fun ways to introduce new characters

have your protagonist walk into them

have them walk into your protagonist

falling from the sky

they flirt with your protagonist in a coffee shop

your protagonist flirts with them first

your protagonist saves them / they save your protagonist

they fix your protagonist's car

find them hiding in a closet

find them making out with someone in a closet

eavesdropping on your protagonist

involved in a car chase after your protagonist

your protagonist mistakes them for someone else

they bond with your mc over how loud the neighbours are

OR they move in next door and are annoyingly loud and your protagonist is determined to teach them what good music is

they kidnap your protagonist for ransom

they accidentally commit vehicular manslaughter and your mc is the only witness

the barista mistakes their order for your protagonist's

pizza delivery man

walk in on their demon summoning circle

they keep trying to sell your mc something on a flyer

secretly your mc's long-lost sister *gasp*

online dating site

they mistake your mc for a celebrity and try to take pictures with them

taxi driver

your mc catches them shoplifting and tries to get them to return what they stole

or they see your mc shoplifting and get them arrested

friend of a friend

break into their house because they need a place to hide from the authorities

Could you possibly do one where the villian finds out the hero is their best friend and freaks out because they could have hurt them? ThAnk yo:)

"No - don't."

Too late. The villain had whipped the mask off the hero's face. Then, the villain froze.

The hero stared at them, having expected some sort of triumph, or even unsatisfied anti-climactic gloating.

"Hale."

They didn't expect that. They didn't expect the villain's voice to sound quite so broken.

"How do you know me!?" the hero demanded, sharp with fear. They wished they could read the villain's face below their mask, entirely too aware of how every one of their own emotions was now exposed.

The villain reached out, and the hero flinched back. The villain paused again, fingers curling into a white-knuckled fist that seemed a terrible promise of violence, before dropping.

"How do you know me!?" The hero asked again, when the villain still said nothing, and seemed to only stare at them. Because if the villain knew who they were...that meant they could hurt the hero's friends. They could hurt Vic. Or...did that mean that the villain was someone who the hero knew? How could they have been so blind?

They wanted to pounce, to shake the villain until the truth rattled out of the villain's teeth. They couldn't. The restraints wouldn't let them.

But, that tone...

The hero's mind swirled, tornado-swept and ravaging through the possibilities.

The villain still wasn't saying anything. They weren't moving. It was eerie, and it made the hero miss the gloating, because at least if the villain was being a smug arrogant bastard than it would mean that something was awfully wrong.

"I didn't know," the villain said, almost pleading. "I didn't know it was you...if I'd known..." The villain's hand twitched, again, towards the hero's bloody lip before faltering and falling once more. "I hurt you. I could have killed you."

"I mean." The hero strove for normalcy, however raspy. "I'm not that easily killed."

The villain didn't seem to hear them. Their shoulders have slumped, with that same broken set as their voice had. It should have felt like some kind of winning and it didn't. It really, truly, didn't.

"Who are you?" the hero asked, in a softer tone, not sure they wanted to know the answer. Needing it, though, all the same.

"I'm going to untie you," the villain said. "Don't come back here. Not ever."

"I need to know who you are. How you know me. Your - your voice."

The villain knelt before them, undoing the knots with deft hands.

The hero didn't move, even though only a minute or so ago they would have taken every opportunity to attack, to run, to ensure that everything they had sought to protect didn't fall to ruin.

The villain must surely know that the hero wasn't going to stop? Wasn't going to let their plan continue?

"Go." The villain said. "Before I - before I change my mind. Before I - I don't want to hurt you."

The villain spoke as if they weren't sure they had a choice.

The hero rose unsteadily to their feet.

The villain didn't move. They stared at the floor where the hero had been, almost blindly.

The hero reached out, and the villain flinched back. The hero fingers curled into a white-knuckled fist, uncertain and explosive, unable to cup the enormity of what was going on into something understandable. They let their hand fall without finding a place on the villain's shoulder first.

"Please," the villain said. "Hale."

The hero ran.

the outcast angel reports back to the defunct android by silas denver melvin

click for better quality

[Text ID: angel tells android about the words they've learned this week. every beautiful human thing their god-mouth has tamed into holding: cerulean. crustacean. testicle. boombox. transsexual. override. android rewinds, smiles with their titanium jaw. they've got bad joints, can't go out in the world like they once did; both unable & deemed a machine too ugly. doesn't fool humans like it used to. angel plays reporter. ties their wings back. in the privacy of their shared room, angel grows eyes & android gets soft. that feedback loop that got them canned. android says we're not so different, are we, doll? god got bored & birthed you. man got cocky & built me. i was outcast from earth & you from heaven. oh, we must be bad. ain't that a thrill? angel smiles with all their eyes & mimics another human action: cups android's face & kisses their synthetic mouth. ain't that a thrill? they repeat. ain't that a thrill? /End ID]

Dialogue Responses

"How are you?"

"Fine." (A lie)

"I'm fine." (Honest)

"I have been better."

"Not that bad actually."

"Why would you even care?"

“I've been feeling worse before."

"I feel like I should ask you that."

"Well, it's so nice of you to ask..."

"I'm doing quite well at the moment."

"Probably a lot better than you look like."

If you like my blog and want to support me, you can buy me a coffee! And check out my Instagram! 🥰

Vacation, The Epilogue - Vinnie Hacker

Part One:

Word Count - 4.3k

"It's Nicole." Her shaky voice filled the space surrounding the girls as the speakers of the phone emitted her words. "Did you see the post?"

Y/n sat quietly waiting for the girl...Vinnie's girlfriend, to speak, but when nothing else came from her end she had to speak up.

"Yeah...I had no idea," She tried to form a sentence but Nicole cut her off immediately.

"I just rang to talk quickly, Vinnie wanted to call himself but..."

"I don't understand." Y/n accidentally whispered, her voice deciding not to make an appearance when she needed it most.

"Our situation is complicated," Nicole began. "I'm not angry with you."

"I didn't know he had a girlfriend." Y/n bit down on her lip to stop her tears from falling and was met with a stinging throat instead.

"We broke up about a month ago," Nicole reassured.

"Oh?" Isabella mouthed to y/n when she looked over for reassurance.

"We haven't told our followers yet, but we are broken up. I just wanted to tell you, so you weren't panicking. I can't imagine how you felt when you saw that post. I'm so sorry to drag you into all this, y/n." Nicole blurted out all of her words seemingly at once and y/n just stayed quiet.

Her eyes met her friends, which were just as confused as her own, and then their eyes fell back onto her phone as some commotion came from Nicole's side.

"What are you doing?" Vinnie's voice now filled the line.

"I had to explain Vinnie, it's not fair on her." They began to argue and y/n sat awkwardly, listening to their conversation unfold.

"I told you not to call her Nicole, I should have learnt my fucking lesson." He raised his voice and y/n felt her stomach drop, what did he mean by that?

Before she could stop herself she had ended the phone call, she didn't want to try rationalising his words and keep listening to what he had to say, what the fuck did he mean by 'learn his lesson'?

** ** **

That was the last time she heard from Vinnie, 11 days had passed since the phone call and she had received nothing but a text from him, well from his number because there was a high chance it was actually Nicole. All it said was, 'I'm sorry, I'll explain soon,' and he had most definitely not explained anything.

On some days she found herself waiting by her phone when she had nothing else to do, hoping it would ping and a text from him would appear on the screen, but nothing ever came. When she was feeling especially desperate, she would even draft up texts, planning out what she wanted to say, how she wanted to cuss him out for ghosting her.

Now she found herself in bed, the night before his birthday that she was originally meant to attend, still thinking about him and wishing things had worked out differently.

In the beginning, right after she had found out about the post and Nicole, she felt guilty and panicked. Nasty comments began flooding her Instagram and soon after, his followers found her TikTok account and filled the comments with the same accusations that were everywhere else. Then, when Nicole explained what was really happening, y/n regained some hope that it was all a misunderstanding, and her and Vinnies situation would go back to normal. But then, he didn't text, didn't call, didn't explain or talk to her.

Y/n had spent a lot of time on his socials, checking if he was going to stick up for her or clear up the confusion, but nothing had been said, he hadn't posted anything since it came out and had left y/n to fend for herself.

Until this morning, 11 days after the article went viral, he posted a short tweet that mentioned how he and Nicole had been broken up for a month and to please stop accusing innocent 'people' of having a relationship with him. That was it. He didn't mention her name, or her @, nothing to protect her from the awful names she was being called.

She had been so understanding of his difficult situation and taken into account how many people were observing his behaviour, up to this point she didn't blame him at all and only today had it dawned on her that maybe he was ghosting her. Taking the easy way out and using this whole situation as an escape route from whatever he had started with her. She became more enraged as the day went on, cussing him out to her friends every chance she got and now, as she lay in her bed fidgeting and restless, she started to make her plan on how she was going to confront him.

After about twenty minutes of back and forth in her mind, she decided a simple text would do the trick and began typing it up.

Y/n: You're really going to ghost me?

She typed it out but didn't hit send, chewing on her fingernail for a moment before she deleted it and huffed loudly.

"For fuck sake." She mumbled to herself and scanned over their other few texts, then her eyes picked up on the last one he had sent her.

When she was in the airport about to board the plane, he had texted mentioning how excited he was for his birthday and that he wanted her to save his address then, just in case he forgot to tell her where he lived. In that moment it made her giggle, she wondered how he would forget to tell her where the party was, but she brushed it off and decided to reply to him later, as the plane was about to take off.

She had been too preoccupied on the drive with her step-dad and because of everything that unfolded as soon as she got home, she never got the chance to reply. Now all this time had passed and she was laying in her bed, the dim blue light illuminating her face, staring at the perfect opportunity to confront him.

"Don't be crazy." She spoke out loud to herself, hoping that actually hearing the words which were playing in her mind would help her realise how insane her idea was. "I can't just turn up there."

It was no use as the idea of attending his party and confronting him replayed in her mind, but she eventually fell asleep. Her eyes fluttered open to her 9am alarm and with a long stretch, y/n rolled out of bed and began preparing her insane idea. The first step was to cover her ass from her parents, so she opened her phone and texted her friends.

our eyes only

y/n: can someone cover for me?

isabella: it's 9 in the morning how the fuck have you done some dumb shit already

naz: lmaooo

y/n: just say i'm staying at yours tonight, if my parents ask?

isabella: okay got you

naz: what are you up too

y/n: none of your beeswax okay bye

y/n: btw if i go missing i'm in la

isabella: i stfg if you're doing what i think you're doing

y/n: 🤪

naz: ily lmao

y/n: ily bitches

isabella: lord help this woman, she is down astronomically

Now that she was sure her parents wouldn't be suspicious of her absence, she got ready for the day, packed a bag with a few outfits and wandered downstairs. She had a decent trip before her and wasn't sure if she was going to split it up into more than one day, so she made sure that enough clothes were packed. As she entered the kitchen some small talk from her mother erupted and she informed her that she was going to the mall then staying at Isabella's house, which was half true.

After shoving a slice of toast down her throat she left her house in a hurry at about 10am, she headed to the mall and parked in the almost empty lot, thankful that it was a Wednesday and it wasn't very busy. Once she arrived she scanned the stores around her and stopped when she spotted a decent one, quickly marching towards it and desperately searching the racks for a dress to wear.

She went through all of the ones in the first store and left empty-handed, then sped through another two before she found one that she wanted to try on. Whatever she picked had to be perfect as she was essentially crashing a party, technically she had been invited but was probably not welcome to attend.

A bit of panic began to set in as she checked her phone and saw it was 11:30am, so she grabbed a black dress off the rack that she wasn't originally intending to try on but decided to give a shot as she was now desperate.

There was one left that had by a miracle been her size, so she silently prayed as she pulled it over her head, hoping she didn't need a size bigger as it wasn't a very stretchy fabric.

It settled on her body and she pulled it down, twisted it and looked in the mirror before her, letting a huge smile spread on her face as she took in her reflection and realised it was perfect. She ran her fingers over the soft black fabric and took in its details, the long sleeves and square neckline flattered her chest and the short length made her legs look longer than they really were. Two small slits were on its front, one sitting on each thigh and showing off more of her upper leg than she usually would, but she decided to go with it anyway, along with a lilac shoulder bag.

After purchasing it she wandered out of the store in search of some shoes to pair with her outfit, she stopped in her tracks as she passed a store display with the perfect pair of lilac shoes in the window. She flicked her eyes up and saw the store name, Versace.

With a groan she walked through the doors and asked to see the shoes, crossing her fingers that they weren't too expensive.

"Could I see the lilac shoes that you have in the window?" She asked the employee politely.

"The Medusa Aevitas?" The woman asked and when y/n nodded she quickly grabbed a pair in her size.

"How much are they?" She asked the woman and gazed in the full body mirror to see how they looked, tensing up when she realised how much she loved them.

"These ones are just under $1500."

Y/n almost flinched at the price, then pulled out the bag she had just bought to see if the colours were similar, and of course, they were a perfect match. With another check of the time, she realised it was about to be 12pm, so she quickly agreed to purchase them and she punched her pin into the card machine while the woman bagged them up. She had enough money in her account for them but felt slightly faint as she thought about all the hours she had spent at work just for that one purchase.

She left in a rush and grabbed some lunch on her way out of the mall, munching on her chicken sandwich as she drove onto the highway and started her five-hour drive.

It went pretty fast as she listened to an audiobook on the way and soon enough she was pulling into the hotel parking lot. She was checked in just before 6pm and decided to order some room service to eat while she waited for some time to pass.

Once she was finished her food she hopped in the shower and washed her body again, removing the sweat that had formed on her during the long drive. She straightened her hair which took a while, then when she moved onto makeup she added a smoky brown wing, mascara, some blush to her cheeks, some contour to her cheeks and nose, added highlight and brushed her eyebrows in place with some clear gel.

After her makeup was done she went back to her hair and left it down, but brushed it out and added some hairspray to keep it in place and tucked it out of her face. She scanned over herself and began to get nervous as she realised it was almost time for her to leave, but took a deep breath and slipped on her dress. She added some moisturiser to her legs and then slipped on her new heels, last-minute deciding on her gold initial necklace as an accessory along with her lilac bag.

As 8:30pm rolled around she booked a car, making sure she wouldn't be too late, then sat by the window of her hotel room and had a few puffs of her vape. She almost immediately felt the calming effects of the weed, closing her eyes for a moment she exhaled and then took a deep breath, letting herself relax a little before she was off to confront Vinnie.

As her eyes were closed her phone buzzed twice, she assumed it was her car outside so she grabbed her things and left the hotel room, entering the elevator and making her way down to the ground floor.

She opened her phone quickly just to make sure it was her driver, but the sight before her made her freeze in her spot.

Vinnie: i was hoping you would show up, i really wish you had

She swallowed harshly as she read the text before her, blinking at the screen while the elevator moved underneath her and then stopped harshly. The doors dinged open and she slowly made her way to the lobby's exit, still staring at her phone and biting down on her bottom lip in frustration, before closing her phone and crossing her arms on her chest. After a few minutes, a car pulled up in front of her and the driver called out her name, so she hopped in and was finally on her way to see him.

Surely he was just drunk? After a few minutes of tapping her leg and chewing on her nails, her irritation took over and she opened her phone again, quickly snapping a picture of her holding the middle finger up with a blank face, as she didn't know what to reply in terms of words.

Vinnie: i should have texted you before now

Vinnie: i'm so fucking sorry y/n

Vinnie: i wish you were here

Surely he was just drunk? After a few minutes of tapping her leg and chewing on her nails, her irritation took over and she opened her phone again to quickly snap a picture of her holding the middle finger up with a blank face, as she didn't know what to reply in terms of words.

Vinnie: you look beautiful

Vinnie: going somewhere?

She rolled her eyes and shoved her phone into her bag, then sat back in her seat and waited for the drive to be over, which took about twenty minutes. The driver informed her they were there so y/n looked out the window and saw a huge gate, with a line of about three cars sitting at it and a person in security clothes standing in front of it. As she tried to angle her neck and see more, a knock on the window startled her, but she opened it anyway.

"You're gonna have to get out the car and walk up the driveway, there are too many people up there to let the cars go up." Another security guard informed her and opened the door of the car, so she thanked the driver and then obliged, walking over to the gate and going through it with a group of people.

Y/n began to walk but was struggling from her new shoes rubbing, and she went slightly off balance a few times before someone offered their arm out to her.

"Here, walk with me." A slightly taller girl said with a smile and they linked arms.

"Fucking heels." Y/n joked as they both wandered up the driveway together and chatted about random things.

"How long is this driveway?" She complained as they joined a bigger group of people.

"I know right." She agreed and they linked arms together while they almost fell over each other.

"Girls come on, you gotta think about these things!" A guy from the group laughed at their state and came closer with a few other guys behind him. One of them took the tall girls arm, then another guy linked his with y/n's and quickly made it much easier for them to walk up the drive, but it was essentially useless as it turned to concrete and a huge house came into view.

"Jeez." Y/n muttered to herself as she took in the property before her, it was already dark outside so she assumed it was painted white, but bright lights shone up onto it and changed its colours as music played in the distance. A huge driveway was in front of it with expensive cars filling it, and a few taxi's and uber's struggling to leave through the giant crowd of people spilling out of the house and down into the garden and pool area.

Y/n let go of the guy's arm and thanked him for his help, to which he smiled politely and then disappeared through the crowd. As she entered the house, squished between strangers that were struggling just as much to get through the doorway, In Da Club by 50 Cent started blasting through giant speakers that y/n could see were in every corner of the living room.

Y/n gently pushed through people and eventually, the crowd dispersed slightly and she realised she was in the kitchen. The music didn't get any quieter as she changed rooms, if anything it got louder; she tried leaning into the middle of the island to grab a drink but seemingly struggled until she was greeted by a tall brunette that smiled as he looked her up and down.

He realised what she was trying to do then leaned across the island himself and passed her a mango white claw, which she opened and thanked him, before moving onto the next part of the house.

She thought she was never going to find Vinnie in this crowd, it was way more people than she assumed and was pretty sure that around 200 people were filling the house, let alone outside. As she squeezed past people and apologised when people bumped into her, some of her drink spilt and she started getting a bit overwhelmed; soon enough though she was wandering through the hallway, still pinned against strangers until a loud voice was heard over a microphone.

Y/n quickly made her way towards the sound which everyone around her did as well, and soon enough saw people being ushered outside through the front door.

"Everyone outside!" An average height brunette guy was pointing towards the door and repeating himself over the microphone as the number of people inside the house decreased, so y/n followed the crowd and ended up standing near the pool, trying her best to stay away from the water.

Happy Birthday started to be sung so y/n reluctantly joined in but was more focused on spotting Vinnie, which was when she saw the cake emerge from the crowd and a gap open up...right in front of her.

Opposite her about five feet away was Vinnie, blushing and smiling and his friends and strangers sang happy birthday to him. His smile was adorable as he became embarrassed at the sight of the huge cake in front of him, but he quickly blew the candles out and scanned the crowd thanking everyone for singing to him.

His eyes stopped on y/n and she froze, then to her surprise an even wider smile formed on his lips and he held their eye contact for a few more seconds; y/n returned the smile and even sent a small wave his way, not able to upkeep her angry exterior when the sight of him made her melt inside.

As she looked at him, taking in his beauty once again, she slowly realised what was happening as the people carrying the cake pulled it back and threw it forward at Vinnie's face, covering him in icing and earning laughter from the crowd.

Y/n couldn't help but giggle along with everyone else, breaking into a loud laugh as she saw Vinnie wiping the icing from his face and smearing it all over his friends. The crowd filled the gap again as Pocket Rocket began playing and people jumped around, dancing and yelling the lyrics.

Y/n lost sight of Vinnie again so she wandered over to the corner where people were smoking and took a seat, pulled out her vape pen and had another few puffs, even passing it to a girl that asked nicely if she could have some. She relaxed there until she spotted Vinnie wandering into the house, so trying not to look creepy she followed and hoped she would get a chance to talk to him.

She saw him squeeze past people on the giant staircase, then walk down a hallway and disappear through a door, so she followed and walked until she reached the same one.

The music still blasted through the house so she doubted he would hear it, but she knocked anyway and slowly entered the room, where she spotted Vinnie through his bathroom door, washing his face in the sink then drying it with a towel. He wandered back into his main room and another smile spread on his face as he saw her.

"Hey." He pulled a clean shirt over his head and his smile faded as he saw her upset expression, but he opened his stance to hug y/n anyways. She folded her arms and furrowed her eyebrows in response, pushing him by the chest away from her.

"You ghosted me?" She raised her voice slightly and he realised she was upset.

"I didn't mean to..." He began but she just rolled her eyes and tutted. "I wanted to text you but, I thought you wouldn't want to hear from me..." He hugged her again and this time she couldn't push him away as he caught her without her arms folded. He pulled away after a few seconds and looked sweetly at her, his needy brown eyes scanning her face and his curls falling to the side of his head after his hand ran through them.

"You should have told me about Nicole." She said in a sad voice.

"I was going to, I swear." He began and pulled her over to the bed, sitting down next to her and holding her hand in his gently. "I'd just met you and I didn't wanna freak you out by mentioning my ex, you know."

"I get that." She sighed, squeezing his hand slightly. "I got a lot of mean comments." She added, not sure what she wanted to say now that Vinnie was sitting in front of her, the comfort of his presence was making her forget about how angry she felt with him before she had come to his house.

"It killed me to see them under your posts." He ran his thumb over her hand as she looked down into her lap. "I just didn't want to mention your name yet, because we just met and..." He tried to continue but his voice caught in his throat.

"I know Vin, I don't want you to say anything about me to your followers." She said and his face dropped slightly, which made her heart twinge. "I mean, not yet." She quickly added and placed her hand on his arm affectionately which made a smile return to his face.

"I'm so glad you're here." He hugged her again.

"Me too." She smiled over his shoulder.

"But I should have texted you, I'm so sorry that I didn't." He seemed to be sincere in his apology as he pulled back and saw her gaze leave him, then he used his hand to gently pull her face back towards his own and lock their eyes again.

"It's okay."

"It's not." He disagreed with her easy forgiveness.

"Can we just put this behind us? It's your birthday and...I wanna go have fun." She let a small smile spread on her face and he nodded in agreement as she stood up to leave the room.

He followed her but before she could open the door he turned her and pressed her back it, gently leaning his chest on hers as he held her against the frame.

"I really am sorry." He added.

"I know." She looked up at him and batted her eyelashes.

"I meant what I said, by the way. You look beautiful." He looked down at her small body pinned between his large one and the door, flashing a smirk as her cheeks tinted pink from his compliment.

She didn't say anything in response, only blushed a little harder when he chuckled at the sight of her flushed appearance. As they stood there in silence, his sweet eyes looking down at her own, she felt her nerves bubble in her stomach and was acting like the shyest version of herself.

The confidence she had on vacation was slowly dissipating the longer he stared down at her, especially as his smirk grew slightly wider; but, as he opened his mouth to speak again something switched in her and the butterflies in her stomach were no longer making her weak at the knees, but pushing her upwards. Upwards towards his lips.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and looked up at him seductively, pulling her lip between her bottom teeth for a split second but then closing the gap between them. As her lips met his own, his arms snaked around her waist and pressed her body even harder against him, letting her feel how hard she had made him below his waistline.

She took in a sharp breath as he bit down on her lip and dragged it with him as he pulled away, then let it fall back into place with a quiet 'pop'. He stole her signature move.

"Don't bite your lip like that." He grumbled lowly, his eyes dark and his mouth hanging open slightly from their kiss.

"Why?" She tilted her head backwards and looked up at him, giving him an even better view of her face.

"Because we'll end up missing my party." He brought his hand to her face and squeezed her cheeks together as she giggled at his serious tone.

"Your guests are waiting." She teased him with her tone but before he could respond, she opened his bedroom door and stepped out, turning back to look at him for a second. "Coming?"

Leonard Cohen, Selected Poems 1956-1968 / J.R.R. Tolkien, The Fellowship of the Ring / Plato / Martin Luther King Jr., A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches / Roy T. Bennett, The Light in the Heart

There is a cafe in the forest. Its lights are bright, it should not be there.

Something chimes. You don’t remember opening the door that swings closed behind you. You’re out of breath. Have you been running? Your brow furrows. There is mud on your boots. Clumps of dirt that dry and crack then fall away as you stand there, staring.

“May I have your name?” 

You look up. Your neck strains as if it hasn’t moved in days. Blink, flex your hands. Needles race up your arms like stabbing insects. The barista stands before you with limbs that are too long and a smile that reaches their eyes in more ways than one. 

“May I have your name?” They say again, like a name is a thing to be taken. 

Maybe it is. You are struck with the notion that you do not want them to have yours. With great effort you pause the words forming on your lips. When did you open your mouth? It doesn’t matter. You give them a name.

The barista’s smile widens, if that is possible. Their skin is ashen gray and the apron they wear shifts in a way that blinds you. “That isn’t your name.”

You shake your head. No, it isn’t. 

You are seated at a table. (Is wood supposed to bleed?) The menu is soggy in your hands. Syllables jerk twisted and raw from your mouth as you pick an order at random and read. A mockery of language, you don’t recognise your own voice. 

The barista nods slowly, “will that be all?”

“Yes,” you find yourself saying. “that will be all.”

They turn away and you are left with yourself. Roll a corner of the menu between your finger and thumb, yellow liquid oozing from its fibers. Your hand is shaking.

Something chimes, slams. A man stands in the doorway- He has mud on his boots, though he doesn't stop to watch it dry. He sees you and you remember then why you went running in the woods at night. Ordinary fear; of abuse and fists and gaslit-rage. You cringe in your seat. 

He is an animal made of popping veins and flying spittle. He stalks towards you and then-

“May I have your name?” 

Was the barista always there? You don’t remember them arriving, you don’t remember them being there a moment ago. They stand with a smile that is still too wide, hands outstretched in a beckoning motion. The man doesn’t notice, or perhaps he is too caught in his own rage to care. He shoves the barista, but he may as well be shoving at a pillar, or a mountain. They make the beckoning motion again and you’re not sure which of them to warn of danger.

“May I have your name?” 

The man scowls, giving it offhandedly as he moves to step past. Then he stops. You stare, transfixed as the colour drains from his face. His legs seem rooted to the floor. You steel yourself to meet his gaze but it's… hollow. The eyes you meet are that of a shell- a vacant, breathing corpse. 

You look away and the barista descends upon what remains. 

He doesn’t scream, doesn’t make a sound at all. The wet tearing of flesh is enough to keep your eyes on the floor. The tiles are stained a dirty brown. (Smack.) They have chipped in places, little cracks running through and revealing the loose earth beneath. (Thud.) A bug crawls from the dirt. Or at least, you think it’s a bug. (Tear.) A crimson puddle seeps into view; you decide to look elsewhere.

Happy, laughing things stare at you from a poster. The figures on it are almost human, smiling renditions of men and women if they had been sculpted by a child. The only accurate features are the teeth. 

The clock on the wall has eleven numbers. The hands rotate at random, spinning and stopping in opposite directions. You watch as it falters and picks up speed, never once coming to a point where it could properly mark the passage of time.

A clink against the table pulls you from your transfixion. There stands the barista, smiling. They're different now- the slant of their chin, the colour of their eyes. Those features are new, stolen from a man who is now something different.

They have placed a cup in front of you; the muddy red liquid swirling inside almost looks like tea. You pick it up (because what else are you supposed to do?) and run a thumb along the handle’s rough surface. It’s white, with a hundred organic ridges. The liquid inside is warm and distinctly metallic. You try not to think about it.

“Would you like a sample?” They slide a tray towards you. You're not sure what the things on it are, but you know that you want them. Desires, goals. When you ask if they are free the barista says nothing. When you ask for the price a curious expression crosses their face before they give it to you.

You decide that no, you wouldn't like a sample today.

The barista steps towards you clumsily, as if putting one foot in front of the other is something they haven’t done before. They take your hand. Their fingers are hard, smooth as ice and just as cold. They run an almost-thumb down your palm, bones growing and shifting, snapping into place as their limbs change to imitate your own. You yank your arm away. The cold of their fingers has forced you to focus, pulled you back to some semblance of reality. You stand, knocking over your chair in the process. It hits the ground with a dull thud and begins to gently sink into the earth.

The barista looks at you with eyes that were his and are now yours too. You hug your chest, bile rising in your throat. You have to get away. They don’t stop you, and perhaps that is the most disturbing thing of all. Calling out a simple “come again!” before you can flee, breathless, into the night.

In the dark and cold you think for a moment that you have stumbled into another hell, so sudden is the change. But no, there are outlines of trees; leaves beneath your shoes. This is the forest once more.

You turn, expecting a building but greeted by darkness. Blink, let your eyes adjust to the night. There is a corpse at your feet. It looks like it's been there a while. Mushrooms grow from its eyes, the slant of its chin. You stumble away.

 The rumble of traffic offers a clear direction. Lights flash in the distance and you realise for the first time that your hands are caked in dry crimson. Look away, focus on the treeline and the false safety it promises. The taste of copper sits heavy on your tongue.

‘Come again!’ The call was not a request, but a promise. Not tomorrow, if you’re lucky not for years to come. But you will return one day,

To the midnight cafe.

HEY

To all you authors out there, here’s a little advice that will help you so much. 

Do not write for other people. Yes, this sounds like classic writing advice, but I’m going to go deeper into it. Because I realized today what that actually means.

When you write for other people, you find yourself constantly being anxious over how they’ll perceive it. As you’re writing you’ll be looking at it like “there’s no way anyone will ever like this.” You’ll point out every flaw and that just makes writing a burden. You’ll get writer’s block or quit writing altogether, because it’s just not fun anymore.

So instead of doing that, just...turn off that part of your brain that points out the mistakes and tells you people won’t like it. Save that for later. It might be hard to do this, but you’ve got to understand that you’re telling this story for yourself, and that at this point it doesn’t matter if it sucks or not. That’s for your other drafts. 

Enjoy the writing. Smile when you make some cheesy joke, even if you know you’ll have to delete it later. Write out the parts that you like about the story, whether or not they matter to the plot.

Writing for other people has its place, but that’s for after you’ve written for yourself. 

unnati | december 1st

If your character wrote a letter to Santa Claus, what would it say?

Dialogue Prompt

"I-I'm sorry, I never meant for- I didn't think they would actually choose me over-"

"Hey, it's okay! You won. Fair and square. They chose you for a reason, and I- I gotta move on, you know?"

"A-"

"It's okay, B. Just... promise me you'll take care of them, okay? Because if you harm them in any way...

No threat in the world could string together the amount of agony I would put you through."

- Mod Kat @hacked_prompts on Instagram

I will wait I will wait for you here In the stillness of my heart That occurred as soon as you left me I had hoped you would stay Until the end of our days But I understand your spirit had to go When you are ready or When you need A place of solace or refuge I will open my door to you And my hearth shall be your home Forever, if you want it to —Michelle Dana Sabado

It’s okay if your story isn’t as good as you want it to be

It’s okay if you’ve been procrastinating on writing

It’s okay if you haven’t written anything in a long time

Writing is hard enough without feeling stressed, so take a deep breath and relax. This hobby is hard enough without pressure. Don’t make it harder by feeling bad about any failures you feel you’ve made.

dialogue prompts!

6/?

1. "Don't let me go down this road again, we both know where this ends."

2. “Do you think you’ll be okay if we just jumped in?” 

3. “You and I are not the same,”

4. “Take my hand, then,”

5. “You must have magic on your lips or something,”

6. “I love the taste of blood! Long story,”

7. “Can we please listen to Lovejoy while we make out at least?”

8. “Don’t get drunk again and watch Jschlatt, I swear to god,”

9. “This is such a cliché, but I have to say… I kinda like it that way,”

10. “Don’t you dare say that! How could you be so cruel?!”

11. “This is going to get messy…”

12. “I’m getting back with my girlfriend,”

13. “Just don’t do arson, actually, do arson that’s the only crime I’ll let slide,”

14. “Fuck you! I never loved you to begin with!” 

15. “What happened to this perfect little family?”

16. “When did you get that? I should have noticed that by now,”

17. “You belong on a magazine,”

18. “Dance with me? At least one song?”

19. “You paint a picture with those words of yours,” 

20. “Don’t tell me it’s true… I can’t take it right now,”

21. “You should be down in Hollywood,”

22. “If you say his name again I will scream!”

23. “Did you read my AO3 history?”

24. “That’s what a liar would say,”

25. “I’d be crazy to leave your side,”

Dusk, breathing this surreal ecosphere teems with clairvoyant dreams

and we rise, into this living and we rise, into this being

no longer somnambulists that used to stumble off the ledge, tearing layers on gnarly fangs that grew off the abyss walls

aether pareidolia, melancholia were the tint of our eyes;

the night ferments in asterisms. I thought I saw you waver in the street, but it was just the wind. © Anna S., 2021

Writer Games for Writer Friends

Disclaimer: I've only ever played these as 2-player games, and with online friends through texts, so that's how I'm going to describe them, BUT these can probably be adapted to include more players with a little adjusting, and some games could be played in person. Also not all of these can be played by fanfic-only writers since many of these rely on either having OCs or your own made up world, but these could also be changed or adapted to turn it into a fanfic writing game

Also thank you to said friends @tracle0 and @baloobird for playing these games with me haha

Question Game 1

Instructions: The most basic of writing games here, Player 1 asks a question about Player 2's wip, P2 answers then asks a question and P1 answers it, then P2 asks--and that basically goes on until either you get bored or (and more likely) one of you has to go do something and are tragically torn away from the game.

Requirements: Very little requirements here, all you need is a very basic wip idea, fanfic or OG, I've played this game with people who've only had two characters and little to no setting yet, and we ended up playing for literally hours with just that. This is a really good game for people who don't have a lot to their story yet, because it forces them to think up answers to the questions their playing partner asks, therefore filling out their story/world more

Suggestions: None, this is, again, super basic haha

Question Game 2

Instructions: Similar to the first one, only you have a ask game list from tumblr to help. Basically the same game as the first one, but the questions you send are from one specific ask game post

Requirements: Again, very few requirements, all you need is an ask game post (just look up "OC ask game" or "writing/writer ask game" etc), and a wip, fanfic or OG. Some ask games assume you have a more thought out wip/are in the middle of writing a wip, so just make sure to choose a post that fits where you and your friend are at in your stories.

Suggestions: In my games we usually stay within one ask post, so no asking questions from other ask posts

Crossover Reaction Game

Instructions: Ok this is probably one of my favorite games on the list. P1 picks a character from their own wip, and asks P2 "How would your characters react to my character?" P2 then goes down their list of characters, saying how each one would feel about P2's character. Usually "your characters" just means the main character + other important characters, but you can ask about specific side characters too. Once that question is answered, P2 picks one of their own characters and asks the same question to P1. The game continues until all characters have "met" each other.

If you're wondering what I mean by "react", I mean "how would your characters feel about my character upon first meeting them" or "would your character(s) be friends with mine down the line?" Basically P1 and P2 are creating an AU together where their characters meet and interact with each other, and you're taking turns telling each other how that would go.

Requirements: You need to have an OG wip. You need to know your own character's personalities well, and you need to know your friends characters fairly well, so you can properly figure out how your own characters would react to them. If the only thing you know about your friend's characters is their names, maybe try playing one of the Question Games first

Suggestions: None really? As long as you meet the requirements you should be good to go

Rumor Game

Instructions: This game is actually a little similar to roleplaying but... not quite haha. To quote my friend when they made this game: "Compose a conversation with the other person about the characters as if the other person is a newcomer to the society and you're filling them in on the local gossip pog???" And that's it, that's the game. Similar to the first question game, but P1 pretends to be a traveler, and P2 pretends to be some NPC-type character that fills them in on local news. Once P1 gets their conversation done, it's P2's turn to be the traveler and ask questions. This is a dramatic game and going as off-the-walls as possible is encouraged. Not everything the NPC says will be true because that's how gossip works, so feel free to go wild with it.

Requirements: You need to have an OG wip. You need know your story as well as your friend's story quite well so that you can ask good, interesting questions. You'll also need to be good at thinking of said questions to ask, there's not really a list of questions that will help you with this game haha.

Suggestions:

Ask specific NPCs questions: You'll get different answers if you ask a child NPC a question vs if you ask an adult NPC the same question, so as the traveler feel free to specify who you're asking your questions to.

Switch up your traveler's personality too, different personalities will react to differently to gossip/ask different questions, feel free to mess with this

Don't play as one of your actual characters, this is a game about the most no-name people in the story, the helpless civilians in the superhero movie that get two seconds of screen time. You're playing the people who gossip about what the heroes are doing without knowing the whole story

Emoji Game

Instructions: I've only played this using discord emojis, but it'll work with other emoji sets as well. P1 sends a series of emojis, and P2 has to guess what character from P1's wip the set of emojis represents. Once P2 guesses it, it's P2's turn to send emojis. The game ends when you run out of characters to send emojis about

Requirements: Emojis and characters to guess, so this can work for fanfic wips or OG wips. You also need to know each other's characters fairly well so that you can make an actual guess at what the character might be

Suggestions: In my games, you have to send one emoji from each section of emojis. So one People emoji, one Nature, one Food, etc etc. This can also be done using only one emoji for the other person to base their guess on, but I find it more fun to send a series of emojis

Find The Word Game

Instructions: This game is most easily explained with a scenario

P1: How many times does "help" show up in your wip?

P2: Choose a number between 1-108

P1: 57

P2: "“Hello, how may I help you?” a man said, appearing from another room. His greeting was less cheery than the woman at the shelter."

Basically, you use the search function in your word processor to see how many times a word comes up in your wip, and then have the other person choose a number. Then you send them the sentence/paragraph it shows up in! This game can last for hours, especially if you both have a lot written of your wip.

Requirements: You have to have a good amount of your wip written already for this to work, the longer the better. This can be a fanfic wip or an OG wip.

Suggestions: In my games, there's no repeating the last word you sent to get a different sentence, we choose a different word each time. It forces you to think of more possible words. Also avoid super common words like "the" or "a" or something like that, that's just boring. It's also more fun if you haven't read each other's stories yet, that way you can ask questions about the sentences you get sent, BUT it still works and is fun if you've already read each other's stories

Hope you all enjoy these! Let me know what you think, and if you have any other games feel free to add on!

I hope

That everyday

Is a little easier

For you than

The day

That came before

And that eventually

You will no longer

Feel the strain

Of the weight

On your shoulders

That you carried.

-J.Wool, Easier, Soul Whispers

Vacation, The Epilogue - Vinnie Hacker

Part Two:

Word Count - 3.3k

Vinnie caught up with y/n before she disappeared down the staircase and back into the party, catching her off guard when he linked his fingers with hers and led her through the crowd.

As the space around them opened up and fewer strangers were pressed against her, she noticed the glances of some people settling on them. Some looked her up and down, a few stared at their linked hands, but most stared at Vinnie.

"Come meet my friends." He snapped her out of a trance, noticing how focused on the people around them she was.

"Alright." She sighed, letting her nerves get the best of her. As he led her through the kitchens crowd, she tugged on his arm and stopped him at the island, grabbing a bottle of tequila and wiggling it towards him with raised eyebrows. Immediately the people around them noticed that the birthday boy was doing shots and some cheering erupted; a large guy with his hat facing backwards took the bottle from her hand and almost instantly poured three shots, giving both to Vinnie and making the crowd cheer 'shot, shot, shot' until he took them both.

As he finished the second one, Vinnie glared down at her.

"Sorry." She muttered and scrunched her nose, letting a laugh out when he pulled her closer to him, taking the bottle from the guy and pouring some more shots. This time, he lifted one to y/n's lips and raised an eyebrow when she hesitated to take it. A small smirk lifted one side of her mouth and she necked the drink back, shocking Vinnie when she didn't make a face.

"Well damn, have another one!" He exclaimed, chuckling when she snatched the next one from him and swallowed it immediately; this time she scrunched her face and make a distasteful face.

"It's actually quite strong." She briefly stuck her tongue out and then began following Vinnie when he ushered her away from the table, heading outside.

Again, she was shocked to feel his arm snake around their waist when they walked, not because she didn't expect this affection from him, but because she didn't expect him to show it so outwardly in front of all these people. They had agreed they were exclusive to each other, but did the talking stage include showing everyone else they were in it?

She let her thoughts flutter away when Vinnie's voice picked up and began introducing her to quite a large group of people.

"Guys, this is y/n." He looked to her for a second and started to smile, then turned back to the group with his mouth still wide.

"So you weren't lying!" A boy with fluffy blonde hair spoke up, he had his arm wrapped around the shoulders of a shorter blonde girl. A few of his friends chuckled at the comment, Vinnie rolling his eyes and a short brunette girl smacked the blonde guy on the arm.

"I'm Mia! Vinnie hasn't stopped talking about you by the way." She approached y/n straight away and gave her a hug, making Vinnie blush at her comment.

"Oh really?" Y/n turned her head to Vinnie with a grin on her face, a tint of pink spreading across her own cheeks when she saw Vinnie with his hand drooped over his eyes, hiding his embarrassed face from the group.

"Ignore them, it's nice to finally meet you." The tall brunette guy who was speaking in the microphone earlier spoke up, linking his hand with Mia's as she stood next to him again. "I'm Thomas."

"Alex."

"I'm Jake."

"Hi...Kouvr."

"I'm Jack."

"Jett."

"Connor."

"My name is Emily."

"Patrick."

"Calvin."

(a/n - did I forget anyone??? probably)

"Hey." Y/n squeaked out, obviously nervous and trying to remember everyone's names.

"You guys are scaring the poor girl," Thomas added again, making y/n laugh, trying to clear the awkward air.

"No, I'm fine," She reassured them and a few smiles came onto some of their faces. "I missed you guys in Cabo by a day I think? But it's so good to finally meet you!"

"Yeah, it would have been so fun if you could've stayed!" Mia spoke up.

"I wish I could have." Y/n smiled at the girl, feeling more comfortable now that their introduction was out of the way and conversation was flowing.

"Do you wanna come get another drink?" Kouvr asked, fixing her dress as she stood up. Mia walked towards her and they linked arms, trying to shelter from the cold and struggling to walk in their heels.

"Me?" Y/n asked and both of the girls nodded. "Yeah, sure." She smiled back at Vinnie as his arm fell off her shoulder and back to his side; he winked as she turned away and faced the girls.

Mia had her hand outstretched and y/n gladly took it, her heart warming and smile spreading slightly as they walked and she began to feel a lot more in place.

"So," Kouvr blurted over the music. "What do you drink?"

"Literally anything, but gin is my favourite." Y/n shared.

"Me too!" Mia interjected and grabbed a bottle of pink gin from the large selection of alcohol in front of them.

As Kouvr made her own drink, y/n grabbed two solo cups and placed them in front of Mia, who quickly added two shots of gin to each and topped them off with lemonade. Y/n sipped hers straight away as it was really full, and Mia accidentally spilt some of her own on the counter top, making the girls laugh as she flicked the liquid away from the edge with wide eyes, like she hadn't done anything.

"I'm so glad Vinnie has a girlfriend. I mean I love you Kouvr but another girl around the house is a great addition!" Mia called out over the noise, as another crowd of people entered the kitchen while they were trying to leave.

"I'm not his girlfriend." Y/n politely corrected her and Kouvr let out a giggle.

"Not yet, but soon I'm sure." She raised her eyebrow and y/n didn't expect the words that left her mouth in response.

"Hopefully." She agreed with the statement, her stomach fluttering at the thought of Vinnie asking her to be his, officially. Both of the girls squealed in excitement and it made her laugh, her cheeks going pink again.

"He better get a move on," Mia added in a stern tone as they stepped outside to the pool area and began walking back to the guys.

Vinnie stared longingly over the pool, the fluorescent lights beaming and lighting up his skin. He watched as y/n made her way back to him with his two friends, smiling as he saw them getting on. They stopped to sip each other's drinks briefly and laughed together. Y/n even grabbed onto Mia's arm and crouched slightly when she couldn't hold back her laughter.

Thomas' quiet chuckle filled the space next to him and now they both watched as Mia threw her head back in hysterics, spilling more of her drink and Kouvr wiping a tear; the three girls in a fit of giggles as they began walking again, still holding onto each other and almost tiptoeing in their heels.

"Well, she obviously fits in." He reassured Vinnie and gestured to how well the girls were getting along.

"Yeah, she's pretty great." He gushed, his smile spreading further when y/n locked eyes with him and unknowingly batted her long eyelashes, making his head spin from her beauty.

"Hello, pretty." He opened his arms as she returned to him and rested her head on his chest, his big arms embracing her and gently trailing his fingers on her lower back. She hummed through his t-shirt and his skin tingled, then she pulled back to look up at him, sipping her drink at the same time.

"Hello." She spoke slowly with a smile, not able to surpass her giggle as she became flustered when he smirked down at her. "I think I'm tipsy." She admitted, laughing again.

"Wow, such a lightweight." He teased, making her playfully roll her eyes.

"Hey! At least I'm a cheap date." She scowled at him, sipping her drink again and then lifting it to his lips. "Want some?" She offered and he took a sip, making a disgusted face.

"So sweet, I hate it." He faltered, almost choking on the liquid.

Y/n gasped and put her hand on her chest, sarcastically expressing that she was offended. "This isn't going to work then." She joked, so he laughed, leaning down and pressing a few kisses onto the side of her face, trailing onto her ear, making her giggle.

"I guess I'm sleeping on the couch tonight," Jett spoke up as he came into view and stopped in front of them. Y/n blushed at his comment.

"Oh, I'm not staying." She replied, confused as to what he meant by staying on the couch.

"Y/n, this is my best friend Jett." Vinnie introduced him properly as they only briefly exchanged names earlier, he offered his hand and she shook it, smiling at his formality. "He's meant to be staying in my room tonight but I can kick him out if you want to instead?" Vinnie laughed and lightly slapped Jett on the shoulder.

"I have a hotel room, it's only a 30 minute uber from here so it's okay." She rejected his offer, not wanting to impose on their original arrangement.

"I'm kidding." He smiled, taking a sip of the beer he had in his hand and passing Vinnie a full one. "I don't mind, really."

"See it's fine! Stay?" Vinnie asked her, his eyes twinkling from the lights that reflected off the house.

"Alright." She hesitated, looking to Jett for approval that he really didn't mind; as soon as he nodded, again flashing a white smile at her, she huffed and agreed. "Okay, but as long as you're sure..." She tried to speak but Jett cut her off.

"I am! I promise it's fine." He laughed gently, making sure y/n didn't feel like she was putting him out of a bed.

"Thank you." She smiled at him as he stepped away, quickly joining into a conversation with Connor and Jake.

Before y/n could start talking to Vinnie again, a big group of girls swarmed them and most of them squealed in high pitched voices.

"Happy birthday!" A short blonde embraced him and wrapped her arms around his neck, practically shoving y/n from his side as she pulled him downwards.

"Oh, thanks." Vinnie stammered, uncomfortable with her sudden affection. Eventually she let go because one of her friends pulled her backwards and sent an apolagetic look towards y/n, so she smiled gently in response, linking her hand with Vinnie's when he straightened up again.

When the girls walked away, y/n kept her gaze on them, staring them down as they left; on the other hand, Vinnie turned to y/n as soon as the girl had let go of him, watching her glare at them.

"Jealous?" He spoke sarcastically.

"Nothing to be jealous about." She looked up at him, waiting for a moment as he processed her words, then she turned towards him, placed her hand flat on his chest and smirked up at him.

"Oh, yeah?" He responded, wrapping his arms around her and letting them rest on her ass.

"Yeah, you're mine. What's there to be jealous about?" She responded, making him break into a smile; then she grabbed him gently by the collar of his t-shirt and pulled him down towards her, similar to how the other girl had done when she hugged him.

"True." He whispered against her lips before she closed the gap and kissed him, in front of everyone. As their lips locked the music around them seemed to get louder and the crowd around them seemed to press them closer together; y/n got lost in his lips, melting into him so much that she didn't know where his body ended and hers began.

She ran her hands through his hair, tugging on it to try and bring him even closer; the taste of tequila on his tongue and how soft and puffy his lips felt against hers was intoxicating. He tilted his head, as did she, and wrapped his hands around her waist, pinning her against him; to get a better taste of what he had missed so much over the past 11 days he was without her, he plunged his tongue into her mouth, running it along her one and gliding it around. They made out for what felt like hours, but was probably only a few seconds, because they got interrupted when a loud voice spoke over the microphone from before.

They pulled apart and y/n recognised it was Thomas.

"Guys, listen up please." He began, waving his arms at the DJ to cut the music. "The cops are outside, they said it's too late and we need to end this now." An eruption of boos and complaints came from the crowd. "I know! I know, believe me, I'm pissed too. But they said it's too late and the neighbours have complained, so I'm sorry but everyone's gotta go." Thomas seemed to be finished as he lowered the microphone, but before stepping down from the wall he was standing on, he lifted the mic back to his mouth.

"Thank you everyone for coming out, and Vinnie, bro...happy fucking birthday. I hope you had a good time tonight, everyone lets give one last cheer for the birthday boy!" He yelled.

An almost deafening wave of screams and cheers came from everyone as they obliged with Thomas' order. Vinnie laughed and waved to the people cheering, some even ruffled his hair, slapped him on the back and dapped him up as they left. Most of the crowd started moving towards the exit of the garden and congregated in the driveway, a few ubers and taxi's struggled to drive through the people and find who they were supposed to be giving a lift.

As everyone left, Vinnie, his friends and y/n went into the house; it took a while, probably half an hour, for all of the guests to leave the house. Vinnie went off with Thomas to round up any drunk stragglers and get them out, so y/n sat at the kitchen table waiting, soon after joined by Jett.

When he sat with her she quickly put her phone away and started a conversation with him.

"That was the best party I've ever been too." She exclaimed.

"Me too, Thomas went all out." He agreed, running his hand through his hair and then relaxing into the chair.

"I hope Vinnie had a good time." She added, tilting her head when Jett began to speak again.

"He was hoping you would show up, and you did so...I think he enjoyed himself." Jett gave a sincere smile and the pair sat in silence for a while, y/n with a small grin on her face, bringing her fingers to her mouth and pulling on her lip slightly.

Jett just looked over at her, admiring her. Without any disrespect for his best friend, he could acknowledge that y/n was pretty, and wanted to pat Vinnie on the back for catching her attention.

"He really likes you." Jett spoke up again, snapping y/n's attention back to him.

"I really like him too." She agreed.

"He will probably kill me for telling you this but, his relationship before Nicole left him pretty messed up..." He began, taking a breath when he saw y/n's expression become confused, but then continuing. "I'm just trying to say, be gentle with him because he's been hurt before and I can't see him go back there."

"I will, Jett." She placed her hand on top of his, assuring him that she understood what he was trying to get across. Just as y/n pulled her hand away, bringing it back to her lap, Vinnie walked into the kitchen.

"What you talking bout?" He sat down on the table in between them.

"You." They replied in unison, making all three of them laugh a little bit.

"You wanna come watch a movie? Everyone else is in the living room." He asked them both and soon enough they were all walking up the stairs.

Pitch Perfect was playing on the tv and Mia looked proud of herself as she held the remote and cuddled into Thomas' side on the left corner of the couch. Alex and Kouvr were in the right corner of the couch, legs outstretched and hands interlinked, and Jake was sitting in the middle of it all alone so he outstretched his arms to Jett and he joined him with a laugh.

Y/n pulled Vinnie down with her as she sat on the giant lovesac which was in the middle of the room on the floor. They quickly got comfy and she took her heels off, wrapping her legs around his; Vinnie lay back into it and y/n lay her head on his shoulder, her arms around his torso.

After the movie had been playing for a while, y/n looked up to Vinnie with a grin on her face.

"Hey." She whispered up to him, pulling his attention from the movie that he was really interested in.

"What?" He grumbled, letting his eyes fall back to the screen.

"I'm hungry." She complained, giggling slightly at his annoyed tone.

"Oh, me too. You wanna order something?" He asked pulling out his phone.

"McDonalds?"

"Of course." He agreed.

"Chicken nuggets please."

"Alright." He scrolled on his phone, the screen lighting up half of the room.

"Turn the brightness down!" Mia scolded him and he quickly did as she asked.

"Okay sorry! Does anyone want anything from McDonalds?" He asked everyone else in the room and they replied in unison with their choices.

Vinnie quickly scrambled to add everything and eventually pressed order.

"You payed for it?" Y/n asked, confused as to why he just payed the whole thing on his own.

"Yeah." He nodded.

"Let me send you some money." She pulled out her phone but Vinnie just took it out of her hands and placed it behind his head on the lovesac.

"Oi!" She complained and tried reaching to it, but he just laughed and wrapped her arms around him again.

He began stroking her hair as her head rested on his chest again, pulling it all backwards out of her face and playing with it while they concentrated on the movie again.

"You can get it next time." He told her as her eyes began getting heavy from the comforting motion of Vinnies fingers in her hair.

"Promise?" She asked, letting her eyes close while she rested against him, feeling his chest gently rise and fall with each of his breaths.

"No." He responded, with a small smile that she couldn't see but already knew was there. She pulled her hand up and began tracing small shapes on his chest, her heart fluttering when he groaned quietly as the contact. She let a smirk creep onto her lips as his hand travelled further and grasped her thigh, squeezing it gently as they got even more comfortable than they were before.

He tucked the last piece of loose hair behind her ear and she looked up at him, noticing how he was admiring her with his pretty eyes. After a few seconds of silence he placed a kiss on her forehead, and when he pulled back he rubbed her cheek with his thumb.

"I'm so glad I met you." He broke their silence

"Me too." She drawled up to him.

"Be mine."

"What?"

"I can't wait any longer. It's killing me." He paused.

She rubbed her nose against his, waiting for him to speak again.

"Will you be my girlfriend?" He finally asked.

"Yes. Definitely." She responded with a smile on her face that she really couldn't suppress this time, and she didn't want too.

"Thank god, because that would have been really awkward if you said no." He leant down to press a tender, affectionate kiss on her lips, which she accepted gracefully after a small laugh left her mouth at his joke. She brought her hand up to his face, running her thumb along it as he slowly pulled away.

"Finally." Mia interjected into their moment and earned a few laughs from everyone else in the room, making Vinnie throw their only pillow at her before they went back to the movie.

And there they sat.

Lovers, couples and friends, all as one.

Not a sound was heard except their low breaths and the movie that played quietly through the speakers.

Every single one of them at peace in that moment, wishing that it would never end.

A/N - AAAAA OMFG OK I don't know if I like this ending but I tried to make it cute idkkkkkk ok please leave your thoughts down below. Thank You so much for reading this! - Molly <3

Prompt #109

We are not alone.

They have been here all along.