever happened. As odd as all of this feels, I have to admit that I did enjoy it. The ferris wheel especially was… fun.

As I enter my house, I see my dad sitting on the couch, watching some sitcom on the TV. Right. I completely forgot he’s “different” now.

“Hey, Yuno,” he greets, a bright smile on his face. It’s the first time in a while that I’ve seen his smile. “Did you eat? There’s leftover pizza in the fridge if you’re hungry. I tried to cook dinner, but it didn’t turn out right.” A hearty chuckle leaves his lips, a sound that I vaguely remember hearing years ago.

“I’m good. Thanks,” I say as I head towards the stairs. As my foot lands on the first step, a sudden impulse arises within me. “Uh, dad?”

“Hm?” His eyebrows perk up as he looks at me expectantly. I had no idea what I was planning on saying to him. Should I tell him about my day? Should I apologize? Should I tell him about my… “crush”? Is that what that is?

“Uh�� Nevermind.” I hurry up the stairs, deciding against saying anything. My head was already filled to the brim with confusing emotions, I didn’t need to add more to the pile. I collapse onto my bed, staring up at the ceiling, the events of today playing in my mind like a broken record. I pull my phone out, fidgeting with the shiny piece of metal in my hand. Minji put her number in my phone. I can talk to her whenever I wanted to. And I do want to. My thumbs freeze right above the keyboard as I figure out what to say to her.

Maybe I should keep it simple with “Hey”. No, that’s too boring. How about “How are you feeling?” What am I, her doctor? Uhhh, maybe “I had fun today.” That’s stupid. Come on, think, Yuno, think. Fuck, I’m shit at this.

Is this what having a crush feels like? This sucks.

______________________________________________________________

Minji’s POV

“AGHHHHHHHHH!!!!” I scream into my pillow, hoping I don’t accidentally alert my parents to my “Teenage Angst”.

Minji!!! Why did you call him cute!? I mean, you’re not wrong, the way he got all embarrassed after missing the basketball hoop was kinda cut- WHAT!? WHAT ARE YOU EVEN THINKING RIGHT NOW!? ARGHHHHHH!!!

I hold onto my bear toy for comfort as I wrestle with the conflicting emotions in my head. Maybe this is just a result of all the stress from prom preparation clouding my judgement and sending me into a whirlwind of confusion. A day that was supposed to be full of leisure and enjoyment was instead full of jealousy and confusion. It wasn’t entirely bad though; riding the ferris wheel with Yuno was… nice. I feel my heart flutter in my chest as I recall that memory. Surely, Hanni’s teasing couldn’t be right… could it? Am I… in love with Yuno Lin?

#newjeans #kim minji #newjeans minji #kpop fanfic #kpop gg #minji x male oc #newjeans minji x male oc #minji x male reader #newjeans minji x male reader #fluff #minji fluff #newjeans minji fluff

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saintslewis · 11 months

Text

FACETIME

pairing: Lewis Hamilton x black fem reader

summary: you're doing your usual rounds around the paddock and you decide to go meet some fans. One particular little boy catches your attention and after the interaction, you decide to call up his fav driver

saint's notes: a little drabble i thought of and i think it's so cute

taglist: @thisismeracing @certifiedlesbianbaddie

Deciding to take a break from the ever so busy Mercedes garage, you step out and begin your walk to anywhere your legs take you. The moment your sneakers touch the pit lane, you hear cheering from the grandstand. You turn your head, your braids swishing along with you just to see a few supporters pointing in your direction. From your eye sight, they couldn’t have been older than their late teens so you gave them a wave to acknowledge them and you could hear them cheer again, putting a grin on your face.

After deciding to make a quick stop to the car that you came in after Lewis, your boyfriend, had left the apartment. After scanning your paddock pass to get to the vip parking lot, you heard even more cheers from the crowd that stood outside that usually cheered for the drivers, team principals and any famous person who were going through the paddock gates. You waved at the fans who were recording you and deciding to get closer to them to sign whatever they had on them.

“Oh my, hi guys!” You greeted as you began signing stuff. “You look so pretty, Y/n!” Someone said, with you smiling and thanking them. “Is that the new Chanel F1 shirt? It’s so cute!” Someone else commented and you looked down at your shirt just to nod at them and thanking them again. After a bit of small talk with a few other fans and many selfies, you felt something touching your calf, scaring you until you looked down to see the cutest little boy with a red Mercedes cap on.

“Hi Miss Y/n!” He greeted you with the biggest smile and tried to reach out to you with his arm going through the fence. You gave the ecurity guards a look to tell them to not react at your next actions. You bent down to his eye level, creasing your shoes a little but you couldn’t care. “Hello there! You can just call me Y/n, what’s your name?” You smiled, holding his little hand through the fence and you didn’t even realise that people were capturing this moment.

“Matheo!” He said with a little jump. “Nice to meet you, Matheo! Where are you from?” You asked and looked up once you heard the mom’s voice above him. “We’re from the Dominican Republic but we’re in the uk now.” She expressed with so much excitement in her voice. Your heart warmed at the fact that the two travelled just to be here. “Are you guys okay? Just dm me on insta if you need anything.” You quietly said to the mom, who nodded her head with a smile.

“Mama! She looks like Auntie Annie!” The little boy pointed at you as you ended the mental conversation you were having with his mom. The mom, who’s name you’ve yet to know, agreed with her son as she turned to you once again. “He talks about this all the time whenever they show you on the tv.” She gushed, not quite looking into your eyes. “May I ask what your name is?” You asked her. “Maria.” The mom answered, with you noticing the accent switch a little when she said her name.

“Well Maria and Matheo, who are you here to see?” You questioned, focusing your eyes on Matheo once again as he kept touching his mom’s tote bag as if he wanted something. “We’re both here for Mercedes, mainly Lewis. And I’ve been a very big fan of yours so I’m happy to see you.” She gushed, making you give her a grin. You never really knew how many people supported you so to see someone openly show their support to you made you wanna tear up.

“Do you like Lewis, Matheo?” You asked the boy, who had stopped trying to get his mom’s tote bag and looked at you with his big eyes. He nodded enthusiastically as an idea popped up into your head. You grabbed your phone from your cross body bag and immediately went to the facetime app.

With a few rings echoing into the air, your lovely boyfriend finally picked up, utterly confused by the call because he swore he just saw you in the garage. “Babe? Where’d you go? I could’ve sworn you were with Susie.” Lewis responded.

“I was but now I’m by the paddock entrance and I have someone I want you to meet. How busy are you right now?” You pondered, hoping that he had a few minutes to talk to Matheo and his mom.

“Uhhh, not too busy.” He replied, seeing him walking then sitting down. You turned your phone to Matheo and Maria, who were stunned by who was on the phone. Hearing Lewis giggle at the boy’s shocked face, you had the biggest smile on your face as you looked over at Maria who mouthed ‘thank you’ multiple times.

“Hey little man!” You heard Lewis greet and the other supporters next to you guys were all watching this interaction.

Motheo’s demeanour suddenly became shy and it was the cutest thing ever. After a brief but extremely sweet conversation between Matheo, Lewis and Maria, the call unfortunately ended because Lewis had been called for an interview.

“Thank you so much, Y/n. You have no idea how much that meant to the both of us.” Maria expressed. You couldn’t say anything but you decided to hug her from across the barricade. “And we wanted to give this to you and Lewis. I didn’t think this would happen so I was prepared to keep it. It’s a few diy gifts from me and Mathi.” She gushed and you hugged her once again. “Thank you so much for being here and for travelling just to see us. And I am very serious about the dm thing.” You said, squeezing her hand and moving to Matheo a fist bump before you take your leave.

“Matheo, I have to go now. I’ll see you later, okay?” You said, winking at the little boy who nodded again. “Bye bye Y/n.” He waved as you began to take your leave. Greeting a few more supporters, you decided to head back inside to be with Lewis, completely forgetting that you wanted to go to the car.

You called over a security guard after scanning inside. “Please make sure that the mom and son duo get to their hotel or airbnb safely and tell them I asked, okay?” You instructed, showing him Matheo and Maria. The guard nodded and you smiled at him as you walked away, holding the gift bag in your hand quite securely.

Once you reached the Mercedes garage, you immediately knew to go to his driver’s room because you had a feeling that he’d be there. “Hi my love.” You greeted as you watched him put his phone down and stand up to kiss your forehead then your lips. “How was your little trip?” Lewis asked, once you sat down next to him and he wrapped his arm around you.

“It was so cute, oh my god. I just wanted to take a walk then I was gonna go to the car for a bit of my candy then the fans were being so nice to me and theeenn I met Matheo and his mom, Maria. It was just so cool to meet them.” You rambled and you didn’t notice how he had been admiring you as you spoke.

He loved how enthusiastic you were whenever you told a story to him. “And they got us a gift.” You finished, lifting the gift bag into face view and Lewis definitely looked excited to open it. He carefully removed the gift tissue paper and set it aside, not forgetting to mention that it was the perfect shade of purple.

Inside were handmade bracelets that had his racing number and your initials, beaded necklaces that had the same details as the bracelets, a Lego model of an f1 car and a couple letters from the both of them. The both of you gushed over the dedication and kindness from Maria and Matheo until it was time for Lewis to get ready for the national anthem then Qualifying.

Handing him his prada shades, he gave you the last kiss on the forehead then your lips as he left his driver’s room.

yourusername added to their story!

#formula 1 #formula one x black reader #lewis hamilton #x black fem reader #f1 x reader #f1 x you #formula one x reader #x black reader

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sarahwroteathing · 4 months

Text

Giddy

[Steve Rogers x Reader]

Word Count: 2950

Summary: You take Steve on a surprise date.

Request: Steve Rogers, Giddy, Ice Skating

Warnings: None

A/N: I got VERY carried away by your choice of mood word, dear anon. I had a lot of fun with it, and I hope it's just as fun to read. Merry Christmas, my loves!

You don’t think you’ve ever seen a cuter sight than Steve Rogers sitting in your passenger’s seat for a surprise date. He brought two changes of clothes. A tote bag of snacks. A “fancy coffee” that Natasha taught him how to make, presented to you proudly in a giant thermos. Now he was sitting straight up in his seat, alternating between staring out the windows and staring at you with a goofy smile and bright eyes like this was the best day of his life.

“Are you excited?” you asked with a laugh.

“Sorry. No one ever surprises me,” he said, looking faintly embarrassed. “At least not good surprises.”

“Nothing to be sorry about! I’ve just never seen you like this before. It’s really cute.”

From the corner of your eye, you thought you saw him begin to blush, and you wished there was a way to admire it more thoroughly without recklessly endangering you both.

“And you still won’t tell me how long we’ll be driving?” he checked after a moment, earning a narrow-eyed look from you.

“No, Mr. GPS Brain, I’m not telling you how long,”

“Fine,” he said, still smiling, taking a moment to dig through the snack bag. “Here.”

He poked at your bottom lip until you opened your mouth to take the chocolate-covered pretzel he held up for you.

“Thank you, my love.”

“Mmhmm. Wait, you ate breakfast before you picked me up, right? You told me you were going to.”

“Yes, I did.”

You didn’t have to look to know he was eyeing you suspiciously.

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise,” you laughed, holding out your hand for a pinky promise.

“Just checking… Do you want some apple chips? I got the green ones you like.”

He was holding your pinky hostage now, dropping a kiss onto the back of your hand as he waited for the specific answer he clearly wanted.

“Of course, Passenger Princess Steve.”

“I don’t know what that means,” he said, not sounding particularly bothered as he released your hand to dig for the apple chips.

“You can look it up. It’s not bad.”

He hummed, depositing an apple chip in your mouth before pulling out his phone. You smiled to yourself as he typed.

“I don’t not drive. You don’t let me drive.”

“I let you drive. Just not my car.”

“I’m a fine driver.”

“Steve. I’m not convinced you’ve ever had to pass a driving test. You drive every car like you stole it.”

“Rude,” he said even as he fed you another apple chip.

“I fear for my life and insurance rates.”

“Just break up with me now, I guess.”

You snorted.

“Nah. It’s endearing in its own way. And you’re very good with the motorcycle, at least when I’m on it. Very gentle.”

“Well, yeah. I don’t want you falling off.”

“I appreciate that,” you laughed.

Things continued this way for about three hours as you drove out of the city and the buildings grew more and more sparse, eventually giving way to frost-covered trees and stretches of snow-covered ground. Steve never lost his smile or his excitable energy, choosing songs that only contributed to the mood. The music had you dancing in your seat and singing to him while he laughed and watched you, joining in for a few lines when he got the hang of it.

By the time you turned off the main road, Steve was wiggling in his seat too, craning to see out all of the car windows. After two stretches of tree-lined country roads, you arrived at your destination, a large tract of land with a few large, well-maintained old buildings and wide open spaces.

On one such space there was a decently sized outdoor ice rink, a low wooden wall with evenly spaced high posts fencing it in and rainbow colored twinkle lights upping the charm. Three small sets of wood benches like partial bleachers surrounded it on three sides, with a cheerfully painted food truck taking up the fourth side. The chalkboard menus placed just in front of the window advertised an assortment of hot drinks and pastries.

There weren’t many people here, late morning on a weekday, no more than ten total wandering the scenic walking trails in visual range and braving the ice.

“I’ve never been ice skating before,” Steve said quietly, staring out his window with a boyish grin that set your stomach fluttering. “I never had the money for skates and then…. But that’s what we’re here for, right?”

“It is,” you said, parking in a small dirt lot and shutting off the engine. “If that sounds fun. We can also take some of the trails if you’d rather.”

He turned to you, responding to you with an enthusiastic kiss that had you giggling against his lips.

“Yeah, it sounds fun. I want to try.”

“Fabulous. I bought you some skates. They’re in the trunk.”

Steve’s eyes got wide again, and he scrambled out of the car so quickly he almost strangled himself with the seatbelt. You followed at a calmer pace, watching with a smile as he unboxed your scuffed up old skates and his shiny new ones.

“Thank you so much, sweetheart.”

“Of course,” you said with a shrug. “Let’s go see how they fit.”

You grabbed your coats, scarves, and hats, leaving the skates for Steve to carry as you headed towards the rink.

“You’ve been skating before,” Steve guessed.

“Oh, yeah. I’ve been skating since I was a kid.”

He hummed, smiling at you with a mix of excitement and nerves as you approached a free space of the bleachers.

You took it upon yourself to help Steve into his skates, and he let you, teasing at the way you fussed over the fit and the laces. You got yours on much quicker and guided Steve to the gap in the barrier with one arm around his waist and your other held out for him to grab onto.

He wobbled a little as soon as his first foot met the ice, a panicked little grimace flashing across his face as he reached out to you and the wall on his other side.

“It’s alright,” you said, trying to hold in a giggle. “You’ve got it. Hold on until you feel more comfortable.”

You slid onto the ice seamlessly, gliding along beside him and continuing to steady him until he became a little less wobbly.

“This is hard,” he laughed, jerking both his arms when he overcorrected his balance.

“It is,” you agreed, catching his elbow. “You’re walking on ice with knives strapped to your feet. It would be weird if it wasn’t hard.”

“You’re making it look easy,” he said with a flustered smile.

“Well, of course I am. I’ve had years of practice. Plus, I planned this date very intentionally. I couldn’t show off and perform a super cute romantic cliche if I wasn’t good at it.”

“If you kiss me right now, I’m pretty sure I’ll fall,” he warned you.

“Noted,” you laughed. “Not what I meant.”

You skated out in front of him, turning smoothly to skate backwards. Steve raised his eyebrows, and you grinned at him, holding out both your hands to him.

“Give me your hands. I’ve got ya. I won’t let you fall.”

Steve glanced uncertainly at the wall, which he had been maintaining a tight grip on as he shuffled along the edge of the ice. You shifted your stance, bringing your hands closer so he could more quickly shift his grip from the wall to you. With a quick breath, he made the change, only wobbling a little before steadying again.

“There you go!” you said encouragingly, now holding both of his hands in yours, towing him gently forward as you skated smoothly backwards.

“If I’m about to take you down with me, let go, okay?” he said, with a giddy little smile that made you wish you could kiss him. But he was right. It wouldn’t take much to knock him over at this point.

“Not a chance. We’re in this together. Look how damn cute we are right now,” you said with a smile.

Steve relaxed a little, visibly took a moment to appreciate the moment, the two of you skating together with your hands linked, staring into each other's eyes.

“Are you trying to seduce me?” he whispered to you, squeezing your hands when you laughed loud and carefree at the question.

“Obviously. Is it working?”

“Obviously,” he laughed.

The two of you made two laps that way, earning a few smiles from the other skaters. Steve wobbled quite a few times, but you managed to steady him each time, maintaining a slow and patient pace with him.

“You skate better backwards than I do forwards,” he noted as you began your third lap together. “I almost feel bad for slowing you down.”

“Don’t you dare,” you said, squeezing his hands again. “I’m loving every second of this.”

“I kind of want to see what you can do, though. Give you a chance to show off.”

You didn’t want to abandon him on the wall, but the smile he was giving you, somehow already proud before he’d seen you do anything, was impossible to deny.

“Alright, but just for a minute,” you said, slowly guiding his hands to the wall and helping him find a position where he could see the rest of the rink and stabilize himself at the same time.

“I got it,” he said.

“You sure?”

“Yes,” he laughed. “I got it. Go make me fall in love with you again.”

“Steve!” you gasped dramatically, making him laugh again. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be charming you!”

“You are,” he promised. “Go do it some more.”

You bit your lip, shaking your head fondly at him as you started moving backwards again, picking up more speed before turning around. You were by no means an expert, but your grandma had enrolled you in several skating classes when you were younger, and you knew plenty of moves that looked extremely impressive to beginners and weren’t all that difficult for you to execute. First, you enjoyed a lap at full speed, enjoying the feeling, and laughing as Steve gave a loud cheer when you passed him. It was the encouragement you needed to start showing off a little more, taking care to only pull out the big guns when you were in spaces of empty ice, safely out of the way of the few other skaters on the ice.

You were halfway through another spin when you heard a brief shout and a heavy thud. When you turned back, Steve was in a bewildered heap on the ice. Biting back a laugh, you weaved quickly through the other skaters, crouching carefully as you slid up to Steve.

“Are you okay?”

“I fell,” he said, his eyes still wide as they found yours.

“I see that,” you said gently. “Are you okay?”

“I’m bad at this,” Steve laughed, shock morphing into utter delight.

You smiled hesitantly, reaching for him.

“Did you hit your head?”

“What? No! I just - ” He laughed again. “I fell over. I didn’t get pushed or hit a rough patch of ice I just… Lost my balance and couldn’t save it. And I fell.”

“I’ve literally never seen anyone this happy about falling on their ass in public,” you said, a giggle bubbling up at the sight of that wide, delighted smile still fixed on his beautiful face.

“I feel so normal,”

“I’d maybe up the angst a little if you want to be normal. Bruised tailbone and all.”

“Okay,” Steve said simply, flopping straight on his back on the ice like a toddler and sending you into a fit of giggles in the process.

“That’s not quite what I -” You could barely breathe to get the sentence out, clasping a hand over your mouth in an attempt to get ahold of yourself.

“That HURT!” Steve called out, still sprawled out on the ice. “I’m so EMBARRASSED!”

“Steve,” you laughed, letting yourself drop into a seated position next to him.

“Don’t LOOK at me!” he continued. “Leave me here to DIE!”

“Incredible,” you said through your giggles. “We found him. The most normal man on the planet.”

Steve was laughing now too, eyes sparkling as he discovered you sprawling on the ice beside him. He wrapped an arm around you, dragging you closer to him and muffling his laughter against your skin, pressing cold little kisses to your face.

“Ready for a break?” you asked as you recovered your breath.

“Sure,” he said. “But you’re either going to have to teach me how to get up or drag me to the exit.”

You snorted.

“Alright, come on. Scoot closer to the wall. That’ll be easier for you.”

After a couple of false starts, Steve managed to regain his footing, grumbling playfully at the ease with which you popped up from the ice once he was standing.

You made it to the gap in the wall successfully, and you pretended not to notice the way Steve very intentionally overbalanced as he shifted from ice to snow, falling into you with overly innocent eyes and the fakest apology you’d ever heard.

“You’re getting too confident already,” you chastised playfully, as he hugged you tightly. “You’re not good enough to start fake falling. You’re going to actually knock yourself over again.”

“Wow. Meanest teacher I’ve ever had,” he said, barely audible from where he had his face nuzzled against your neck.

“I’m a monster,” you agreed, tugging on his coat until he at least started shuffling back towards the bleachers with you. “Let's get our shoes back on for a minute so we can get our hands on some pastries and hot chocolate.”

You changed quickly, tucking your belongings neatly under the bench and heading towards the food truck. Steve caught you up in his arms again as you inspected the chalk sandwich board, standing behind you and reading over your shoulder. You swayed slightly along with the music playing from the large outdoor speaker.

“What do you think?” you asked after a moment.

“Trying to decide between a croissant and a cinnamon roll.”

“Easy. we’ll get both. What about a drink?”

He hummed thoughtfully, pointing at the bottom corner of the board.

“What’s this list for? Do you know?”

“I think it’s extra flavors you can add to your coffee or hot chocolate.”

After another minute of quiet conversation, you stepped up to the window. An older woman with bright silvery hair smiled at you welcomingly.

“Hi! Can we get two croissants and a cinnamon roll, please?”

“Of course! Any drinks?”

“Do you have a favorite?” Steve asked.

“I think hot chocolate is the way to go,” she said with a bright smile. “I like cherry in mine, but you can’t go wrong with mint.”

“One of each?” Steve suggested, tilting his head to see your face better.

You smiled and nodded, pulling your wallet out of your purse as the woman rang up your order and read out the price. Steve’s hand disappeared from around your waist for a moment, re-entering your field of vision with his own wallet in hand.

“Hey!” you said, snatching it out of his hand. “I told you to leave that at home!”

“You sure did,” he said, eyes dancing with amusement as you flailed your arm around to keep his wallet out of reach. “Must have forgotten. Oh well.”

“You did not,” you argued, hurriedly shoving it down your sweater before he could get his hands on it, keeping one arm tucked around your own waist to keep it from falling out the bottom.

“Seriously?”

“I win,” you said proudly, shifting awkwardly to fish your credit card from your own wallet with one hand.

The woman in the food truck grinned back at you as she handed you your receipt.

“Oh! Almost forgot to ask. Do either of you want marshmallows or whipped cream on your hot chocolates?”

“Marshmallows,” Steve answered, poking at your sides until you squirmed, trying to dislodge his wallet from your sweater.

“So many you can’t actually see the liquid,” you added.

“My kind of people,” she said approvingly before moving out of view to prepare your order.

“We got a good grade in hot chocolate,” you whispered to Steve, swatting at his hands. “Quit!”

“Give me back my wallet!”

Your dramatic sigh devolved into laughter as Steve kept tickling your side. You unclenched your arm, letting his wallet fall out of your sweater, knowing he would catch it before it hit the ground.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” you said, elbowing him lightly. “Even though you broke the rules of surprise date day.”

“Won’t happen again,” he promised, wrapping his arms back around you once his wallet was safely stored in his back pocket.

“Mhmm,” you hummed, unconvinced. “I’ll believe it when I see it, pal.”

“How about…” He kissed the wrinkle between your brows until it smoothed beneath his touch. “Tomorrow?”

“What?”

“We could do another surprise date day. I’ll leave my wallet at home.”

You laughed, surprised and incredibly pleased at the eagerness and joy in his eyes.

“You really want to?”

“I really want to. It doesn’t have to be - I mean, we could do this again. Or stay in all day. I don’t care.”

You smiled at him, shaking your head in awe at that soft, excited expression on his face.

“I’ll see what I can do. For my super cute boyfriend,” you said quietly, giggling at the way his cheeks grew a little pinker.

“Thanks.”

“Anything for you,” you said. And you absolutely meant it.

*****

A/N: My heart is TOO SOFT HELP! As always, replies, reblogs, and asks are deeply appreciated and provide all the happy writer juice. Love you guys!

Tags: @shifutheshihtzu @internalbullshit @lilasiannerd @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory @iwillbeinmynest @scotlandasshole @netflixa @hardcorehippos @singingprincessstudent @sophiealiice @blue1928 @tinuviel015 @a-book-pressed-rose @bbparker @battlebunnyteardropsinthesun @feelmyroarrrr @orangespocks @multifandomgirl-us @majesticavenger @buckybarneshairpullingkink @patzammit @pato-el-cerdito

#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers imagine #steve rogers fluff #steve rogers fic #marvel imagine

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heyidkyay · 5 months

Text

And I'm petrified of being alone, now |

Part Four

Matty Healy x reader

Summary: She’s just trying to get by, really. What with being a single parent to her four year old son whilst simultaneously trying to kick start a successful career as a radio presenter. She’s got everything she’s ever wanted though, friends close by, a mum who’s merely a phone call away, and of course her baby boy. What else is there to wish for? But then, it’s not long before her relatively normal life gets upended and turned on its head, and she’s suddenly forced to deal with situations she’s never even thought to imagine.

What happens when one mention of a certain controversial singer on her show sends a flood of unexpected challenges her way?

Authors Note: IT'S TAKEN A WHILE BUT IT'S HAPPENING, MATTY AND MOUSE ARE SO CLOSE. Hi:) Hope you enjoy this part, finally throwing them into the same building!! Lot's happening in this one!

Warnings: Mentions of rehab, struggles around body image

Masterlist

🐭 @/petitesouris 13m Early start, hoping it's a good session today!

The next week rolled around slowly and it had been one of the most agonising waits of my life.

I’d constantly been emailing with the Primary Talent Team for the last few days, back and forth, just trying to work out which date and time would best fit both our schedules. It’d been gruelling. And the entire exchange would have gone a whole lot easier if it hadn't been for the fact that it had all been centred around them and based on their terms and conditions. Not forgetting the mile long list of Do’s and Don'ts they had also attached to their most recent email, which had been oh so fucking thrilling.

To be honest, I might not have minded it if my whole life had only revolved around the radio show. But as proud of it as I was, and as incredibly hard as both Adi and I constantly worked, I had other priorities that took precedence. I loved the show with all my heart but it could never be my entire life. Not with Teddy waiting for me back home at the end of each day, relying on me alone to raise and feed and clothe him.

Not that Healy’s management could comprehend that, or the fact that I had a schedule and a set routine. They didn't know when to stop and pushed and pushed to get what they wanted. And I could only fight back so much. Which meant that I’d ended up dropping Teddy off at Finn’s place a whole two hours earlier than usual just so that Adi and I could prep for the dated interview.

So, with that in mind, it was safe to say that I wasn't in the perkiest of moods when Adi bounded breathlessly into the studio that morning, a lot later than expected.

"I know, I know, I'm late!" Adi immediately squawked as she hurried on over, the door behind her slamming shut in her wake. "But I have good reason! I hardly slept last night, too excited for all of this!" She added as she threw her knitted tote bag down in its customary corner, the one I’d brought her the birthday last, and tossed her phone and throng of keys down with a clatter onto her paper-filled desk.

I rolled my eyes, but was unable to negotiate with the amused smile that pulled at the corners of my mouth. “Still had time to post a quick photo though. Don't think I didn't see it, Adeline- you tagged the show."

Adi’s smile was blinding when she spun around to meet me, brown eyes wild and full of mirth.

“Figured since you still haven't a clue about how Instagram works that you just wouldn't see it, my love!" She retorted whilst throwing herself down into my desk chair and kicking her Doc clad feet up onto the table. She shot me a smug smirk.

“Cow. And oi, I’ll have you know I’ve caught on since Circa ‘18!” I defended, but relented upon seeing Adi’s arched brow. “Fine, I had Finn explain it all to me one night after a bottle of wine. But the point still stands.”

Adi’s raucous laughter bounced around the loft and I could only roll my eyes once more before huffing. 2018 had been a rough year for many, but mostly me, seeing as I’d accidentally posted a quick shot of me in the tub for the group chat to my story, exposing a little more than I’d like to our show’s following.

Adi stared back at me in disbelief, loosening the bun of unruly curls that had been strung together by a silk bandana, which also seemed to match the colour of the very short shorts she was wearing.

"He'd had to have been a saint in another life to have dealt with an indisposed you for that long."

I scoffed at that, but couldn't help my own trickle of laughter. “I sent Teddy round to his the next day with a box of chocolates- you know, those fancy ones he’s always banging on about?” Adi hummed her assent. “Felt proper bad about it all. Took him ages to teach me how to stop going Live.”

We both laughed.

“Waste of time that was, should’ve just brought the chocolates here! Knowing Finn, he only helped ‘cause he found the entire sodding thing hilarious.” Adi supplied, pulling a pack of chewing gum free from her jacket pocket.

Snorting faintly, I denied her offering of a piece with a wave of my hand, and went back to fidgeting with my phone, distracting myself again from my plume of thoughts. I spun the device round and round, slowly enough so that each edge made contact with the wooden desktop.

“You alright there, babe?” Adi queried after a while, and I glanced over to see her eyes now trailing the movement. “Ted doing alright?”

I stilled and then hummed, watching as she turned and went about fumbling her way through an array of wires that sat on my desk, most of which were already hooked up to the monitors. It was a task Adi did most mornings, even when I’d already ticked it off the list, ever the perfectionist, wanting to double check that nothing would go wrong with the day's show.

“Oh yeah, all’s fine. Teds is already obsessing over Halloween, ranting about what costume he wants to get this year. But August has only just passed, Ads.” I groaned, thinking back to the previous evening when Teddy had spent a good portion of his bath time rambling on about what every other kid in his class was going to be.

Adi peered back at me, the extremity of the grin she wore wrinkling the corners of her eyes. “Just kids, ain't it? We were the same, you'll miss it in a couple of years.”

I supposed she was right, but only because I didn’t have much of an experience to look back on. Halloween had just been me and mum in the woods up by the creek, collecting flowers and eucalyptus for the wreaths we’d make, then reading old stories by the fire.

“Don't remind me, please. I don't want him getting any bigger!” I sighed all too dramatically before standing to head on over towards the printer, picking up everything I’d sent off earlier from out the tray.

“It's the way of life, babe. So, when do you reckon Teds will end up towering over you?”

Adi simply chuckled when I stuck a finger up at her from over my shoulder, not even wanting to pay that idea any thought at all. Teddy was my baby, I couldn’t picture him all grown up.

“I should mention that I saw your tweet, by the way. Guessing you're nervous for today?” Adi added after, her tone a little softer than normal, catching me off guard enough that I actually stilled in place before I turned to face her.

“And you’re not?"

Adi’s mouth quirked upwards when she shook her head, dark ringlets moving with it.

“Why would I be? This is fucking huge for us, M! The exposure that we'll receive alone could really give us the big break we've been searching for- I honestly can't even begin to believe it.”

I gnawed on my bottom lip as I lingered over her words, then pushed back the thought of me having been the one to deal with the stress that was Healy’s management team to the back of my mind. Adi didn’t deserve that, I’d always been the one to deal with all the crap happening behind the scenes, and besides, Adi had a right to be excited. I only wished that I had the ability to join in on it.

“I just don't want to start up any more unnecessary drama, Ads.”

Drama was the very last thing I wanted, knowing that this whole thing with Healy could easily blow up in our faces if we didn’t go about it the right way. And if shit actually does end up hitting the metaphorical fan, then… I wasn't sure I'd be fit enough to handle it. Handle the backlash that would surely follow and affect the show, the only source of income I had. And without it, both Teddy and I would be royally fucked.

Apparently my lack of response had Adi rolling her eyes, adding an extra flare of dramatics to it by flicking my ear as she passed me by. “Don’t be such a worrier, babe. It’ll all work out, always does with us, don’t it? Besides, how can it not when I have a face as gorgeous as this?”

She winked, flashing me her famous grin.

“Tart.”

“Slag.” Adi easily countered.

A breathy chuckle escaped me and I shook my head before returning to the wad of papers I’d been rifling through. “Sorry to disappoint, but it’s the radio, babe. No one will be seeing that gorgeous face of yours, or the way your arse is currently hanging out of those shorts.”

Adi cut her eyes at me from across the room, but they gleamed under the studio’s lights. “Don’t be jealous. We both know you love it.”

“Jealous? I’m a mum!”

“A fit one.”

A laugh bubbled up out of my throat at that and I couldn't find the energy to deny it, so I just shook my head.

“Anyway, you’re wrong.” And at my confused look, Adi continued on, grinning wickedly as she waved around one of the large devices she’d since picked up and cradled in her hand. “We are working with the camera’s today. Sort of why I'm here setting them all up. See?”

“Wait, we’re filming?” I gawked, and my eyes felt like they were just about ready to bulge out of my head as I sat up further to shake my head at her. Mouth already dry. “Non. No, Adi. No one ever mentioned that! I can’t.”

“They called yesterday demanding it. Just as you left to pick up Teds- it must've slipped my mind. I'm so sorry, hun.” Adi revealed sheepishly, her face scrunched up in an apologetic wince as the camera rig dropped to her hip. “But don't worry, yeah? I promise it'll all be sound and then we'll be well on our way to becoming the UK's biggest radio show!”

I reverted back to worrying at my bottom lip, chewing on it as though I hadn't eaten for days whilst I tapped an anxious rhythm into the arm of my chair. I couldn’t do the cameras, not today at least.

“Trust me, Mouse. It’ll be alright. You’ve done it before and you can do it again. No one will say a thing.”

I wished I could fucking believe her.

***

The Sun @/Thesun 16m Matty Healy spotted out in London today! The singer has been relatively quiet for the past few days- somewhat strange for the wayward frontman- but will this all change now that he's been seen? (Link) H @/user1 18m um, what? he’s where?? Adi @/AdelineWells_ 19m Long day ahead but we're very excited for today's show! Big surprises in store for you lot, so who's looking forward to it?? @/petitesouris @/Mouseonamic Indie @/user2 21m @/AdelineWells_ AHHH hope it's another Adi's All-Knowing segment!! Urmymedicine @/user3 23m Did anyone else see Jamie’s ig post?? He says to keep an eye out- AN EYE OUT FOR WHAT?? Talk! @/user4 11m I feel like I've been hit by an unnecessary amount of information

***

Matty’s bleary stare made an attempt to focus on the blurring buildings that passed them by as the car cut through the paved streets of London. Grey just melting into another varied shade of grey.

It was still far too bright for the beginning of September, the remaining weeks of summer only just tittering away now, and Matty couldn't help the scowl that had long since settled into his hollow features.

One of the very few things he liked about the city was the fact that it was almost sure to be gloomy during the colder months. But it seemed as though the sun was shining a little brighter today, much to his chagrin.

A dull pain throbbed at either side of his temples, it’d been there since he’d been forced awake, and so he'd had to wind the window all the way down as soon as they'd set off to keep the nausea at bay. He silently regretted not turning in early last night, but it couldn't have been helped. It was hard to stay asleep without his usual nightcap, and even then, it was harder to dismiss the memories that plagued his mind without downing half a bottle of something or other.

A frigid wash of air wound its way down his throat as he took a long breath, his mind slowing a tad as the afternoon breeze trickled across his skin. But soon enough Matty’s calm was broken and his attention was then caught by Jamie, who sounded just as thwart as he felt.

“You even listening to me, mate?”

Jamie’s undeterred voice filtered through the back of the car, a short lived sigh following in its wake.

Matty merely rolled his eyes from behind his darkened sunglasses and proceeded to slump further in his seat, lolling his head to the side so that his focus was now within the car instead of on the distractions of the outside world.

His gaze trailed its way across the dark leather seats and blacked out windows before it finally ended up landing on his manager, who was kitted up in one of his many sharp shirts and a pair of formal fitting trousers. A right snazzy twat.

Matty could appreciate their pattern though, Jamie hardly ever ventured too far into the world of fashion, so the burgundy tartan was a sight to behold.

He soon fixed Jamie with an apathetic stare from across the backseat, fingers already itching for a fag, or maybe something stronger. He couldn’t be arsed with the mindless bother he’d been sent to complete today, really didn’t want to be dealing with a roomful of people that were there to assault him with an extensive range of hard-hitting questions, or have any more unwanted cameras shoved in his face in truth.

But here he was, doing it.

Following orders because that was what it took to be a puppet. He was too tired to be tugging on any strings today though, simply wanted to get the afternoon over and done with, hopefully without any repercussions, so that he could fall back into bed.

“Matty, mate.” Jamie huffed, his face having fallen into a pitiful expression that Matty didn’t quite like looking at, but couldn’t seem to look away from.

For a while, he'd been fearful that he'd pushed his luck all too far with Jamie, as well as the rest of the band too he supposed. But it seemed as though the guy had a thing for redemption, because he was trying his fucking hardest to annoy Matty into growing the fuck up.

“Look. I know you don't like this anymore than I do, but it's your job, mate. You ain’t got much of a choice here. But think of it this way, right. It's better you being here, doing this, than drowning away in your own fucking sorrows- thought you'd given up drinking since rehab, anyway.”

Matty’s jaw clenched involuntarily at the reminder. Rehab. What was it with everyone and always bringing it up? He’d been too fucking gone on painkillers to have given a second thought to the little amount of alcohol that particular shit show had provided. Could hardly call it a rehabilitation centre either, not when you were constantly surrounded by other abusers who were practically there on a getaway, just finding other means to entertain themselves with.

Jamie broke the silence just as Matty’s mind began to spiral, and Matty couldn’t help but be rather thankful for it.

“You just gonna sit there then?” Jamie snorted, obviously trying to fill the tense quiet now, “Normally you’d have told me to piss off by now.”

“Piss off.” Matty murmured, turning his focus back to the window.

The car seemed to be slowing down now and Matty furrowed his brow when they came to a gentle halt outside a block of buildings.

“Where are we?”

“Outskirts of Islington, I think. Not too far from the studio.”

Matty didn't get much of a chance to reply- not that he'd had one, Islington never did manage to bring up the most fondest of memories with him- because Jamie had all but jumped at the chance to exit the vehicle, opening up the sliding backdoor to escape into the stream of daylight.

With a tired sigh, Matty ran a hand through his mussed hair before he made a move to join his manager, clicking his neck slightly as the bottoms of his leather, heeled boots clacked against the cobbled pavement.

There was the usual musty scent that lingered throughout the city as he took a breath, but the smell of petrol was somewhat stronger here. Hardly anyone was wandering down the backstreet they had pulled into though, and those that did didn't linger too long on either him or the extravagant hired car that he'd been sanctioned with since having been struck with yet another driving ban.

Craning his head up, Matty could tell that there wasn't much to the building they were standing outside of. A commercial unit, three stories or so. Its brick exterior worn and dotted with timber sash windows. It was quaint enough, but not what he was used to when it came to things like this.

"Alright. A quick debrief before we go in." Jamie started, already fixing the faint creases in his otherwise pristine shirt, caused from where he’d been sat working in the backseat. “This is the same show that you had a bit of a spat with earlier this week, alright? So you'll be meeting the same girl that spoke out about your, um… Well, your image and publicity, and all that crap, generally speaking."

Jamie’s eyes flitted around them before he was back to typing away on his phone again. Fucking thing was practically attached to his hand, made Matty wonder how the hell he managed a wank.

But then he caught onto that last bit of his sentence and furrowed his brows, throwing Jamie another quick glance, not quite comprehending.

“Why we even here then? Thought your lot had a right mare dealing with all that.”

Jamie had the decency to look a tad bit sheepish as he started to lead them over towards one of the heavy-duty doors that adorned each of the surrounding units.

“They think that by doing this, it will clear up any allegations. They just want you to right your wrongs, I ‘spose. Make it known that what went down was just a 'misunderstanding' of sorts.”

“Right my? For fucks sake, Jamie! I was shitfaced! And if I remember fucking rightly, this supposed presenter spoke some actual truth. How the fuck am I meant to deny that and clear this whole fucking mess up?"

Matty was quite close to fuming now. It was always the same thing, again and again. The lies were never ending. So much so that he could hardly even recognise them from the truth anymore, everything had seemed to mould into one.

Jamie had since paused, his hand resting on the door's brass handle whilst he gave Matty the best smile he could possibly muster up. "Matty, mate, I'm sorry. Listen, I thought I could-"

Matty cut him off with a throaty scoff.

"Don't make out you're sorry. Not when you're just here ‘to do your job’. The only thing you're sorry for is the fact that you've got to be here at all, to suffer through all this shit with me and put up with the added drama. Just do me a fucking favour and keep your half-arsed apologies to yourself, mate."

Jamie looked genuinely taken back by his vicious rant for once, and somewhat hurt too, but Matty paid it no mind. He knew where to hit where it hurt, and he often didn’t stop until he tasted blood. The band knew that better than most.

"You act like you're here for me, when all you really care about is goin’ by the book and following the rules. Fucking grow a pair and apologise to me when there's an actual ounce of sympathy behind it." He spat back, teeth grinding as he clenched his jaw, glowering at the man standing before him.

Matty shoved past his startled manager before he could linger on his words and pushed his way through the door. Fisted hands already making their way into his pockets as his nails dug crescent shaped moons into his palms in a desperate attempt to take the edge off of his vibrating anger.

"Ah, good, you're already here then! Thought we'd heard voices!" A cheerful lilt called out just as Matty rounded the short hallway, Jamie hot on his tail, and came face to face with a girl, who was leaning heavily against the metal rail lining the steep stairwell.

Matty winced at the brashness of her greeting, eyes narrowing behind his sunglasses at the very force of her presence. She had a mane of thick curls bundled atop her head, lips lined red and lashes winged with a heavy liner. She was definitely younger than him, but not by much, and he could only guess as he approached her, that she stood at a similar height to him too when she wasn't prancing about on metal staircases.

His fingertips trailed across the paperboard carton he had stowed away in his jacket pocket as Jamie hurried on over to meet the woman- a beaming smile now replacing his previously dejected look. Matty bit into his cheek at the sight of it.

"Yeah, sorry if we're late! Hey, it's great to meet you, I'm Jamie and this is obviously Matty." Jamie greeted with an incessant smile Matty couldn't bring himself to look at, before his manager was gesturing towards him- the disgruntled singer he was always stuck babysitting- and then reaching out a hand.

"Adeline, but my mates call me Adi." The girl, Adi, chirped as she took Jamie’s palm in her own, her eyes flitting towards Matty long enough to get a good once over. A gesture Matty returned. "It's great to have you both here."

She wore a grin so large it practically surpassed the honey brown eyes that brightened her face. Her teeth were white, if not a little crooked, and the force of her smile showed off the metal piercing that sat against her front teeth.

"We're honestly really excited to have you on the show! We'll have a proper laugh and just chill, so there's no pressure or anything. Mouse is upstairs, by the way. Still have to set up the final bits and bobs." Adi added, her enthusiasm somehow never faltering. "You'll love her! She's the main man round here, the one who started up the show and all that. You'll be speaking to her once we begin, but depending on how everything goes I'm hoping to join the two of you at some point."

Matty merely hummed in reply, which earned him a slight jab to the ribs from Jamie, one he tried not to lash out at. And Adi’s eyes slitted a tad as she followed the gesture, though Matty noted she gathered herself rather quickly.

"So, is that all of you then? No one else to meet?" Jamie wondered politely and Adi chuckled in retort as she began to lead them up the shifting staircase, giving them both an eyeful of her long legs.

"Nah, you're in the clear. It's just the two of us running things around here."

Matty worked his jaw at her response, whilst the sound of his boots hitting each metal stair reverberated around them.

"And that works?" He couldn't stop himself from asking.

Adi's head snapped back to find him, eyes peering over her shoulder as she rounded the first small landing and started on the next set of stairs.

"Mouse was on her own for a long while before I came along. We cope fine on our own though. We might not be as big as some other radio shows at the moment, but we've got a good relationship that works well within this industry. She can be stubborn, whilst I can be pushy, and even when we butt heads over things, we're able to make up in the end for the sake of the show. I don't know how it would work, throwing someone else into the mix."

Matty gave her a curt nod.

"So, Mouse?" Jamie questioned just as they bypassed the second floor, continuing up the staircase. Matty could hear the curiosity that lined his voice.

Adi flashed them another grin. "Mouse. It's what she goes by."

"Oh?" Jamie prodded, prompting her even further. He had a right thing for nicknames, loved hearing the stories behind them or something.

"Don't know how it came about, in all honesty. You'll have to ask. But it's been her pseudonym ever since she started as a kid."

Matty’s ears perked up upon hearing that, but it was Jamie who quizzed her.

"She's been doing this since she was a kid?"

"Technically. But no, it started out as a Twitter account, just her venting her thoughts and opinions on the music she loved. And trust me, teenage Mouse was just as cut throat and sarcastic as she is now- maybe even more so- but people loved it, still do. The idea for the radio show came about a couple years later, and that was that."

Adi stopped talking just as they reached the very top. The staircase had led them straight into an open plan room, where a large leather sofa separated the sitting area from the tiny kitchenette in the far back corner, and where half of the living space had been overtaken by a recording booth.

Matty blinked. It wasn't at all what he had been expecting.

"God, this is insane." Jamie suddenly crowed from beside him and Matty followed his manager’s wide eyed gaze to where a skylight had been fitted overhead, giving them a clear view of the bright blue skies they'd just escaped from.

"I know." Adi spoke through a breathy exhale, her eyes twinkling as she grinned up at the oversized window. "It was what sold us on the place, honestly. That, and the access we have to the roof."

She gestured over towards the closest window to the stairs then and Matty found a fire exit hatch sat just on the outside of it.

"Don't think the other tenants renting out the spaces below even know about it. Well that, or we've just been lucky enough to never to catch one another up there." She chuckled and Jamie joined her.

Matty’s hand tightened around his pack of cigarettes, eyes lingering on the hatch. But before he could ask if he could get a quick look at it, Adi was waltzing her way across the room and over towards the kitchen.

She waved them closer and gestured towards two sofas and a vintage looking armchair that should have looked somewhat out of place, if it hadn't been for the rest of the mismatched furniture that littered the space. From the mint green fridge shelving a chaotic range of mugs, to the wearing Victorian coffee table, which was hilariously similar to the one Matty’s grandmother had preened over whenever guests had gone to visit.

"Tea, coffee?" Adi asked and Matty dipped his head as he took a perch on the edge of an armchair facing the tele box. It looked well over two decades old and he questioned the last time he'd seen one that'd had a DVD player built into it.

"Coffee. Black."

Adi raised an amused brow but didn't comment, looking towards Jamie. "And you, Glasses?"

Jamie only chuckled at the name referring to the thick rimmed frames he often wore. "Tea, please. Milk, two sugars."

"Be with you in just a sec!" Adi winked in reply and pulled four mugs down from the fridge.

"Cheers." Jamie thanked her, smiling all the while, before a look of remembrance crossed his face. "So where's this famous Mouse of yours then?"

And as though someone had answered him, Matty looked up to find the door to the recording booth opening and watched as someone stepped out to join them.

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gh0stsp1d3r · 9 months

Note

Lol imagine Carmy hiring a chef like this- Him letting her wear all pink to work , even a pink apron, and she’s super bubbly and smiley and sweet, very different than her coworkers shshhs

https://www.tiktok.com/t/ZT8Fe5s7F/

A/n- omg yes. Absolutely. I loved this so much I wanna write about it. It’s short buttt whatever might make a part 2. Sorry I haven’t posted I started classes and I’ve been busy ):

𝐃𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐦 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞

Carmen needed new hires, his busy schedule and life was starting to get to him, and everyone was tired.

And it wasn’t going the best until you had showed up.

You were early to the interview, which everyone was surprised about. You smiled and talked to the man in the front, while waiting for Carmen.

“Cousin!”

“What?” A man groaned in annoyance.

“Said she’s here for an interview.”

“Hi. Hello, I thought that wasn’t until…” he checked his phone for the time. “That’s not until like… 30 minutes.

“I like to be early.” You shrugged, smiling sweetly at the man.

It wasn’t until then that he really looked at your appearance, wearing a pink crop top and pink flared leggings.

Your pink lipstick, and your lipgloss to top it off made him all very confused. He looked down, noticing that you had on chunky heels and a tote bag on your side.

Your smile remained even as the man had the most confused look on his face as he looked you up and down.

“Okay. If you wanna start now..?”

“Sure!” You said, following him as he started to walk.

You both sat down, you pulled out a paper from your tote bag.

“Here’s my resume. I know I probably don’t look like it, but I’m a great cook. I went to ICE. And I-“

He stopped reading the paper and looked up at you when you said that again.

“You went to ICE?” He said.

You nodded.

“That’s… that’s amazing.” He said, nodding and looking back to the paper.

He then put it down, and looked at you again.

“So, why are you here if you went to ICE?”

“I grew up here. My family would come in a lot, and I heard it was under new ownership. After I graduated I came back.”

He listened to every word carefully, your smile and your bubbly personality drawing him in.

♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎♡︎

He hired you, obviously. Everyone seemed to love you, and even Richie had enjoyed talking to you.

Carmy however, was hesitant. At first he wasn’t sure if you were real.

You were amazing at making and decorating cakes. And you even taught Marcus a thing or two, which he was grateful for.

Not only that, you were even better at cooking other things, admittedly better than half of the chefs.

So Carmy was confused why you would be here, out of all places. Why wouldn’t you be in some other, special, amazing place. One that didn’t have mold growing everywhere, and one that didn’t have old appliances.

He watched you like a hawk when he could. You never had tried to one up any of his chefs, you’ve never said anything bad about any of them, you’ve never gotten mad at them.

You were a dream come true for him.

#carmen berzatto x you #carmy berzatto x reader #carmy x reader #carmy the bear #the bear x you #the bear x reader #the bear fic

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drabblesandimagines · 1 year

Text

Syrup

From an anon request - thanks anon! :) Pairings: Rei x reader Fluffy fluff

You’re sat up on the counter, cross-legged, staring up at the television screen suspended from the ceiling, mashing X as if that would make a difference. It’s a slow afternoon in your workplace of four years – Mr Kyoshi’s Joypad – a shop purely dedicated to video games and consoles. It’s a great place to work, combining your love of video games and recently you’d entered into repairs as a side hobby. In quieter periods, Mr Kyoshi had no issues with you passing the time by gaming yourself, as long as you still attended to the customers, of course. There were sample consoles dotted around the place with recent demos installed, but the one above the counter is where you’d mainly play to show off the most recent games.

The bell dings as you reach a critical part of the fight. If you pause, you’re going to lose momentum and you always die at this point. “Welcome to Kyoshi’s Joypad where we cater to all your gaming needs!” You say almost robotically, before adding, “I’ll be with you in just a second…”

You mash X again, hoping maybe you’ll get another attack in before the boss’ big attack but it’s not to be – your character’s HP drops down to 0 and the screen displays game over.

“Ugh!” You put down the controller and hop off the counter, before spinning round. “Sorry about that, I’ve been trying to beat him since yesterday…” You trail off at the sight of the man before you. He’s tall and lean, shaggy black hair and he looks like he didn’t sleep the night before, but you’d be lying to yourself if you didn’t admit he was attractive. He’s dressed in tight black jeans and has a blue hoodie zipped up, with a tote bag in hand.

You realise you’ve trailed off and you’re just staring at each other, so you laugh before starting over. “Er, hi! What can I do for you?” You smile, warmly. You’ve had your experience with a lot of socially awkward boys and men in your time working here – some more painful than others – so you’re aware when you might need to lead the conversation some more.

“You need to buff up your defence with iron heart when he powers up.”

“Huh?”

He points to the screen behind you.

“Oh! I’m so bad at remembering that’s a thing, you know? I just like to hit everyone with the big sword.” You scratch the back of your head – a habit when you’re nervous – and grin. “But thanks! I’ll try that next time – I’ve been stuck at this bit for ages.”

He nods and then there’s another pause.

“So, er, can I help you with anything in particular, or did you just want to browse, or…?” You could ramble enough for two.

He puts down the tote on the counter, hesitating before retrieving the contents. “I read online that you do repairs?”

“Yeah! Of course, this voids any warranty on the product, so if it’s still in that period we’d always advise going to the manufacturer first.”

“Mm. No, they’re out of warranty.” He pulls out two controllers. One looks crusted with a questionable substance and the other seems fine, albeit worn.

“Lemme guess – drift?” You point at the battered one.

“Yep.”

It’s a known problem with these controllers – just the amount of use over time wears them out and as a consequence your accuracy takes a hit as the joystick takes on a life of its own. It’s annoying for first person shooter games, as well as racing games – both genres you suspect this guy is into.

“And, er, what happened to this one?” You point, not quite daring to touch it yet until the mystery substance is identified.

“My daughter gave it a bath in syrup.”

“Ah.” You nod, and poke at it cautiously and find it to be horrendously sticky. The thought crosses your mind that this man looks a little young to have a daughter and there’s no wedding ring… You mentally smack yourself for prejudices.

“The other one has been drifting for a while, so I was mainly using this one until…” He shrugs.

“So, I can definitely fix this one for you.” You tap on the drifter. “Syrup one… Well, I can give it a go but I can’t make any guarantees on its survival.”

“That’s fine.”

You grab a repair form from under the counter and note down the make, model and status of the controllers. “I can do the both for 10,000 yen, if that sounds okay?”

The man nods. “Sure. How long will it take?”

“So, I do all the repair work from home where I have the proper set-up as there wasn’t any room in the store.” Mr Kyoshi was not an organized man – he loved retro games and consoles and the back room was overflowing with boxes. It wasn’t good to perform any repairs back there with all the dust, so you’d set up a dedicated space in your bedroom. “I can usually get the drift fixed in an evening, but I think I’ll need some extra time on the syrup, so it might end up being Friday. I’m probably going to have to use a combination of things to see what works…”

He frowns at the mention of Friday – probably the only controllers he owns.

“However, since we don’t want you to be without…” You crouch down below the counter and retrieve a controller from the box you keep back there for such occasions. “You can borrow this. It’s one I’ve refurbished for the shop and you can tell it’s seen a lot, but it still works great.” You slide it over to him. “And you can just bring it back when you come to collect yours.”

“Thanks.” He feels it in his hands. “Could tell I can’t wait that long, huh?”

“Hm, well, I know there’s a Morio Kart online championship coming up and that a lot of people are practicing… I might be way off here, though.”

A smile creeps up on the man’s face. “Hm. Maybe.”

You slide over the form with a pen and tap at the bottom. “Haven’t lost my touch! So, if you want to just write your name and phone number down there for me.” You grab a zip-lock bag to stick the sticky controller in – you don’t want to put that in your backpack.

“My phone number?” His face looks quizzical.

“Yeah…” You smile. “You know, so I can let you know when to pick it up?”

“Ah.” He scribbles down the two bits of information quickly.

“Great! Is there anything else I can help you with today?” He shakes his head as he puts the loaned controller in the tote bag. “Okay, have a good day.” You grin as he heads towards the door.

“Good luck,” he nods up towards the ‘game over’ screen.

Through extensive research (aka browsing numerous forums and checking videos), by late Thursday night you’d got the syrupy controller back to its best. It was a bit of trial and error with rubbing alcohol, a tiny toothbrush and a scraper to try and dislodge the sticky residue from every nook and cranny - the payment was probably not worth the amount of time you’d spent on the thing but you were a sucker for a cute guy. The other controller was an easy enough fix at least, one you’d done a number of times already for other clients.

You were covering the 12-8 shift in the shop on Friday – Mr Kyoshi liked to keep it open a little later ahead of the weekends, so as soon as you got in you dug out the form and rang the number the customer – one Rei Suwa – had left you.

It rang for a little too long and you were now expecting it to go to voicemail when suddenly the ringing stopped.

“Hi.” A curt greeting.

“Hi!” You answered cheerfully. “It’s Kyoshi’s Joypad here…”

A loud bang cuts you off. It sounded like a gunshot in the background. He must have one hell of a surround sound system.

“Yeah?”

“So, good news! Both the controllers are working, so if you wanna drop by…”

“What the hell, Rei?! Are you seriously on the phone right now?!” A voice screeches, before there’s another burst of gunfire. “Get to cover!”

You roll your eyes – you must’ve disturbed a Call Of Duty session with his buds.

“Thanks. I’ll be there later on today.”

“Dude!” The other voice hisses.

“Okay, bye.” But the dial tones tells you he’s already hung up. You place the phone back on the receiver, before and putting the fixed controllers underneath the desk along with the form to be collected later and get on with your shift.

It’s half three and you’ve been kept pretty busy. You’re sat behind the counter, finishing off the last of the stock audit when the bell rings again and you look up with your automatic greeting.

“Welcome to Kyoshi’s Joypad where we… Whoa.” You wished you hadn’t said that last part out loud.

The man standing the other side of the counter from you is in an incredibly well-fitted suit, waistcoat and red tie. His dark-hair is tied up on top of his head, revealing an undercut. His face seems similar but you can’t quite place it.

You manage to stop yourself gawking. “I mean, whoa-t can I help you with today?” You know as soon as it comes out of your mouth that it was not the smoothest save and the slight smile on the man’s face just seems to confirm it.

“I’m here to pick up the controllers…” He mumbles, and then you put two and two together. This is the same guy from the other day?! You found him attractive then, sure, but this look… Ooft.

“Oh, Rei! I’m so sorry, the suit threw me off.”

“You don’t like it?” He looks down at the fit with a frown.

“No, no! I just… It’s not what the average clientele wears in here, so I just didn’t put the two and two together. It looks good, really good…”

“I had a meeting.” That doesn’t really blend with what you heard on the phone earlier, but maybe that was a lunchbreak thing? You shouldn’t judge, you spend a good deal of your working day gaming and get away with it.

“Oh, cool. What do you do for work? I mean, you know I work here, so…”

“I guess you could say I clean up the city.”

“Ah…” You nod as if you get what he means, but you don’t. There’s an awkward silence and then you remember what he came in for. “Right, your controllers!” You bend down and retrieve them – they’re in a paper bag with the shop’s logo on. You slide the bag across the counter. “Should be as good as new.”

“Wow,” he peeks in the bag and retrieves one, then the other, looking closely. “I can’t even tell which one was the syrupy one.”

“Thanks!” You smiled. “I was pretty pleased with how it turned out too. I’ve tested them both out with a couple of games, but if something doesn’t seem right just bring them back and I’ll take a look, free of charge, of course. I like happy customers.”

“Thank you.” He retrieves the store’s controller from his suit pocket – you’re not sure how it fit in there. “And this is yours. I kept Miri away from it to make sure it didn’t come back in syrup.”

“Miri - is that your daughter’s name?” He nods. “That’s cute. How old is she?”

“Four.”

“She must be a handful.”

“Mm.” There’s a pause. “Did you beat the boss from the other day?”

“I did – thank you. Your tip did the trick. I promise I’ll remember about my status boosts from now on, or at least try.”

Someone stands behind Rei with a game in hand, ready to check out. You want to keep the conversation going, but Mr Kyoshi doesn’t pay you to flirt with handsome men – though he does bemoan why a nice young lady such as yourself is single…

Rei notices the person too. “How much do I owe you again?”

“Oh, yeah. 10,000 yen, please.” You enter the amount into the register as he passes over his card and you slide it through the machine. “Thank you. Here’s your receipt. Hope to see you again soon!”

“Thanks. Me too.” He picks up the paper bag and gives you a small wave as he leaves.

It’s Monday when you’re next back in the shop. The morning is very quiet and after you’ve taken the usual deliveries, you’re sat back upon the counter playing another quest when the bell rings. You immediately pause and slide off the counter, ready to greet the customer. “Welcome to… Oh, Rei. Hi!” You smile and he smiles back almost sheepishly. He’s in casual attire today and has a bag in his hand.

“Morning.”

“How can I help you today?”

“Er, I’m afraid Miri had another accident.” He places the bag on the counter and you peek inside. It’s soaked in syrup again.

“What – how?!” Your eyes widen at the sight of it.

“Blame Kazuki, he’s always giving her pancakes…”

“Kazuki, huh?” You try and ask casually.

“Yeah, my room-mate. We, er, co-parent. It’s a long story. Can you salvage it?”

“I think so. Leave it with me. It might be another two-day job, if that’s okay? I can lend you a controller again if you need two…” You grab another form and jot down the details.

“Thanks, but I wouldn’t want her to drench yours either. She can just watch me.”

“It’s sweet that you guys play together.” You smile. “Can you write your number down again for me?” You’ve already filled in his name.

“Sure.” He notes it down. “How are you getting on?” He points up to the screen.

“Mm, better! It’s my own fault – I’ll admit I like playing for the storyline more than the combos.”

“No, I can understand that.” His phone chimes with an alarm from his pocket. “Ah, sorry. I need to head. You’ll ring when it’s ready?”

“Mm-hm. Speak soon.” You watch him leave, disappointed the conversation was so short today. You let out a sigh and hop back up onto the counter, resuming your game.

You call Rei Wednesday morning after you’ve successfully eliminated all traces of syrup again – this time it’s quiet in the background on his side. He says he’ll be by in the afternoon and, true to his word, he appears with a little girl holding his hand.

“Hi, Rei!” You smile brightly as he heads over to the counter. Miri, you presume, is bouncing on her heels and looking around the shop in wonder, squealing as she recognizes different video game characters.

You bend down and retrieve Rei’s controller, placing it on the counter before leaning over it and grin down at Miri.

“So, syrup bandit, we meet at last, huh?”

Miri grins back up at you. “Oh, you’re the pretty lady that fixes them!” Rei’s face flushes red and he stutters, but you can’t help but find it adorable. Miri’s attention span drifts and lands on the Morio Kart display demo to the side. “Do you get to play all these games all day?!”

“I sure do! Sadly, I have to let the customers have a go too otherwise my boss gets kinda mad.” You wink. “Speaking of which, you can play Morio Kart if you like.”

“Oh, can I? Can I, Papa Rei?” She tugs at Rei’s arm again with a pleading look.

“Sorry, Miri. Papa Kazuki said we needed to be back by 4 today. How about we swing by another time, and we can play when we get home, okay?”

“Okay, Papa Rei.” She nods, though her eyes stare longingly at the demo machine.

“How much do I owe you today?”

“5,000, please.” He slides over cash this time and you ring it through the register.

“Now, young lady, please can you promise me not to cover this in syrup again?”

She frowns. “But Papa Rei told me to do it so he could come see you again!” Rei looks like he wants the ground to swallow him up in that moment.

“Oh, did he?” You laugh, feeling your own cheeks flush. “Well, here’s your receipt and…” You grab a pen and write along the bottom. “..my gamer tag.”

He nods his head frantically, grabs the receipt, the controller and Miri and speedwalks to the door. “Thank you! Bye.”

“Bye, pretty lady!” Miri beams and Rei yanks her out of there.

When you get home later that night, you make a quick dinner before collapsing on your bed as you boot up your games console. You logged into the network, and a notification beeped. One new request from ReiSuwa1.

You hit accept and see he’s still online, playing the game you’d struggled on the other day. Coincidence or deliberate, you muse. A few minutes later, another notification comes up. ReiSuwa1 is inviting you to voice chat.

Your stomach flips as you grab your headset and put it on, before hitting accept.

There’s a beep to show you’ve been connected.

“Don’t tell me there’s been another syrup incident.”

A chuckle fills your ears.

#ghostdogwrites #reader requests #buddy daddies x you #fluff writing #buddy daddies #buddy daddies fanfic #buddy daddies fluff #miri unasaka #rei suwa fluff #rei suwa x reader #suwa rei x you #rei x reader #suwa rei x reader

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momolady · 2 years

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Rafael the Centaur

It's been a while since my last centaur, but I promise the wait hasn't been in vain. This new centaur has quite a different spin to him, he works in an office building!

Female Main Character x Male Monster (both cis) //////////////////////////

Recent bad press had led me to make a series of decisions I never thought I would make. But that’s been life until this point, a bunch of unexpected things I could never plan for. I should know by now not to count on being comfortable or settling, because so far that’s only caused me anxiety.

I never expected my small baking channel to garner any sort of popularity online. I never expected to be offered a chance to do a television show. I always hoped, but never dreamed, I would have my own series of cookbooks. But there I was, in the thick of it.

“Ms. O'Mooney? He’s coming down from his meeting, you can wait for him in his office now.” The voice of the young secretary pulled me from my anxiety riddled thoughts and back into reality. I stood, picking up my bag which now held all my hopes and dreams. What had once been a beautiful crock-pot of simmering expectations was now a free tote from the local bookstore.

“Thank you!” I said quietly to the smiling secretary before stepping in through the doors. I had been warned this agent was a real tough sell, so my usual anxiety would have been a dream vacation compared to now.

I was surprised by the large office, it could have held several cubicles from the looks of it. My footsteps echoed as I walked through the cavernous office, setting my things upon a large chair. There wasn’t a desk, but something more like a counter at a bar. The shining glass top reflected the bright light coming in through the windows.

I stepped towards the window to take in the scenery, watching in awe as tall buildings rose before me and blocked the horizon. I stepped back, nearly walking into one of the many great collections of plants and greenery that covered the office like a jungle. I grabbed the plant, keeping it upright as the ceramic pot wobbled.

The door opened just then as it looked like I was strangeling the poor plant. “I’ll make note of that, Will, for now I’m going to-” The scary publisher saw me man-handling his plant and he shut the door behind him.

“What on earth are you doing?”

I let go and held my hands up as if he was holding me at gunpoint. “Accident-” My voice cracked unceremoniously.

He sighed, shaking his head and removing his glasses. Tons of them lived in the country area where I grew up, but I had never seen a centaur in the city before. His long dark hair was braided and hung over his shoulder, which he tossed back as he walked in.

“Mr. Graves, right?” My pits were creating soggy embarrassments under my arms. “I’ve heard a lot about you.”

He walked behind the high countertop, setting down a tablet and coffee cup. “Lilian O’Mooney, I’ve seen a lot of you.”

My whole mouth and throat went dry. “Okay.”

His dark brown eyes flicked over to me, and I have never been so intimidated in my life. I have had countless meetings like this, the only difference was that I was the wanted party, now I was on the other side, having to beg for the representation of this intimidating centaur with the incredibly thick legs.

“Such a shame what happened.” His eyes slowly fell back upon the countertop. He had my cookbooks stacked upon his desk and he placed his hand over them. “It surprised me when I saw you contact me in the beginning.”

“I know I’m not the household name I once was, Mr. Graves-” If my voice could stop cracking and my tongue stop sticking to the roof of my mouth, that would have been nice.

He looked back at me. “What makes you say that?”

Mr. Graves was a big, intimidating man, but it was the gaze of his eyes that sent shivers through me. “The scandal. Surely you know.”

“But the scandal wasn’t caused by you. You left when the news broke about the lawsuit.”

I nodded and ducked my head. “I could have paid better attention.”

Mr. Graves sighed heavily. “Why did you reach out to me then?”

“I don’t care about television or anything like that anymore. I can always go back to my channel and do something. I just want to continue publishing.”

He patted the stack of books on the counter. “You already have three cookbooks out, Ms. O’Mooney.”

“That’s barely half of what I have planned.” I reached into my tote and brought out the first binder. “I have so many more ideas! And I’ve only been adding on.”

Mr. Graves took the binder, opening it to find my handwritten notes as well as typed out recipes. “Why not a blog?”

“My old one was run by my previous agency, so I took it down and I am working on reformatting and uploading a new one. If that’s what I have to do, I’ll do it.”

Mr. Graves nodded as he flipped through the binder, eventually closing it and pushing it forward. “Did you really want to walk away from all of it? Or did you cave to the mounting pressure of what people were saying?”

I shook my head. “I didn’t want to work for abusers. I didn’t care what I lost. I never cared about fame. I just like to bake.”

Mr. Graves smirked and he chuckled. It sounded so insulting. “And that’s all you want to do?”

I wasn’t sure how to respond to that. “I mean-”

“Mighty brave.” He laid his huge hand over my binder, nearly covering it. “I don’t see why we couldn’t take you into our agency.”

My heart leapt up in my chest where it thrummed until it almost stopped. “Really?” I looked up at him, seeing a handsome man rather than an intimidating stallion. “I thought for sure by your line of questioning, you were trying to scare me!”

Mr. Graves chuckled. “I kind of was, Ms. O’Mooney. It’s my way of vetting prospective clients.” His smile remained, appearing much gentler than before. “I like brave people, and what you did showed you’re not afraid to stand up for yourself and others. You know what you believe in, and you know what matters. I’ll help you continue to bake, Ms. O’Mooney.” Mr. Graves’ words almost had me in tears, but he saw me strangle a plant, I didn’t want him to see me cry either.

“Thank you,” my voice warbled. “This means so much to me, you have no idea! Thank you!”

Mr. Graves slipped back on his glasses. “We’ll get you set back up with proper management and someone to run your webpage. If you decide to restart your online channel we’ll begin working on the production of that as well.” He then lifted up the binder. “But for now, I suggest you hone this new cookbook of yours into something special. If you want to keep publishing, you’re going to have to make something that will outsell your previous ones.”

“You think that’s possible?” I murmured as I took the binder back from him. I held it tight in my arms, hugging what was left of my dreams as I felt them pulse back to life.

Those dark eyes focused upon me and I shivered all over again. “I’ll make it possible, Ms. O’Mooney. I can promise you that. As long as we work together, I’m sure we can find a way to do what's best and do it in a way people will trust again.”

I nodded, uncertain but brimming with hope again. “I have one request...suggestion,” I cleared my throat. “I would like some of the proceeds to go towards victims of sexual assault.”

“Smart idea,” he replied. “It’ll help sales and get people talking. Once this stone gets rolling, we’ll see what we can do.”

“Good, I’m glad.” It was a relief to walk out of there with a small victory in my grasp, but it was going to be hard work from there on out.

I was used to grinding and burning the candle at both ends. This wasn’t new to me, getting the ball rolling on all these new deals and projects felt much easier now. It was strange, I thought switching to a new agency would bring about new rules and drama before I got established again, but Mr. Graves had made the transition very smooth.

Mr Graves was intimidating, but only because he knew what he had to do and how he wanted things. I enjoyed working with him much more than my old agency, even when things were good there, by a longshot.

“We can get you a set made up in town,” he grumbled as we were doing a test run on my channel reboot.

“But I like my kitchen, and I had it set up for this sort of thing anyways.” I was setting aside the ingredients I would need while he held this look of disdain on his face.

“Is something wrong?” I asked.

He huffed and his tail swished. “Don’t you get bored out here with nothing to do?”

“I usually just bake,” I said.

Mr. Graves scoffed and shook his head. “The nearest place to get food is twenty minutes away.”

I still wasn’t catching his drift. “My kitchen?”

Mr. Graves’ tail swished harder and he stomped one of his huge hooves. “No, I mean, to go out! Away from home. You don’t even have a bar around here.”

“It’s a dry county,” I was finally starting to catch his meaning. “I’m a country girl, Mr. Graves. I like it out here, the city freaks me out. That’s why I moved back home as soon as I left the show. I hated it there.”

“Well, I’m a city boy. And coming down here to film is like nails on a chalkboard to me.” he crossed his arms tight against his barrel chest. “But your show is important.”

“I still can’t help but feel like that’s an insult, Mr. Graves.” I checked my ingredients again. “I guess you won’t be wanting any of the apple pie I’ll be making today.”

His ears flicked and his body jerked. “How did you get that out of what I said?”

“You don’t like the country, so you must not like country apples,” I smiled teasingly at him. “Right?”

Mr. Graves’ frowned at me. “Do I look like I’d turn down any sort of pie, Ms. O’Mooney?”

I smirked as he went back to check the cameras and the lighting. I was starting to feel friendly with Mr. Graves.

I loved my channel more than I ever did the cooking show. Mr. Graves’ suggestions of it really helped me plan and get excited every time we filmed. In a year's time, I was doing what I loved again and enjoying it more than I ever had.

“Are you sure there’s not more you want to be doing?” Mr. Graves asked me one day.

I was washing dishes at the sink, which could have been done by any of the assistants, but I enjoyed the moment of calm it gave me. “I’m happy right now, what more could I ask for?”

He sighed and stepped in closer to the sink. He took one of the dishes, and began drying it for me. His presence was warm, not the intimidating shadow I had first gotten to know. I thought of him more as a guardian these days, and I appreciated all his efforts. I owed him so much, but I wasn’t sure how to breach the topic.

As I handed him another dish to wash, his large fingers brushed against mine and my smile became awkward and unsure. “You really don’t have to help with this, Mr. Graves. I’ve got it.”

“It’s fine,” he muttered. He dried the pan and set it aside. “You don’t have to keep calling me that. We’ve known each other long enough, you can call me Rafael.”

I bit my bottom lip at the surprise. “I thought you said-”

“I know I said to keep it professional, but I’d like to hear you call me by my name.” His hand stalled as he took the next pan. “If that’s alright. Lilian.”

Rafael’s eyes were more warm than dark, like fresh baked brownies from the oven. I smiled at him, reassuring him since he looked uncharacteristically nervous. “Sure, Rafael. I don’t mind.”

“Good,” he sounded breathless, “good.” he continued drying.

It was silent for a long spell after that, and the two of us continued washing dishes together.

“I may have to take a break,” he murmured.

“Are your hands getting pruney?” I asked.

Rafael swallowed. “No. I mean from the agency.”

I stopped what I was doing and turned to face him. “Okay-” I dragged out the word in my uncertainty. “Is everything alright?”

His expression was blank, but there was something in those brown eyes. “I had a doctor’s appointment the other day-”

My gut dropped. In that brief moment, my eyes began to well up with tears and I imagined what he could possibly say to me. I reached out for him, trying to take his hand but he stepped back from me.

“Is it...is it bad?” My voice choked up.

“I suppose,” he grumbled. “My doctor said I would possibly need knee surgery.” He motioned down to his front legs, patting closer to the right. “I have to get some other tests done and see a specialist who is in a whole other state to be sure. But she told me it was a pretty definite thing.”

That huge weight lifted off me and I swatted his arm for scaring me so badly. “You lead with that! I was so scared! I had every sort of worst case scenario running through my head in that split second.” I swatted him again and this time he caught my hand. I yanked it back and rubbed at my eyes which had welled up.

Rafael turned away. “Sorry to make it sound so grim, I just can’t stand the thought of it.” he tossed his head and huffed. “I’ve never been a fan of doctors, but the idea of having to get surgery is really bothersome.”

“The idea you’re sick and dying was really bothersome!” I snapped at him. “Knee surgery happens every dang day! If you need it, it's going to help you. Not nearly giving your friend a panic attack!” I sniffled and looked back up at him. “What else did your doctor say to you?”

The way the speckled brown of his face went from pale to nearly red was like watching a sunrise. Rafael grumbled under his breath, patting his side and squeezing. “She said I should start losing a few pounds. But that’s her advice for everything.”

“It couldn’t hurt,” I murmured. “Maybe I could try and make a few recipes for that,” I started thinking to myself, then Rafael snapped his fingers to bring me back.

Rafael instantly shook his head in disapproval. “You’re not a healthy eating expert, you're a comfort expert, stick to your wheelhouse,” Rafael crossed his arms again and his tail shook. “Doing your gluten free and vegan versions is healthy enough.”

“Well, maybe you and I can start walking between filming?” I suggested. “Oh no, it’s your knee, that might not be good.”

Rafael rolled his eyes. “My doctor told me if I do have to have surgery, I’ll be laid up for weeks maybe.” he shivered from his ears down to his tail. “It makes my skin crawl just thinking about it. I figured I could work from home, but that apartment is barely liveable as is.”

I thought for a moment then gasped as the idea dawned on me. “Why not come stay with me?”

His brow furrowed. “What do you mean?”

I broke into a huge smile. “This house here. I have the room and space for it! It’d be a lot better to heal here than in your cramped apartment.”

A blush began to grow over his brown, speckled face. “I know your house, Lilian. I’m standing in it. Why offer that?”

I approached him with a smile. “I know you’re not a fan of the countryside, but if you stay with me, I’ll be around to help take care of you, and we can work on the next cookbook together if you get bored. I know how you hate not working.”

He grimaced as he thought. “It would be easier to move around your place than my apartment. But it’s still in the country.”

“I know, I know,” I huffed. “Think about it. Once you know what’s going to happen, just consider it.”

“Fine,” Rafael sighed. “I’ll consider it.” He turned back to the dishes to start putting them away, but he stalled again. “Actually, do you mind coming with me to my appointment?”

“Really?” I blurted it out then cleared my throat. “You want me to?”

He sighed and kept his eyes down. “It’s on a filming day though. So I don’t expect you to come. I just wanted to ask.”

I closed the gap between us and stood beside him. “I can have Keisha edit together a bloopers video, and I can film the sponsorship spot on my own. If you want me to go with you, I’ll go. I’m surprised you would ask me of all people.”

Rafael looked down upon me with a soft, sweet expression on his face I had never seen before. “It’s rare I make a friend in this business. I mean-” he hesitated. “Or consider someone a friend.”

I broke into a big smile. “I am your friend, I’d be happy to take you to your doctor’s appointment.”

Rafael smiled unsurely. “That means a lot to me, Lilian.”

I returned his smile and my heart pitter pattered away inside my chest. “You sort of saved me, I owe you.”

“No,” Rafael scoffed. “You did all that on your own.”

///////////

The surgery went well, and a day later I was able to bring him home. He’s mostly been resting since then, staying to himself in the room I set up for him. But partly, I think he’s doing that because of something he said on the way home while he was still a little dopey on painkillers.

I didn’t think too much of it, while it had been shocking at the time, I figured the painkillers had caused the outburst so I put it behind me. It has been awkward, and while he’s been able to move around the house on his cart, I’ve not seen much of him; almost like he’s avoiding me.

“I’ve got dinner ready,” I said after knocking on his door.

“I’m not that hungry just yet. Leave me a plate in the fridge, alright? I’m finishing up some of these edits on your next book.”

I frowned at the door. “Well, alright. I’ll be out here if you want any company.”

“Thank you, Lilian,” he murmured from inside.

This wasn’t like him at all, he was such a people person, unlike me. He was always his best around people.

I cleaned up the kitchen and made Rafael a plate I put in the fridge. Afterwards, I made myself coffee and sat at the table with a bit of apple crumble while I scrolled through my phone. It was raining outside, so I left the doors open to hear the patter of it upon the tin roof. The atmosphere was tranquil, cool, and time was still.

There came the squeaking of wheels from down the hallway, and a moment later, Rafael appeared. His front legs rested on the special cart he’d been given after his surgery. He looked disheveled, unshaven and wrapped in a gray hoodie. He didn’t see me at the table as he opened up the fridge. Once he turned, he flinched like he had seen a ghost.

“Oh-” Rafael closed the fridge while his eyes darted around, looking for something to focus on. “I didn’t think you’d still be in here.”

“I was dicking around on my phone with coffee.” I watched him curiously. “Are you alright?”

“I had surgery,” he grumbled as he removed the cellophane from his dinner plate, and it stuck to his hand.

“Yeah, I know. But your doctor said you’d be fine to move around by now. Is something bothering you?” My heart then leapt up into my throat. How could I be so stupid and not consider this before? “Are you abusing your painkillers?”

“No!” He snapped at me, still trying to shake the cellophane off. “My painkillers are nothing but glorified ibuprofen. You know that!” He grabbed the plastic wrap with one hand and slammed it down to get rid of it.

“Right-” I muttered weakly “Uhmm...then what’s been up with you? You’ve kept yourself holed up in your room almost all this time.”

Rafael scoffed and he picked at his food with his fingers. “It’s nothing to worry about, Lilian.”

I raised my brows at him.

“Don’t give me that look!” He tried to move but that same sheet of cellophane got caught in the wheel of his cart. “What the fuck is this?”

I stood up and went to him, kneeling down to remove the plastic wrap from his wheel. “I know something is up with you. Out with it or I wrap your bed in plastic wrap.”

Rafael pouted and looked away from me. “I told you not to worry about it.”

“Okay, wrapping your bed up in plastic,” I grumbled as I stood up.

Rafael grabbed my hand, stopping me from going any further, but also freezing me in my tracks with how sharp but gentle his touch was. I looked back up at him, seeing the pained look in his eyes.

“Oh,” I jerked at my realization. “Is this about what you said when you were high?”

His grip around my wrist tightened and he pressed his mouth into a firm line.

“It’s okay. I once tried swimming in an empty pool the first time I tried pot. I mean, I broke my arm, but it was because I was high and sixteen.”

“I wasn’t high and sixteen though.” Rafael let go of me and he smoothed his hand over the front of his hoodie then fidgeted with the pull strings. “I was mildly drugged and thirty-eight.”

I placed my hand upon his arm. “It’s really okay. People say all sorts of things when they’re mildly drugged after surgery. There’s a whole genre of that online.”

Those dark brown eyes fell onto my hand and his lips puckered slightly. “As a professional though, it’s embarrassing.”

I squeezed his arm. “As my friend, I can let it slide.”

A heavy breath left through his nostrils and he looked into my eyes. There was a beat where I felt the air change and something different was about to happen. I kept a hold of his arm and I looked away.

“It’s not like you meant it anyways,” I tried to laugh. “Right?”

Rafael remained silent.

I wasn’t sure what to do, I didn’t even move my hand off his arm. I just stood there. I bit my lip as I tried to think, tried to plan, tried to plot. This was Rafael, he didn’t fool around or tease like this. Everything he said, he meant. Even if he was doped on painkillers, every word from his mouth would be earnest. But I had chosen to believe otherwise until now.

“Lilian,” he said sternly. “You can let me go now.”

I didn’t. In fact, I squeezed harder onto his arm. I looked up into his eyes, and while I wanted to remain cool for his sake, tears still welled up in my eyes and my throat began to choke up in the back of my throat. I swallowed, but nothing helped soothe this sudden rush of emotions bubbling up.

I opened my mouth to speak and Rafael put his hand over my mouth.

“It’s true,” he murmured. “What I said then, even if I was out of my mind, I meant it. And I can’t look you in the eyes just yet.”

I sniffled and my chest began to shudder. Rafael moved his hand, smoothing that huge palm over my cheek, while his strong fingers brushed away the tears I squeezed from my eyes as I closed them.

“Don’t cry,” he sighed.

“I can’t help it. No one has ever told me they loved me before,” I whined pitifully. “I can’t believe you’re the one who said it!”

Rafael’s hand stilled on my cheek. “Is that a good or bad thing?”

I whimpered and hiccuped, rubbing my eyes so I could look at him without such a ridiculous face, but I couldn’t stop. I continued to cry, and Rafael put his hands upon my shoulders and let me weep against his hoodie. I clung onto it, making myself calm down enough so I could speak again.

“If this is going to cause a problem, I can have Will deal with everything until I can get over this. I promise, this isn’t going to affect anything. I’ll keep working for you just as-”

I tugged hard on his hoodie. “Hush!” I swallowed and caught my breath again. “Since I started working with you, I haven’t enjoyed baking this much since my granny was still alive.” I hiccuped again. “You’ve made working like this a joy, you’ve made my cookbooks something really special.” I looked up into his confused eyes. “You’re my friend.”

Rafael nods solemnly. “You’re mine too, which is why-”

“I love you.”

Rafael stopped everything. He cut off mid sentence, holding his mouth in the same pose. He wasn’t breathing, I don’t think anything inside him was working. “I want to-” He took a breath. “Remain-” He looked into my eyes.

I nodded and stood on my tiptoes. “I love you,” I repeated in case he didn’t hear it. “Is that o-'' Rafael picked me up off the ground, pulling me into a tight embrace and laying his face against my hair.

“When?” he whispered.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, holding him as tightly as he held me. “What do you mean?”

“I remember the moment I realized it. It was that first day of shooting and you were so excited over one of the tech guys fixing your grandmother’s mixer. I saw you smiling and thought ‘I want to work all my life for this person, just to see that smile everyday’. I was so fucking terrified of that thought I tried burying it. But I could never forget it, no matter what I tried.”

“Rafael-” my voice tremored.

“I just want to know if you had a similar moment?”

“I’m not sure,” I murmured against his cheek. “I just know everyday it’s been growing, the more I see you, the happier I get. Whenever you say my name, I can hardly stand myself,” I laughed. “Your hair is really tangled. Let me brush it.”

“Not now,” he whispered. He pulled back and I lost my breath. My heart was pounding so wildly I couldn’t stop a moment to process what was happening. His lips touched my cheek and neck, then they pressed against my mouth and I was swooning.

When Rafael pulled away, I figured a few days had gone by at least, but the rain hitting the tin roof was still going strong.

“We should hit pause on this, for now.” Rafael cleared his throat and placed me back down on my feet. “We should talk about this a little more in depth. Don’t you think?”

I just made a noise as I didn't have a thought in my head besides kisses and big hands. I glanced back up into his eyes and nodded.

“I’m glad you think so.” He cleared his throat. “There is a lot here we need to discuss.”

“We do?” I was finally able to speak.

Rafael got a cross look that softened just as soon as it appeared. “Of course we do! We work together, we’re starting a production company together soon. We can't just fling ourselves into some romance if we’re not going to be taking this seriously! And if we are friends then we deserve to make sure we’re going to take care of that.”

“Yes, of course. Of course.” I clear my throat. “Maybe I should put on some coffee for us. We can talk here.”

“That’s fine,” Rafael murmured.

I fumbled with the coffee pot, forgetting how having a body worked for a short spell. I glanced up from the sink, seeing him standing over the table as he lifted the newspaper.

“I remember,” I gasped.

Rafael looked back at me. “Remember what?”

“The moment!” I smiled shyly at him. “It was a couple of days after we started filming. You’d gone out of your way to get me the right kind of apples I had wanted, because the crew wasn’t sure. You drove to that fancy grocery store an hour away. You didn’t tell anyone why you’d left so everyone was kind of panicked. And when you got back and I saw you walking up my steps-” I stopped and broke into a big smile. “It was like Prince Charming coming to give Cinderella her shoe back.”

Rafael walked around the counter to stand before me. “I’m no Prince Charming, I’m barely even charming.” He placed his big hand upon my cheek. “But I would think of you as my princess.”

I cupped my hands over my face. “Stop! That’s too much for me!”

He kissed the top of my head with a chuckle. “Let me see that smile at least.”

I lowered my hands, beaming up at him with tears in my eyes. He kissed me, sitting me upon the counter just so he could kiss me more.

A few days later I took Rafael walking around the house. He’d just gotten a good report from his checkup, and his doctor asked him to try walking short distances every day.

“How does it feel?” I asked.

“It’s fine. Weird feeling but fine,” he huffed.

I pointed to the big red barn. “My grandparents got married there, which is why we never tore it down, even when we couldn’t keep up with the farm anymore.”

“Are you suggesting something?” Rafael chuckled.

I jumped out of my skin. “No! No! I was just saying-”

“Show me.” He tugged on my hand, having me lead him up into the barn.

Inside it was dusty, filled with what remained of my grandfather’s old farm equipment and Christmas decorations. Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the walls, while dust floated amongst them.

“It’s really nice here.” Rafael murmured.

“I’ve often thought about doing something with it. Maybe fix it up so people can have weddings here.” Rafael then picked me up, setting me on top of the wall so I was above him. He smirked at me and I had to glance away.

“I’m not mentioning weddings a lot for any reason, I swear!”

Rafael kissed my neck and I lost my breath. He moaned against my skin and a shiver went down my body.

“This feels different,” I muttered, leaning back until I touched a beam.

“You look so beautiful right now,” he whispered in my ear. Rafael pulled back a bit and looked into my eyes. “I’m feeling pretty good today too.” His eyes went down my body and my heartbeat spiked.

“Whoa, whoa,whoa-” I caught my breath. “Just how good are you feeling?”

Rafael licked his lips. “If it’s alright with you, I’ll show you.” He unbuttoned my overalls and slowly tugged them down until they hung off of one foot. He stepped in close, kissing my shoulders and collarbone.

My legs felt slightly cold, so I wrapped them around him. “That tickles,” I whimpered.

Those hands I loved so much pushed up my shirt and he kissed between my breasts. “Does this?”

“A little,” I whimpered.

Rafael’s hands traveled down my waist to my hips, gently kneading his fingers into my soft skin. He looked up at me, kissing me softly as his fingers traced the lace on my panties.

I gasped against his lips as I felt his fingers find purchase on something much more sensitive. I gripped onto his arm and a soft chuckle rumbled in his throat.

“Right here,” he whispered into my ear. “Is that the spot?”

I whimpered as his fingers sunk deeper into the fabric, his touch becoming more direct. I tightened my hands around his arms.

“It’s alright, isn’t it?” He asked.

“Yeah,” I panted.

Rafael kissed my cheek and neck. “Does it feel good?”

I nodded wordlessly.

“Good,” he moaned. “All I want to do is make you happy and smile.”

His fingers rubbed up and down the crotch of my panties, finding them grow wetter with each stroke. He groaned into my ear and my whole body shivered.

“Do you mind if I touch a little more closely?” He whispered.

I nodded again with a whimper.

“It’s alright, my love.” He kissed my lips. “Just going to push this little bit of fabric aside and-” he hissed and I cried out as his bare fingers touched my vulva. He rubbed me up and down very slowly, moaning into my ear as he did.

“Is that alright?” He breathed.

“You’re so warm,” I whimpered.

He chuckled, kissing my cheek and lips. “You have no idea how good you feel.” His fingers gently sunk inside. He then sputtered with a laugh.

“What?”

He shook his head, a big grin on his face. “Just thinking something stupid.”

I gulped as his thumb rubbed to my clit. “Tell me.”

Rafael kissed me as his finger slipped inside. “Just thinking that...I love every pie you’ve ever made.”

I started laughing but was choked by how good his fingers worked below.

Rafael removed his hand, licking his fingers with a smile upon his face. He looked into my eyes, kissing me before pressing more down my body. His torso knelt down and he placed his head between my thighs.

“Wait-” I whimpered.

“Unless you want me to stop, I will.” he pushed my panties aside more. “But right now, I’m wanting to make you happy.”

His tongue lapped over me and I quivered. I cupped my hand over my mouth, even though no one was around for miles. Rafael moaned against me, sending shivers up my spine. His fingers slipped back inside, moving slowly as he licked and kissed my folds.

I took hold of his hair, tugging it gently. This only made his eyes flick up and look at me. Those eyes had affected me since the moment I met him, now, in their spell, something else powerful occured. Rafael’s touch and affections radiated through my whole body, pulling my limbs so they curled. My back arched and I pulled his hair a little too hard in my excitement. I dribbled down his chin, and he lapped up the corners of his mouth with that amazing tongue.

“I like seeing this as much as your smile.” Rafael laid down his hoodie and laid behind me so I could snuggle against him.

My legs were still shaking and I was trying to catch my breath. I looked up into the streams of light filtering through the wood of the barn. It sparkled brighter and more radiant before. I leaned back into Rafael more and his fingers combed through my hair.

“I really enjoyed that,” I giggled. “Even if you compared me to a pie.”

Rafael knelt down and kissed my cheek. “I love you, I just felt like...pampering you a little.”

I beamed up at him. “I love you too. I’ll have to pamper you next time.”

Rafael let out a laugh. “Maybe we can pamper each other together. Does that sound fun to you?”

#exophilia #monster romance #monster fudger #monsterxhuman #monsterxreader #monster love #centaur #centaur romance #momolady monsters #my writing

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gerardpilled · 2 years

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Gerardpilled Concert Etiquette Guide

Okay so this is my guide for general concert etiquette I think could help a lot of first timers or just people who might not have thought of this!

This isn’t meant as a definitive, written in stone, lists of do’s and don’ts. In fact a lot of people probably think is is overthinking things. If you want to do any of the things I say not to, go right ahead! I just know I personally have gotten a lot of anxiety in the past over if I’m acting weird/rude at shows and I’m just trying to ease that burden for some of you!! Also don’t feel bad if you have done any of this stuff and/or end up doing it in the future. Most of this I’ve learned through trial and error so I’ve definitely committed social faux pas, it’s not the end of the world :)

My experience is limited to shows in New Jersey, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Buffalo, and Toronto. Honestly the atmosphere/vibe has been different every time. Sometimes it’s just a case-by-case experience depending on location and artist!

I have never been to a festival show

Most of this pertains to general admission. Seated events are generally pretty straight forward, but all the clothes/what to bring pertain to those as well!

Google your venue and make a plan before going! See what the capacity is, where you can park, etc. if you are getting dropped off/picked up, organize meeting places. Maybe have an organized check-in text system with a friend if you’re going alone.

Clothes/What to Bring

Dress comfortably! I feel like tiktok has made it seem going to a show requires An Outfit and that you have to go all out. I try to dress cute, but my comfort and safety comes first. no matter how cool it is outside, assume it’s going to be much hotter inside the venue. Definitely don’t wear clothes you’re afraid of messing up. I’ve gotten beer and other stuff spilled on me, it just happens! Here’s what my partner and I have worn to shows in the past:

This was in Canada in March so we wore light jackets and were then able to tie them around our waists once inside. Jacket Checks might exist, but basically ruin any spot you previously held in line.

Shower/bathe in some way before attending. Odds are if you’re waiting in line you’ll get a little gross anyway, but you want to start off clean.

Sturdy shoes. Don’t wear sandals. Boots work for toe protection, just make sure they’re easy to move in and won’t make you overheat (especially at outdoor shows) I personally wear my converse run stars. They give me a bit extra height with the comfort of sneakers

Binders. If you want to wear your binder, I say do so with caution. It can get pretty suffocating once in the venue, and they could just make it worse.

Small bags. This is important for three reasons: 1) a lot of venues have size limits for bags you can bring, 2) comfort inside the venue and 3) bag-checks slow down the line. Mini-backpacks seem to be popular nowadays, but even those can be a little inconvenient (plus easy for people to open) so I’d recommended a cross-body bag. I personally just got the Herschel Sinclair Crossbody in Large (and shortened the straps to sit higher on my body). Don't Bring Tote Bags (annoying to hold and easy to steal out of)

Hydration/food — bring snacks if you’re planning on lining up early! Water too if possible. Most if not all venues will not allow water bottles inside so don’t bring reusable ones. I’m planning on buying one or two of these reusable plastic roll-up ones used for hiking that way I don’t have to waste plastic :)

Travel light. Bring the bare minimum into the venue. Money, ID, phone, keys are all you really have to worry about once you’re in there.

Carabiners. These are great for securing so much. I’ve personally gotten like a 10 pack of these little guys that have a little locking system. These are great for keys (either secure to belt loop or internal zipper within your small bag). The bigger ones are great for hats or anything really!

Might be Controversial, but don’t bring signs. With a few exceptions, signs basically bring nothing good. They block the view of people behind you and most of the time the artist cannot see them at all. A few people have brought fabric banners/flags and I think that makes more sense. They are way less of a nuance.

Don’t bring self-defense items - these will usually get confiscated by security.

Queueing

This is usually where you hear about the most drama. General rules should be just be nice and respectful.

Getting on the queue. The quality of the spot you get on the queue and the time you join it range dramatically between venues/states/countries/type of concert. I’ve never personally started queueing the night before, and I’ve always ended up okay. What usually happens is there’s ~20 or so people who line up night before/early morning, and then sudden influxes midday and also 1-2 hours before the show.

Saving a spot for your friend(s)/cutting. General rule – don’t do it. If you want to be near that friend(s), go to the back of the line where they are. This might sound mean, but cutting is disrespectful to the people who have waited hours. Also don’t put your friend in an awkward position by asking to cut.

Leaving the queue. For every show I've been to, people have been pretty cool about this. Always ask (preferably the person/people behind you) if it’s okay first and be clear what you’re leaving for. If you’re getting food/coffee, offer to get them something. If you’re in a group of friends, at least one should stay behind. Try to make this trip as quick as possible. If the person behind you does take issue with it, you could probably ask the person behind them if it’s okay and just forfeit the one-person spot in line. Also, if you are the person being asked, try not to have a problem with it!

Smoking. This might sound specific, but I’ve heard of problems surrounding this. If you want to smoke (anything) while on queue – ask people around you if it’s okay and/or walk a few feet off the line. If you don’t smoke – try not to get upset over people around you doing so. Odds are you’re all standing on outdoor public property, they can do whatever they want. I personally don’t smoke of any kind and people have been pretty nice about asking if them doing so bothers me!

Talk to people! You are all lining up to see the same artist, odds are you have something in common. Especially if you’re by yourself, it’s great to at least know some people before going in. HOWEVER – considering mcr is such a big ‘fandom’ band, test the waters of what is okay to discuss with people around you. Personally I do not want to discuss shipping or basically anything I post online in person.

Have your bag ready/items in hand before security. Most venues have a simple metal-detector system where they ask you to take off your bag, look inside it, and place it inside a bin so you can walk through a metal detector.

Where to stand

Okay you’re in the venue – now you have to figure out where it will be best to stand. A lot of people automatically think barricade is best, but that’s not necessarily true depending on what you want to do/who you’re with

Going with parent/friend/partner. If you are bringing someone who doesn't care about the band, I will say aim to stand towards the outer side edges of the stage. If you and your parent is okay with it, ask them to split up so they can stand out of the way. With a partner or friend, maybe ask them to stand behind you if you’re not willing to go to the side. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve been stuck behind someone who obviously does NOT want to be there. It just kills the vibe.

Barricade. If you’re lucky enough to get barricade, remember this can come with side effects. People have gotten bruised from the metal and have been squished against it to the point of breathing problems. Only stand here if you’re prepared for this!

Middle/center crowd - usually where the crowd can get the most active/rowdy! Stand here if you’re okay with that.

Back. There are plenty of people who just like to attend a concert and vibe with a drink and friends. The back is usually where the casual listeners/older audience members stand.

Specific to mcr– it’s kinda become a joke at this point, but it does seem Frank’s side of the stage fills up quicker/denser than Ray’s side. Do what you wish with this info.

During the show

Getting merch. I usually aim to get merch after the show. If you get it before, you risk losing a good spot and also you have to hold it. However, the line will be long afterwards and with mcr i’ve heard stuff sold out.

Be attentive! Be aware of your surroundings. If you are someone who has health concerns, make that known to people around you and try to notice if others are struggling. Make sure people aren’t being creepy or making others uncomfortable.

Be respectful to the openers. Do not talk through the opening sets or stay on your phone during them. You wouldn’t believe how many times this has happened at shows I've been to. I get it, I personally don’t care about any openers for my mcr shows, but I'm going to stand there and pretend like I do.

Phones. Hot topic issue right here. My recommendation is try to use your phones as little as possible. It’s very distracting for anyone behind you and I guarantee you will not be watching all those videos back. I personally aim to record the little banter between songs because at least that’s unique for every show! If you think something interesting is going to happen or your favorite part is coming up, whip your phone out and aim for less than a minute? (this is just an estimate). After shows I usually have less than 20-30 total videos/photos from the actual set. Especially with mcr, there’s so many people and so much online discussion that odds are someone has captured something. Side note – maybe don’t stand at the barricade just recording entire songs the whole time?

Pushing. It’s going to happen. If it’s obvious it’s an accident, try to be okay with it. Try to be careful, but also don’t leave tons of space in front of you (people will see and it just leads to more pushing). If someone spills something on you, odds are they were pushed and it was an accident. They are probably pissed their drink got wasted.

Shouting at artists. Debatable. Sometimes what people shout can be funny, other times extremely embarrassing. Don’t harass them or make sexual comments. Don’t shout song titles or fandom-inside jokes. I’ve seen people attempt to have whole convos with artists after getting their attention and it’s just awkward for everyone involved.

Sorry that was way longer than I expected! Remember these are just my recommendations, and stuff I've personally noticed. If you have any specific questions about anything or if you think i’ve missed anything send me an ask!

#lost post #shows #concert etiquette

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narrans · 6 months

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A Tall and Small Collection | S2.46 | & Everyone Needs A Little Hero :: Crossover :: True Colors Revealed pt. 5 (Finale)

The next morning was a rough one. The swelling and darkening of Ashlynn’s bruises made all of the boys anxious. She put on a brave face, but she was still very sore and was moving a little slower than she was the day before. After a long shower, she came out to find that Soren and his brothers had prepared some hot tea for her.

It was quite the acrobatic feat, but Soren, Dorian, and Rey had climbed up to the kitchen sink, pulled the rinse hose over to the electric tea kettle, and filled it. Dorian understood how to work the machine and was able to set it to the perfect temperature while Rey flipped up to the cabinet and got her a tea bag.

While they weren’t able to pour the hot water into the mug, they had everything prepped and ready for her.

“You guys,” mumbled Ashlynn, her lip slightly swollen as she looked at the work they had done.

“Next time, I’ll have an invention to do it all for you,” said Rey, who had already pulled out his sketchpad as they all settled in on the couch and was drawing out blueprints for a machine that would actually pour or syphon the hot water into a mug directly from the kettle.

“How are you feeling?” asked Dorian.

“That’s what we’d all like to know.” The family of five glanced over toward the edge of the couch to see Casper and Hero pulling themselves up onto the edge of the couch. Hero’s eyes widened as he was unable to disguise his surprise at seeing Ashlynn’s injuries. Casper maintained his composure, but he also seemed a little unnerved at Ashlynn’s injuries. The look in his eyes held the look of someone who didn’t believe something was possible. Undoubtedly, it hadn’t occurred to him that certain humans could be dangerous to others.

“We?” asked Ashlynn, lowering her voice a bit more than normal to make sure Casper was comfortable.

“The… community. A lot of us heard what happened last night, and the rest of us heard about the aftermath this morning,” stated Casper. “We wanted to make sure you were alright and… to thank you. You didn’t have to defend us the way you did, and if it wasn’t obvious before, it is apparent now that you are an ally.”

Ashlynn smiled as much as she could manage as she nodded. Words escaped her, not that they were needed to understand what she was feeling. Friendship and trust is hard won, and now she had it.

“At any rate, we came to ask if you needed anything from us and if there is anything we can do to help prepare for the move,” offered Casper.

“Yeah! We thought we could help with the boxes and if there are little things we can stitch or rearrange,” chimed in Hero as he glanced at his father and then back to Soren and his family.

“That’s certainly a relief that everyone’s willing to help,” said Soren. “Actually, today was the day Ashlynn was going to get the totes we need to move everyone. She has to go to the hospital first, right? But then she’ll be back with what we need.”

“Yeah, I need to make sure I get the pictures I need to file a proper civil suit against Austin,” said Ashlynn. “But I can get the totes first. There’s a place just down the road. That’ll give you all space to come out of the bedroom and work. Get some supply lists together and I’ll set everything out before I go to the hospital.”

Casper nodded and turned to leave, giving Hero a little pat on his shoulder, before leaving to go back to the bedroom.

Hero looked up at Ashlynn, bright green eyes latching onto the bruises and emotion filling his eyes.

“Are you feeling okay?” asked the teenage Borrower.

“I’ve been better, but thanks for asking,” smiled Ashlynn. “Anyway, I need to get moving if I am getting anything done today. The store shouldn’t be busy now too, so less people staring at my bruises.”

Soren looked up at Ashlynn, eyes beaming. He admired her resilience and her spirit. Even though last night was filled with terror, she was still able to smile. Even if the smile was forced, she was always trying to find a way to help them feel comfortable.

Before he could get her attention, Ashlynn excused herself to go and get changed. Within minutes, she had her purse over her shoulder and was waving good-bye to them, vanishing behind the front door as she headed toward the elevator. Soren thought about calling after her or getting her to wait so they could talk, but Rey stepped forward and tapped Soren on the shoulder to get his attention.

“Soren? I… well… I was wondering if I could go… with Ashlynn I mean. When she goes to the hospital,” said Rey. Soren’s eyes widened as he stared disbelievingly at his younger brother.

“Why on earth do you want to go to the hospital? Your inventive skills would be better served here with the toes,” said Soren. “Plus, it’s dangerous. We don’t know what they’ll need to do at the hospital. What if someone sees you?”

“I know it’s dangerous, but… I think Theo is still at the hospital, and I want to go see him. If Ashlynn is going, I want to make sure I say good-bye to Theo if I’m not going to see him again,” explained Rey, his pale blue eyes shining in the morning light. “I promise I’ll be safe and I’ll be with Ashlynn the whole time. Please, Soren.”

Soren paused and thought about it. He knew being with Ashlynn would keep him safe, but he still felt unnerved. Last night’s events rattled him, and he wanted nothing more than to refuse his brother in the name of keeping him safe.

At the same time, Rey was brave and had proven himself time and again. If there were trials to becoming a man, Rey would have surpassed any expectations with flying colors time and time again. The teen had a determined look in his eyes, and Soren knew that it was time for him to ease up and let his brother make his own decisions.

It made a lump form in Soren’s throat. He imagined what his own father would have said if he saw the man he became, and now he was able to voice that to his brothers.

“If you feel like you need to, then I don’t think I have the right to stop you,” said Soren. “As always, be safe and keep your wits about you. I’ll be here when you get back.”

There was something in Rey and Dorian’s eyes as they looked at their older brother, like an insightful confusion. Did they realize what he was saying? Or were they trying to figure it out.

Whatever the case, the decision was made.

“Well, I’ll get going. I’m going to go get the list from my dad,” chimed in Hero. “I… well… wish Theo the best from me, okay?”

“Wait,” called Rey as Hero made his way to the secure line on the sofa. “You can come with me, if you want. You can ask your dad, but… you can also meet Theo. Last time… didn’t go quite as planned.”

Hero smiled and rolled his shoulders, a thoughtful, toothless grin on his face.

“True, but there are a lot of Borrowers in need of help. I need to do my runs and help them first,” replied Hero. “Maybe I’ll get a chance to meet him one of these days. Until then, I’ll be here to help.”

The boys exchanged nods before Hero slipped off of the edge of the sofa.

For the next twenty or so minutes, Rey fixed up his gear while Soren helped Mayzie get ready for the day and Dorian sat and contemplated some lyrics. He had an idea inspired by the night before, and he wanted to make sure he had everything written down as accurately as possible.

When Ashlynn returned with all of the totes, she set them all out and gathered the supplies everyone would need to make the interior comfortable before turning to leave. Rey’s request to tag along was a bit of a surprise, but his persuasion to say good-bye was something Ashlynn felt like she couldn’t deny.

Promising she would take care of the teenage Borrower boy, the two of them left.

Ashlynn felt a little odd bringing Rey, not Soren, along with her. She knew the teenage boy would listen and pay attention to his surroundings so he wouldn’t be seen, but it didn’t stop her little touch of anxiety as she walked to her car and drove down to the hospital.

Just as the officer told her, she was able to get the necessary pictures and a quick check-up to make sure nothing else was damaged because of her confrontation with Austin the night before.

“You’ll experience some swelling, and it will take some time for the bruises to go away, but that’s only natural. Here’s some topical medication to help with the bruises, and here’s some ointment to help with the swelling. If you need anything else, don’t hesitate to let us know. We’ll make sure your photos get to the police department as soon as possible as well as your attorney when you provide that information,” said the doctor.

“Actually,” said Ashlynn as she glanced over at her purse. When she was waiting, Rey took a second to slip out of her purse and glanced around at all of the machines and cabinets. Now that she was with the doctor, she could barely see the teenage Borrower peering out from behind her wallet as he watched them. “I have a friend who is actually staying here in the hospital. Would it be possible to see if he’s still here or if he was discharged?”

“Sure. What’s his name?” asked the doctor.

“Theodore Wilkins,” said Ashlynn. “I’ve been meaning to come and visit him.”

“Ah, yes,” acknowledged the doctor. “His sister was brought here earlier for a visit. He’s up in room five seventy-two. Make sure to get a visitor’s badge and you’ll be able to see him for a little while. He’s got physical therapy in about thirty minutes.”

“Great, thank you,” Ashlynn said as she snagged her purse and headed to the front desk. She knew Rey must have questions, and Theo would have even more of them, but she had to be quick. They needed to get back.

She filled out the proper paperwork, saying she was a family friend, before she was given a pass and allowed up the elevator to the right floor.

In no time, they were there.

“Let’s go,” Ashlynn breathed before knocking lightly on the slightly ajar door. “Hello? Anyone home?”

“Hello?” replied a voice. Rey was absolutely certain that it was Theo’s voice. Excitement filled him as he felt the bag shift and heard the door click. “Oh… um… sorry, but I think you might have the wrong room.”

“You’re Theo, right?” asked Ashlynn. Rey felt himself getting jittery. How was Theo doing? He hadn’t been able to talk to him after he arrived here at the hospital.

“Um… yeah, but…”

“Then I’m in the right room,” said Ashlynn. “We have a friend in common, I think. You know Rey, right?” Rey heard the door shut behind them and saw Ashlynn’s hand rest parallel to the top of her purse.

It was his cue.

Rey pushed himself up using Ashlynn’s wallet and snagged the top of the purse. He lifted himself out onto Ashlynn’s hand. Sure enough, there was Theo. He was sitting up in bed and his eyes were wide with surprise. He had his blanket over his legs and thankfully was only hooked up to a heart monitoring machine.

“Rey?!” said Theo in absolute disbelief. He pushed himself up further in the bed and glanced from between Ashlynn to Rey. “Wait, you’re Ashlynn, right? The woman who helped get in contact with the family friends who are looking after Bells.”

“Yeah, that’s me,” smiled Ashlynn. “I happened to be in the area and Rey here said he wanted to see you. I can’t necessarily leave, but I’m just going to be over here looking out the window while you two have a little chat. Okay?”

With that, Ashlynn stepped closer to the bed and gently set the back of her hand against the sheets. Rey noticed the closer they got that something looked a bit off in the way Theo looked. He was a little bit paler, sure, but something just didn’t seem right. Rey looked across the sheets and saw how the blankets were arranged.

“Rey! It’s so good to see you, man,” said Theo as he readjusted again and stared down at Rey. The Borrower teen decided he would just ask Theo about it later. It was probably a trick of the eyes anyway.

“Same to you. How are you feeling? What actually happened after they took you? What were you sick with?” asked Rey.

“Oh, that.” Something in Theo’s tone changed subtly as he looked between Rey and where his blankets were bundled up. “Well, the doctors told me it was sepsis. Apparently when dad got angry and started throwing those nasty bottles at my wheelchair, I got cut pretty badly by the broken glass. Since I don’t really have feeling in my legs, I didn’t really notice anything except for the cuts.

“I got that all cleaned up, but it was more serious than I thought. The infection spread into a whole blood thing and… well… they ended up having to… well….” Theo pulled down the blankets to reveal the bandages on his legs and how they abruptly ended at his knees. Rey looked in shock at the sight.

“What… what happened?” he asked as he looked up at his friend.

“Amputated. It makes sense since I can’t use them, but it’s still a shock,” muttered Theo. “I have physical therapy which actually seems to be helping. Whatever they did during the operation apparently stimulated something in my spine and now… well… watch this.”

Theo concentrated and his leg lifted ever so slightly. He breathed deeply and did it once again, and this time it was a little higher.

“Woah, that’s great!” breathed Rey. “So, you might actually be able to walk again?”

“Maybe,” smiled Theo. “It’s a huge motivator at least. Also, making sure Bells is taken care of. Now that I’m eighteen, I have full custody over her. Dad’s furious, but thankfully my friends were able to go and snag my stuff from the apartment before he had the chance to throw it all away.”

“That’s a relief, especially for your business and stuff. Your inventions were in there,” Rey stated.

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” sighed Theo. “The only thing now is finding a place to live with decent rent and easy access for my wheelchair while I do this whole physical therapy thing.”

Rey couldn’t believe it. Theo was finally out of that house, but now he had nowhere to go.

“Anyway, what’s new with you?” asked Theo. “How have you all been? Any new inventions you need to bounce around?”

“Well, you’re not going to believe this,” said Rey. He then told Theo about the events of last night. He told him about how the community was found and how Austin had found them. He told him about how Ashlynn managed to fight off Austin and how they were all currently in the process of moving out of the apartment complex and into a home – a real home.

“You’ve got to be excited!” grinned Theo. “Seriously, that’s exciting for you. Hey, maybe, if Ashlynn says it’s okay, we could come and visit you. I mean, Bells wouldn’t need to see you, but I could… maybe.”

Then, right then, Rey had an idea. He had kept his apprehensions and desires to stay for the sake of his friends a secret up until that point, telling only Hero that he felt like staying. Now that the community was moving and Hero was coming with them, why couldn’t Theo do the same thing?

Spinning on his heel, he whipped around to see Ashlynn looking out the window.

“Ashlynn! Can I ask you something really quick?” shouted Rey. “I just had an idea. Please?”

Ashlynn, who was enjoying the sunshine and the view, looked at the Borrower teen curiously and approached, kneeling to better see Rey.

“What is it?” she asked. Then, in a lower voice, Rey brought his sudden idea.

“Ashlynn, I just had a thought. Do… well… do you think Theo could come and live with us?” asked Rey quietly so that Theo, who was sitting nearby, couldn’t really hear. Ashlynn’s brows furrowed in concern as she glanced at the young adult boy and then back to her small companion.

“Rey…”

“Ashlynn, he needs a place to live. He knows the secret and can just live downstairs in the basement. It has that wheelchair ramp, and no one would have to know about us Borrowers. We can live in the attic and on the main floor,” argued Rey. “Just, think about it? Theo is my friend, and he is a good guy. Plus, he’s an inventor. He’s going to start up his business and it would be a great place for us to work together. We could be partners making things for Borrowers.”

Ashlynn glanced at Theo and then back to Rey. Theo stared at them curiously, but didn’t dare interrupt. Something about Rey’s plea seemed to resonate with Ashlynn. Memories of needing a home flashed through her mind before she was back looking at Rey.

“Theo? You told Rey you needed a place to live. How about you and I exchange numbers and talk about some options, yeah?” asked Ashlynn. The boys exchanged excited glances and Theo nodded.

“Y-yeah, absolutely. Do you know of a place? Are you subletting your apartment? I promise I can pay my own way,” said Theo.

“Like I said, let’s talk about options,” restated Ashlynn as she gave Rey a subtle bump on his shoulder with her index finger. As Ashlynn scribbled down her number and Theo wrote down his, they all nearly jumped out of their skin as there was a knock at the door before it swung open.

Rey, thinking fast, leapt into Ashlynn’s purse which was on her hip as the nurse came in.

“Sorry, but we have to take Mr. Wilkins. Visiting hours resume first thing tomorrow morning,” said the nurse.

“Sure thing. Well, Theo, we’ll be in touch,” said Ashlynn as she glanced down at Rey, who gave her a thumbs-up, before the two of them headed out of the room.

“Talk to you soon!” Theo called as Ashlynn and Rey departed.

The drive back was filled with discussion about whether or not Theo should be invited to live with Ashlynn and the whole Borrower community. Rey put up a fair argument that the basement could be segmented off and that Theo and Bella, his little sister, wouldn’t need to be in contact with the rest of the family. It would give them a variety of borrowings and it would let Rey have an inventive friend nearby.

Ashlynn wanted to help Rey’s friend, but she ultimately ended up compromising in that the community would also have to agree or, at the very least, be informed before they let someone new into their inner circle.

It was the least that could be done.

With that agreement, Rey decided he would be the one to take it to the others in the community, letting them know another human who knew about Borrower existence would be staying with them.

At least, he would let them know after the move. There was a lot to consider, and now was not the time for this discussion.

When they arrived home, Ashlynn knocked and gave the Borrowers inside plenty of time to hide or get back under cover. When she and Rey entered, however, she found that wasn’t the case. Many of them did hide, but some stayed and were still working as they fixed the boxes in preparation for their move.

It was an odd sensation, seeing other Borrowers out and about in her apartment, but it felt like a step in the right direction.

It was a demonstration of trust and the beginning of a new union between the Borrower community and humans.

~~~^*^*^~~~

When evening came, many of the Borrowers were already settled inside Ashlynn’s room. Ashlynn once again was resigned to the couch, but that was going to be alright. The next day, moving began.

Hero and the other Rafters spread the word that the Borrowers were going to move into the home first. It would give them time to settle in and claim different areas of the house. Based on their discussions, the Borrowers would most likely take the attic so they would have easy access to the roof and the doors and panels that were loose that Soren and his brothers found when they were visiting the house.

All in the home slipped into a deep, uninterrupted sleep; everyone, that is, except for Soren.

After the recent events, he knew he needed to do it. It was nerve wracking, but he knew what Ashlynn would say.

The original plan was far more elegant, but this new plan hatched in the darkness of twilight was more him – more them.

The next morning was the big day. Borrower families carefully and quietly filed into the boxes which were disguised from the outside with clothes Ashlynn wasn’t wearing or bits of paper and books that wouldn’t shift around.

“I’ll make sure to move slowly and give a warning before I lift the boxes or anything. It’s not that far, okay?” said Ashlynn as she looked at the totes in front of her door. She knew she was talking to the Borrowers inside, but it still felt odd talking out loud to what looked like five long boxes of clothes and supplies.

Ashlynn went over the checklist in her head once again. Keys. Wallet. Phone. New house keys. Bag of supplies to help everyone get started. Food. Building materials. Last thing was to check and make sure the boys and Mayzie were tucked away in the crates or her bag and they would be ready to go.

Ashlynn looked over and saw both Dorian and Rey resting on the edge of her purse which was on the table. The only two faces she didn’t see were Soren and Mayzie, but it wasn’t hard to figure out where they were.

Soren was standing on the coffee table next to the couch with Mayzie, a thoughtful smile on his face as he held his daughter.

“Hey, ready to go?” asked Ashlynn as she walked over and knelt, offering her hand for Soren to step on.

“Actually, Mayzie is about ready for her nap. If she doesn’t sleep, she’s going to get cranky. I might just hang back and let you all go,” said Soren. Ashlynn glanced over at Mayzie, who was indeed drooping over his shoulder. Still, Ashlynn was a little confused. Mayzie wasn’t usually cranky and was very good at sleeping anywhere at any time. Moving into this apartment last time wasn’t an ordeal, so why would now be?

Ashlynn sighed, knowing Soren probably had his reasons and just wanted some alone time, and gave him a thoughtful tap on his shoulder.

“Well, get some rest in yourself. You look a bit tired,” said Ashlynn.

“Speak for yourself,” Soren teased right back. Ashlynn knew she had to look like a wreck with her bruises.

“Ha ha Mr. Beauty Sleeper. We’ll see you when we get back then,” said Ashlynn. She leaned down and gave Soren a kiss before snagging her purse, Rey and Dorian slipping into position, before Ashlynn carefully moved the long, thin boxes out of her apartment.

The moment the door locked and Soren heard Ashlynn walking away, he moved quickly. He knew everything always took more time than what was anticipated, and he needed to make this as perfect as he could.

~~~^*^*^~~~

Ashlynn’s delivery went off without a hitch. Sure, there was a bit of unnerved silence from the back seat as she drove and made conversation with Dorian and Rey, but it dissipated once they were inside Ashlynn’s new home.

She set out all of the boxes and made sure the curtains were up before giving the knock signal to show the Borrowers they were alright.

“Okay, I plan on being back tomorrow afternoon for lunch and to bring over some more things. Take a look around and enjoy the place. I will ask that you don’t use any open flames. I have hand warmers, bread, cheese, and other sandwich making material. There are other materials like fabric for blankets, blades, and pins as well as flashlights and batteries. Enjoy your evening and I’ll be back tomorrow. Thanks,” said Ashlynn as she departed.

When she made it back in her car, she glanced down at Dorian and Rey who had poked their heads out of her purse. The two of them had been instrumental in getting everyone settled, and they looked reassuringly at Ashlynn.

“Don’t worry, they’ll be alright. We Borrowers aren’t prone to setting fires without the utmost caution. If anyone does start a fire, they won’t set your place on fire,” said Dorian. Ashlynn sighed and looked up at the ceiling of her car.

“Easy for you to say. At the very least, I hope insurance will cover anything if it happens,” muttered Ashlynn, who knew she would be on the hook if anything were to go awry with the place they were about to call home.

On the drive back, Rey asked about insurance and what it actually was. Ashlynn had a bit of a trick trying to explain what it was and what it was supposed to do, but she thought she did a good enough job in the end.

They pulled into the parking garage and, with the boys secure, pulled her purse over her shoulder and headed back into the building. The apartment complex was aglow with the light of the setting sun. It was promising to be a beautiful sunset, and it was almost a shame to go inside instead of stopping and watching the sunset.

Ashlynn decided she’d watch it once she brought the boys inside so they could fill in Soren. Next task was making her bed back and then getting dinner started before packing.

The list of things to do was running rampant in Ashlynn’s head, and it continued to do so all the way up the elevator and into her apartment.

Ashlynn walked two steps into her home, carefully setting her purse down so Rey and Dorian could climb out, when she noticed something on the main table.

It was a lit candle, and next to the candle was Soren. He was wearing something different than before. It wasn’t his usual brown pants and green shirt outfit. Instead, it was a white shirt and what looked like dark navy pants.

How long had Soren been working on this?

Ashlynn glanced around and noticed Mayzie was asleep on the nearby couch, but Soren looked presentable. Even his hair was slicked back.

“Soren? What’s up? Decide to get spiffy tonight?” asked Ashlynn. From her purse, she heard two faint giggles, and that’s when she knew the two Borrower teens had an idea of what was going on.

“Ashlynn, I… you look lovely tonight,” he said. His eyes were shining with adoration.

Curiously and cautiously, Ashlynn approached the table and knelt.

“Soren, what is all of this about?” Ashlynn asked as she placed her hand on the table. Soren, obviously nervous, stepped forward. His heart was pounding a million miles a minute, but something was keeping him motivated. He wasn’t shying away from whatever it was that he was nervous about.

“Ashlynn, I… I don’t think I ever told you how much you mean to me. From the moment we met to now, I don’t think I ever say enough how wonderful you really are,” said Soren. He looked down and then looked back up into Ashlynn’s blue-gray eyes. “I know we had a rough start, and everything after that has been a whirlwind adventure, but I wouldn’t change it for the world.

“When you told me how you felt, when you thought I was asleep or that I couldn’t hear you, I didn’t think I could be that happy again. I thought my heart was full once, and that the damage it endured would leave me part of what I was; but, when you came back, that all changed,” said Soren. Ashlynn’s eyes widened as she watched Soren step away back behind the candle and bring out something wrapped in tissue paper.

“Soren,” Ashlynn breathed.

“It’s different, but so are we and everything else we’ve done together – and I wouldn’t have it any other way. Taking the next steps forward, I… I want to do that with you…”

Soren kneeled and held out the circular tissue wrapped object. Absolutely choked on emotion, Ashlynn dared to reach forward to pinch the object and lift it from Soren’s hands. He kept his eyes averted and, to her, looked like a kneeling knight.

That’s what he was to her. A knight in shining armor who saved her in more ways than one.

Fingers trembling, Ashlynn unwrapped the object and gasped softly as a beautiful ring was revealed.

“Soren.” Ashlynn was at a complete loss of words. Everything in her was buzzing, electrified with the energy of the moment.

“Ashlynn, would you marry me?”

Speed couldn’t comprehend how quickly Ashlynn moved as she leaned forward and tackled Soren, kissing him as she pressed him into her cupped palm which was instantaneously right behind him. They remained unparted for countless moments before Ashlynn pulled away, tears of joy streaming down her face.

“Yes! Absolutely, yes,” she said over and over as she carefully maneuvered the ring onto her finger while keeping Soren cupped in her hand. She lifted Soren up and the two of them touched foreheads, Soren tilting his head back ever so slightly to kiss her, before letting it all sink in.

It was official – they chose to be bound forever.

The evening was blissful and filled with discussions and dreams of the future. Rey and Dorian, grinning from ear to ear, gave Soren and Ashlynn the night off from watching Mayzie as they decided to watch movies after dinner. Whatever the future was going to bring, they knew they could do it together. The sun would rise on them tomorrow, and with it a new future.

~~~~~^*^*^*^*^~~~~~

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anglophiletraveler · 4 months

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Chapter 33

Don’t Let Me Down

Written by John Lennon

*****

This is a shorter chapter written to be a transition chapter to keep the story of our favourite couple going. Thanks once again to my wonderful friend and beta, Karen Bockius. And thank you to the readers for all of your support. It is much appreciated.

*****

Demelza heard a knock on the door and answered it to find Caroline with a big smile on her face, and a large tote bag carrying goodness knows what!!

“Caroline! Come on in, I’m so excited to see you!” The two friends gave each other a big hug.

“Hello darling, how are you? I hope that you’re as excited about this wedding as I am!” Caroline set down her heavy bag.

Demelza was staring at the bag, “What on earth did you bring? It looks like you’ve shoplifted the magazine section of the grocery store!”

“Well, we do have a lot of work to do, don't we? What kind of a maid of honour would I be if I didn’t help you get started looking at bridal magazines? We must take notes, and possibly cut out articles and pictures that we want to keep.”

Demelza was a little confused, “Then what do we do with the articles and pictures?”

Caroline shook her head and rolled her eyes, “What on earth am I going to do with you? To make a scrapbook of course! Of anything that catches your eye. That way we or rather you, can get an idea of what type of wedding you’d like to have.”

“You make it sound simple,” Demelza replied.

“This is the fun part! Before all of the stress takes over,” Caroline said.

Demelza furrowed her brows, “Have you ever planned a wedding before?”

“Well of course, I haven’t planned my wedding, but I’ve helped a few friends and some cousins plan their weddings.” Caroline pulled out a giant three-ring binder with blank pages in it. Demelza thought for sure there was a spotlight on the binder and music playing when Caroline pulled it from the bag! The front of the binder in pretty lettering spelled out ‘Demelza and Ross’s Wedding’. “And look what I brought! I didn’t decorate the cover because I thought you might want to do that, and of course, we don’t know a date yet. So this will help you gather your thoughts. You can write in it, make notes, scrapbook in it with pictures, and keep memories as you go along in your wedding planning journey.”

Caroline handed the binder carefully to Demelza like it was the original Bible! Demelza took it gently from her with big eyes. The empty pages felt intimidating. Demelza had no clue what to do with it. She’s never been part of a wedding before, she’s attended a few and had actually played at quite a few, but really had no clue what to do with this giant binder or what to do first.

The girlfriends made themselves comfortable on the couch with tea and biscuits close at hand. Caroline pulled out a couple more magazines, “Now I know that you really have no idea what to do first, and I can help you with that, or you can do it on your own. That’s fine if you do. I brought a few of the magazines that seem to be pretty helpful in guiding brides what to do and when. They’re called The Knot.”

Demelza chuckled, “Seriously? ‘The Knot’?”

“I know right? Catchy. But they really do seem to be full of good ideas. And of course, they have a website. Have you and Ross talked about any wedding plans at all, or maybe a date?”

“No, not really. I reckon we should start doing something? We’re just so busy right now. He’s been working a lot of hours transitioning over to his new division, and I’ve been either in my private lessons or at the music hall. I don’t know what I’m going to do if we decide to have the wedding before his mother’s surgery.” Demelza was getting anxious by the second.

Caroline could tell Demelza was getting worried. “Well don’t let it worry you too much. Something that I did think of, is what venue you could use. I checked with my uncle and he said that he would be delighted if you’d like to have the wedding and reception at his home. That way it could all be held in one place and you wouldn’t have to worry about a thing! And it could be as simple or as grand as you’d want!”

“Oh Caroline! That would be wonderful! I’ve always loved your uncle’s home and it’s a place that I’m comfortable with! But I’ll need to talk it over with Ross.”

“Of course. In the meantime, let’s look at these dresses before I drop you off at the music hall,” Caroline smiled.

*******************************

Jenny was about ready to go home for the night and walked in to see if Ross was ready to go home as well. But by the look of things, Ross was knee deep in boxes. “Ross, it’s time to go home.”

Ross turned around and gave Jenny a weak smile, “Oh I don’t know Jenny. Maybe I’ll just stay until it’s time to pick up Demelza.”

“Ross, that's two and a half hours yet! Why don’t you go home and rest before you pick her up?” Jenny said.

Ross moved some files so that he could sit down, “I can’t believe there’s so much stuff here leftover from the last bunch of blokes. Oh hell Jenny I don’t know. I’m so tired of boxes and files, but I’m afraid that if I go home I’ll fall asleep and be late picking Demelza up.”

“You need to start letting her take the tube home, or better yet teach that woman how to drive!” Jenny felt bad for her boss doing all of this running around for Demelza.

“No, I don't like her riding the tube that late at night. And actually she does want to learn to drive when the good weather is here to stay. Oh, I think I’m just going to stay here for a while longer, I’ll see you tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure Ross. See you tomorrow,” Jenny walked out of the office. Jenny was starting to feel frustrated with Ross driving Demelza all over London. It’s not fair. He does so much for her, and she doesn’t do a damn thing for Ross! If he were my boyfriend I’d … stop it Jenny. He’s not your boyfriend. Get over it. At least she’s not Elizabeth! Jenny stepped onto the elevator and headed home.

**************************

Ross had worked until it was time to pick up Demelza. He was on a roll of getting things done and just stuck with it. To his delight he was able to get most of the files put away, making less work for them in the morning. He was now sitting in his car in the parking lot at the music hall, waiting for Demelza, with his head leaning against the window, his eyes closed. Demelza saw through the window that Ross was probably asleep, his mouth hanging open. She quietly opened the door and got into the car. She nudged Ross a little bit to wake him, he startled awake and saw Demelza, “Oh shit. Demelza, are you done?”

Demelza gave him an understanding smile, “Time to go home Ross. Have you been at the office all this time?”

Ross cleared his throat, “Uh, yeah. But I finally got almost all of the move done, so it was worth it,” Ross’s eyes were droopy and his voice sounded tired, “Are you hungry? We could pick something up on the way home.”

“Well, I am hungry, but I could always find something at home if you just want to go home,” Demelza said.

Ross placed his hand on Demelza’s “I don't mind stopping. I know your appetite. Chinese?”

“Yes Ross.”

********************************

A tired Ross and Demelza were getting out of the car when Ross stopped dead in his tracks, “fuck!”

Demelza stopped beside him, “Ross, what’s wrong?”

“Oh shit, I wasn’t thinking while working so late at the office that Seamus probably needs to get outside! I hope he didn’t make a mess in the house. Damnit!” Ross said as he started to head into the house ahead of Demelza. He didn’t want her walking into a mess.

“Well, if he did, don’t yell at him, it’s not his fault,” Demelza said.

“I didn’t say it was Demelza! For Christ’s sake I’m not going to yell at him, it’s my fault,” Ross’s voice had an unusual terseness to it that caught Demelza by surprise. He opened the door and turned on the light. Seamus was sitting in the kitchen waiting for his master to come home. As soon as Demelza and Ross stood out of his way, Seamus raced outside. The couple was looking around for any signs that Seamus might have left them something but thankfully they didn’t see anything. Demelza put the Chinese on the table and started pulling the boxes of food out. Ross went back outside and closed the door behind him. It was chilly out in the dark night. The stars were hidden by cloud cover which made it seem colder. He plopped down in one of the lawn chairs and watched Seamus run around and stretch his legs. He finally came over to Ross for some attention, “I’m sorry buddy, I wasn’t thinking. I should’ve come home earlier and let you out. I got distracted.” Seamus licked Ross’s face in forgiveness. Ross was laughing at the kisses. Eventually Ross sighed, and got up and walked back inside.

Demelza wasn’t around when Ross came back inside, so he assumed she had already headed upstairs for the evening. He looked at his boxes of Chinese and decided his stomach wasn’t up for it and put it in the fridge. He grabbed a bottle of water, and also poured himself a bit of whiskey and drank it down and headed upstairs.

Demelza was sitting up in bed looking at a bridal magazine when Ross walked in, sat down and started taking off his clothes. Demelza couldn’t help but notice the grunting that Ross was making as he undressed. “You sound like an old man grunting over there.”

“Hmmm?” Ross climbed into bed.

“Did Seamus get all fed and watered and tucked in?” Demelza’s voice was now the one that was terse. She was flipping the pages of her magazine quickly enough that she couldn’t possibly be reading them.

Ross yawned and stretched his arm out, and mumbled something that she didn’t understand. “What ya readin?” Ross looked over Demelza’s shoulder and smiled, “Aww a bridal magazine, that’s nice love. Find anything interesting?” Ross was trying to peek at the magazine.

Demelza closed the magazine abruptly and slammed it down on her lap.

Ross’s eyes went wide and his mouth dropped in shock, “I’m sorry, I was just trying to take a look.” Ross went to put his hand on Demelza’s hand but she pulled it away. “Demelza, what’s wrong? Was it a bad night at rehearsal?”

Demelza let out a loud sigh, “You yelled at me Ross,” she sniffed but was fighting hard not to cry, “and I didn’t like it at all.”

Ross’s eyebrows came together, “When did I yell at you?”

“Just a little bit ago when we were coming into the house. You yelled at me about Seamus,” Demelza said.

Now Ross remembered what she was talking about. He pulled her into his arms, “Oh honey, I’m so sorry. I guess I didn’t even realise it. It’s been such a long day, and I was mad at myself for forgetting about Seamus and didn’t come home to let him out before picking you up. I’m sorry Demelza, I wasn’t mad at you.” Ross made another attempt to hold her hand again, giving her puppy dog eyes.

Demelza rolled her eyes, “Oh alright, how am I supposed to say no to that face.” She leaned in to kiss Ross and took his hand, which brought the sunshine back to Ross’s face.

“Sooo have you found anything interesting in your magazines?” Ross asked.

Demelza sighed, “No, not yet. I haven’t really given them my full attention since Caroline dropped them off earlier.”

Ross’s eyes widened again, “Caroline brought them over? That was nice of her.”

Demelza got her smile back, “Yes! She brought over quite a few magazines, and she actually made me this three ring binder with blank pages in it, where I can cut pictures out or write down thoughts …”

Ross interrupted, “What? A binder? I don’t understand. What are you supposed to write down in it?”

“Wellll, thoughts about the wedding of course! Silly! You know, what things we want to include in the wedding, how we want it to look like, themes, wedding dresses that I like, decorations.”

“Really? I’ve never heard of such a thing. Sounds kind of complicated. Do you have an…idea of a wedding dress?” Ross replied.

Demelza started flipping through the pages again, “No, not yet. I don’t know if we need to figure out where we’re going to have the wedding before I choose my dress. Oh Ross! I forgot to mention! Caroline has offered her uncle’s house to have our wedding and reception in! Isn’t that wonderful!”

Ross’s eyebrows grew together again, “Oh.”

“What? What’s wrong Ross?”

Ross was looking down at his hands, “I guess I just assumed we…would get married at Nampara.”

“Oh. I hadn’t thought about Nampara. Well, we don’t even know about a date yet, and when your mother’s surgery is…”

“Well, I have spoken with my father about that. Mama has a doctor appointment this Friday and he’s going to try to get a handle on that and what the doctor thinks is best,” Ross said.

Demelza was a little taken aback by this, “Oh, you didn’t tell me that you had spoken with your father.”

“I’m sorry, I meant to tell you but I couldn’t remember whenever I saw you. It’s hard right now. I wish we could carve out some time for each other during the week. By the time you get home, I’m tired, and then in the morning when I’m getting ready for work, you’re tired.”

Now Demelza’s eyebrows were knitted together, “Are you saying that you want me to quit the orchestra and my lessons?” Her voice raised.

“No Demelza! I’m not saying that at all! I’ve told you before that I don’t want you to quit your career, and I meant that! It’s just hard right now with all of the rehearsing that the orchestra is doing to get ready for the album, and with the audition of the next chair of the cello coming up, it’s all just a lot. I’m getting prepared to take over this new division so that’s a lot as well.” Ross let out a heavy sigh, “I’m sorry, love. I’m kind of new to living with someone and dealing with issues like this. And now we will soon start planning a wedding, something which I know absolutely nothing about.”

“Well, that makes two of us! I was never the girl who thought about weddings and wedding dresses while growing up. I was just trying to survive and get the hell out of the house. Today is the first time that I’ve ever looked at a bridal magazine. What about you?”

“I’ve never thought about wedding dresses either,” Ross cocked an eyebrow for a mischievous look.

Demelza pushed him, “You twat! I meant have you ever thought about what your wedding might be like? You were engaged to Elizabeth after all, so you must have thought about it.”

“Well, to be honest we didn’t get very far into the wedding planning when I found her in bed with my charming cousin. As far as thinking of what my wedding would look like? It’s not really a guy thing. Although, whenever I mentioned to Elizabeth about getting married at Nampara she would make a face at me.” Ross yawned again. “Not to be rude, but would you mind if I went to sleep, love?”

“No, I’m tired too.” A very loving good night kiss was exchanged and they both settled down under the covers after turning out the bedside lamps. They snuggled into their usual position of Ross wrapping his arms around Demelza with her back side pressed up against Ross’s chest. Ross had drifted off to sleep, and Demelza was almost there when she sat up all of a sudden and screamed, “LUNCH!”

Ross sat up dazed and confused from his sleep, “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you alright Demelza?”

“Lunch! That’s the solution Ross.”

“The solution to what? What are you talking about?”

“The solution to us never seeing each other! I could come over to your office and have lunch with you a couple of times during the week before my lessons,” Demelza was excited that she found an answer to their current problem.

Ross’s relieved shoulders sank back down, “Yes, Demelza, that is a very good idea. We’ll plan on it. Can we just go back to sleep, please?”

Demelza had a slight smile on her face, “Yes Ross.”

******************************

Demelza stood at the door to Ross’s new office, and in her sexiest voice said, “Well hey sexy fancy meetin you here!”

Ross turned around and got a big smile on his face, “Well, hello there! Come here often?”

Demlza laughed, “Not often enough. I’ve heard that there’s a very sexy banker that works here. Have you seen him?”

Ross got up and slinked over to Demelza, “Well, it just so happens, that I’ve thrown him out a window so that I can have you all to myself! So, why don’t you step into my office and I’ll take you for a spin on my new office chair!” Ross moved his eyebrows up and down trying to be all sexy.

Demelza burst out laughing at Ross and walked into his office so he could shut the door behind her. He grabbed her arm before she could escape from him and pulled her into a very deep, forceful kiss. Ross whispered into Demelza’s ear, “I’ve been looking forward to lunch all morning.”

Demelza giggled, “My, my aren’t you the frisky one. Better be careful that Mr. Tonkin doesn’t walk in on us,” She wrapped her arms around Ross’s neck to pull him down for another kiss. She felt Ross’s hands on her back side bringing a moan from Demelza, then she realised where they were and she pulled away, “Ross, darling we can’t!”

Ross let out a big sigh, “Oh, I know, I know. Sorry. I’m just feeling a little bit…” Ross’s mobile phone rang, “saved by the bell,” Ross smiled. He looked at the screen, “Hello da, how are you?”

“Hello Ross, did I catch you at a bad time?”

“No, not at all. In fact Demelza is here with me for lunch,” Ross said. Joshua chuckled. Ross raised an eyebrow, “What’s so funny?”

“You, calling it lunch. That’s what your mother and I used to call it back in the day.”

“Ewwww da, I do not want to hear about yours and mother’s sexual escapades!” Ross replied.

Demelza got a scandalous look on her face.

Ross smiled at his fiance’, “well now that you’ve completely freaked out Demelza, is there a point to this call? And I’ve got you on speaker.”

Joshua chuckled again, “Oh I’m sorry Demelza, I didn’t mean to shock you. Anyway, we went to your mother’s oncologist appointment today…”

“And?”

“And, the doctor suggested that you have the wedding before the surgery, but of course it’s up to the two of you if you want to hurry up and plan a wedding, or take your time and have it later after the surgery. The doctor is planning on the surgery for two months from now. Your mother is upset about all of it. She wants to be a part of the planning, but of course that’s all up to the two of you and where you want to have the wedding.”

Ross looked at Demelza to see if he could tell what her feelings were, but she wasn’t showing her hand right now.

“Ross? Are you there?” Joshua asked.

“Yes dad we’re here. Is mum hoping that the ceremony is at Nampara?” Ross asked.

Demelza rolled her lips to bite on them in anticipation of Joshua’s answer.

“She did mention that, Ross, but this is your wedding. You two decide on where you want to have it. It would be nice to at least have it down here in Cornwall so that your mother does tire out too much. But like I said, it’s your wedding,” it was obvious that Joshua was stuck in the middle. He knew how much it would mean to Grace to have the wedding of their surviving son at their home.

Demelza cleared her throat, “Caroline’s uncle has also offered us to have the wedding and reception at his home. That way everything could be in one place, and there wouldn’t be much planning to do.”

“Well that’s very generous of him, and it would certainly be a lovely venue for your wedding. Well, I’m going to get going here. I need to go pick up a prescription for your mother. We’ll talk soon,” Joshua said.

“Alright dad, we’ll talk later,” Ross replied. He looked up at Demelza. “So what do you want to do? I guess the first thing to decide on is if we want to have the wedding before the surgery, or wait?”

Demelza was biting her thumb nail, something she rarely did. “I think we should have the wedding before the surgery. But I also think we should have it at Killewarren.”

Ross blew a big sigh and ran his hands over his face. “I was afraid you were going to say that about Killewarren.”

“Ross it will be so much easier on Grace and on us if we have it there, plus we can have more guests if we have it at Killewarren. I don’t have much family, but I do have friends that I want to invite, and you do too. Not to mention business associates. If we have it at Nampara, we would have to use a tent for everything, and that’s something I really don’t want to do,” Demelza explained her side of things.

“Is that you talking or is that Caroline talking?”

“Ross!! I can’t believe you just said that to me! I haven’t even talked with Caroline since the other day. Don’t you think I can make a decision on my own without Caroline? I…”

There was a knock on the door. Jenny interrupted, “Ross your lunch is here. Do you want me to bring it in here?”

“Uh yeah Jenny, thanks. Why don’t you go on to lunch as well, yeah?” Ross told Jenny.

“Sure, sounds good. Congratulations on your engagement Demelza. You must be very excited. I know I would be.” Jenny said.

Demelza gave Jenny a smile, “Thank you Jenny. Yes we’re very excited. Have a good lunch.”

“Aye. Ross, call me if you need me to come back sooner. Ta.” Jenny turned around and left the couple with their lunch. She had heard their voices raise just before she knocked on the door which made her wonder if there was trouble in paradise.

Ross let out a big sigh and sat down at his desk, “Look Demelza, I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said that earlier about Caroline. Of course you can make a decision without Caroline. I don’t want things to be tense between us. Can we agree to just try to keep things simple since we don’t have time to plan a royal wedding?”

Demelza sat on the couch and started pulling their lunch out of bags, “Yes, I think we can definitely agree on that. It sounds like the album recording is going to be after your mother’s surgery, so at least we don’t have to worry about the actual recording itself.”

“Well, that’s one good thing. I imagine that you’d like to hire some of your friends from the orchestra to play at the ceremony?” Ross asked.

Demelza started eating her sandwich, “Well, there’s a line there. Is it tacky to ask my friends to play? I’ll have to ask around and see how people would feel about it. I mean we would pay them to play, naturally. Do you think we should hire a wedding planner?”

Ross tucked into his lunch and was thinking about the question. “Well, would that insult Caroline? You don’t want to hurt her feelings.”

“Well, I guess I’ll have to ask her point blank on that one. I don’t want her overwhelmed either.” Demelza’s phone buzzed with a text. She took a moment to look at it. “Well, here we go.”

“Who is it?”

“Frank. He said the maestro just announced the cellist audition for next Wednesday.” Demelza’s face turned white as she put her hand over her heart. “Fuck. It’s all too much!”

Ross could see she was about to lose it. Her breathing was getting faster, he joined her on the couch quickly, and placed her hand into his, “Demelza look at me. Breathe in, breathe out. Come on, do it with me. We’ve done this before. It’s okay, my love, you’re alright.” Demelza was breathing along with Ross. “Demelza, look at me. Forget about anything to do with the wedding until after the audition next week, alright? Do what you need to do to get yourself ready for the audition. If there’s a practise room somewhere that I need to hire for you just let me know. And I can hire a driver to take you wherever you want to go until after the audition.”

Demelza looked at Ross like a dewy eyed doe, “Oh Ross I can’t let you do all of that.”

“I insist Demelza. This audition is very important. I can’t help you play, but I can make arrangements to help make life easier for you while you prepare. I’ll do the shopping this weekend and the cooking, and make sure Seamus and I stay out of your way. Whatever you need, please just let me know, alright? And no talk of wedding plans,” Ross raised his hand to brush a loose curl from her eyes.

Demelza grabbed him for a hug, “Oh Ross, I’m so sorry for being so cross with you lately. I don’t deserve you.”

Ross softly chuckled in Demelza’s ear, “Hey now, no apologies necessary. I think we’ve both been a little on edge lately. You just worry about kicking ass at that audition, and being the best cellist that you can be, alright?” Ross leaned back to look at Demelza, “I love you, and I believe in you and your ability. And I’m going to be right there by your side, every step of the way.” Ross took Demelza’s face in both of his hands to gently kiss her forehead, her eyes, her cheeks, her nose, and finally her lips. The two separated and rested their foreheads against each other. Ross sighed and smiled as Demelza’s phone started to blow up. “I believe you know what all of that is about?”

Demelza looked at the phone, “Yep. That would be James. I suppose that I better get home and get ready for rehearsal. Sorry that our lunch date was cut short.”

Ross smiled and shook his head, “It’s quite alright. It was for a good reason. C’mon, let’s go get you a cab home. Why don’t you take the rest of your sandwich with you, maybe you can eat it later.”

“Good idea. You could finish yours as well,” Demelza stood up to get her things together.

Ross straightened his tie and ran his hand through his hair, “You ready to go, love?”

Demelza smiled at him, straightening his tie, “Yes, I guess so.” She placed her hand on his chest and leaned up for another kiss.

“Okay, I’ll walk you downstairs to get a cab,” Ross opened the door for her. Jenny was standing outside of Ross’s office door when he opened it. “Oh hi Jenny, I wasn’t expecting you back so soon. I’m going to walk Demelza downstairs to get a cab and then I’ll be back.”

“Oh the tube station is just half a block away, that would be cheaper,” Jenny piped in.

“Oh I could just do that Ross…” Demelza said.

Ross’s eyes widened at Jenny, “No Jenny, please! Demelza, I want you to take a cab. It will be quicker and you’ll be able to get home and do what you need to do for rehearsal and find out more about the audition,” Ross said emphatically. Demelza saw the look on Ross’s face and then looked at Jenny whose face was flushed from Ross’s words. Ross took a breath. “So Demelza, do you have everything together?

Demelza’s eyes were wide, and she answered him in a soft voice, “Yes, love, I’m ready to go whenever you are.”

“Right. Jenny, I’ll be back in a moment,” Ross grabbed Demelza’s hand and led her to the elevator.

Ross and Demelza stepped into the elevator, the doors closing behind them. Ross noticed Demelza was looking at him, “What?”

“Um, well, maybe it’s just me, but I think Jenny has a thing for you. I’ve suspected before but the way she looked at me today, I’m pretty sure. Has she said anything to you?”

Ross sighed, and ran his hand across his face, “I had an inkling. I was hoping I was just imagining things. What should I do?”

The elevator door opened and they stepped out. “I don’t know Ross. I guess just make sure you don’t encourage her feelings. I’ll think about it and we can talk about it over the weekend, but right now I need to get a cab.”

“Yeah, you’re right. I see one over there, let’s go grab it.” Ross waved at the cab to make sure it didn’t drive off.

Ross opened the car door for Demelza, “Look, I’ll pick you up later tonight, and then maybe we can go have a drink or something. Unwind a bit,” Ross reached in the window to give the driver instructions on where to go and paid him.

“That sounds wonderful!” Demelza gave Ross a kiss and got in the cab.

Ross waved them off and then turned around and looked at his building. He couldn’t help but think about Jenny and what he should do, or if he should do anything. He’s never been in this kind of situation before and he didn’t want to mess it up. He let out a big sigh and headed back into the building.

*******************************

I have to admit, finding titles for the chapters has forced me to remember Beatles songs that I’ve forgotten about and it’s also been fun learning about how they were written and the story behind the song. I chose this song for this chapter because as Ross and Demelza go forward in their relationship, and now planning a wedding, things or people will no doubt get in their way just like any other couple. Demelza has worked hard for her career and Ross plans on supporting her in it, but what about children? To have children or not to have children? Where is the wedding going to take place? Is there going to be a woman from Ross’s past to throw a monkey wrench into the couple?

#aidan turner #modernpoldark #poldark #ross poldark #six sentence sunday #work in progress #demelza carne #eleanor tomlinson #demelza poldark

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