#anytime I think maybe I’ll share something my brain goes oh hey remember this???

[silvverhand]

sometimes I’m like “I should open up” and then my brain is like “here are 5000 examples of what has happened when you’ve done that” and I go “mmm yeah never mind”

#if I have learned anything it is that I cannot fucking talk about my feelings because inevitably it’s the Wrong Choice #growing up I couldn’t do it cause I was the good kid who never complained and took care of herself #and my brothers were dicks about it anytime I tried to talk to them about stuff #and multiple friends over the years have just been like Yeah Lock That Up when I’ve tried #I was already afraid of it and then like my best friend at 18??? told me when she sent me a fuckin email about how she like #liked her life without me in it #that I talk about my feelings too much #and honestly if 2020 has cemented anything in my mind it’s that I cannot talk about my feelings #not sober anyway #but even when I’m drunk lmao it’s like 🥴 nobody cares homie stfu this is a You Problem #anytime I think maybe I’ll share something my brain goes oh hey remember this??? #and reminds me that someone told me ‘there’s nothing good I can say to this’ when I was really drunk and just wanted to vent #I don’t even know who it was cause I wiped my texts immediately and I was too drunk to remember who said it the next day but Ha Ha #that sure stuck #this blog was just meant to be fandom stuff wuh oh #sorry fellas #personal

[nctsworld]

fire alarm

✩ mark x reader | college au | fluff | 1.7k 

SUMMARY ⇾ when your dorm building’s fire alarm goes off in the middle of the night and everyone’s outside, you offer to share your blanket with your shivering, cute neighbour. WARNINGS ⇾ fluff, couple of swear words RATING ⇾ teen+ 

⇾ gif created by me, please don’t repost or share without credit!

You started to drift into deep sleep when the sudden blares of the dorm’s fire alarm stirs you awake. 

Your groans are muffled in your pillow, frustrated that this is probably another false alarm like usual. With heavy eyes, you rush to grab your phone and keys, stuff your feet into your shoes, and waddle among the crowd of students, departing the building with your blanket over your shoulders as a make-shift jacket.   

The moment you reach the front of the building where everyone safely coalesces, you glance at your phone as you tug at the ends of your blanket around your chest. 3:08am glows back at you, along with a couple other notifications. You barely get the chance to check them since the blatant chattering of teeth nearby catches your attention instead. 

Your gaze rests on the familiar figure a few steps beside you, rubbing his arms up and down while his legs tremble. Peering around, you realize you’re one of the few who brought more than a jacket for extra warmth during this chill, autumn night. On the other hand, he’s one of the few who hardly had any layers, solely wearing a baggy red t-shirt and a pair of boxers. 

His face swivels side to side, searching the crowd, and it dawns on you that it’s none other than your next door neighbour, Mark. 

His dorm room was to the left of yours. You’ve only interacted with him in passing, regularly acknowledging each other with casual nods and smiles. His sweet smile never failed to make your heart race and to make the corners of your mouth widen further. You didn’t know much about him, except for the fact he played guitar since you occasionally heard him play late at night. 

You always wanted to get to know him, but neither of you shared the same classes nor were you in the same clubs. To make matters worse, the only time you saw one another was when either of you were coming or going.

Perhaps now was the time to finally make a move. 

Lifting your blanket off the pavement, you shuffle your way towards him. As you near him, it clicks in your head that you didn’t initially recognize him because, besides the lack of clothes and the slightly messy hair, he’s wearing glasses to boot. 

“Hey, neighbour.”  

Mark stops his searching and his focus lands on you. The handsome individual steps closer to shorten the space between you, displaying his signature smile. You grip onto your blanket tighter and the weight of your shoulders droop, allowing your face to shyly sink into the sea of fabric covering you. 

The shivering man says your name and replies with a cool, “Hey.” 

“Do you want to share the blanket with me?” 

“Oh, no. It’s okay, I’m all right,” he stammers with a shake of his head, continuing to rub his arms.  

You perk an eyebrow and open one of your arms out, offering him the promise of warmth. 

Beaming, you say, “There’s enough room for another.”

His mouth twists to one side of his face, the gears in his head obviously turning. 

“Are you sure?”       

A hum, nod, and a grin answer his uncertainty. Mark swiftly grasps onto the end of the blanket and wraps himself over his shoulder. Although the heat from the front of your body flees due to the partial sacrifice of your cover, you’re now having an extra source of heat from being right next to Mark, touching shoulder to shoulder. 

“Thanks,” he bobs his head. “I appreciate it. I just bolted out of bed and didn’t think of even bringing a jacket.” 

“That’s okay, that’s why you have me,” you joke, swaying and pressing your shoulder lightly against his. 

Both of you chuckle softly. There’s something else to add to the list of things that are keeping you warm—the prickling rising from your chest to your cheeks. 

You then comment, “I’ve never seen you with glasses before. I almost didn’t recognize you.” 

“Ah, yeah, I wear contacts during the day. Depending on stuff, I sometimes wear my glasses, but not as often.” 

“Well, I think you look good either way.” 

Your eyes practically fall and roll away from your head, cognizant of the words that just escaped your mouth. 

“I mean—” You snap your eyes shut for an extended beat, not wanting to see the look on your next door crush’s face. “You know what, let’s just pretend I didn’t say that out loud.” 

Exhaling a lengthy sigh, you turn to face the opposite direction, now regretting your offer to share your blanket with him. 

Your regret leads you to miss the way his face lights up. 

“Hey, no, thanks for the compliment.” 

Under the blanket, his fingers gingerly graze over yours for a fleeting moment, which causes you to shift your head towards him again. The tips of your noses are almost touching. His twinkling eyes are locked on you, but yours are veering everywhere else except on him. 

“If it makes you feel any better, I think you look good too.” 

With that, your gaze finally lands on Mark.  

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” 

You want to continue the conversation, you really do, but you’re at a loss of words and are too busy getting lost in the galaxy of his eyes from up-close. From the way he’s not tearing his eyes away either, a little part of you wonders if he harbours an infatuation with you as well. He couldn’t possibly, right? 

Despite being practically strangers, the silent, intense aura blooms as time passes. Your respective breaths brush against each other’s lips and it’d be so easy to just lean in to meet the other’s—

Suddenly, the tension is cut short as everyone begins to sluggishly amble their way back into the building. 

Although nothing really transpired, you break apart simultaneously like someone caught you two doing something you shouldn’t. Mark lets you have your blanket all to yourself once more and both of you head back side by side in comfortable silence.  

After walking up the flight of stairs, trailing behind all the other residents of the building, you finally reach your respective doors. 

“It was nice to see you,” you say, pulling your keys out and inserting the fitting one into your lock. 

“Yeah, thanks for sharing your blanket with me. I really appreciate it.” 

“Anytime, neighbour,” you glance up at him from your hand. His whole body faces you and his mouth is agape like he’s itching to say something. On second thought, he presses his lips together and feels around his body for his keys. Realization hits him in the face. 

“Shit,” he bangs his forehead against the door, deterring you from entering your home abode. “I forgot my keys inside.” 

Mark turns to you with a scrunched face. Even in a state of frustration, how could someone be so cute? “Sorry to ask, but can I borrow your phone?” 

“Oh, yeah. Of course.” You don’t hesitate to scramble and hand it over to him. 

He mumbles a quick thanks, rubbing the back of his head. When he finishes entering a number to dial-in, he holds the phone against his ear and leans the side of head against his door, still facing you. You stand there awkwardly, eyes wavering between the adorable phone borrower and the handful of people in the hallway trickling back into their dorms. 

After the third unanswered ring, a bold offer impulsively escapes your lips.  

“You know, you can stay at my place overnight if you need to.” 

Oh, no. Shit. Why brain, why?

You don’t register your brazenness until the fifth ring, when Mark’s jaw is hanging and his eyebrows are glued to the ceiling. Okay, maybe you can save the moment by saying it was a joke or—

“Hello?” you overhear a muffled grumble on the other end. 

The shock dissolves away from his face. “Oh, hey. Sorry to wake you, Johnny. It’s Mark…” 

Utter embarrassment. This time, you can’t save yourself from your impetuous words. Millions of possibilities run through your mind, including abandoning your phone for him to keep and then moving to another building. No, moving to another college. Actually, Mars sounds like an even better idea. 

You’re so deep in your overdramatic thoughts, your face in a pinch behind your blanket, that you don’t even realize Mark’s already done with his call. 

“Thanks.” His voice breaks you away from your thoughts, eyelids shooting open. He must’ve stepped closer while you weren’t looking because he’s now in front of you, dangling your device from his fingertips. You gently grasp the phone, jointly holding it with him. 

“And about your offer…” You cringe, ready for him to ignore your existence until the end of time. You officially ruined everything, and nothing has even happened yet. 

“How about we go on a date first?” 

Your head shoots up at his proposition. Did you hear that right? 

“Then, maybe when the fire alarm goes off again next time and I forget my keys, I’ll take you up on it.”

It could be because it’s almost 4am and you’re teetering on sleep, or you’re purely stricken, but all you could do is nod mindlessly and squeak, “Sure.”    

A heartstopping smile rolls over his face. “I was hoping you’d say that. I took the liberty of adding myself to your contacts and sent a text to my phone.” 

Mark releases your phone from his grip and begins to walk backwards towards the stairs, suppressing his desire to stay with you for a little while more. But, it’s late and it’s not like this was the last time he’d see you. You are neighbours after all. 

Waving, he whisper-shouts in the hallway, “I’ll text you back first thing when I can. Have a good night!” 

You subtly wave back, still huddling your blanket over your shoulders. When he disappears from your line of sight, you enter your room and flop onto your bed with a jubilant sigh. 

Following knocks at his door, a slit-eyed Johnny is welcomed by a vivacious friend. Too vivacious for 4am. 

“Dude, you won’t believe what just happened. Remember that cute neighbour I’ve been telling you about?...” 

Maybe (and thankfully) there wasn’t an actual fire, but another one was certainly beginning to kindle. 

And neither of you had the intention of extinguishing it any time soon. 

#mark #mark lee #mark lee fluff #mark lee scenarios #mark lee imagines #nct #nct imagines #nct fluff #nct scenarios #nct 127 imagines #nct 127 fanfic #nct 127 fluff #nct 127 scenarios #nctcreations #mark x reader #mark lee x reader

[americasass91]

throws you a tied up steve rogers

I’m just...can you even imagine though? I’m not gonna lie. When I first read this, I had to walk away. Because my brain just about melted at the possibility of having Steven Grant tied up in front of me, able to do with as I pleased. Like holy shit.🥵 Obviously this is gonna be smutty.

Cuffed

Steve has been teasing you for a few weeks now.

Anytime he’d walk past you, he’d touch you in some way. Whether that be a brush of his hand against your waist or his palm smacking your ass.

Pushing you up against a wall and getting you all hot and bothered just to stop and tell you he has to get back to work.

You were getting pretty sick of it because he refused to relieve any of your built up tension at night, claiming to be tired or having work to do.

You decided to enlist Tony for some help.

“So let me get this straight. You want me to make some Vibranium cuffs so you can use them to restrain Cap?”

You nod. “Yes, he’s been teasing me for weeks now and i’m done. He needs a taste of his own medicine.”

“Okay I’ll make them. Give me a few days and they’ll be ready. And please don’t tell me what happens once you get him cuffed.”

You chuckle. “Don’t worry, I won’t share those details with you.”

🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗🔗

True to his word, Tony had the cuffs ready in only 2 days. Which gave you plenty of time to buy a new set of Navy lingerie. Complete with garters. You knew it’d drive the Captain crazy.

You had invited Steve over for ‘dinner’.

You were in a simple wrap dress with the lingerie on underneath.

You had just put the lasagna in the oven when you heard your door open.

“Honey? I’m home!”

You roll your eyes with a smile at his greeting. He thinks it’s hilarious.

You go out into the hallway to greet him. “Hey handsome.”

You throw your arms around his neck and lean up on your toes for a kiss. He wraps his arms around your waist and eagerly returns the kiss.

You pull away. “You want to come sit? Dinner won’t be ready for another 45 minutes. We can catch up.” You take his hand and lead him to the small table in your kitchen.

He sits and looks at you expectantly. “Are you going to join me, sweetheart?”

You nod. “Yeah I’m just going to go get drinks. Iced tea?”

“Sounds great, love.”

You head over and start getting the drinks ready. Steve has his back to you. Perfect.

You quietly unwrap your dress so the only you’re left in is your lingerie and a pair of nude heels. You grab the cuffs from a drawer where you had them hidden. You hold them behind your back and make your way back over to Steve with his drink. He looks up from his phone as you enter the room and his jaw drops.

You giggle. “See something you like, Stevie?” You set his drink down and stand in front of him.

“Fuck, baby girl. You know I do. What’s all this for?”

You straddle him and throw your arms around his neck, the cuffs still in your left hand. Steve is too busy staring at your breasts to notice.

“I just know you’ve been working really hard lately and thought I could help you unwind and relax a little.”

One of his hands falls to your hip and gives it a squeeze while the other cups your ass.

You can feel him growing hard beneath you. You wiggle your hips a little and it earns you a growl. He pulls you in for a heated kiss. You indulge him for a minute and grind your core against his heated length.

You pull back before things can get too far. “Put your hands behind your back, handsome.”

His brows pull together in confusion. “Why? Then I won’t be able to touch you.”

“I know. But it’ll only be for a minute. I have a surprise for you.” You lean forward and start kissing and biting down his neck, one of his weaknesses. “Please, Stevie?”

He gives your ass a good squeeze before doing as requested. “Okay, just don’t take too long with the surprise.”

You thread your right hand through his hair and give it a tug. “Oh, I won’t. Just be a good boy for me.”

You hear a deep rumble in his chest before he crashes his lips against yours again. You start grinding down harder against him. Enough to distract him.

You carefully take both hands and move them behind him and move them down his arms. You push your breasts into his face for another distraction. He eagerly starts sucking on the exposed flesh and bites your nipples through your bra.

You take the cuffs and as quick as you can, restrain him. It takes him a minute to realize what you’ve done.

He pulls at the cuffs. “Um, what are you doing? You know I don’t like being tied up.”

You rest your now free hands on his shoulders. “I know. But you’ve been teasing me for weeks now and not doing anything about it so I decided you needed to know what it felt like to be teased and left unsatisfied.”

He rolls his eyes. “Ever heard of delayed gratification? And you know I could easily get out of these right?” He starts to pull on them and realizes he can’t break them.

“Oh, yeah. I had these specially made. Vibranium cuffs.”

“Get them off of me. Now. Or you won’t like the consequences.”

You scoff. “What are you gonna do? Spank me? Delay my orgasm? You’ve been doing that for weeks now. And I’m done. I’m taking what I deserve.”

You lean forward and press your mouth against his throat, kissing and sucking. He loses himself for a moment and lets out a moan. You begin grinding yourself against his length again. You can already feel your release building. His fault for leaving you on edge for weeks.

He suddenly remembers you’ve tied him up. “Stop it. You’re going to be in so much trouble once i’m free.”

You just ignore him and grind down even harder against him. You start whimpering his name. You’re close.

“You better not cum. I didn’t give you permission.”

You roll your eyes and continue moving your hips. “I didn’t ask you for permission. I’m taking what I deserve from you. Now be a good boy and shut up and watch me fall apart.”

He goes to speak again so you take a cloth napkin you have sitting on the table and stuff it in his mouth. “There, that’s better. Now just enjoy the show.”

He glares at you but starts moaning when you move your hips faster. You can feel the coil about to snap. “Fuck, Stevie. I’m gonna cum. Want me to cum for you, big guy?”

He still has a scowl on his face but nods regardless.

It only take a few more grinds against his hips before you’re falling apart in an earth shattering orgasm. You throw your head back and moan his name loudly into your empty apartment.

You close your eyes and slow down your movements, enjoying the aftershocks.

Once you come back down, you open your eyes and look at your lover.

He has a desperate look on his face. You know he was probably close to coming.

“Awe does my big guy need to cum?”

He frantically nods his head.

“Well, unfortunately for you only good boys get to cum. And you haven’t been one of those lately. Sorry, Stevie. Maybe later.”

You get up from his lap and readjust yourself. You grab his tea and take a long sip.

He’s staring up at you with a mean scowl on his face.

“I’m going to go finish getting dinner ready. Maybe if you’re good and nice and quiet while I do that, I’ll let you cum later.”

You wink at him and head back into the kitchen to finish preparing dinner. Leaving your super soldier trying to break free from his cuffs.

Okay so clearly i’m a hoe and this is an example of that. But you also can’t throw me a tied up Steve Rogers and expect me not to go hoe with it. I need a cold shower.

All Cevans characters tags: @stargazingfangirl18 @drabblewithfrannybarnes

#chris evans #captain america #chris evans smut #steve rogers #steve rogers smut #smut #sexy af #steve rodgers x reader #thanks for the ask! #sorry not sorry #Cici91 writes

[lupinblacktheone]

"So, I was thinking": a modern college!AU:

Johnny is bored. He has already finished all of his crosswords; all of his friends are busy minding their own business and won't pick up their phones.

Classes won't begin until next Monday. Johnny arrived at his dorm last night and he doesn't know when his roommate will be there. All he knows about this person is his name: LaRusso, Daniel.

Wondering about this mysterious boy could set Johnny free from his boredom. Is he a nerd? Or a drama kid? Johnny hopes he won't sing all the time. Of course he likes music (who doesn't?), but musicals... he isn't ready for them yet.

It would be nice to have some common likings with him. Maybe horror movies or breakfast for dinner (well, Johnny is so broke that he eats it for all meals, basically).

Remembering the old times, which weren't good, not at all, tugs at Johnny's heartstrings. He doesn't miss arguing with his parents all the time, but he certainly liked not having to iron his clothes himself. And he misses messing around with Tommy, Jimmy, Bobby and Dutch after school.

Oh, and Karate! Johnny misses it so much that it hurts. He couldn't find a Karate club to join (is this a thing? In Johnny's opinion, it should be. There are clubs for everything in this campus. If he can't find one, he'll form one). Maybe he can practice with Daniel and he could be the second member of the Karate club.

"Hello! I'm Daniel!"

Johnny stares at the boy. He's short, dark-haired and has round brown eyes.

"Johnny", the blond boy gets up, approaches Daniel and shakes his hand. "Can I help you unpacking?"

"Please", Daniel sighs and rubs his neck. "My mother just dropped me off and turned the car around. I barely had time to say goodbye. Can you believe it? I think she wants to rent my room while I'm gone, but I don't think I'll be going home anytime soon. How about you?"

Obviously, the first thing Johnny learns about Daniel is: he's a chatterbox. Second thing: he's from Jersey. He lives with his mother and would love to learn martial arts, but her mother wouldn’t let him because she’s afraid he will get hurt.

"I know Karate", Johnny confesses with a little smile.

***

Sometimes, Johnny regrets having told Daniel about his passion for Karate, because the kid didn't stop begging Johnny for some classes until he finally gave up.

Their dorm is too small and they would destroy it sparring there, so Johnny decides to have the class outside, behind the gym. Daniel said he would meet Johnny there after dinner (and yes, Daniel also has breakfast for all meals, since he is just as broke as Johnny).

December is on the way, so Johnny is wearing as much sweaters as he can (including his Cobra Kai jacket). He leans his back against the red brick wall and puts a cigarette between his lips.

Daniel shows up some minutes later, carrying a heavy messenger bag on his shoulder and wrapped in hoodies and coats (he has lots of cool hoodies; Johnny loves to borrow them and he is using the baseball one right now).

"Ugh", Daniel puts the bag down, massaging his shoulder.

"Are you ok?", Johnny asks with a worried look on his face.

"Perfect. Let's do this."

They get on fighting positions and spar for a while. When they get tired, they walk back to their room, peacefully talking about the day.

"Let me carry this for you", Johnny picks the messenger bag, even though Daniel has already bent to pull it.

He places it over his shoulder and Daniel walks beside him, ranting about his lame Calculus professor.

"I couldn't convince Mrs. Warter to postpone the paper's due date", Johnny complains when Daniel asks about his day. "I'll be lucky if I get a C on it."

"Do you want me to help you?"

Yes, please, he almost answers. Johnny enjoys having Daniel around. They don't have many common likings besides Karate and breakfast food, but he really enjoys staying up late with him, sharing their only desk (Johnny begun to work as a cashier in a store near the campus and Daniel writes other people's assignments for money and they are saving money to improve the place) and laptops on study sessions. Or to spend rare and lazy Sundays in their room, doing crosswords (Daniel bought some magazines and gave to Johnny). Or to share breakfast meals in the middle of the night because they can't sleep.

"Are you free tonight?", he asks, his voice sounds desperate, just as his eyes.

"Is this a study session or a date?", Daniel replies jokingly and raises an eyebrow. "Sure. I can help you."

Johnny opens his laptop and shows Daniel what he's working on.

"I mean, it's not bad, but could use some adjustments here and there. Let's get to work."

Daniel presses the keyboard keys hard with strong movements that emulate a pianist, but with perfectly tied hair. His brain is formulating what should be in the text and getting rid of what shouldn't be read by Johnny's professor.

"I think we're done here", Daniel declares.

"Thanks. I'm gonna buy you a coffee tomorrow, with extra cream."

"Much appreciated", the boy winks and Johnny's heart skips a beat. "So, I was thinking..."

"What a miracle", Johnny teases, smiling to distract Daniel from his blushing ears.

"Anyway, are you going home for Christmas?"

"I don't think so. You?"

"Also no. I don't have enough money for a ticket to Parsipanny."

Daniel looks at Johnny for a moment. His blue eyes are usually shiny, but now... he's more than just sad. Johnny looks depressed and scared.

"Are you alright?", Daniel reaches for Johnny's hand. "You can talk to me. I'm here for you."

Johnny doesn't talk. Instead, he goes for a hug. A big and warm hug. He clings onto Daniel as if he was the only thing keeping him from being blown away.

He doesn't want to cry. However, he can't fight the tears anymore. Daniel holds Johnny, trying to keep him together only with his bare hands. He doesn't try to whisper comfort words in Johnny's ear, he just stays there, providing his roommate all the support he can.

That night, Johnny falls asleep in Daniel's arms. He has never felt this safe before.

The next morning, Johnny rushes to the closest cafe shop to get the nicest cup they have. He drops by the dorm to put the coffee on the desk with a note: To the best roommate ever. Thank you for everything. Love, J.

He sends the paper to Mrs. Warter as soon as he takes a seat in the computer lab for his first class, hoping Daniel's help can save his poor ass from failing Warter's class.

A few hours later, Johnny is waiting for the last class to begin so he can get to work. Not that he likes standing up by a counter telling old people where they can find raisins, plum juice and other things old people buy. But at least, he gets to listen to his music and does little pieces of homework between a client and another.

There is something Johnny can't do at the store: see Daniel. Too bad they don't take many classes together, because every time Johnny sees Daniel entering the classroom, the world changes. It becomes brighter and more beautiful. He knows it's cliché, but Johnny is tired of pretending to be the perfect son, athlete... he just wants to be Johnny.

And Johnny is brave.

"So, I was thinking...", Johnny says when Daniel sits by his side.

"That's unusual", Daniel lets out that amusement air through his nose. "What is it?"

"Do you wanna go out? With... with me?"

That is really unusual. Johnny never was this reticent before. Not even when he noticed he had a crush on Ali Mills.

“Yeah, sure. When?”

“How about Friday? My shift ends at 5:30.”

“Sounds great.”

***

Johnny spends Christmas in his dorm, with Daniel. They curl up on Johnny’s bed, wrapped in Daniel’s hoodies, solving crosswords puzzles and drinking tea while listening to Johnny’s music. Neither of them wants to talk about their families.

Growing up as an only child, Johnny never had to share his things. He wouldn’t even allow Ali to read his poetry (he wrote some about her, tho), or let his friends go through his Spotify playlist. Not because he's embarrassed to like these songs, but because the lyrics describe him so perfectly that he's not comfortable with someone listening to it in front of him.

When he met Daniel and found out they could be good friends (maybe more than that? Johnny certainly hopes so), he felt an urge to take the boy on a journey through his world. First, they shared Karate, then crossword puzzles and went on and on, discovering little things about one another.

“Huh… I couldn’t get you anything for Christmas, so I wrote you a poem. Wanna hear it?”

Daniel doesn’t say anything, just gets closer to him as Johnny clears his throat and searches his notebook for his newest composition. Once he finds it, he puts the paper in front of his eyes (he was brave enough to ask the boy out, but not to have that lovely brown eyes gazing at him while he reads his feelings out.)

“I loved it, Johnny. Now get ready for your present.”

Johnny doesn’t close his eyes when his lips are pressed by Daniel’s mouth. It feels so good that they do it again and again until they fall asleep, holding each other.

***

Graduation is almost here. Most students have moved from the dorms or plan to do it soon. Daniel and Johnny, on the other hand, haven’t mentioned the matter yet. As you can imagine, they don’t want to live with their families again. The only thing Johnny wants is to stay with Daniel and he wonders if Daniel wants the same thing.

“Hey, Danny”, it was supposed to be a nice and quiet study session before the finals, but Johnny can’t hold this down any longer. “I was thinking… do you wanna live with me?”

“Are you kidding me? You’re never getting rid of me, blondie.”

#lawrusso #daniel larusso #johnny lawrence #college au #fanfic #Johnny's POV

[lucas-koh]

Stitches - Bryce Lahela x MC XIV

Open Heart; only somewhat canon compliant.

Parts 1-13 linked in bio

Song: When My Love Won’t Stick To You - Whitaker

Rating: M, swearing, sexual language, references of violence

Word Count: 3286

Taglist: @lahellacute @lahamseiroshoe @anotherbeingsworld @fuseboxmusebox @choicesficwriterscreations @bubblelaureno @bratzlahela @eleanorbloom @bryceslahela @thegreentwin @kelseaaa @kingkassam || please let me know if you would like to be added to or removed from this list

A/N: just to say Stitches will not be updating next Friday, since it’s Christmas Day I will not be majorly online. I’ll be posting again Jan 1st 2021💛

Chapter Fourteen: Everything Goes But The Memories Made

“What?” She barely whispered, her head spinning. Bryce had just revealed to her that he remembered her from their college days when they’d shared a kiss once, drunk.

He looked nervous, afraid to continue, but he did.

“Truth be told, I always had a soft spot for you. You know when you just feel warm around someone, even if you barely know them? That’s how you made me feel. When I’d see you studying at the library with snacks and coffee splayed all around you, or when I’d see you at the hospital for lectures, it was always just a mental ‘hey, I know you’ and suddenly everything would feel okay. Seeing someone you recognise is really grounding, you know? Especially when there’s a distance and you don’t really know them. And I liked the competition of it all, that you were so smart and always number 1 but didn’t even know it was me at number 2, because you were so confident in your own abilities you didn’t need to look back. I wanted to be your friend, but you didn’t seem to have the time, so I let you be. And then you kissed me at that frat party and I thought, god, this is amazing. I didn’t think into it too much - college and all - but I have thought about it a lot since. And then when you crashed into me on our first day at Edenbrook, at first I didn’t know who you were. You look different, you know. It’s been like, seven years, after all, it wasn’t until I saw your name tag that it hit me. Why you’d felt so familiar. But I wanted to wait until you recognised me too, if you even did. And then when you did, I got nervous, and tried to ignore it.”

Holy shit. He… he really remembered me. Not even just from the kiss, either, he remembered me before that.

Suki stammered a little before the words came out, “…Bryce… I don’t understand why you wouldn’t just say?”

“Honestly? I was embarrassed that you didn’t recognise me to begin with. More so, I was embarrassed that I’d known you and recognised you and always thought about you every now and then and you hadn’t,” he said. “I guess it felt sort of… creepy?”

“Wow…” was all she could stifle out. She was at a loss for much more.

Bryce had remembered her, for all this time. Things felt like they were looking up, the way he’d opened up to her and finally told her the truth. Unfortunately, the altercation with Fred and Ben wouldn’t stop nagging at the back of Suki’s brain.

“…sorry,” Bryce exhaled, rubbing his hand across his neck bashfully.

“No, I- don’t worry. I get it. It was just a kiss I’m sure you had loads, but it’s weird.”

“This is why- I didn’t want you to think I was weird.”

“No! Not you! I’m really glad I’m not forgettable,” she laughed lightly, “it’s weird that… oh god it’s going to sound ridiculous.”

“It can’t sound more ridiculous than what I just said. I won’t laugh,” he said, then twisted the corner of his mouth up into a grin, “maybe.”

She sighed, burying her head in her hands before coming out with it. “I guess it just feel like we keep being pulled together, like, i don’t know,” she felt her cheeks become seriously hot, “fate.”

Bryce had lied, because he burst out laughing, which then devolved into a coughing fit and had Suki patting him on the back. Maybe a little harder than she was meant to.

“Ow!”

“You said you wouldn’t laugh!” Except she was laughing, too.

“I know, I know. You just looked funny. Honestly? I do see what you mean. All signs pointing to us ended up here,” he gestured between them, sat facing each-other in his bed.

Maybe this cosmic power she’d been cursing for all the early embarrassing encounters wasn’t so bad after all.

—-

Bryce and Suki talked for hours about college, and their stories, and people they knew in common. They laughed about how Suki didn’t even know Bryce sat near her in most lectures, and only knew him by his reputation.

A little later, after raking through Bryce’s Stanford yearbook and finding Suki in there, Bryce pulled out his high school yearbook.

“This is my senior photo. Just before graduation.”

Bryce was smiling up from the page, his golden tinged hair darker and shoulder length, and silver piercings shone from his ear, eyebrow, nostril, and lip. When Suki had known him he’d been piercing free.

“Oh my god! Why the hell did you stop looking like this for college? You know, I might’ve actually spoken to you if you’d looked like this.”

“Eh. I wanted to be taken more seriously. Why?”

“Don’t make me say it you dick.”

He nudged closer, smug all over his face. “What?”

“Because it looks good on you.”

“So I don’t look good like this?” He motioned down his body, which might’ve been sexy if he was in better shape. Well, as in his cold. His physique was perfect…

Suki gave him an affectionately knowing smile, “of course you do. I like the way you look very much,” she nodded. Then when Bryce’s face lit up she added: “but you’re not going to catch me saying that again anytime soon, okay? Your ego is big enough.”

Bryce moved to get up from the bed, “look, I’m just going to the piercing shop I won’t be long-“

Suki pulled him back down to the bed with a laugh, “Bryce! Although I wouldn’t oppose I’m not sure you’d be allowed in surgeries looking like metal face.”

“It would make things interesting though…”

“What?”

“A lip ring. Maybe a tongue ring. Imagine the kissing, or me going down on you…”

“Bryce.”

“What! Don’t tell me you wouldn’t consider it.”

“You are not getting any action while you’re sick.”

He leaned closer to her in the bed, “I got you to kiss me.”

She sighed and pulled the back of her hand up to check his temperature. Before she got there however, he took it from her.

“What’s this?” He brushed a finger lightly across her fingers, by the edge of the bandaging.

Ah, crap. This guy really does make me lose my mind. I’d forget my name if I spent too long around him.

“Work casualty,” she tried to laugh nonchalantly and pull her hand back to his forehead to seem normal. But he brought it back down to inspect it. His brow furrowed as he tried to decide what was under the gauze, and then he used one of his hands to grab Suki’s other one. He turned this one so that the palm was facing up and the scars from the month before were visible; standing paler than her skin tone right in the centre.

He held each hand in his own like they were feathers, opposite directions up.

“Does it hurt?” He asked, moving his thumb as if about to graze over the scars, asking permission.

“No, go ahead.”

He followed the neat shape of the puckered skin with the pad of his thumb, as gentle as he had been when he’d stitched it. Suki’s hand felt cold under his touch, the sensation on her scar able to feel each fingerprint dragging over.

He dropped her scarred hand somewhat to the mattress, but still held it in his own, shifting their hands slightly so that it was more of a classic hand-hold.

Suki tried not to focus on the bolt of electricity coursing from that spot. She’d wanted to hold his hand for so long, and here he was holding it like it was no big deal. His thumb ran up and down her skin in a soothing motion.

He turned his attention to the other, biting his lip as he looked.

“Whatever caused this, it’s gonna have to answer some questions.”

“It was just, uh, slammed it in the double doors. Those are heavy,” she cleared her throat, hating every fibre of herself for lying.

“Stupid door.” He brought his face down to the bandaged hand and placed a featherlight kiss to the top of her knuckles, “I’m a surgeon, I have magic kisses.”

“Oh dear,” she laughed, a little breathless and trying to seem light and uncaring, “did you take some medicine this morning? I think it’s kicking in.”

He chuckled, almost back to his usual Bryce chuckle, “but,” he cleared his throat, clearly gearing up to make a cheeky comment by the smirk on his face, “if I had a tongue piercing, my kisses really would be magic.”

“Oh my god,” Suki couldn’t help but laugh at him.

As they laughed together on Bryce’s bed, hands tangled together and bodies close, Suki truly felt happy. Like things really could work out for her. For them. And Suki was having an amazing time just being with Bryce.

The only problem was the albatross hanging around her neck.

—-

The next thing Suki knew, she was waking up in Bryce’s bed. He was sat beside her, scrolling through his phone.

She blinked her eyes a few times to make sure she was seeing things right, and moved to sit up.

“I… fell asleep?” She asked groggily, causing Bryce to turn to face her. He smiled when he saw her.

“Yeah. I figured I should just let you, you seemed pretty tired.”

She realised she must’ve fallen asleep when Bryce had been searching for some Stanford pictures, because that was the last thing she remembered.

She sighed, “you should’ve woken me.”

“Nah, you were working all night.”

And getting into it with your colleagues…

She sighed again and bit her lip, figuratively and physically.

“You really should’ve woken me,” she whispered, unable to handle Bryce treating her like this knowing she’d stuck her nose where it didn’t belong.

He smiled back at her, she could see in his face that he knew something was up.

“You’re fine. It’s what friends do.”

“Bryce.” She felt like she was sighing his name a lot these days, and not in the way either of them liked the most.

He twisted his face up into a grin and Suki noticed his eyes were much brighter now, “Suki.”

She rolled her eyes, but she was terrible at hiding her guilt. She had to get out of there, because if Bryce was the one trying to alleviate it she’d feel even worse. She started to shift in the bed, but Bryce reached an arm out over her waist.

She just sort of lay there shocked as he shifted over closer to her, putting his torso over hers.

“At least let me try and kiss away some of those frown lines. If I remember correctly, it’s one of our benefits,” he smirked, hell-bent on making her feel better and in turn making her feel even worse. She couldn’t kiss him and feel like it was okay, because even that, even what was happening at that moment, felt like overstepping and taking it too far and Suki knew that it was on her. She was the one who caught feelings, who started blurring the lines and the rules and taking liberties where possible. She was the one unable to tell Bryce the truth. About her feelings or about her meddling.

But she also knew they were on borrowed time, and this might be the last chance she had to kiss him.

So she put as much as she could into it as she pulled his face to hers, hands on his cheeks and feeling the soft skin with a little bit of stubble beginning to come through, committing it to memory. Her lips pressed to his slowly but definitely, making sure each inch of herself was tied to him. With the kiss her head was filled with every other kiss they’d shared: at college, in the supply closet, at the housewarming party, and the many since. He wasn’t trying to force more like he had earlier, he seemed to be savouring it as much as she was, his lips sweet and slightly chapped but so familiar and Suki felt at home.

Kissing him was that to her.

She felt her face scrunch up as she kissed him, praying to god this wasn’t the last time. His familiar citrus scent washed over her and she never wanted to stop kissing him.

Reluctantly, but knowing she had to, Suki pulled her mouth from Bryce’s. Her eyes were glued shut and her forehead lulled against his, feeling his hair tickle her skin and his hot breaths wash over her face.

“Woah…” he exhaled, speechless to say much more.

Bryce’s kindness and the fact that she liked him so ridiculously much just meant that Suki’s guilt kept growing and growing. She just knew this couldn’t last.

—-

A couple of days passed by and Suki had been bogged down with work again, and hadn’t been able to see Bryce since that day. He’d texted a couple of times and seemed to be on rising spirits, so she was pleased about that.

It was just, every time she thought about Bryce, she couldn’t help but think about what she’d done.

Or about how the clock was ticking down until he found out.

And it was.

Bryce was back to work that day, he’d told her, and she was filled with anxiety the entire time.

Suki was on her way home later that day, just about to enter her apartment building when a voice stopped her in her tracks.

“We need to talk.” It was dark and low and every part of her went cold. She turned to face him, that face of her dreams stern and distant and everything she never wanted to see.

“Okay. There’s people home. We can go to the river.”

Bryce just nodded and started in the other direction.

Suki nervously followed behind him, afraid to catch up for she didn’t know what to say. Building in her chest were nerves and dread and like a hairline crack in her heart which she knew would expand soon enough.

She thought about the last time she saw him, the kiss they shared. How happy they’d been.

They came to the river as the sun was just setting, sparkling over the water like constellations. Bryce’s soft caramel skin was golden in the sunlight, the light reflecting in his eyes and Suki’s heart was put through a wringer just looking at him. Was this it? The last time she’d ever get to see him like this?

Suki searched her brain for ways to start, how to apologise, but Bryce beat her to it.

“Why, Suki?” It wasn’t anger, it was at a loss.

“Why what?” Bad move, Suki. He knows. There’s no point still lying to him.

“Why did you meddle in my business?”

“Because they had no right to do what they did.”

“You’ve made it worse! Now they’re never going to leave me alone! I don’t care about being liked I care about doing my fucking job! It was fine—it was over!” Bryce’s voice was now angry. Suki wasn’t sure which hurt worse. Or maybe they exacerbated each-other, like a hammer and a nail. The nail was the disappointment, and the anger just kept bruising it further into her chest.

“I- are you really pissed at me for standing up for you?” If she just let him know her intentions, maybe she could fix this.

“I’m pissed at you for going and stirring shit up! You crossed a line!”

“It wasn’t just me, Jackie was there too and I don’t see you yelling at her.”

“Well I’m not sleeping with Jackie!”

“What?” She spat.

“You-” his face scrunched up and she felt her heart scrunch with it, “you kissed me. Twice! Knowing you’d gone behind my back and disrupted things.”

“What did you mean you’re ‘not sleeping with Jackie’? Why does that mean we’re held to different standards?” She asked, her voice raised, ignoring his words because the truth hurt too much to say.

“And you didn’t tell me! You spent the entire day with me where you could’ve mentioned it and you didn’t even bother! I thought we were-” He ignored her too, but his voice halted like he couldn’t say what came next.

She couldn’t tell if his voice was breaking from the cold or the anger – but it was heartbreaking.

“No, I didn’t, because I had no clue how you’d react. And look! You’re so… mad,” as she said the last words her voice shook and it came out like a whisper. In fact, her hands started shaking too. Her eyes were beginning to blur from stinging tears welling at the bottom. She’d upset him – the last thing she ever wanted to do.

“You’re damn right I’m mad!” He yelled, and Suki flinched at the noise. “Your hand – you told me you shut it in a fucking car door! I saw his face Suki. You seriously hit him? For some stupid petty rumours?”

“Yes, I hit him,” she could really feel the tears coming as she spoke firm and loud, “he could’ve fucked everything up for you.” And it was cloying with her words, when it came to Bryce, it seemed the anger couldn’t come without pain, too.

“He’s not the only one who fucked things up for me. I mean, you violated my trust,” he shook his head, his hair blowing in the light breeze, “I trusted you,” he said this quieter, and Suki got the impression he wouldn’t have been able to yell it. It was hurt.

“And I ruined that.” I ruined everything. I’m so sorry. I’m sorry. I’ve never cared for someone like this.

“Yeah. You went behind my back on something I told you in confidence, and then lied to me about it. I feel so fucking—” he shook his head, at a loss for words. But he looked embarrassed.

“That wasn’t—I—just wanted to them to know how bad they fucked up! I was so mad that they did that to you.”

“It was months ago! It’s over, old news! And it was my problem to solve.”

“Well you matter to me! Okay?” It came out like a sneeze she couldn’t hold back and her heart was beating more rapidly as soon as she said it. Shit.

Bryce’s expression then was completely unreadable. Suki had no idea what was going on in his head. He just looked at her like that for a few moments, her statement hanging in the air like cigarette smoke. And then Bryce finally came out with something.

“We’re sleeping together Suki – what did you think you were doing?”

And her head was running like a machine; all cogs and whirring and sparks and clanging. The emphasis he’d put on that one word, and she knew where this was headed. Every bad dream, every nauseous predictive thought she’d had lately was laid out in front of her and coming true.

She didn’t want to ask her next question. But she had to. She had to. She knew it wouldn’t come out with any semblance of strength, but at this point, it didn’t really matter.

“So I am just a body to you?” she whispered it with a heaviness which hung in the air. They both knew this moment was going to change everything. There was no going back from here.

Bryce stared at her steely-eyed and jaw clenched so hard it looked like it might pop. She wasn’t prepared for his next word. She never would be.

“Yes.”

#open heart #open heart fic #bryce lahela #bryce lahela fanfiction #choices: open heart #open heart mc #playchoices open heart #bryce lahela x mc #oph bryce #bryce lahela fic #dr bryce lahela #bryce #open heart bryce #bryce x mc #oh bryce #choices open heart #open heart fanfiction #open heart fanfic #choices stories we play

[obxfics]

The Kitchen

summary: as you look for your cousin, you end up enlisting the help of someone with whom you share a mutual dislike

pairing: jj maybank x reader

word count: 1,951

a/n: second pogue fic for choose your own adventure! it has been so long since i updated this series i am so sorry!! i tried to make this different from john b’s part because i dont want every part to seem too similar. once again i’m planning on a part two for jj like with john b! i hope y’all enjoy!

Introduction       The Dock

Masterlist    Taglist

“I’m checking the kitchen!” you called over your shoulder as you ran back into the club.

Jaime was known to eat everything so it wouldn’t surprise you if he tried to sneak into the kitchen to manipulate some poor busboy into giving him food with that angelic face of his. It worked every time on your parents and your mother’s parents, and they weren’t even his grandparents!

You rounded a corner and slowed your pace as you entered the dining room, making a beeline for the kitchen’s swinging doors. Just as you passed the bar and were about to push open the doors, someone stepped in front of you to block your path. Looking up, you found yourself meeting the cerulean gaze of JJ Maybank. Your heart leapt into your throat as you glared up at him. He didn’t like you, and you didn’t like him, but damn he was pretty. He matched your glare and cleared his throat.

“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” he asked as he put his hands on his hips. “Employees only, sweetheart.”

You scoffed and attempted to glance around him to see if you could catch a glimpse of your baby cousin. JJ quickly moved to block your view every time.

“Hey, would you stop?” He placed his hands on your shoulders to keep you in place. “Why do you want to stick your nose in there anyways?”

You rolled your eyes and sighed. Since he wasn’t going to be letting you step foot in there, you would unfortunately have to enlist his help.

“Did you see a little boy run in there?” you asked as you raised your hand to your waist. “He’s about this tall, curly dark hair, cute little dimples?”

JJ stared at you like you had lost your goddamn mind. You rolled your eyes again and shrugged off his hands, determined to get around him if he wasn’t going to help.

“Whoa, easy, you still can’t go in there,” he huffed as he once again moved to stop you. “Sorry, but I haven’t seen any kids around here. Your kind usually have them at the kids camp by the golf course.”

His eyebrows furrowed when he saw the way you ran a hand down your face. He could tell you were stressed, and suddenly Kie’s voice was whispering in his brain that he needed to stop being an asshole and help you or she would kick his ass.

“This kid you’re looking for, how old is he?”

“Six,” you replied. “He’s my little cousin. Jaime.”

“Hey.” He waited until you met his gaze and then offered you a small smile. “I still can’t let you inside, but I can go in and look. Ask the others if they’ve seen him. Is that okay?”

He could see the exact moment you processed his offer because he literally saw some of the stress in your shoulders leave your body. A smile tugged at your lips and you nodded gratefully. JJ was struck with the realization that you had never actually smiled at him before. Not that he could recall. He could see why Kie liked to hang around with you. When you weren’t glaring at him like he’d personally ruined your entire day, your smile actually filled him with a warm feeling that spread from his belly. Kinda like laying out in the sun on the HMS Pogue.

“That would be great, JJ,” you answered in a soft voice. “Thank you.”

“I’ll be right back.”

You nodded, and he stepped back into the kitchen, scanning the place for the curly haired boy you had described. Sounded like a sweet kid, and if he was related to you, he had to be cute. JJ approached one of the other waiters on his break.

“Hey, bro, you seen a kid around here?” he asked, watching as the poor guy tried to chew and swallow his lunch. “Super small, probably super cute too, I’m not sure. Goes by the name Jaime. His cousin is looking for him.”

Finally his coworker managed to choke down the food and took a quick sip of water before answering, “Check with Anne. I think I saw her take some kid into the office a while ago.”

JJ sighed in relief and smiled. “Thanks, bro. Enjoy your lunch.”

He hurried over to the office where Anne, his boss, usually took her breaks. She was a fair boss, letting JJ take home any leftovers from his shift and checking in if he ever showed up late. It didn’t surprise that she would take in a little kid lost in the kitchen. He knocked on the door before poking his head in. A grin grew on his face when he saw the boy with curly hair and dimpled cheeks sitting in one of the chairs with his little feet swinging.

“Anything I can help you with, JJ?” Anne asked as she looked up.

“Just came to snag the kiddo,” he replied. “His cousin is looking for him. Tried to break into the kitchens to find him,” he joked.

The boy looked over his shoulder at JJ, and the blonde surfer swore he melted at the sight of the dimpled smile that was so much like yours. What was in your gene pool that it produced such warm smiles? JJ blinked and smiled at the kid.

“C’mon, your cousin is worried sick, kiddo.”

Jaime slid off the chair and waved to Anne. “Thank you, Miss Anne!”

“Anytime, little one,” she promised, giving JJ a look that clearly said do not mention this to anyone. “JJ will make sure you get back to your family safe.”

A small hand slipped into JJ’s, and he wanted to scream. He had never really been good with kids, not that he had gotten many chances to interact with them, but he had to admit, they were adorable. The way they would just put so much trust into people, looking up at him with wide eyes and even wider smiles. He could’ve seen himself as a big brother if things had been different.

“Jaime!”

As soon as JJ swung open the doors, you were running over to sweep your little cousin into a warm hug. JJ felt a strange pang in his chest at the sight of the familial love. He briefly wondered what it would feel like to have that. To have his dad worry as much for him as you worried for Jaime.

“You can’t wander off like that, okay?” you told Jaime as you looked him over for any injuries. “Christian and Diego are still out looking for you. Oh, shit, I should text them!” Your eyes widened when you noticed JJ smirk and heard Jaime giggle. “Okay, wait, do not repeat that word. Your parents will kill me.”

Jaime looked up at JJ as you hurriedly typed a text to your brothers so they knew Jaime was found. The boy giggled and smiled, making JJ realize he was already missing some baby teeth. When did kids usually lose those?

“You work here right?” Jaime asked him.

“That’s right, kiddo. I bring people their food.”

His eyes lit up. “Can I have some?”

JJ almost laughed when he saw the way your head snapped to fix Jaime with a stern look.

“Jaime, you can’t just ask him to bring you food! That’s rude,” you hissed before offering JJ an apologetic look. “Besides, JJ is supposed to be serving other people right now.”

“Actually, as of…” he quickly checked his watch before continuing, “two minutes ago, I’m on break. And I could really go for some fries, what do you think, kiddo?”

He could feel his heart swell when he saw how excited Jaime got at the prospect of French fries, but it was over for him when he caught the look you were giving him. Like you were seeing him for the first time. He could feel his ears getting red and ducked his head, shoving his hands into his pockets.

“If it’s okay with you, of course,” he directed at you.

“I… yeah, that’s fine. Thank you.”

You and Jaime took a seat at a table to wait as JJ disappeared into the kitchen again. Jaime looked around at the dining room and the open windows facing the water on one side and the golf course on the other. He still wasn’t used to all the fancy things on Figure Eight.

“Your friend is nice,” Jaime said.

You couldn’t help the smile that crept onto your face. “Yeah, I guess he is.”

As JJ spent his break entertaining your cousin, you couldn’t tear your eyes from the pretty blonde. For the longest time the two of you had barely tolerated each other for Kie’s sake, but today he had gone out of his way to help you. And gone out of his way to spend more time with you and Jaime after he had found the little boy. You had been so sure you had JJ Maybank figured out, but you were seeing that maybe you had it all wrong. He was surprisingly sweet and good with kids, and that was doing things to you. Your heart skipped a beat whenever you would catch his eye, and you would quickly look away hoping he hadn’t noticed your staring.

“My break is almost over,” JJ told you regretfully as Jaime munched on one of the last fries left. “Thanks for keeping me company.”

“We have to leave?” Jaime asked with a sad look on his sweet face. “Can we see you again?”

“Yeah I gotta go back to work, but I’ll tell you what,” JJ crouched so he was eye level with Jaime, “I promise that we can hang out again soon. This time when I’m not working. You like surfing?”

“Um… I’ve never tried,” Jaime admitted shyly.

“Hey, then I’ll teach you! That sound good?”

Jaime’s eyes widened, and he practically launched himself at JJ before looking up at you with that puppy dog expression.

“Can I please go surfing with your friend?” he all but begged.

You laughed and shrugged. “I don’t see why not. It’ll give me a break from you giving me heart attacks all the time.”

Jaime let out a squeal and hugged JJ even tighter. JJ let out a quiet gasp and held back the tears that began to form. When was the last time he’d been hugged like this? He couldn’t remember. The little boy pulled back when he heard your brothers call out to you, and he ran over to tell them his exciting news. JJ cleared his throat as he got back up and brushed off his pants. You were giving him that look again, the one that made his ears burn.

“You… you’re something else, Maybank,” you told him before wrapping your arms around him. “Thank you.”

This time he couldn’t help the few tears that escaped him as he returned your hug. You were warm, and he thought he could stay like that his whole goddamn life. You gave him one last squeeze and stepped back, pretending not to notice when he quickly wiped at his cheeks.

“Um, you can ask Kie for my number or I can ask for yours. So you can tell me when you want to teach the little monster.”

“Actually, you, uh… I mean, if you want, you can come too,” he offered, feeling uncharacteristically shy with this shift in your relationship. “I mean, I’d… I’d like it if you came too.”

“Okay. I’ll be looking forward to your text, then.” You surprised him by leaning up to press a kiss to his cheek. “See you around, JJ.”

Continue Reading        Start from the beginning

taglist: @obxlife​ @infinityspaceuniverse​ @diverrdown​ @shawnssongs​ @kikifromtheblock​ @stargazingstarkey​ @scandalousfemale​ @pheyward​ @thatjohnd​

#outer banks #outer banks imagine #outer banks x reader #outer banks netflix #obx #obx imagine #obx x reader #obx netflix #jj maybank #jj maybank x reader #jj maybank imagine #jj maybank fic

[feedmecookiesnow]

Can I Stay With You?

For @hopelessly-me who asked for a Winterhawk “Can I stay with you” from the prompt list:

Not NSFW, but we’ll say 18+ just to be safe.

***

At three am, there’s an unholy sound of someone pounding on his front door. Bucky stumbles out of bed, remembering at the last second to put pants on, and wrenches it open with a very irritated, “What?”

Clint is standing there, looking just as exhausted and annoyed as he is. “Hi,” he says. “Can I stay with you?”

Bucky rubs his eyes and tries to force his brain online. “What?”

“Can I stay with you?”

He stares at Clint for a moment, then opens the door a little more and gestures to the couch behind him. Then he turns and goes back to his own room. Behind him, he hears Clint close the door with a quiet, “Thank you.”

Bucky makes a sound that could maybe be described as “whatever” and is asleep again before his head hits the pillow.

It’s seven am the next time his eyes open,  He sits up fast, still covered in cold sweat from his last nightmare. Nothing unusual there.

What is unusual is the smell of pancakes drifting through the apartment. Burnt slightly, but still kind of appealing. Bucky rubs the grit from his eyes and gets up, tired and sore from sleeping wrong, and goes to investigate.

Clint is standing in his kitchen, wearing nothing but a black t-shirt and a pair of boxers with little purple things on them. Eggplants, maybe? His back is to Bucky, and he’s humming something quietly.

“The fuck are you doing here?”

Clint jumps a little, dropping one of the pancakes onto the floor. “Hi. Good morning. You let me in last night, remember?”

“Yes.” Bucky rubs his forehead. “No. Kind of.”

“There was a gas leak in my building,” Clint says. “The fire department dragged me out of bed and made me leave.”

Bucky sits at his little kitchen table and looks at the two plates set out. “Why?”

“Why did they make me leave?” Clint raises an eyebrow. “It’s a gas leak, Barnes. The building could have exploded.”

“Why are you here?” It’s not that he doesn’t like Clint, but it’s weird that he’s here. At the very least, he would’ve thought Clint would try Natasha or someone first.

“Oh.” He grabs one of the plates and starts putting pancakes on it. “Because you live closest to me, it was three in the morning, and I was standing outside in my underwear?”

Well. That’s probably fair.

“I’m sorry I woke you up,” Clint says. “I wouldn’t have if I could’ve avoided it.”

Bucky waves a hand. “Whatever.” He takes the plate from Clint and looks at it. “Pancakes?”

“Consider it an apology breakfast.” Clint pours him a mug of coffee. “We can eat, wake up a little bit, and then I’ll go back to my place and see if I can get in. Okay?”

“Okay.”

The pancakes are good, if not slightly burnt, and the coffee is perfect. It’s nice, actually, to sit and eat breakfast. He usually skips it---either too keyed up from his nightmares, or too busy to have real food. “These are good.”

“Thank you.”

Bucky drains the coffee and gets up for another mug. “So...gas leak?”

Clint shrugs. “Apparently. I don’t know much. All I know is that I was sleeping, and next thing I know, there was some super hot fireman standing over my bed, shaking me awake and telling me to come with him. I thought it was a dream until I got outside and saw everyone else.”

Bucky laughs. “What about your roommate?”

“Kate’s with her dad in California. She’s got Lucky too, so it was just me in there.” He looks at his legs with dismay. “They didn’t even let me get real pants. I had to walk twelve blocks like this.”

“You can borrow some of my stuff,” Bucky says before even realizing he’s made the offer. “I won’t make you walk back wearing just eggplants.”

Clint smiles slightly and nods. “I would appreciate that. Thank you.”

They finish breakfast. Clint insists on doing the dishes too, so Bucky goes back to his room and tries to find some clothes that’ll fit him. He finally settles on a pair of jeans and a clean shirt. “Here,” he says, handing them to Clint. “I think these’ll fit you? Might be a little short.”

“Curse of being tall,” Clint says with a grin. “Thanks, Barnes. Seriously.” He pulls the jeans on right there, almost tipping himself over while he hops around on one foot.

Bucky rolls his eyes and steadies him. “Are you capable of doing anything without injuring yourself?”

“Yes,” Clint says, sounding mildly offended. He buttons the jeans, then reaches up and pulls off his shirt, revealing a very muscular torso half-plastered with bandages and medical tape. He looks at himself for a moment, then adds, “This means nothing.”

“Uh-huh,” Bucky says, oddly disappointed when Clint puts the new shirt on. He takes the other one and tosses it in his laundry basket. “I’ll wash that and give it back.”

“You’re awesome,” Clint says. “Insults to my capabilities aside.”

Bucky grins. “Come on. Let’s go see if you can get into your place.”

They can’t. They can’t even get close to it. A main gas line has blown, apparently, and they’re not letting anyone in. The whole block is cordoned off. After an hour of fruitless negotiating, pleading, and begging, the best answer they get is “It’ll be about two weeks.”

“Two weeks?” Clint throws his arms out. “But I don’t have any stuff! What am I supposed to do for two weeks, be homeless?”

“Sorry, sir,” the fire chief says. “Can’t help you.”

He walks away. Clint stares after him. “Great,” he finally says, and tilts his head up to the sky. “What did I do to deserve this, huh?”

“Sorry,” Bucky says, not sure what to follow it with.

Clint waves a hand and rubs his forehead. “It’s fine. I’ll figure out something.”

“You can stay with me again,” Bucky offers. “It’s only two weeks. We can buy you some clothes, and I’ve got an extra toothbrush.”

“No, I don’t want to be in the way---”

“It’s not,” Bucky says quickly, for some reason desperate for him to say yes. “It’s fine. It would be nice to have a roommate. For a bit.”

Clint studies him. “You sure?”

“Definitely.” Bucky nudges him with an elbow. “I expect breakfast every morning, though.”

Clint laughs. “Okay. I can do that.”

So that’s how Bucky ends up with a temporary roommate. It’s weird at first, if he’s being perfectly honest with himself. He hasn’t lived with anyone since joining the Avengers, not even a guest, and it takes him awhile to get used to sharing a space---particularly the bathroom. But other than a couple of arguments, they manage to make it work, settling into a comfortable rhythm.

Three weeks into this new arrangement, Bucky comes back from the grocery store to find Clint packing his clothes into a duffle bag. He’s wearing Bucky’s jeans again, and Bucky can’t help but notice how tight they are, riding low across his hips. “What’s going on?”

“I’m good to move back,” Clint says, grinning at him. “Building is safe for habitation again.” He hefts the bag. “I’m just using this for transport. I’ll bring it back.”

“You can keep it, I don’t care.” He tears his eyes off the jeans and looks up. “Well. Congrats on getting your apartment back.”

“Thank you,” Clint says, apparently oblivious to the disappointment in Bucky’s voice. Bucky swallows it down and helps him pack the rest of his things. When they’re done, Clint shoulders the bag and looks at him. “Well. This has been fun.”

“It has,” Bucky agrees. “Do you need help moving in?”

“Nah, I’ve interfered in your life enough.” Clint taps his fingers on his thigh for a moment, then says, “Seriously, though. Thanks for letting me stay here.”

“Anytime,” Bucky says, trying to imbue the words with all the subtext he can. “I liked having you here.”

Clint looks like he wants to say something, but after a moment, he shakes his head. “I’ll see you at work?”

“Sure.”

He leaves, then. Bucky doesn’t close the door until he disappears around the corner. Then he turns to look at his apartment. It seems smaller, somehow, which definitely doesn’t make sense. It should feel bigger now that there’s not two grown men taking up space.

Maybe smaller is the wrong word. It’s not smaller. It’s empty. There’s a distinct sense of something missing. Like losing a tooth, Bucky thinks, and all he can do is probe at the blank space where there used to be something better.

“Get over it,” he says to himself, and starts picking up blankets from the couch. “It didn’t mean anything. You were just being a good friend. That’s all you want from him. You’re just friends.”

He keeps telling himself this. He repeats it all day.

He doesn’t believe a word of it.

A week later, he’s watching TV. He misses Clint’s running commentary, which usually ended with both of them laughing their assess off. It’s just not the same on his own.

His phone rings, and he answers without looking. “Barnes.”

“Hey, it’s me.”

Bucky sits up straight and mutes the TV. “Clint? What’s up?”

“Kate’s back,” he says, “and she’s having a sleepover.” There’s a distinct shrieking of laughter in the background, and Bucky can almost hear Clint’s wince. “They’re loud and they’re very girly. Which is fine, but also they’re so loud. Did I mention they’re loud? We’re talking undiscovered decibels here.”

“I think you mentioned it, yeah.”

“Anyway. Can I stay with you?”

Bucky blinks. “What?”

“Just for tonight,” Clint rushes to add. “Not three weeks again. I just need a break. They’re loud. Have I said that yet?”

Can’t you just take your hearing aids out? is the first thing that comes to Bucky’s mind, and he almost says it.

Then he looks around at his empty apartment, and the newscaster on television, and instead says, “Bring something to drink.”

“Awesome,” Clint says. “I’ll be right there.”

He hangs up. Bucky stares at his phone for a moment, then looks around his apartment. It’s---well, it’s not a mess, but it’s not pretty. Not fit for company. He quickly gets up and does some frantic cleaning. He’s not sure why---Clint’s worse than he is, he makes Bucky look military neat---but he does it anyway.

He’s working on the dishes when the door opens. “Hey,” Clint calls. “Door’s unlocked, I’m coming in.”

“Hey,” Bucky calls back. He puts the last plate on the rack and dries his hands. “Good to see you.”

“You too,” Clint says, flashing a smile, and Bucky’s chest gets a little tighter at the sight. “I brought beer.” He raises a six-pack.

“Works for me.” Bucky sticks it in the fridge. “So how’s Kate?”

Clint winces. “I love her, but man, when she gets together with her girlfriends...” He shudders and drops his bag by the couch. “I don’t think they communicate with words. I think it’s just high pitched squealing noises. Seriously.” He shakes his head.

Bucky pulls two beers out and drops on the couch next to him. “Well, you’re welcome over here anytime.”

“It’s very appreciated.”

They drink beer and watch TV. It’s like how it was before, stepping back into their routine with barely a beat missed, and Bucky can’t stop himself from smiling.

Clint notices. “What’re you so happy about?”

“I like having you here,” Bucky says honestly. “It’s nice.”

Clint blinks, and then a smile spreads across his face. “Yeah?”

“I liked living with you too.” He’s already started, he might as well keep going. “I didn’t realize until you left, but it was really nice to have someone around.”

“It’s nice,” Clint agrees. “Roommates can be awesome.”

They’re quiet for a while after that. Bucky tries to think of something to say, but he can’t focus. Clint is wearing his jeans again, and they’re still too tight, and they’re still obscenely low across his hips, and the casual way he’s sitting---

“Eyes up, soldier,” Clint says, watching him, and Bucky blushes hard. Clint grins at him and sips his beer.

“Sorry,” Bucky says, face still burning. “I’m---that was rude, I shouldn’t do that.”

“I’m just teasing you,” Clint winks. “I don’t mind. I know these look good on me.”

“They’d look better on my bedroom floor,” Bucky says without thinking, and then nearly drops his beer from shock as the statement hits him a second later. “I mean---that’s not---”

Clint is suddenly very still, eyes fixed on the beer in his hand. After a moment, Bucky stops stammering out excuses, and resigns himself to dying of embarrassment. “Sorry,” he mutters again, and wishes he could just disappear into the couch.

“You mean that?” Clint asks after a moment, He turns and sets his beer down, then looks at Bucky. “Seriously?”

Bucky shrugs, trying for casual and definitely not making it. “Just a thought.”

“Just a thought,” Clint echoes. “Okay. And if I wanted it to be more than a thought?”

Bucky stares at him, barely daring to hope. “Wait. You do?”

“Uh, yeah.” He sounds a little breathless, a little excited. “Have you seen yourself? Of course I want that, you’re---”

He cuts off with a surprised noise, as Bucky leans forward and kisses him. Then he loses his balance and falls backwards, whacking his head on the arm of the couch with a soft, “Ow.”

Bucky chuckles. “Can’t do anything without hurting yourself, can you?”

“Your fault,” Clint pants, grabbing his shirt and pulling him down. “You knocked me over.”

“My bad.”

They kiss again, intense and hungry and heated. Part of Bucky feels like he should take it slow, make it a little softer. But then Clint’s leg hitches over him, pulling him closer, and all coherent thought flies out the window.

They break apart with a gasp, both panting. “Think we knocked your beer over,” Clint says.

“It’s empty,” Bucky says, kissing him again.

“Good.” Clint’s hand slips under his shirt. “Off.”

Bucky tugs his shirt off and tosses it somewhere. Clint puts a hand on his chest, skimming over his torso with an appreciative touch. “Your abs are unfair,” he says, poking them. “Seriously. Like, Greek god levels of unfair.”

“You’ve got abs.”

“Not like this.”

“Do more sit-ups, then.”

“I do sit-ups!”

“Not enough, apparently.”

“You---” Clint scowls up at him, and it’s honestly kind of adorable. “I don’t need your judgement. Shut up and kiss me.”

“Sure,” Bucky agrees, leaning back down. It’s a little slower this time, a little less frantic. Bucky hasn’t done this in a long time, but he’s missed it. He’d forgotten how nice it can be to get wrapped up in this, how easy it is to get lost in the taste of someone else---

They tip sideways and fall, Bucky twisting at the last second so he takes the impact instead of Clint. “Shit,” Clint says, flushing red. “Sorry, that was my fault.”

Bucky laughs. “It’s fine,” he says. “But why don’t we take this to my room before you really hurt yourself?”

“Works for me,” Clint says, standing up. He offers Bucky a hand, and pulls him to his feet. “I have been known to fall off beds, though. Fair warning.”

“That’s okay,” Bucky says. “I’m sure I can figure out a way to keep you in one place.” He winks. “For safety reasons, you know.”

“Looking forward to seeing your methods,” Clint says with a grin, and lets Bucky tug him down the hallway to the bedroom.

***

Charity Hawktion Self-Promo! If you like the things I write and would like me to write something specifically for you, you can bid on me here!  Winner will get a 5-10k word story of their choosing (possibly longer because I am a verbose motherfucker). If you can participate, I encourage you to do so, and if not, that’s okay too! Thank you for reading!

#winterhawk #cookiewrites #clint barton #bucky barnes #clint/bucky #prompts #hopelesslyme

[yoonjinkooked]

Daddy Day Care  |  Chapter 2

pairing; jungkook/female OC

genre; fluff, romcom, smutty in the future, Dad!Jungkook rating; explicit (IN FUTURE CHAPTERS ONLY, not yet) words; this chapter 3319, total so far (8071)

— synopsis; Jeongguk is your average 25-year-old - job, work, friends - everything regular. Except, he has a 5 year old daughter. And he’s single. Until a “princess” waltzes into his life.

warnings for this chapter: You will want to have Jungkook’s children. Failed attempts at flirting. Banter. Cursing. I borrowed two Mamamoo members for this story too, paired up with Yoongi and Namjoon. 

How?

How did it get to this?

I was perfectly fine with just going along with this in order to make Jin shut up for the time being. I was more than ready to spend the entire night sitting alone at the bar, knowing my facial expressions do not make me appear approachable to the girls that look my way. I was ready for my brother to disappear and hit the dance floor with some random girl, while the loud bass turns my brains into pudding as I wait for the right time to leave without giving Jin an excuse to criticize me for not trying.

That’s exactly how the first hour of the night went. But then Jiwoo showed up.

Jiwoo with a cute smile, pretty eyes and a hot body. Jiwoo, who wasn’t put off by my unfriendly stance and who approached me with her hand outstretched. And she’s still here, despite my lame attempts at flirting.

I wasn’t flirting at first – I was just being polite. Despite what Jin might think, this isn’t exactly something I want. I don’t really want a one night stand, to pick up a random chick at a bar. But I also don’t want to find a wife and get married and have more kids.

So what am I supposed to do?

I thought, why the hell not. She’s cute, she’s hot, she’s nice and she’s here. Who cares if she is funny or if she likes coffee or tea, lazy Sundays, if she prefers Friends or The Big Bang Theory? Who fucking cares?

“You really are like a fish out of water here,” she chuckles, twirling her finger over the rim of her drink, a bright pink concoction.

“That obvious, huh?” I laugh, rubbing my neck as I let the nerves get the best of me. I know I don’t fit in, I’m not blind and hell, I’m not even trying to fit in. But to have it rubbed into my face isn’t pleasant.

“Yes,” she laughs. “What do you normally do? Where do you go out if you don’t fit in here?”

“Honestly, the park,” I laugh at my own answer.

“The park?”

“Yeah,” I nod, knowing I might as well just go out with the truth. “I have a daughter.”

Why was I expecting a different reaction?

It’s always shock. Shock, because wow, I’m young. Shock because wait, am I still with the kid’s mom? Shock because oh my god, how noble of me to give up my youth in order to raise a kid. Always shock.

Every damn time, the reaction is the same. I have a daughter, not a second head.

“You have a daughter?” she asks, as if she isn’t sure she heard me well.

“Yeah, a five year old daughter,” I nod. Isn’t it ironic? She didn’t approach me because she wanted something serious. She either just wanted a conversation or a casual fling. One rarely aims to find a partner in a night club. She didn’t want anything serious and yet she’s still taken aback.

“Wow,” she mumbles, looking down at her drink. “How old were you when…?”

“20. Young and stupid. And she’s still the best thing that ever happened to me.”

“Wow,” she smiles up at me. “That’s really lovely. Wow. Thank you for the talk Jeongguk, I gotta get back to my friends,” her smile is forced as she tries to find an escape route. “I’ll see you around.”

“Sure you will,” I doubt it.

It always happens like this.

And on the other hand, as much as I want to, I can’t blame the women that don’t want to meddle into something like this. I imagine it would be pretty hard to accept the fact that you’re not the number one girl in the life of the guy you’re with.

Jiwoo running away from me killed my mood yet again and when I confirm that Jin is preoccupied with some blonde, I pay my bill and leave, knowing damn well I will not be returning to the club anytime soon.

                                                            …

 “So, what are you going to say?” I ask Eunmi, leaning down to pull back the hair that fell over her face, smiling at the way she grips the bag with the present.

“Happy Birthday Unnie Hyejin,” she rehearses and I laugh at her faked enthusiasm. She’s acting as if Hyejin is right in front of her. “Was that good?” she asks, looking up at me with a frown.

“It was perfect sweetie,” I confirm before ringing the doorbell. In a matter of seconds, Namjoon opens it.

“Happy Birthday Unnie Hyejin!” Eunmi all but yells, making both Namjoon and me laugh.

“Wrong Unnie honey,” Namjoon laughs as he ruffles her hair. “Run along, she’s inside. And Jiyoo wants to show you her new doll house.”

Those are the magic words for Eunmi – she literally runs into their house, only stopping to kick of her shoes. She barely even looks at Hyejin as she hands her the bag, blurting out her congratulations and running to the room of her friend, making all of us laugh at her antics.

“She’s too much like you,” Namjoon shakes his head.

“Babe, don’t say that like it’s a bad thing,” Hyejin shakes her head at Namjoon, before smiling at me. “Our Jungkookie is the biggest sweetheart there is.”

“You’ve obviously never watched football with him,” Namjoon comments.

“I have my moments, okay?”

I hug Hyejin, wish her a happy birthday and walk into the living room, expecting it to be full but I only see Yoongi and Byulyi inside. Nonetheless, I hug them and I take the beer Namjoon brought me in the speed of light.

“I thought you’re organizing a party,” I point out but Hyejin just shrugs.

“I am,” she tells me. “A dinner party. The kids are playing, we’re here, ready to drink like adults?”

“Meaning, you four like two stable couples and me like the fifth wheel?” I laugh.

“Oh, she took care of that,” Byulyi laughs, only to laugh even more at my confused expression.

“We’ve tried stopping her,” Yoongi lifts his hands in the air, before sitting back on the sofa. “We told her not to do it but when she puts her mind on something, there’s no helping it.”

“Yeah, you’re telling me,” Namjoon mumbles under his breath and earns a hit on the chest from his wife. “See, this is abuse.”

“Oh, this is not abuse babe,” she gives him an angelic smile.

“Never mind your antics; what the hell have you done noona?” I ask Hyejin, going back to the subject of me not being a fifth wheel after all. Honestly, I’m scared to know what she has done.

“I invited one more person, okay? It’s my party, I can do what I want.”

“Not when you’re trying to set him up,” Yoongi laughs.

“What?”

“Told you he wouldn’t like it.”

“Wait, what?”

“See?”

“Set me up with whom?”

“Oh it’s not a set up,” she sighs. “I just invited Gayoon, that’s all.”

“Who’s Gayoon?” I ask.

“You don’t know Gayoon?” Byulyi asks in confusion.

“Should I?”

“Well, seeing as she’s one of the teachers in the kindergarten your kid goes to, yeah,” Yoongi laughs.

Wait, what? I go over the names and faces in my head and I am 99% sure I have never met any teacher with the name of Gayoon. And Eunmi doesn’t go to a big kindergarten.

“Okay, I don’t know if I’m an idiot but I honestly don’t know a Gayoon.”

“She works part time,” Hyejin shrugs. “Maybe you just never ran into her. She’s…” suddenly, Hyejin is interrupted by the doorbell. “Here.”

I’m still a bit taken aback by the set up – not set up that is going on but when I look around at Hyejin’s accomplices, all of them just shrug. Whatever she had in mind, she didn’t share too much with anyone. And she did say it’s not a set up.

“Guys, I really hope-“

“GAYOON!” I’m interrupted with the sound of Eunmi screaming from the top of her lungs and running through the hallway. I watch in confusion, hearing her laugh with someone – Gayoon, I suppose.

“You saw me yesterday Eunmi,” I hear laughter.

“I know but I want you to play with us,” Eunmi responds.

“Now Eunmi, don’t steal Gayoon from us,” Hyejin laughs, as she walks into the living room, followed by my sulking daughter and Gayoon.

Wait.

It’s Elsa.

“Hey guys,” she waves, looking around the living room, not even doing a double take. But I do.

It’s Elsa. The girl in the Elsa costume.

“Gayoon,” Hyejin speaks up, snapping me from the wait, I know that girl daze. “You’re frozen! Let’s get you warmed up. Do you want some mulled wine? It’ll warm you up in no time?” she gives the girl a fond look, rubbing her shoulders despite the jacket she is wearing.

“I need a warm up too, pour it up,” Byulyi jokes but offers her glass to her friend without a blink.

“Yes, please,” Gayoon responds, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to warm up. “It really got super cold outside. Oh, you’re new,” she suddenly looks at me. “I’m sorry, I didn’t realize. I’m Gayoon,” she waves for a second, only to go back to warming up her hands.

“Jungkookie over here is Eunmi’s dad,” Namjoon elaborates before I have a chance to introduce myself.

“Oh,” she looks at me again, this time obviously focusing on my facial features. “I see the resemblance. Eunmi is a sweet kiddo. Nice to meet you, Jungkookie.”

“Jeongguk,” I flinch when I hear a complete stranger calling me by that nickname but she didn’t know any better. “Nice to meet you too,” I smile.

“How come you’ve never met before?” Yoongi asks, looking between the two of us.

“I’ve only ever met Eunmi’s mother,” Gayoon shrugs. Great, let’s talk about my ex now! “It shouldn’t be a surprise though; I’m usually done with work by the time kids get picked up. Thank you,” she smiles at Hyejin when she takes her mulled wine, before sitting down on the sofa next to Namjoon. “Now we know each other.”

“Um… we’ve actually met before,” I mumble, debating whether or not that is a piece of information I want to share. She frowns in confusion.

“Have we?”

“You were dressed as Elsa,” I explain, and watch as her confusion only grows. “Just some days ago, when I was going to pick up Eunmi from a birthday party-“

“Oh my god,” she gasps, suddenly remembering. Immediately, color rushes into her cheeks. “I am so sorry.”

“What have you done Gayoon?” Byulyi laughs at her.

“I cursed. A lot,” she closes her eyes, shaking her head. “I’m so sorry. That’s not how one wants to see their kid’s teacher. If it makes you feel any better, I am there only part time and I can assure you I have never ever, ever, used that kind of language around them. Shit, I’m so sorry. No, wait. Shit, no. Oh god, I’m just going to shut up,” she sighs before taking a sip of her wine and looking away.

We all laugh at her but the moment I see her shaking her head in shame, I feel bad. “Hey, come on, nothing to apologize for. Honestly, for a father, I have to be careful how I talk around her. If she blurts something out, she probably heard it from me, not you.”

“Ah, the never ending pain of watching your mouth,” Hyejin shakes her head as she scoots closer to Namjoon, who automatically throws an arm around her shoulders. Good lord, it’s sickening to watch just how well they work together. If I look at them any longer, I might just get green with envy. “I can’t wait for the day she grows up and knows what we say, why we say it and why she shouldn’t say it.”

“Here’s to double standards,” Yoongi raises his bottle of be and while we all laugh, we all raise our respective drinks too. Parenting is a never ending chain of double standards. You want your kid to do better than you but you also don’t want your kid to make the mistakes you did, all the while knowing that maybe, just maybe, you should let them do their own thing.

Thank god Eunmi is five and still needs my help when tying her shoes. When the day comes when she doesn’t want to listen to me, curses, makes mistakes I warn her about, I think I might just end up flinging myself from the top of a building. Thank god she’s still just five.

“How about we eat first, and then whine?” Namjoon suggests. “I’m starving!”

                                                            …

 A fancy dinner party was out of the question the moment Hyejin added ‘bring the kids’. There’s no way we can sit and have an adult conversation when we have chicken to cut.

“I feel like I have forgotten an accessory,” Gayoon chuckles and it takes us all a moment to realize what she refers to. She’s the only one without a kid – Namjoon has mashed potatoes over his hands while Hyejin is trying to tie their daughter’s hair. Yoongi is reaching for the carrots while Byulyi is trying to make space on Jia’s plate. And I’m ordered to cut the pieces smaller than I had cut them seconds ago. The accessory she’s referring to is a kid.

“Wanna change?” Byulyi glares at her, waving with a pea stuck on the fork. “Enjoy your freedom, woman.”

“Don’t threaten me with a pea,” Gayoon returns the glare. “But you’re all so cute.”

“No, Eunmi,” I sigh, taking the bread from her hands. “We don’t bite – we tear pieces,” I instruct before handing her the piece of bread back.

“But dad,” she looks up at me with confusion written all over her face. “You bite bread all the time.”

I can hear several attempts to cover laugher. Pretty positive I am red in the face, I smile down at Eunmi. “Not anymore I don’t. We’re nice and polite and we tear.”

“Okay,” she shrugs, proceeding to tear up the piece of bread in two.

“You two are so sweet together, you’re giving me cavities,” Gayoon comments, looking like she is about to burst into tears or at the very least let out a loud AWWWW.

Wait, she thinks we’re cute? Eunmi, of course, but me? Cute? Of all the things?

“Miss Gayoon, what are cavities?” Eunmi frowns at her.

“Sweetie, just Gayoon,” she corrects her. “No need to call me Miss when we’re not in kindergarten. And cavities… well, when you don’t wash your teeth right, they get all bad and black, which is why we need to wash them after every meal. The black things? Those are cavities. They make your teeth go bad,” she explains Eunmi with a sweet smile. Okay, maybe cute fits her too.

“Why would they give you cavities?” Jia peeks under her father’s arm.

“It’s something we say when someone is sweet,” Hyejin jumps in to save the day. “Gayoon meant that Eunmi and her dad look very sweet – because sweet food is not that good for your teeth.”

“Mom, does that mean I can’t have chocolate cake because my teeth will fall out?” Jiyoo looks at Hyejin in pure horror.

A collective, parent groan carries through the room.

Finally, after we finished our dinner, mostly composed from what the kids left on their plates when they were done, we slowly made our way back to the living room, sporadically checking in on the three little girls that were playing with their favorite toys. It’s our luck that the three of them truly get on well.

Namjoon wasn’t kidding when he said we will eat first, then whine.

Byulyi is still struggling with her insomnia, which is also affecting Yoongi’s insomnia so basically, the both of them end up spending way too much time with each other, insisting that now, they hate each other. And we all laugh, we all join in but whether the two of them are aware of it or not, Yoongi’s hand reaches for hers every few minutes, as if he can’t last without actually touching her.

Namjoon, Hyejin and I all have work worries, ranging from having a dick of a boss, not having enough work or simply feeling miserable at the end of every single day. The only one of us that seems to be faring well is Gayoon, who also happens to be the only one without a kid attached at her hip.

The girl is cute for sure, as I previously confirmed. She’s funny and fairly intelligent, able to keep up with Byulyi’s comebacks like a champ. She stood her ground quite well, whether the conversation was about child education, football or the latest slow cooker appliance.

“Sweetie, what is it with you?” Hyejin’s eyebrows furrow. “You look tired and a bit… out of it, I suppose.”

Tired? Out of it? She’s stunning!

Okay, I’m blowing it out of proportion. She isn’t Miss Universe or anything like that, but she has a sweet face and a pretty smile that makes her eyes wrinkle and dimples… okay, I’m stopping.

“It’s the stupid Christmas party,” she sighs, letting her head fall onto Byulyi’s shoulder. If I was to do that, she would push me right off. Byulyi is like that but for some reason, this girl has her whipped. “And we still don’t have the stupid Santa!”

“Oh no,” Namjoon raises his hands in protest. “No way. No way in hell. I was Santa last year and I swore on all that’s holy that I will never go into that suit again!”

“Namjoon, please-“ Gayoon starts.

“Nope. No way. Direct those puppy eyes to someone else, I’m not doing it,” Namjoon shakes his head.

“I mean, I guess I could do it,” Yoongi shrugs and we all are startled at the loud snort laugh that came from Byulyi.

“Yeah right,” she laughs. “You’re never going to be Santa ever again. You made three kids cry two years ago, need I remind you?”

“That kid called me an old fart when I said I’m not giving him a PlayStation!” Yoongi fights back.

“Yeah well, you, dressed as Santa, told him Santa is not real,” Byulyi jumps up. “You are permanently forbidden from being Santa Claus ever again. And by the way, you are an old fart.”

“You’re older than I am,” Yoongi rolls his eyes.

“And yet I am still fabulous.”

“The girl still doesn’t have a Santa, leave your marital bickering for later,” Hyejin rolls her eyes. “Who could-,” my blood freezes when she looks directly at me, a hint of a smirk appearing on her face. I try to beg her silently, I do my best to make her read my mind and not do it but the smirk only grows. “And what about Jungkookie? He could be Santa?” Hyejin strikes the last nail into my coffin.

“You could?” Gayoon looks at me, her eyes lighting up. “Please?” she begs me.

“I mean, I don’t know if-“

“Please?” she whines. “Please Jungkook, you’d be a life saver.”

“Yeah Jungkookie, be her lifesaver,” Namjoon chuckles and if the situation was any less obvious, I would have kicked him right then and there. Right in the jewels.

“Please?” Gayoon begs again. “I’m baking a shit tone of cookies and you’ll get to eat like… half of them?”

“Sold,” I blurt out, making all of them laugh. “If you said there was food involved, I would have volunteered instantly.”

Yeah, that’s a lie, but I might as well appear charming.

“Yay!” she smiles, clapping her hands together. “Just be there next Saturday, 10 o’clock, on the dot.”

Oh good lord, what have I done?

#bts scenarios #jungkook scenarios #bts fluff #jungkook fluff #jungkook series #jeon jungkook #jungkook #jungkook smut #bts parent #single dad jungkook #bts #bts jungkook #bangtant #bangtan smut #bts jjk #jjk

[the-fixation-zone]

zuko thinks his scar makes him super ugly but sokka is there to convince him otherwise and it's just ❤

okay so this one CLEARLY got away from me but i hope you like this anon!! 

Sokka really has to pee. Like, knees knocked together, doing the Pee Dance, should’ve gone three hours ago but kept forgetting really has to go. Now that he’s gotten his act together and actually left paused his game of Witcher 3, this shouldn’t be a problem. Except. Except the one bathroom in the apartment is occupied. Has been for the past twenty-five minutes. And Sokka is getting…nervous. He hasn’t had an accident in years (if one wanted to know just how many years, Katara would probably happily share, but Sokka would beg you not to ask) and he isn’t trying to break his streak at the age of twenty-Full-Grown-Man-six, but if Zuko doesn’t get out of the bathroom right this second he may not have a choice in the matter. Sokka’s already knocked once, ten minutes ago, and as far as politeness goes he feels like he can chance another knock now.

So he does.

“Zukoooooo!” Sokka wails says manfully, rapping his knuckles against the wood, “please for the love of our friendship kindly hurry it up. An unstoppable train is about to leave the station, if you get my drift?”

Silence from the other side of the door. Ten minutes ago Zuko had at least given a half-hearted “one minute!” but now, nothing. Sokka’s not going to lie, he’s getting a little nervous. He doesn’t think Zuko would…hurt himself, but sometimes Sokka can’t be too sure. He leans against the door, pushing his ear against it, slowing his breathing so he can hear better. At first he hears nothing, but as his ears adjust, between one breath and the next he catches a faint sound.

Sniffling.

Shit.

Sokka’s known Zuko a long, long time. Long enough to know all about the house he grew up in, the family he had and didn’t have, and certainly long enough to know to play his next cards very, very carefully. Zuko isn’t someone who enjoys crying. Like, no one enjoys crying, not really, but Zuko really hates it; anytime he’s caught at it he’ll call the action gross, try to hide his face in the nearest soft object or run away. Sokka’s only seen it happen a couple of times, but that’s enough for him to know that if Zuko gets called on his tears he gets angry, fast. Sokka’s gotta be careful here.

“Hey, buddy?” he asks, his voice softer than before. “You need anything in there?”

He hears a hiccup, and another sniffle. Not good. Sokka thinks to anything that may have happened before Zuko went to the bathroom that could’ve triggered him but comes up empty. He was watching Sokka kick some monster ass, seemingly having a good time throwing popcorn at the screen and at Sokka in equal measure, egging Sokka on whenever he passed by some guards (“come on Sokka, beat their asses, how bad could it be?”); essentially, being the worst person to play a video game near. It had felt like they were both having a good time. Had Sokka said something in the heat of the moment? Was the graphic nature of the game too much? Sokka starts frantically running through possibilities, his bladder momentarily forgotten. Before he can run his brain into the ground, though, Zuko speaks.

“I don’t know.” Zuko’s voice is so faint that if Sokka’s ear wasn’t practically melded with the door he would have missed it. “I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know…”

Sokka’s eyes widen and he decides now is that time to try the door. When Zuko gets stuck in a loop like this, he can go for a long while. Sokka takes the knob in his hand and turns, surprised to find it goes easily. Opening the door, he’s met with a heartbreaking sight. Zuko’s stood in front of the bathroom mirror, his hands gripping the sink, knuckles white. His face is inches from the glass and as he repeats his phrase the mirror fogs up around his mouth. Sokka strides across the room, definitely worried now.

“What don’t you know, bud? Can you tell me what’s going on?” Sokka doesn’t think twice before his hand is on Zuko’s shoulder. Zuko doesn’t look like he notices. He shakes his head once, pressing his face closing to the glass. Tears are flowing freely from his eyes, catching on his chin before dripping into the sink.

“Okay, that’s okay. Can I guess?” Sokka squeezes his shoulder, trying to ground him. Zuko nods once, his repetitions getting softer. Sokka releases a breath he didn’t realize he was holding. Okay. Progress. Zuko will let him guess what’s wrong, which means he hasn’t gone too deep under. Sokka can work with this. But that means actually figuring out what’s wrong, with little to go on. Luckily for both of them, that’s what Sokka’s best at. And, if he’s being honest, figuring out Zuko has been a pastime of his for a while. The problem was less figuring it out, and more…bringing it up.

“Is it…something in the mirror?”

Zuko’s repetitions slow.

“Something you see? That you don’t like?”

They slow even further.

“Is it…the scar?”

The repetitions stop. Zuko clenches his teeth tight, which is all the answer Sokka needs. Sokka’s heart breaks a little more.

He’s known Zuko a long, long time, so he knows exactly how he got that scar. Thinking about it makes him incandescently angry, which isn’t very productive, so he tries not to. It’s hard, though, knowing that Zuko’s father is out there somewhere, living a peaceful life without his son, while Zuko suffers with the reminder of that asshole’s existence. It’s not fair. It’s not right.

Sokka doesn’t know what to say at first. He never does, really. He wants to comfort Zuko somehow, but he feels like all his words will come out sounding trite, or trivializing. He doesn’t want to hurt Zuko. He never wants that. So he squeezes his shoulder again while he thinks, letting the silence stretch between them.

“It’s so fucking ugly.” Sokka is surprised when Zuko speaks first. Usually he doesn’t like to talk about it, but if he wants to now Sokka will be the last to stop him. “It’s just…did it have to be my face? He took half my fucking face. I look like a monster. Like Geralt should be hunting me down, saving the townspeople from having to look at me.”

Sokka cringes, realizing that maybe the game hadn’t been as fun for Zuko as he had thought. He had no idea Zuko thought himself a monster. Sokka’s feet make the executive decision to move him behind Zuko, and his arms make the choice to wrap around Zuko’s waist. Sokka’s brain was not consulted in the matter but, upon reflection, finds itself okay with the situation. Especially when Zuko relaxes immediately, sagging his weight into Sokka’s chest.

“Zuko. Zuko Zuko Zuko. I don’t know who told you you’re a monster, but they’re a dirty, dirty liar. You are…” Sokka pauses, wanting to choose only the best words for his best friend, feeling Zuko’s body tense. “You are…. There aren’t enough words in the dictionary for what you are, but monstrous is not one of them. Brilliant. Glorious. Shining. Amazing. One of the best people I’ve ever known. No scar can take that away from you. It…I don’t want to sound insensitive, but it can’t be ugly. It’s part of you, and you’re the most beautiful person in my life.” Sokka bites his lip, realizing he may have said too much.

He’s known Zuko a long, long time and has been a little in love with him for most of it.

“Your father is the monster, Zuko, not you.”

Zuko lets out a shuddery breath, tension leaking out of him once again. Sokka takes the opportunity to tuck his face into Zuko’s neck, ignoring his own burning ears. “It’s just the truth. I’ll tell you every day if I have to.”

Zuko is silent for a full minute. And then, “Sokka…”

“Hmm?”

Zuko shakes his head. Sokka can tell, though, it’s not a headshake of negation.  “I’m sorry I’m being such a mess about this.”

Sokka tightens his arms around Zuko, burying his face deeper. He frees his mouth to say, “Never. Never apologize for that. You’re not a mess, you’re perfect. You can…you can always come to me, okay? Anytime you start thinking these thoughts, just. I’m here.”

Zuko nods.

“Um, Sokka?”

“Hmm?”

“Did you, uh, still have to go to the bathroom?”

Sokka then remembers his still achingly full bladder.

“Oh shit!”

#he managed to piss in peace don't worry #this got angsty fast oops #asked and answered #fix takes on anon #zukka #zuko #sokka #prince zuko #atla au #fanfic #o shoot also lemme know if u need me to tag snything!!! #made a lil edit bc it didnt translate when i copy-pasted from word lol #and of course i didnt check

[calpalirwin]

Endless Endings

Summary: Calum goes home for a funeral. He isn’t prepared for the feelings and memories that come with it.

A/N: I was watching This Is Us and Kevin and Sophie’s relationship gave me the feels (I will fix the formatting/add this to my masterlist in the morning, I just want to get this up cuz I’m excited!) Italics are flashbacks/memories

Content: Darker than my usual stuff

Word Count: 1.9K

And away, and away we go!

~~~

When he saw the caller ID, he was answering it before his ringtone could even kick in. “Zo? Hey, how’s everything?” Calum talked into the phone.

“Hey, Cal,” was the tearful reply.

“Zo, what happened?”

“She died, Cal. My mom. She’s gone.”

The phone clattered to the floor. Calum’s head felt like it was underwater, the worried voices of his bandmates sounding muddled as they tried to reach him. No. Claire Harper couldn’t be dead. Zoey!

His brain snapped back into enough focus for him up the phone, ignoring the jagged crack in the screen. “Hey, I got one for you,” his voice was telling her, his ears still ringing.

“What?” she asked, holding back the next sob.

“He starts an apple cider company. Calls it ‘How do you like them apples?’.”

Her laugh wasn’t the laugh he remembered. It was choked. “Thank you, Cal.”

“Anytime, Zo.”

The voices around him were still muddled as he hung up the phone. “Zo? Zoey Harper? From home? Cal, is she okay?”

“I gotta go home,” was all Calum replied with before walking out of the studio.

~~~

“Hey!” the girl scolded the boy and his stirred up cloud of sand from his jump off the swingset.

“Sorry!” the boy grinned, showing off a missing tooth.

“Watch it,” she continued to growl.

“I said I was sorry!” he told her, crossing his arms, his smile disappearing.

“Ooo!” another boy snickered. “Cal likes Zoey! Cal likes Zoey! Cal and Zoey, sitting in a tree!”

“Shut up!” they both shouted at the other boy before they looked at each other and shared a look of disgust complete with a “Yuck!” and fake gagging.

Calum smiled to himself as he stared out the plane window. It was amazing how easily the memories came back to him. A lifetime of him and Zoey Harper- his first, and only love.

~~~

“And now, Claire’s daughter would like to say a few words,” the pastor said and a young blonde in a sleek black dress moved to the podium.

Her striking green eyes were red around the edges as they scanned the room. A small smile curved on her lips when green met brown. “My mother and I didn’t always see eye to eye. Maybe that’s not something I should say at her funeral, but it’s the truth. She was reckless in everything she did. And as much as it drove me nuts, it also encouraged me to take my own risks. And, uh…” Zoey paused to collect her thoughts, and in the back, Calum let his run wild.

“Oh, Cal, that’s great!” Claire cheered, wrapping him tightly in a hug. “Isn’t that great, Zo? London! Wow!”

“Yeah, great,” Zoey forced a smile. She wanted to be happy for Calum and his band. But how could she when her boyfriend was dropping a bomb like dropping out of school and moving to fucking London?

“Zo,” both Calum and Claire said, frowning.

Zoey scraped her chair back, striding out of the room.

“Zo!” Calum called after her.

“I need a minute!” she yelled and the slamming door rattled the windows.

Calum sighed, letting her go, figuring he might as well start practicing now.

“Hey,” Claire said, reaching across the table to grip his hands in hers. “Don’t let the fear of what’s to come diminish the greatness of this moment, Cal. Allow yourself to be happy in the most unfiltered way. Shout your joy from the rooftops. You boys have worked hard. This is your moment. Never settle.”

“‘Great things happen when you chase after what you want.’ It was like her catchphrase. It’s what she told me when I finally moved to New York and got that dream apartment. She came to visit and we went out for coffee. This real small hole-in-the-wall place. We would always go when she came out or I would send her a bag of their home roast. I was actually… I was in that shop trying to buy a bag. I was giving the clerk hell for not having their home roast. Funny how quickly priorities change with a phone call. God, I owe that clerk an apology,” Zoey’s voice broke off in a small giggle. “I’m gonna miss you, Mom.”

~~~

The bell on the door jangled as he walked in the doughnut shop.

Calum’s laugh rang out around them as she swallowed her bite. “What?” she asked, self-consciously. “Do I have something on my face?”

He continued to snicker in his hand, “Geez, Zo, it’s everywhere!”

“Have you seen your own face?”

“What are you talking about? I do- Zo!” he gasped as her finger swiped the chocolate frosting off his doughnut and smeared it across his cheek.

“Hah!” she laughed at him. Then she was squealing as he rubbed his cheek against her face, creating a powdered sugar chocolatey mess, their giggles filling the small shop. “You’re crazy,” she told him, her cheeks pink with laughter.

“Crazy in love with you,” he replied, pecking her lips with his.

“And I’m just as crazy,” she smiled against his lips.

“What can I get for you, today, sir?” the teenager behind the counter asked.

“One powdered and one chocolate, please,” Calum said. “Actually, two chocolate, please,” he amended as his stomach growled.

~~~

She had a forced smile on her face as she was engaged in a conversation with someone, her eyes begging to be rescued. Calum leaned against the car, not wanting to go inside, feeling so out of place outside somewhere he once considered a home. He dug his phone out of his pocket, watching her as the line rang on his end. Her eyes glanced down at the phone in her own hand, her smile becoming a little more genuine as she answered. “Hey, Cal.” Her voice was heavy and Calum knew instantly that Zoey hadn’t been sleeping for God knows how long.

“Hey. So I was driving and I passed by that doughnut shop we used to frequent. And uh… well, I got one with your name on it. I’m out front.”

Her eyes glanced up and locked on him through the window. She put a hand over the speaker and excused herself from her conversation, walking out of Calum’s view. “Get me out of here,” her voice was saying and then she was in front of him, grabbing the doughnut back from him and sliding into the passenger seat.

~~~

“Hey, I got one for ya,” she said, breaking the silence as they ate their doughnuts, powdered sugar coating her mouth and dress.

“Shoot.”

“He goes to Alaska to become a fisherman in an isolated village and never talks to another soul.”

“Damn, that’s dark,” Calum giggled, handing her a napkin. “Seriously, do you even aim for your mouth when you eat?”

She giggled with him as she dusted off her lap. The giggle turned into a sigh. “I can’t believe you came. I feel like I’m underwater. Like my body is on auto-pilot, while my brain is a million miles away. Seeing you again, well, it grounded me. You’re the only one who gets it Cal. You’re the only one I can let my guard down with.”

“Isn’t that what your fiancé’s for?” he asked with a pointed glance to the ring on her finger.

“He didn’t know her like you did. And now he never will.” Her eyes stared out the window. “Oh, wow,” she breathed, realizing where they were. “I haven’t been here in forever.”

“Me neither,” he admitted, putting the car in park. “Every time I come home, I can never bring myself to come here. I had my best and worst night of my life here.”

“On the same fuckin night,” she recalled.

“On the same fuckin night,” he agreed.

Every summer the park held a Movies in the Park night, showing everything from old-time classics to current blockbusters. Neither of them had seen Good Will Hunting, but had always wanted to. So there they sat, curled up under a blanket and the stars, eyes glued to the large projector screen.

“Aw!” the audience let out a collective groan as the projector sputtered and the screen went black.

“Sorry about this folks! Please help yourself to the concession stand we have set up, free of charge, and we’ll try to get this up and running again shortly,” a volunteer announced.

Calum and Zoey turned to each other, sharing a grin. “Free snacks!” they shouted in each other’s faces before scrambling to snag free popcorn.

“Hmm, looks like they fixed it,” Calum said as they swung side by side. “Should we go back?”

“Nah,” Zoey replied with a shake of her head. “Where it stopped was actually perfect. No ending could be better than that.”

“We could make up our own,” Calum suggested.

“We could!” she exclaimed, loving the idea. “Promise me we’ll never watch the real ending.”

“Promise,” he swore.

So back and forth they went, creating their own endings, long after the real movie had ended and long after the popcorn disappeared. They would have stayed all night and into the morning had it not been for Mali striding towards them, tears running down her face.

“Mali?” Calum asked, his voice laced with worry as his sister looked about a millisecond away from a breakdown. “Mali, what’s wrong?!”

In the dim lighting from a nearby streetlamp, Zoey could see the darkening of his already dark eyes and the clench of his fists as worry gave way to anger that someone had hurt his sister. “Dad’s gone, Cal,” was the broken answer. “Him and Mum got in another fight and he’s… he’s gone!” With the confession off her lips, the older sibling collapsed into the younger one’s arms as they both began to sob over their parents’ broken marriage.

~~~

“Did you ever watch the ending?” she asked as they swung side by side.

Calum shook his head. “Nah. That was probably the only thing I ever did right.”

“Cal, don’t say that…”

“It’s the truth. I had everything that night and then I lost it all before sunrise.”

“Cal, you didn’t lose anything. Yes, your parents split and I know how hard that was for you. But you weren’t running away. You went off to London because you chased a dream. A dream that paid off rather fuckin’ well, by the way.”

“And you?”

“You didn’t lose me either Cal. We just weren’t meant to be.”

“I don’t think I’ll ever be able to love a girl the way I loved you…”

“Then love her differently. Love her better.”

“Are you happy? With the endings we created?”

“Are you?” she challenged, knowing he didn’t mean the movie.

He chuckled and pulled out his phone. “Wanna see the real ending?”

“Sure.”

They sat, side by side, the warm sun on their faces, and watched the ending of a movie they swore never to watch the ending of. And it was better than all the endings they could have ever imagined on their own. But still, they both felt a finality to it all, and when Calum dropped her off back home, he wondered if he was better off with his endless imagined endings than the real one.

~~~

Tag List

@goeatsomelife @flameraine @cashtonasff5sos @here-for-the-uproars @cxddlyash @1-irwin-94 @baldcalum @sparkling-chaos @tea4sykes @youngblood199456 @5-seconds-of-obsession

#endless endings #calum hood #calum hood fic #5sos #galcal irwin

[sweetbitterpdf]

no. 32 and/or 38 please, if you're up for it :)

an anon also prompted number 32, as well as number 39— so i’m going to combine yours and theirs if that’s ok zaira!!

( 50 cliché tropes and prompts !!! )

32. A soft smile before leaning in for a kiss;

38. Everyone thinks we’re already dating, but we’re just best friends- oh wait;

39. Having a bad day and the other noticing

Lucas is with le gang, laughing and hanging out— finally finished with school for the year— but his mind is elsewhere.

To: Eliott— Hey, are you alright?

Most days Eliott is like the sun, he lights up every room that he walks into. He’s affectionate and funny and wonderful and beautiful and—

But today, he seemed… off.

He had gently declined when they had asked him to come and celebrate with them, saying that he had some things at home to attend to, to prepare for his parents coming to visit.

The thing is, though— Lucas knows when Eliott’s parents are coming next, and it’s not anytime soon.

Every time Lucas tried to speak to him throughout the day, he was far slower to respond than usual, sometimes even having to ask Lucas to repeat himself.

He’s been best friends with Eliott for long enough to spot one of his bad days.

Bad days are not episodes— Lucas learned that shortly after Eliott’s diagnosis. He has his fair share of bad days, too, and Eliott doesn’t hesitate in the slightest to take care of him when he needs it. So Lucas tries his hardest to be there for Eliott in return, on days like today— at least, he expects so.

From: Eliott— I’m doing okay, just a bit tired

Lucas has heard that before. He knows that it’s not a lie when Eliott says it— but also that it’s not entirely truthful. A bit tired means a bit tired, but it also means my brain isn’t working properly today and I don’t quite know how to articulate it. 

To: Eliott— You said you needed to get ready for when your parents come, is this an impromptu visit or something?

The three dots appear on screen and stay there for an entire minute. Lucas watches them the entire time

From: Eliott— No

From: Eliott— They’re not actually coming

From: Eliott— I just don’t feel up to hanging out with the boys right now but I didn’t know how to say it without sounding like an asshole

Lucas would be a bit upset at the fact that Eliott lied to him, if he didn’t go warm from being told the truth. From being the only one to know the truth, from being trusted enough for Eliott to be honest with him.

To: Eliott— Say exactly that, no one’s gonna think you’re an asshole

To: Eliott— Especially not us

To: Eliott— When you say that you don’t wanna hang out, does that mean me as well or?

Lucas’ instinct is to go to him— but he’s not going to if Eliott needs to be truly alone.

To: Eliott— Cause I want to be there for you but if you need your space then that’s ok too

From: Eliott— You never count

You never count.

He reads it over a few times.

I don’t feel up for hanging out,

But—

You don’t count.

You never count.

To: Eliott— Okay, do you want me to come over then?

From: Eliott— If you want, that would be nice

From: Eliott— Don’t feel like you have to ditch the guys for my sake though

I would leave them in a heartbeat for you, no one’s as special to me as you are, he wants to text,

And also—

To: Eliott— They’re boring anyway

From: Eliott—And I’m not?

To: Eliott— Never

And it’s true, it’s so true, Lucas is enamoured by Eliott, infatuated with him.

As horrifying as the thought is, he may even be in love with him.

So maybe he wants to go to his place, scoop him up in his arms, and hold him until he’s feeling better. Maybe he wants to press a kiss to his cheeks, to his lips, to his chest.

“Guys, I’m gonna go.” Lucas gets up off of the couch. Basile throws his arms up in defeat as Lucas walks across the TV screen.

“Aw, Lucas, things were just picking up!” Basile says, and Lucas scoffs at him.

“This is your third consecutive hour of FIFA and nothing noteworthy has happened— somehow I don’t believe that.”

“Going to help Eliott clean up?” Yann asks, and it’s innocuous enough of a question. Lucas nods.

Basile rolls his eyes, but then he gets a shit-eating grin on his face. Lucas knows what’s coming. “Oh, Eliott, of course. Lucas has gotta go help out his boyfriend.” Basile has been making jokes like this for months now. They affected Lucas quite a bit before, when he was terrified of the sheer possibility of people knowing that he was gay.

But then, Eliott— always the braver one— came out to their friends. To nothing but encouragement and acceptance, no less. It showed Lucas that he didn’t have to be afraid, not of his friends.

But he’s still not quite ready to tell them, not yet.

“Whatever, Bas.” He says indifferently. “I’ll see you guys later?”

“Yeah, totally! Tell him we say hi.” Lucas smiles at Arthur, at how caring he is, before putting his shoes on and leaving.

To: Eliott— I’m on my way

—

Eliott sent him a text a few minutes before he arrived, reading the door’s unlocked, and so he goes right in.

Eliott shows how he’s feeling with his body— though his face may not give away his true feelings, his posture often does. So when Lucas walks in and Eliott’s curled up on the couch, curled up in himself, Lucas can suspect how he’s feeling.

“Hey,” Lucas says, sitting down beside Eliott. The way Eliott softens— barely noticeable— when he comes close makes Lucas’ heart flutter.

“Hey.” Eliott straightens out his legs, letting them go from where he was hugging them against his chest, stretching them until the toes of his socked feet nearly brush the outside of Lucas’ thigh. They sit like that for just a moment, silent save for the ticking of the clock on the wall.

“Do you want to talk about it,” Lucas says, breaking the haze that had settled over them, “Or do you want to forget about it?” That was the offer that stood, every time one of them was down, for whatever reason. Talk about it or forget about it, and no matter what, if the latter was chosen, it had to be respected— an unspoken agreement between them that had stood as long as their friendship had.

Eliott hums, contemplating.

“Forget about it, but… Just for a little while?” Eliott’s voice is quiet but crystal clear in the quiet room. “We’ve both been so busy with exams. I’ve missed spending time with you.”

Lucas tries to ignore the feeling that he gets in his stomach when Eliott says that he’s missed him, but he can’t— not quite. He can’t quite ignore the way it feels like the floor drops out from underneath him, the way it feels sort of like he’s flying, like he’s special.

“Sure,” Lucas says, and then— “I’ve missed spending time with you, too.”

—

They end up watching a movie, something that they’ve already seen several times together, their thighs touching as they sit to one side of the couch. Lucas is leaning against the arm, and then— all of a sudden— Eliott is leaning against Lucas.

The action is gentle, but Lucas feels it all over his body. Warmth washes over him, and he has half a mind to pull Eliott closer. But he lets Eliott do as he likes, let him come and go as he pleases. Lucas decides on reaching an arm, gentle and hesitant, around Eliott’s shoulders. He doesn’t pull him inward, just lets his arm rest there. 

The movie is most of the way through when Eliott speaks.

“I’m scared of things changing.”

“Hm?”

“The reason why I bailed today,” Eliott says, looking down at the floor. “I thought about everything changing, and now I can’t stop thinking about it.”

“Like what?”

“Everything. I’m not going to be going to the same school anymore, my parents keep talking about me going out into the ‘real world’ and I feel like I’m not ready for it” Eliott’s gone quiet, his voice a bit hollow. “I won’t get to see my friends as much, I won’t get to see you as much,” Lucas almost asks Eliott why he’s separate from the rest of his friends, why he’s different, “And I…” Eliott’s voice cracks a bit, and Lucas reaches over as he takes a breath to try and calm himself. “I don’t want to be alone, again.”

Lucas’ heart breaks, just a little.

Eliott’s told him about when he was younger, about before they had met and become friends, the isolation that he had experienced when he was first diagnosed with bipolar disorder, how he never thought he would be happy again.

And— just as Lucas had, back then— he vows to never let Eliott feel alone again.

“You may be going off to university, yes, but you’re staying in the city. We won’t be far from each other, right?” When Eliott nods, Lucas continues. “Plus, even if we were, I would never let you feel alone again. I promised, remember? I’ll be beside you for as long as you want me here.”

“Forever.” Eliott’s voice is so quiet that he may not have heard it, if he hadn’t been listening. 

“Forever?” He turns so they’re facing each other, now, and they’re so close.

“Forever.” Eliott nods, his voice clearer, more sure. “I’ll never not need you.”

“Then I’ll stay here. Forever.” Lucas isn’t sure when he started leaning in— all he knows is that their noses are now nearly close enough to brush against each other. What am I doing? Lucas asks himself, but he knows, he’s known for a while, it was really just a matter of time.

“Yeah?” Eliott asks, but he knows it’s not just a response to what he said, it’s also a question of its own— are we really doing this? are you okay with this? Lucas wants to ask Eliott if he’s okay with what they’re doing, but his small smile gives the answer away. Seeing Eliott smiling gently gives Lucas the last little bit of courage that he needs.

“Yeah.” Lucas whispers, and his breath fans out against Eliott’s lips.

And then they’re kissing. 

They’re kissing and Lucas uses the arm that’s still thrown gently around Eliott’s shoulders to pull him in closer, just a little, and Eliott goes willingly. Eliott’s arms snake around Lucas’ waist, and pull him in until he’s nearly in Eliott’s lap.

They pull back after a while— a minute, ten minutes, an hour, neither of them are really sure— and Eliott’s eyes are shining, they’re glowing, and Lucas smiles over at him, awestruck.

“Still scared?” Lucas asks, and Eliott laughs, light and airy.

“Not as much,” Eliott confesses, “Some changes are for the better.”

#skam #skam france #elu #lucas x eliott #elu fic #asks; #mywriting; #this ended up....... so soft #i really like how it turned out! #@everyone else i'm still accepting prompts from the post as well!! and prompts of any kind! #thank you both for prompting this!!

[i-guess-im-a-fanfic-writer-now]

TITLE OF POST (because tumblr is a nightmare): A better life (Chapter 16, Avengers x reader)

——

hey, so posting on the tungle dot hell website is now a nightmare because things have been changed in a very very extremely immeasurably stupid way,,, i will not be having a consistent posting schedule anytime soon

so here’s chapter 16, and if you think “this writer has no idea what they’re doing” at any point, that’s accurate, i don’t plot things, my brain just makes me write things spontaneously, and i like plants and started thinking about them while writing and obviously had to write that in

i hope you enjoy this fuckery, and if you like it, please say something or signal it to me in one way or another, i hope you’re all doing okay with life right now, and if you’re stuck with shitty relatives, you’re doing great, time is irrelevant but i hope you have a good,,, day??? time

chapter 16:

A few hours after falling asleep, you woke up. Though you did wake up with a feeling of dread, this time, you didn’t exactly wake up from a nightmare. Maybe it was just from anxiety. When you checked your phone though, there were half a dozen notifications on your phone. Peter had messaged a few times, and he seemed to be getting worried from not getting any response from you. One of the messages was your mother, again. You responded to her first, wanting to get it out of the way immediately. She only wanted to know what was happening, and didn’t care about how you were actually doing, and honestly, you just wanted to be able to stay at the Tower for longer, avoiding her as much as possible.

You pulled the covers tighter over yourself and replied to Peter. He didn’t answer, which made sense: it was dark in the room, and it seemed to be night at that point. He’d probably be asleep already.

After staying motionless in bed for some time, you got up, dragging one of the blankets with you and placing it over your shoulders and head like a cape. You wrapped yourself in it like a bat in its wings. Or like a dramatic vampire with their cape. Still in complete darkness, you walked over through the door and left the room.

The silence was so deep, you could hear your own breathing.

The thought of anyone’s reaction to you walking through the hall in the dead of night, a blanket dramatically draped over you, made you chuckle quietly.

When you got to the kitchen, you put the kettle on to make tea. After getting hot water and putting the sachet in, you went over to the wall-sized windows in the area with the couches.

There was something about this common room that was interesting during the night. You could see the stars through the window, and you were completely alone, drinking tea, looking through the window. There’s a feeling to being in a normally crowded place once it’s empty. This wasn’t eerie - in fact, it was somehow almost calming.

The sight of stars gave you some hope. Your past was.. something, but your future would be okay. You’d be okay. And you’d be with the Avengers, and Tony Stark had already proven that you could trust him with how he reacted when he found out. He was already doing things to try and help you, and everyone else here had been nice to you so far.

*Maybe I do have a chance,* you thought, *at happiness. Maybe I’ll have a family that doesn’t make me feel like shit. Even though we’re not actually related by blood.*

You walked over to a couch that faced the window and lowered yourself into it.

You opened your eyes to see the light of the rising sun shining onto you. You didn’t remember putting your tea mug on the floor, or falling asleep at any point. The room was still quiet, and you thought no one would be there.

When you got up, after grabbing your already nearly cold mug, you noticed Clint was up early for some reason. The smell of freshly brewed coffee filled the air and he say on the kitchen counter, his head in his hands. You approached him. The coffee machine was still going. It was a miracle it still worked, really, with how much he used it daily.

You put your mug on the table, and touched his arm lightly to attract his attention so you’d be able to converse in sign language.

“Hey.. you know that if you have a headache, you probably shouldn’t be drinking that much coffee, right?

“Oh, Y/N, hey! What’re you doing here?” He looked even more exhausted than he did usually.

“You okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m tired. You?”

“Yeah, I think I’ll be okay.”

He nodded and you briefly smiled at each other.

“So, why are you out? You been here all night?”

“I’m not sure, actually? I just woke up at some point. Came here. It’s nice at night, you know?”

“Yeah, it is.”

After a long pause, you started to turn away from him to go to your room with your mug, but you noticed him signing before looking away.

“Care to share what’s been bothering you?” After seeing your confused expression, he continued. “I mean, your reaction to me asking about your family when Tony dragged us over to have food. I haven’t forgotten that, you know. Your face does that thing when you get taken by surprise by something. Your reaction to Tony grabbing your arm. To touch in general, really. Wanda and Pietro mentioned you seeming off the other day.”

You stayed silent as a knot formed in your stomach.

“Talk to me. Please.”

“It’s okay.”

He shook his head and got off the counter.

You hesitated, watching him get closer. “My relatives can be intense. That’s it.” You started fidgeting with your fingers.

”Explain.”

You were the one to shake your head this time.

“Are you being hurt?”

There was a slight pause.

“Stop.” Your heart dropped, and the last thing you wanted was to seem rude, especially to Clint, who taught you so much since you got here, who spent so much time with you, but this was just too much.

He stopped pressing, and you grabbed your mug and left the room in a hurry, hiding in yours immediately.

*God, now he knows. I’m so stupid.*

It took you a few minutes to calm yourself down at least a bit, and then you picked a book off the shelf behind the couch in your room. You started reading, though you were having a hard time concentrating on the words on the pages because of the signed conversation you just had with Clint. What would he do now that he knew? Maybe he’d go to Tony and ask him what to do, and he’d tell him to not force it, that he knows, that he’s doing something to change your situation. Or maybe he’d go talk to Wanda and Pietro and tell them. Maybe everyone would find out. Did everyone already have suspicions about it?

*I’m sure as hell not going back out there.. guess I’ll have to wait and see what happens... I really hope he just tells mister Stark and no one else.*

You let out a sigh accompanied by a small “aaaaaa” noise, trying to release some pent up anxiety, and then immediately flung yourself onto the side of the couch in front of the tv in the room, sitting up on the armrest like a gargoyle, remote in hand. You turned the tv on, settling on a gardening channel after a few minutes of clicking and looking around.

“Maybe I should get some plants in my room”, you whispered to yourself.

A few minutes of staring emptily at the screen while thinking convinced you: you need houseplants. Well, for your room. This led to you questioning whether anyone else on the floor has plants in their room. Plants can be really helpful, because when you have a really hard time taking care of yourself, taking care of something that isn’t you can be helpful. It gives you a reason to keep going. Plants are usually easier to care for: when something’s wring, they show it, and it’s relatively easy to determine. And plants make the air better.

*Maybe everyone here should have at least one plant*, you thought.

Somehow, once you came out of your thinking, an hour passed.

You left the room, having completely forgotten the conversation you had with Clint earlier, now fully distracted by the one thing on your mind: getting a plant, or several plants. Probably several. And asking Tony if anyone had a plant. Maybe to suggest every person should have at least one.

You went to the kitchen, trying to find Tony. Thor and a pasty white man whose hair fell to his shoulders were having an intense conversation, standing beside the kitchen table. You walked closer to them, unsure yet determined to get what you wanted. Thor quiets down and puts his hand up in front of him, prompting the other man to go quiet after following Thor’s gaze, which was now upon you.

“Hey, Y/N. How are you?” He smiles.

“Hi, I’m okay, you?”

He replies positively, which lets you ask your question.

“Do you know where Mister Stark is? Also - this might sound weird - but do you have a plant in your room? Like, here. At the Tower. You know.”

He looks puzzled, but goes with it. “I think he’s down at his workshop place? In the basement, perhaps? If not, he might be in the lab, with Bruce Banner. I don’t have a plant, why do you ask?”

“Thank you! Oh, I was just, I, um, I was watching a gardening channel, and then remembered that plants better the air quality, and - you know, plant things, and stuff”, you finish off your sentence, fearing you’d be unable to continue without talking about plants for half an hour, and not wanting to bother him with it.

The dark haired man stared at you in disbelief, probably offended you hadn’t mentioned his presence. “Sorry, I noticed you, I’m just thinking about plants, and if I get distracted right now I’ll get distracted for the rest of the day and completely forget what I’m thinking, and if that happens, I’ll remember it in the dead of night and that would be a disaster for my already freestyle sleep schedule”, you addressed him.

He raised his eyebrows as an amused expression appeared on his face. “Y/N, is it? Loki. Of Asgard.” At this introduction, you mumbled something along the lines of a polite *nice to meet you*. “So, Y/N, tell me, where might you be from? Although, no, go find Stark and talk about... plants? But later, I want to get to know you. You wouldn’t mind that, would you? We’ll have a nice chat.”

Thor looked at him and then you, with a face that could only be described as the reaction of someone being presented with a bad idea.

You did a quick, awkward thumbs up, not knowing exactly how to answer to any of this, and quickly walked over to the lift, pressing the button and leaving the floor as the two men resumed their animated conversation.

You’d decided on checking in for Tony at the lab first, since it was quicker to get to there than to the workshop, which was all the way down and then some.

He wasn’t there, though Bruce Banner was. The two of you met before, but never actually had a conversation: he was in a quiet, reflective mood when you first met, on the first night you stayed in the Tower.

After a short conversation and him focusing really hard on his scientific research, he said something along the lines of “see you later”, and you took that as your time to leave, still in search of Tony.

You went down to his workshop, finally getting there after a few stops on random floors where people got onto the lift. You were super uncomfortable, not sure how to react to strangers, so you just didn’t react, keeping your gaze to the floor and staying in the corner.

There he was, staring intently at a piece of a new suit, looking to be deep in thought.

You softly knocked at the door to the actual workshop, hoping it would get his attention. When it didn’t, you pushed the door ever so slightly, trying to communicate without intruding too much. That’s when he noticed you, and he seemed as if he had just come out of a sort of trance.

“Oh hey, Y/N, listen, I’m having a problem with this suit, been standing here practically frozen for an hour pr two, not sure, time barely happens here, you mind helping me with the execution an idea?”

You agreed to help and he immediately started describing the problem to you. Though you still couldn’t take your mind off of plants, you tried to help out, and at some point while you were speaking about a way to make his idea possible, he whispered “ah-ha! precisely, thank you!!”

A few minutes later - a few minutes that passed by as you stood awkwardly and Tony asked his robots to hand him instruments and other objects - he was done with one part of the idea. He suddenly turned to you.

“So what’s up? What’s got you going all the way down here?”

“Yeah, okay, so, um, this might sound weird or stupid, but-“, you started.

“Nope. Impossible. Because I’ll most probably be curious. Weird is the best. Go ahead, with what you were gonna say, but please don’t say that something you’re thinking is stupid, right? It’s all good.”

“Okay... right, um, so, I was thinking - I was watching a gardening show, and it got me thinking - plants!”

He nodded.

“Um, I, sorry, I’m kind of, uh, I don’t know”. You take a slight pause. “Words aren’t working right because I just really like plants and sometimes it gets difficult to express what I want to say and the words just don’t go to my brain, and right now it’s because I’m... I’m not sure what emotion this is but it’s like, the opposite of frustrated, though I am frustrated with myself for my inability to communicate, and I’m sorry because now I’m rambling and I’m gonna stop for a minute or two and gather my brain.”

You take a deep breath, later noticing Tony is smiling.

“That is such a mood. Take your time. Happens to everyone. I think. Maybe. I don’t know, actually. Right, plants. What about plants? Oh! Do you want plants? In your room?”

Your face lit up. “Yeah! That. Like, the benefits plants can bring to the air quality and health in general, be it physical or mental, they’re pretty cool, and I, um, I was thinking, maybe everyone should have at least one plant in their room? I don’t know. Like, plants!! You know?”

“Hell yeah!!! We could definitely do that, might help some people, right! Do you have any suggestions? Like, plant suggestions?”

The part of you that’s practically completely obsessed with plants starts rapid-fire listing off names of plants with enthusiasm, prompting Tony to react in a “whoa whoa wait” way, which is perfectly understandable. Sometimes you can’t even keep up with how quickly your brain might be going. Other times, your thinking is painfully slow and everything is boring. It occurs to you that brains are incredibly weird.

You continue listing plants, speaking slower this time, but still with a whole lot of enthusiasm. He seems to take all you say into his brain, trying to remember it.

“Do you want to go right now?” he asks suddenly.

“Sorry?”

“Do you want to go right now? Plant haul. Let’s get these plants. In the similar fashion of saying “let’s get this bread”, you know. So do you want to go right now? To the plant stores.”

“I’d love to!!!”

“Fantastic!!! Let’s go!!!” He walks over to the door, exits, and holds it open for you, and then the two of you reach the lift.

“Nat’s a cactus with a pink flower on top”, he casually states, with a hint of humour in his voice, as the doors of the lift close. You smile.

#avengers x reader #avengers x abused reader #avengers x reader fanfic #avengers x reader fanfiction #avengers x abused reader fanfic #avengers x abused reader fanfiction #avengers fics #avengers fanfics #avengers fanfiction

[calliecat93]

ST: TNG Watchthrough Episodes 21-25. Final episodes of Season One.

Symbiosis: Remember kids, drugs are bad! Okay tbf this WAS back in the 80’s where crack and stuff were a growing issue and drug addiction episodes were not at all uncommon. Heaven knows that I saw PLENTY in cartoons from the time, such as Cartoon All-Stars to the Rescue or a VERY infamous episode of Captain Planet that I’m shocked got by the censors. As with many of those cartoons though, this episode is... well, pretty preachy. Not as badly, they save it for just one scene for the most part, but still. I don’t think that tackling addiction in ST is a bad idea, but... well, 80’s. I guess if it educated people then that’s good. Frankly I was on Crusher’s side that they should do something, but they stick with the Prime Directive which I guess they’ve gotten a LOT stricter about since the TOS days. The ending is pretty depressing with the addiction continuing, the assholes continuing to sell it, and our heroes can only allow it to happen aside from depriving them of ships to stop shipments, leaving them to figure it out themselves. Hopefully one day things can get better for them. Otherwise, it was just okay. Not the worst drug PSA I’ve ever seen by a long-shot. Oh and apparently there was a Reading Rainbow episode where Levar showed the making of this episode, so if you can find it you should check it out~! 3/5.

Skin of Evil: So... I already knew going into the show that Yar died and Worf would take her place as Security Chief. It’s a shame tbh cause while underdeveloped, I really liked Yar and had she held out, she could have gotten some REALLY good development. But I understand why the actress was unsatisfied with being on the show and left, and I read that she does get to come back for an episode later on so that’s nice. I’ll go into how her death was handled in a bit. As far as the episode itself goes, we have a VERY creepy black liquid monster holding Troi hostage in a crashed shuttle and considering it just managed to kill a person, the danger is VERY real. And it did it essentially because it wanted to cause suffering which Troi senses, which makes it all the more horrifying. The tension and fear is very strong and them themes of a being that serves evil just because... yeah that was something. Picard causing it to break down was freakin’ awesome, Kirk would be proud! Now Yar’s death. The reactions of everyone were appropriate and the event was properly shocking. I went wide-eyed when it happened since I did NOT expect it to happen that fast in that kind of manner. The funeral was also properly sad and showed that Yar was a valued member of the crew and very much respected by her crewmen, and that she respected them in turn. The final scene where Data is confused if he missed the point by feeling lost and Picard telling him that he got it exactly right? That was a perfect note to end on, and by God is that the truth regarding grief/loss. That being said... while I understand why it was done as it was and can’t complain about the execution and tone, the abrupt end just feels unsatisfying. I hate character deaths like this because it makes the character feel wasted and robs them of a proper sendoff, even with Yar’s message. They just feel like fodder. So while it had the proper weight, I’m still unhappy with how it’s done and I hope that Yar’s later reappearance will allow more closure or her. Because even if underutilized, she deserved a better ending. Still, even taking that into account, the episode is dark, tense, and Yar’s death does leave a shocking impact that TOS never quite gave me (Spock got brought back so that doesn’t count, plus he got a proper sendoff that would have been satisfactory fi he hadn’t come back). 4.5/5.

We’ll Always Have Paris: So after major character death and evil tar monsters, we get an episode on Picard’s love life! I guess a pre-requisite for being a Starfleet Captain is to have a crappy one of those. Then again maybe Sisko will break the curse when I get to DS9, we’ll see. Anyways! As the title hints, this is essentially the ST version of Casablanca. Picard has an old flame who left him, got married, and now the couple are in need of help while that old flame between Picard and the woman Jenice (is Janice and variaiton fo Janice just... a REALLY common name in the future? There was Janice Rand, Kirk’s ex in Turnabout Intruder was named Janice, now in TNG we have Jenice, how is this a pattern?!). Isn’t love fun folks?! So the episode was... okay. The time distortion or whatever broke my brain so that didn’t help. Picard and Jenice... didn’t work for me? Like... I felt no chemistry. It felt like two people in denial about a flame that fizzled out ages ago than one that burned for many years but was lost. IDK fit hat’s on the actors, the script, and/or the directing but I felt nothing, plus Jenice flirting wih Picard while her husband was in sickbay possibly dying... felt pretty shitty. Oh and the Picard/Crusher ship tease also made me feel nothing. I like Picard. I LOVE Crusher. I don’t have any feelings for them as a pair especially considering that Crusher’s husband was friends with Picard and died on duty with him... which just makes it feel WRONG to me. And poor Troi has to deal with everyone being emotionally repressed idiots, the poor woman deserves a niiiice Shore Leave. So it was average, but the lack of romantic chemistry and me just being confued by the time distortions cause... time distortions just left me confused and uninvested. So yeah... that’s all I can say. 2/5.

Conspiracy: Well a title like that can only mean good things, right? RIGHT?! So... remember the brain slugs from The Wrath of Khan? Well they decided to bring that concept back! They’ve taken over the admirals of Starfleet and are taking over with our heroes having to try and figure out what’s happening and stop it. It’s an interesting one for sure. We have Picard on Earth with the admirals while Quinn from a previous episode is on the Enterprise and causing chaos on there. It’s pretty scary to think about, the higher ups being brainwashed and could have easily destroyed the Federation from the inside out if Picard hadn’t been warned ahead of time. When Picard is utterly surrounded and they were eating the worm things... God it was scary. Although Riker really DID fool me into thinking he was possessed, so I outright cheered when he pulled out his phaser. Badass! Oh and Crusher blasting Quinn until he was down was also badass. It was also shockingly graphic with the bugs and the one guy’s body that hosted the alien... how THAT got by the censors I will never, EVER know. In the end, we never find out about who unleashed the parasites (apparently it was going to be The Borg but it didn’t work out) or what they wanted, but it certainly left an impact. Plus I think the ambiguity makes it all the more horrifying. Someone or something almost took over... and they’ll never know who or what. Overall, really good episode. 4/5.

The Neutral Zone: Well they’ve mentioned then and hinted at it a few times, but at last in the season final, the Romulans have made their return. IDT thy’ve been major villains since The Enterprise Incident back in TOS S3. Speaking of TOS... I thought we were done reusing plots, but this is more or less Space Seed except the frozen people aren’t evil, bio enhanced lunatics. So not a direct reuse but it’s pretty hard to ignore the major similarity. Anyways, we have a bit of an interesting premise with people from the 20th Century being thawed into the 24th Century and letting them interact. There would be major culture shock and values dissonance because even compared to the 80’s and the 2020’s so many values and views have changed. So imagine how much changed in between four centuries with concepts like phones and banks no longer a thing. It was... eh? I like the idea but I just didn’t care for these people much? Well the one guy who is a walking Southern redneck stereotype didn’t especially when he... was alone with Crusher. I HATED that guy, and I’ve seen rednecks my entire life! The other two I at least felt some sympathy for especially the one woman, but not enough to get me invested in this particular plot. Though I WAS amused by some things like TV not surviving past 2040... yeah THAT I find difficult to believe. Ah, the irony of making TV shows set int he future when you have no way of predicting what will and won’t happen. But yeah I get the parallel they were going for by the end with the civilians and Romulans being out of touch with the Federation, but I just didn’t care enough. The Romulan half of the plot? The build-up to it was good with everyone on edge since this will be the first time dealing with them in over 50 years and who knows what they’re like now compared to the TOS era. And when we finally see them? Well they’re very much still intimidating and a sense of danger is very much still existent, though they do agree to share information on this one issue so they aren’t foolish. It very much brought back whatever investment I had in them back in TOS, Went hey said that they’re back, that was a promise and I am all for it~! As far as being a season finale goes... well TOS weren’t exactly great in that area so it being just fine is par for the course, but it is just fine. Really the Romulan bit was what helped this episode, otherwise it’s just okay, but at least the ending scene promises more to come. Not a bad note to end on. 3/5.

Well it took much longer than I had hoped, but we have finished TNG Season One! It was... rough, but I knew going it that it would be. There were some bright spots and it did well enough to get renewed, but clearly a lot was going to need to be done to fine tune the show and let it reach it’s full potential. Will Season 2 be an improvement? What changes will they make? Will they be good or bad for the show? Will Riker ever get his glorious beard anytime soon? We’ll find out in due time. So tomorrow I’ll do the Top 5 Best/Worst list for S1, then by Friday I hope to get S2 underway. For now one season down, six to go. The adventure continues.

#st watchthrough

[kotoriqueen]

Hello, @twunkadelia​!! I am happy to say that I was your Heith Secret Valentine! 

It took me a while to actually write this, but I was able to finish this for Valentine’s Day! I tried to make this as fluffy as possible so I hope you enjoy this! 

1 – Candy Hearts ( High School AU)

He lets out a huge yawn as he walks down the school halls, going for his locker. Though when he stops at it, there’s a huge piece of poster board taped to it, with a bunch of little hearts making up one huge heart. Keith rubs the sleep out of his eyes to get a better look at it, realizing that the smaller hearts are those candy hearts that are stupidly popular during this time of year. Keith’s eyes wander over each candy heart, each one saying a different thing. For how big the paper is, and how big the heart is, Keith’s pretty sure the person who made this took them forever to do it. There’s basic ones like ‘XOXO’, ‘HUG ME’, and ‘BE MINE’ and then there’s ‘SEXY MOFO’, ‘I LOVE YOU’, and ‘MY BABY’ that make Keith’s face go twenty different shades of red. And while he’s looking at this whole little art project this person made, he can’t put this to a name because there’s no fucking name on it! Keith thinks he could get lucky by taking it down and look behind it, but he still gets nothing to point him to the person to do this.

His eyes narrow in frustration, and sighs, putting the candy heart picture under his arm as he opens his locker. He’s lost in thought for who could have done it, and he’s so lost in thought, he doesn’t realize someone coming up next to him.

“Hey, Keith,” and his name being spoken snaps Keith out of his thoughts, nearly jumping a few feet in the air. He glances over, where Hunk stands next to him, with an amused grin on his face. “Did I scare you?”

“I don’t get scared, Hunk,” Keith denies before turning back to his locker, switching out a few books and setting the candy heart picture inside his locker. “Just.. I was lost in thought.”

“What were you thinking about?”

“Someone left me a piece of poster board with candy hearts all over them, but there’s no name on it.” Keith says, shutting his locker with a slam. “So I was trying to figure out who it was, but what kind of person would use the candy heart ‘SEXY MOFO’ when referring to me? That’s just embarrassing.”

“Hm, there’s thousands of people in this school, with more boys than girls, so I think that narrows it down because you don’t really flaunt your gayness,” Hunk says with a shrug. “I’m sure the person will show themselves on Valentine’s Day.”

“Well, if it’s a girl, they got some disappointment coming,” Keith says. “Or even a guy – I like someone else.”

Hunk’s eyes raise up, but a tinge of disappointment goes through him, “Really?”

“Not ready to out that, though.”

“Understood, dude.”

‘Maybe I shouldn’t have made that after all,” Hunk thinks to himself. ‘I knew I was going to get hurt in the end..’

2 – Roses ( Domestic AU )

Hunk comes home late from work one night, finding the apartment he shares with Keith empty and dark and strangely a little cold, as if Keith hasn’t been there all day. Hunk pats the wall for the light switch, and turns on the lights in the house. He looks around, a concerned look on his face, and calls out for his lover and roommate, but receives no response. Hunk continues calling out for Keith on the way to their shared bedroom, but when he gets there, there’s a vase of red roses sitting in front of their floor mirror. Hunk raises an eyebrow and picks them up, plucking the card from in between.

“If you stand with this bouquet of roses in front a mirror, you’ll see thirteen of the most beautiful things in the world,” Hunk reads aloud, and after the words process, his face turns red and he lets out a small squeak. “What the hell, Keith.”

“I wanted you to know how beautiful you were,” comes a voice from the doorway and Hunk turns fast, seeing Keith in the doorway of their bedroom. “I kept waking up to you running your hands over your body, and even the past, you told me that you were worried about me accepting your feelings because ‘Look at you, and then look at me. Why would anyone like me?’”

“Keith--”

“And I think you’re beautiful,” Keith continues on, walking over to Hunk and wrapping his arms around him. “Not just think, but I know, for a fact, you are beautiful and perfect and the right guy for me.”

“Oh, Keith..”

“I love you, Hunk,” Keith says, squeezing Hunk’s sides. “All of you.”

3 – Blind Date/Set up by friends ( Modern AU )

Keith doesn’t know what he’s doing here.

Oh, well, honestly? He does know. Shiro and Matt had set him up with a guy Matt’s little sister knew, and arranged for the two of them to meet at a coffee shop. (Could you say cliché?) All Keith could think about is how dangerous blind dates could be, because, really – what does Matt know about this guy? He knows Matt is protective of his little sister, so whoever Pidge hangs out with, they’d have to get by Matt, too. But a murderer could seem nice too at first glance, but give time, and they could fuck things up.

So now Keith is sitting at a table for two at a coffee stop, index finger swirling around the brim of his glass of water as he waits for his blind date. He hears the door chime open and Keith looks up, watching as a server points the customer to where Keith’s sitting. Keith sits up straight, getting a better look at this guy. His big – big enough to bench press Keith if he wanted to. Keith swallows, suddenly his throat feeling dry.

“Hey,” the stranger greets. “Sorry if I’m late. Have you been waiting long?”

Long enough to wonder where you’ve been all my life.

“Uh, no. I haven’t. Just got here myself,” Keith says instead of what his brain tells him. “Have a seat. I’m Keith.”

“I’m Hunk,” stranger says and all Keith could think is Oh, you sure are. “Uhm, I never have been on a blind date before. My friends arranged this.”

“Same here.” Keith agrees. “But we might as well order something and get to know each other. Unless you prefer to leave.”

“I mean, I’d like to get to know you at least? Even if this doesn’t work out, we can still be friends, yeah?”

Keith blinks, then a smile forms on his face, “Yeah. I’d like that.”

4 – Chocolate ( Canon )

“Did you seriously find a planet that has a plant for you to make chocolates?” Keith asks Hunk, not able to believe it when Hunk mentions it. “If so, I call dibs on being the guinea pig this time.”

“I’ve never seen you so excited before. It’s kind of cute.” Hunk teases, making Keith’s cheeks go a little pinkish. “Yes, I did. And you’re lucky you did. Lance and Pidge would have fought over it.”

“I just haven’t had chocolate in a long time, okay? It used to be my comfort food.”

“Comfort food?” Hunk questions, a little confused at first but then he remembers of all that Keith’s been through and his face softens. “Aw, Keith – know what, hold on. Wait here.”

Keith blinks, but does as told as Hunk runs around the kitchen, opening the cabinets and going over the stove. He’s unable to watch fully on what Hunk’s doing, but the scent fills the air and it smells cocoa-y – like hot chocolate, to be more specific. Keith’s eyes light up and watches as Hunk nearly breaks the Altean glasses rushing to grab one, and within minutes, there’s a steaming cup of chocolate coloured liquid in front of him. (Well, it feels like minutes went by, but it took a lot longer than just a few minutes to make this.)

“Have this,” Hunk says and Keith takes the cup in his hands. “Careful, it’s--” And then he watches Keith take a sip with no hesitation but doesn’t yelp from the heat either. “..hot.”

“Holy crap, Hunk.”

“Is it good?”

“It’s fantastic,” Keith replies and he takes another sip, practically chugging it down. “It tastes so much like hot chocolate it’s unreal.”

“Good!” Hunk beams at this, glad he was successful in making Keith happy. “I’ll make you some small chocolates, too, and stick them in the freezer for them to chill and turn solid, so you can have your comfort food anytime.”

“Thank you, Hunk. I appreciate it.”

“No problem.”

5 – Movie Night ( Canon )

“So this is an Altean movie.” Hunk says as he sits right besides Keith on the couch. Keith hums as a response. “Wow. Do you even know what they’re saying?”

“Not in the slightest. I’ve been making my own dialogue,” Keith says. “At least in my head.”

“Really? I want to hear some.”

Keith looks over and then figures why not, so he rewinds the movie and turns it down a little. A scene with a princess and a prince appears.

“Oh, Princess, I have always longed for you. Won’t you please come with me?” Keith recites then clears his voice, trying to sound like the Princess in the movie. “Oh no I must not! Father will never allow me to go out with someone like you!”

“Like me? What’s wrong with me?” Hunk adds in with a grin and Keith looks over, his smile wide.

“You didn’t show up with flowers! Or candy! Or anything! Not even a white horse! How could I go with you?”

“Because you don’t need all those things for true love,” Hunk says. “If you come with me, I will forever love you.”

“That sounds so cheesy.” Keith says, bumping Hunk with his shoulder. “Just right out of a fairy tale.”

“Hey, I like fairy tales. Disney movies are my favourite.”

“And yet if you read the morbid ones, you’d never like them again.”

“Let’s not and say I did.”

6 – Late for a Date ( Domestic AU )

Hunk’s panicking. Hunk’s panicking and driving a crazy speed to the hospital. When he got the phone call that his boyfriend was there because of an accident at work, he dropped everything to go there. He and Keith were supposed to have a date, and ten minutes before they’re supposed to have their date, is when he gets the call.

He parks and rushes into the ER, asking right away to see Keith Kogane. It takes a moment, and a nurse comes out to guide Hunk to Keith’s emergency room, where at the door, he sees Keith fast asleep, with a bandage wrapped around his arm and scratches on his face. Hunk pales from seeing his boyfriend like this, and he rushes to his side, grabbing the bandaged arm and kissing Keith’s knuckles. From the nurses explanation, it seems like Keith was doing his job as security and tried stopping a guy because he was stealing to only slam him through a window and ended up like this. It’s not too much longer until Keith opens his eyes, grunting from the bright lights in the emergency room.

“Nn..”

“Keith.. Oh my god, Keith.” Hunk sobs, hanging his head. “I was so worried about you! How do you feel?”

“Like shit,” Keith grumbles. “I missed our date.. all because I was chasing a stupid guy.”

“You were doing your job,” Hunk tells him. “I’m not mad. I’m more glad that you’re okay.”

“But you were looking forward to this date..”

“It’s fine. It’s fine.” Hunk leans over, pressing kisses to Keith’s face. “All that matters is that you’re safe. I love you.”

“Love you, too..”

7 – Wrong Restaurant ( Domestic AU )

“What do you mean our names aren’t on the list?” Keith’s getting snappy, and Hunk’s panicking. They’re going to get kicked out of this restaurant in like five seconds. “I made this reservation, like, weeks in advance! Look for our names again!”

“I’m sorry, sir, but your names aren’t on here. I’ve looked five times now, and our tables are either full or reserved for other guests. I cannot just give you a table.”

“That’s bullshit--”

“Uh, Keith?” Hunk interrupts, his lover looking back with a glare. “..I think we’re at the wrong restaurant.”

Immediately, Keith’s face goes red from embarrassment and croaks out an ‘oh’.

“We’re so sorry for the trouble.” Hunk apologizes before grabbing Keith by the wrist and drags him out. “Oh my god. Now we won’t make it to the other restaurant in time.”

“..Maybe we can just go home and order Chinese.” Keith mutters, still embarrassed. “I’m sorry for not realizing it sooner.”

“No, Keith, if I was you, I would have gotten angry, too. It’s fine.” Hunk takes Keith’s hands and rests his forehead against the others. “We can go home. Snuggle and watch television. Date night is still a go.”

8 – Strangers Alone on Valentine’s Day ( Coffee Shop AU )

The coffee shop is dead on February fourteenth. There’s only few people there, and two people are sitting together at a table for a date. Keith’s sitting alone, laptop in front of him, staring at the couple with disgust. He figured it would be better to get work done on Valentine’s Day seeing as how he had nobody and most coffee shops would be dead with no couples, but no, he thought wrong.

The door to the coffee shop chimes open and Keith looks up, seeing a man walk in alone and go to the counter, order something, and then sit down at a table next to Keith.

“Alone on Valentine’s Day, too, huh?” the stranger says, trying to make conversation.

“Mhm. I don’t care. I’m not interested in anybody anyway.” Keith shrugs, deciding to talk to the stranger seeing as how he’s not going to get much work done if he’s too stressed to get anything done. “What about you?”

“Eh, not me either,” the stranger says with a shrug. “I’m Hunk, by the way.”

“Keith. What brings you here?”

“Wanting to get some writing done. I need coffee to wake me.”

“Same. I have a deadline in a few days and I barely started on it.”

“Story of my life.”

“Heh.” Keith laughs a little, a smile on his face. “Good luck, Hunk.”

“You, too,” Hunk says, his smile wide. “Keith.”

9 – Friends on a date ( High School AU )

“Aw, aren’t you two a cute couple.” Lance teases as he walks past Hunk and Keith having lunch together at a diner. “We have studying to do, and you two are on a date?”

“We’re not on a date, Lance.” Hunk insists. “We’re studying. And we’re not a couple--”

“I thought this was a date,” Keith interrupts, eyebrow raising. “Guess I was wrong.”

“Wait-- Keith-- you know it could be--”

Keith’s grin is wide and teasing, “I’m joking, Hunk.”

“O-oh.”

‘I’d very much like to date you,’ Keith thinks. ‘But you’re too good for me..’

10 – Rained out Picnic ( Canon )

“Well.. going to a planet that had a seventy-five percent chance of rain, may have been a bad idea.” Hunk admits, feeling down as he and Keith take shelter from the rain under a tree. “I was really thinking that twenty-five percent would come through.”

“We can have a picnic in Yellow?” Keith offers. “Would she mind?”

“I don’t think so. She’s been itching to get us out on a date, but at the cost of our picnic being soaked and us getting sick? She’ll welcome us to eat there as long as we clean up.”

“Race you to your lion, then.”

“What-- Keith! That’s not fair! I’m holding the picnic basket!”

11 – Low on money/homemade date ( Modern AU )

A date didn’t have to be going to a fancy restaurant or buying your significant other nice things. No matter where you are, and what you do, a date is still a date and still amazing when you’re with the person you love and care about. And Hunk didn’t mind it when Keith admits he doesn’t have the money for date night because bills came up. And even though Keith minds, Hunk is more than fine with sitting with Keith, playing games and eating pizza rolls. Or even snuggling and watching Netfix. Which is what they are doing now after they had eaten microwavable chicken nuggets, with Keith laying on top of Hunk and Hunk’s hand running through Keith’s hair.

“I love you,” Hunk whispers and Keith hears it, raising his head. “This date is great.”

“..I love you, too, Hunk.” Keith says with a small smile. “Next date will be better though.”

“Having a chill date is the best date I could ask for, Keith. Honest.”

“If you say so, but I’m going to spoil you rotten next time.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

12 – Surprise Date while Working Late ( Florist Hunk, Tattoo Artist Keith )

Hunk enters the tattoo shop late at night, holding a vase of flowers and asking where Keith is at. He’s told Keith’s in the back cleaning up, and Hunk walks back there, nearly startling his boyfriend in the process.

“What are you doing here, Hunk? I won’t be off for another hour or so.” Keith admits. “I have a lot of cleaning up to do.”

“I know! I know! I just.. wanted to give you these,” Hunk says and hands over the vase. “I set up the arrangement myself. Figured it would cheer you up when we can’t go out on dates because of our work schedule. But also.. I’m off tomorrow and so are you and we’re going to go out on a date once you get off.”

“Hunk.. you didn’t have to come here for this..”

“I wanted to. It was a surprise.” Hunk says with a grin and leans down, pecking Keith’s lips. “I’ll wait in the waiting area for you.”

Keith grins wide, returning the kiss, “Alright. I’ll see you soon.”

13 – Forgot to get anything ( High School AU; post-Heith )

The first thought Keith has when he walks into school on February fourteenth is god, there is so much red and pink and so many hearts and love spread around. He pushes through couples hugging in the hallways, gags at the couples kissing at their lockers and ready to make love with all the students watching them, and he feels a headache forming when he hears girls screaming with joy when they get their Valentine’s gifts. He sighs and makes way to his locker, opening it up and grabs what he needs for his first half of classes. He has a lot of time to kill, but he’ll probably go to his first class anyway to get away from all the gross, mushy, couple-y things.

“Good morning, Keith,” Hunk greets as he passes Keith on his way to his own locker, which is only a few lockers away from Keith’s. Keith groans and slams his head on the metal, making Hunk look at him with a concerned look on his face. “..Everything okay?”

“No.” Keith grits through his teeth and slams his locker shut, which makes Hunk jump and makes Keith forming headache only worse. “I hate Valentine’s Day.”

“Hate is a rather strong word--”

“Then I’ll use a stronger one: I despise it.”

“Oh.”

Keith blinks, looking up at his boyfriend, eyebrow raised. Now Hunk’s facial expression reads he’s upset about something, and Keith panics a little because fuck, he said something wrong, didn’t he?

“Uhm.. I’m sorry you feel that way. I got you something for Valentine’s Day.”

Keith’s eyes widen at this news, and the second thought that runs through his head is: Keith you jerk. You may hate, or despise Valentine’s Day or whatever, but you still should have gotten your boyfriend something! And with all the hate, you never did think about that, did you? Nope!

“..Hunk, I didn’t.. I didn’t get you anything.” Keith mutters, now feeling guilty. “I’m not-- I’m not used to having relationships like this, so I normally just try to ignore Valentine’s Day.”

“It’s fine, Keith. I know how you feel about holidays, especially ones like this.” Hunk shrugs it off, but Keith can read that something is still bothering him. Hunk digs through his book bag and pulls out a small box, handing it over to Keith. “Here.”

“No.”

“..No?”

“Not until I get you something,” Keith tells him, to make himself more clear. “It’s not fair, Hunk. Tell you what-- come over to the house after school today. I’ll make you dinner. Sure, you’re a better cook than me, but let me make you dinner. And then this weekend, we can go on a Valentine’s day date and you can spend the night. We can cuddle all night.”

“You don’t have to do all that, Keith..”

“But I can tell it bothers you!” Keith raises his voice, and he knows Hunk hates it, but he has no choice. “Let me do this. Please. I care about you, Hunk. A-and I love you. And I feel bad if I don’t at least do something. So please..”

Hunk goes silent for a moment, and slips the box back into his bag, then walks over to Keith, his arm going around Keith’s waist and leaning down to place a small kiss on the top of Keith’s head.

“Okay. I expect candles, though.”

“Of course, big man.”

14 – Babysitter Canceled/Family Date Night ( Domestic/Future AU; where Heith adopts )

They had adopted twin daughters five years into their marriage. They decided it had been a great idea now they were financially stable – at least somewhat – and had a nice house with a dog and a cat. And it seemed like the two girls did not want to be torn apart, so Hunk and Keith were fine with adopting both. And after two weeks of foster care going through their file to find out if they were able to be parents, they got the girls. They were about three years old at the time, and attached at the hip. Their names were Melody and Ruby, and they were so pretty. Hunk and Keith spoiled them rotten when they first got them, and continued doing so for many years.

The girls are now going on nine years old, their birthdays just a couple days after Valentine’s Day. Hunk and Keith made plans on February fourteenth, and arranged a babysitter, but at the last minute, the babysitter canceled on them so they decided it would be a family date night. It has been for the past years since they’ve gotten Melody and Ruby – the tradition would never change.

Besides, free dessert for the girls when they tell people ‘oh it’s their birthday’ when their birthdays are just a couple days away. But a little lie never hurt anyone.

So here they are, at a family restaurant, the restaurant covered in Valentine’s decorations. The girls are picking at their food, while Hunk and Keith are eating, but the two fathers can tell something is bothering their daughters.

“Everything okay with you two?” Hunk questions. “You barely touched your dinner.”

“..Did we mess up Valentine’s Day for you two?” Melody asks, taking after Keith and being straight forward and the ‘wild child’ of their family.

“What?” Keith’s eyebrows shoot up. “What gave you that idea?”

“Because Valentine’s Day is meant to be shared between couples!” Ruby says. “And you two always seem to give up date nights to be with us.. We feel like we messed things up.”

“No. No no no.” Hunk puts his fork down, the tears already building up in his eyes. “You didn’t ruin anything, girls! Honest! Tell them, Keith.”

“What your daddy means – before a waterfall starts spilling from his eyes -” Keith teases before turning back towards the girls. “you girls mean the world to us. You do not ruin Valentine’s Day – you make it better. Valentine’s Day is filled with love, not just for couples, but that love is for anybody. So we are more than happy to spend Valentine’s Day with you two.”

“..You mean it?” Ruby looks up, pouting, but Keith smiles wide and nods as a response. “..Okay. But when we get home, Melody and I are making you two a giant heart with lots of glitter!”

Keith chuckles at this, while Hunk is ready to start sobbing. Some things never change.

15 – Secret Admirer/Confessing ( Canon )

There are no secret admirers on the castle ship. When Keith keeps finding little cards, with ‘from your secret admirer’ written on them, there’s only a small handful of people that these could be from.

Coran’s too old; Allura doesn’t look at him in that way.

Lance doesn’t like him; Shiro and him are best friends, perhaps closer than brothers.

Pidge doesn’t like love; and Matt and him were friends at the Garrison but there’s nothing between them.

All there is left is Hunk, and Keith is pretty certain Hunk doesn’t like him, until he keeps getting notes, leading Keith to the dining area on the castle ship, finding the lights off. He tries turning them on, but they seem to be broken – or at least, that’s what he thinks. Then he hears a couple of claps, and the room lights up with candles surrounding the dining area, and flowers in the middle of the table, and two silver looking domes on the table. Keith raises an eyebrow and approaches the table, finding a card with his name written in cursive writing on it.

“What on Earth..”

“We’re not on Earth, Keith,” comes a familiar voice and Keith turns, seeing Hunk in the doorway. “..Do you like it?”

“Uh.. it’s.. nice, yeah,” Keith is at loss for words, still trying to take all this in. “Why did you make the dining area like this? And where are the others? There’s only two domes here--”

“Keith,” Hunk interrupts him, stepping forward. “I was the one who left you all those notes.”

..Oh.

“I’m your secret admirer.” Hunk says. “I know, secret admirers aren’t a thing in space, but I couldn’t find a way to show you my feelings and.. this was the only way? I’ve.. liked you for a while, even if that didn’t show for how I treated you when you told us you found out you were Galra – and I still feel bad for that! But.. honestly? I have feelings for you, and it’s supposed to be Valentine’s Day back on Earth, so this was.. the only way for me to confess to you.”

“..Wow.” Keith breathes out, eyes wide and his heart pounding. “Uhm.. I don’t know what to say? I mean-- I’ve liked you too? So the feeling is mutual? I just.. I never had these feelings for anyone before? So I never knew how to react to these feelings I’ve had.”

“Well..” Hunk approaches him slowly, until they are just a foot apart, his cheeks flushed brightly. “do you want to try it?”

Keith looks at Hunk, his own cheeks bright, and then he looks at the lovely set up Hunk prepared for today. He’d be lying if he said he wasn’t scared of how Hunk may feel when he learns more about Keith and his past. Keith bites his lip, knowing Hunk wants an answer right away. He takes in a deep breath and looks back up at Hunk.

“Y-yeah..” Keith says slowly at first. “Yes. I do. I’d like to try it.”

Hunk blinks for a moment, not believing that Keith actually agreed. He beams brightly at this.

“Great! That’s great!” Hunk grabs Keith by the wrist and pulls him to a chair, pulling it back. “Good. Have a seat and we can eat and.. talk.. I suppose.”

“You’re nervous, Hunk. Your hands are sweating.” Keith points out and Hunk pulls his hands away. “It’s.. fine. I’m nervous, too. But we’ll work on this.. together.. okay?”

“Y-yeah.” Hunk smiles wide. “Together.”

#twunkadelia #heithsecretvalentines #Heith #Hunk (Voltron) #Keith (Voltron) #Voltron #im so happy i finished this!! #i might post this on ao3 later if i remember

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Dream a Little Dream of Me - Ch4/4

It becomes sort of a thing with us. Me and Tony. Every now and then, whenever the exhaustion hits too hard, whenever sleeping and the dreams and the lack of dreams are too much to take, JARVIS makes sure we always find each other. He was subtle about it at first, thought he was being clever having us coincidentally meet in the kitchen or gym or the roof.

Took us just few days to figure out the AI is most definitely plotting against us.

Or for us, I suppose.

Since our impromptu meetings started, things got…better. Not great or perfect but better. No more falling asleep dreading what’s to come, no more waking up miserable and angry…I’m nowhere near okay but I think maybe, just maybe I could be. Maybe there’s still a place for me in here. After the war, after HYDRA and the Winter Soldier…after seventy years living in my own personal nightmare I might be able to do something with my life after all.

Current goal number one? Make Clint stop stealing my favorite fruit loops!

“Yikes! Do you have your will sorted out bird brain?” Tony waltzes around me into the kitchen, looking between me and Clint. “Because if glares could kill…” he trails off, walking to the fridge.

Clint turns around, freezing when he spots me looming in the doorway. “What?!” he frowns at me, mouth full of my delicious –

“It’s the fruit loops, Katniss,” Tony hums.

“Wha-?”

“They’re mine,” I glare harder at the archer, who in turn widens his eyes.

“Th…they’re delicious,” he stutters.

“I know.”

“I’ll uh…buy some more! For both of us!”

“Yes, you will.”

He glances at Tony, who’s too busy searching for potential breakfast in the fridge to notice him. “O-kaaay.”

“Now.”

“Right,” he nods and bolts out of the kitchen.

“Well…that’s one way of getting rid of morning annoyances. Very handy. No pun intended,” he glances at me, eying the left hand for a second. “Making friends?”

“Clint’s cool,” I shrug. “Not cool enough to share these with him yet though.”

(Read-more ahead!)

He watches me with eyebrows raised as I sit down where Clint’s been just moments ago, confiscating the bowl of deliciousness. “Looks like you’re okay with sharing,” he chuckles, picking a blueberry jam out of the fridge and grabbing a couple slices of bread from the counter.

I almost drop the spoon, making a double-take at what I’ve just witnessed. “Are you…making breakfast?!” I blurt out.

“I’m hungry.”

Only that never stopped him from not eating anything for days. Steve of course gave me the Tony Stark 101, thinking he could pass it off as an excuse for almost strangling the man. Almost made me want to strangle him, but after a quick notes comparison with Natasha I found he was mostly right about everything.

Barely sleeps, barely eats, is reckless in battles, doesn’t listen to anyone, makes jokes out of everything to dodge anything serious…still not an excuse for what Steve did. Luckily for Steve, he’s behaving himself lately so I won’t have to punch him anytime soon.

And…so is Tony. He’s still doped on coffee most of the time – he does like his coffee, alright – but doesn’t look like he’s just crawled out of his own grave.

Wait…was he humming a minute ago? He was.

Huh.

“Morning,” Natasha sneaks in, sitting opposite of me with a smirk.

“Nat,” Tony winks at her, finishes his PB&J’s and heads for the exit. “See ya around, James,” he adds on his way out.

“Sure.”

I gotta go for a run after this. Clear my head. Before…before I start thinking about something that’s so not possible.

“James?” Natasha snorts, smirk widening.

I glare at the spy, wishing it would have the same effect as it does on Clint. “S’ my name.”

“Yeeees. It is,” she purses her lips, eyes dangerously…knowing.

On second thoughts, I’m gonna go for the run now. I back out of the kitchen, noting that as soon as I’m three steps away from the table, the still half-full bowl of fruit loops once again changes owners.

Damn Natasha.

Tonight’s one of those nights. Nights I know I should go to sleep, but don’t want to at all. I don’t even have to tell JARVIS where to take me after I step into the elevator. It goes straight up, stopping at the penthouse.

Guess I’m lucky, because Tony would usually be in the workshop this early into the evening and I w –

And he’s asleep.

Right there on the couch, still wearing his ragged and dirty workshop clothing and his left hand holding onto a wrench.

“JARVIS?” I whisper, unable to hold back a smile.

“You may wake him up, Sergeant. He’s been asleep for five hours like this, which is sufficient for now,” he replies just as quietly.

The couch is comfy, but sleeping on it for too long isn’t exactly comfortable. And if he sleeps for too long, he delves too deep into whatever nightmare decides to pay him a visit.

I walk across the room without making a single sound. Every now and then I find a good use for all the assassin skills HYDRA bothered to train me. Moving silently like this comes in handy all the time – like this, on the battlefield…or if I want to scare Sam shitless when I catch him spying on Natasha. The dude couldn’t be more obvious if he tried. I told him that…and didn’t really appreciate the comeback.

“Look who’s talkin’, Sergeant I’m-just-watching-Iron Man-for science! Or whatever excuse you’re making!”

Damn bird brains…

Crouching down next to the couch, I take a moment to observe the seemingly relaxed face of the man that would without a doubt be haunting my dreams by now – if I had any.

Maybe it’s for the best.

“Hey,” I try at first, but his peaceful face doesn’t even stir at the sound. Startling him awake would be as bad as letting him continue sleeping so I have to be as sneaky about it as I can. Taking my chances, I place my metal hand on his warm, flesh one, hoping the wrench it’s holding won’t deck me in the face next. “Wake up, Tony.”

It’s not exactly a smooth awakening, but with a sharp intake of breath and a slight jolt he opens his eyes, wide and wild for a moment.

“Sorry. J said nap time’s over so,” I smile at him, but it falters the instant I see the sheer terror in those brown eyes.

“S’okay,” he sits up, his PR face falling into place. “Didn’t wanna sleep anyway,” he yawns, looking down at our joined hands.

Crap.

I stand up, making it a subtle excuse to break the surely offending contact. The way his eyes sadly travel up with the motion confuse me enough to regret doing it immediately. “You a’right?”

“Hm? Sure,” he nods, frowning at the wrench he then places on the coffee table.

It’s the kinda ‘sure’ that makes me really restless and by me I mean whatever is left of the Winter Soldier somewhere down there. Steve used to say it, usually while his bony little face was all bloody and beaten, but ‘sure’ - he was okay.

Tony is not okay.

Whatever expression forms on my face must convey that message with absolute clarity, because he sighs and sits back against the back of the sofa.

“I don’t wanna talk about it,” he grumbles and it’s the closest thing to an admission of not being okay I’ll ever get from the man, if past experiences are anything to go by.

“Okay.”

“It’s…stupid,” he continues in a lowered voice. “Anyway. What brings you up here at this hour?”

“Tony, it’s just a lil’ over 6 PM.”

“It is?! Oh. So…wanna hang out?” he smiles, but the press façade is still at hundred percent.

“Yeah,” I return the smile, bright and honest.

His face falls all of a sudden. “Well, we’ve got about ten minutes. I totally forgot about Prague,” he mumbles, teeth gritted.

Ah. The International Astronomical Union thing. “I thought that was tomorrow.”

“It is. And I’m supposed to have a presentation on something that’s not even built yet!” he glares at the wrench. “Gotta go hit the workshop and do some hard core overnight inventing, just like old times. I’d tell you to come along but…”

“S’fine. Would only distract ya.” And freak out the second I stepped in there.

“You’ve got no idea…I mean,” he clears his throat and gets up, pacing around the couch. “It wouldn’t be a problem. Seriously. If you ever wanna try coming down there you can. Anytime. I’ve already trained DUM-E to make sure he wouldn’t be a bother…or spray you with a fire-extinguisher. Don’t ask, he’s got a fetish that one,” he explains with a snort, seeing my confusion.

“He sounds like fun. I’ll uh…I’ll think about it.”

“Sure. So…five minutes to go. Need a drink? Or a movie recommendation? You can stay here if you want. Or - ”

“Thanks. That’s alright. Gonna read something and go to sleep, I guess.”

He looks at me with the same ‘I see right through your bullshit’ look I used on him a moment ago.

“Fine! So it’s not alright…s’not like you can do anything about it. Or anyone, really.”

He hums in thought, eyeing the piano with what I can only guess to be determination. “Even if you can’t dream, you can occupy your mind with something, right? Imagine something? That’s what I try doing. To chase away the nightmares. Or the fear of them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t.”

“It’s been workin’ lately, huh?”

He freezes…and is that a blush? Did Clint slip something into my tea? I’m seeing things now. Great. I’m gonna murder him.

“Yeah…kinda. Anyway. Thought I’d suggest it…in case it might work for you, too,” he shrugs.

“I tried, actually. My imagination suffered over the years, though. It just wouldn’t work for me.”

His lips twitch into a subtle, mischievous smirk and he moves to the piano. “Maybe we just need to give it some incentive.”

“I don’t think a little bit of Mozart is gonna help,” I roll my eyes, but he starts playing anyway.

And that’s not Mozart. Or Chopin or Bach or whoever. I don’t really know anything about music, but I know this song.

Everyone born in the twenties knows this song. It would be playing in the background while you were slowly dancing with ya sweetheart and getting your first kiss. And second, third, and so on. I don’t remember a single dance or event where this didn’t play at least once.

The melody starts rolling and Tony hums along with it. He’s made it clear ain’t nobody’s gonna hear him sing, ever.

I move to my VIP chair – as he calls it – not sitting down, just next to it. Next to Tony.

The songs brings back good memories, that’s for sure. But I don’t understand how this is supposed to be some kinda incent –

Oh. Oh.

...while I’m alone and blue as can be, dream a little dream of me...

I thought the chair was the only thing capable of wiping my mind completely clean, but this right here manages to out-do it. I gape at the engineer, who’s still playing and humming the tune with a content smile, trying to make sense of what’s happening here.

By the time he’s done and rotates on the piano stool to look at me, my brain finally decides to cooperate and in a rare moment of clarity I return eighty years into the past to switch the Bucky Barnes mode on. “Are you…flirting with me in a song?”

He raises his eyebrows and for one single moment he looks shy. Tony goddamn Stark looks shy. Before I can take that in, he’s back to that mischievous smile. “Too High School Musical for you? Or not enough? Wait, you don’t know what that is, do you. Good, don’t ever let Clint bully you into watching it. Seriously, he’ll be sneaky about it and - ”

He goes on babbling in the speed of light about something something Clint, but all I heard was…the lack of a ‘no I’m not, you fool’ in that sentence. Not only didn’t he deny the flirting bit, he basically confirmed it. HYDRA spent seventy years trying to break me…and by the stunned, silly way I must look right now I guess this man succeeded in doing that in only five minutes.

“…so the question is, is it enough of an incentive for you to survive the night while I’m off to plot revenge against those damn astronomers for demoting Pluto? And yes, that’s the only reason I even agreed to the presentation. That and a chance to hit the pubs for some good beer. You’re a beer guy, right? I’ll bring you some. There’s one called ‘Demon’…and it tastes exactly as the name suggests – deviously good. Only they don’t bottle it…oh well, I’ll bring the whole cask! Uh…you okay?”

I shake my head a little, trying some sorta hard reset or somethin’ before he calls 911. “You…you’ve just told me…in a song to…dream of you,” I sum it up, more for myself than anyone else, really, because his growing smirk is telling me he knows all too well what he’s said and what it means.

He shrugs, raising a challenging eyebrow. “The song’s telling you to do a lot of things, actually. I don’t remember all the lyrics, but I’m pretty sure at one point there’s something about saying nighty night and kissing and holding tight. I guess we can skip that – even though that’s my favorite bit – and you can just tell me you’ll miss me, go do the dreaming part and we can revisit the rest tomorrow after I crush that presentation.”

He says it so matter-of-factly that the million questions flooding my brain disperse into thin air this instant. He’s dead serious. He’s…deadly seriously flirting with me. With. Me.

As if reading every word of my inner dilemma, his cocky smile eases into this gentle little quirk of lips I’ve only ever seen him use…well…with me…and stands up. Taking two swift steps right into my personal space he grabs both my arms in a gentle hold and leans close enough his lips brush against my left ear. “How does that sound to your imagination?” he whispers in a tone that is probably just as innocent as Clint’s apologetic pout. Not at fucking all.

I finally manage to will my head to move and lock gazes with the engineer, his eyes more alive than I’ve ever seen them. And I have been paying special attention to them lately, alright?

I’m not the Bucky Barnes of old…he would definitely do something more than just imagine things right now. But HYDRA and all the fuckery it’s put me through be damned – the Bucky Barnes I am now is NOT out of the game yet. I still know how to play it. So I will.

Finding the courage to put one of my very own smirks on, I return the gentle hold, place my hands – flesh and metal – on his hips and lean closer to whisper as well: “I’ll miss you.”

Not at all innocent – voice or hands.

And now that I’ve said what he suggested, I’m gonna go and do what he suggested as well. So I take a few steps backwards, memorizing that partly satisfied, vulnerable and partly something-else-entirely way he’s watching me right now and turn around, walking back to the elevator.

It’s already here and opening, but I decide to give into the swirling curiosity after all. “Is that what you’ve been doing lately?” I glance back at the now openly grinning man. “Dreaming of me?”

He shrugs. “Maaaaaybeeee…? Although, lately is a bit…inaccurate, to be honest.”

Day one hundred of discovering useful Winter Soldier abilities – the ability to maintain eye contact with a stone cold, unreadable expression despite a volcano of emotions is exploding in my head. That’s right, HYDRA, I’m about to utilize seventy years worth of your training efforts not to assassinate people, but flirt with Tony Stark.

So while I leave my already wild mind deal with Tony’s revelation, I back into the elevator, watching him – and him watching me – until the doors slide shut and JARVIS automatically moves it down to my floor.

“JARVIS?”

“Yes, I have already downloaded the song to your StarkPad music library,” he answers before I can even ask.

That just goes to show how brilliant the AI is. Like father like son. But there’s one more th –

“I have also taken the liberty of including a full version of Sir’s instrumental performance of the song. There is also one where he sings along, but I wouldn’t recommend it for listening-before-sleeping purposes. But if you are ever feeling down and in need of a good laugh then it is available to you as well.”

Okay…there’s a fine line between brilliance and actual mind reading. Gotta watch out for this one.

I go through my evening routine and when I’m all clean and tucked in, I put the piano piece on repeat. The volume is gentle enough to be almost soothing and it doesn’t really take long to be lulled to sleep by it, the melody going on and on in the background until morning.

“Before you murder me, I did not eat your fruit loops!” Clint throws a disclaimer my way as soon as I enter the kitchen.

I glare at him – and Sam, Steve and Natasha too, for good measure – not believing a work of it. When I make it to the cupboard I indeed find the box of fruit loops completely empty and just left in there as evidence of the unforgivable deed.

A mocking, teasing gesture. Oh when I find who’s done it I will…nevermind. Bird brain is lucky, because this fine early morning I am in a very good mood.

So I might not have dreamt last night, not really. But the events of the evening kept replaying in my head – with the added bonus of my not so brain-dead imagination throwing in a little bit of…somethin’ to keep my mind occupied for a while, that’s for sure.

“For once, Katniss isn’t lying,” Tony materializes in the doorway, ready to storm the conference, fancy suit and all.

That fancy suit however wouldn’t stay there very long…courtesy of my imagination.

“For once? What’s that supposed to mean?!” Clint pouts, glaring at a suspiciously amused Natasha.

“How do you know he’s not lying?” I narrow my eyes at Tony, trying my usual intimidating look but god! Is that difficult to do to him. When he’s all suited-up and grinning and…what aftershave is that?! Without a doubt designed to torture me.

“Why, James, isn’t that obvious?” he beams and brings an empty bowl he’s been hiding behind his back into view. “I know, because I ate them.”

Clint chokes on air, eyes bulging out. “You’ve got a death wish?!”

“What’s going on?” Steve frowns in clear confusion, looking between the all of us.

Tony only grins more, setting the bowl on the table next to Clint. “Sharing is caring,” he shrugs, raising just one eyebrow in quite the practiced fashion.

I couldn’t agree more…but he’s not getting away that easily. “Well in that case…” I turn around and pour myself the remaining Stark Potion of Life.

The way Tony’s grin breaks and molds into absolute horror in a second as I bring the cup to my lips almost makes me burst into laughing. Him and his coffee, seriously…

I torture him but a moment longer, before offering the untouched cup to him. “Sharing is caring, huh,” I smile but narrow my eyes immediately. “Some things I’m not gonna share. Just so you know.”

He takes the cup, pouting. “Good. Me neither.”

“Speaking of sharing!” Clint ruins the moment by jumping between us, putting his hand around my shoulders, leaning close with his patented smirk of conspiracy. “I’ve heard all about Nat’s ninja dream, Steve’s weird riding on the subway dream…so, your turn!”

“You dreamt about riding on the subway? The fuck?!” Tony turns his attention to Steve, who’s still blinking between us like we’ve just erased his brain or something.

“I’ve had…you could call it a dream I suppose,” I tell Clint, leaning against the counter behind me. “I dreamt a little dream of a little someone. Well…not so little now that I think about it.”

“Eeeeyyy! Now we’re talking dirty, metal man!” Clint exclaims, hitting my metal upper-arm with his fist. “Tell me everything!”

I lock gazes with Tony, who is back to grinning like a mad man. “Not sharin’ that with you, bird brain. And what are you lookin’ at? Go, you’ve got to avenge Pluto and get back here with the beer.”

“Bossy…I’ll be off then. Behave, boys…and ninja,” he gives Natasha a courtesy bow and with a wink my way, he walks out of the room.

I can’t help but watch his retreat – studying all the curves for science purposes of course – and it seems to be the last straw for Stevie, who definitely noticed with all his confused staring.

“Did you just…never mind. I’ll be in the gym,” he shakes his head and all but runs away.

With sudden wave of clarity I didn’t think my brain would ever be capable of again, I realize it should really be me running out of the room.

I should be flinching out of Clint’s bro half-hug, I should be freaked out by yet another one of his dream questions and I should most definitely be even more freaked out by the fact that I am not.

Not flinching away, not freaking out, not running away.

A man can’t afford any of that while on a flirting mission with Tony Stark. And said flirting mission needs more…research. JARVIS will help, I think.

Looks like I’m just gonna have to wait until the evening for…the man of my dreams. And make sure I’m a man of his dreams as well and not the nightmares.

And I have plenty of incentives on my mind for that.

~The End <3

#prompts #winteriron #tony stark #bucky barnes #tony x bucky #lantia #dream a little dream of me #ella fitgerald #doris day #fluffy flirting time

[midnightghostwriter]

netflix and no chill

↬ summary: when lost in translation goes just a little too far to the wayside.

↬ genre: fluff

↬ pairing: chase/chacha malone x reader

↬ word count: 2.9k

a/n: another repost of an older work i did. istg i write stuff besides fluff, it's just all in the works rn. xP

It was well past time for the sun to be shining down on the harried faces of pedestrians shoving past each other on their way to any number of destinations. But the sun seemed much too tired to show her face, choosing instead to hide behind the silver-grey skirts of the clouds dotting the sky. The dim color had absolutely no bearing on the small spot of warmth blooming in you as you wove through the crowds to the AOMG office. It could begin pouring rain and you would probably still be smiling brightly to yourself.

You couldn’t remember the last time you had set foot in the place, though it certainly felt like longer than just a few weeks. Of course you understood that life for your musically-talented friends was beyond busy, and the last thing you expected was endless hours to spend with them. Their careers came before almost anything else, and standing in the way of something each and every one of them had been so long reaching for - you would never dream of it. Even so, you could only go so long without seeing them before something had to be done.

So here you were, pushing past the glass doors and waving to a few of the people scattered about the lobby. Rather than wait for the elevator, you slipped into the stairwell, taking the steps two at a time to the studio floor. The faint sounds of music drifted into the hall from one of the rooms, and you followed it to a door sitting slightly ajar.

Inside you discovered Jay and Loco sprawled on the couch, lazily scanning their phones, though they had the presence of mind to look up as you snuck in. Gray stood at the mic, firing out lines too fast for you too follow, especially with the window between you and the booth blocking most of them. Most importantly, though, was Chacha seated before the impressive array of mixing equipment. Ignoring the knowing looks on the other boys’ faces and the way your heart thumped in your chest, you plopped down into the vacant seat next to him.

You had yet to say it out loud to anyone but Hoody, but you had developed something of a crush on him. What had begun as mildly enthusiastic fangirling over his talent, had unexpectedly grown into more, and now you were hopelessly infatuated. The two of you had bonded further over your shared origins outside Korea, though you had the advantage of a mother from Gwangju. Even so, the two of you had hit it off much to your delight, and it had become a common sight to see you either at his side or running off to join him.

Which was probably why even though the pair of you didn't say anything as you watched Seonghwa finish his verse, he still handed you a can of coffee that had been perched happily beside his own. You accepted gratefully, shooting him a beaming smile before popping the tab and silently chugging most of its contents. It wasn't nearly as involved as theirs, but your own work had been wearing you down as well, and you were happy for the pick-me-up.

As soon as the door opened and the booth’s former occupant took up residence with Jay and Hyukwoo on the couch, Chase turned to you, smiling so genuinely your stomach flopped.

“Hey, long time no see!”

“Jeez, you say it like we haven't spoken in years or something!” You laughed. He shrugged.

“Feels like it. You haven't been by the studio in ages.” It was your turn to let your shoulders rise and fall as you tried to play it cool.

“I know you've all been busy. I didn't want to get in the way.”

“That's a lame ass excuse,” Jay declared. “Y’know you're welcome here anytime.”

“I appreciate the sentiment, but I'm busy too.”

“Busy avoiding how deep in denial you are,” Gray chimed in. It took your brain a second to process the sudden switch he'd made to Korean, but when you had you sent him your darkest glare.

“Yah!” The other guys chuckled, though Chase just looked confused. For once you were grateful for his lack of knowledge with the language, as it saved you the immense embarrassment of explaining yourself. The others relentlessly teasing you was more than par for the course, but it didn't make you want to crawl down a hole any less. What came out of Jay’s mouth next didn't help in the least.

“Well I think that's everything for now. We’re gonna go get lunch.” Before you could open your mouth, the three of them fled the room, leaving you and Chacha alone.

“They could have at least invited us too,” you muttered. He watched the way you pouted and chuckled.

“Who needs them, let's go get lunch ourselves.” You looked at him, the implication of his proposition making your stomach do somersaults.

“Don't you wanna go catch up to them or something?” He scoffed and stood, holding a hand out to help you out of your chair. You accepted, letting him tug you to your feet.

“Nah, I see enough of them here during the day. Let's go.” As he began leading the way out of the office, his phone buzzed. Checking the screen, he rolled his eyes at Jay’s message.

You owe me.

A second later, it was followed up with,

Don't fuck it up.

Despite your initial hesitation to spend any extended time with Chase, lest you become a mess of butterflies and nerves, you made it through lunch without any problems. In fact, it was the most fun you'd had in a long while, and when you caught him grimacing at his phone your heart dropped.

“Sorry but I should probably get back.” Knew it. But you smiled in understanding and started gathering the remains of your meal.

“Those tracks won't mix themselves!” You declared cheerfully. When you looked up from tossing your collective trash, a look of hesitance had overtaken him. “What?”

“Do you wanna come over later?

“What?” You repeated, this time with an added edge of disbelief. His gaze slid away from yours and you realized you'd never seen him, the Chacha Malone, so obviously nervous.

“Well it's been awhile since we hung out, so I was thinking when I'm done at the studio you could come by... There's some new stuff out, so we could watch that and just, y’know, chill.” If your desire to not look like a ridiculous beached fish hadn’t won out, you were fairly certain you would’ve been gaping at him. Instead you swallowed and raised your eyebrows at him.

“Chase did you…. Did you just ask me to Netflix and chill?” Realization dawned in his eyes, before they melted back to his familiar dark brown, lighted with amusement.

“I guess I did,” he laughed. “Are you saying no?” This time it was you who hesitated, weighing the offer in your mind. After all, it didn’t have to mean what you thought it did, right? And even if it did, were you really going to turn that down?

“I’ll see you tonight,” you managed eventually, and the two of you went your separate ways out the door.

By the time you showed up at his apartment door, with what felt like an eternity left before the time he’d texted you earlier, you were a mess. A nervous, excited, and maybe even a little queasy, mess. You’d made an effort to wear more than just your typical couch surfing gear of sweats and a comfy tee, and even refreshed your makeup rather than removing it like you usually would have. None of it made you feel any better about anything.

The universe took pity, though, only giving you a few minutes to worry yourself senseless before the door swung open after you’d finally raised the courage to knock. You could see the weariness of the week catching up to him; not only in the faintly visible bags under his eyes, but also the fact that he was in a well-worn hoodie and jeans that made you feel supremely overdressed.

“Hey.” He moved aside, letting you slip past into the hall. “Did you come from somewhere?”

“Huh?” You looked up from taking off your shoes, meeting his eyes with your confused ones.

“You seem more dressed up than you were earlier.”  Shit. Forcing a quick smile onto your face and willing your cheeks to stop heating up, you nodded.

“Oh y-yeah, I met one of my friends at the mall earlier.” Before he could ask any more questions, you moved past him into the lounge, making yourself comfortable on the couch and he followed suit a moment later.

Picking something to watch wasn’t difficult as you both shared similar tastes in shows and movies. It was getting through the episodes that was proving to be difficult. You were so high strung you had forgotten what was happening at this point, and you couldn’t be bothered to focus enough to find out. What you were focused on, rather than whatever pickle the main character found themselves in, was how close you two were seated, how you could just feel his body heat seeping into your skin despite his sweatshirt, how if you moved a smidge to the left, you’d be basically leaning on him. None of these thing seemed to bother Chase, and that just made you all the more frustrated with yourself. You were beginning to think you had read way too far into his offer earlier that day, and he had meant exactly what he said - Netflix and chill the fuck out.

Then, it happened. What many considered to be the universal signal that things were stepping up a notch. When you had turned your head back to the television in an effort to actually pay attention, he shifted beside you, and suddenly you realized his shoulder you’d been carefully seated away from had moved. Oh.

Your companion showed absolutely no sign that he picked up on how your heart began to race or how you had frozen to the spot. Uncertainty ran like ice through your veins, a thousand questions spinning through your mind. Namely, however, was what the fuck were you supposed to do now?

After several elongated second of deliberation, you settled for playing it cool, trying to act as if nothing had happened. Yup, you had noticed absolutely nothing except how very interesting the show before you was. And so you continued to tell yourself, a mantra that lasted enough episodes that you actually felt yourself loosening up, your earlier tension dissipating.

But fate had other plans apparently, and all your hard work was undone a second later.

You had finally settled into a comfortable position, letting yourself lean into him just enough to be supported in your lounging; everything was right with the universe. But just as another episode ended, you felt eyes on you and turned to find Chase staring at you.

“Wh-what?” You asked, suddenly and inexplicably nervous. The racing thump of your heart in your chest went unnoticed as he leaned a tiny bit closer, still silent. As if on some kind of pre-programmed instinct, your eyes slipped shut and you held your breath. Warmth brushed your cheek and you felt heat lick its way up your neck to your face.

When nothing else happened after a few seconds, you finally opened your eyes, and Chase was still staring at you, this time looking bemused. Oh no.

“You had an eyelash stuck to your cheek.” You nodded at the simple explanation, shame and humiliation in equal part flooding your system.

“Thanks,” you muttered, almost inaudible, as you looked anywhere but him.

The second your eyes dropped from his and red flooded his cheeks, Chase knew he had fucked up. And fucked up hard. You looked positively mortified, and it was abundantly clear you had expected something more, something he was all too willing but too apparently oblivious to give.

Fuck.

He had always known he liked you. From the moment the two of you had met and you had been able to not only match wits with Jay but share the group’s appreciation for music and art, he knew. But getting up the courage to say anything was impossible, even with all the time the two of you spent together, or perhaps because of it. After all, what was the appropriate time to tell your best friend you were more or less in love with them?

It could have been then and now, a moment of utter perfection handed down by the universe through Jay’s attempts at matchmaking, but it had passed. Fled the scene in the wake of his blunder, its disappearance obvious in how you situated yourself as far from him as possible and tried to hide your embarrassed tears with your hair.

Uncertainty and panic of a nature he had never known swept through him at the sight. What if he had messed up everything? What if you stopped coming by the studio on late nights to remind them to sleep? What if your gestures of comfort when all of them became too frustrated to think ceased?

What if he lost you as a friend, all because he had been too dumb to read the signs?

The crashing wave of possibilities was intimidating, almost keeping him frozen as the tension rose. What would happen, he had no clue, but he did know that if something wasn't done, he'd probably lose it. Even if it destroyed everything, he had to try something because seeing you like this was killing him.

As if you were a small creature not to be disturbed, he reached over and swept up the remote. He watched you jolt as the press of a button made the screen go black and the room fall incredibly silent. Acting completely independently of the coherent thought that had been washed from his mind, his hand found your shoulder, turning you back to face him. Your startled eyes met his, wide and unsure, and surprised at the faint light of determination in his.

“Ch-Chase…?” His name as it passed your lips was barely a whisper, too hesitant to be much more than that. The tension crawled molasses slow along your skin, wrapping you in a tight and nearly suffocating embrace. It felt like an eternity with your gazes locked on one another’s, the feeling of drowning in his stare beginning to consume you when he finally leaned in and this time when you closed your eyes, you got exactly what you’d wanted.

What kissing Chacha Malone was like you couldn’t have hoped to guess. It was something you never thought you would get to experience. Yet as his mouth found yours, molding together in a way that was almost too perfect, you were struck with the notion that it was something you would give anything to do again. Your head tilted back in response, following the light touch of his hand cupping your neck to deepen the kiss. Restless fingers found the neck of his hoodie and tugged him even closer, wanting to get everything out of the kiss that you could.

The need for oxygen that had your lungs screaming in your chest was the only thing that kept you from pressing into him further, or begging with fingers cascading through his hair for something beyond the sensation of his lips against yours. Taking a moment to collect yourself and enough oxygen to think past your spiralling emotions, your eyes remained closed, missing the way his expression shifted into something along the lines of stunned or star-struck. He studied you silently as you finally opened your eyes again, meeting his gaze with pupils blown wide and lips slightly swollen from the intensity of the kiss and, in short, perfect. A few moments later those lips split into a shy smile and you let out a soft laugh that made his heart warmer just hearing it.

“Well,” you started, slightly breathless even still, “that was… That was something.”

“Uh yeah,” he muttered. Now that the moment had passed, he found himself incredibly embarrassed that he had done something so rash. He supposed he was lucky you hadn’t utterly rejected him. That would have been infinitely worse.

“So…” Embarrassment was making the rounds now to you, and it brought with it a healthy dose of uncertainty. Where did this leave you? “I’ll be straight. I like you, and I’d really like it if you liked me too. But if this was just a one time thing tell me now so I don’t humiliate myself later.” His eyes widened for a moment before he shook his head.

“No, definitely not a one time thing. At least, I’d like it not to be. If, uh, that’s what you want too. Because I kind of, maybe, like you too.” A sly grin crossed your lips.

“‘Maybe’? That’s not good enough, Chase,” you teased, watching with utter amusement as panic set in, and he hurried to elaborate.

“Wait wait wait, I like you too! For real.” Another giggle escaped you and, feeling bold now, you leaned forward to kiss his cheek.

“I’m glad,” you told him, softer now, a matching smile replacing your earlier one. He returned it with a genuine grin of his own and slid an arm around your waist.

“So about that whole ‘Netflix and chill’ thing.”

“Don’t push your luck, slick.”

Wearing matching idiotic grins, the two of you settled back on the couch, much more comfortably entwined than before. As you engrossed yourself in the next episode, Chase slid his phone from his pocket and sent a quick text.

To: Simon I believe you and Loco owe Jay ten bucks. Just saying.

#aomg scenario #khh scenario #chacha malone scenario #chase malone scenario #aomg fluff #khh fluff #chacha malone fluff #chase malone fluff #; bc chase needs more love and appreciation #; he's such a good guy honestly I wish I was actually friends with him lol #no rating