#did ben audition for the oc?

[goldenlaurelleaveswrites]

I've Got These Friends...

4. Sick Moves Bro

I've Got These Friends... (AO3)

Darrel - age 15

Cameo appearances Nadine - age 15 Ginger Capris, one of @verfound's OCs - age 15

I fell further behind on these than I had anticipated I would. My first paper for this semester was the opposite of fun to write, and then I came down with a bad head cold which just wiped me out the day after I submitted.

__________________________________________

He looked up from his class schedule and barely managed to duck out of the way of a couple of girls who looked like they were in a panicked rush. Saint-Saëns was a lot bigger than he had thought it would be. It was a lot bigger than he remembered it being from his audition… but then again he had only been in the big theatre for his audition. And there had been people there to direct him and his mom. But studio 128 was probably around here somewhere… 

And if he was a little late to class, it was the first day. His teacher—M. Beaumont it said on his schedule—probably wouldn’t mind too much if he was late. Looking at all the other people in the hall, it looked like a lot of them were thinking they would be late to their first classes too. So he probably would’t be the only one if he was late. 

Shrugging, he continued down the hall, scanning the numbers over the doors as he passed them. 

136… it was shut tight and it looked like all the lights were out. 

133… a bunch of students were hanging out in the open doorway, chatting lazily. 

130… from what he could see, it looked like a bunch of teachers were in there talking. It was probably best not to disturb them. Besides, according to the room numbers he was going in the right direction. 

He turned the corner, and the first door on his right was thrown open wide, with voices spilling out as figures flashed past the door on the inside of the room. And there above the door were the numbers he had been looking for. 

128.  

This was it. 

His first class at Saint-Saëns. 

His dance teacher had told him he would love it here. 

He stuck his head into the room, and was immediately greeted by what was a pretty familiar sight despite not knowing a single person in the room. Dance bags had been dropped and piled against the walls. There was a group of girls sitting a little off from one of the walls, giggling over something a redhead had said as they sat stretching on the floor, looking like they had stopped halfway through a stretch. Other students were gathered in pockets and groups, some standing, some halfheartedly stretching like the girls on the ground. Others were scattered around the room, actually stretching, like the girl in pink with dark hair pulled up in a bun, who was stretching at the barre. And some were watching…  

He grinned, the rest of his body following his head as he stepped into the room. 

A couple of guys were going across the centre, showing off their tricks. He watched as a guy did three side aerials in a row. 

Yeah, Mme. Lisbel had been right, he would like it here. 

He dumped his bag by the side of the room and ambled over to the guys. 

“Nice moves!” he called, grinning in greeting as the two turned to look at him. 

“Yeah, thanks!” the guy grinned before adding, “I’m Diego.” 

“Darrel.” 

“You should have seen Ben’s layout though!” Diego said, elbowing the blond guy beside him with a grin.” 

“Yeah? I love layouts!”

“So, you got some good tricks then?” Ben asked. 

“Yeah,” he said as he began to loosen his shoulders, “gimme a sec to loosen up and I’ll show you!” Once he was ready, he moved as close to one of the corners as he could get to give himself some space to cross the floor. “Sorry,” he said as he backed a little too close to the redheaded girl’s group; the girl scoffed but he took that as a sign that she had heard his apology. “So, whaddya want to see?” he asked, turning back to Diego and Ben. The other students that had been watching Ben and Diego were watching too, but to his surprise, some of the students that had been stretching were watching as well. The girl that had been stretching at the barre was still stretching, but she was also watching the centre of the room in the mirror. 

“Anything!”

“Yeah, show us what you’ve got,” Ben added with grin. 

He shrugged. Well, since so many people were watching…

And flipping out was one of his favourite things to do. 

He took a running start before launching into a front hand spring. A quick roundoff got him into position, and then it was that exhilarating feeling of gravity shutting off as he let his back handsprings carry him across the room. And just for fun, he ended with a butterfly flip. 

“Those are sick moves, bro!” Diego called, running over from where he and Ben had been standing to watch. 

“Thanks,” he said, grinning. But he couldn’t keep his eyes from wandering. Now that he had gotten started, the itch to do more was there… it was just like skating. One or two or five tricks wasn’t enough. 

His eyes landed on a brick pillar in the wall, beside the end of the bar. 

He had only tried it a few times. He hadn’t perfected it yet. But once he did, he just knew it was going to be one of his favourite tricks. 

“But I wanna see if I can…” he let his voice trail off as he lined himself up with the pillar. “I’ve only done it once or twice, maybe I’ll have some first day luck?” he asked, flashing a grin at Diego and Ben. 

“Do it!” 

He nodded, and then took a running start at the wall. 

“Good morning, everyone,” a voice—an older voice—said. “I’m sorry for not being here to greet you, myself and my colleagues got caught up discussing potential shows for the fall production-” 

Maybe he should have stopped. He probably should have. 

But, well, he was already running. 

“What are you doing-” 

His right foot made contact with the brick. And then his left. And then he was weightless as the world turned upside-down around him.  

The best part of dancing, of skating, of anything was when gravity just ignored him. Or was he ignoring gravity? It didn’t matter either way. All that did was the feeling of flying. 

He twisted in the air, and landed lightly on his feet. Just like Patches did whenever she jumped. 

He straightened up out of his landing, and opened his eyes as he turned around. 

A man with salt and pepper hair, in all black, with a binder tucked under his arm and a coffee in one hand was staring at him, his mouth hanging wide open. It suddenly occurred to him that the room was awfully quiet. 

And that everyone, including who he assumed was M. Beaumont, was staring at him. 

And that he had just used school property as a prop for a trick. 

Huh. 

Maybe he should have asked if he was allowed to flip off walls first… 

M. Beaumont’s eyes widened. “Singing in the Rain.” 

#OCtober #OC-tober #Darrel Bernard - OC #Darrel Bernard - Laurel OC #Nadine Lauren-Hassan - OC #Nadine Laurent-Hassan - Laurel OC #Ginger Capris - Ver OC #I've got these friends...

[lady-of-the-spirit]

Joan

I don't have a faceclaim for Joan yet so the answers for cast related questions will be Vague or just how I imagine an actor playing her would be.

how they’d be introduced

After Nile dies for the first time, the others are all dreaming about her. In the middle of flashes of Nile on screen, there are also flashes of another woman, far away, dreaming of Nile as well. She's the first person shown waking up and there's a lingering on her face as she gasps, clutching her neck, clearly confused. Cut back to the gang waking up and knowing immediately what's happened.

who the fandom ships them with

I mean Joan is aroace so hopefully no one? At least romantically? I know fandoms can be shitty about that but I feel like TOG fandom is chill enough, at least the majority of it. Platonically I can see her and Booker and her and Nile being very popular friend ships for her (bc that's how I've imagined canon anyway).

why the fandom loves them

She's the Relateable One. She's not a warrior, she's not a soldier, she's just a normal person trying to live as normally as possible while struggling with the whole immortality thing - the day to day struggles, the wondering Why Am I Here - as much as the rest of them. Plus she's canonically got anxiety so add that to relatability.

She's quiet and shy and gets nervous in situations but she's not gonna be a pushover about it. She's snarky when it's least expected. She has a lot of inner turmoil. I think the fandom would have fun with her.

why the fandom hates them

Probably because she's boring? Like as complex as she is, she's the normal one of the group, comparatively anyway. She's not always running around trying to save the world like the others (she does but in a different way than they do). She's just trying to live her life.

what the cast relationship would be like

I would HOPE for fun times just bc of Joan's story being so much about found family. And it sounds like the actors are close?

what was their audition scene

Idk how acting works so I'm gonna choose this one scene I've imagined a lot, where Nile and Joan are talking about their families. I think it's a good scene because (in my head) it's a scene where Joan both shows the grief she Carrie's around inside of her but also the strength she's had to develop to keep going.

dependent upon the fandom, who they’d be on a press tour/at comic con with

Did the TOG cast do comic con? I have no idea.

if they spoil things

Yes. But in "spoilers with no context" ways. On twitter she'd post a picture of an iron skillet, a plane ticket, the Ben Affleck exhausted smoking pic and nothing else.

if the show/movie has ended, are they happy with their character’s ending and the ending at large

2O2G has yet to release and so has the 3rd and final volume of the comics so I cannot answer this rip (yes Joan's canon splits from canon canon but whatever happens there is a foundation nonetheless)

OC if they were Canon

#ask #andthentheywilleatthestars #my ocs #Joan

[sentinelminor]

tfa for tb fandom asks 🫵💥

blorbo: ok like. sentinel is absolutely my blorbo no contest its really unfortunate i think of him daily. hes based off of another one of my blorbos (the tick) and thats why he looks nothing like any other sentinel which they did AFTER townsend coleman auditioned and got the part!! THATS WHY HE HAS HIS ANTENNAE AUDIALS!!

skrunkly: i love prowl so much i watched a prowl centric episode the other day and gained tears in my eyes. i have an instagram folder dedicated to him/prowl fanart he was my first tfa little man

scrimbo bimblo: ive already said sentinel so im going to go with lugnut. i cant count the humans they cant be underappreciated if theyre nothing even if i do like slo-mo nanosec and masterson. i dont talk about lugnut much either but hes VERY funny to me. he's very large and hes incredibly loyal to megatron! he somehow has a wife or something! also i like his voice a lot. i feel like people dont talk about him as much as the other decepticons which i think is mostly due to the fact he doesnt have a 'ship' that people like to draw with him even though i would way rather have him be under appreciated than him being shoved into some weird ooc creepy ship like megatron often is. Anyways. appreciate the closest to a decepticon himbo youll get before hes gone !

glup shitto: who even do i pick. cliffjumper has two lines and i think hes married to blurr. oil slick has one line and shows up once and i think hes married to scalpel who also counts here. i think the crown has to go to mindwipe because i like him so much i watched a random episode of ben ten for a villain that looked similar to him and also i ended up characterizing him as this very funny dark seductress type and even though i love him my main tf oc has a deep-seeded rivalry with him

poor little meow meow: also sentinel. i cant like. i cant say anyone else. everyone hates him or is otherwise a freak about him other than an amount of people i can count on my hands. hes sooo pathetic and everyone including most of the in universe cast hates him and im hand feeding him grapes under the table like a dog or something

horse plinko: ultra magnus. die

for an actual answer i do find myself doing this to optimus. i like him so much its for your own development i promise (hiding rewrite behind my back)

eeby deeby: ultra magnus for real this time

#asks #wyattmasonvii #rambling file #i think ultra magnus is a good character i would fight him and get my ass kicked though #war criminal ^

[sincerelyreidburke]

Can you PLEASE elaborate on Nando's gay panic over genderbent Cell Block Tango??

I can’t even remember the original context I brought this up in, but it makes me laugh my ass off, so: absolutely, yes. Let’s go on a little journey.

- So where do I even begin when it comes to explaining this concept. Hm... let’s start here. I want to talk about how I imagine the layout of the Kiersey Drama club’s season. I’m taking heavy inspiration from the arrangement of the theatre group at my own college’s performances, which I’d say are pretty standard as far as college theatre goes.

- The musical is in the spring, performing in late March/early April. There’s also a fall production (always a straight play) that performs around November, then there’s likely something small in the winter, like some one-acts or something. The spring musical their biggest production of the year. The very last thing that the drama club at my college does each year is: right around the end of classes, they put on a variety show.

- It’s basically like you have to audition for a slot, and if you get one, you can perform whatever you want. It’s not exactly a talent show (although maybe the Kiersey drama club also does host a talent show, around October?), but it’s a fun low-pressure performance event.

- “Mel, no offense, but I’m bored. Why are you taking me through the scheduling practices of the Kiersey College Drama Club?” Alright, bear with me. You know how Quinn does Chicago his sophomore year?

- Right. So by sophomore year, Quinn has a small core group of theatre friends. There are a few members of the drama club who drive him crazy, but most of them are absolutely lovely people (I think I’ll formally introduce you guys to some of those OCs soon).

- Here’s what I imagine. Somewhere along the line in the Chicago rehearsal process, Quinn and his one friend, Cole, who played Connor in DEH, decide to go crash a choreography rehearsal for Cell Block Tango. Why? Because neither of them, obviously, is playing a criminal in the show, but they both enjoy choreography, and they’re friends with the girls in the number, and they think it would be funny.

- They show up, learn the dance moves, and have fun. Somebody makes an extremely offhanded comment about how they should do a genderbent version of the number if they’re so excited about the choreography.

- Which, who doesn’t love Cell Block Tango. In general. Who would not jump at the chance to do an entire song and dance number about murderous rage.

- Also, I need you to know that all of this was heavily inspired by this video, in which a handful of male Broadway stars do the exact thing I am describing.

- It’s Quinn’s bright idea, in the end. He sees the opportunity, and he’s like, oh my gosh............. we should do this for spring cabaret.

- Cue the random exchange of, like:

Quinn: COLE!!!!!!! Do you want to be a merry murderer??

Cole, slightly alarmed: Uh, I guess, but what’s the context?

Quinn: We need four other guys and we’re doing a social experiment. >:)

- They gather four guys who can dance. The fun part: three of them come from the drama club, and one is a certain exterior contact who may or may not have experience from drag shows and also the flexibility of an ice hockey goalie. :D

- You’ll only understand this next part if you know the show, or at least the song, but I want Quinn to do the Velma bit, specifically because of the line number seventeen.... the SPREADEAGLE because he can do a full split and would not hesitate to drop into one on that line.

- The point? This is literally just an excuse for Quinn to unleash his inner thot in public. Also, he gets to wear a mesh shirt and other indecent costume pieces. This is, after all, Chicago. I saw the show on Broadway, and I don’t exaggerate when I say the costumes were literally just more flexible lingerie onstage.

- Quinn choreographs, blocks, and directs the entire thing. They have a little jail cell prop, and they get Maggie (who plays Roxie in the actual show) to be the person at the beginning who introduces the number. She wears a sparkly bowler hat and a flapper dress. It’s iconic.

- I know that the likelihood of finding six college guys with a significant enough lack of shame to do this would be relatively slim in real life, but consider: this is college, and also it’s the theatre people. Quinn, Cole, and Ben are definite yes’s, then they can grab a timid little freshman to be the Hungarian one and you really just need two more. Thinking of the drama club members at my own college, I’m quite confident they could find two more guys to join them in this endeavor.

- Now I reach the actual point of the post, which is Nando’s gay panic.

- Here’s what you should know. Chicago is, as it’s designed, a ‘sexy’ musical. Quinn doesn’t really get to capitalize on the full extent of its sexy because he’s Billy Flynn, who doesn’t really wear anything racy. He does sing some great numbers and definitely demonstrates a lot of showbiz ‘sparkle’, but he’s not... sexy, really. He’s just a sleazy lawyer.

- Quinn acts so sweet and innocent, but for Nando’s eyes.......... the boy can get a little forbidden when he wants to.

- The point? He is fully aware that this performance is going to kill his poor unsuspecting boyfriend.

- He’s like, oh, honey, come to the variety show! We got Ben to learn our dance number and join us. It’s going to be so much fun!😇😇

- And Nando is like, yay! Supporting the drama club! Extra chance to see Quinn onstage! Fun spring Saturday evening!

Quinn: wears all black skimpy clothes, dances all over the stage, talks about literally committing murder, does the splits, et cetera

Nando: *Literally fucking dies in the audience because who in their actual right mind was expecting that????????*

- He’s in such strong gay panic that he isn’t even to fully grasp what he wants to say when he sees Quinn after. Quinn is all smug in his stage makeup coming out with his friends, like, sweetheart! Hi! Thank you for coming! And in his mind, he knows exactly what he did, and he is living for it.

- The only thing Nando manages to do is whisper something vaguely dirty into his ear in Spanish, and hold himself together for exactly five minutes before he literally carries him out of there because he has to get him alone ASAP. He is far too turned-on for his own good.

- It’s an entire experience.😂😂😂 Quinn, for one, is incredibly pleased with himself. He had fun onstage, and with Nando, he accomplished exactly what he set out to do.

#crickets #quindo #mini quinny #quinn theatre hours #nandoooooooo #actually he's cole #kiersey drama club

[sveasauvageon]

Ce qu'il a donné Un an, deux ans, cent ans de bonheur Puis la vie te cueille comme une fleur || GW

☾♔; March 5, 2018 ☾♔; sotd: Котик by Alexander Rybak   ☾♔; comedian otd: JOHN OLIVER   ☾♔; GW To do list ☾♔; {G} https://goo.gl/XSTtMc ☾♔; mod(s): @themadmonarchist @maybones et moi

Title: lyrics from "Requiem" by Alma

--featured not-mine oc's - Eloise Avery | @themadmonarchist - Minah Delacroix | @maybones (see what I did there with the Serena and Blair positioning? -eyebrow wriggle thing-)

- - - x - - -

Updated GW to-do list: - Division of labour (we should really start saying when one of us starts working on something because otherwise we'll end up with redundancies since we think disturbingly alike) - the "chuck" problem: okay, tbh, it's more of an Ed Westwick problem than a chuck one. I don't know how you guys have reacted to the me too and time's up movements, but mine has been to cut all those men out of my sphere of entertainment, I even cut out "witch hunt", "not all men" type dudes, and "only fondled their breasts on tv and apologized for it" men (aka Ben Affleck), because time is up for all of you! Soz, not point, but since last October, Ed Westwick has been caught up in this, and thus far 3 women have accused him of ra.pe and a fourth of sexual misconduct. Now, I know it's not Chuck's fault that his portrayer is a ra.pist (allegedly), but there is still an issue with including his face, etc in aesthetics and gossip girl material because his face is that of a ra.pist's (allegedly). Tbh, I wanna leave him (Ed Westwick) out of material and only discuss Chuck and avoid showing his face or use a dreamcast instead, but like, I dunno what you guys wanna do. Chuck is a great character, although, early on, he was quite rap.ey, the character, and it does not help that his portrayer has since been revealed to be a ra.pist. Allegedly.

- also, going back up to the redundancy issues, I love both of your aesthetic collections and playlists, so for those, I was thinking for playlist, we should make one big playlist on spotify that's collaborative, so that everyone can add their music and it'll kind of be a huge explosion of musical tastes. But also, maybe have a collection that has a link on the group info for individual playlists for characters, and the group made by us and/or others. For aesthetic collections, basically the same idea with one big collaborative collection, and then that collection will have links to other collections (yes, I'm a little ocd).

- also, also, this is completely unrelated, but I was watching trevor noah's show and he made a joke about how much trump's male employees snitch and gossip like sht, but the woman haven't revealed squat. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpmlVWFTW8A) It's really funny, and honestly, stupid people fcking up in trump's circle very publically is basically what's keeping me alive. It's just hilarious how stupid some of these people are. ___________________________ Another Update (I'll leave those up until @maybones weighs in on them)

I was working on a draft of the group description to show you guys, and I was using a template of one of my old groups and rewriting stuff and changing it to suit our purposes and I realized how many freaking rules I have (I'm so picky), anyway, some of this stuff obvs won't be applicable (like, there's one about characters dying and I don't think we were planning on going that dark. although, serena was an accessory and chuck kind of killed his dad, so meh, maybe?) anyway, I wanted your opinions on what rules to keep and/or change:

✠ RULES AND GUIDELINES {GENERAL} ✠

I. Please be kind to each other. Your characters can be total jerks, but let us, the creators and/or writers be kind, polite, and respectful (aka, channel your inner Canadian guys). There will be absolutely ZERO tolerance of discrimination. You will be immediately removed from the group, and your actions will be documented and reported. PM me immediately if someone harasses you or you notice harassment between members. ⠀⠀Ia. If you want to be anonymous, for any reason, you can send in your complaints here {https://goo.gl/kbTXeU}, it's a google form, and it doesn't ask you verify your email, and the username option, is just an option, it's not required. If I need to make further contact/information from you regarding your concern, I'll make a group announcement vaguely describing your issue, and you can send in further information anonymously again. I'll be checking the form at least once a week.  

⠀II. I'm not giving this any specific rating, however, I will say, you're free to include whatever "adult" content you want, whether it be swears, gore, or the dirty stuff (I'm totally a mature, grown up adult guys). However, do be careful of polyvore's stupid censors, use workarounds like writing your story in google docs, or accents for swear words.  

⠀III. This is a non-elimination group,  but characters can die. It may be used for inactive members, or if you wanna kill 'em off or maybe revive as a ghost or something else. Permission will always be asked of the creator first (with the exception of characters belonging to inactive members, whose characters may be killed off as penalty).  

⠀IV. If you miss 3 consecutive contests (without informing me), you'll receive an "x", "|" will be used to break up non-consecutively missed contests, anyway, if you miss 3 in a row, that will open your character to be killed by either myself or other group members. You will be notified, but your permission will not be asked. If you wish to rejoin at a later date, and you character has not been killed off, simply pm me and continue with whatever contest is in progress. If your character has been killed off, you can re-audition with a new one, and I will transfer your points to your new character.

⠀V. Always pm me, your vodka aunt mod, if you feel you'll be unable to enter a contest, your reason doesn't matter. Just let me know you can't get your entry in, that way you won't receive an "X".

⠀VI. Plotting will be left open throughout the group, however, please establish a few of these before contests begin, and always ask permission when using someone else's character(s) and be sure to tag them in your sets. Please, PLEASE work with others, I hate when people just do their own thing in oc battle groups, this is a collaborative story, everyone's stories and ideas matter. I will call you out if I notice something that contradicts the connected story, and I will always, ALWAYS incorporate the stories of group members into the overall narrative. ⠀⠀VIa. Narrative precedence will always be given to the person who completely finishes the description of their set first.

⠀VII. There is not a list of roles to pick from, you can create whatever roles you want, however, I may ask you to change it if I feel your character may become "villager number 6" and not fit in with the action. Rules, regulations, and suggestions for roles can be found here: [placeholder].

⠀VIII. Always be sure to tag the member's when you use their characters and give credit where credit is due.

⠀IX. Plagiarism will not be tolerated and you will be removed and reported. If you're inspired by someone else's work, credit them, otherwise you're stealing.

⠀X. Sets unrelated to the group will be removed.

⠀XI. You will NOT be required to write out a full story. Story portions can be answered in paragraphs, but full stories are always welcome and appreciated.  

⠀XII. Do not use templates for contest entries unless otherwise stated.

⠀XIII. Always feel free to contact me with any and all questions, and/or suggestions. You can also send them through the anonymous complaints form, found here: https://goo.gl/kbTXeU

_________________________________

✠ RULES AND REGULATIONS {FACECLAIMS} ✠

I'm quite picky about these, but I'm not gonna be pedantic about it this time. You do you. Having said that, there are still some rules and regulations, as well as a challenge.

⠀I. All faceclaims must be above the age of majority (that's 18+ nearly universally on the planet), there is an exception for child characters but all main OCs must be at least 18.

⠀II. All faceclaims MUST be professionals. They can be actors, models, even singers. However, they must be singers of some note signed onto a label company, like Taylor Swift, or my beloved Dima Bilan (who's also an actor. a good one. yes, I'm bragging). Your faceclaim CANNOT be someone insta-famous, youtubers, or tumblr tweens.

⠀III. Whilst I'm not going to reject any faceclaim on the pedantic basis of "I don't like them", there are some faceclaims that I will and for one reason, and one reason only. Sexual misconduct of any and all kinds. Hollywood and the media are finally cleaning house, and I don't want those dicks in my nerd sht either. To be clear, I don't care whether the misconduct was simply groping a woman's breasts on camera and apologizing about 10 years later, I am going to reject everyone who's been accused. Examples include; Ben Affleck, Casey Affleck, Ed Westwick, Jeffrey Tambor, Danny Masterson, Andy Dick, Dustin Hoffman, and fcking Mel Gibson. (Side note, these are just actors, for a wider list of men who have fallen since the Harvey Weinstein story broke in October 2017, I recommend you check out this article {https://goo.gl/Uq65Qv} by the NY Times) ⠀⠀IIIa. If you notice I have accepted someone who has been accused of sexual misconduct/harassment/assault please inform me right away, and ideally with a link to a news source from where you learned about (I will google it myself, but the ready-to-go link would be much appreciated.) ⠀⠀IIIb. Also, Alec Baldwin is on my list of rejected faceclaims. He's not been accused of anything, yet, but I'm not liking his defensive attitude of alleged rapists. Fúck off. Matt Damon also falls under subsection B, for a slightly different reason, but fúck him too. In this watershed moment, I have no time for defensive d i c k s and "not all men" a s s h o l e s.

⠀IV. The Challenge: a lot of us have certain fave fc's we use over and over again (I'm certainly guilty of that), so my challenge is for you to use a faceclaim you have never used before as your primary oc. This is gonna be based on the honour system, some of you guys I may know well, so I'll know if you're using your fave again, but others I may not, and I can't aggressively stalk everyone, so I won't call out anyone for not doing it. It's just a fun little challenge, worth 10 bonus points, if you opt to do it. But again, it's based on the honour system, I'm not gonna stalk anyone, but if I know you and you lie to me on the audition form. First, I'll be hurt, and second, I'll say sorry and tell you you're not getting those bonus points.

(I know, two sets of rules makes me such a di.ck, it's why I need your help guys!)

#polyvore #gw #eloise avery #Svea Sauvageon #minah delacroix #doll set #mine #anna #may

[the-claire-bitch-project]

The Adventures of the Woman of the House - Part Two - B.H.

Summary:  In this anthology series, we will see snapshots of the time Rosanna spends in one of the frat houses for her University, the people she meets there, the people she screws there. This part tells the story of how she puts a cocky boy in his place.

Pairing: Frat!Ben Hardy x OC

Word Count: 6.4k

Warnings: alcohol, weed, coke, dominance & submission, orgasm denial, cockwarming, fingering, oral (female recieving), vaginal penetration

As always, my lovely friend @bensbuttercup made a moodboard! I’d also like to thank @hollandlovely for being my beta reader and giving me her critical eye and correcting my typos.

Part One (Gwil)

Rosanna walked into the Pike house to a different vibe. A few months had gone by since her first adventure in the house, and she’d had plenty of adventures since. However, the next first for her came the night of a kickback on a Thursday night. She wore black leggings and a cropped hoodie, scuffed sneakers she saved for wearing to the house on her feet because they always ended up dirty.

“Rosanna!” Gwil called from the couch. She started to make her way over, stumbling a bit, and bumping into Lucy, who she leaned over and pecked on the lips. She smelled the coke she’d just snorted in the back room, her nose bright red.

“Hey girl.” Rosanna kissed Rami too. “Hey boy.”

“Hey Rosanna,” Lucy said with amusement as Rami stared at her with wide eyes, pupils blown out.

“Oh shit I did it again didn’t I?” Rosanna brought a hand up to touch her lips. “I’m so sorry, guys.”

“It’s whatever,” Lucy waved her off. “We don’t mind. You make us feel special.”

“Hottest couple I know,” Rosanna assured them, giving Lucy a smack on the ass before continuing to make her way over to Gwil and letting him pull her into his lap. Because of course there were no other places for her to sit. He situated his arms around her and rested his chin on her shoulder so he could keep playing Smash with Ben and Joe. It was turning into quite the competition.

“Okay fuck you guys I’m out,” Joe murmured as the battle ended, coming in last again. “Gonna get another drink.” He had a joint tucked behind his ear.

“Hey bring me one too,” Rosanna looked up from kissing Gwil’s neck to see Joe’s thumbs up of acknowledgement and went back to her task, licking Gwil’s ear.

“How hard did you pregame this?” He murmured as he and Ben started another game.

“Just a couple of dollar margs with the girls,” she whispered. “You shaved.”

“I had an audition today,” he responded, blue eyes fixed on the game. His breath smelled like whiskey, the good scotch he kept in his room. It didn’t seem like it had gone well from the way he clenched his jaw.

Rosanna made sure not to block his field of vision, but he could multitask pretty well. On the other hand, Ben could not, and Rosanna was biased, so when she got the opportunity, she ducked under Gwil’s arm and slid across the couch to snuggle up next to Ben.

“Oh fuck,” he murmured. Rosanna smiled.

“Is that seat taken?” she asked, pointing to his lap. She heard a peal of laughter from Gwil behind her.

“No,” Ben muttered. He lifted his arms and Rosanna placed herself in his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck while he settled his controller on her thigh. He wasn’t going to let this be the reason he lost, no way. Never mind that he’d flirted with her this whole time and she hadn’t come to him once, always going back to Gwil. Yeah she’d kissed him a few times, but that just made her even more attractive.

“Where’s Freddie tonight?” Gwil asked casually.

“Test tomorrow,” Rosanna explained. “She had to study.”

“That blows,” Ben commented, attempting to show he didn’t find the fact that Rosanna was twisting locks of his hair around her fingers incredibly distracting. Rosanna knew exactly the effect she was having on him, feeling him stiffen up. She didn’t shift her hips on purpose per se, but it wasn’t not on purpose.

Ben lost the game. He groaned and tossed his controller aside, finally letting himself reach down and grip Rosanna’s thigh, his other hand fisting her sweatshirt in a white-knuckled grip. God she smelled good.

“That wasn’t fair, Ro,” he muttered in her ear. Her breath hitched a little in her chest at the low calmness of his voice.

“Hey Gwil was that fair?” she asked, not looking away from Ben.

“Totally fair,” Gwil confirmed. “She didn’t do anything, you just suck at Smash, bro.” He stood up to go look for a drink.

“Tell you what,” Rosanna played with the neckline of Ben’s t-shirt, “I’ll play you, and you can redeem yourself. No distractions.”

“Do I get something if I win?” Ben asked. “Bragging rights?”

“Nah,” Ben started to pick her up and put her on the couch next to him. “I’m going to get another drink.”

“Okay fine.” Ben sat back down as Rosanna sat up criss-cross and reached up to put her hair into a ponytail. “Loser owes the winner an orgasm?”

There was a sort of hush peppered with murmurs that went through the people watching. Rosanna narrowed her eyes, raising her eyebrow at Ben. It wasn’t really an offer he could refuse. Especially since everyone knew he’d been trying to get with her since the second night he saw her.

“Bet,” Ben answered promptly, picking up his controller again.

“Yesss!” Rosanna grabbed Gwil’s abandoned controller and took a sip of the beer Joe was dutifully holding out for her before taking it back to watch while she played, the joint now lit and dangling from his lips. Ben motioned for a hit and Joe passed it over, the sweet scent of pot smoke filling the small TV room.

Rosanna kept quiet as they went through character selection, ignoring mutters behind her about her choice being ‘weak.’ They stopped when she felt Gwil walk up behind her. Always had her back that one did.

She chewed on her lower lip, swallowed when she felt Ben look over at her. He asked her something about the game and she nodded faintly. To be quite honest, she hadn’t actually played before, just talked a big game when she was drunk. And now she’d gotten herself in too deep and was eventually going to have to admit she really just wanted to suck Ben’s dick and had been a little too nervous to just ask.

Unfortunately, none of what Rosanna planned came to fruition. Gwil was right. Ben was awful at Smash. The game was terrible. She could feel Gwil cringe periodically behind her, occasionally clicking his tongue.

It wasn’t long until both were down to one life. Rosanna reached out for her beer one final time, downing the last of it. Joe took it back and stacked her empty cup under his, a look of pure discomfort on his face. She was sure the secondhand embarrassment was overwhelming the two of them, knowing they’d spent hours playing the game since it came out.

It was rather clear Ben didn’t spend the same amount of time on it, with him quickly falling for the final time and ending the battle. Rosanna sighed and tossed her controller on the table.

“Well that was--”

“Awful?”

“Painful to watch?”

“Shut up!” Ben stopped Gwil and Joe’s comments.

“Fun fact,” Rosanna spoke up, “I’ve never played before.”

“Alright fuck you,” Ben groaned.

“I think you’re about to, mate,” Gwil said, shrugging. “You two did make a bet.”

“Bets get honored in this house,” Joe nodded solemnly. “But this was a pretty good one if I do say so myself.”

“Yeah pretty good,” Gwil agreed. “Have fun guys.”

“That’s all you have to say?” Rosanna caught his hand as he started to walk away.

“You started this baby,” Gwil murmured, leaning down to kiss her cheek before melting into the crowd. Joe was gone too.

The kickback was in full swing, so everyone was talking and playing King’s Cup in the main room. The side room where they kept the TV was empty except for Ben and Rosanna.

“Soooooo,” Rosanna started, sliding over to sit in his lap again, her knees on either side of his hips. “I have to be honest with you.”

“Oh yeah?” Ben rested his hands on her hips, snapping the waistband of her leggings with his thumb.

“I went into that bet expecting to lose.”

Ben’s eyebrows shot up in surprise. “Did you?”

Rosanna leaned forward, her nose brushing his, lips open just millimeters from his mouth. “Freddie gave you a good review,” she whispered. “I’ve been wanting your cock inside me for weeks now.” She tilted her head the other way, brushing her lips over his. His hands got tighter on her hips. He stiffened, waiting for her to kiss him, to grind down on him, something, anything but tease him like this.

“Rosanna,” he whimpered a little bit and she closed her eyes, loving the power she had over him in this moment.

She stopped and leaned back, sitting back on his thighs, completely denying him anything he wanted. “Oh my god you’re such a sub,” she whispered, one hand coming up to touch her lips.

“What?” Ben shook his head. “No I’m not.”

“Oh my god yes you are,” Rosanna chortled, hand covering her mouth.

“I am not!” Ben tried to insist but Rosanna cut him off with a firm hand on his jaw, just gripping his throat, and her lips on his.

She murmured against his mouth, “I can feel how hard you’re getting,” she rolled her hips against him, “just from my hand on your neck, and you’re telling me you’re not turned on by this?” She bit down on his lower lip and tugged, hard, eliciting a low groan from deep in his chest. “Oh yeah,” she murmured, “you’re a sub alright. You’re gonna learn today.”

Ben’s eyes fluttered open, a goofy smile on his lips, now bright red against his pale skin. “I’ve--” he stuttered, “I don’t know what to do if I’m not in control.”

“I’m gonna take care of you,” Rosanna promised, pressing a soft kiss next to his mouth and climbing off his lap. “Why don’t you go up to your room and wait for me, huh?” Ben scrambled to his feet. Rosanna called after him as he reached the door, “no touching!”

“What?” Ben paused and turned back.

“No touching your cock while you wait for me,” she ordered. Ben winked and left the room. Rosanna had a feeling she’d be punishing him by the time she got up there. She adjusted the waistband of her leggings and left the room, finding Joe and Gwil by the bar.

“What’d you do with Ben?” Joe asked, handing her the drink in his hand and turning to order himself a new one.

“Sent him upstairs,” Rosanna shrugged.

“Are—are you gonna join him?” Gwil asked.

“Eventually.”

Joe laughed, “he’s not going to like that.”

“If he doesn’t like it I’ll spank him.” Rosanna grinned at the look of confusion that passed between them.

“You’ll what?” Joe asked.

“Spank him,” Rosanna repeated. “He’s a sub. A bratty, stubborn one,” she sipped her drink, “I think he deserves to be put in his place.”

“Well,” Joe had a blank look of contemplation on his face, “that’s hot.”

“Damn that was an option?” Gwil muttered.

“It can be your turn next, baby,” Rosanna patted his chest as she chugged the rest of her drink. “I gotta go take care of Ben now! Bye!”

“Latex is safe sex!” Joe called after her. Rosanna flipped him off. She slipped easily through the crowd and up the familiar back stairs, making her way to Ben’s room. The door was unlocked. She poked her head inside, looking for Ben, opening the door wider when she saw him.

“Someone’s being bad,” she scolded, lifting her sweatshirt over her head as she walked towards him.

“You said don’t touch my cock,” he responded. “Technically, I’m touching my sweatpants.”

“You know,” Rosanna said, pushing his thighs apart so she could stand between them, “good boys don’t touch without permission.” She gripped his wrists in her hands and tugged them away, pushing them above his head as she climbed into his lap. “Let me do it for you, baby,” she murmured in his ear as she pushed him back, settling over his cock, “I promise it’ll feel so much better,” she purred, finally pinning his wrists above his head. “What do you want your safeword to be?” She asked.

“I--” Ben swallowed, glanced down at her breasts, “I need a safeword?”

“Yes, baby,” Rosanna sighed. “You need a safeword.” She held his wrists with one hand, reaching down to tug the hem of his t-shirt up while he thought about it, scraping her nails gently across his stomach. He shivered under her touch, turned his head to the side and closed his eyes. She reached for his jaw, forcing him to look at her. “Good boys look at someone when they’re talking to them.”

“Pineapple,” he mumbled.

“Good boy,” Rosanna purred. “You want to be my good boy, my pretty boy, right?” She leaned down to slide her tongue across his lips, just teasing him, not even kissing him. He tilted his chin up after her and whimpered.

“Yes,” he whined, “yes I want to be good for you, is that what you want to hear? I just don’t know how.”

“Sh, sh, sh,” Rosanna pressed her finger to his lips, “don’t worry baby, I’m gonna tell you exactly what to do.” She sat up. “Okay sit up, and let me take your shirt off, baby,” she leaned back, pulling his shirt over his head and tossing it aside. “You’re so pretty,” she murmured, pushing him back, “put your hands above your head again. I don’t wanna have to hold them all night,” she raised an eyebrow and ran her fingers across his chest, over his nipple, “I have better things I wanna do with my hands, alright baby?”

Ben nodded. “Please,” he whimpered, already a writhing mess beneath her fingers.

“Use your words, baby.” Rosanna twisted the nipple she was playing with between her fingers.

“Ouch!” Ben tried to sit up, but she held him down with a firm hand on his chest.

“Bad boys get punished,” she explained, “good boys get rewarded.” She hesitantly took her hand off his chest and climbed off of him. He sat up on his forearms to watch as she pushed her leggings down her legs, then slowly reached up to remove her bra. “Do you like what you see?”

Ben nodded, his eyes wide. “You’re gorgeous,” he said, barely a whisper. He sounded fucked out already.

“Okay now turn over on your stomach for me, baby, can you do that?”

Ben nodded again, obliging her request and turning over, resting his cheek on his hands. He looked so fucking cute and expectant. He had no idea what was about to hit him. She crawled up next to him, running her fingers up the back of his leg, squeezing his ass as she straddled his waist, said ass between her knees.

“Goddamn,” she murmured, grabbing a cheek in each hand, “this ass was made for bottoming.”

“What?!” Ben’s voice was panicky.

“Relax, baby,” Rosanna soothed. She rolled her hips a bit. “I obviously don’t have my strap with me.” She grabbed his ass again. “But if that’s something you’re interested in, we can explore it another time.”

Ben was quiet for a few seconds before whispering, “I’d be interested.” Rosanna’s eyebrows shot up and she looked over her shoulder at him. He was staring into space, looking like he was thinking hard.

Rosanna turned back around and leaned down, sliding her hands into his sweatpants, reaching down his thighs, pressing her breasts against him as she felt all the way down his legs. He tensed up beneath her, but let out a soft sigh when she ran her nails up the backs of his legs.

“I think I need to spank you, pretty boy,” Rosanna reasoned, pushing his sweatpants and boxers back. “‘Cause an ass that looks like this,” she sucked in a breath through her teeth, “deserves a handprint to decorate it.” She gave his ass a sharp smack, felt him jolt beneath her. Good thing she’d sat on him. With the second slap he cried out a little, and she soothed his skin, rubbing it with her hand. “You like me spanking you, huh baby?” Rosanna purred. “Bet your cock is so hard for me, huh pretty boy?”

“It hurts, Ro,” he moaned. She spanked him again.

“It’s supposed to,” she told him. “Now be good for me and tell me how hard your cock is. Don’t grind into the mattress for any friction when you do,” she challenged, issuing another sharp blow and smoothing it with the palm of her hand. She really liked watching the way his ass moved when she spanked him, feeling how he tensed up beneath her, hearing him whimper for her.

“I’m so hard for you, Ro,” he croaked out. “I’ll be good I promise.”

“That’s what I like to hear, baby,” she said with a smile, leaning down to mouth at the red mark appearing on his ass cheek, soothing the burn with her tongue. “Now stay still for me.” She climbed off of him and stood behind him, wetness pooling in her panties as she thought about fucking him later. For now, she removed the rest of his clothing, tossing aside his sweatpants and boxers. “God what a sight,” she whispered, “all laid out, nice and pretty for me.”

“What’s next?” Ben asked excitedly. He was practically vibrating now, coming alive in his newfound position.

“You’re gonna pay the bet you owe me, pretty boy,” Rosanna admitted. “Now turn over and sit up for me.” Ben happily rolled over and sat up, his cock erect and ready for attention, but he was good and kept his hands in his lap. He nodded eagerly, looking up at her and biting his pretty bottom lip.

“Can I take off your panties please?” he asked. Rosanna smiled.

“Since you asked so nicely,” she murmured, stepping forward and guiding his hands up to her hips, letting him urge the fabric down her legs. She tangled her fingers in his hair as he pressed soft kisses to her hip bone. “God those lips of yours, baby,” she muttered, “feel so good.”

“Mmhm,” Ben hummed, mouthing more at her skin, dangerously skimming her with his teeth. He looked up and rested his chin against her. “Can I pleaseeeeee leave a hickey?”

Rosanna nodded, still stroking his hair while he sucked her skin into his mouth, leaving a trail of hot red bruises down her hip towards her pussy. “Ah ah ah,” she scolded as he moved his mouth further down. “You don’t get to give me this orgasm with your mouth, baby. Tasting me is a reward, and only good boys get rewards. Do you want to be a good boy?”

“Yes,” Ben’s eyes were wide, “I’ll be good, I promise.”

“Sit back again, pretty boy,” Rosanna pushed on his shoulder and he leaned back on his forearms, biting his lip again as he looked up at her.  “Condom?”

“In my nightstand.”

She fetched one and straddled his thighs again. “Hmm,” she tilted her head to the side, “I can’t decide.”

Ben sat up and caught her by the waist. He knocked his head into her chin with his eagerness. “Can I help?” he asked.

“I love the excitement, baby,” Rosanna said softly, kissing his forehead where he’d bumped it. “I was just deciding whether you deserved for me to come on your cock or not. And I think I know your vote, baby,” she reached down to stroke his cock, leaking precum already. Ben nodded. With her free hand she reached up and ran her thumb over his bottom lip. “God your lips are so fucking pretty,” she murmured. She pushed her thumb into his mouth, feeling him swirl his tongue around it. “God I just wanna fuck your mouth,” she mumbled to herself. “Another time, baby, another time,” she promised. “For now,” she reached for his cock, “I think I’m just gonna sit on your cock for a minute.”

“Oh my god.” Ben’s eyes rolled back in his head a little bit as she rolled the condom on before sheathing his cock inside her, twisting her hips, taking him as deep as she could.

“Yeah?”

“Your pussy feels so fucking good, Ro,” he whimpered, digging his fingers into her hips.

“Okay, lay back for me pretty boy,” she urged, easing him back onto his back and adjusting her position. “I’m not gonna fuck you, just gonna warm your cock a bit while you rub my clit, mkay?” She guided his hand between her legs, staying as still as possible. “‘M gonna come all over your cock and you’re not gonna move or come at all okay?” Ben nodded. “Good boy.”

Rosanna squeezed her thighs around his hips as he slipped his thumb between her folds, finding her clit and brushing across it harshly.

Rosanna cried out, “stop!”

“What is it?”

“Baby boy you need to be gentle,” she sighed. She rubbed a slow, gentle circle around his nipple with her thumb, feeling him stiffen up. “Like this baby, keep this rhythm.” She sighed with relief when he touched her more gently. “Good boy, good boy,” she cooed, “feels good baby, making me clench around your cock? Keep that rhythm please.”

Ben put his free hand behind his head, he couldn’t help being a cocky little shit, even as a sub, and Rosanna loved it, watching him grin as a red blush spread over her chest and up her cheeks. She ran her fingers through her hair, gathering it up off her neck to try and relieve some of the heat building in her body, but it was no use.

Rosanna could feel Ben’s cock throbbing inside her, or maybe that was her own pussy, pulsating with ever pass of his thumb over her clit. She looked down and saw he was biting his lip, hard, his pupils blown out as he stared at her, watched her, his eyebrows knitted together with concentration. She was practically vibrating on top of him, doing her best not to grind down on him. He was supposed to give her this orgasm, she couldn’t give it to herself.

“Fuck, baby,” she whimpered, “feels so good, you’re doing so well.” One of her hands dropped from her hair to cup her breast, rolling her nipple between her thumb and forefinger. The familiar white-hot ball of pleasure was growing beneath Ben’s fingers, spreading through her pussy, made her hips tingle, then shot up her body towards her fingertips and she came hard, crying out, “Oh fuck me, baby, that feels so good!” She arched her back, unable to resist the instinct to grind down on Ben’s hand and cock, extending her orgasm as long as possible before finally relaxing, her chest heaving.

“Did I do good?” Ben asked quietly as she moved his hand away from her.

Rosanna smiled and reached over to cup his cheek. “You did so good, baby,” she murmured. “Good boys deserve a taste, so lick your fingers.”

He brought his hand to his mouth, sucking her cum off his fingers, enthusiastically. “You taste so good, Ro,” he murmured. He looked up at her through half-lidded eyes, his lips swollen and red, a blush on his cheeks.

“You want another taste baby?” Rosanna offered. “Want me to come sit on your face?”

Ben’s face lit up, “please! Please sit on my face!”

Rosanna laughed, “alright baby I’m coming.” She lifted her hips and slipped off his cock, eliciting a groan from Ben as she briefly squeezed around the tip. She moved slowly up his body, making sure to slide her pussy over his torso, letting him feel just how wet she was before positioning her knees on either side of his head, tucking her feet under his shoulders. His hands came up to grip her thighs, but looked up at her for permission—she nodded—before pulling her down to his mouth.

“Ohh,” Rosanna moaned, one hand finding his hair, the other reaching behind her to brace herself on his chest as he slipped his tongue inside her, his nose brushing across her throbbing clit.

The sounds filling the room were obscene, filthy, and wet as Rosanna began to grind down, fucking herself on his tongue. Ben’s eyes were wide open, pupils hiding his green irises, as he drank in the sight of her, as if he’d never seen something so beautiful and was afraid he never would again.

“You like it when I fuck myself on your tongue, huh baby?” Rosanna teased, tugging on his hair and rolling her hips against his face. He nodded and hummed, the sensation sending shoots of pleasure up her body again. “Such a good boy, eating my pussy like that,” she praised. “Good boys like you,” she paused, moaning, breathing hard as her orgasm approached, her thighs shaking, “good boys like you get to come.”

She threw her head back as Ben sucked hard on her clit, tipping her over the edge, and she nearly yanked his hair out as a second orgasm tore through her body, more powerful than the first. Ben held her quivering thighs as he licked at the cum leaking out of her pussy until she finally climbed off of him and collapsed back against the pillows.

“Fuck that was good,” she panted, sitting up on her elbows to look at him. “Your turn, baby, come here and fuck me,” she ordered, looking at him with a raised eyebrow, “just like I know you’re dying to.”

Ben groaned and was on top of her in a flash. He reached down and gripped the base of his cock, teasing her sensitive clit with the tip before sliding inside, so easily he underestimated the resistance, and bumped his forehead with hers.

“Sorry,” he mumbled, kissing her forehead.

“That’s okay, baby,” Rosanna soothed. “Just start slow alright? Don’t overwhelm yourself.”

She ran a hand down his cheek and over the side of his neck as he slowly pulled nearly all the way out and pushed back in, his eyes fluttering shut. He swallowed, and she ran her thumb over the column of his throat, slowly wrapping her hand around his throat as he began to fuck her faster.

“This okay, baby?” She asked, giving his neck a light squeeze, but really not applying any pressure.

“Mmhm,” he nodded, eyes squeezed shut now. His arms shook as he held himself up. Rosanna gently guided his head until she could reach his shoulder with her mouth, biting down into the muscle. “Ohh,” he groaned and she could feel the vibrations in her hand. “Fuck,” he muttered, thrusting into her harder now, hitting her deep every time, the sickening sound of squelching and skin on skin somehow sexy in the silent space.

“That’s right baby,” Rosanna encouraged, mumbling through her teeth as she sucked a harsh mark into his shoulder, “let me hear all those pretty noises you make.” She wrapped her free arm around his back and raked her nails down his back, releasing his throat so she could cradle his head against her neck. “Let me feel all your weight on me,” she urged. He let go with his arms and buried one hand in her hair, the other slipping beneath her back, wrapping around her shoulder so he could fuck her even harder, grunting with every thrust.

“You—“ he faltered, going still for a moment, “your pussy feels so good, Ro,” he whined. “I don’t wanna come so fast,” he admitted, mouthing at her shoulder with his soft lips and warm tongue, tracing small figure eights across her skin, sending goosebumps up her neck.

“Take your time, baby,” Rosanna urged, running her fingers gently through his hair, other hand lightly stroking his spine. “This is your reward for you to enjoy,” she told him. “You did so wonderfully, baby. Such a good boy, getting me off like that.”

“Can I make you come again?” he asked softly and Rosanna felt her heart jump. He sounded so fucked out for her, voice low and deep with the effort, but small and eager-to-please. “Please?” he added. “Before I come?”

“Yes of course, baby,” Rosanna purred. “You can make me come as much as you want.”

“Tell me how,” he begged, “tell me how to make you come.”

His attitude had changed so drastically from the boy she’d first encountered. Here he was, begging her to tell him how to get her off before even thinking about coming himself. God, it was hot, how fucking needy and submissive he was for her, especially considering how he behaved in public.

His cock throbbed inside her, aching to come. She whispered in his ear, “keep fucking me just like that, baby, reach down and rub my clit a little, and I promise you’ll make me come.”

Ben snapped into action, happy to be given a task, eager to execute it. He shifted back, lifting her hips and wrapping her legs around his waist to hit that deeper angle. He rested his weight on one forearm and reached down between their bodies to gently caress her clit.

“You feel how swollen and needy my clit is for your fingers?” she asked gently, “see what you do to me? You’re such a good boy, wonderful boy, asking to make me come again without me telling you too.” She gasped as he pressed a little more firmly on her pulsing bundle of nerves. “Never had anyone submit to me like you d—”

Ben’s fingers slipped and somehow hit the right spot. Rosanna faltered and cried out, her orgasm hitting her suddenly. It was a short one because he lost the spot again, but she clenched hard around his cock and felt his hips stutter, burying himself deep inside her as he groaned. He thrust into her a few more times, his body shaking with pleasure as she squeezed her pussy tight around him, milking his pleasure as long as she could until his arm gave out and he collapsed against her.

A light sheen of sweat covered his back. Rosanna rested her chin on his shoulder and watched the light reflect off of his skin and he wrapped his arms around her and tucked his face between her neck and shoulder, still quivering with exhaustion and pleasure.

“You did so good, baby,” she murmured softly, eyes fluttering. She knew she had to stay awake, needed to take care of him and make sure he was okay, but for now she just enjoyed feeling him surround her, his weight on top of her, how pretty he was. “I’m so proud of you,” she continued, “you’re such a good boy.” She paused, “you’re my good boy.”

Ben tightened his arms around her and snuggled his face against her neck, his soft breath tickling her own sweaty skin.

“‘M your good boy,” he mumbled into her skin.

“Yes you are,” she assured him. “But you gotta let me take care of you, okay baby? Need to let me go so I can clean you up.”

“Mkay,” he acquiesced easily. When he pulled away, Rosanna immediately missed the warmth of his body, her sweat evaporating quickly and making her shiver. Her pussy felt empty without him. He rolled back on his back for a second as Rosanna stood up, still dripping down her legs, and then he stood up too, going to deposit the condom in the trash can.

“Do you have a towel in here, baby?” Rosanna asked.

“On the shelf over there,” Ben pointed as he sat back down, his eyes staring blankly. Rosanna grabbed a towel and wrapped it around her body, taking a washcloth with her as she darted to the bathroom. The halls were quiet and nobody was around, so she quickly took care of business, wet the washcloth, and slipped easily back to Ben’s room.

He was lying on his back, chest heaving, arm thrown over his face. Rosanna sat down on the bed next to him and began gently wiping down his body, cleaning all the cum off of his chin, his chest, his stomach. Then gently, his hips, his thighs, his cock. He tensed up under her touch but didn’t complain, relaxing again when she removed her hands, still sensitive.

Her panties were on the floor, luckily not too ruined, and she pulled them on, feeling like she could work better if she covered up a bit, but still too hot for more clothes.

“Got any lotion in here, baby?” she asked. Ben mumbled and pointed to the nightstand. She found the bottle and set it on the table before sitting down on the bed again. “Turn over for me,” she urged, pushing on his shoulder. Ben rolled onto his stomach and Rosanna sucked in a breath, admiring the scratches she’d left down his shoulders, the red mark on his ass. Trailing her fingers lightly over the angry red on his back, she pumped some lotion into her other hand, warming it up just slightly before tracing each line with her finger, leaving a cool trail to soothe each line.

Ben sighed in relief, “feels good Ro,” he mumbled.

“Mmhm,” she hummed, massaging down his lower back, finally soothing the mark across his ass, getting a good handful of taut muscle in her hand. She couldn’t wait to fuck him, give him the best orgasm of his life, and got a little lost thinking about the concept. “Can’t wait to fuck this ass, baby,” she muttered. “What a pretty boy you are.”

Her hands roamed back up to his shoulders, tracing every defined muscle in his back, making him shiver. She rubbed out every knot she could manage, feeling him relax under her touch.

“Hey, Ben,” she whispered in his ear. “Go put on some underwear okay? I’ll stay over tonight.”

“Mkay.” Ben pushed himself up and headed over to his dresser, finding a clean pair of boxers and pulling them

up his legs before coming back to bed, yawning as he pulled back the sheets.

Rosanna opened her arms for him and he snuggled his face into her chest, wrapping his arms around her waist as she cradled his head, stroking his hair. She pushed one knee between his thighs and wrapped the other over his hip, letting him cling to her as she clung to him.

For a few minutes they were still, and then Rosanna lifted Ben’s face to hers and found his lips in the dark, pillow soft and plump. He jutted out his chin, pushing his bottom lip between her teeth, and she bit down gently, sucking hard to pull a moan from his chest. Rosanna let herself grind lazily against his thigh, pulling him tight against her, kissing him until they both got too tired to continue, and fell asleep wrapped around each other.

Rosanna woke up wet. Not just the sweat from having been wrapped around Ben all night, but wet between her thighs from where she’d been grinding against him. She could feel his cock, hard against her hip, but wasn’t sure if he was awake yet.

“Baby?” she whispered, “you awake?” Sunlight streamed through the cracks of the blinds.

“Mm,” he hummed and hugged her tighter in his arms, turning his face against her chest. “You smell good,” he mumbled.

“You wanna get inside me, baby?” Rosanna asked, squeezing his thigh between hers.

“Always,” Ben mumbled. He barely opened his eyes, just kicked off his boxers and tugged off her panties as Rosanna rolled over to find a condom in the nightstand. Once secured, she reached down to find Ben’s cock, mostly hard, was fully erect for her with a few strokes. Ben rolled on the condom as Rosanna threw her leg over his hip, ready to sink down on him as soon as he was ready.

“You good?” Rosanna confirmed.

“Yeah.”

She sank down on him, rocking her hips against him as he buried his face in her neck again, soft puffs of air hitting her skin as his breath quickened. For a few minutes, that’s all it was, grinding down on each other. Sleepily exploring each other’s bodies, until they fell back asleep, tangled together like that.

Rosanna woke up again because Ben couldn’t keep still. With Rosanna asleep, he wasn’t sure if he should move or not, and it was nearly unbearable being inside her and not moving, especially with her grinding her hips in her sleep.

“You can move, baby,” she murmured, burying her face in his shoulder. “Go ahead and fuck me like you want to.”

Ben didn’t have to be told twice, rolling over on top of her and thrusting into her, a low groan falling from his mouth to Rosanna’s ears. She held him loosely in her arms, still too tired to really wake up and fuck him back.

“Feels so good, Ro,” Ben whined, biting down on her shoulder. “Can I come please? I’m already so close.”

“Yeah, baby,” Rosanna murmured, eyes fluttering open, lifting his head by the roots of his hair, “just wanna look at you when you do.” Ben clenched his jaw, his eyebrows furrowed and his eyes squeezed shut as a red glow spread over his face. “Let me see your eyes, baby,” she urged and he looked at her through half-closed eyes, seemed to be all he could manage. “You gonna come baby?”

“Mmhm,” he hummed, nodding.

“Look so pretty when you come, such a good boy,” Rosanna murmured, stroking his cheeks and pressing a soft kiss to his lips as one of her hands wandered down to grasp his throat, holding him where she could see him as he came inside her, hips stuttering then stilling, as he moaned softly, the vibrations from his throat traveling up her arm. “That feel good baby?”

“You feel so good, Ro,” he murmured, leaning down to kiss her. “You make me so happy.”

“You make me happy too, Ben,” Rosanna whispered against his lips.

After a few more minutes of being tangled together, Ben pulled away and they both went to clean up. Every time they passed each other there were lingering touches, short kisses on any available body part.

“Will I see you next week?” Ben asked as Rosanna made her way to the door.

“Risky Business party right?” Rosanna asked.

“Mmhm,” Ben bit his lip. “You’ll look great.”

“I’ll be there, baby,” Rosanna promised, pressed a quick kiss to his lips and have him a smack on the ass before skipping down the porch steps into the morning sunlight.

---

Ko-Fi

Taglist: @hollandarling @benhardy-1 @joalsglasses @summer--infinity @rogahhtaylahh @fierce-bab @memoriesandmint @nomadsgrogers @uhoh-spaghetio @emypia @fatbottomedcurls @thescarsweleave

As always, I love feedback and it’s super welcome! This just sort of...flowed out of me so i hope everyone likes it!

#a bitch writes #ben hardy #gwilym lee #joe mazzello #lucy boynton #rami malek #borhap cast #borhap cast fanfic #borhap cast series #ben hardy fanfic #ben hardy fanfiction #ben hardy smut #ben hardy x oc #ben hardy fluff #sub!ben hardy #frat!ben hardy #idk guys have fun here we go

[smolbeandrabbles]

Sway Pt.3 - Danny Rayburn x Reader (Bloodline)

Part 1 / Part 2 / Here / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6  / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 10

Author’s Note: This is more...  set up... than anything. This was only meant to be the start of Part 3, then I had to split Part 3 into Part 3 & 4... So they’re meant to be read together... Really. Uh, The car picture is literally cuz I needed another picture, having said that your car does get an unprecedented amount of attention in this chapter. ALSO, did anyone else realize that I’ve written 2 parts to this supposed romance, but haven’t written a kiss yet!?! Let’s change that!

Disclaimer: I own nothing but “You” (Well, not you!) and my OCs. I know nothing about restaurants. Jason can now do a bit of everything because I said so. Whilst your age is never really stated I have ‘you’ at late 20s/early 30s in my head... Probably as many years between you and Danny as there is between you and Nolan (?) You’ll notice sometimes the restaurant is closed at odd times... I think Danny would sometimes choose to have half days, or days when it was open in the evening only, etc...

Premise: You get a surprise introduction to Nolan Rayburn... Danny takes you for a lunch date... I finally write an actual kiss scene! That’s it, that’s the part

Word Count: 6613 

Warnings: None? The usual Rayburn family drama... Casual swearing? Sex is mentioned fleetingly?

Someday we're gonna blink twice Say it happens like that How much money we saved up For the time that we gave up Well, it'll all just be math

I know I'm only human Don't know how many sunsets I got left And I don't wanna ruin This moment by wondering what comes next I just want to love you Like it's all I'm living for Hold you close, enjoy you more And spend a little less time keeping score

----

So can I dance with you And take a chance with you Maybe start a running through the rain romance with you Baby, catch our own little winning streak, you and me

Wednesday, 12:30pm - Viva Caputa, Miami

Javier whistled as the sleek silver Porsche rolled into the Viva Caputa parking lot; "Oy! Danny!! We’ve got company. And by company I mean biggggg spending company…!" Javi could hear Danny laugh from the kitchen "What!?" "I mean someone just pulled up in a Porsche 911…!" Javier continued cleaning glasses, lunch today wasn't slow it was just everyone in his section seemed content. The front door opened and he looked up.  She was in a casual blue and white shirt with short, but not a shade off modest, shorts. Her sandals had a small wedge heel and the bag slung over her shoulder was designer. “Amorcita!” Though true Javier had only seen her once, he felt like he knew enough about her from Danny’s constant chatter to address her so informally. It was rare Danny's love affair ever looked anything less than immaculate and even casual today was no exception. She smiled at him and leant across the counter “Hi... Is Danny in?” He whistled. “Did you just ask for Danny!? You're lucky lunch time isn't that busy today... Lemmie check!” he turned “Hey! Danny! It's been a hot-hot minute but I guess you were right! She is asking for you!” This was clearly a conversation you had missed as Danny poked his head curiously out of the kitchen window; “Y/N...! Y/N, Y/N, Y/N... Just give me two seconds...” You sat down at the bar “Am I missing something?” “No... But I am. Are you seeing each other now!?” Javier looked from the bar to the kitchen, eyebrow raised You tilted your head with a mysterious little smile “And what if we are?” “Well DAMN!” Javier put his hands on his hips “Like a serious thing? Not like a Danny thing?” “No... Like... A serious thing.” Not that you knew what a ‘Danny Thing’ was… “I thought so... The second he came in that Saturday talking about you I knew it was either going to never happen or be a serious thing. It was the WAY he talked. I've never seen Danny like that about anyone... It was nice to see...” That at least made you proud of yourself. “I’m Javier. I think you knew that… You’re clearly Y/N… It’s good to meet you… again.” You returned his greeting as he looked expectantly out of the door, and then craned around the bar you were sitting at with a huff; “What’s up?” “So, this Porsche 911 pulls up in our lot, I just want to see who's spending all the money here today. At least that’s what we’ll be hoping for.” “Oh!” You laughed “Well, you’re talking to her.” He stared at you for a good ten seconds before blinking fast; “Sorry!? What!?” He shook his head “How!?” You sighed, “Because… My last name is Ervin? I guess?” “Ervin!? Ervin! – Only a name you see on nearly every street in Miami. With the way you speak Spanish!?” “Well, it’s my dad’s mom who is Argentine. His dad is American.” “…His name is Jack.” Javier was clearly brushed up on the lofty heights of the Prime Movers in Miami real estate. “No… To blend in with his Miami high rise living his name is Jack, Jack is an adaption of John which in Spanish is Juan.” You smiled “His birth name. My mom is half-American half-Puerto-Rican. Maria Velez. Very Hispanic.” “…How come the Harrison part?” It was Danny that voiced the question, joining Javier behind the bar. “J. Harrison? He’s one of my dad’s best friends and essentially helped him build the business – his first investor. He’s responsible for the property development part. We were just going to be real estate.” “...So... not really by himself.” Danny folded his arms and his smile proved his point. “Okay, Smart-ass. But Jorge was never actually a part of the business. My dad put his name in in honour of him. So. Actually. By himself!” “EY! Like Danny and this place!” Javi jogged his friends’ shoulder “Yeah, hardly of calibre Javi, but a guy can dream!” Danny turned to you “Shouldn’t you be at work?” “I was accounting and auditing for my dad this morning. I’m heading to work after this I just wanted to stop by and say Hi. I haven’t seen you since… Last Monday.” “Hah. You’re lucky I got back alive from the Keys after that!” You leant on your elbows and smirked; “So I’m causing you trouble now?” “Well. Darlin’.” He too leant across the bar “You’re the kinda trouble I could get into.” You had a sneaking suspicion those were song lyrics. In which Javier almost burst out laughing; “God! Will you two get a room!” **

Saturday, 9pm  - Your Apartment, Uptown Miami

Thinking back to the previous Monday night almost had you in stitches. And as you recounted the scene to Amanda and Evelyn one night over glasses of wine at your apartment it all came flooding back. Amanda still lamenting, but secretly proud, that you were now indeed confirmed to be dating Danny Rayburn and Evelyn finding it hilarious that you had broken your one golden rule, but she did add ‘on a good choice.’ It had been eventful, politely so but you knew the undertones of that politeness were far from nice. Every question fielded to you and Danny were accusations, harsh, like you should both feel guilty about what you had. Even though, your parents were always quick to jump in to field them right back, you were thankful for their 12 years of experience.

John was the nicest, he wanted to know more about you, considering he’d heard a lot. It was strange, almost like he was the oldest instead of Danny, you got the feeling he was really testing if you fit well for his brother. By his tone of voice, you assumed he’d concluded you’d passed the test. His family were also the best thing about the evening. His two kids, Ben and Janey, literally wanted to know everything. But every line of questioning from them was innocent, everyone else on that table had an agenda. By no means were you treated as harshly as Danny was; which is why you started answering for him. You got the feeling they were niggling at him to make some kind of mistake. Or, for him to say something you might not like, but no one was perfect. It irked you that they would treat him like this.

When you weren’t the centre of attention and you could really focus on him, it was like the noise was completely drowned out. You were half paying attention to the conversation and followed all the cues, laughing in the right places and saying all the right filler words... But you were looking at each other more than at who was speaking. You watched his reaction to everything that was said. He could tell you a lot of things he didn’t like about his family, but his body language would have said it all for you. He was always studying you, you knew that. You weren’t sure why, you looked like you came from the same place - you guessed you just didn’t end up in the same place. There was an unspoken reason why... You would leave it to Danny to choose when would be the most appropriate time for that. At more than one point he caught your legs between his, pulling your feet to rest up on his knees he ran his fingers nonchalantly across your skin; it relaxed you, and it felt good to have that physical contact with him again.

He’d answered a bunch of your parents questions the night before, and he’d seemed to have a genuinely good time. Heck, he’d even dressed up for the occasion and brought your mom flowers and your dad a good bottle of wine from the house. It was enough. You’d all been sat there talking way into the night and you couldn’t help but think your parents might actually adore him. They told him a lot of stories about you that got almost too personal, sending you into more fits of embarrassment that had you covering your face and him laughing and taking your hands again.

Tonight, Danny was asking questions of your parents. They were good, well thought out questions you felt he’d likely been preparing nearly all day. But none of them were anything less than respectful and your parents enjoyed answering them. Keen to turn all of Danny’s talking points into conversation - and successfully - you knew then that they indeed adored him. Danny didn’t come from nothing but he had built from nothing, as they had. Your father had admiration for that and had already began to make plans concerning frequenting the restaurant. Clients of your father’s there? Danny could be no more grateful. When dinner was over and the three of you were leaving, Danny caught you by the door again, this time with a real goodnight kiss. “I’ll likely be heading off earlier than you tomorrow. So have a safe trip back.” “Yeah, and you!” You embraced him tight to you, trying to get the feeling of last night one more time. “I’ll call you, when I get back and we’ll go out...” He pondered, “doesn’t have to be a restaurant... maybe I’ll take you a little out of Miami one weekend...” “A weekend getaway? I could go for that...” “Believe you me, me too. And my staff will be more than grateful for another weekend without me!” He grinned “It’ll be good for all of us.” “Okay! I look forward to your call.” “Aw, well. I look forward to making it...” *** It wasn’t more than a few weeks later that you were sitting at home, legs swinging from a bar stool, studying some work documents on your laptop -  with Danny. He had a day off, and had finally made the trip across town (in his own car no less!) to your apartment. You could only remember him being here once before. And you remembered bringing him up here. The way he had eyed everything with more than just a little hesitation. How he’d stood by your front door for at least 5 minutes taking everything in. You understood that, you were finally introducing him to your world. Corporate city girl in her uptown Miami high-rise apartment, college degree, good job and parent’s money. Although, you yourself tried to make a good honest living on your own back, and not through your parents… It wasn’t always easy; your friends were nearly all from this fantasy land because those were the circles your family moved in. Which is why you liked places like Little Havana, and why you loved being with Danny… and his friends… who brought you back down to Earth. But you already understood that he had many years on you and all that experience… and yet his apartment was barely a third of the size of yours.

He was sat across from you drawing up some other plans for his restaurant. You’d heard him mention expanding before, but you weren’t sure how serious he was. Suddenly something in one of your work documents made you look at him; “Danny.” “Yes…” His eyes met yours, clearly grateful for conversation. “Are you Danny or Daniel?” His look said Danny… Obviously, so you clarified. “No, I mean. On your birth certificate. Were you born Danny or Daniel?” “…Daniel…” The suspicion in his voice let you know he wondered where this was going. “Daniel Rayburn… That still suits you…” “No it doesn’t.” He was dismissive. “I LIKE Daniel.” He narrowed his eyes at you, “I love Danny too! I just don’t know what is wrong with it.” He pondered this for a minute “No one has never really called me Daniel before, not even when I was in trouble… It’s strange to me…” “Daniel. It’s nice.” You tried it out again. His expression changed and you knew he was trying desperately hard not to smile; “…Well… I like the way you say it…” You looked back to your laptop with a giggle “Alright. Smooth talker… Daniel what? Daniel… Rayburn… What is your middle name?” He hesitated and his face fell… He bit his lips together and you knew that he wasn’t going to be forthcoming with the information. You guessed that could mean one thing; he was the eldest son. If his family was as super traditional as you guessed they were, then that would mean his middle name was his father’s name. And from what you knew about his relationship with his father, he would rather forget it. “What’s your middle name?” His question threw you off, but you still told him no hesitation. “… Y/N… M/N… Ervin.” He nodded, but it wasn’t in satisfaction – he was asking just because you had, you supposed. “…It’s your dad’s name. Isn’t it?” Part of you didn’t mean to say it out loud, but you had. “Daniel Robert Rayburn.” He sounded bitter as he looked to the table. You took a breath, determined to get that smile you loved so much back; “So…. Danny.” He looked back to you, to that look in your eyes that said the conversation was over. Period. “Yeah. So, Danny... but who knows...” and he smiled that beyond adorable crooked smile he had “...Maybe I’ll let Daniel stick.”

 ***

Friday, 3pm - Viva Caputa, Miami “So what do you think?” Danny had his hand poised over the piece of paper, permanent marker held purposefully in his left hand. “You need to stop asking me about your restaurant.” “I just… the menu needs sprucing up and YOU’RE the business woman!” “You’re the chef!” “Yeah so…!” He waved his hand at the dishes he’d just made you try “…Make some executive decisions, I’ve DONE my work!” “Well, shouldn’t it be based on what you like…!” He sighed and put his head in his hands “Yeah, I like it all. That’s why I made it. You’re the customer, which ones.” “All is off the table then?” “Y/N! I asked you because I expect you to be able to tell me which ones are best, you can certainly tell me when you don’t like it!” “Well, I like all of these.” “If you HAD to!” “I’m not even sure I’m your optimal audience.” You weren’t sure if you liked the next look he gave you or not, he took a sharp inhale of breath; “I don’t know. Young professional, 30-something, brunch-time, female. Good group of friends. Good family life. GREAT social life.” He pointed his pen at you “BETTER sex life.” “My god.” You almost turned away from him at that. “Actually has a decent set of taste buds – will you just CHOSE!” “Are all these young professionals also in a relationship?” “…Oh…” he folded his arms and leant back against the kitchen counter “Is that what this is!?” he raised an eyebrow expectantly. “Don’t you DARE Daniel Rayburn!” “Oh god! Now I’m in trouble!” He sent his eyes heavenwards “Daniel… Honestly…” “Damn right you’re in trouble…” You smiled and turned back to the set of meticulously thought out dishes in front of you… He knew you weren’t good at deciding, so you weren’t even sure why he wanted you to do this. You were also big on sweet things… and Danny wasn’t really that kind of cook. “…Okay… Let me think about this from a menu planning stand point…” “Finally she’s talking my language…” “What are we taking off?” “Anything similar or isn’t selling well.” “What in this establishment doesn’t sell well!?” “Oh there’s a few things I can cut in favour of these.” “What if these don’t sell well.” “Guess I’ll have to fire my consultant.” He smiled across at you. You stared at each of them hard in turn and Danny tapped the pen against the paper again in anticipation. “Okay. These.” You pointed four out and then looked to him to see if he agreed with your decision. His smile was teasing and he still hadn’t put pen to paper yet; “Are you sure?” “DANNY!” “I mean are you reaaaaally sure?” “STOP IT!” He laughed, and began writing; “Geez, when this restaurant goes under I’m going to look right back to this moment…” You smacked his arm as he continued laughing and began writing out menu descriptions “…Fancy my consultant killing my business…” “Girlfriend.” You pouted; “Well.” He lent across the counter and leant on his hands “I’m starting to think she’s a little more than that…” “Danny…” You could felt yourself heat up again as he stared at you, and that crooked little smirk happened across his face “Don’t worry Y/N I’m not about to get down on one knee or anything!” That only made your cheeks flush more. He shook his head and closed the gap between the two of you with a sweet kiss; “Dammit you look so good when you get all flustered.” “Well you can only thank yourself!” Your eyes were still wide at the thought of Danny EVER proposing to anyone, let alone you. “I do on multiple occasions, you just don’t always hear it.” He winked, looking proud of himself, before he kissed you gently again. And then you both heard the restaurant door open – which you thought was odd because no one was due in until Danny started up for dinner tonight.

 “DAD!” “SHIT.” Danny pulled away from you suddenly and a look crossed his face you didn’t quite understand; “Shit. I forgot. Shit. God…” He started towards the doors quickly, then at the last second he turned back “Stay here!” This all happened very fast and left you blinking and trying to get a grip on what was going on… DAD!? You waited a few seconds, before curiosity got the better of you and you’d deal with Danny’s potential anger later. Hopping off the stool you padded over to the kitchen window – the door was of course just out of sight – which is where they were both talking; “…So I figured you’d be here…” “Yeah, I… I’m sorry I forgot. It won’t happen again.” “Yeah, I’m sure mom would love that.” “You didn’t TELL her?!” “No. I came straight here… I tried calling though.” “Dammit. My phone’s in my locker.” “You don’t open for hours. What are you doing here?” “Putting together new menu pieces… actually.” “Why? What’s wrong with the menu?” You looked to the kitchen door… deeply curious. That was not the voice of some little kid either. You walked over to the kitchen door and pushed it open gently. Maybe you could be inconspicuous about this… You nearly rounded the corner to the main restaurant when you realised Danny was facing away from you. Stopping just short, you poked your head around the corner. He was a lot older than just a kid, possibly a high school teenager. Black hair, piercings, jewellery, black jeans and over-shirt over shirt (Well. He probably got that from his father.) – Danny had a son? Why had Danny never told you this?! Was it an age gap thing?! You got caught up in your own worries just watching this kids’ interactions with Danny. “…You’ve got keys to the apartment; just go back I’ll finish up here and come back. If you’ve got home work...” “Well, I could just wait in the car… It’s a bit of a trek, Dad.” “…Yeah okay… Sure… I’ll have to get my car keys… It’ll take me about 10-20 max. I’m sorry, I should have been there… I really should have…” “It’s okay… It happens, I knew you’d probably be here when you didn’t answer the phone and…” The teen trailed off as he realised you were standing there… His eyes went wide and his mouth made the OH! that didn’t actually come out. Danny turned to see what he was looking at and for once, for once in his life he actually looked scared – it was a flicker and it came and it went but he looked scared – then stoic, then his kid started up; “Oh-! Oh-! I uh-! I- I can leave--!” “NO! NO!” Danny was on it, quick as a shot “NO! Nolan! You’re not going anywhere! It’s okay! It’s not--! I just--! Give me a second here to explain! I just---!” he put his hands on Nolan’s shoulders “Just, please, just wait a second…!” He turned back to you, now looking between them. You were making a lot of guesses about what young Danny would have looked like based on this teen. No doubt he was Danny’s son. He looked back to Nolan “Just. Wait here. Please.” “O-Okay…” Danny kept his hands on him for a few more seconds and once he was assured Nolan wasn’t going anywhere, he crossed back to you – grabbing your arm he pulled you back around the corner forcefully; “WHAT DID I JUST SAY!” No doubt he was angry, because he’s SCARED! you realised, he wasn’t shouting at you either “You told me to stay where I was.” You pointed behind you “That’s hardly the point Danny! Why didn’t you TELL me!” “Because you’re going to do EXACTLY what everyone else does!” “…” you dropped your accusational stance and almost took a step back “…Oh…my…You think I’m going to LEAVE!?” You kept your voice to the same whispering level he was at. “… Well, yeah, at this point I kinda expect it.” “Well then none of those girls was any good for you!” Upon realising you had actually taken a step back you took one forward again and took his face in your hands “Danny I DON’T care!” “You’re saying that NOW.” “No. I’m gonna mean it, I’m not saying it’s not going to take time…” You leant so you could just about see around the corner… Danny followed your lean. Nolan had seated himself nervously at one of the tables, tapping his foot and biting his lips together. See, he even had his father’s nervous habits. “…What happened?” “Y/N…That is a long story I don’t want to drag you into.” “Tough. I’m in it… His name is Nolan?” “Yes.” “Well, I’ll say this is a bit of a shock for both of us…” “Probably.” You flicked your eyes back to him; “And you’re scared we’re both about to walk out that front door.” “That’s my life.” You hated the way he said it; guilt flooded his voice & his eyes like every bad thing that had ever happened to him was his fault. “…I mean I knew you had something… All those moving boxes in your apartment told a story… I’m just not sure this is what I expected.” You pushed your head gently against Danny’s chest and wound your arms around him; as if to prove you weren’t going anywhere “…We can talk about this later… But…Danny…” You waited for him to wind his arms around you too, still watching his kid; before turning back to you at the sound of his name. You leant up, and brushed your lips against his; “…That’s going to stop being your life. Right now.” You untangled yourself from him and walked back out into the restaurant with purpose; “Y/N!!! Wait--!” He placed his hands over his face; he couldn’t watch! Oh God! What had he done!? You approached the table with confidence and a smile. Although, by the time he looked up you were pretty much at it; “Hi...! Nolan, right?” He looked at you with shifty eyes, never quite actually looking at you... “Yeah...” It was a start. “I'm Y/N... It’s nice to meet you!” You held out your hand, whether he decided to take it was up to him but you were determined to make all the right moves. He was a teenager, and like you, he'd clearly just met someone he didn't know about nor was intended to be met (at least for the time being). He took it, but he still wasn’t looking at you. “Do you mind if I..?” though, you weren't sure what you were going to do if he said No. He nodded, so you took a seat opposite him. Things were quiet for a minute, to his left was a pile of school text books, which piqued your interest. But you would leave that for a moment. You folded your hands in front of you “I'm sure this is about as strange for you as it is for me...” You gave a shrug, “Maybe it’s better to be thrown into it. Though…” You gave a warm smile; “Ah. The days of high school.” He squinted at you like he wasn’t sure of your game plan. “I can’t wait to leave.” “Trust me, we all say that until we do…!” God knows you’d wanted to leave school, only to give anything to be back once real work started… You looked back to his books; “Music? Aha! You inherited the creative gene! That’s good!” He still seemed confused by your voice, because you sounded genuinely interested in him. “…Yeah – My mom is a singer… so…” “Really!?” “Yeah, she has an album…” Danny…! Danny!! “That’s really cool!” You didn’t care if he appreciated your enthusiasm or not, but nothing about it was fake. You wanted to know as much about Danny’s son as you could… and that was really cool. “Do you play? Does she…?” “She does… I don’t, yet… Guess I could learn.” Then he tilted his head “Do you?” You laughed; “I was not really blessed with too much creativity. I mean I tried, back in high school… I have more of a… business logic!” “Oh?” He made the same face Danny made when his brain started piecing the picture together. But that tone let you know you weren’t what he expected. Maybe that was your age… or the way you looked? Kevin had already made comment enough to make you think Danny was into younger women… Maybe he was also into a certain type of woman? Didn’t you exactly fit the bill? “Yeah. Consultancy…” You gave a shrug like you were talking about boring adult stuff and leant into the conversation “Do you cook too?” “Oh. No, we don’t learn that.” “Guess you don’t need school to teach you!” He looked a little unconvinced of that… So, you nodded back to his books; “Spanish though… Are you forced to take that or did you choose to?” His eyes widened. Ah-ha! Wasn’t expecting the language change up. “OK – I didn’t understand half of what you just said but you’re-!” “Quarter Argentinian, Quarter Puerto Rican. Yeah! Interesting Mix!” You smiled “You’ll understand in no time!” “Showing off, are we?” “He’s taking Spanish. I figure I’d make myself useful..!” You winked, welcoming Danny to the conversation. Nolan looked across to his dad; “So, are you dating-dating?” Danny nodded “Yeah…” “And where did you meet her?” “Uh… on a dancefloor… In Little Havana.” The teen rolled his eyes like that was typical, then looked to you; “Well I’m sorry.” You tilted your head as a question; why? He grinned, then laughed “That you’re dating my dad!” That made you burst into laughter too, and Danny just sighed; “OH yeah. You two will get on just fine!” ***

 Tuesday, 1:30pm - Downtown Miami

Three days after you’d been introduced to Nolan you got a single word email. “Lunch?” You raised an eyebrow. Couldn’t he have text you that? After you told him that’d be nice he gave you a time and place and you drove down to the little cafe. “A lunch date Mr.Rayburn? I’m honoured.” “And not in my restaurant!” He was leaning with one arm over the back of his chair “Are you impressed?” It was a bright sunny day, and he had seated you outside. “Surprised!” You smiled, pulling out a chair you sat opposite him. You received an up and down look to your figure-hugging pencil skirt, high heels and shirt; “Stripes?! Again? You do know other patterns exist in this world Y/N?” He tapped out his cigarette “... not that you don’t look great! Of course you do!” “Are you calling me out?” “Why? Is that your wardrobe?” “Yeah Alright Mr.Button-Up-Shirt-Over-Shirt. You don’t see me complaining.” Well, that is what he was wearing. He laughed “Ha… Yeah… Well that’s… Ok.” He smiled “Never say anything about a girls fashion sense… huh?” You winked “Something like that.”

Placing your bag over the back of your chair you flicked through the menu “The email was a nice touch… Very 1999. Couldn’t you have just text me?” He rolled his eyes at your jab, but was confident he was about to get another; “Aw. Naw. I don’t text. It’d take me 45 minutes!” He waved the flip phone in your face, making you laugh “Yeah. I still can’t believe I’m calling something from the middle ages! Get on the level Danny!” You indicated to your smartphone. “Well we aren’t all wealthy heiresses driving Porches!” “Please!” You folded your arms “I hope my parents leave me with nothing! They deserve to spend it all! …And your family isn’t exactly broke.” He snorted “HA! As if I’m seeing a penny of that…!” He leant around the table to study your outfit again, taking the opportunity of the waiter taking your order to change the subject “…Anyway… What is it that you do to get dressed up like that?” You leant on your hand and smiled, “Manage a team. It’s consultancy… Mostly financial, not always. My dad asks me to do a bunch of his financials, for example. Sometimes it’s just advice.” “Oh. Business consultancy, I see.” You could see the small smug smirk at how he’d called you his consultant back at his restaurant and you actually were one. “Yeah. And I got this without help, CV and interview like everyone else… Could have worked for my dad. Decided against it.” “Sure the name didn’t hurt.” “Maybe. But the point is – I still got it the old fashioned way…” “Didn’t fancy going more science based? Like your mom?” “No. Too much of a business head apparently. And creativity. No kind of logical sense… And I panic too much! I’d be no good at that.” “Does she work at Mercy?” “Occasionally now. She used to. No, she’s at a drug rehabilitation clinic. And she’s GOOD at her job. You should hear some of those stories.” You figured they’d rival Danny’s “…From time to time she helps my dad when it gets real busy…” You gave a shrug, that was your family “…So, anyway, why invite me for lunch!?” “I just wanted to apologise.” “For what? You’re buying me lunch to apologise?” “For Nolan.” Then he re-clarified “Well not FOR Nolan... for not telling you about Nolan.” “Don’t worry. I get it. I’m glad I met him, he’s a nice kid.” You were quick to wave off his apology. “You think?” “Yeah.” His question was pointless, you knew Danny knew that. The three of you had spent hours talking before the restaurant opened, and then when Danny had to start work you stayed to talk to Nolan, including starting some basic Spanish tutelage. You thought maybe he might like you a little too… But he was a teen, so goodness knows what was going on in his head really. “How often do you see him?” “Uh... well... when I can.” “You don’t have an arrangement?” “I’m not very good at that. The only reason he turned up Friday is cuz I forgot about picking him up, see? I’ve had pretty bad arguments with his mom... like not speaking for two years arguments ... there’s no arrangement, I’d screw it up.” “Well. If ever you decide otherwise. I think it’d be pretty cool to see him again and hang out.” He laughed at your enthusiasm, but marvelled at your insistence, you genuinely wanted to get to know his kid...Hell, not even his family really knew Nolan existed... If only he could guarantee they’d all react like you. He already knew how his parents felt, and that was enough for him not to try. With you though, he would – and he had a feeling from what Nolan had already told him, that his son was more than willing to try with you too.

*** You had a spare few minutes between clients and would be passing near enough past Viva Caputa as it was, so you decided to pay Danny a quick visit. Since you’d been taking clientele there – you trusted Danny and his team with your literal livelihood – and your parents had also swung by a couple of times, you’d got to know the team pretty well. Javier always insisted on dragging you into his section, when Nolan wasn’t working… Because occasionally Nolan would pop up at the restaurant, and you took this opportunity to get to know him better. Jason was like Danny’s right hand man in the kitchen and when Danny was with you, Jason kept everything running straight. He was vastly upgraded from being the pâtissier he was supposed to be, but flat out refused to be called the sous chef. Often accompanied by the phrase C’mon Dan! I’m not good enough to be your right-hand man and you know it! When you pulled up today, Jason and Danny were in the lot already on smoke break. You rolled your eyes – that could have been a good thing, however, as that meant you wouldn’t have to go inside because Javi would keep you talking for hours… “Hey Darlin’! Lunch on us again!” Jason joked, stepping forward to hug you; “G’damn would you look at this?! How much did that set you back!?” He studied your car “No. I’m between clients; this is a whistle stop visit. But when I’m drivin’ by there is no way I CAN’T pull up to see you guys... And more than I’m willing to admit! It’s just so I can pull up at clients and look like I make that much…” He raised an eyebrow like he wasn’t believing your explanation for either thing; “Yeah yeah... I know what you’re really here for!” He grinned and turned back to Danny, who was leaning against the wall watching you “…I mean I don’t begrudge you that. But I saw him first!” “Oh! Is THAT how it is!?” You smacked the top of Jason’s arm playfully “What? Do I have to fight you for him now?” “Oh! No! Only for his affection!” Jason winked “I mean, you can have him to be honest, I’m not sure I could stand much more than I already get!” He said it loud enough for Danny to chuckle; “Alright asshole! Back in the kitchen!” “Awww! Danny!!! C’mon!” Danny indicated to his cigarette “You’re done. Back in! Before it becomes chaos!” Jason took one last drag before laughing and stubbing it out, turning back to you “Or I’ll trade Danny for your car…” he squinted at the vanity plate “Ervin 911? Were the other 910 taken!?” He snickered to himself, making you roll your eyes. He knew it was a 911, so the joke was pointless; “Well my dad has every version going. Ervin 1, Ervin II – Roman Numerals – and even E-R-V-1-N… Think I should have joined a police academy really…” He laughed at your joke this time, “Alright! Good one…!” then looked back over his shoulder at Danny, who was looking a little impatient, tapping his foot against the wall; “…It’s good to see you, if only for a fleeting moment! Don’t be a stranger!” “Never!” You hugged him back, “Say Hi to Javier! But not right away or I’ll never get to my next meeting on time.” “Or you’ll just NEVER get there… Danny would be ok with you sticking around though. Distracting his staff!” You faked shock; “I do not!” “Yeah, we get told off for it too!” “Jason!” He pointed back at Danny’s call as if to prove his point, then walked back towards the doors, adding before he headed inside; “…Danny, the kitchen IS always Chaos!” “…Organised Chaos!” Danny called after him and you heard Jason’s laugh “Is that what you call it!” He stepped away from the wall, cigarette in hand “You couldn’t have timed this any better! Do you really only have five minutes?” You checked your watch “Could stretch it to 8…? I guess… I’m not too far away. But I do like to be prompt!” He gave a small shrug and put the cigarette to his lips “Can’t say I don’t try to make you stay. No, it’s good of you to come see us!” “I love seeing you guys. They are GREAT guys.” “I got very lucky with all of them… Absolutely…” He looked to the ground for a minute, thoughtful “I mean… I got lucky with you too…” “Danny…” “No honestly…!” He stopped you, “You have no idea.” You folded your arms and bit your lip, almost bashful. That just made him smile. “You’re doing it again… You keep hiding yourself from me. I don’t know why… We’re not in the Keys anymore.” You let yourself smile but looked to the floor, twisting your fingers together as you unlocked your arms; “The Key’s was YOU.” “Baby girl…” He made your shiver as he said it, “The Keys was my family. I’d much rather be up here with you and you know it. Besides, if your parents were makin’ the case… I think I’m pretty good.” “Good? My parents LOVE you. I’ve never seen them like this over a guy before…” He laughed “Never thought I’d hear that from anyone… let alone the daughter of one of the wealthiest men in Miami.” You hushed him, whether it was true or not your father never acted that way. He refused to. He might have had a plethora of vehicles… buildings he owned… investments he’d made in a million different kinds of things… But your parents lived in a humble house in a good neighbourhood. And you had always asked them NOT to give you money. Because you wanted people like Danny in your life, and if you had been any different, you dreaded to think what you would be missing out on. “…My background doesn’t matter. ALL I want is you… And I don’t want anything else to matter but that.”   He dropped his cigarette and put it out with one swift movement of his foot. You had to go, he knew that. But you still stood for a few moments more in silence. So he became decisive and grabbed your hand, pulling you into him he placed his lips on yours and wound his arms around you. He tasted like smoke and cooking spices. You took a breath, he smelt like cooking, like home, and a billion memories of both your childhood with your mom and your time spent with him; each one of them good… But the undertone of that was his cologne - Danny didn’t bother with that often, he wasn’t that kind of man – left over on his skin probably from your last date night. Everything about him when he kissed you screamed summer night; as the sunset and the day just started to cool off. You could see it in your head vividly, because that was the exact scenario you wanted to be in with him every moment he had his lips on yours. He left you slowly, letting the kiss linger, his intense eyes burned into yours “…Ace that meeting.” He left you breathless. Every. Single. Time. Your voice mimicked that of the first time you’d called him soft and almost timid and that was all him; “…I will now…”

---

@stcphstrange - Just gonna tag you in all of these now 😊😉

#danny rayburn x reader #Bloodline #Danny Rayburn #Ben Mendelsohn #Danny Rayburn x You #Danny x Reader #Sway #Linzi Writes #Getting myself a new tag to keep all my writing together...! #Are we going to end all parts with a GIF now? Yeaaaaahhhhh #Liliana #3

[shavenstudios]

BRAND NEW TELEVISION PROJECT OPEN FOR AUDITIONS!

TITLE: At Any Cost TYPE: TV Series GENRE: Drama

RELEASE: November 2019 FILMING: August 21st - October 29th DIRECTOR: Chloe Bennet PRODUCER: Lili Reinhart

Plot Line:

What would you do if you had no money? What if someone came to you offering a silver platter of all the money you needed in the world, with nothing but one request to ruin your reputation? Would you take it? Would you ruin everything just for that juicy pieces of paper with money on it?

Lena Daniels is a wealthy woman of scandals, a popular Headquarters for her clients to get into mischief. With all the money she has and all the money to give she has seeked out 6 members in particular. Social Media influences, well known people and are there to tear their life apart. Get them into trouble, get them together for hookups and sex tapes… Get them into violent fights. At what cost? At any? And what if there was more behind it than just the money? Find out in At Any Cost.

CAST

Lena Daniels - a snobby, uptight yet very powerful woman who controls HQs, wanting people to suffer for their actions. She is very secretive and chooses to use people’s words against them, and for what? Because she has a dark past about herself which has caused her to ruin and destroy people’s lives. But unfortunately can never be stopped, but seduced and sucked into her nasty was at Scandals HQs - CHLOE BENNET.

Maya Santiago - Maya was one out of 3 siblings with a younger brother and sister, she was brought into a beautiful family until her mother died and her whole persona changed…At the age of 17 Maya grew into someone who she used to make fun of, a cold hearted woman who didn’t care about anything, not even her body…At the age of 20 Maya decided to use drugs to help her get through, to provide for her family she decided to sell her body to anyone who would pay for it. When she discovered the show her first instinct was to ditch the stripper/sugar baby ways and earn money of the show. Her family still doesn’t know about what she did to provide money for them… In fact no one really knows about her stripper days.Changing her ways before the show, she turned to social media and it turns out because of her looks and personality it has been sky rocketing since. Maia knows how to stand up for herself, but she also knows how to keep her mouth shut when needed. She is demisexual and very delicate, however she is always open to a hookup especially if she’s getting paid for it.   - MAIA MITCHELL.

River Kane - River wasn’t always who she seems to be now… An out and proud lesbian and a lovely lady all around. She lived with her mother for her whole life from about age 4 to 19, while her twin brother lived with their dad and stepmom she got along well and people always saw her smiling… up until her brother died in an airplane accident when they were 17, the two were super close even though their parents were separated, so after the accident, River fell into a deep depression so at that point, she started getting extremely violent as an emotional outlet, got involved with the wrong crowd, started heavily using drugs, and she’s been arrested four times but has continually gotten out thanks to her money. - ZENDAYA COLEMAN.

Hendrix ‘Wolf’ Henderson - Though his teammates & fans refer to him as ‘ wolf. ’ He’s a 21 year old professional hockey player and has been playing since he was a toddler in new jersey. But Hendrix is very different in and out the rink, during the games he feels as if it’s somewhat of a way to release the pent up anger so he 100% rages in there. But hockey Hendrix is also cocky and egotistical with his smirking, trash talking and smirks. When drinking he will turn into a very frat boy type, through partying but is truly a gentleman. Hendrix has taken quite a liking to Maya Santiago, but can’t seem to push his cockiness aside… - LOUIS TOMLINSON

Saint Matthews - Saint was born in Oakland, California to a 16-year-old mother and father duo that couldn’t possibly keep him. The paperwork to put him up for adoption was already filled out and signed before he first opened his eyes. he doesn’t remember his mother’s tearful goodbye at all. Because of this constant movement, he never really had much stability in his life. he had a hard time making friends because he figured he’d just end up losing touch with them anyways, and he didn’t see it as worth the trouble that would plague him when he’d have to move away again. One thing that he could always count on to escape was basketball. one of his foster parents had gifted him a basketball while he was in elementary school, and it’s pretty much his prized possession. He is generally a kind-hearted person. he knows what it’s like to come from a sort-of messy background, so he’s very optimistic and trusting in people. he believes everyone deserves second chances even when that’s not necessarily true. he just tries very hard to see the good side of every situation and the good parts of every person he comes across. - BEN HARDY

Cassidy Blake - Cassidy was born in OC, California but moved to Paris, France at the age of three and basically grew up there with her mother. She started modeling at the young age of 5, but also wanted to pursue a singing career when she posted a youtube cover at the age of 16. With the help of social media & a few family connections, she now has a chart topping album & has appeared in numerous magazine covers. She secretly just wants everyone‘s approval & friendship… A true people pleaser. So now that she’s broke she is not happy about it. Especially since she’s in love with her sports cars and has taken quite a liking to Wolf and Saint. But she knows how to play people, and she will do ANYTHING for money… Even if that means breaking a couple of hearts here and there. - CAITY LOTZ

Preston Brookes - Preston, an out and proud Pansexual has been living in New York for five years now and considers it home. He lives in a lavish apartment just around the corner from times square. In a very short period of time he has become a highly sought after photographer. He specializes in fashion photography and is known for being the best at taking a creative director’s muse and bringing it to life. in his spare time he loves shooting black and white photography. He has really fallen into the new york lifestyle, working hard and playing harder. he’s the typical small town boy who moved to the big city, wanting to take in everything all at once. he’s become a bit of a player, completely pushing away the traditional lifestyle he was raised around. he’s begun to dabble with drugs and alcohol, marijuana and amphetamines (adderall, coke, etc.) being his favorites. On the inside, Preston is pure fluff. he doesn’t love many, but the few that he does, he loves completely and unconditionally. Because of this he has taken a big liking to both Wolf and Cassidy despite knowing their player-ish ways - HARRY STYLES.

CONTACT VAL IF INTERESTED

#shstudio:movie #shstudio: at any cost

[theycallmemoosey]

Give me Something to Believe In...

Newsies x Last Five Years

Characters - Jeremy Jordan, Ben Cook, Ben Frankhauser, Andrew Keenan Bolger, Fiona (OC), Simon (OC) 

Pairing - Jeremy x Reader

Warnings: angst, fluff, swearing…think that’s it to be honest

Word Count: Look, I wrote this on my phone, and I’m not about to count. It’s a long one, so sit comfy

A/N: Wayyyy! Second fic. So, this is deep, and sad, so don’t hurt me. Please. I really tried with this and I know some of it isn’t accurate to real life but hey, just enjoy. It escalates a wee bit quick at the end, so sozzles about that. Oh, and I tried to add a gif, but tumblr wasn’t having that…aaaaaand as always, I gotta thank my rock, @musicaltheatrenerd2002 for just being there for me and motivating me. I wove ya. Anyways, enjoy! 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You didn’t bother to look at the door when you heard the key in the lock, but instead, you snuggled further down into your hoodie and watched the next episode of Stranger Things. You heard the door close, followed by the keys being thrown onto the side table next to the door. You felt a gentle kiss on your forehead and two loving hands massage your shoulders. “Feeling any better?” You tilted your head backwards and smiled at Jeremy, “Not really, but at least I have a voice now” He chuckled, giving you one more kiss before walking over to the other end of the sofa, picking your legs up and placing them on his own. “They’re missing you at rehearsals…” “I’m sure they can live without Katherine for a few days…” “Y/N, it’s been a week” You sighed, pausing the episode, “I’ll be in by Tuesday…it will only take me two more days and I’ll be good as new” “Please get better baby girl…I miss not being able to kiss you” You kicked him playfully, “I’m glad to know that’s all I am to you” He grabbed your feet and kissed one, “baby, you’re so much more than just a kiss. Although, I would like one now” He started to come towards you, and you pushed him back, rolling off the sofa and behind the kitchen counter, “No!!! You’ll get sick! And you of all people cannot get sick!” Jeremy just laughed at you and turned back around on the sofa to watch the TV and you padded back around, placing yourself next to him and snuggling into his side. “Thought you didn’t want me to get sick?” “I need a cuddle…” Jeremy laughed and kissed the top of your head. 

A few days later, as predicted, you were better, and walked hand in hand with Jeremy to the studio where you were both rehearsing for Newsies. You met at auditions, and playing opposite roles, of course you both fell for one another. You hadn’t been together for long at all but you both knew how much you loved each other and moved in within the 80th rehearsal. Now, you were at the 168th rehearsal, 12 rehearsals away from opening night. You walked into the studio after Jeremy, greeting a load of smiling boys. Ben was the first to come and hug you after becoming particularly close with you and Jeremy. “Welcome back, missy!” Ben pulled you in tight “Heya Benjamin, how you doing?” “Yeah, good, good. I’m tired, but good” Ben just smiled. You couldn’t help but watch Jeremy talk with one of the other girls. You saw them smiling and laughing and you couldn’t help but feel a bit jealous, but that was until Jeremy looked back towards you and smiled, winking. The rehearsals continued, and yourself and Jeremy walked to the studio together, rehearsed together and walked home together. When the two of you got to spend Sunday’s alone, you would typically chill out at home binging on pizza and Netflix. Sometimes, Jeremy would take you out on a date to a restaurant or the movies after rehearsals, but with the amount of work you were both under, it was a rarity. When the shows started, so did the arguments. He was constantly off to interviews and press nights, leaving you alone every day. The only time you saw each other was on stage. He wouldn’t even talk to you backstage. Instead, you would stand there and watch him talk to the showgirls. He promised it was nothing but you weren’t convinced. He apologised that he was always away from you and he promised to make things better. “Jay, how can you promise that?” “Sweetheart, please! This is our career! Don’t…don’t you want this for us?” “Us?! Jeremy, you’re the only one going to conferences and interviews and parties…it’s fantastic that your career is going great but what the hell am I doing? Is this it for me?!” “No! Sweetheart! Sweetheart, you’re incredible at what you do! Don’t you DARE say otherwise” Jeremy took your arms and stroked them lovingly, trying to reassure you. You tried to get out of his grip, but he resisted. “Babe, Y/N…I’m going to be honest with you. If I didn’t believe in you, I wouldn’t have loved you at all. Y/N, I think you’re the best actress out there…if people can’t see that, they’re blind!” You looked at Jeremy with tears in your eyes, and you took your arms away from him and wiped your eyes with the sleeve of your hoodie. “Come here…gimme a hug…” Jeremy opened his arms and you walked to him, embracing him tightly, crying into his chest, hearing light shushes from Jeremy. Surprisingly, the relationship between the two of you got better. He was more caring and spent more time with you backstage. He went to the same amount of paid interviews, but he refused to go to as many parties if you weren’t invited. The relationship at home got better too, as he would spoil you rotten by cleaning and cooking and doing things that all girls want their boyfriends to do. A few years later, Jeremy and you had a Sunday to yourself. To you, that meant a lay in followed by a day of gaming and pizza, but Jeremy had other plans. He dragged you out of bed at 8 and picked out your outfit, which wasn’t bad for a boy with no dress sense. He took you down to the park, along with a grand picnic. You spent the afternoon by the biggest lake in Central Park, laughing and talking about the cast and crew of the show. In the evening, Jeremy took you by the hand to the bandstand. “You know, we should go see that museum you’ve been wanting to see…” “Next Sunday?” “We’ll see…” “J, don’t tease me like that” you laughed, pushing into his side. Jeremy pulled you into one of his famous bear hugs and swayed you from side to side. He grabbed your hands and spun you around, so that he could grab you from behind and continue dancing. You smiled when you heard him sing I Never Planned On You in your ear. You felt his grip leave you and you turned around, looking into blank space. Confused, you looked down, noticing your boyfriend on one knee. “Jay…” “No, Y/N, let me do the talking!” You laughed, resisting the urge to sob loudly, although you couldn’t stop the tears from falling. “You beautiful, beautiful thing-“ “Thanks Jay” you laughed, crouching down to be eye level with him. You noticed how he was trying to stop crying too. “Just…lemme finish. Anyway, I…I love you so…so much. Baby girl, I…oh god I’m crying now…” he chocked back a sob, taking your hands in his, “Just. Screw the speech. Marry me, Y/N. Jesus Christ, please?” “You pansy” you embraced him in a hug, finally sobbing like a child also, “course I will” Jeremy laughed, tears falling from his eyes as he slipped the ring on your finger. He stood up, pulling you with him and hugging you tightly. Not long after, the two of you got married in front of both your families and all the cast of Newsies. Typically, when yourself and Jeremy kissed, the whole of the cast cheered in true Newsie fashion, causing you to laugh away from the kiss. The shows continued as usual, the audience becoming more and more passionate after the other. Married life with Jeremy made your relationship stronger, although you noticed him look at other girls a lot more. One night, after a difficult show, you flopped into bed and playfully screamed, making Jeremy laugh and make circling patterns on your back. “Babyyyy…what’s the matter?” “I’m tired. Is it Sunday tomorrow?” Jeremy laughed, “no, Y/N, it’s um…Thursday tomorrow” “NOOOOOOO” you screamed into the pillow, curling up into a ball towards Jeremy, who simply pulled you towards him. “How about, we get some sleep tonight, and we’ll spend the morning in bed tomorrow and won’t leave for the theatre until last minute. Pizza and Xbox and films and-“ “You” you looked up at him, pouting your lips for a kiss. Jeremy obliged and kissed you, “and me” he smiled at you and pulled you in closer, rubbing circles on your arm as he turned the TV on. “What do you wanna watch, Y/N?” “A musical…” “Aren’t you bored of-“ “Rent.” Jeremy just laughed at you, “Okay then. Rent it is” Halfway into Will I, you turned to face Jeremy, who simply held your arms. “Jay…” “Y/N?” “I…um…what do you think about trying for…a baby?” Jeremy’s eyes widened and he chuckled once, reaching to pause the film. “I…errr-“ “I’m sorry…I was just thinking about it. I saw a baby outside stage door today and I just couldn’t help but-“ “Sweetie, it’s okay” “You’re gonna tell me you don’t want kids aren’t you?” You frowned. “Actually, no. I couldn’t think of anything better to do. I want to have a baby you or me running around a house, singing songs and dancing like you” You smiled at him, “really?” “Really” “Really, Really?” “Really, really” You squealed, pulling Jeremy into a hug. He rolled you over onto your back, tickling you ferociously before he started to kiss you deeply. A few days later, you went upstate to see your family after you had the news that your sister had fallen critically ill. Jeremy couldn’t come with you as his understudy was also off sick. Obviously, you missed him but you still managed to have a good time with your family anyway. The two of you would call everyday and he would tell you all the gossip of the shows and behind the scenes. Everything was going fine, and soon your sister got better. It wasn’t until you got home and saw her in your bed that you found out about the others. “Jay, I’m home! “ There wasn’t a response, so you set your things by the front door and walked towards your shared bedroom. You could hear the sounds of giggles, but you could only hope that it was the sound of the television and not what you thought it was. You open the door slightly, making as little noise as you possibly could, seeing Jeremy in a bear hug with that one showgirl he took a liking to every day. You stood there, speechless, watching the scene you’ve dreaded for years, unable to look away. You stood there for 30 seconds, but it felt like an eternity. The showgirl, Fiona her name was, spotted you in the doorway and pushed Jeremy off her. He seemed confused at first but followed where Fiona’s gaze was, landing on his wife. “Hey…Y/N” “Don’t. You…” You couldn’t finish. You shook your head and stormed out, grabbing your bag and keys before storming down the stairwell of the apartment blocks. It took you a bit longer than usual as your suitcase was heavy, but you managed to get out the door, hearing the faint shouts of Jeremy. As you began walking down the street, calling taxi after taxi, you could hear your name being called. A taxi finally pulled up and you opened the door, shoving your bag in the backseat. “Y/N!” “FORGET IT!” “Y/N! PLEASE!” You got in the cab and told the driver just to drive, you didn’t know where. You looked out the window and saw Jeremy sprint towards the taxi, slowing down as the taxi sped off. “Miss, I need you to tell me where to go, otherwise I’m gonna be a millionaire by midnight” You couldn’t think of where to go, but then it popped into your head. You walked up the stairs, dragging your bag behind you, trying to make the cries silent. You finally arrived at his door, knocking twice, breathing heavily. “Y/N? Woah, hey…” you collapsed into his arms, your sobs becoming loud. “Ben…I…I…” “Hey, come in, sit down” Ben led you towards his sofa, rubbing your back as you sobbed. Ben pulled your bags into the apartment and shut the door, grabbing the tissues by the door and bringing them over to you. “What did he do?” “More like who…” “You’re kidding…” You shook your head, looking up at Ben’s face, his eyes wide with shock. “Holy crap, Y/N…I…holy Jesus” Ben was speechless, sitting back on his sofa in disbelief. He sighed, before taking your hand, “Y/N, I’m so sorry” You shook your head, leaning into Ben’s side as he hugged you tightly. “Y/N?” “Yeah?” “Can I ask who?” You laughed in a sigh, wiping the tears away from your eyes, “it was one of the showgirls…” “Donna?!” You shook your head slowly, turning to look at Ben. “FIONA?! THAT SLUT!” “Ben…” “NO! I KNEW FROM THE BEGINNING! SHE’S BEEN PLANNING THIS FOR-“ “BEN!” Ben immediately soften his expressions, “sorry, Y/N. I just…I KNEW that she…Jesus Y/N. I’m so sorry…I should have warned Jeremy of her” “It was his decision” “She probably swayed him” “And he still fucked her…” “Jesus. Y/N, I’m sorry” “Stop apologising. This isn’t your fault, at all. I don’t know why I didn’t clock it…” Ben just sighed in apology, and placed a hand on your arm. “Do you want to stay the night?” “I don’t want to invade…I can call my parents and I’m sure that-“ “No. I’ve got a spare room, don’t worry. I’ll go sort the room out and you order pizza” Ben placed the pizza menu in front of you, rubbing your thigh reassuringly before taking your bags into the spare room. That night, the two of you ate pizza and played on his Xbox, although you felt slightly wrong. This was what your favourite pastime with Jeremy was, and you couldn’t help but feel upset while playing your favourite game. At around 1 that morning, you retired to bed, saying goodnight to Ben and stealing a final slice of pizza. You had ignored your phone all night, afraid of what might appear, but you checked the home screen before you got into bed. 

18 missed calls from Jeremy. 6 missed calls from Andrew. 2 missed calls from Mum.

Over 50 text messages from Jeremy. ~ baby girl, I’m sorry ~ come home and talk to me Y/N ~ she means nothing to me ~ I married you. I love you. ~ I need you. ~ I’m sorry.

You felt the tears fall from your face before the anger took over and you threw your phone across the room. It didn’t smash, which only made you more angry. You punched the pillow, then your suitcase and then kicked your shoe across the room, all while shouting “FUCK” and “SHIT”. Ben carefully came into the room, noticing you in your state and pulling you into tight hug. You tried to resist but eventually gave in, hugging him back. “I know, he’s an asshole. I’ll talk to him tonight Okay?” “Don’t be mean” “I won’t. Please, promise me you’ll get some sleep, ok?” You nodded, unable to form words. Ben helped you into bed, kissing your forehead and turning off the light before leaving you. He sighed, immediately pulling his phone out of his pocket. He shut down the lights and tv in the front room and brought the pizza into the kitchen before ringing Jeremy in his room. “Hello?” “What the hell, Jeremy” “Is she at yours?” “Yeah” “Thank Christ. I was worried about her…” “You don’t have the right to be! Jesus, Jeremy! Why?!” “It was Fiona’s fault! She-” “Oh yeah, of course this isn’t your fault. You cheated on her for fucksake!” “I love her, Ben, I don’t deny that. She’s everything to me. That’s why I married her! I swear, this isn’t my fault!” “Jeremy, she’s the most amazing woman I know. How fucking DARE you treat her like shit. She-“ “She doesn’t deserve me, I know. She’s perfect, amazing” Ben could hear Jeremy crying, and he sighed in defeat. “Have a long, hard think about what the fuck you’ve done. You’ve broken her. She deserves so much fucking better. Asshole.” With that, Ben hung up, feeling pure rage throughout him. Ben changed into his pyjama bottoms and slipped a plain t-shirt on, before climbing into his own bed. He laid in bed for about 10 minutes staring at the ceiling, debating with himself. He finally sighed, and got up, throwing his duvet across the bed. He silently padded across his apartment, before reaching your room. He opened the door silently and looked at your sleeping form. He walked over to the empty side of the bed, sliding in next to you, pulling you towards him. “Ben?” “Yeah. Hi. Sorry, I just…thought you might want some comfort?” You tensed, not wanting to upset him, so you just hummed and remained still. You felt his breath against his neck and you tried to keep your breathing steady. Suddenly, and unexpectedly, you felt his lips against your neck, and then travelling up your jaw, whilst his hands moved from your waist down to your thighs. You couldn’t take this anymore and you sprung out of the bed, your hands out in front of you in defence. “Ben. No! What the fuck?!” “Oh shit. Sorry. Y/N, I’m so sorry…” “So my HUSBAND cheats on me and you decide that’s your cue to just have sex with me?!” “Y/N, I thought-“ “NO! Holy crap! NO!” Ben just looked down, clearly disappointed and guilty with himself. “Get out. Please. I’m going to…go somewhere…” Ben nodded and walked out the room, leaving you to your thoughts. You made the bed and got changed into the clothes you arrived in. You cried all the while, not believing what was happening. You grabbed your bag and phone and exited, noticing Ben sat in the front room with his head in his hands. You walked down the stairs and onto the streets, unsure of where to go now. You pulled it your phone and called Andrew. “Andy?” “Jesus, Y/N! Are you okay?!” “No…I mean. I know Jeremy told you that side of the story…but…I need somewhere to stay tonight. And I know you’re definitely gay…” “Sorry?” “Ben tried to hit on me…” “Crap. Y/N…I’m coming out right now Okay?” “You’re a saint…” You waited outside Ben’s apartment block for a little while, noticing Ben’s living room light switch off around 2 that morning. Andrew arrived not that long after. You arrived at his apartment and he showed you to his room, taking a spare pillow and duvet to the sofa for himself, although you insisted for him not to. “Thanks Andy…” “No problem. I love you” “I love you too” you smiled at him, as he said goodnight to you and left you alone. The next morning, Andrew surprised you with a bacon and scrambled egg bagel for breakfast and a day of binging on Netflix. At around 4 that evening, Andrew came and sat on the sofa with you after answering emails from various agents. “Y/N, I think you should talk to him…” “Which one” Andrew laughed slightly, “your husband…he’s broken too” “He’s the one that cheated on me” “He was drunk. She spiked his drink. Fiona influenced him. He didn’t know what he was doing…” “Really?” Andrew nodded, taking your hand in his, “despite what you may think, Y/N. He married you for a reason. He does love you, I promise. Just call him. I mean…sweetie, you work together. It’s better to get this out the way before tomorrow’s show…” You nodded in agreement, taking your phone from his hands. He left you alone, after giving you a reassuring kiss on the cheek. The phone ringing was killing you, although his voice stabbed the knife further into the wounds. “Y/N?” “Hey…” “Sweetheart, listen to me. She spiked my drink, I was drunk and high and had no clue what the fuck I was doing. I love you so fucking much baby girl” “Jeremy please don’t lie” “I’m not lying honey. Y/N, I married YOU! I married YOU because I love YOU! Fiona means nothing to me. As soon as I came back to reality, I kicked her out of OUR apartment and I tried calling you, then your mum and then Andrew! Sweetheart, I was terrified you’d-“ “I’m heartbroken, Jay…not suicidal” “Babe, please. I love you! I love you more every single day! Honey, I thought we were going to try and have kids?” “So did I…” You heard Jeremy sigh over the phone, clearly in tears, “will you please meet with me?” “Where and when?” “Bandstand. At 7 tonight?” “Yeah…” “I love you so much, Y/N…” “Bye, Jeremy” You met with him, claiming you didn’t want to but you actually didn’t want anything else in the world. It was dark, the river reflecting the street lamps. You saw his figure in the middle of the bandstand, so you walked over to him, clearing your throat when you reached the stairs. “Y/N…” Jeremy sighed in delight, walking to embrace you. You walked towards him, hugging him tighter than you would have liked to. “Sweetheart, I love you so much…” Jeremy stepped back, tears already rolling down his face. You remained strong, although your hands were still in his. “Jeremy, you have to understand that-“ “Sweetheart, she spiked my drink. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing! You have to understand, I love you more than life itself, I wouldn’t cheat on you…” “Promise?” “I promise. I vow. Hell, I’ll sacrifice myself if that’s what it will take for you to believe me! Sweetheart, I would marry you again and again and add that into my vows!” You laughed, looking up to his eyes. “I love you, Y/N Jordan” “I love you too, Jay” He kissed you, pulling you towards him, almost lifting you up. “I love you I love you I love you” Jeremy began tickling you, making you laugh again, “that laugh is music to my ears…” You smiled at him as he pulled you close and began dancing with you, singing through tears. “I have no use for moonlight…or soppy poetry. Love at first sights for suckers, at least it used to be” he began to cry and you pulled him into a hug, as you finished the song. He kissed you once again, stroking the ring on his finger. “Let’s go home, yeah?” You nodded, turning to go home, but you were quickly swept off your feet, being carried by Jeremy like he did after your wedding. The show the following day felt different, as the connection between yourself and Jeremy felt new and more romantic. You had explained how Ben hit on you the previous night, and you didn’t see, but you heard from Tommy that Jeremy had a huge argument with Ben. You avoided him as much as you could, even keeping space on stage without making it obvious to audience members. One thing you did notice was Fiona wasn’t there. After the show ended, the curtains fell and Jeremy pulled you into a tight hug, kissing you softly on your neck. “Jay?” “Mmhm?” He hummed against your neck. “Fiona’s not here…” Jeremy stood back, although he kept his hands in yours. “I got her fired. I explained to Simon and he sacked her…” “Jeremy that’s…that’s her job” “And I nearly lost my wife because of her. I honestly couldn’t care less…” You shrugged and went upstairs to get changed. Jeremy was waiting for you outside afterwards, with a rose in hand. “Your servant awaits, m’lady” “Does the servant bring me ice cream?” “There’s ice cream waiting at home” Jeremy kissed you, taking your hand and walking home with you. Your contracts were soon coming to an end, and Jeremy had been offered role after role in numerous plays, although there was nothing for you. You couldn’t find a suitable show for you, although Jeremy was highly supportive. “Baby, a show will come, I promise” “Sorry, Mr. I’m being offered every part in every show” “Maybe a part will come up with me. Then we can fall in love all over again” Jeremy began making kissing actions towards you, tickling you. “Yeah…maybe” It was the third to last show, and you were getting ready in your dressing room. You got a call from your mum, telling you that your sister’s illness had gotten worse and unfortunately she had passed. You immediately went to Jeremy’s dressing room, not even bothering to knock. You entered, sobbing, “Jay, I-“ You saw Jeremy breaking apart from a kiss with a random girl. She wasn’t in the show. “Y/N…” he began to defend himself, but you just held up your hand. You watched the random girl leave the dressing room, narrowly avoiding you, scared you would kill her. “Fuck. You.” You simply spat at him, taking your rings off your finger. You placed them both on the table nearest the door, shaking your head as you turned to leave. You stopped at the door, turning to face Jeremy. “How many?” “Y/N…” “HOW MANY?!” “4” “Since Fiona or including her?” “Since…” You pursed your lips and tapped your foot on the floor. “She never spiked your drink, did she?” You watched as Jeremy shook his head, refusing to look you in the eyes. You turned around and slammed the door behind you, frozen still outside, trying not to cry loudly. Ben walked past, noticing you crying. He desperately wanted to comfort you, but couldn’t bring himself to go near you. Instead, he got Andrew. “Ands…it’s Y/N…” Andrew sprung from his seat and followed Ben, running to your side. You hugged him as soon as you saw him. He led you to his dressing room. “Y/N…what’s happened?” “5 girls! He’s been with 5 girls…” you sobbed, your hand shaking in Andrew’s. “5? That’s son of a-“ “Andy, don’t…” “That dickhead can…Y/N, I’m so sorry…” “It’s…I don’t know what I expected” Andrew pulled you into a tight hug, “move in with me. I’ll come and help move all your stuff tonight. I’ll ask Tommy to keep Jeremy out…” “Thank you, Andy…” “Do you want to do the show tonight?” You shook your head, explaining how you had to go upstate. “Why?” “My sister died a few hours ago…” “Holy…Y/N, you poor thing…” “Don’t poor thing me right now, I don’t want to be mocked…” “No, Y/N. I’m so sorry for your loss” “Which one” you tried to laugh, but instead it came out as a sob “Both…Sweetie…I’ll go and talk to Simon. He’ll understand” “Thank you, Andy” “You go get dressed, and go start packing your stuff up. Here’s my key. After the show, I’m heading straight to yours and we’ll go to my house. Okay?” You nodded, hugging him tightly. You walked back with him to your dressing room, noticing a note on the desk. 

~ Y/n, I’ve asked Fiona to help me pack my things. I’m sorry that this has crumbled. I just don’t feel the same things I used to when we first got together. I know you’re broken but…we’re both hurting from this. I thought that we would stay together for the rest of our lives, but, clearly that’s not the case. I’m not putting any of the blame on you because this is my fault…we’re too young for all of this. It was too soon…I guess. I hate that your contract is ending soon, but I’m also glad that you can get away from this too. It will help you to move on. Goodbye, I guess… Jay x ~ 

You sat down in sobs, scrunching the note in your fist. You got changed quickly, handing the costume over to your understudy and thanking her. You ran down the stairs and out the door, finding the fresh air incredibly refreshing. You sped walked to the house you shared with Jeremy, not wanting to call it a home. You started packing your things, making the bed and folding up all Jeremy’s things that were on the floor. You couldn’t help but cry, noticing all the pictures of the two of you on your wedding day and all the other days, including a picture of you and Jeremy in the final number of Newsies as Jack and Katherine. You pottered around the house, leaving post it notes around specific parts of the house, instructing Jeremy on what to do when you weren’t going to be around. It was around 10 when Andrew knocked on the door. You opened it, smiling weakly. He helped carry boxes and bags down the stairs and into his car. On the final load, he took a box down and you looked around your apartment for the last time. You sighed, feeling a tear roll down your cheek. You brought your hand up to your neck, feeling the necklace with a J charm on it. Jeremy had bought you the necklace for your first Christmas together, and you had worn it ever since. You took it off and placed it on the kitchen counter, placing the keys next to it. You shut the door with a final sigh and practically ran down the stairs. For your the final night of your contract, you did the show. It was agonising to play Jeremy’s love interest but you avoided him at all costs backstage, Andrew staying close to prevent Jeremy or Ben coming to talk to you. The kisses you had with Jeremy were agonising, and you could feel how tense he was feeling, although for the finale kiss, he held you tightly, as he knew it would be the last one he would ever have with his wife. When the curtains fell, Andrew immediately came to your side as you both heard “Y/N!” from Jeremy. Andrew told you to ignore him and he pulled you close, walking you up to your dressing room. Another note was left on the desk, with a familiar necklace next to it. 

~ I’m so sorry about your sister…she was amazing. As are you. Keep this. It’s yours. All my love in the world, Jay x ~ 

The necklace you left at your old apartment glistened in the light. You put it on, feeling the familiar J charm once again. You left your costume on the hanger for the last time and collected all your leaving presents and cards from the cast and crew and put them into your large bag. You looked around your dressing room and noticed the note. You put it into your bag quickly, and scribbled a welcoming note for the new Katherine. You turned the lights off and walked down the stairs, joining Andrew by the door. The years went on, and you heard about Jeremy’s success in numerous films, tv programs and shows, all whilst you were waitressing in numerous cafes and restaurants. You went to audition after audition, but no result. Even Andrew was given a part in a new show, which was awesome but heart breaking for you. One night, you were playing on the Xbox once again, when Andrew came home with a guy, obviously both drunk. “Y/N! Meet…” “Marvin” he stuck out his hand dramatically, and you shook it. “Need me to leave, Andy?” “Nah, you’re fine. Just…maybe listen to some music through headphones. Loudly” Andrew smirked at the guy behind him, leading him to his bedroom. You laughed, knowing how hungover Andrew would be in the morning. You plugged your headphones into your phone, pressing shuffle on musical playlist created randomly by Spotify. It started on a song from something called The Last Five Years. It was a pretty catchy tune…but…that voice was so familiar. It couldn’t be. You paused the game and pressed on your phone, anticipating to see the artist. And there it was. Jeremy Jordan. He was in a film? A successful one? You couldn’t help but want to watch it. It took you 30 minutes of debating with yourself before you decided to watch it. The scene unfolded with Anna Kendrick, one of your idols. She was such a good singer, but you thought she didn’t really suit straight, blonde hair. The song was about her husband, Jamie, leaving her. With a note. The camera panned around, catching pictures of Anna and him. Jeremy. Jeremy. Your ex husband. In wedding clothes. You ignored it and watched the rest of the film. The next scene, Anna and Jeremy burst in kissing like wild animals, and you couldn’t help but feel jealous. He was yours for 5 years after all. It seemed…familiar. The film continued and so many things that happened to Cathy and Jamie related so similarly to the relationship you had with Jeremy. Until you pinpointed where the film was actually about you and Jeremy. His character proposed, with the same type speech, in the same exact spot, where Jeremy proposed to you. The wedding was in the same spot. The countless gifts of jewellery. The one necklace with a J charm. The unsuccessful auditions. The countless parties. His note. The film ended, and you were in a state, your jaw wide open. Everything that happened in that movie happened to you and Jeremy. Everything. The noise had quietened from Andrew’s room and so you assumed that Andrew and Marvin were both asleep. You let out the loudest sob you could, crying into a nearby pillow. It didn’t stop. You couldn’t stop crying. It had been years, but you realised that horrible thing that no divorced wife wanted to realise. You still loved him. You don’t remember falling asleep, but you woke up that morning with your duvet over you and the sound of frying bacon in the kitchen. You padded through to the next room, spotting Andrew and Marvin talking over coffee. “There’s my princess!” Andrew opened his arms to you and you hugged him. “Sorry about last night, love. Andrew’s been telling me all about you” Marvin held out his hand, “it’s really nice to meet ya” “You too” you shook his hand and got yourself some water. “Andy?” “Yeah?” “Have you spoken to…Jeremy recently?” His eyes went wide at the mention of his name, but he cleared his throat and shook his head, “Why?” “I want you to watch a film. Over breakfast.” Andrew watched the film with Marvin, and you sat in your room, refusing to watch it again. Andrew knocked on your door after it finished, Marvin cleaning up the plates. “Hey, princess” “Hi” He shuffled over to the bed and sat opposite you, crossing his legs like a child. “It’s about you and him…isn’t it?” “That’s what I thought. But it’s all the same…the way Jamie proposed, where they got married, the parties, the girls, the notes…” Andrew noticed the tears in your eyes begin to form and he took your hand, shushing you. “I’m sorry” “Me too” you smiled at him weakly, before he patted your hand and left the room, telling you to get some proper sleep. You obliged to his request, falling asleep to Love Actually and some Ben and Jerry’s ice cream. You were sure it was nothing. The following morning, you got up for work at the cafe opposite the apartment at the usual time, after making Andrew some breakfast and waking him up so he could stretch and warm up before the matinee. Your day was fairly normal until you saw your ex boss. “Simon?” “Y/N! Wow! Hey! How are you doing?” “Umm…good I guess, yeah. So what can I get you?” “Just a coffee please. Black, if possible” “Yeah sure. No worries” you turned to walk back to the till, but Simon called you back. “Y/N?” “Yeah?” “Seriously? You work as a waitress?” “Alright, Si…don’t rub it in” “No seriously. You’re an amazing actress! Why haven’t you been given a part?!” “There aren’t any right shows for me, I suppose. I’ve auditioned for some but I’m not always perfect” “Would you like to go back to acting?” “It’s my dream, Yeah” “Y/N…I’m doing a live recording of Newsies with the original broadway cast…I was going to send out formal letters but I guess I may as well ask you now as you’re here” You stared at him, speechless, “you’re kidding, right?” Simon shook his head and you squealed slightly, going to hug him. “Of course I will! Wow! Yeah, sure! Shall I tell Andrew or shall I wait for the formal letters?” “Oh you may as well tell him…” “Thank you so much Si! Thank you thank you thank you!” “It’s my pleasure” he chuckled, seeing the excitement on your face “Right, coffee!” You practically skipped to get his order and spent the rest of the day anticipating for your shift to end so you could go home and tell Andrew. He didn’t get in until late that night, but as soon as he entered the apartment you were jumping up from the sofa to hug him. “Y/N? What’s up with you?” He chuckled, hugging you back. “I saw Simon today…” “Simon? As in director Simon?” “Mmhmm…” “And…?” “Oh right. Well…he’s doing a live recording of Newsies with the original cast! That’s you and me baby!” “Oh my god that’s amazing!” Andrew hugged you tightly, trying to restrain you from jumping and breaking the floor. “Y/N?” “Yeah?” “Did you say original cast?” “Yeah…why?” “You know…that means someone else will be in it…” “Who? Ben? Oh it’s fine, I’ll just try and fix things with him” “No…Jeremy?” “Oh…Yeah. Right.” Your demeanour changed drastically from excited to a somewhat tired manner, although you felt defeated. How could you not of thought of this? Andrew watched your excitement fall from your face into sad and uncaring. “Y/N, don’t let him ruin this for you! You’ve had…well, let’s be honest, a dry spell. And this is your break! Again…” “Yeah. Sure” “Y/N…” “No. It’s fine…who wouldn’t want to play the love interest of their cheating ex husband?” “Y/N” “I’ll do it. It’s just gonna be hella awkward” “It will be fine. Just a couple months rehearsing and a few weeks filming. I’ll be there and so will Ben Frankie, Tommy. Simon will understand too….” “Yeah. Thanks Andy” He kissed your temple and you invited him to sit on the sofa and watch the original Disney film together. Rehearsals couldn’t come soon enough. It was amazing to walk back into the studio room and meet with all the old cast, after so many years. You saw Ben Frankie first, practically jumping into his arms when he opened them. “Benny!!!” “Y/N!” “How you doing?!” “Better now I’m with my favourite girl” he smiled, and you playfully smacked him. “Y/N, it’s great you’re here and all but…you gonna be okay?” You nodded, faking a large and over enthusiastic smile. He grinned back, embracing you one more before you greeted the rest of the cast. It was inevitable that you would come back to see Ben Cook. “Hey” you walked up to him, noticing how awkward he felt. “Hi, Y/N. How you been?” “I’m still here, so I suppose I’m alright. Yourself?” “Yeah, good. It’s good to be back…” “Ben?” “Yeah?” “I forgive you. Okay? Jesus we were best friends for years, let’s not let one mistake you made ruin that. Alright?” Ben nodded, a weak apologetic smile forming on your face. He held out his hand, and you shook it playfully before hugging him. “Just, no more mistakes again” “Agreed” he laughed at you, squeezing you tightly once, “you gonna be okay being with Jeremy again?” “It’s work. I’m not gonna talk to him if I can help it” you smiled at him reassuringly. “I’m right by ya” he squeezed your hand before Simon called you all over to the circle of desks for the read through. You sat in between Ben and Andrew, laughing with them as you were handed your script. You could see Jeremy out the corner of your eye. He looked tired, depressed and beaten. You so desperately wanted to go to him but you knew it would be wrong. You both knew this was strictly work and not pleasure, so during the read through, the two of you refused to make eye contact. During the break, you were eating your pasta salad by your bag, scrolling though Facebook and Instagram on your phone. Many fans had heard about the release of the live recording and were bombarding you with good luck messages. You were reading an email from your agent when two feet stood in front of you. You looked up to see Jeremy. You half heartedly smiled at him and continued to scroll through the email. “Y/N-“ “Go away. I’m working” “So am I. I wanna talk to you” “And I want to eat my lunch, carry on with the read through and go home. So if you don’t mind, can you leave me alone?” “Y/N, please. I-“ Andrew walked over, interrupting Jeremy’s pleads, “Jeremy, take a walk. She doesn’t want to talk to you” Jeremy just looked at Andrew and walked back over to his bag, slumping down against the wall and reading through the script over and over. “You alright, princess?” “Yeah. Thanks for saving me” “That’s my job” he plopped down next to you and began digging through your bag, finding the chocolate and breaking a piece off, eating it before you could protest. “That was mine” “I’m your roommate. What’s yours is technically mine” “I’ll remember that next time you tell me off for eating your cereal” “Ah. But cereal is a different matter” “How?!” “Well-“ As if he knew, Simon called the end of the break and summoned everyone back to the desks. You finished the rehearsal and retreated to Andrew, who was talking to Simon about his new additional song. He wanted to sing it through so you got to hear it. It was the most beautiful song in the world. “Y/N, what do you think?” Simon turned to you “Beautiful, Si. Really, really nice” you smiled at him, nodding in agreement. Simon wanted to talk to Andrew privately so you exited the studio, bumping into Jeremy. “Y/N, please can I just talk to you? For 5 minutes? Please?” “Go away” you continued walking down the hallway, trying to get to the stairwell as quickly as possible. “Please! I just want to apologise?” You stopped and turned around to face him, “apologise? APOLOGISE?! JEREMY! You broke my heart into a thousand pieces! You lied to my face! You slept with 5. Other. Girls! Jesus Christ, Jeremy! Is your brain really that fucking small to not think for a second that your ex wife who divorced you for cheating on her is just going to forgive you? You didn’t mean a single word of our wedding vows, and I know you meant every word of our divorce. You’re a fucking joke. I bet you even think I came back for you. I’m just here for Simon. I’m here for the boys. Not for you” Jeremy just stood there, staring at you. His lip was shaking and he tried to form words but you shook your head and left the building, sitting on a step outside waiting for Andrew. You waited for about 15 minutes, thinking about your previous relationship with Jeremy, before Andrew came outside, walking home with you. When you got inside, Andrew called shotgun on the shower first so you retired to your room, changing out of the sweaty clothes and into your robe, waiting your turn for the shower. You were sorting through the laundry when the landline rang. It was odd, as the landline only rang when it was Andrew’s grandmother, but she always emailed first to let him know. You walked over to it, Andrew’s t-shirt in hand, and answered. “Hello?” “Y/N? It’s Jeremy” “Oh my god, now you’re stalking me?!” “No, Y/N, I just really need to talk to you…” “Jeremy, you had your chance. I’ve forgiven you once before, and even then you fucking lied to me! Why do you think ill forgive you now?” “Y/N, I’ve spent the last 5 years in depression from losing the one thing I loved the most. I don’t know what got into me. I loved you and I still do. I know I married you for a reason…” “I know I divorced you for a reason” “Y/N, please just talk it through with me?” “No. Please, stop this. I’m trying to work. Leave me alone” You hung up, not wanting Jeremy to get another word in edge ways. You began to cry into the t-shirt in hand, when Andrew came up behind you, rubbing your arms. “Please wash that again” “Fuck you KB” “I love you too. That was him wasn’t it?” “He’s stalking me, I swear” “He spoke to me on the stairs. I hate him with all my guts, I mean why wouldn’t I? He hurt my girl” “Shut it…” “But anyway, he said he’s never felt more alone and unwanted in his life. He really loves you” “I love him too” “I understand why you’re being like this, I mean I would too if Marvin pulled a trick like this on me…but at least give him a chance?” “I already did” “Every person gets 3 strikes. He’s made 2…let this be his last chance. Who knows? Things may get better” “My life HAS been better. Without him…” “Try it. For me? If you both agree to get on, fantastic. If you don’t? Fine. But at least give it a shot” You contemplated it for a bit, before sighing, “I hate when you’re right” “Indian or Pizza tonight?” “Indian…” “And what film?” “Elf…” “Y/N, it’s the middle of June, you can’t watch a-“ “Elf” “Elf it is then” Andrew chuckled, kissing your temple before going to order the food. The following day, you worked on King of New York with the boys, which was the best day you had in years. The way you all laughed and mucked about, all while doing one of the best songs. It was tiring to do so much tap dancing after so many years, but you felt refreshed after rehearsal. When it ended, Andrew was waiting outside for you and you walked home together. You were halfway down the street when you heard your name. You turned around and saw Jeremy jogging behind you. You groaned and continued walking, but Jeremy grabbed your wrist. “JEREMY! LEAVE ME-“ “You left your phone…” You looked at his hand, which held your phone. You cleared your throat awkwardly, taking your phone from him quickly. You gave him a weak smile, “Thanks…” Jeremy just smiled at you, before walking back towards the studio. You couldn’t quite believe what had happened, and you just turned to look at Andrew, who had a cocky smirk on his face. “Don’t start” “I didn’t say anything!” “Yeah fuck off Andy” “Y/N!” He laughed loudly, plodding alone behind you as you childishly stomped off. Jeremy was typically good at leaving you alone, only talking to you when you were working on a scene together. You admit, it was hugely awkward at first, but as rehearsals continued, you began to share smiles and laughs, feeling more comfortable, although the two of you didn’t talk out of rehearsals. During the last few rehearsals, Simon sent you and Jeremy to practice Something To Believe In, and the kiss…it felt so different. He never did it the way he just did. He grabbed your waist and pulled you towards him with a swift motion. He looked at you for a minute before gently pressing his lips to yours. His other hand ran up your arm and landed on your upper back. You felt your stomach tumble and kissed him back, bringing your arms up from your side up to around his neck. Neither of you attempted to pull away. If anything, you both tried to deepen the kiss even more. Eventually, he stopped, and you rested your forehead on his, panting for your breath again. “Shit” you whispered, laughing slightly. Jeremy laughed with you, bringing his arms to both of your arms, stroking them. “Y/N…I’m sorry” “I know. I’m sorry too” “what do you have to be sorry about? Jesus I put you through hell! What I would do to turn back time and stop myself…” You cleared your throat, pushing away from Jeremy, “maybe we should go over our first song, because I think we’re a bit rusty on the-“ “Y/N…I want to try us again” “What?” “I miss you. So fucking badly…” “Jay-“ “No. Please. I love you so much. I have done since the day I met you, and I have never ever for a singular moment stopped loving you. I would take every fucking mistake back if I could if I knew I wouldn’t lose you. I love you so fucking much…” You sighed in defeat and took Jeremy’s hand, “Jay, I love you too. But this isn’t right” Jeremy kissed your hand, but you pulled it away, “I’m sorry, Jay…” He nodded, smiling at you weakly. As if a miracle happened, Andrew came into the room. “Si wants you two to come in…he’s giving an overview” Jeremy went out quickly, leaving you to plod our behind him. “Alright Princess?” “Mmhm…I just need some ice cream” “I’ve stocked up at home” “I love you” Andrew smiled at you and walked with you to the other room. All the way through the overview, you couldn’t stop thinking about Jeremy. You looked over at him at one point to catch him staring at you. You moved your gaze quickly, smiling at the thought. “Shit…” you mumbled, Andrew catching it. “What?” He whispered. “I’m falling in love…” Andrew just stared at you, anger across his face. “Ice cream. Tissues. Serious conversation.” Andrew whispered harshly, before turning his attention back to Simon. You sighed deeply and slouched back into your chair. Back at home, you felt like you were being interrogated. “Y/N, what the hell?!” “I don’t know…I don’t know I don’t know I don’t know…” “Ice cream. Talk.” You took a spoonful of ice cream, before mumbling to Andrew “he’s him. He’s apologised” “Y/N, he cheated on you” “He was sincere” “Y/N, he’s a cheater” “Hang on, Andy! You’re the one that told me to give him another chance!” Andrew just stared at you blankly, before you pointed at the tub of ice cream, “spoonful” He groaned, taking a spoonful of ice cream, when you both heard the phone ring. “Hello?” Andrew picked up your own phone, fighting you off, “No, she’s in the shower…” “ANDY OFF!” Andrew looked at you, stopping fighting you before handing the phone over to you, taking another spoonful of ice cream. “Hello?” “Y/N, hey. It’s me” “Hey, Jay” “Listen, I was wondering if you were willing to meet with me? Just to talk things over?” You sighed, debating what to do, “Where?” “Bandstand?” “What’s your obsession with that place?” You heard him laugh over the phone, “It means a lot to me. I’ll see you there before rehearsals?” “Sure. See ya” You hung up, flinging your phone across the bed, looking up at Andrew’s shocked face. “I don’t believe you” “You’d hate me if I told you what happened today” “What happened?” You just smirked and left the room, rubbing towards the bathroom like a little kid. “Y/N!!! What happened?!!!” You chuckled behind the door, only leaving when you knew the coast was clear. He was leaning against the wall opposite the door, his arms crossed. “You kissed him didn’t you?” “That’s my job” “For pleasure…didn’t you?” You just nodded at him, smiling cheekily. Andrew groaned and began to tickle you. The next day, you met Jeremy at the bandstand. He was dressed in jeans and a shirt, smart for him to be honest. He held a singular rose in his hand and a small box in the other. “Jay?” “Hey, Y/N…” “What’s all this?” “For you, if you want it?” “Jeremy…” “Y/N, I want nothing more than to make you happy. I’ve learnt from my mistakes and I swear that I will do everything in my power to get us to where we were. I love you with all I have. I’m not asking you to marry me, but I’m asking you if you want to be mine again?” He opened the box, revealing your engagement and wedding ring on a silver chain. “Andrew’s gonna kill me…” “I’m surprised you haven’t killed me” You looked at him, smiling, “Jay, I’ll be yours again. But you gotta work hard to get us back to where we were. We’ll take it slow, okay?” “You’re mine?” “Always have been” you walked up to him and hugged him, hearing his sobs. You shushed him, running your fingers through his hair. He helped you put on the necklace and walked you back to your old apartment. “Jay, it’s a mess!” “I haven’t had you here to help me” “But you’re not incapable” “I’ll walk you home, so you can grab your stuff before rehearsals. I just need to grab my stuff and then I’m set” “I actually don’t want to go home” “Why?” “I’m scared Andrew might kill us” “He’s a petal, he won’t harm either one of us, no matter how angry he is” He walked up to you, kissing your cheek and pulling you in for a hug before walking you home. Andrew was surprisingly supportive, and congratulated both of you before walking with you both to the studio. The rehearsals went on and then filming began, day after day after day. Each day, Jeremy would come over to your apartment with Andrew and take your stuff back to his, until eventually, you were moved back in. Jeremy worked incredibly hard, spending every moment he could with you. He took you out every night and even when you didn’t want to go out, he spent the night with you with a pizza and Xbox, just as it used to be. You truly fell in love with him all over again, and felt like you did before he proposed. The last day of filming was in front of an audience. The thrill of performing in front of an audience again made Jeremy go wild, and he covered your desk with little gifts that reminded you of your marriage with him, excluding the girls. He knocked on your door at the 15 minute call, waiting to walk you down. “Jay, can I ask you something?” “What’s up?” “It’s about that film you did…with Anna Kendrick?” “No, I didn’t get with her” “Jay, not funny…” “Sorry” “Why was it so similar to our relationship?” Jeremy sighed and hesitated slightly, “the director asked me to do it, and I almost turned it down because of our divorce. I went through the story and he loved it. It fit every song perfectly. Didn’t you see it was dedicated to you?” “Was it?” “Mmhm…” “I didn’t watch until the end of the credits…no normal person does” Jeremy laughed and engulfed you in his famous bear hug. “Come on, baby girl. Show time” You smiled at him and walked backstage hand in hand. You fixed your mics and gave each other a final kiss before he went on. You felt so proud in that moment when he was singing, as if he was your husband. He was, truly, even if he wasn’t legally. The show went on and the reaction from the audience was overwhelming. Singing your song again in front of an audience felt amazing and you came off stage nearly in tears. It was coming to the end, and you were singing the final song. As rehearsed, Jeremy pulled you into the final pose. You saw him fiddle with his mic pack before he whispered in your ear. “Marry me? Again?” He stood back, looking at you lovingly. You stood there, trying to catch your breath, unable to form words. Your eyes started welling up and you just nodded, kissing him deeply. The audience went wild and the cast just looked at the two of you as you held on to each other. All the memories of him cheating forgotten. You truly believed he had changed and you had always wanted to spend the rest of your life with him. You promised to love him until death, and you would. He promised to support you in everything you did, and you knew he would. He believed in you and you believed in him. You knew this was right. “Yes!”

#jeremy jordan #ben cook #andrew keenan bolger #Newsies #newsies imagine #newsies oneshot #musical #last five years #reader insert #jeremy x reader #ben x reader

[safflowerseason]

if you're after casting bts for the oc, i think the main stories are peter was cast first, then mischa. josh said it was down to mischa and olivia wilde for marissa, with them opting for mischa cos olivia looked too strong (what a comment). brody auditioned for ryan, acted like a dick so josh hated him but they called him back for seth. i think if it was up to the execs at fox, ryan would have been taller lol, but the creative team obvs vouched for ben.

Thanks for these casting tidbits! I did know that Peter Gallagher was cast first, and that Adam Brody blew his Ryan audition, but they really had trouble casting Seth and so brought him back. 

I did not know that Olivia Wilde was in consideration for Marissa, though. And yeah, certainly coming from Schwartz, that’s kind of a loaded comment, but at the same time…I get what he means. It seems like vulnerability was a big part of how he conceived Marissa, and Barton (to me, at least) comes off much more vulnerable than Wilde. Appearances do matter in casting; we all read things in other people’s physical features before they even open their mouths, and unless the intention is to actively subvert an audience’s expectations….At the same time, casting Barton over Wilde is a choice that highlights how blurry the relationship between “appearance” and “acting quality”can become in the casting process (at least for television). I think Barton is pretty decent in the pilot, and I get why she was cast, but Wilde is obviously the better actress. 

The pilot of the OC actually has its own Wikipedia article (linked here), and includes a section on casting. Apparently it was quite difficult to cast Ryan. I find it so interesting they cast Marissa first before Ryan (according to the article, she had worked with McG before on his show Fastlane) and I wonder if Barton changed how they saw Ryan-the-character, and if they did a chemistry test. Summer was also not supposed to be a permanent part of the ensemble, and they originally conceived her as a “bigger” version of Marissa (taller, blonder, tanner, bigger breasts, etc—and yes, the breasts are mentioned in the script), but they went for the literal opposite of that in Rachel Bilson, possibly because they cast a tall blonde as Marissa first. It just makes me marvel at how those kinds of changes can have a massive ripple effect on a show.

The balance of factors that goes into casting is just really fascinating to me—what makes an actor “right” for the part, and how sometimes “rightness” doesn’t always mean “the strongest actor.” (mostly I’m talking about television casting...I imagine it is different for theater and film). Moreover, you’d think it would make sense to cast the central character first to make sure everything else fits, but that’s not how it works at all. (I think that only tends to happen in shows where high-profile actors are attached before pre-production even begins? Like Veep). It’s such a leap of faith in a way. It’s wild to me that, for example, the members of the Friends cast did not read with one another before they were cast, or that Lauren Graham and Alexis Bledel did not read together before filming the Gilmore Girls pilot. I suppose the most important thing is to find actors that embody the roles as written first, but cast chemistry is so important too. Although I guess that’s part of the purpose of a pilot, to retool what’s not working. Like the Game of Thrones pilot was famously redone.

#the oc behind the scenes #casting

[louisives]

Stanlon, Day 6: Drawing

'I was sort of the artist in our group. My friends were always excited to see my art, especially Beverly. Really, Beverly and Richie were the ones that tended to go through my sketchbooks and tell me all about how much they liked it. Most of the others in our group were more quiet, (except for Eddie, but he was usually arguing with something Richie said), and just told me that my art looks nice, to which I'd reply with a 'th-thanks' and a smile.

As far as I know, the others didn't really partake in art. None of them. Ben wrote poetry, I think, and would sometimes sketch out something he wanted to build, but not even he really drew like I do.

So, my surprise was within reason when one of my closest friends, Stan, came to my room one day, asking for drawing lessons.

He'd already even bought a sketchbook of his own, and was clutching it to his chest. A pencil balanced precariously on his ear, and I wondered if it was stuck through one of his curls.

He sat on my bed, "Bill, can you do something for me?"

I nodded, eyebrows furrowed as I tried to figure out why he was acting so nervous and odd, "Wh-What's wrong, St-Stan?"

He looked at me, a hint of ambition in his eyes, "Can you teach me how to draw, Bill?"

I gave him a confused expression, frowning a bit, "Wh-Why?"

Stan's face turned lightly pink. He froze as he reached for his pencil, and stuttered out, "I... It's for someone."

I could see right through him, despite his efforts to maintain stoic. I pushed his shoulder lightly, "S-S-Someone y-you like?"

He gave me a deadpan expression, one which read, 'Don't push it.' I put up my hands slightly in a bit of mock surrender, "Okay. Well, I-I'll he-help you. I-I'll try, a-anyway."

I got up and went to my desk, shuffling around to find some paper and a few drawing pencils for myself and for Stan. I gave him the pencils, and briefly instructed him to draw something he liked, "A-A bird. Y-You like birds, s-so start w-with that. P-Passion br-brings out creativity."

Stan nodded, and fumbled as he held the pencil to paper. He was focusing perhaps too hard, so I told him to try and loosen up.

Stan took a while-I produced three portraits by the time he was finished-but he ended up with a fairly good looking bird. It was light and carefully drawn. There was a couple of issues with the claws, but otherwise, it was nice.

I smiled, "G-Great job, St-Stan. W-Want to try another?"

He tapped his foot on the floor anxiously, but nodded again, "What do you want me to draw now?"

I considered the question, then prompted him with another, "W-Well, wh-who exactly is th-this for, and f-for what oc-occa-occasion?"

The very tip of Stan's nose began to turn bright red; his cheeks and forehead were pink, contrasting against the purple circles under his eyes, "It's for this stupid class project. Mrs. Jones said we had to do some art thing about someone that means a lot to us, and-" his eyes were focused on the ground, "-I kinda thought I'd do it for Mike." He twiddled his thumbs. There was a thought he was holding back, and it'd take some coaxing for me to be able to bring it out of him.

I just gave him a smile, "O-Okay, well what a-are you dr-drawing for the project?"

Stan's shoulders tensed up, "That's the thing. I don't know. I'm not exactly creative with this kind of shit."

I shrugged, "C-Calm down. Y-You'll fi-figure it out. Wh-Why not just d-draw...L-Like, I draw B-Buh-Bev because I like her, s-so why not try and dr-draw him? I-I could help you."

Stan's eyes lit up a bit, and he lifted his chin, "You'd do that?"

My smile grew, "Y-Yeah, of course. Wh-When's it d-due?"

Stan's bit of snarkiness came back, and he said with a hint of nervousness, "Tomorrow."

I sighed. Of course. Pride would've had him do everything he could to avoid asking me for help with it, until the very last minute. "O-Okay. G-Get me a canvas."

The night was filled with me guiding Stan's hand to try and shape Mike's features, and after a few tries, it ended up pretty good looking. I then gave him some paints and gave him some time to paint the portrait. He needed to be able to do it, after all.

Stan turned to me when it was finished, a nervous wreck, "Is it good enough? I'm really not good at this."

I reassured him, "I-I'm sure it'll get y-you an A." I set aside the painting and sat beside him on the floor, my back leaning against my bed, "S-So," I threw him a slight smirk, "A-Are you g-going t-to show Mike, o-or an-anyone else, f-for that matter?"

Stan glanced back at his painting, and then to me, "I don't know. I still don't think I'm-i-it's good enough."

My eyes went wide, but I decided to not press the issue that just presented itself, "O-Okay. Hey, wanna st-stay the night? S-Since we a-already w-went past c-curfew."

Stan nodded, "Sure."

...

The next day, Stan carried the portrait under his arm. I heard him muttering under his breath, something about hoping noone saw him.

I gave him a pat on the back, and he sent a forced smile my way, then nodded to me and my mother as we stepped out of her car and went to out separate first hours.

He told me he was going to drop off his painting before he went to his first class, and that was the end of it.

I wasn't sure whether or not he'd share what he'd done with any of the others, and I suppose that's his business. But it didn't look bad, and I know Mike would love i-

"Denbrough, are you paying attention?" My teacher caught me day dreaming, and I nodded, "Y-yes, m-m-m..." The words got stuck in my throat, and so I just quit talking.

The day was a short one; each hour was spent in my own daydreams and curiosities. Lunch came and went. I love spending lunch with my friends, though it's admittedly gotten a bit more melancholy over the past years. We always tried to keep it lighthearted, especially Richie, who was always running his hands through Eddie's hair and cracking jokes.

Stan was always quiet, occasionally shooting back a funny comment at one of Richie's jokes, to which Richie would proclaim, "Stanley Uris Gets Out A Good One!"

Today he was especially quiet, though. He seemed to be contemplating something. I nudged him, "Wh-What's up, S-Stan?"

He sighed, "So, I, um, in my presentation for third hour, I sort of..." Stan's cheeks went back to that rosy red, "I might've shared too much."

I raised my brows, "You didn't t-tell them you w-were...with h-him?"

A smile, one that seemed pure and totally un-Stan like swept across his face, "Yeah, I did. And Hockstetter was in my class, and I'm sure he's making plans to chase after me with Bowers, but holy shit, Bill, it felt kind of nice."

Stan's bit of happiness was a disease that spread through our table like the black plague, "Th-That's great, St-Stan."

Stan nodded, "I mean, don't get me wrong. I'm fucking terrified, and I don't want Mike to get targeted by them any more than he is, but..." Stan stopped tapping his foot, "I'm going to tell him about it after school." The bell that signals the end of lunch rang, and Stan left with a, "Thanks for the lessons, Bill."

...

I've never had a phone call from Stan that lasted more than a few minutes, but I guess this last couple of days have been full of surprises, because he called my house phone and talked to me for almost an hour on how it went telling Mike about his project.

I've also never heard him so happy. He reminded me of the first time I saw Beverly, and then later, when I first met Audra. (She'd been auditioning for a school play, but that's a story for another time.)

He said he was calling from the Hanlon farm, which made sense-his parents never let him stay on the phone for this long, nor did they let him use it for anything but school related calls.

He said he had to go, as his parents wanted him back by seven, but he thanked me again.

I bid him a quick goodbye. Stan was an enigma, but he was also one of my beat friends. I looked around at my paints and other assorted art supplies, then smiled. I made my friend happy, and that's what I cared about. That's what filled my chest with pride.'

Bill took off his glasses, and set them on top of his head. He'd written that short story as a filler in between a couple of chapters of the book he was writing. He couldn't quite figure out where the inspiration for that came from, but it gave him a nice, somehow nostalgic feeling.

Bill rubbed his eyes, then went back to bed, where his wife, Audra, had already fallen asleep. He brushed a few strands of hair out of her face, and planted a kiss to her forehead, warm with a fever that she'd caught.

Bill drifted to sleep soon after, his last conscious thought being that the characters he just wrote about seemed all too real-perhaps people from long ago in a childhood memory that'd been suppressed-and he hoped if they were, they were happy, maybe even happy together.

The thought pulled Bill into a light, dreamless sleep.

#stanley uris #stan x mike #mike hanlon #stanlon #bill denbrough #30 day challenge