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raysofcrosby · 2 years

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WHATEVER LIFE THROWS AT YOU – m. tkachuk

bonus chapter #4 – FIRST DATE JITTERS

warning(s): ethan's not 8 anymore, so prepare for that 😭 otherwise just a bunch of fluff!

summary: 12 going on 13, home for the summer and surrounded by friends and family– there's a lot that ethan's got lined up for his summer vacation. but there's one important thing on his 12-year-old mind that he's finally old enough to do, and that's go on a date with his childhood best friend, former teammate and first ever crush– melody hastings. and when she says yes, he's on top of the world. until it comes for his first ever date and he realizes that not only is he really nervous, but his parents and baby sister are going to be there the entire time too. what could be worse? ask matt and caroline who have to watch their firstborn take his first step into the world of relationships while trying not to completely embarrass him.

word count: 19,072

an: lowkey forgot what melody's mom's name is, so if i've said it in previous chapters i couldn't find it. so if it's not the same sorry lol. also i'm still working on making summary's really good so cut me slack pls.

July 14th, 2028

“Scar no,” Ethan sighed, walking over to where Scarlett was standing in front of the mini sticks goal that was against one side of the living room wall by the door, the coffee table moved out of their way. “You have to turn around and try not to let me score.”

“Stick!” Scarlett smiled, holding up her mini hockey stick before returning back to hitting the top of the net with it.

“Yeah, it’s a hockey stick,” Ethan replied, putting his hands on her shoulders to turn her around. “And you use the stick to try and stop me from shooting the ball into your goal, okay?”

“Okay,” Scarlett nodded, moving her stick away from the net and letting Ethan turn around.

“Okay,” Ethan echoed, holding his hands out towards her. “Now stay, don’t move. I’m going to get the puck and then we’ll play, okay?”

“Ethie score?”

“Well, you want to try to not let me score,” Ethan replied, using his stick to move the ball closer to him as he stood midway between their two goals. “But you’re still new to hockey, so I’m probably going to score anyway. Ready?”

“Ready!” Scarlett smiled, waiting for Ethan to move the ball before she ran out towards him. “My ball!”

Ethan waited until she was near the ball to move it, only to wait again for Scarlett to catch up and try to hit the ball with her own stick, giggles emerging from the 18-month-old as she unknowingly basically played keep away with her big brother. A sight that was very endearing to Caroline as she walked down the hallway carrying the freshly dried batch of laundry in the laundry basket.

“I score!” Scarlett said, bending down to pick up the ball.

“No, Scar, you have to use your stick.” Ethan said, grabbing her stick and moving it towards the ball before pointing towards the net at the other end of the living room. “Now hit it towards my net down there, okay?”

Scarlett went to raise her stick above her head, Ethan quickly correcting her to show her the proper way to shoot. “No, no, you shoot like this. Watch me,” he let go of her stick and stood back bending down to show how to bring his stick back. “And then you come forward and– wait no.”

Unamused with his way of trying to teach, the moment Ethan had stood up to demonstrate, Scarlett bent back down and picked up the ball, dropping her own stick before running down to Ethan’s goal. She stopped right in front of it before throwing the ball down and it bounced its way into the net, hitting the back of it.

“Score!” She yelled, throwing her arms into the air as she bounced up and down with a smile on her face. “Daddy, I score!”

“You did?” Matt gasped, coming down from the hallway where the bedrooms were and walking by the lounge chair and over to Scarlett, bending down and picking her up, tossing her into the air and catching her and causing her to giggle before resting her on his left hip. “Are you winning?”

“Yes,” she smiled, resting her head against Matt’s shoulder.

“No she’s not, because we’re not keeping score.” Ethan huffed, walking over and bending down, grabbing the ball from the back of the net before standing up. “Besides, she cheated because she picked up the ball and threw it in. And if we were really keeping score, then I’m winning because I’ve scored like a hundred times already.”

“She’s also not even two, Ethan, relax,” Caroline laughed, walking out from the hallway fully. “BeeBee used to be you when you were her age, and he never complained.”

Ethan sighed, rolling his eyes. “Yeah, but she’s supposed to get it by now, Momma. You said that when she got older, she’d understand better.”

“That was eight months ago, Ethan. When I said older, I meant when she’s around three or four.” Caroline replied, putting the laundry basket down behind the couch. “Just give it a little more time and keep playing with her, I’m sure she’ll grasp it eventually.”

“Until then,” Matt said, giving Scarlett a kiss before putting her back down onto the ground, squatting down her to level. “Why don’t you show Mommy and Daddy your mini sticks skills that Ethie’s taught you?”

“Okay, Daddy,” Scarlett nodded, walking back over to where she’d dropped her stick and picking it up. “Play, Ethie.”

Matt followed Caroline into the kitchen, grabbing his empty water bottle off the counter and unscrewing the lid, refilling it from the fridge. “Was that the last load you took out of the dryer?”

“You wish,” Caroline sighed, grabbing the container of strawberries from the fridge. “There’s one load of Scar’s stuff in the washer and then our last load in the dryer.”

“Then whose clothes are in the hamper?” He asked, putting the lid back onto his water bottle.

“Ethan’s. Decided he wanted to have options for tonight,” She replied, taking a bite of a strawberry. “And I was going to have him fold them, but they’re having fun so I folded it all for him back in the laundry room. He just needs to put it away.”

“Options?” Matt snorted, shaking his head. “Kids 12. What kind of options does he have besides the pairs of jeans that all look alike, hockey jerseys and those fancy shirts he wears on special occasions?”

“Leave him alone, he’s just nervous,” Caroline laughed, holding the container of strawberries out for him to grab one. “Maybe he wants to make a good first impression.”

“Not like they haven’t known each other for eight years,” he replied, putting the water bottle down and reaching for a strawberry. “Besides, it’s his first–”

“Ow!” Ethan yelled, the sound of a hockey stick hitting the floor. “No, Scarlett, we don't do that!”

The first sound of Ethan’s distress had both Caroline and Matt practically running out of the kitchen, and they had just rounded the corner when Scarlett began to cry. Ethan was sitting on the couch, resting his head in his hands as Scarlett stood right by her end of the goal, crying and still clutching her mini stick in her right hand, while her left hand was balled up into a fist and rubbing at her eye.

“What happened?” Matt asked, looking at Ethan as he walked into the living room. “Ethan, look at me.”

“No,” he replied, shaking his head as he kept it down towards his lap.

“D-Dad-Daddy,” Scarlett sobbed, struggling to speak as her face was wet with tears.

Matt looked at Caroline and then back at Ethan, Caroline nodding and waving him off to go to Scarlett while she walked into the living room and sat down on the couch next to Ethan, rubbing at his back. “Ethan?”

“No, I’m not looking at you,” he replied, pressing his head further into his hands as he shook it, his elbows digging into his thighs.

“Okay, that’s fine for right now,” Caroline spoke softly, trying to lean forward and see if she could get a better look. “But what happened?”

“She hit me!” Ethan yelled, lifting his head up and motioning his arm towards Scarlett, who was now resting on Matt’s hip.

“Hey, relax the tone,” Matt warned, as he rubbed Scarlett’s back.

“E-Ethie mean!” Scarlett sniffled, rubbing at her face as she looked at Matt. “H-he yell a-at me.”

Caroline reached out and grabbed Ethan’s chin, turning his head slightly towards her where she could see the forming of a bump just beneath his left eye where his skin was starting to redden just along his cheekbone. “Let me go get you an ice pack–“

“We’ll go get it,” Matt said, as Scarlett was sniffling against his shoulder, hugging onto him. “Give these two some space, I think it might be time for a nap anyway.”

“Thank you,” Caroline replied as Matt walked over, stopping in front of Ethan and putting his hand on top of his head, getting him to tilt it up before nodding.

“Yeah, I’ll grab some peas instead. Might do better for that,” he said, readjusting Scarlett on his hip before ruffling Ethan’s hair and walking out of the living room and into the kitchen.

Ethan was still upset even when Matt took Scarlett out of the room, but he was no longer hiding his face in his hands. “I didn’t yell at her,” he mumbled, leaning back into the couch. “Not really…I just yelled because she hit me in the face and it hurt.”

“She’s little, Ethan. You may not have yelled at her, but she thinks that you did,” Caroline replied, patting his knee. “Why don’t you tell me what happened?”

“We were playing with the ball and after I scored I brought it back and told her I’d set it up for her to shoot.” He motioned towards where the ball was still lying in the middle of the floor, along with both mini sticks. “And I set her up first and then when I went to move the ball she just swung it up and hit me in the eye. Even after I told her that’s not how you swing the stick.”

“Ethan, she’s–“

“I know she’s little,” he huffed, crossing his arms. “But I already told her five times, Momma. Why doesn’t she listen?”

“Because she’s half of your father and half of me. He doesn’t listen and I’m stubborn,” Caroline replied, smiling slightly as she reached up for his hair and brushed it back to bring the barely visible scar that was mostly hidden by his shaggy hair, into view. “Besides, do I need to remind you just how you got that scar right there?”

Still pouting, he looked at her and shrugged. “Maybe.”

“Well, you were three,” she said, turning towards him and leaning against the couch cushion. “And you loved climbing on stuff, no matter how many times we told you not to, you never listened because you were three. You were with Papa Walt and Mimi one day and Papa Walt got up to answer the door and you decided to climb up onto his chair and then onto the table beside it. You went to stand up on it, fell and the table came down right after you and smack,” she brushed her thumb along the white scar. “Corner table right to the head. Kids don’t listen, Ethan, and she’s getting ready to get into that terrible twos era, so she’s about to get really testy. But that’s a part of growing up and raising kids. We’ve just got to keep teaching her right from wrong and making sure she knows and one day she’ll get it, I promise.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you did,” Caroline smiled, brushing his hair back down and sitting up. “Now tell me what’s really bothering you, because you’ve taken feet to the stomach and lower body from her trying to climb up on you, so I know it’s not her hitting you in the eye. Though I think I might have an idea of what it is.”

“I don’t want to have a black eye for my date with Mel,” Ethan sighed heavily, frowning soon after as his shoulders sank. “I mean, I’m still kind of mad at Scar but she’s little so she doesn’t know…but really I just don’t want to look ugly for my date.”

Caroline took a deep breath and exhaled, getting off of the couch and squatting down in front of it. “Sit up, let me get a better look.”

Still frowning, Ethan sat up and sigh, shoulders still dropped. “I already know I’m going to have one.”

“Maybe, maybe not,” she replied, grabbing his chin and turning his head sideways so she had a much better look. The skin was still getting pretty red, but it didn’t look like a bigger bump was going to form. “I can’t say for certain that it won’t bruise a little, but I can guarantee that you won’t be ugly.”

His eyebrows furrowed and upper lip curled. “How can you do that?”

“Because regardless of just how much of your father you are, the one thing I was able to bless you with is my good looks.” She smiled, reaching up and fixing his hair that Matt had ruffled. “Oh, and my manners. You definitely got those from me.”

Ethan smiled, rolling his eyes before taking a deep breath and exhaling. “Are you sure she won’t think it’s ugly? What if Dad showed up with a black eye?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time,” Caroline laughed, bringing her hand down and resting her hands on the couch on either side of him. “He actually has a black eye in our junior prom photo. Mimi tried to cover it up as best as she could, but if you look really closely you can still see it.”

“How many times do I have to apologize for that?” Matt asked, leaning out from around the corner of the kitchen. “Trent threw a water bottle at my head during the water break to give me the bottle. His aim was just shi…uh, bad. Really bad.”

“Plus, I seem to remember you having a black eye on the opposite side of your face on Valentine’s Day back in second grade,” Caroline replied, pushing herself to stand up and sending Matt a look who just rolled his eyes. “And that was a pretty big day for you.”

“Yeah, you got kissed,” Matt teased, smiling as he walked towards them and leaned against the back of the couch. “So maybe Melody will see this black eye and feel bad enough to give you another one.”

“I don’t want a pity kiss,” Ethan whined, looking at Matt. “But what if I go to kiss her and she moves or something?”

“We’ll talk more about it later,” Matt replied, looking down by his side before looking back at Ethan. “But now, you just need to chill out about it. Literally.”

Scarlett’s feet were pattering against the floor as she rounded the corner of the couch holding onto a bag of frozen peas wrapped up in a dish towel with both hands, coming to a stop by Ethan’s right knee. “Here Ethie,” she pouted, holding it out to him. “I sowwy for hitting you. It was an assident.”

“Accident,” Matt quickly corrected her, rubbing his right hand down his face. “It was an accident, not an assident. We don’t say that word.”

“Sowwy daddy,” Scarlett replied, if possible her pout getting more dramatic as she raised her arms up higher for Ethan to grab the makeshift ice pack. “Ice peas, daddy say it help.”

“It’s okay, Scar. I know it was an accident.” Ethan took the frozen bag of peas and re-wrapped it up before pressing it against the left side of his face and looking at Scarlett, sighing. “And I’m sorry for yelling, I promise I wasn’t yelling at you.”

“Hug kiss?” She asked, holding out her arms and puckering up her lips, filling her cheeks up with air.

“Come here,” Ethan put the bag of peas back down onto the ground and opened his arms.

Scarlett smiled as she walked in between his legs and Ethan picked her up, resting her on his lap where she immediately wrapped her arms around his neck in a hug, then leaned back and gave him a kiss where she blew a raspberry like Matt does every time he tucks her into bed. “I love you, Ethie,” Scarlett said, hugging him again and resting her head down against his chest.

“I love you too, Scar,” he replied, hugging her back.

“Daddy say it's naptime,” she said, bringing her left hand to her mouth. “You read my book and we watch ducks, please?”

Ethan looked at both Matt and Caroline to see if they’d oppose before standing up and putting Scarlett back onto the ground, holding her hand. “Okay, come on, we'll go to my room.”

“Groot!” Scarlett gasped, trying to let go of his hand and run off, only to not move at all. “Come on Ethie, nap with Groot!”

“Don’t forget to ice,” Caroline said, picking up the bag of peas and handing them to Ethan. “10 minutes on—“

“10 minutes off, I remember.” Ethan nodded, taking the bag of peas before letting Scarlett lead him out of the living room and down the hall to his room.

Caroline sat down on the couch, sinking back against the cushion and exhaled heavily, closing her eyes. “Is it nap time for us too? That was draining.”

“Mm, I was kind of hoping we could do something else,” he said, sliding right behind her and reaching down for her shoulders, massaging them. “Because I don’t know about you, but that was the cutest thing I have ever seen.”

“Which part?” Caroline asked, opening her eyes and looking up at him. “The two of them yelling or Ethan getting hit in the face and worrying about whether or not he gets a kiss on his date tonight?”

“You know exactly what I’m talking about,” Matt laughed, digging his thumbs into her shoulders. “The part where our extremely adorable, already the master of the pout, daughter not only apologized to her big brother, but then asked for a hug and a kiss. And said big brother pulled her onto his lap and did just that.”

“I suppose that was really cute,” Caroline sighed, smiling slightly. “Did you see how she called the movies ducks? That might be the thing Ethan will be most proud of. Getting his little sister obsessed with the Mighty Ducks movies.”

Matt laughed and moved his hands up her shoulders and to her face, cradling it. “We should have another one.”

“Another one what?” Caroline laughed, widening her eyes. “Because I know for a fact we’re not talking about another kid.”

“Well I guess you’re not Mrs. know it all after all, because that’s exactly what we’re talking about,” he pouted, letting go of her face as she sat up and turned towards him. “I mean, E’s a great big brother, Scar was a pretty easy baby and you saw that cute moment they had. Tell me that didn’t give you baby fever.”

“It was pretty cute,” she replied, turning around and bringing her legs up onto the couch, standing up on her knees as she faced him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “But Scar’s not even two yet.”

“Brady and I are barely two years apart,” he shrugged.

“Yeah, but Ethan drove me crazy throughout the first few months of his terrible twos phase,” she sighed, pouting at him. “How about we talk about it a little more and then once she’s two, we’ll see how everything is?”

“Works for me,” he smiled, leaning down and kissing her before pulling back. “But we can still practice right? Maybe right now?”

“Definitely not right now.”

“Tonight when the kids are asleep?” He replied, kissing her again.

“Mmmm, assuming Scarlett does well in her crib tonight,” she laughed, patting his shoulders and standing up off of the couch. “But for right now, we need to drop off the laundry in Ethan’s room, then check on the clothes in the dryer, maybe switch over the stuff in the washer and then double check with Melody’s parents she can still go and what time to be ready and–“

“You know you should probably breathe a little,” Matt joked, picking up the hamper she’d been carrying earlier. “You go check and I’ll go drop this off with E.”

Caroline nodded as they went separate ways, Matt down the hall and her to the laundry room. The washing machine had stopped, but when she opened the dryer door to check on the clothes in there, they were still a little damp. She closed the door and added more time to the cycle before turning the laundry room light off and walking back out into the hall, where she could see Matt standing in the doorway of Ethan’s room, the laundry hamper on the floor next to him..

“What are you–“

“Sh,” he whispered, looking at her before nodding his head into Ethan’s room, “Look how cute.”

Caroline nudged the hamper away and came up beside him, peeping her head around the corner of the door to see Ethan and Scarlett laying on top of the blankets of his bed. The first Mighty Ducks movie was playing on the tv that they moved from their room to Ethan’s after Matt “couldn’t resist a good sale” and bought a new one for their room, Scarlett’s copy of ‘The Monster at the End of this Book’— which for the moment was her favorite book— was to the right of Ethan and the bag of peas wrapped up in the rag beside it. They were both rolled over onto their left side, Scarlett was hugging onto the stuffed toy much bigger than her, and Ethan had his right arm draped over Scarlett, most likely to make sure she wouldn’t fall or try to leave without him noticing.

“Grab that blanket off the lounge chair?” She whispered, picking up the hamper and walking into Ethan’s room as Matt walked back out to the living room. She put it down by his dresser and walked over to the bed, carefully leaning across them both and grabbing the bag of peas and Scarlett’s book, putting the book down on Ethan’s side table as Matt walked into the room.

He walked over the bed and draped the blanket over the two of them making sure they were tucked in before standing up. “Guess he didn’t really ice the eye did he?” He laughed softly, motioning towards Ethan.

Ethan shifted in his sleep, exhaling heavily as he opened his eyes barely. “What time is it?”

“Don’t worry, go back to sleep,” Caroline said, grabbing the remote from where he’d placed it on his pillow. “We’ll wake you when it’s time for you to get up.”

“Okay,” Ethan nodded and closed his eyes again, moving closer towards Scarlett and laying his head back down on the pillow.

Caroline placed the remote down on his bedside table and then grabbed Matt’s hand. “Come on,” she said, going to walk out of the room.

“Where are we going? He asked, following behind her and out into the hallway.

“To our room,” she smiled, nodding her head down the hall towards their room. “Talk a little more about having another baby. I think Ethan and Scarlett could use a little brother or sister.”

Matt’s eyes widened and he reached back and shut Ethan’s door just barely before resting his hands on her hips and walking them down the hall to their room. He nudged the door open with his foot before bending down and picking her up bridal style, Caroline laughing as he walked them into their room and he shut the door behind him, locking it and walking over to the bed, laying her down on it and crawling over her.

“That’s definitely a conversation I would love to have,” he smiled, closing the gap between them with a kiss, just barely pulling back. “After we practice first.”

“Do you guys really need to be here right now?” Ethan huffed, crossing his arms as the car came to a stop just outside of the Hastings home.

“How else would you pick Melody up?” Caroline asked, putting the car into park and looking at him through the rearview mirror.

Ethan shrugged, unbuckling his seatbelt. “Uber.”

Matt snorted, shaking his head. “Yeah, over my dead body are you taking an uber at 12. Try 18.” He looked over his shoulder at Ethan. “Now go get your girlfriend, it’s bad manners to be late for your first date.”

“She’s not my–” Ethan huffed again, clearly stressed as he opened his car door, grabbed the bouquet of lilies and got out. “Besides, I won’t need to take an Uber when I’m 18, I’ll have a car.”

“If we even get you one,” Matt replied, looking forward and shrugging. “Don’t think I forgot about you spilling the slurpee on my newly cleaned and detailed back seats after I told you to keep the lid on. Your car will look like a pigsty.”

Ethan shut the door and stomped his way over to Matt’s window, knocking on it until Matt rolled it down. “You won’t need to get me one because I’ll be in the NHL with a contract worth millions of dollars and buy my own car!” He stuck his tongue out and turned around, walking away from the car.

“Nice try, but we share a birthday and you won’t be draft eligible till you’re 19 like I was!” Matt called out the window and laughed as they watched Ethan walk up the Hastings’s driveway. “God, he is so much like you it’s hilarious.”

“Excuse me?” Caroline laughed, motioning towards his window. “He is literally you in every aspect.”

“Yeah, but he gets stressed so easily just like you,” Matt smiled, looking at her. “Kids freaking out his parents are taking him to pick up his girlfriend and chaperoning his first date as if he’s not 12.”

“I here too daddy,” Scarlett said, lifting up her arms from her car seat as she looked at them through the mirror hanging from the middle seat headrest that helped them see her when driving.

“I know princess,” Matt replied, reaching back and tickling one of her hands.

“To be fair, he did say she’s not his girlfriend and you know how he gets when you tease him about it,” Caroline replied, keeping an eye out towards the driveway.

“Please, they may not be official, but they’re totally a thing. We were basically a thing on our first date,” he shrugged, looking back out the window. “And then I asked you to be at the end of the date, so we were official.”

Caroline rolled her eyes, laughing. “Yeah, but we also lived two doors down from each other. I think you’re forgetting the fact that we live in Calgary nine months out of the year.”

“So?” He shrugged, looking back at her.

“They’re 12, Matthew. You’re telling me that they’re going to have a long distance relationship at 12?”

“I don’t see why not,” he shrugged again, turning back towards the window before reaching out and tapping her hand. “Sh, they’re coming this way. Let’s see if he remembers what I told him to do.”

They watched as Ethan and Melody walked side by side towards the end of the Hastings’s driveway. Once they got closer to the car, Ethan walked ahead of her and grabbed the car door on the side he had been sitting on on the drive over, opening it for her. “Thanks,” she smiled, climbing into the car, Ethan closing it once she got inside and walking around the front of the car. “Hi Mrs. Caroline, Hi Mr. Matt.”

“Hi Melody, it’s nice to see you again,” Caroline said, keeping an eye out on the road as Ethan checked to make sure the street was empty before he walked alongside the car.

“Hi Mellie!” Scarlett squealed, waving her left arm out towards Melody. “How you?”

“Hi Scar,” Melody smiled, giving Scarlett a high five. “I’m good, how are you?”

“Good,” Scarlett said, as Ethan opened the door and got into the car opposite of Scarlett. “See my hipotomush?” She asked, holding out the gray stuffed animal that she’d gotten that first summer home in St. Louis after she was born when they took a trip to the zoo.

“It’s hippopotamus, Scar,” Ethan corrected, putting his seatbelt on. “Or hippo.”

“Hipotomush,” Scarlett smiled, holding him up with both hands. “My hipotomush.”

“He’s very cute, Scar,” Melody smiled, grabbing one of the hippo’s arms and shaking it. “It’s nice to meet you, Mr. hippopotamus.”

“Ethie no let Groot come,” Scarlett sighed, bringing her hippopotamus down. “Groot’s Ethies best fwend.”

“He is?” Melody smied, raising her eyebrows as she looked over at Ethan. “And here I thought I was his best friend.”

“Groot’s not my best friend, Scarlett,” Ethan said, looking at the toddler. “He’s a stuffed toy like your hippo.”

“My hipotomush not a toy, he my fwend.” Scarlett said, her eyebrows furrowed and her nose and mouth scrunched up. “Mommy, Ethie being mean to my hipotomush.”

“Ethan, apologize to her hippopotamus for calling him fake.”

“I’m sorry Mr. Hippopotamus,” Ethan replied reluctantly.

“Great,” Matt smiled, looking at them through the rearview mirror. “Now go ahead and give him a hug and a kiss like you do for her during nap time.”

“Momm–”

“Matthew, stop it,” Caroline said, giving Matt a look. “Don’t make me turn this car around, I will drop you off at home.”

Matt just rolled his eyes as Ethan relaxed into his seat, Scarlett hummed along to whatever she was thinking about in her head and Melody leaned near Scarlett’s car seat, most likely entertaining the toddler.

“So Melody,” Matt said, breaking the silence as Caroline started to drive towards the roller skating rink. “How’s life in St. Louis? Are you excited for 6th grade? Got any boyfriends?”

“Dad!”

“Matthew!”

Despite the initial choice of subject, the car ride was filled with learning about how school and hockey were going for Melody here in St. Louis, while Ethan also kept her up to date on how his school and hockey were going for him in up Calgary– though Matt teased, once again, that Melody probably already knew all of this since the two of them talked on FaceTime or over texting. Which, of course, Ethan sulked about in the backseat as he tried not to turn red and Caroline gave Matt another warning look.

By the time they got to the roller skating rink, it wasn’t shocking to Caroline that Ethan got out of the car as fast as he could, even urging Melody to do so. The fast departure made Scarlett panic that she was getting left behind, meaning she alternated between crying, calling out for Matt or Caroline or Ethan, and crying some more. At least until Caroline got her out of her car seat, then she realized that she wasn’t getting left behind and calmed down once Matt gave her her hippopotamus stuffed animal.

“Okay bye, we’ll see you later!” Ethan said, waving at Matt and Caroline as Melody walked up beside him.

“What’s this see you later thing?” Matt asked, looking at the two of them as they all started walking towards the entrance of the skating rink. “We’re not just dropping you off and going joyriding, we’re staying.”

Ethan’s eyes widened ignoring Matt’s reply as he turned back around and walked with Melody up to the ticket office line, standing in it as they waited their turn. When they got up to the window, Melody walked up first, ready to ask for and pay for her own ticket until Ethan stepped forward and brought his wallet out from his jeans pocket. “Actually, can you make it two tickets please?”

The man at the ticket counter asked about skate rentals, the two of them choosing yes since they didn’t want to wear their outdoor skates inside the rink and then Ethan pulled out some cash from his allowance he’d, by some miracle, managed to save and handed it over, getting his change, two tickets for their skates back, and a receipt before walking off. Matt paid for two tickets to get inside for him and Caroline, not getting any skates themselves though he heavily considered it and then followed into the skating rink behind Ethan and Melody who were waiting right by the door for them.

“You guys go ahead and get your skates before your sizes are out, we’ll find a place to sit.” Caroline said, nodding at them both to walk ahead.

Melody nodded and went to walk towards the rollerskate and rollerblade rentals, Ethan staying behind and turning around towards them. “You guys are kidding…right?” Ethan spoke quietly, looking every bit stressed and panicked as he was probably feeling. “You’re not actually staying here are you?”

“No, we’re not kidding and yeah, we’re staying here,” Matt replied, putting his wallet into his pocket. “You’re 12, you don’t get solo dates just yet. Wait till you’re 15 like mom and I had to.”

Ethan looked over at Caroline with a pleading frown. “Momma–”

“I’m sorry Ethan, but we’re not leaving two 12-year-olds at a skating rink by themselves, especially since it’s a Friday night and it’s summer, so it’s going to be crowded.” Caroline replied, shaking her head.

“Hurry up or I’ll rent myself a pair of skates and join you guys–”

“No!” Ethan gasped, holding his arms out in front of him and keeping Matt away. “Why don’t you guys just go…sit in the car or something?”

“Because it’s the middle of summer, Ethan. And we’re not killing the battery on A.C. just because you’re embarrassed your parents are in the same building as you,” Matt replied, laughing. “Besides, on our first date, we had our parents literally sitting above us with an eagle eye view and sending pictures, plus Papa Walt on the ice who would intentionally stop by us just to check on us with teammates. So yeah, I’d say you’re pretty lucky right now.”

“We’ll stay out of your guys’ way as best as we can, I promise,” Caroline said, grabbing her wallet from her purse and opening it, handing Ethan a few bills. “This is for food and games, if you need anything, we’ll try to stay over in the jungle gym area.”

“Ethan!” Melody called out, waving her arm in the air. “They need your ticket for the skates!”

“I’ll be right there!” Ethan yelled back, turning back to Caroline and Matt. “You guys promise not to embarrass me?”

“We promise,” Matt replied, picking up Scarlett and sitting her in his lap. “Now go enjoy your date, I promise the ATMs aren’t leaving. Say bye to Ethan, Scarlett.”

“Bye Ethie!” Scarlett yelled over the music, waving her hand as Ethan started walking away. “Where Ethie go, daddy?”

“Ethie’s on a date with Melody,” Matt replied, turning Scarlett around to face him as she stood up on his thighs. “So we’re going to go play over by the jungle gym and try not to embarrass him.”

“I go date too.”

Matt’s eyes widened and Caroline laughed as he shook his head. “Oh no, no date for you. Not until you’re 30.” He leaned in and blew a raspberry against her stomach, getting her to giggle. “Now come on, let’s go find Mommy a table to sit at so you and I can go play. And maybe we’ll get something to eat too.”

Caroline looked over her shoulder as they started to walk off towards the seating area near the jungle gym and saw Melody and Ethan grabbing their skates and going off to find somewhere to sit down to put them on. She pulled her phone out, snapping pictures of the two to send to Melody’s parents, only for Ethan to look up at her with wide eyes of horror. He immediately started mouthing ‘go’ and waving her away and Caroline held her hands up and mouthed sorry before turning to follow after Matt.

“I think I’m turning into our mothers,” Caroline huffed, sitting down in one of the chairs across from Matt and Scarlett.

“That’s not a bad thing, but what happened?” He laughed, putting Scarlett’s diaper bag down into the seat across from Caroline. “

“Oh I know, I love our moms,” she sighed, handing her phone over to him. “But remember any time we went on a date they–”

“Would make us stand there and take a million pictures? Yeah, vividly,” he laughed, looking at the screen. “Tell me you didn’t.”

“I did,” she pouted, taking her phone back and motioning towards it. “But it's not like I asked them to stand there and smile.”

Matt laughed, shaking his head. “Yeah, so you photo stalked instead. Scarlett, can you say creepy?”

“Reepy,” Scarlett said, hugging her hippopotamus to her.

“Matthew,” Caroline glared, locking her phone. “It’s not creepy. It’s his first date, I want pictures so I can embarrass him years down the line.”

“I know, I’m just messing with you,” he said, walking over and kissing the top of her head. “Take all the pictures your little heart desires, but send them to me so I can show the guys and we can all make fun of him too.”

“Daddy, I go slide?” Scarlett asked, pointing at the slide over in the play area.

“We’ll go slide, but you have to give mommy Mr. Hippopotamus first,” Matt said, as Scarlett reached out Mr. Hippopotamus to take before leaning her over. “And now a kiss.”

Scarlett gave Caroline a kiss, and Caroline tickled her leg, smiling. “Have fun, sweetie.”

“Bye mommy, I go slide now.”

Matt readjusted her on his hip and held her closer, turning around towards the play area. “To the slide we go!” He turned back around, pointing at Caroline. “Sneak more photos, please.”

“Got it,” Caroline laughed, giving him a thumbs up as he turned back around and looked out towards the rink to see if Melody and Ethan had made their way onto the floor yet.

Tons of kids were skating on the floor, a majority of them were around Ethan’s age or older and the younger ones that were skating around were either skating close to the edge or with their parents. Caroline did notice that she wasn’t the only parent sitting at a table in the rink by far, which made her feel a little more comfortable with the fact her and Matthew were staying around. Most of the older kids also seemed to be hanging around in the arcade area, and if this was anything like the few times Matt and Caroline would come to the roller skating rink, then the older teens were waiting for when a majority of the kids and tweens to head out for the night before taking the floor themselves– which always happened to be around 9 o’clock.

Right when she was about to turn her focus towards the play area to watch out for Matt and Scarlett, she saw Ethan step out onto the wooden floor and stay close to the edge, holding his hand out for Melody to take. She quickly opened her camera again and snapped a picture as Melody held onto Ethan’s hand and stepped out onto the rink, and then the two of them let go of the other’s hand before starting to skate side by side, Caroline snapping pictures until she saw them getting close. She quickly put her phone down onto her lap and turned sideways, resting her left elbow onto the table and then leaning her head against her fist as she pretended to look off towards the play area, waiting until she saw them skate by her again and then bringing her phone back out and getting another few pictures of them. She sent the photos off to the siblings group chat, along with the parents group chat and then finally opened her message with Melanie, Melody and Nonnie’s mom. Melanie having taken pictures of Ethan and Melody on their front porch when he’d walked up to get her and during the drive over to the rink, having sent her pictures of the two of them from preschool.

Melanie Hastings: I can’t believe they used to be that small! 🙁

Caroline sent the pictures she took, typing up a message.

Caroline Tkachuk: I may have gotten the stink eye for snapping these, but oh well. Matt and I have been ordered to stay out of sight and out of mind until the end 😂

Melanie Hastings: They’re too cute! Craig tried to give Ethan that cliche “have her home by..” speech and Ethan just said “You’ll have to talk to my Mom and Dad, Coach Hastings. They’re the ones driving.” Craig couldn’t keep a straight face and poor Mel was just traumatized.

Caroline Tkachuk: You should’ve seen E’s face when we told him we were staying. You’d think we were dressed in clown costumes there to embarrass him. I’ll try to get some pictures for you guys throughout the night, so don’t worry, we’re keeping a good eye on them.

Melanie Hastings: I know you guys will. Craig and I won’t be home from dinner until 11, but Nonnie should be home from her plans with some friends by 9. Melody knows to text Craig or I when you guys leave and also Nonnie to make sure.

Caroline Tkachuk: Okay, that sounds great. Have a good date night!

Melanie Hastings: Thank you, we will!

Getting ready to put her phone down, she saw a message pop up at the top of her screen.

Ethan 🏒: Tell dad 2 stop taking pics plz 😩

Ethan 🏒: His flash is on 😒

Caroline looked up to see Matt standing against the netted fence of the play area, Scarlett on his shoulders and his phone out in his hand, and sure enough, a quick flash coming from his phone.

Caroline: Don’t worry, I’ll tell him.

Caroline: Now put your phone away, it’s not good date etiquette.

Ethan 🏒: Thank u 👍🏻

Caroline left her messages and went to her favorite contacts, clicking Matt’s name and bringing the phone up to her ear. She watched as he looked at his screen and then brought the camera down, answering her call and bringing his phone to his ear. “Hello?”

“Your flash is on you know,” she said, watching as he looked at his phone and then looked over towards her. “Ethan texted me to tell you to stop taking pictures. Maybe turn the flash off before you try again, hm?”

“Shit, okay thanks,” he replied, looking back over at the rink. “Did you get any more pictures?”

“Tons, and I have the better view, so you can stop being a creeper,” she replied, smiling at him.

“Daddy, go play!” she heard Scarlett whine, also watching her pat the top of Matt’s head.

“Okay, we’ll go,” he said, keeping a hand on her left leg as he looked towards Caroline. “You’ll keep taking pictures?”

“Absolutely. We’ve got two sets of grandparents, aunts and uncles and Melody’s parents requesting pictures for this moment. I’m getting tons.”

“Perfect, we’ll be over in a bit. Scar’s been eyeing this kid's hotdog for the last two minutes.”

“Good thing we brought snacks then,” Caroline laughed, shaking her head. “Love you, let the toddler play and tire her out.”

“Sounds like a plan, love you too.”

She watched as Matt hung up the phone and then brought his phone up towards the rink one more time, this time no flash before putting his phone back into his pocket and then helping Scarlett down off of his shoulders

Another message notification popped up from Matt and she opened it to see a picture of Ethan and Melody on the other side of the rink, still skating side by side and the both of them smiling and looking as if they were in the middle of a conversation.

Matty 💙: How’s this for incognito? 😉

Ethan and Melody had skated for the first hour before they ventured off the floor and over to buy some food, actually having to sit at the table with Caroline, Matt and Scarlett because there were no available tables. Matt and Caroline both tried their best not to ask any questions that would possibly embarrass the two of them or cause Ethan to give them a glare, and Scarlett had offered more than kept the two of them entertained by also trying to steal their slices of pizza despite Matt continuing to try and get her to snack on the puff snacks they’d brought along with them.

Once they finished eating, the two went back off to the arcade for about ten to twenty minutes before making their way back out onto the floor to skate again, and then Matt went off to go buy him and Caroline two slices of pizza and Scarlett some chicken tenders that, every time she noticed whenever Ethan and Melody would skate by, she’d either try to offer it to them or wave it at them. Something Caroline had to consistently get on her for since she almost dropped it onto the rink floor. They were waiting for the yawns to start, especially when they gave her the sippy cup of breastmilk from their freezer stash that they were almost through with until they could fully wean Scarlett onto cows milk. Unfortunately, the milk did not make Scarlett tired like it normally did and they were stuck trying to keep her occupied since the play area was now filled with tweens taking breaks from skating.

So anytime Matt or Caroline had to get up, whether just to walk around, throw trash away– they always took Scarlett with them, holding her hand and letting her walk to try and get rid of some excess energy she had. This included when Caroline told Matt that she’d be right back because she had to go to the bathroom. And the mere mention of the bathroom had Scarlett perking up and saying she wanted to go too. Caroline knew that the chances of Scarlett actually having to go to the bathroom were slim, because at home, Scarlett would follow absolutely anyone into the bathroom if you didn’t close the door in time. The first time she followed Ethan into the bathroom, she was crawling and 10 months old. He was absolutely traumatized and kept trying to get her to leave, but anytime he picked her up and placed her outside of the bathroom door, she cried. So, Ethan let her into the bathroom and then called out for Matt or Caroline to come and get her.

Most recently, since Scarlett found out that Madeline got to wear “princess undies” and asked Matt and Caroline if she could have some too, they’ve spent the better half of the last week and a half trying to potty train her. The first four days were a mess, quite literally. She absolutely refused to use the training potty they’d gotten for her, because she wanted to use the “big kid potty,” but they told her that once she got used to her training potty, then they’d see about letting her use the “big kid potty.” So far they were going on three nights in a row of Scarlett not having a wet diaper in the morning, and always announcing when she needed to use the bathroom by saying “go potty, please” and then they would take her to go use it if they were at one of their parents house or out of the house, but if they were at home, she would walk herself into the bathroom downstairs and use it.

By no means was it easy, and every time she used the potty correctly Caroline or Matt would give her some cut up strawberries which she absolutely loved, and while they wanted to try and stay away from bribery, Matt was the one who started it by bribing Ethan with m&m’s to clean his room when he was younger, and it since carried over to Scarlett’s potty training– though he likes to call it “a reward system” and with that change of perspective, they were both on board– though it would stop since Ethan no longer gets m&m’s for cleaning his room.

Surprisingly though, this time around, Scarlett actually did have to use the restroom, waiting until Caroline was done going before asking for help to unbutton her white bodysuit, already having taken down her leggings and making Caroline laugh at the eagerness to use the toilet. Unfortunately, there were no strawberries in the diaper bag, so she was promised some strawberries in the morning for breakfast, but was nonetheless excited to run out and tell Matt about the feat.

“Daddy guess what!” Scarlett smiled, running the short distance over to where Matt was sitting at the table.

Matt turned in his seat leaning over and resting his elbows on his knees. “What? Did you see Elmo over in the arcade?”

“No,” she giggled, bouncing on her feet before throwing her arms in the air. “I go pee-pee in the big kid potty!”

“What?” Matt gasped, a smile on his face, reaching out and picking her up. “You did?”

“Yeah!” She smiled, clapping her hands together. “Mommy says I get berries for breakfast.”

“I don’t know, we might have to do something better for this monumental occasion,” Matt sighed, shaking his head as he placed her down onto his legs, letting her stand up on him. “Like maybe pancakes with berries.”

“PANCAKES?” Scarlett squealed, turning around and looking at Caroline. “Mommy, I get pancakes please!”

Caroline laughed, sitting down in her chair and nodding. “We’ll make pancakes tomorrow.”

“Yay!” Scarlett cheered, bouncing up and down. “Pancakes, pancakes!”

“Why don’t you tell Ethan your big news, Scar?” Matt said, pointing out at the floor. “See him and Melody coming around? When they get closer you should tell him about the pancakes too.”

Scarlett crawled up onto the table and sat on her knees, leaning back against her shoes and resting her hands on the edge, waiting for Ethan and Melody to come around. “Ethie!” Scarlett yelled, who knows if Ethan could hear her over the music. “Ethie!”

Ethan and Melody stopped just in front of their table, staying close to the edge so no one would run them over. “What’s up? Is something wrong?” Ethan asked, looking at Matt and Caroline.

“Ethie, I go pee-pee in the big kid potty!” Scarlett smiled leaning over the edge to try and give Ethan a hug. “We have berries and pancakes tomorrow, Mommy and Daddy say so!”

Ethan looked at Matt and Care, his face starting to turn red at the fact that his little sister was announcing out loud her potty training, and was desperately trying to tell them to help him out since it was clearly embarrassing.

“That’s awesome Scar!” Melody smiled, holding up her right hand. “Can you give me a high-five?”

“Mhhm,” Scarlett nodded, using her own right hand to hit Melody’s before holding her hand out for Ethan. “Ethie, five too?”

“Yeah, come here,” Ethan sighed, reaching over the edge and picking Scarlett up and giving her a hug. He carefully put her back down and held up his hand for a high-five, Scarlett smiling and hitting it. “We can even watch a movie tonight too–”

“Ducks!” She cheered, throwing her arms in the air. “We watch ducks, please?”

“Okay,” Ethan laughed, nudging her back away from the edge so she wouldn’t fall over. “Ducks it is.”

“Annnnd this is when we let Ethan and Melody keep skating, Scar,” Caroline said, putting her arm in front of Scarlett so she didn’t try to get closer to the edge. “Say bye.”

“Bye!” She waved as Ethan and Melody moved away from the edge and continued to skate around the rink. “We play games daddy?”

“Yes we can,” Matt said, reaching out for Scarlett.

“And now we’re going to go ahead and play the first slow song of the night, meaning clear the floor if you’re solo and go ahead and grab that special someone because now it’s time for couples skate.” The DJ announced, as the previous upbeat song faded out, the different colored disco lights above had changed color patterns and a new slower song started to play.

“Actually,” Matt smiled, grabbing his phone out of his pocket instead. “Let’s stay and watch Ethan and Melody for a bit.”

“Do you think they’ll stay on the floor?” Caroline asked, ducking down slightly as she grabbed her own phone.

“They better, he called it a couples skate and they’re on a date.” Matt replied, slowly trying to raise his phone. “The better question is if he’ll hold her hand.”

Taylor Swift’s Lover remix started to play and they both kept a secret eye out for Ethan and Melody as they skated around the rink and the solo people got off of the floor, the two of them still skating side by side and not holding hands.

“Pst, Scar,” Matt whispered, poking her side. “When Ethie comes by, tell him to hold Melody’s hand,”

Caroline’s jaw dropped as she looked at him. “Matthew–”

“Ethie, hold Mellie hand!” Scarlett yelled, leaning fully against the edge with a pouty face as Ethan and Melody skated by, but thankfully they were gone by the time she had added on “because daddy said so!”

“Okay, you go play in the arcade, stop embarrassing him.” Caroline said, waving Matt off. “I’ll get pictures or a video, but you need to go tire her out.”

“Come on Scar,” Matt sighed, picking her up and propping her up on his hip. “Let’s go see if we can win any cool prizes.”

As Matt walked away, Caroline kept trying to nonchalantly keep an eye out on Melody and Ethan, both who looked to be a little bit embarrassed by Scarlett’s outburst, but at least were still skating together on the floor. As much as Caroline and Matt had wanted Ethan to step out of his comfort zone on his first date, they knew exactly what he was feeling. It was one thing to be on your first date and be unsure of what to do, when to hold their hand or if you were going to kiss or not. But it was another to worry about all of that and then have your parents be in a close vicinity. So while she did tell Matt she’d take pictures, she really was trying to make it seem like she wasn’t paying that much attention to the two tweens– not wanting to add any more pressure from being chaperoned onto the already nervous date.

But the moment that she saw Ethan hold his hand out and motion for Melody to copy him and then saw Melody do the same, only for Ethan to smile and hold Melody’s hand– she knew exactly what he had done and where he’d learned it from. Because it was always how Matt used to get her to hold his hand between that period of being ten years old all the way until they were dating.

“Hey Care?” Matt asked, the two of them sitting on the side of the boat and waiting for fireworks to start over the lake.

“Hm?” She asked, looking up from her newest read of the summer, Tuck Everlasting, and turning off the book light clip she’d bought at the scholastic book fair this year.

“I want to show you something,” he replied, turning towards her, reaching out for her book and dog eared the corner of the page she was reading. “So put the book away.”

“Don’t fold my pages!” She gasped, smacking his hand away and quickly unfolding the page, placing her bookmark in the book upside down, her own method of reminding herself which page she was on. “And if it’s another bug, go show Brady instead.”

“It’s not, just put the book down so I can show you,” he huffed, rolling his eyes.

Caroline rolled her eyes back and placed her book down in her lap before turning to him. “What?”

“Okay, so put your right hand out like this,” he said, holding his left hand out just ahead of him, his palm facing the air.

“Matthew, if you’re going to play a trick on me, I’m not in the mood. I’m burnt–”

“Just do it, Caroline,” he replied, bringing out the full name, a smile on his face as she rolled her eyes again and held out her right hand, copying exactly what he did. “Okay, ready?”

“I swear to God Matthew, if you slap my hand or–” she paused once Matt placed his left hand on top of hers and intertwined their fingers together. “Oh.”

“Ha,” he smiled, his face red with a slight sunburn and his hair still wet from his shower. “I got you to hold my hand, now you have to hold it until the fireworks are over.”

“Okay,” Caroline smiled, shrugging her shoulders as she opened her book with her left hand. “That just means you have to turn the pages for me.”

Still smiling, Matt nodded his head. “Okay.”

Caroline didn’t care if she wasn’t hiding her phone that well as she snapped pictures of the two of them skating hand in hand as they skated by her and around the rink. And she knew for a fact that Ethan had seen her, because as she looked back in one of the pictures, she could see him looking directly at the camera, but miraculously, or maybe because she had already taken the picture before he had the chance to drop it, he was smiling.

“Mommy, look!” Scarlett smiled, Matt sitting her down on the table as she showed Caroline the plastic container with a red lid. “I won prize. Open please!”

Caroline grabbed the plastic container known to mostly come out of the quarter machines with the knobs you turn and looked at Matt. “What? Your prize winning skills are lacking?”

“That’s the only one she wanted to play,” he replied, plopping down in the seat across from her. “We didn’t even get into the arcade or past those machines. I tried to tell her they weren’t real games, but she insisted.”

Caroline opened the plastic ball, taking the lid off to reveal the white piece of squared paper, and when she picked it up and flipped it over, it was a flaming heart with an arrow through it– a temporary tattoo. She looked at Matt, holding it up. “Really Matthew?”

“She’s the one who picked the machine. I told her it was tattoos and not a toy.” He replied, shrugging as he dug through the diaper bag in search of the baggy of cut up celery. “But someone got her mommy’s stubbornness.”

“Yay heart!” Scarlett smiled, reaching for the tattoo and holding it in her left hand, pointing at Caroline. “I be like mommy!”

Matt grabbed Scarlett and turned her to face him. “How about we put your tattoo right here on your arm where everyone can see it instead of where mommy’s is?” Matt asked, placing the paper down in the middle of Scarlett’s forearm.

“No Daddy,” Scarlett frowned, lifting up her light blue striped shirt, only to show her white bodysuit, and pointing right where her heart was. “I wan here like mommy.”

“Sorry princess,” Matt replied, tugging the shirt out of her grasp and pulling it down. “But no tattoos there until you’re 18 and mommy and I can’t tell you no,” he smiled, handing her the tattoo, “So pick a spot on your arm and go ahead and stop pouting, because daddy isn’t changing his mind.”

As Caroline handed him a bottle of water and he got to work on putting Scarlett’s temporary tattoo on her, Lover came to an end and more people were brought onto the rink, yet Ethan and Melody were still holding hands.

“Did you teach E the ‘I want to show you something’ hand holding trick?” She asked, looking away from the rink and towards Matt.

Matt smiled, pouring some water into a small towel they had in the pockets of the diaper bag, nodding his head. “Yeah, he asked me how to get Melody to hold his hand, or something along the lines of how to hold hands on a date. So I told him about how I used to pull that trick on you all the time when we were kids to get you to hold mine. Why?”

“Because I watched him pull that exact trick out on Melody when they were skating,” She smiled, opening the photos and sliding her phone over to Matt. “Don’t worry, I got pictures of the evidence.”

“No kidding?” Matt held the damp towel against Scarlett’s arm and looked down at the phone, smiling as he swiped through the pictures. “Huh, then he’ll probably take my kissing advice too.”

“What kissing advice could you have to give him at 12?” She asked, rolling her eyes. “Stuff your mouth with fifteen mints beforehand so your breath doesn’t smell like dinner?”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Matt replied, rolling his eyes. “But no, it was much simpler than that.” He lifted up the towel and placed it down onto the table, looking at Caroline with a smile. “I told him not to get their braces stuck together, because we’d have to go to the nearest fire station to get them unstuck with wire cutters.”

“Kiss daddy,” Scarlett said, puckering her lips.

Matt laughed, giving her a kiss before carefully peeling off the paper backing of the tattoo to reveal the heart on her arm. After blowing on it a few times, he held it up so Caroline could see. “There you go princess, a tattoo like mommy.”

“Yay!” Scarlett smiled, turning around and showing Caroline. “See mommy? I like you now!”

“Very pretty, princess,” Caroline smiled, holding onto her arm and looking at the tattoo.

“Kiss please,” Scarlett replied, puckering her lips up again.

“Of course,” Caroline laughed and pulled her closer to her side of the table before giving the toddler a kiss. “Why thank you, Scarlett. Now how about you put your jacket on because it’s getting a little cold in here.”

“Okay, mommy,” Scarlett nodded, Matt handed Caroline the jacket from her diaper bag and Caroline put it onto her, zipping it up. “Hood too?”

“And your hood,” Caroline nodded, putting the hood onto her head. “There you go.”

“Cuddle with Ethie now?” Scarlett asked, a frown on her face as she looked out towards the rink for Melody and Ethan.

“Ethie’s busy, princess,” Matt said, turning her around. “But how about some cuddles with daddy and Mr. Hippopotamus? Would that be okay?”

“Okay,” she nodded, letting Matt pick her up and rest her in his lap. Caroline handed over Mr. Hippopotamus and watched as the toddler hugged it to her chest and snuggled down into Matt’s chest, staring out towards the rink.

Matt rested his chin down on top of her head as he held her close to him and looked at Caroline with a smile. “Change your mind on that thing we talked about earlier yet?” He asked, taking a quick glimpse down at Scarlett.

“Mmm, I might be able to be persuaded,” Caroline shrugged, taking one of the celery sticks out of the snack back and biting it.

Scarlett gasped, looking at the bag. “I want one please!” Matt grabbed a celery stick and handed it to Scarlett, who just snuggled back against Matt and just held onto the stick, not even eating it.

Matt kissed the top of her hood as he rubbed her back and looked at Caroline with a smile. “We’ve got the rest of the summer to practice and talk.”

It wasn’t supposed to be different.

Well, yeah, it was supposed to be different from when she first kissed him on Valentines Day when they were eight-years-old, and all of the times they’ve hung out every summer just the two of them– but not this different. Just because they weren’t just “hanging out” and were on a date, doesn’t mean that it was supposed to be different at all.

His parents never told him that it felt different on their first date to the school dance or what they called their “official” first date to Papa Walt’s pre-season games. They always played it off as if it felt like any other time they hung out together, but then they were more than just best friends. Everything was fine when he asked her if she wanted to go on a date, it didn’t feel any different because they were at the rink just having fun and practicing with his Dad, BeeBee and some of their other NHL playing friends.

“What are you doing this weekend?” He asked, the two of them picking up pucks from the end of the rink that they had to themselves.

“Um, I don’t think anything,” she shrugged, dumping the pucks she’d gathered in her practice jersey, down into the bucket. “My parents are going on a date for their anniversary, so I’ll probably just be home with Nonnie since she’s visiting from Texas for a bit since Andrew’s got a lot of road games this whole week. Why?”

“No reason,” Ethan replied, shaking his head as he ducked down into the net, keeping his back to her as he closed his eyes in frustration.

‘Stop being a scaredy cat, just ask her.’

“Actually, there is a reason,” he replied, standing up just slightly and hitting the top of the net with his head, forgetting it was there and immediately feeling his face and ears heat up in embarrassment.

“Here,” Melody laughed, bringing the bucket over. “At least we’re still small enough to where we don’t lift the entire nets like our dads.”

Ethan nodded, moving out from under the net and dropping the pucks he’d picked up into the bucket. “Papa Walt just says that my dad has a big head.”

Melody looked over her shoulder towards where his dad and everyone else was, tilting her head to the side and then looking back at him with a smile. “I’d say it’s slightly bigger than average.” She carried the bucket with them as they went to the corner boards, putting the bucket down onto the ice. “So what’s the reason? You said there was a reason why you were asking…what is it?”

“Oh uh,” Ethan cleared his throat, bending down and stacking a few pucks in his hands as he stood back up and dropped them into the bucket, shrugging. “Just seeing if maybe…we can hangout.”

“Like we are right now?” She asked, tossing more pucks into the bucket.

“Well, I mean…yeah, but no,” Ethan replied, shaking his head and picking up more pucks. “Like this, but not this…not during the day, maybe at night or something?”

“Eth–”

“Okay so a date!” He huffed, dropping the pucks into the bucket and when he looked at her and saw the shock on her face, his heart dropped and he felt nervous. “Maybe…if that’s okay?”

“So…it won’t be just us hanging out like we are right now?” She asked, furrowing her eyebrows. “But a date? Like a date, date?”

Ethan blinked, unsure of how to reply. He just kind of figured she’d say either yes or no, not that he’d have to explain himself. He’s never even been on a date before, so how was he supposed to know if there was really a difference? “Yeah. Like a date, date.”

Melody smiled, first it was a closed lipped one and then it grew, showing off her turquoise braces. Ethan may have hated his braces and thought that they made him look like a major dork, he’d always thought hers were pretty from the moment she sent him a selfie the day she got them. Not that there was ever a moment when he thought anything about her was ugly, but the braces, like everything else about her, just seemed to fit and make her prettier.

“Yeah, I’d love to,” she nodded, picking the bucket back up. “I’ll have to ask my mom and dad first though, but I doubt they’ll say no.”

“Really?!” He smiled, catching himself in excitement and clearing his throat. “I mean, yeah…me too. Ask my mom and dad, not yours. I don’t think mine will say no either, because they really like you. I mean I like you too, but they–”

“Ethan?” Melody laughed, cutting him off as she looked at him.

“Yeah?” He asked, skating beside her as they brought the full bucket of pucks to center ice.

“I already said yes,” she reached out and rested a hand on his shoulder, still smiling as she shook her head. “So relax, you dork.”

Yeah he was nervous actually asking her, but who wouldn’t be? It was him asking his best friend in the entire world on a date– their first date– so it was still kind of a big deal. But after that, once he asked his mom and dad and they talked to Melody’s parents, the rest of the week felt normal. He talked to Melody, hung out with her and nothing ever felt majorly different. But from the moment they pulled up in front of the Hastings’ he was nervous. It didn’t help that while he didn’t have a total black eye from where Scarlett had whacked him with the toe of her mini-stick, he did have a small amount of red swelling and slight bruising just along his left cheekbone like his mom said he most likely would.

Despite his parents hanging around in the rink with Scarlett and being within eyesight of him and Melody, Ethan was still able to have a pretty fun time. They skated a lot, challenging each other to see who would get around the rink faster or even just catching up on their lives in school of things they hadn’t managed to discuss throughout the school year and keeping up with each other every day. He talked about how different school was in Calgary compared to Shadowlawn and how he got to walk with Adam every day after school over to the high school where their mom’s worked.

Everything was going great, even when they decided to stop for something to eat and realized that they had to sit with his parents and Scarlett. It wasn’t that bad, because Scarlett was like a nice buffer in the switch from skating on the rink to sitting down and talking with his parents and getting entertained by Scarlett trying to tell them about the slide…that and she kept trying to steal the cheese or pepperoni off of their slices, especially his, even if she was holding a punch of puff snacks in one hand that their dad had been trying to feed her instead.

The worst part of the night, and it wasn’t even that bad really, was how when they went to the arcade, he spent the remainder of his allowance that he’d saved up for tonight, trying to win her a stuffed animal from one of the claw games. He tried, she tried, and the cycle continued before he eventually ran out of money and she did too, so they went back onto the floor. Of course not without Scarlett not trying to get them to stop every time that they skated by, even almost dropping a chicken tender on the floor and Ethan could already see that play out in his head where an employee would ask his parents to leave because of the toddler dropping chicken tenders onto the floor where someone ran it over and broke a leg. Then if they left, that meant he and Melody would have to leave because they already said that there was no way they were going to sit in the car while the two of them were in here.

“What’s your next excuse?” Melody laughed, out of breath as they both slowed down and moved towards the inner part of the skating circle. “You tripped on a chicken tender?”

“Ha ha, very funny,” Ethan replied, rolling his eyes as he slowed up beside her. “But no, no more excuses. You’re clearly a better skater than me.”

Melody smiled, bumping her shoulder against his. “I think I might get that in writing so one day when you’re in the NHL and competing in fastest skater, I’ll have it as proof that I’m a better one and you know it.”

“Or you could just train me so that way when I win and they pull me off to the side for an interview and ask, I can give you all the credit,” he smiled, the two of them still standing shoulder to shoulder.

“I’ll be sure to draft up a price chart for your lessons every summer,” she replied, nodding her head, looking ahead of them, then pointing. “I think your parents are waving us over…or at least Scar is.”

He looked over just ahead of them to see Scarlett sitting back against her shoes on the table yelling something, but he couldn’t quite hear her over the music. But it was the fact she was staring right at them that told him Melody was right. They kept the pace, moving themselves closer to the edge as they rounded the corner right by where his parents were sitting at the table, coming to a stop just in front of it.

“What’s up?” He asked, Scarlett staying where she was and not saying anything as he looked at their parents. “Is something wrong?”

“Ethie, I go pee-pee in the big kid potty!” She smiled, scooting herself all the way to the edge and reaching her arms out to try and hug him. “We have berries and pancakes tomorrow, mommy and daddy say so!”

The one person he could rely on not to embarrass him in front of Melody, just turned on him at the worst possible moment and with the worst possible thing. Sure, Scarlett is a cute toddler, but the last thing he wants to talk about on his date is the fact that his little sister just used the adult toilet for the first time. Melody was the youngest sibling, she didn’t have any younger relatives and she’s only ever been around Madeline and Scarlett whenever she was around him– but never once did a potty training conversation ever come up.

“That’s awesome Scar!” Melody smiled, holding her right hand up for Scarlett. “Can you give me a high-five?”

“Mhhm!” Scarlett nodded, using her own right hand to hit Melody’s before holding her hand out for him. “Ethie, five too?”

Ethan blinked in awe that Melody never even cringed at Scarlett’s bathroom announcement. To him the moment the news left Scarlett’s mouth, he wanted to crawl into a hole and hide. He could even feel his ears and face start to heat up with embarrassment…until Melody was the one who broke through the slight awkward silence with excitement. That made everything a little less embarrassing for him, and what really sealed the deal was how Scarlett was looking at him. It was hard enough that she was a cute toddler and had the chubby baby cheeks like he’d had in all his baby pictures, but she had their mom’s eyes and she was pulling off the puppy dog pout the way he’d taught her to and it just made him think of her being sad and then their mom being sad…and he hated thinking of that or even seeing it.

“Yeah, come here,” he sighed, reaching over the edge and picking her up, feeling her squeeze her arms around his neck as he hugged her. When he put her back down onto the table, he held up his left hand for a high-five and Scarlett smiled, hitting his hand. “We can even watch a movie tonight too–”

“Ducks!” She cheered, throwing her arms in the air. “We watch ducks, please?”

He couldn’t help but smile. Not like he hadn’t been training her to watch and enjoy the mighty ducks movies with him since she was a baby, he totally had and it was clearly paying off very well. “Okay,” he carefully nudged her back a little away from the edge, not wanting her to fall over. “Ducks it is.

“Annnnd this is when we let Ethan and Melody keep skating, Scar,” his mom said, moving her arm in front of Scarlett so she wouldn't try to get closer to the edge. “Say bye.”

“Bye!” Scarlett waved as Ethan and Melody moved away from the edge and continued to skate around the rink.

“She’s cute,” Melody said, nodding behind them. “Makes me wish I had a younger sibling.”

Ethan nodded. “Yeah, she’s a lot of fun when she’s not whacking me in the face with a mini stick or trying to follow me into the bathroom.”

“Oh come on, you love her,” Melody teased, reaching up and poking his cheek. “Admit it. She’s the best thing to ever happen, because I know for a fact that you’ve been dying for a brother or sister since forever.”

“I didn’t say that I didn’t love her. She’s just, a lot sometimes, because she always wants to be around me,” Ethan laughed, shaking his head as he looked at her. “Bathtime? I always have to be there. Before I used to just sit on the toilet while my mom or dad gave her a bath, but now I just put on my swim trunks and get in with her because she wants to play with toys. And when we brush our teeth, she likes to sit on the sink and brush her teeth with me. She won’t let our mom or dad put the toothpaste on her brush, only me.”

“Sounds to me like she really loves her big brother,” Melody said, nudging him again.

All of a sudden, just when things were starting to feel like they were normal– like it was them being two best friends just on a date– the stupid DJ pulls a stunt like that. Maybe it was because he was too young to ever really pay attention to the fact that there was a couples skate, but now he was well aware and his heart was thumping against his chest as he started to notice that one by one, people who weren’t in a pair were walking off the rink. And those that were? Well, they were holding hands and still skating along.

At least he knew the song– it was one his mom always used to listen to when he was younger. She’s still to this day a big fan of Taylor Swift. But it’s still pretty awkward to skate to a song called lover, on their first date…when technically, they weren’t even a couple. So were they allowed to stay skating around? Oh God, what would his parents think? He could easily hear the teasing from his dad now and at least he knew that his mom would step in to defend him from it, unless she took part in it too and–

“Hello? Ethan?” Melody said, waving her hand in front of his face. “Are you in there?”

“What?” He asked, shaking himself out of his thoughts. “Oh, yeah…sorry, I was just trying to figure out what song it was. My mom listens to her music all the time.”

“Nonnie does too.” Melody nodded, the two still skating side by side as they kept getting passed by couples.

“Ethie, hold Mellie hand!” Scarlett yelled, fully leaning against the edge of the rink, her signature frustrated pout on her face as the two of them skated by.

Unfortunately, this time he was able to hear what she was saying…which meant that Melody could too. And that was only confirmed when he could see her tuck her chin into her chest out of the corner of his eye. And there was no stopping himself from turning red right there. Just when he thought that Scarlett could come through for him…she does this.

He was definitely looking forward to the day where he didn’t need chaperones on his dates.

“So um…sixth grade!” Ethan said, quickly changing the subject. “School dances and stuff… are you excited?”

Melody shrugged her shoulders, chewing on the inside of her cheek. “I guess. Chloe said she thinks Benji might ask me to the winter one because he asked me to be his Valentine this year.”

“Oh,” Ethan frowned, shoving his hands into his pockets. “I thought you liked the stuff I sent you?”

“I did, I did!” She nodded, suddenly looking shocked. “I just— he asked me in front of the entire class and you know how my mom says I’m too nice for my own good…so I only said yes so he didn’t get embarrassed. And I told him that after school, and that you’d asked me first.”

And he did. Another time of saving up as much of his allowance that he could, though he needed a lot of assistance from his mom and dad— because while he’d sent a box filled with her favorite candies, two books and a teddy bear, his parents also helped him pick out an edible arrangement for her to eat as well. They asked him if he wanted to or anything on the card and he said yes and told them not to look while he typed it up and then made sure they didn’t see it when they filled out the payment information.

He’d written— “Mel, Happy Valentine’s Day. Will you be my Valentine for the fourth year in a row? xx E”

She texted him back a yes and funny enough, a few days later, right on Valentine’s day, he’d come home to a box on the front porch from her. Filled up with m&m’s, a pack of hockey trading cards, a cool St. Louis Blues shirt and then even one of her own trading cards from the season…signed of course.

“What about you?” She asked, fidgeting with her fingers. “Are you excited for school dances and stuff?”

“I don’t know if they do them in junior high in Canada…or at least not in Calgary,” he replied, shrugging his shoulders. “My mom and Mrs. Elizabeth chaperoned the formal this year…which I guess is like a prom. But I think that’s the only one they have.”

“That sucks.”

“Not really,” he replied, shaking his head as she looked at him. “Cause if I was going to go to a dance, I’d want to go with you.”

She smiled again and he’s known her long enough to know when she was blushing or flustered. But it was how she tucked some of her curls behind her ear that he knew she was just as nervous as he was. “I’d want to go to a dance with you too. So are you free for prom when we’re seniors in high school?”

They both laughed as Ethan just nodded and moved his head side to side. “I’ll probably be playing for the Knights by then…so I think I can manage that.”

“I like that you’re following in your dad’s footsteps,” she said, their nerves easily fading out. “I think it’s really cool, but I also hope you make it your own, you know?”

“Oh I will,” Ethan replied. “I plan on beating every and any record he made. I only wish my birthday was maybe a day or two later so I could at least beat him for being younger too when I get drafted.”

They continued to skate around the corner and Ethan looked around at all of the strictly couples only who were skating with them. Every– and literally, every single one of them…were holding hands. It was a couple skate and they were on a date. If she didn’t want to hold his hand, the worst she could do was say no. But then a part of her must like him enough to want to hold his hand since she said yes to going on a date with him. He felt himself get nervous on how to initiate it– but then he remembered the advice his dad gave him.

“Hey dad?” Ethan asked, putting the mini sticks nets away in their corner of the living room as his dad was leaning against the back of the couch, double checking that everything was in the diaper bag.

“What’s up, E?” He asked, looking up from the bag and zipping it.

“So when you’re on a date,” he turned around, slowing down his actions as he collected the mini sticks and the ball. “How do you like…hold her hand? I-I mean I know how, but like…how do you get her to?”

His dad smiled, nodding him over. “I’ll show you the trick I always used to get your mom to hold my hand when we were your age and younger before we started dating.”

Ethan placed the sticks and ball on top of the net and walked over to his dad, leaning against the couch arm. “But I don’t want to trick her into holding my hand…I want her to actually want to hold it.”

“If she doesn’t want to then she’ll just let go of your hand dude, relax. Now watch,” he said, taking a deep breath, exhaling and then rolling his shoulders forward before nodding at him. “I want to show you something.”

Ethan furrowed his eyebrows. “I thought you already were?”

“What? No, that’s— this is part of it. You tell Melody ‘I want to show you something’ and when she asks what, you tell her to put her right hand out like this,” his dad laid his hand out in front of him, palm up. “Or whichever hand you’re going to hold. But for right now, put your left hand out…do it.”

Confused, Ethan copied his dad and put his left hand out ahead of him, palm up. “And when she does, you just,” his dad reached for his hand and held it. “And voila, you’re now holding hands.”

“And that actually works?” Ethan asked, as his dad let go of his hand.

“Worked on your mom all the time.” He smiled, nodding his head. “The first time I did that was one summer when we were at the lake. We were 10 and I told her that she had to hold my hand until the fireworks were over. She did.”

Ethan nodded, leaning fully against the arm of the couch and bringing his feet off of the floor, “I kinda have one more question.”

“If you want to ask before your mom walks in, I’d make it quick. She’s the one who can get Scarlett not to put up a fight with what to wear.”

He shrugged, not wanting to look at his dad as he asked and instead focused on the sliding glass door to the backyard. “So if we were to kiss what do I do?”

“Well for one, don’t get your braces stuck together because then we’d have to go to the nearest fire station so they could use their wire cutters to get you both unstuck,” his dad replied with a smile as Ethan looked at him in panic. “But E, you guys have already kissed. I think you know what to do.”

“But we were eight!” He whined, resting his chin on his arms. “It was just a peck that lasted like two seconds.”

His dad raised an eyebrow. “So what? Are you planning on making out with her right then and there in the skating rink?”

Ethan’s face crinkled as he rolled his eyes. “Gross, dad, no. But I don’t want it to be a two second peck on the lips.”

“I gotcha,” his dad laughed, leaning his arms against the back of the couch. “Well, kissing is really just something you pick up along the way the more you do it, E. You read off of each other. So tonight, if you choose to kiss her or her you, just go off of what you feel. If you choose to do it, you can just kiss like you did when you were eight and then pull away after a few seconds and go for a second one. But do you want two pieces of real advice I can give you besides that?”

“That’d be nice since it’s what I asked for originally.”

“Dork,” his dad rolled his eyes, reaching out and nudging his head. “But really Ethan, the four most important things when it comes to kissing are this.” He held up his right thumb finger, “turn your head slightly to the right before you kiss, that one comes from Aunt Clara so thank her for that.”

He held up his index finger, “read off each other, don’t just smash your mouth against hers, okay? You have to be gentle with it.”

He held up his middle finger last and looked at him. “If and this is a big heavy if, you two do decide to make-out, make sure I am nowhere nearby because I will not only chirp you about it until I’m dead, but it will be embarrassing for both of us for many, many years.”

“And lastly, but most importantly,” he held up his ring finger. “When you’re kissing her, make sure you’re touching her also. Whether that’s her face like you see mom and I do, her waist or even just holding her hand. It’s a little more romantic if you’re touching in some way, got it?”

“Got it.”

“Hey Mel?” Ethan asked, taking his hands out of his pockets.

“Yeah?”

“I want to show you something,” he replied, holding his left hand out just like his dad had taught him to. “Put your right hand out like this.”

“Okay?” She replied, looking confused as she did what he asked and looked at him. “Why?”

Ethan smiled and moved his hand over towards hers before flipping it over and intertwining his fingers with hers— officially holding her hand. “Nothing, but it got you to hold my hand. Now you have to hold it until the song is over…or not, I-I mean you can do whatever you want to do because my mom says that nobody can tell you what to do—“

Melody laughed and squeezed his hand, smiling at him. “Okay.”

“And even if you don’t want to kiss her just yet, a kiss on the cheek is good too. I always did that to your mom even after we kissed at the school dance.” His dad smiled, reaching out and nudging his arm. “It’s a nice sentiment to let her know you care.”

Ethan quickly looked over his shoulder to see his mom was looking down at her lap, probably on her phone and he looked back at Melody, quickly leaning over and kissing her cheek before moving back. Melody looked at him, just as surprised as he was that he actually did it. But what he didn’t expect her to do, was skate closer to him to where their shoulders were touching versus having that hand holding distance between them. She leaned in, kissing his cheek before resting her head on his shoulder for just a second before standing close to him still, the two of them continuing to skate to the music.

And even as the seconds ticked on, he swore he could still feel her lips on his cheek and the warmth that had spread across his entire body the moment she did it.

When it started to near 9 o’clock, Caroline broke their promise of making sure they were out of sight and out of mind, flagging Ethan and Melody down and telling them to be ready to leave and be at the car by 9 o’clock, so that way they would leave with the younger crowd and wouldn’t get caught up in the older crowd for the night. Immediately after the warning, the two of them had done one more lap before getting off of the rink, turning in their skates and putting their shoes back on.

“Momma,” Ethan huffed, coming to a stop next to their table. “Can I have $20?”

“Sure, but where’s Melody?” Caroline asked, pulling her wallet out of her purse.

“Waiting by the arcade, I promise I’ll pay you back. I just want to try and win something for her or else I’ll look like a total dweeb.”

“Better make it $40,” Matt said, holding onto the half chewed celery stick Scarlett had started to eat before she opted for the puffs instead. “If his arcade game skills are anything like they were back when he was eight, it’s a lost cause. You were the one who won Groot, Care, remember?”

“Groot?” Scarlett asked, looking up from the puffs lid. “I want Groot!”

“No Groot,” Ethan said, pointing at Scarlett. “Groot doesn’t leave my room.”

“Groot my friend,” Scarlett said, sticking a puff in her mouth. “Mine.”

Caroline shook her head and sighed as she handed him the $20. “You both have your shoes and your belongings with you?” When Ethan nodded his head she waved him off. “9 o’clock Ethan, we’re heading out the door. Got it? That means you’ve got ten minutes.”

“Yes ma’am, thank you!” He said, immediately turning around and running to wherever he’d left Melody standing last.

“No more puffs, Scar,” Matt said, moving the toddler’s hand from trying to dig into the container. “It’s way past your bedtime and you should be sleeping, not snacking.”

“I not tired, daddy,” Scarlett said, crossing her arms and pouting. “You tired, you go sleep.”

Matt huffed, nodding his head. “Yeah, daddy is very tired. Which is why you should be tired.”

“Mr. Hipotomush tired?” Scarlett asked, looking down at her stuffed animal sitting on the table before looking back at Matt, shaking her head. “Mr. Hipotomush no tired, I no tired too.”

Caroline laughed as she packed up the diaper bag, taking the celery stick from Matt. “Scar, I know you’re excited to watch ducks with Ethie, but you might have to do that in the morning,” she said, eating the rest of the celery stick.

“No mommy!” Scarlett pouted, eyes instantly filling with tears. “I wan watch ducks night! Ducks with Ethie!”

“Sorry princess, but it’s past your bedtime and you’re going to fall asleep the moment you and Ethie lay down to watch it. And we need you to sleep in your big girl bed,” she said, tossing their trash in the trash can that was behind them since they had the corner table. “You like your big girl bed, remember?”

It wasn’t much of a real big kid bed, just her crib that was transformed into a toddler bed instead, so she wasn’t constantly trying to climb out of her crib and risk falling down onto the floor. Especially after the incident when she was a year old where Ethan had accidentally dropped her onto the floor while trying to help her out of her crib and she cried to the point where they thought she broke a bone– only to find out that she hadn’t been injured at all. But still, it wasn’t uncommon for Scarlett to find her way out of her bed and room in the early morning hours and crawl into Ethan’s bed.

A habit that Ethan doesn’t really mind, but would also prefer not to be woken up from time to time because Scarlett can’t climb up onto his bed and is demanding for him to pick her up.

“Ducks my room,” she said, grabbing her hippo and cuddling against Matt’s chest, looking away from Caroline and up at Matt. “Ethie sleep in big girl bed too.”

“Ethie’s too big for your big girl bed, princess,” Matt said, looking at her. “Maybe tomorrow during nap time, Ethie will take one with you again in his room.”

Her pouty bottom lip quivered as she shut her eyes and ducked her head down into her chest and then her 24 pound body started to tremble with sobs and hiccups. “N-no b-b-big girl,” she cried, her left fist rubbing at her left eye as her face was turning red from crying and her right arm, which had Mr. Hippopotamus clutched in its hand, reaching out for Caroline. “D-ducks b-bed, m-mom-mommy.”

“And I think this is our cue to leave,” Matt sighed, standing up from his chair and walking over to Caroline and handing a leaning Scarlett over to her. “I’ll grab the diaper bag and go start the car.”

“I’ll find Ethan and tell him to meet us out there.” She nodded, adjusting Scarlett’s hood onto her head as she sniffled into her ear and clung around Caroline’s neck for dear life.

They walked towards the entrance of the skating rink as more teens started to file into the building and towards the skate rental and rink floor. Matt walked ahead of her as Caroline stopped at the arcade and tried to skim through the crowds of people that were in it, spotting Ethan and Melody at a claw machine midway through the arcade. She made her way through the crowd of people, coming up beside them as Ethan went to put in another token.

“Your dad and I are going to the car, Scar’s getting tired so we’re just going to go ahead and get her settled in. I still want you guys out the door at 9 o’clock though, okay? No hanging around.”

“Yes ma’am,” he and Melody said, nodding as they turned their attention back to the claw machine.

She turned back around, rubbing Scarlett’s back since the toddler was no longer crying, still just sniffling quietly, and made her way back through the crowds and then out the exit door of the skating rink and across the parking lot to where Matt had started the car and was waiting at the trunk, leaning against the back of the car.

“Want me to put her in the seat?” Matt asked, standing up straight as Caroline got closer.

“No it’s okay, I’ve got it, you can get in the car,” she said, walking over to the passengers side back door and opening it as Matt walked around to the drivers side. “Okay, Scar you gotta let go of mommy’s neck so she can put you in your car seat okay?”

“No,” Scarlett mumbled, digging her head further into the crook of Caroline’s shoulder.

“How about if mommy sits back here with you?” Caroline asked, trying to get the toddler to look at her. “Will you get in your car seat then? And I’ll sit back here with you until Ethie and Melody get back?”

Scarlett leaned back, nodding her head as Caroline stood her up on the back seat. “Yes please.”

“Okay, climb on in and I’ll sit back here with you.” Caroline smiled, taking Scarlett’s jacket off and then using the sleeves to wipe her cheeks before kissing her cheek and letting her climb into her car seat and sit down. Caroline sat down and closed the door behind her and scooted closer to Scarlett’s car seat, starting to buckle her in as Scarlett hugged onto her hippopotamus.

“Keep an eye out on them, Matt?” Caroline asked, sliding her hand beneath Scarlett’s buckle and softly rubbing her stomach to see if it would get her to fall asleep.

“Were they almost done?” He asked, looking at her through the rearview mirror.

“I don’t know, but I told him 9 o’clock still, so he’s got about,” Caroline peeped at the clock on the touch screen, nodding. “Two minutes to be outside.”

Caroline leaned her head against the headrest of the middle seat as she watched Scarlett slowly start to drift to sleep, only an hour past her bedtime. She kept rubbing her stomach softly, just until she was sure that Scarlett was fast asleep. Scarlett wasn’t a light sleeper by any means, it always took a little extra effort to get her to sleep and to wake her up from a nap, so Caroline knew that if she kept rubbing her stomach for the next two minutes, along with Scarlett having cried so hard, then she would be fast asleep in no time.

“Sh, is that them right there?” Matt asked, whipping his head around and staring through the rear window.

“Matthew, quiet!” Caroline whispered, nodding down at Scarlett. “But what are you talking about?”

“Turn around,” he said, nodding back and Caroline followed his gaze, looking through the back window. “Right there by the exit door, is that them walking out and getting ready to stand by the wall?”

Caroline squinted, trying to figure out in the group of kids walking in and out of the rink, were the two that belonged to them, until she spotted just who Matt was talking about– and sure enough, it was Ethan and Melody. “Yeah, that’s them. Do you think they forgot where we parked? Hold on let me get out and–”

“No!” Matt said, reaching back and smacking at her hand, shaking his head. “They definitely didn’t forget where the car’s parked. Your car literally has an #7 junior-flames hockey sticker on it.”

“Then why are they just standing there?” She asked, turning back and peering through the window.

“He asked me earlier when you were getting Scar dressed about how to hold her hand and kiss her, so if I’m guessing right, he’s probably going to kiss her.”

“What?” Caroline gasped, looking back at him. “But he’s a baby, he’s only like 8.”

“That’s what you said when he actually was eight and kissed Melody the first time, only you said he was four.” Matt laughed, rolling his eyes. “There, there mama bear. The first little cub is just growing up.”

“I know,” she frowned and sighed, looking down at a still fast asleep Scarlett. “Now I know how our parents feel. It sucks but is also equally awesome to watch them grow.” She looked back over her shoulder to see Ethan and Melody talking, both of them sort of shielded by a car parked nearby. “We should probably give them privacy.”

“Are you kidding?” Matt scoffed, motioning towards the back window. “Besides, this is revenge for all the times he cockblocked me. Not to mention while our parents didn’t see our first kiss, my dad wasn’t afraid to literally tap on the glass during a break on the ice because he saw me kiss you before his shift change. Plus I want to see if he took my advice.”

“Good point,” Caroline replied, turning around in her seat and looking out the window while partially trying to hide behind the headrest. “Do you see a stuffed animal? I hope he was able to win one for her. I know he was–”

“Sh!” Matt gasped, hitting the front passenger headrest. “What’s he doing? You’re closer. Is he holding her hand?”

Caroline rolled her eyes. “I’m barely closer and it’s dark–”

“What’s he doing? Hand, face, or waist?”

“What?” Caroline asked, looking at him over her shoulder. “What the hell are you talking about Matthew?”

Matt sighed and rolled his eyes. “I told him that when he kisses a girl, he should be touching her. Either her face, her waist or holding her hand. So turn back around and tell me if braceface is following my advice.”

Caroline shook her head and tried to lean forward more. “Uh…” she squinted more, tilting her head to the side. “Both? Maybe?”

“Both? Care I gave you three–”

“Fine, fine um…well he’s holding her right hand and–” Caroline’s eyes widened as she gasped, reaching back and reaching for Matt’s hand that was resting on the side of the passenger seat. “He moved a hand to her cheek, Matthew.”

No sooner than she said that, did Ethan lean in closer to Melody and from where she and Matt were sitting in the car, it looked like the two of them were kissing.

Caroline was smacking at Matt’s hand, pointing out the window. “Matthew, he's kissing her, they’re kissing!”

Ethan pulled away, but just a short moment later, Melody leaned back in and kissed him again, causing Matt to swat at Caroline’s hand. “Stop swatting at me and enjoy the fact that our son has major game like his dad.”

Caroline turned towards Matt, raising an eyebrow as she snorted. “Alright, sure we’ll go with that.” When she turned back around, the two were still kissing before finally pulling away and then the both of them started to walk away from where they were standing and back in a more clear view, headed towards the car holding hands.

“Shit, turn back around,” Matt huffed, quickly turning forward and adjusting his position in his seat before turning the radio up just a little bit. “Act natural.”

Caroline carefully turned forward in her seat, but propped the car door open just enough to where whoever got in on this side would know that someone could be back there and then pretended to double check Scarlett’s buckles.

“Oh hi, Mrs. Caroline,” Melody said, opening the door and standing just outside of it. “Did you want to sit back here with Scarlett?”

“Oh no, that’s fine sweetie. She just wanted me to sit back here with her until you both got back,” Caroline said, scooting out of the seat. “But she just fell asleep so just try to be a little quiet when you get in. She shouldn’t wake up, but just in case.”

Melody nodded and let Caroline get out of the car before Caroline switched places with her and then went to close the door once Melody got inside, only for Ethan to close it first. “So you won a claw machine prize after all?” Caroline asked, noting how Melody had been carrying a stuffed Patrick Star plush.

“I tried to get the Scooby Doo one because that was her favorite cartoon when we were little, but his head kept slipping through the claw,” Ethan nodded, shrugging his shoulders. “And somehow I grabbed Patrick on the last try…so I don’t have any change for you, sorry.”

“It’s fine Ethan, I’m just glad you had fun,” she smiled, nudging his back. “Now go ahead and get in the car.”

He nodded and walked around the back of the car to the drivers side and Caroline opened the front passenger door and got in, closing it behind her. “Alright, time to go home. We’ve got a curfew to meet and multiple bedtimes have been delayed. Ethan’s included–”

“Dad!” Ethan groaned, barely done with putting his seatbelt on as he glared at Matt. “I don’t have a bedtime!”

“Ethan Matthew!” Caroline said, turning around and looking at him. “Your sister is sleeping, quiet down.” She turned to Matt, nudging his elbow as he put the car into reverse. “And Matthew, stop teasing him. We get it, it’s past your bedtime.”

“Not all of us can be youthful tweens,” Matt teased, rolling his eyes as he started to pull out of the parking lot. “And some of us need our beauty sleep. Ethan is most definitely one of– ow!” He looked towards Caroline, furrowing his eyebrows as he rolled his right shoulder. “What was that for?”

“Figure it out,” she replied, giving him another look before relaxing into her seat. “Melody, your mom said that you know to text her and Nonnie when we were leaving the rink. Don’t forget to, sweetheart.”

“Yes ma’am, I’m doing it now.” Melody replied, the light coming from her phone screen being the only source of light in the backseat.

They listened to the radio play softly on the car ride home, Melody asking Matt about the last season and about the upcoming season and then Caroline about how she likes teaching at her new school and how her mom misses working with Caroline and that she said Coach Preston was having trouble finding a new teacher to bother. By the time they pulled up to the Hastings’ house, only Nonnie’s car was in the driveway, which allowed Matt to pull up so Ethan and Melody didn’t have far to walk.

“Thank you for driving us tonight, Mrs. Caroline and Mr. Matt,” Melody said, unbuckling her seatbelt and opening her door. “And thanks for letting us go, I had a lot of fun.”

“Of course, Melody. It’s always a pleasure getting to hang out with you,” Caroline replied. “Tell Nonnie we said hi and that I still give her permission to smack Andrew upside the head every once in a while if it’s deserved. She can even say it's from me.”

“Okay, Mrs. Caroline,” Melody laughed, nodding her head. “Goodnight!” They waved goodbye as Melody closed her door and Ethan was already standing there to walk up with her to the front door…which also just so happened to be out of sight.

Matt nudged Caroline, a smile on his face. “How much do you want to bet he’s gonna do a cliche front porch kiss too?”

“Leave him alone, Matthew,” she sighed, shaking her head as she laughed. “Why do you always have to embarrass him?”

“Because it’s fun, out of love and a rightful dad passage.”

“Chew.” A soft sound came from Scarlett’s car seat, the both of them looking back towards her.

“Scar, sweetie are you awake?” Caroline asked, turning around.

“Hold on, I got this,” Matt said, unbuckling his seatbelt and opening the door, getting out of the car and then getting into the back, sitting in Ethan’s seat and sliding over next to Scarlett. “Well good morning princess.”

“Chew,” Scarlett smiled, stretching in her car seat as much as she could.

“Oh bless you,” Matt smiled, leaning down and kissing her forehead. “Hm, must be allergies, because she doesn’t have a fever.”

“No, daddy,” Scarlett giggled softly, pointing up at him. “Matt-chew.”

Matt’s face deadpanned as Caroline’s jaw dropped and then she started to laugh. “No sweetie, I’m not Matthew, I’m daddy. Dah-dee. Daddy.”

“Matt-chew.” She giggled again.

“Why are you doing this? Go back to sleep,” he whined, looking at Caroline. “Did Ethan do this? Is this normal? Why does she hate me?”

“She probably thinks it's funny, Matty,” Caroline sighed, nodding at him. “I mean, look how worked up you got.”

Matt looked back down at Scarlett, pouting. “Scar, you love daddy, right princess?”

“No daddy,” Scarlett said, shaking her head as he yawned and pointing at him again, smiling. “Matt-chew.”

He sighed, hanging his head down as he shook it. “You’ve forced me to take extreme measures princess,” he looked back up at her and pointed at him. “I’m daddy. Dad-dee. Dah-dee. Daddy. Not Matthew or Matt-chew.”

“Matt-chew.”

Matt sighed again, shaking his head. “Okay, no ducks.”

“Matthew!” Caroline gasped, eyes wide. “Don’t torture the poor girl.”

“Ducks, daddy!” Scarlett cried, whining slightly as she held both arms up. “Ducks, daddy please?”

Matt smiled, looking at Caroline with an ‘I told you so’ look before leaning down and kissing Scarlett. “Of course, princess. Daddy was just joking.”

He got out of the car and left the door barely closed before getting back into the driver's seat and closing his door. A few moments later, Ethan came walking down from the front porch and towards the car, walking back around towards the drivers side and getting into the backseat, closing the door. “Nonnie says hi.”

“Hi Ethie,” Scarlett said quietly as Ethan put his seatbelt on. “Ducks?”

“Oh yeah, ducks,” Ethan nodded, sinking into his seat. “Maybe tomorrow, Scar. I’m kinda tired.”

“Chew! Chew!” Scarlett whined, kicking in her carseat. “Ducks, chew!”

“Bless you,” Ethan said, leaning closer towards her car seat as Caroline started laughing. “What?”

“She’s not sneezing, Ethan,” Caroline said, looking at Matt. “It seems she’s discovered dad’s name is in fact, not daddy. But Matthew.”

“Matt-chew! Ethie watch ducks please!” Scarlett called out, holding her hippopotamus in the air.

“Ethan, just tell her yes and put an end to it,” Matt groaned, both hands on the steering wheel as he backed out of the driveway. “We’ll just give her a warm bottle when we get home.”

Ethan nodded, leaning against Scarlett’s car seat. “We’ll watch ducks when we get home, Scar.”

“Yay,” she smiled, snuggling down into her seat. “Ducks quack!”

“That’s right,” Ethan smiled, holding onto one of her hands. “The ducks quack.”

“So, Ethan,” Matt asked, looking at him through the rearview mirror. “How was your first date? Everything you hoped for? Did you score a second date?”

“It was a lot of fun,” he nodded, trying to hide his smile as they drove down the lit neighborhood streets. “Yeah, I asked if she’d want to go on another one before we go back to Calgary and she said yeah, she just has to ask permission and then we have to figure out when and what to do. Thanks for letting us go.”

“Of course, sweetie. We’re glad you had fun,” Caroline smiled, looking over her shoulder. “So I know we’re not supposed to ask because you get all embarrassed, but are you and Melody dating?”

“No, we’re not dating because we’re both not allowed to date until we’re 13,” Ethan replied, shaking his head as he smiled, this time not holding it back. “But she said if I ask her next summer, she'd say yes.”

Matt and Caroline shared a look as Ethan looked down at his phone, most likely replying to a text from Melody. Matt reached across the center console and held his hand out for Caroline to hold. And when she took it, she intertwined their fingers and he brought her hand to his, kissing her knuckles.

“Feeling a sense of deja vu?” He whispered, just for the two of them to hear.

Caroline snuck a look over her shoulder at Ethan, who was still holding onto one of Scarlett’s hands with his right hand, and holding his phone in his left. The light off of his phone screen lit up his face to show him still smiling as he was replying to a text. “Yeah, majorly.” She looked back at Matt, shrugging. “But I think I’m pretty confident in how it’ll end.”

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dukesleftbreast · 3 years

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Heisenwinters Fluff Headcanons

Requested by @too-spoopy-to-be-frukd, hope you like it! ✌🏻

I hope you guys like my first hc post, I’m sorry if it’s not as long as you want, I didn’t want to take up everyone’s timeline 😭

Let me know if you want a part 2 or more specific headcanons ☺️ if you want to make a request, please look [here] first!

genre: fluff and general relationship hc’s

- They waited a while before entering into a relationship, mainly because Karl had a lot of anxieties about it since he’d never been in a relationship before. It took a lot of reassuring from Ethan’s part that this is what he wanted.

- Karl’s love language is physical affection, giving and receiving. He loves to sling his arm around Ethan’s shoulder, or place his hand between his shoulders, sort of like saying, ‘hey, I belong to him and he belongs to me, back off’. It’s a soft show of possession.

- If Ethan returns the affection, though, he turns to putty in his hands. If he were chocolate, he would melt. All he has to do is rest his hand on Karl’s shoulder, and he’s a blushing, mumbling mess.

- Ethan’s love language is acts of service. He helps Karl with his work, cleaning his work space, cooking him food, doing his laundry. He doesn’t have to do it, and Karl offers to help, but Ethan loves doing it, and it’s his way of showing his love. He’s a true malewife.

- Ethan encourages Karl to creat art with his metal work! And when he enters into art exhibitions, he’s always there front and centre to show his support. Seeing the look of pride of Ethan’s face is all the reward he needs. He even brings little Rose along to brighten his day.

- Speaking of Rose, they’re the best papas! They take her everywhere she wants to go; modern AU: they’ve been to Disneyland and Legoland at least 3 times each. And she absolutely has Karl wrapped around her little finger; whatever she wants, she gets.

- They’re favourite way to relax is laying on the sofa or in their bed, Karl on top while Ethan strokes his hair. He falls asleep almost instantly, and Ethan is stuck their unable to move for the next 2 hours 😭

- They cut each other’s hair and only trust each other to do it right. It’s their favourite bonding pass time, and they even give each other scalp massages.

- Ethan convinces Karl to tone down on cigars, especially when Rose is around. In fact, all he has to do is mention Rose, and Karl’s already given up on them completely.

- Before Ethan showed up, Karl didn’t know how to cook. All he knew was eat hot chip and be gay. He’s definitely eating like a king now though. Sometimes if they can’t be bothered to cook, they invite the Duke over under the guise that they want to hang out, but they just want someone to cook for them. Poor Duke ends up third-wheeling while Ethan and Karl end up eye-f*cking.

- They have similar fashion styles, so they can very easily wear each other’s clothes. Karl goes absolutely feral when he see Ethan wearing his clothes tho. I hc that he’s half-Lycan, so it’s definitely a scent thing. It drives him crazy see Ethan wear something that smells like him.

- Karl used to have a lot of night terrors at the beginning of their relationship, and because Ethan is such a light sleeper, he’s be awake in an instant to comfort him and give him cuddles. He’d never ask, and would always wait for Karl to feel comfortable enough to tell him what he dreamt about. He rarely has them anymore, Ethan is definitely the healing salve that he needed.

- Their relationship is mentally healthy and mature. They definitely set clear boundaries so that they don’t accidentally trauma dump; Ethan’s relationship with Mia turned into a sort of ‘therapist/patient’ one, so he makes sure it doesn’t happen with Karl. They’re vocal and let each other know if they can’t be mentally there for the other.

- Later into their relationship, they adopt a puppy and named her ‘Monster Truck’ 🥺 they adopted her without knowing she was pregnant so they ended up with little baby monster trucks‼️

- They haven’t talked about marriage with each other yet, but they definitely have rings picked out ready, and they know where and when they’re gonna propose. They think they’re slick, but everyone knows it’s gonna happen before they do.

- Ethan keeps talking Karl down from pulling a Moreau and getting a tattoo on his arm with Ethan’s name plastered on it. He thinks it worked until Karl comes home one day with a particularly guilty look on his face, and Ethan knows immediately.

- Karl has never seen the ocean before, so the first thing Ethan does is take him on a day trip. Let’s just say by the end of it Ethan is washing sand from Karl’s hair for the next 4 hours.

- They also take day trips to nature reserves because it reminds Karl of the village he grew up in. It’s very sentimental for him and Ethan has to comfort him sometimes, because although he hated being there and how trapped he felt, it was still his home for most of his life.

#resident evil village #resident evil 8 #resident evil #karl heisenberg #Ethan winters #heisenwinters #wintersberg #Ethan x Karl #ethan winters x karl heisenberg #re: village #re: v #my post #my headcanons

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bearsinpotatosacks · 2 years

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The Lengths I'll Go - Chapter 4

Chapter 1

Chapter 2

Chapter 3

Masterlist

~~~

The thrumming sound of the shower filled up the slight fog growing in his mind. Mist swirled around him as he took off his clothes. He moved with less care now. It had been a week since he'd arrived and his wounds were starting to heal, although it was beginning to itch at all times now.

Benji had gone shopping to get him some clothes of his own, he was running out of old ones to let him borrow. He'd picked up some waterproof gauzes while he was out and Ethan practically jumped at the chance to have a proper shower.

He stepped under the hot stream. The water pressure was just right. Temperature not scalding him. This was worth the wait.

Looking down, he saw the water tinge red from blood. He'd cleaned around the wound plenty but there had been some dried blood he couldn't get out with just antiseptic gel.

As he began to wash, he felt his mind wander. Showers were safe and secluded. The mist created a wall and the water filled his mind just enough that he could let it wander.

Staying at Benji's place had become more normal. His heart didn't race whenever they touched hands. Things were becoming calmer, more normal and he felt at home.

Benji was a good host. He was better at cooking than he gave himself credit for, a skill he appreciated more after surviving off his own lackluster food. He went on about how he was still learning, that it didn't taste amazing or wasn't as good as he'd hoped, but he told him otherwise every time.

Ethan had been thinking about Benji a lot lately. It all started with the strange loneliness that came with being undercover for a long time, something he'd have to talk to Ilsa about. He'd been on missions without his friends, of course, but the idea of not even being able to see them between missions or in the office had started to wear him down.

All those nights alone, in the safe house or on duty, gave him time to put things in perspective. Like how he needed to tell his friends he cared more and, more specifically, realise that he was head over heels in love with Benji.

It wasn't hard to understand when he looked at Benji. His hair was longer, curled over his ears and onto his face. He had a beard again too. It matched him perfectly, the warm colour of his hair and beard framing his face.

More wrinkles were inset into his face. His skin was weathered with years of emotion, laughter and pain. His eyes sparkled when he smiled and his hands were soft.

Ethan felt heat creeping up his neck. His face was definitely red and he let out a smile.

Maybe something could come of this, he thought as he washed off the soap suds. He'd already found out he was interested in men, could it be so hard to believe he could like him?

He turned off the skower and stepped out. The itching returned as soon as he got out. He had to resist the urge through the gauze.

After getting dressed, he placed the towel in the laundry hamper and took a deep breath. That shower had taken a lot of energy out of him.

He opened the door and all his breath left him.

Benji was stretched out in front of him. In the downward dog position. He didn't think he'd heard him. He couldn't have as he continued stretching. His mind leapt to life, out of the fog of the shower, away from innocent golden crushes and trailing into the lust that had gotten Ethan through as many nights as the innocent feelings had gotten him through boring days.

How long had he been doing yoga? He thought as he tried not to look at Benji’s shorts and how close he was to his ass. His shirt was riding up, showing an exposed section of his back. When he let out a slight groan as he stretched himself further, Ethan tried to fight back his lustful thoughts but failed as flashes of tangled legs, wrinkled sheets and glorious moans filled his head.

“Good morning, Benji,” he croaked out.

Benji dropped from his position and flopped onto the mat, “Can you please stop creeping up on me like that?”

He turned over and sat up. His face was flushed red but his usual smile shone through the sweat in his dishevelled hair.

Ethan heaved a sigh of relief as he shook the thoughts out of his head, "I didn't mean to, you're just incredibly unaware of your surroundings."

"Wow, I gave you a place to stay, helped to heal your wounds and this is how you repay me?" Benji joked.

Ethan offered him a hand and pulled him up. His hand was sweaty and warm. They looked at each other briefly, he saw the sparkle in his eyes widen as they stood around each other.

They broke away. Benji rubbed the back of his neck and headed toward the shower. Ethan felt his heart beat a mile a minute in his chest. His hands grew clammy as his smile faded. The butterflies were back. He had to get a handle of this crush

~~~

The sky was dark now. Flashing lights and sirens drifted across the sky, behind the blinds. Rain splattered against the window, wind pressed against the glass.

But Benji was inside, huddled under a blanket with a hot cup of tea. This was his favourite weather. He loved the cosiness of it, knowing he was in the warmth, out of harm and safe in his own cocoon.

Ethan emerged from the hall with the pizza, "Smells delicious,"

Benji smiled, he was sufficiently corrupting Ethan's strict diet. Not that he knew he had one. He just knew you couldn't get a body like he had on a diet like Benji's.

"Yes," Benji rubbed his hands when he placed it on the coffee table. "Now this is called pizza, I know you live on a diet of leaves and chicken or something, but this is the nectar of the gods."

"I know what Pizza is, Benji, I'm not insane,"

He collapsed onto the sofa and huddled under the blanket with Benji. Their arms touched. Benji was filled with sparkles, golden and bright. His stomach fluttered with butterflies.

"That's good, you're not completely insane, then"

Ethan turned to the TV screen where Benji had set up his nintendo switch, "What are we doing then?"

"Playing Mario Kart and eating pizza,"

Ethan hummed and pulled the blanket up further onto his shoulders, "Okay, what's a Mario Kart?"

Benji almost dropped his tea. He knew Ethan lived under a rock, his life as an agent didn't give a lot of time for hobbies, but not knowing about Mario at all?

"What?"

Ethsn just stared at him.

"You're serious?"

"Is it that hard to believe I don't know what it is," he laughed.

"Yes!" He said. "Mario's one of the biggest game franchises in the world,"

"So it's a game,"

Benji sighed and rubbed his forehead, "So you genuinely don't know what it is?"

Ethan shook his head.

"Alright, it's a game franchise that started as the main character Mario has to save his girlfriend, Princess Peach from an evil fire breathing turtle called Bowser,"

Ethan blinked at him, then nodded.

"But then it just became games with the characters, say, in a digital board game or fighting characters from other games or, in the case of Mario Kart, racing each other," he looked at him, he didn't look any the wiser. "Look, we'll just play and you'll get it."

"I'll hold you to that,"

Benji rolled his eyes and started the game up. He explained the controls to him and got him to pick a character, then turned to him with an idea.

"You know what this means, don't you?"

Ethan turned to him, "What?"

"I finally get to kick your arse at something."

I am a firm believer that Ethan has no idea about pop culture at all. He was a farm boy, then an army boy and now a spy, he has no time for video games or films and anything like that. But that's what Benji's there for!

And also yes, Benji does yoga, and yes it's purely so Ethan could walk in on him doing downward dog. Also, if I remember correctly I think that was the scene that inspired this fic. Hope you enjoyed this!

#benthan #ebenji #ethan x benji #benji dunn #ethan hunt #mission impossible #mission: impossible #fluff #domestic fluff #cute #yoga #mario kart #video games #ethan hunt doesn't know pop culture #what's a mario kart?#the lengths i'll go #bear writes

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kanraandchrome · 4 years

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ML Personal Masterpost

Because I’m unorganised af sometimes and I realize I almost never shared on this site, here we go !

Canon & Headcanons

About combat medics and Ethan’s former life

Ethan could be a Chalice (which needs to be reworked)

Opinion on Ivan’s endings

Ethan’s illustrations theory based on the previews part 2

Screenshots Posts

Aaron 6 - Ethan’s mention

Aaron 7 - Ethan moment

Aaron 8 - Ethan discovers they’re together (variations) and his love advice.

Aaron 8 - Variations between lovometers

Aaron 9 - Ethan route advice ?

Raphaël 1 - Laundry scene

Raphaël 2 - Ethan (Kitchen)

Raphaël 3 - Meet Alessio, Bel and Ethan in the forest and Ethan in the garden.

Raphaël 4 - Going alone to the party and Ethan’s crisis.

Raphaël 5 - Ethan (variations)

Raphaël 6 - Ethan (variations)

Raphaël 7 - Playing chess with Ethan, his trance, making him wait and other mentions.

Raphaël 8 - Ethan (variations)

Raphaël 9 : Messenger, following Ethan’s advice and crisis.

Fanfictions (ENG)

Dad, or 5 time Ivan’s tongue slipped. (Translation of Papa)

Fanfictions (FR)

Papa, 5 fois où la langue d’Ivan a fourché. (finie)

Sans Artifice, Ethan/Ivan, une surprise au réveil. (finie)

Après l’Automne..., Ethan/Eloise, après Ivan, elle a dû se reconstruire. (finie)

Contre-Temps, Ethan/Eloise, un rendez-vous raté ... ? (finie)

Loin du Manoir, Aaron/Ethan, quand le manoir se fait trop oppressant (18+, finie)

Complicité, Ils sont 6 au manoir. 3 paires complices. (en cours)

Inktober 2020, Thèmes de l’unofficial Inktober version ML (en cours)

Compilation, collection de one-shot sur la vie au manoir. (en cours)

Sanglots, 6 fois où Ethan a pleuré en présence d’un.e autre. (en cours)

50 Kisses/Bites Challenge, multi, 50 moments volés au manoir. (en cours)

Lames Croisées, Raphaël/Ethan, pendant et après l’entraînement (18+, en cours)

Random

Meet the Testing Team !

How we test branches

MllJihan’s goodies

#moonlight lovers #theories #headcanons #fanfic #fanfiction

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jtsfavslut · 4 years

Text

Stages [4/6]

Description: In which a girl goes through six stages to realize and accept the fact that her marriage is going downhill.

Stage Three: Revenge

- Stages 1

- Stages 2

- Stages 3

- Stages 5

Description: Yeimy plans a way to confront Grayson about his affair, only she doesn’t want him to think she was affected.

Warnings: Yeimy goes psycho, cursing, threats, mentions of serial killers but it sounds funny.

Word Count: 2.6k+

After Grayson ended the phone call, you went back to the kitchen and cried.

You cried like a fucking bitch. But you had the right to. Someone just broke your heart without a tad bit of care.

You felt disgusting for letting him touch you that way, even if it wasn’t your fault, he was the love of your life for the love of God.

You wiped your tears and with a few deep breaths, you looked as happy as ever, thanks to the powers of being a woman and childhood trauma. You walked into the room as if nothing happened, sending him death glares when he wasn’t looking.

“Hey, whatcha eat?” he asked with a smile that made you sick to your stomach.

“A few fruit roll ups,” you replied casually, thanking those few theater classes you were forced to take in high school, giving you the ability to act casual.

“Oh nice,” he replied and went back to his phone, while you glared the fuck out of his face.

Hatred wasn’t enough to describe what you were feeling for him at the moment. You despised him if that was enough, for betraying your trust, for playing you as if you were some kind of special edition monopoly.

You stayed quiet for the rest of the night, on your phone until he finally went to bed.

You knew he was a deep sleeper so you waited a few minutes to make sure he was really asleep and carefully grabbed his phone from the nightstand, typing in his dad’s birthday, unlocking it, and going to his recent calls.

The last called being ‘love <3’ you clicked on the contact and your heart rate dropped immediately.

You knew that number from the bottom of your heart, ignoring your feelings you checked the messages with that number, taking pictures with your phone, while your stomach was filled with disgust, hatred, anger, and hurt.

You quickly put everything back the way it was, making sure to close all the apps, and placed his phone back on the nightstand while your mind ran faster than the speed of light.

You didn’t cry. You couldn’t cry, you were too upset too, however, the punching bag that Grayson used to practice with at the little gym area in your basement felt a tad bit relieving.

It was 2, almost 3 in the morning and you were still in your basement, crying and punching, beating the shit out of the innocent bag that your imagination made sure to place his and her face on, letting out all your anger on it.

You took a short shower, washing away some part of your anger and memories from the night, and made your way to one of the many guest rooms to try and get some rest.

And a week later you were on your way to his office. Ethan had told you it was everyone’s day off today, including Grayson’s; While Grayson told you that he had two meetings today.

You had made sure to pack all of your belongings before leaving the dreadful property, that was once your happy home.

Your black and highly expensive Louis Vuitton heels made clicking sounds as you walked inside the building, your skin-tight black dress wrapped around your body oh so perfectly, hugging your curves exactly the way you wanted it to.

“Grayson, Ambar,” you said, walking inside his office to be met with Ambar straddling Grayson on his office chair while his lips were on her neck, that was until they heard your voice causing them to jump up and pull away from each other. “Lovely to see you both,” you sarcastically added and sat on one of the chairs in front of his desk.

“What the-,” Amber began saying as she got off from his lap before you cut her off.

“Ambar, you shut the fuck up,” you calmly said, moving up your glasses to your forehead. “You’re lucky I go to church now” you muttered.

“Yeimy what are you doing here?” Grayson had the nerve to ask, making you chuckle.

“Oh, what a great question Grayson, I’m actually here to give you this” you smiled holding up a manila folder before placing it on his desk.

“What is this?” he asked, picking it up from his desk.

“Divorce papers. I don’t want to be associated with your pig cheating ass pendejo self,” you shrugged.

“Don’t talk to him that way,” Ambar shouted, getting closer to you, too close for your comfort.

“You dear, are hilarious. You know how I get Ambar, and I suggest you shut your fucking mouth the fuck up before I have to remind you,” you said through gritted teeth while getting up from your chair causing her to take a step back.

“I’m not scared of you Yeimy,” she laughed, yet you managed to hear the nerves within her laugh, making you laugh.

“I don’t want you to be scared of me, I just want you to remember about the time I almost went to jail because of you. Remember that? How I almost murdered someone because of you, because you pick fights and run away. Remember, how I slammed her head on the table. Because I sure know I do,” you said recalling a certain event from the past year, you don’t even remember what it was about, because it wasn’t your fight, it was her. She messed with the wrong people and someone had touched you and Karina making you join in and clean her mess while she went away. Luckily the girl didn’t press charges otherwise this would have been a different story.

“That’s just psychotic,” she scoffed and you shook your head.

“Nah, I think it’s more Ted Bundy like, but that’s not the point,” you replied, getting fed up with the conversation.

“The point is you and you are dead to me,” you said pointing to her and Grayson noticing Grayson had an unreadable look on his face.

“My lawyer will be here on Friday to pick up those papers, and I expect them to be signed by then Grayson. Don’t waste any more of my fucking time,” You added picking up your purse and putting your glasses back on your eyes.

“Have a nice drive back to your home Grayson, espero que te pudras en el Infierno, hijo de puta. ( I hope you rot in hell son of a bitch. I'm sorry Lisa I love you) You smirked as you walked away swaying your hips as your hair bounced with every step you took.

You finally reached the parking lot, where Grayson’s freshly painted Buggati laid, the car that he had rambled on and on about until he finally got it.

While you happened to have a nice fresh bat in your hand, that accidentally busted all of his windows open.

“What are you doing you psycho,” Ambar said running over to you while Grayson stood frozen by the entrance. “You think you’re Harley Quinn” she shouted, ripping the bat off of your hands.

“I mean she is hot, so thanks” you shrugged, and pat your dress to get any pieces of glass off.

“Grayson’s mine now, and you’re mad just admit it,” she said causing you to laugh.

“I feel bad for you, that man couldn’t care less about you, you wanna fucking see?” you asked and she lifted up one of her brows challenging you.

You quickly wrapped your left hand around her neck, slamming her against the car while her face was filled with fear. “You see, he didn’t move an inch,” you said and let go of her and wiped your hands on your clothes.

“Just remember something Ambar. I made you who you are today. I begged Grayson to let you work here, I let you stay at my house when you got kicked out of yours, I fucking fed you when you didn’t have enough money to even buy a pack of Ramen. And I don’t like to talk about the things I do for people because I do them out of love, but just remember that without me you wouldn’t be shit today. Without me, you would have no job, no house, and no car. But I wish you well,” you said and began to walk back to your car.

“I wish you both well, have a nice fucking life, Dolan. Oh and you might want to do laundry, all your clothes smell like me, actually the entire house does,” you said before getting in your car and speeding away to who knows where.

You couldn’t go back to your house since it was no longer yours, Karina was at work. And all hotel check out started at three and it was barely 1 pm leaving you with only one choice.

“Get in Grant,” you shouted at Ethan through the open car window.

He got in the car and didn’t speak, noticing your tense state, and he didn’t speak for the rest of the drive to your favorite spot. The beach.

“He cheated on me E. He cheated on me with Ambar,” you cried once you put the car in park and took off your seatbelt.

“I’m sorry Yeimy, I’m so fucking sorry,” he said and his arms immediately wrapped around you pulling you closer to him.

He let you cry on his shoulder until there were no more tears left for you to cry.

You lifted your head off his shoulder and he got out of the car, walking over to your side and opening your door.

“Come on, take off your shoes,” he said once he noticed you were wearing heels, you quickly bent down and took them off, carefully throwing them inside your car.

He took your hand and led you down the sand, where he found a nice rock for you both to sit in.

“I don’t know if you want to talk about it, but I’m here to listen if you’re willing too,” he softly said as you laid your head on his shoulder once again. He sent a quick text to Karina to let her know what was happening and she replied that she would be there as soon as possible.

“It was so obvious E. So fucking obvious, he would leave for work three hours early and come back at three am with lipstick stains all over his collar, he wouldn’t kiss me anymore, he wasn’t even wearing his ring. And I saw all of it. I saw it all, but I pushed it to the side like a dumb bitch. And then he returned back to his normal self for about a week, and everything was alright, and I know this sounds nasty, but we had sex one night and I went to get a snack and when I came back he was on the phone with her. Telling her how he only did it so that I would lay off of him. And I cried for hours E. And what hurts the most is that I still love him,” you ranted but he listened.

He listened to every word you said because you were important to him and you were hurting because of his twin. He wanted to punch him so badly for hurting you. The only one that knew him for who he was, the one that wanted nothing for the best for him, the one that left it all behind just so that you could be there for him, to be there when he needed you the most. He couldn’t understand why he would do such a thing.

He wanted to know what was going through his brother’s mind. But at the same time, he didn’t even want to see his face in pictures.

“Yeimy, I know everything I’m going to say isn’t going to help much, but it’s the truth. I have no fucking idea of what is going through his mind right now. And I hope he comes to his senses soon, even if it’s too late. And I know that as his brother I should be defending him, but I can’t. I can’t because this is his mess not mine, and the same way he got himself into it he can get himself out of it. However, Karina and I are going to be with you every step of the way because we love you and you don’t deserve any of this. Hell, no one should go through this. And as for Ambar, you knew I never fucking liked her, her vibes were always off. And she should be thankful because you helped her when no one else did. You’re a good person Yeimy and you’re gonna get through this, I know you can” he reassured you giving you a tight hug making you feel a bit better.

You sat in silence until Karina arrived, where she talked to you and let you cry on her shoulder just when you thought you were done with crying.

“You know, I just want to know what I did wrong,” you sighed looking into the horizon, where the sun seemed to be getting closer to meeting the ocean water.

“You did nothing wrong, bebe. You did exactly what a wife should do. Now where is E, I’m hungry,” she said, asking about her husband's whereabouts. He had left about 20 minutes ago to go get food for all of you.

“I don’t know, he should be here soon tho,” you shrugged as your hand played with some sand.

“Yeimy, y dónde te vas a quedar?” Karina asked where you were going to stay since it was pretty obvious you couldn’t go back home.

“In a hotel until Thursday, I went apartment hunting the day after his phone call, y encontre uno, caro but it’s LA so you know. (and I found one, it’s expensive)” you shrugged and pulled out your phone to show her your apartment.

“It’s so cute Yeimy, how many rooms?” she asked, scrolling through the pictures.

“Three rooms, it’s the only one that was available, and it’s only three thousand which is not that bad,” you shrugged and she nodded her head.

“You have money, and you’re working at Vogue now. I love having rich friends,” she joked, making you laugh.

“What’s so funny?” Ethan asked from behind, making both of you jump up, he sat down handing out burgers from some restaurant he liked.

“Nothing, just that Yeimy is rich. Also, did you see her new apartment?” she asked him, unwrapping her food and taking a bite.

“No so show me,” he said and you handed him your phone with the pictures. “How are you gonna get your jeep there, you can only drive one car at the time you know?” he asked, making you chuckle.

“One of ya’ll can take it there for me, and I’ll just drive this one,” you shrugged referring to the car you took here, a Tesla that Grayson insisted on you getting.

Karina said she’ll take it for you, and you ate your food in silence, the only sounds coming for the animals and the waves.

After that, you went to your hotel and cried.

You cried until you fell asleep. (me as fuck)

Stages 5

Tags: @angelgrayson @rhyrhy462 @333dolans @vinylhazza @foxglovedolan @dolanissues @mercurygrant @persistence-ofmemories @dolansficsandpics @blindedbythelightt @kinkygrays @pineappledols @the-evolution-of-stupidity @evergreendolan @beatement-l @graydolan12

#Grayson Stages #grayson #grayson bailey #graysonbailey #grayson dolan #grayson dolan imagine #grayson x reader #grayson blurb #grayson and ethan #ethan dolan #Ethangrant #ethan dolan imagine #ethan dolan x reader #ethan dolan blurb #Ethan grant #dolan #dolan twins #dolan fandom

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houseof-harry · 4 years

Text

What Happens In Jersey Pt. 4 | G.D.

A/N - I legit rewrote this part three times and I’m so excited for y’all to see what happens!!!! Get a snack and some water (bc y’all gonna be thirsty as shit after this) and settle in bc we’re about to go for a ride! Read the last part here

Word Count - 5.2K

Warnings - smut on smut on smut

Recap:

“Pregnancy isn’t sexy.”

He laughs. Like genuine, whole hearted laughter. “What are you talking about?” “What are you talking about?” You fire back.

“The fact that you’re pregnant with my baby is the hottest shit ever. I did that shit. We did that shit. It’s hot.”

“We can agree to disagree, then.”

So much for trying to keep things simple, Grayson thinks to himself.

“Let me prove it.”

***

The past few minutes felt like a total blur. One second, you and Grayson were talking – okay, flirting – and the next, you were underneath him on the couch, his hands up your sweatshirt. He tasted just like you remember, minty and fresh, except this time there was no tequila or vodka, it was pure desire.

You had thought about kissing him ever since the last time and it feels like your memory had failed you. His lips were soft and sensual against your own, his tongue caressing yours like he couldn’t get enough. You both were breathing heavily, not wanting to break apart from each other for even a second.

However, when his fingers finally brushed against your nipple, pinching it lightly, you gasped, forcing your lips away from his. Your eyes stayed closed as he continued to roll it between his fingertips, the sensation sending shock waves straight to your pussy.

“Like that, mama?” He whispered in your ear, his hot breath heating you up even more.

You let out a pathetic whine, nodding your head while biting your lip. Your brain was so fogged with pleasure, the thought of trying to speak seemed impossible.

He chuckled, somewhat bringing your brain back to reality and causing you to open your eyes. He looked like a Greek god above you, his hair going every which way, his pupils dilated, and a smirk plastered across his swollen lips. This was so much better than the first time already, and he hadn’t even gotten your naked.

“You’re sure you want it?” His face went serious for a moment and you could tell he wanted a genuine answer, not just some lust filled moan. Your heart fluttered knowing that even in this position he is still so caring and wanted to make sure you were comfortable.

“Want it bad,” you told him, dragging your hands up the front of his clothed torso, heat radiating off him like a furnace.

Grayson growled, picking you up quickly and wrapping your legs around his waist. You squealed, your arms flying around his neck to steady yourself. He walked you to the laundry room, doing his best not to walk you into the wall or anything while he kissed your neck. If you were being honest, you wouldn’t even notice if he did walk into something because it felt like you and Grayson were the only things to exist right now.

He laid you down on the bed gently, standing back to watch you catch your breath. His mind was overflowing with anything you and he needed to take a second to ground himself. He didn’t think he’d ever be able to be in this position with you again.

You see, after your night during New Year’s Eve, he was over the moon. His friends had tried to convince him that maybe he needed to chill with trying to find a wife at 20, so that’s what he did.

He was just living his life, tried casually seeing girls, but none of them seemed to click with him. But when he met you at Jessie’s, he felt something different. He wasn’t totally infatuated like he’d been in the past with his ‘soulmates,’ but he more felt excited butterflies while also a serene calmness radiating off of you. You made everyone in the room smile, including him. So, he turned the charm on and a week later he had his first one night stand.

Except, you were stuck in his head after that. When Ethan made him drive them home before you had gotten up, he found he was disappointed he didn’t get to say bye to you. He was hoping to even maybe get your number. But, his friends reminded him that that’s not what one night stands are, so he went back to LA and kept living his life.

That feeling had never left him, though. The butterflies would spark up every time he saw an Instagram post from Jessie that had you in it, or when he smelled anything coconutty because of the way your hair smelled that night, or even when he’d have lemonade because of the way he could remember your mouth tasting, and limes are similar enough to lemons, right?

So, the fact that you were in his bed, pregnant with his baby and ready to get fucked by him again made his stomach twist and his heart pound in his ears. He could feel the blood rushing to his dick, but he also felt those butterflies, the unique feeling you brought to him every time he heard your heavy breathing, saw your wide eyes, and tasted your sweaty skin.

“Gray?” You breathed out, watching him stand there, his eyes just raking over your completely clothed body. You’d assumed you’d be almost naked by now and your sweatshirt and leggings were pretty much suffocating you with how hot you were for him.

His eyes instantly met yours when he heard his name from your mouth, and his signature smirk forming on his lips once again. “Yeah, mama?”

“Touch me.”

Grayson’s eyes closed for a moment to collect himself before he opened them again with a new determination gleaming in them. He crawled on top of you, straddling your hips while pushing your sweatshirt slowly up your body. His fingers are brushing over the skin of your sides, leaving goosebumps in their wake. He stopped right before exposing your breasts, watching you squirm. He wanted to take his time with you tonight. Appreciate you this time, memorize every part of your body so that he doesn’t have to forget it ever again.

You, however, were lacking the patience he possessed at the moment and decided to take it into your own hands. You grabbed your sweatshirt, lifting your body the best you could, and took it off in one movement.

This made Grayson laugh, but his eyes never left your tits. One of your elbows went back against the bed to hold your body up while the other grabbed one of his large ones, bringing it directly against your chest. He found himself unable to resist as he started to massage the warm flesh against his palm, his other hand going to match his movements on your other tit.

You sighed out in relief, arching your back into his touch. You’d waited so long for this, and you’re grateful to finally be getting some type of relief.

Similar to Grayson, your mind has been clouded with him since New Year’s Eve. Unlike him, however, you had done the whole no-strings-attached situation your first two years of college. When you had to get more serious about school junior year, along with getting leadership opportunities in your organizations, your sex life went straight to the back burner. Plus, you had Jessie. Jessie had come into your life sophomore year, originally as one of your many sexual endeavors. After seeing him a few times, though, you decided you’d rather be friends with him than just have sex with him. You and him got along really well, and you had a lot of mutual friends already.

Jessie was the last person you’d slept with before Grayson. You never really found yourself missing Jessie in that way, so it was easier to put yourself into the rest of your life. You never felt distracted by him, and almost forgot you guys used to sleep together. But, you still had needs like any human being, so it was kind of frustrating to not have anyone during that year and a half. That’s why when you met Grayson, you almost felt revived.

He was funny and nice and hot as fuck and he was attracted to you. He’d made you feel a way no other guy had before. He was respectful and genuinely interested in his passions and that made you feel inspired. You couldn’t quite place it, it was just the fact that he was Grayson that made you attracted to him.

When he had been gone when you woke up on New Year’s, you were disappointed, but not shocked. He was still a guy. He had his needs met and that’s what he wanted.

However, getting to know him once you found out you were pregnant had made you realize that that wasn’t totally the case. Miscommunication could practically be your middle name at this point, and although you were disappointed you’d be having a friend baby because you both had decided not to pursue the other, you were grateful he was in your life at all.

But now knowing that he still wanted you all these months later (and a couple pounds because of strawberry, too), has excited you in a way you have never felt before. There was a fire in you that only he could put out, and he was not moving fast enough for you.

“Gray come on, please,” you whined, lifting your hips up to meet his.

“Fuck, pretty girl. Needy for me?” He bit his lip, swiping his thumbs over your nipples repeatedly, watching them continue to get harder with each touch.

You nodded, lifting your hips again. His hands grabbed your hips, helping you move back on the bed so that he was knelt between your legs. His fingers dug into the top of your leggings, pulling them down and throwing them with your sweatshirt.

When he looked back down at you, he was met with your pink thong barely covering you. He could see the wet spot on them over your slit, making his cock twitch under his sweats.

“Baby,” he breathed out, laying down while his palms brushed over the smooth skin of your inner thighs, forcing them open wider so he could be comfortable. “Shoulda told me how bad you needed me, pretty girl.” “I did!” You groaned, squirming around once you felt his breath on your center.

He chuckled, enjoying the way he was torturing you. “You’re right, you did. But I’ll make it worth it, don’t worry.”

Before you could say anything back, he was dragging his tongue up your covered slit, tasting what he can through the fabric. You both moaned quietly, excited to finally be getting what you’ve craved for so long.

One of Grayson’s hands moved closer to your center, his thumb rubbing over the wet spot, pulling the fabric away and to the side so that he can finally see what he had been trying to remember for over three months now.

“Pretty girl, this fucking pussy. Been dreaming about it.” His words made your cheeks flush, and as you were about to remind him to get to it, he dove in.

His tongue was exploring you, reaching from your hole all the way to your clit, making sure you were wet enough between what you’re giving him and his spit. Once he was satisfied, he put his focus on your clit.

The feeling of finally having his mouth on you after so many months was totally overwhelming. Your pussy fluttered every time he licked you just right, causing one of your hands to enter his hair at the back of his head. Your eyes squeezed shut from how good it felt, your brain unable to comprehend what was happening. You had managed to pull Grayson Dolan not once, but twice. You couldn’t even care about any consequences you’ll deal with later, his tongue being the only thing you cared about.

You pulled it lightly at his hair and he groaned against you, the vibrations shooting up your spine and making your back arch. Your breathing quickened when you felt his other hand come closer to his mouth, his middle finger rubbing up and down your slit to collect some wetness before he pushed it into you. He moved so slowly, inching his way into the pussy he’s wanted to be back in for so long, and it drove you both crazy. Your walls were almost suffocating his finger as he explored you, figuring out what would make you squirm.

His sensual movements were causing your orgasm to bubble up from deep within you. His finger was soon joined by another and he began to stretch you out, his attention on your clit never faltering. He was devouring you like he hadn’t had water for weeks and you’re the first drop he could find. He was totally enamored with your reactions to his touch. He never wanted it to end, your moans and whines being music to his ears, your hips squirming against his face, spreading your wetness across his chin. He started grinding his hips against the bed for any kind of relief, wanting to taste your cum on his tongue.

Luckily for him, you were really close. Your hand that wasn’t in his hair was twisting the sheets, the pleasure you were feeling totally consuming every part of your being. Before you knew what was happening, your legs were clamping around his head while you came, groaning his name out while you tugged on his hair.

Grayson worked you through the whole thing, his fingers and tongue never stopping. Your body relaxed and that’s when he slowed down, slowly sliding his fingers out of you. He licked your opening, cleaning up as much as he could, relishing in the way you were twitching against him. He left one last kiss to your sensitive clit before pulling away and climbing up onto his knees between your legs.

When he looked down at you, spread out on his bed, cheeks flushed and eyes glazed over, he literally moaned at the site.

“Fuck, pretty girl.”

You didn’t even bother to respond with words, merely whining and nudging him with your knees.

Grayson stood up, pulling his shirt over his head, dragging his pants and underwear down after.

“You still want it, mama?” He asked while he crawled back on the bed, returning to his spot between your legs.

You look down at the dick you hadn’t seen since January and almost moaned at the site. It was somehow more enticing than you remember, and you needed him in you now.

“Yes, really bad. Please fuck me, Gray,” you whined, your hands reaching out for him. He obliged, falling over you, his arms stopping him so that he didn’t crush you.

You could see the glimmer of your wetness still on his chin, prompting you to reach up and swipe your thumb across his skin to collect it all. Your thumb slowly moved to his bottom lip, pushing on it a bit. He opened his mouth, allowing your thumb to enter, keeping his eyes on yours the whole time. He sucked every last drop off your finger, his tongue leaving no part of your thumb untouched. When you pulled it out, his teeth lightly brushing against your skin, and you feel like you could melt at the feeling, never mind the sight.

“You’re gonna be the fucking death of me, mama,” he groaned, leaning his head back and closing his eyes for a moment.

You giggled, pulling his face to yours by gripping his cheeks, kissing him once slowly and trying to portray how you felt through your lips. When you pulled away, your teeth caught on his lower lip while you looked up at him. Grayson felt like he could cum at the sight of you, looking fucked out and totally lost in the way he was making you feel.

This was what prompted him to bring one hand down to his dick, pumping himself a couple times before lining up with your slit.

“Ready, pretty girl?”

You whined, nodding and biting your own lip, wiggling your hips while you waited for him to do what you’ve been dreaming of for months. Soon, he was fulfilling your wishes while he pushed into you slowly, relishing in the way your walls were sucking him in. Once he was all the way in, he stilled so that you had time to adjust. Your hands moved to his shoulders, your nails digging into the skin there from how overwhelmed you were.

“Fuck me, Gray,” you whispered, looking him straight in the eyes while you said it.

Grayson didn’t need anything else to prompt him as he started to move in and out of you, his pace slowly and steadily increasing until you felt the bed rocking underneath you. He watched your face while your eyes fell shut, your brain consumed with the pleasure he was giving you. He was brushing the spot inside you that made you shake, and you knew you wouldn’t last much longer.

“Feeling good, baby?” He breathed against your ear, his hips grinding into you in a way that allowed for your clit to rub against him.

You moaned in response, your head pushing back into the pillow and your back arching into him so as much of your skin was touching his as possibly. Your nails dragged down his back, your toes beginning to curl.

“Cum around my cock, pretty girl. Need to feel it.” His voice is uneven, his breathing increasing as his thrusts get sloppy. He was just as close as you, floating on cloud nine.

His words prompted you to give into the immeasurable pleasure he was giving you, your ears ringing as you came hard around him. You whimpered into his ear, gripping his lower back as your squirmed underneath him. Once you came back down, you could see the pleasure written across his face, making you smirk.

You squeezed your walls around him, causing him to groan as he pushed his face into your neck to try and muffle the noises as much as possible for the sake of his family. You just felt so good, and he wasn’t sure he’d be able to keep it in.

Soon he was stalling inside you, gripping your hip to keep you where you were so that you couldn’t move away from him, his cum shooting into you. His breathing was quick as he was finally spent, his body relaxing on top of yours.

Once you had both calmed down a bit, you moved a hand into his hair, stroking it softly. “You’re gonna have to get a plan b tomorrow,” you giggled. You felt his laugh vibrate through your chest as he stroked your sides.

“And you told me my humor was shit.”

“I said you were cheesy!” You laughed, defending yourself.

Instead of responding, Grayson get up from on top of you, pulling out of you. The lack of body heat made you shiver, but you were heating up again when he kneelt between your legs to watch his cum slowly drip out of you. “God, pretty girl, this is the hottest shit,” he groaned, spreading your lips with his thumbs to enhance his view. You whined, covering your face and feeling more exposed than ever. He chuckled, crawling back up to straddle your midsection while removing your hands from your face by gripping your wrists. “Gonna be shy on me now? After what we just did?”

“I dunno, no one’s really looked at me like that after sex.”

“Like what?”

“Like they still thought I was hot after they got what they wanted.”

He frowned, moving a hand to your cheek, stroking the soft skin with his thumb. It made him sad to think about how you had been treated in the past by so many people. He didn’t think you deserved any of it because he genuinely thought you were the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen.

“I – this wasn’t…Y/N. This wasn’t just a ‘get our rocks off’ thing. I care about you. And I’ve thought you were hot this whole time. So, let’s get you cleaned up and in bed, because we’re going to the city tomorrow and strawberry has to be rested up for our fun day. Okay?”

A small smile managed to make its way on your face, nodding as he moved off the bed, holding his hand out to you. You took it and he helped you stand. You could feel his cum dripping down your thighs, making your blush. You stood there while he moved around, pulling his sweats up his legs before he handed his shirt to you.

“You okay?” He asked as you stood there staring at him. His voice brought you out of your thoughts, prompting you to grab his shirt and slip it over your head.

“Uh, yeah. Just can feel your cum coming out,” you mumbled.

He chuckled, walking over to you and resting his hands on your hips. “Can’t believe you don’t see how fucking hot you are.” He left a quick kiss on your lips before walking you to the door.

“Hey, wait. I don’t have any pants on.” You went to turn but he grabbed your wrist to keep you standing where you were.

“Please don’t put any on.”

You laughed, raising your brow at him. “What if we pass Ethan or your mom in the hallway?”

“We won’t, they’re both out by now. Come on.” He tugged on you, bringing you out of the room before you could protest.

You made it to the bathroom unseen, Grayson locking the door behind you guys before he turned back to you.

“What’re you looking at?” He smirked, seeing you standing there and watching him unmoving.

Your cheeks warmed. “Oh, nothing really. You just, you have…I scratched you.”

He smirked, walking to you and loosely holding you against him by your hips. his mouth found the skin below your ear. “You like seeing me marked up by you?”

You gasped, not expecting him to come onto you again, but you found yourself nodding before you could control it. It was really hot, actually. Knowing that the next time he showered he’d be reminded of you from the burning on his back.

“Now you understand how fucking hot it is you’re pregnant with my baby.” He left one hot, open mouthed kiss on your neck before completely pulling away and going to get his toothbrush. To say you were flustered would be a complete understatement. You didn’t understand how he was able to affect you so intensely, but he did and now you found yourself unable to look away from his back as he began brushing.

He noticed through the mirror and chuckled, leaning over to spit before speaking to you.

“Gonna clean my cum up from your pussy or do you just wanna watch me brush my teeth?”

“Oh my god, the douche is back, it was fun while it lasted I guess,” you jokingly groaned, moving to sit on the toilet. You couldn’t prevent the smile spreading on your face, though. For some reason, you wouldn’t want to be anywhere else right now.

***

You woke up the next morning to a hand on your face gently stroking you. You took a big breath in, turning your head to face where the hand was coming from. “Gray?” You mumbled.

“No, better,” you heard a familiar voice. Suddenly your eyes were flying open as you looked up at Jessie sitting on the edge of the bed, his body connected to the hand on your face. “Hey Y/N.” He’s got a smirk on his face as he watched the shock settle into your features.

“Jess? What? What’s –“ you looked around, seeing the bed empty of Grayson. A tiny part of you is disappointed, but you don’t let it show. You looked back at him, sitting up as a smile graced your features. “Jessie.”

“Ethan and Grayson invited me to your city day. Missed seeing you every day.”

“Yay! Okay, I gotta get ready and stuff,” you exclaimed, moving a bit closer to the edge, immediately remembering you had Grayson’s shirt on. Only Grayson’s shirt.

Jessie sat there expectantly because he had seen you in your pajamas multiple times, so when you paused he raised his brow. “You gonna puke or something?”

“Uh, you know what, yeah. I really don’t feel well. Can I have a couple minutes to get myself together?” You batted your eyelashes at him, knowing he would do whatever you wanted.

“Of course, I’ll be in the kitchen with the guys.” He patted your thigh covered by the blankets before standing and leaving the room.

You let out a sigh of relief, grateful that worked. See, after you got pregnant, Jessie has been super protective over you and has been weird about your relationship with Grayson. He loved the kid, don’t get it wrong, but he didn’t love the fact that it took a baby for Grayson to realize how amazing you are to talk to and be around. It almost felt like Jessie was acting like your older brother or something. Almost. A small part of you felt like it was jealously, but you didn’t even want to entertain that idea in case you were totally wrong.

Plus, what you had said wasn’t even a lie. You really didn’t feel well. However, you’ve learned to go about your day despite it, so you got up and got dressed in weather appropriate clothes that you wouldn’t be uncomfortable walking around the city in.

You go out to the kitchen, smiling when you saw all three boys chatting. Grayson stood over the stove while Ethan and Jessie leaned against the counter nearby.

“There she is. Thought we’d never get this show on the road,” Ethan joked, watching you walk towards them. They all were dressed kind of nice, nothing fancy but certainly no sweats in sight.

“Shut up, I’m growing a baby. Makes me a bit tired.” You walked to get water, hoping that would satisfy strawberry so your stomach would calm down.

“Oh yeah that’s for sure what’s made you tired,” Ethan remarked sarcastically, his smile never leaving his face. Your cheeks burned as Jessie gave him a questioning look.

Before the conversation could go any further, Grayson interrupted. “Pancakes?” He was looking directly at you, even though the question was for everyone.

It felt weird to be around him right now, knowing he literally fucked you last night and left. You weren’t sure how to feel about it, but you didn’t want to ruin the day for everyone.

You shook your head no, doing your best to keep your face neutral so as not to show the disgust you felt at the thought of eating pancakes. Strawberry had long ruined them for you, throwing them up one too many times.

“Your baby fucking hates pancakes, dude. Y/N’s thrown them up like ten times. I’ll have some, though,” Jessie jumped in, walking over to the stove. Grayson looked at you, as if he was waiting to hear it from you instead of Jessie.

You shrugged. “Guess strawberry is not a breakfast person. It’s okay, though, I’ve been throwing up less in general so I hope one day pancakes will be back in my life. They used to be my favorite.” He nodded, not really saying much as he served Jessie and Ethan some. He knew they were your favorite, you’d told him that a couple months ago. That’s why he made them in the first place today.

He’d gotten up early in the hopes to give you breakfast in bed before you day with everyone, but Jessie had gotten there early and ruined that. And Jessie seemed to know not only more about your pregnancy, but about your baby. He could feel the jealously bubbling up inside him, but he tried to keep it at bay. He was one of your best friends and sees you every day at school. It made sense he knew that stuff about you.

While Ethan and Jessie were busy eating, Grayson walked over to you. “Hey, you feel okay?” His eyebrows were drawn together in concern. He could tell something was off.

“Uh, yeah. Fine. Just nauseous.”

“Are you gonna…”

“No, I’m fine. Not as fragile as you think,” you mumbled, taking a sip of your water. If he only wanted to take care of you when it benefited him, you were fine with that. You just didn’t want him to act like he wanted anything more than that just because there were other people there.

He sighed, his eyes softening. “Y/N, no, you know that’s not what I meant. Just want to make sure you’re okay.”

“I’m fine.” You gave him a tight smile before walking to the table to sit next to Jessie, leaving Grayson to clean up the breakfast he made for you before he sat down himself to eat.

Once everyone but you had eaten, you all got ready to head to the train station. You still had no idea what you guys were doing today because Grayson said he had wanted to keep it a surprise for you. You and Jessie decided to go outside to wait by the car for Ethan and Grayson. He had his arm around your shoulder as you walked out the door.

“Excited for today?” He asked.

You nodded. “Yeah, it’s gonna be nice to do something normal with them. And something fun in general, feels like all I do are stressful things between the baby and our last semester. I know when we go back I’m gonna be working literally until graduation.”

“Yeah, but at least we’ll do it together. And then we get to graduate together to celebrate.” He squeezed your shoulder and you leaned into him. You were genuinely not sure what you’d do without him, he kept you sane half the time.

Ethan and Grayson walked outside to meet you guys, and Grayson paused. He watched you and Jessie talking, and noticed how relaxed you were. He wondered if you ever looked that way when you were talking to him.

Ethan continued to walk to the car, leaving Grayson on the porch. It was only when Ethan called for him to unlock the car that Grayson stopped staring and walked over as well.

“Shotgun!” Ethan called, running to the passenger side of the car.

“No dude, Y/N gets shotgun,” Grayson responded casually, opening the driver’s side door.

“Gray, it’s okay, I don’t have to-“

“It’ll help make you feel better, right? Or at least not make you feel any more sick.” He raised his brow, looking at you.

“Yeah,” you nodded, feeling bad. You felt like you were totally interrupting their usual flow of things.

“Hey, Y/N, come sit. It’s okay, Jess and I’ll cuddle in the back,” Ethan joked, keeping the door open for you as you walked over, giving him a soft smile.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.”

“Don’t worry about it, you’re the one growing a baby. You get to make the calls.” Ethan closed your door once you were in your seat before climbing in the back with Jessie.

Grayson handed you his phone and you gave him a questioning look. “You’re on aux,” He clarified. You could feel the butterflies in your stomach from the smile he gave you, knowing how into music he is and how difficult he finds it to give up the aux power. You made sure to pick songs you knew everyone would love, lightening the slightly weird mood that had settled over you guys that morning. Maybe today wouldn’t be as awkward as you anticipated.

Read the next part here

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swearwolf-writes · 3 years

Text

Teen Wolf 2020

it’s 2020 and corona is a bitch :) the wolves might not be able to get sick but they still wear their masks bcs they could still be carriers so *clears throat* WEAR YOUR MASKS Y’ALL!! this is very much a no one dies/everybody lives au :)

[CROSSPOSTED ON: AO3]

Scott McCall - age 26

this cute nerd. he studied veterinary medicine which takes about 4 years so he graduated in 2017 and works as Deaton’s partner at the Beacon Hills Animal Clinic. he’s dating Isaac (bcs he came back from France with Argent, remember) and Kira (she came back from the Skinwalkers in 2019 and has a proper grasp on her powers). sorry scalia shippers but it’s not really my thing-

Stiles Stilinski - age 26

NERD. anywho- FBI dork became an agent in 2019 whoo and lives in DC with Lydia, Derek and Braeden. he’s dating Lydia and Derek and things are pretty chill - he yells at arseholes who refuse to wear their masks bcs ‘it’s uncomfortable :(’ like bite me karen no one cares

Derek Hale - age 32

grumpy sourwolf actually knows how to smile!! who knew- he lives in DC with Stiles, Lydia and Braeden most of the time but he and Braeden travel often to fight butthead hunters who need to mind their own business. he’s dating Stiles and he and Braeden are engaged - it’s cute and they’re being dorks about it. he likes to complain that they’d be married by now if it wasn’t for freakin covid

Lydia Martin - age 26

your local genius banshee~ 🥰 still awesome, still a harbinger of death - so yk, the usual. bcs she had extra credits she started as a junior studying maths and graduates in 2016!! 🎉🎉 she moved to DC after she got some money together while working as a tutor - the quartet splits rent (but usually it’s just Stiles and Lydia splitting it bcs the other two don’t technically have jobs and yk Derek is an unsub and Stiles is in the FBI which Lydia finds hilarious). she teaches adults in the local community college and helps supernatural folk on the dl - she runs a grief counselling service at the same place for people who’ve lost someone. she’s also trying to get a degree to become a high school maths teacher and it’s a lot but she’s got it handled.

Allison Argent - 24

accidentally brought back from the dead by the Dread Doctors. everyone could not stop crying bcs she’s back baby!! she died in 2011 age 17 and came back in 2012 so she wasn’t dead long thankfully - wanted to kill Theo bcs he messed with her pack even he did bring her back. she’s a chimera now lads- she needed a kidney transplant when she was young which was why she was kept away from the family business. she was a werewolf-werejaguar chimera like Hayden but stayed a chimera. Chris and Isaac stayed home and bcs she and Isaac never actually broke up, they kept dating - she found it funny that Isaac and Scott were dating at this point,, meanwhile they were panicking wildly :) she went back to school and said she wasn’t dead, just in the hospital for a really long time. she joined Liam’s year and again, wanted to very badly throw hands when she found out about Monroe- she’s the coolest, like she has claws and bow and arrows

Malia Tate - 26

our girl went to France as promised and hooked up with plenty of hot French people *le eyebrow wiggle* she found her beau there in France and it was not a love at first sight sort of thing - she wanted to punch them in the face,, in their very pretty face- she was basically doing her own thing when she smells them, another bloody werewolf and like don’t get me wrong, she’s fond of werewolves, but bloody hell do they cause trouble. and they smell her too and it’s like ‘eh-?’ bcs werecoyotes aren’t so common as werewolves. and they’re just there in a club in Bordeaux and they’re sniffed each other out and they kinda just pause like huh- bcs they were were not expecting to see someone that pretty- but that’s not the point of course- they pretend to leave together and as soon as they’re out of sight from humans, they start fighting in an alley, as you do. it ends up with the wolf tasting the wall bcs who the hell are you- once they figure out they’re both just there to party, things chill and they see more of each other, naturally, it’s all just a big coincidence and doesn’t mean anything. and then they’re dancing and it doesn’t mean anything. and then they’re sleeping together and it doesn’t mean anything. except it does. and they don’t know when it became normal to cuddle or wake up together or have breakfast together but it just was. and when the cute werewolf (who I still don’t have a name for-) plans on moving to the next place, she comes with. the pack are happy for her and they usually road trip from place to place so when the pack comes to visit in Prague? it’s fun to say the least

Kira Yukimura - age 25

she came back from the Skinwalkers in 2019 and she and Allison became good friends. she kept going with school from home and is dating Scott. her powers are strong and when she sneezes bcs yk pollen or wtv, there’s sparks and it’s hilarious and Scott finds it adorable. she doesn’t really know what she wants to do yet and that’s cool of her

Erica Reyes - age 25

they thought she was dead- think again bitch, she slowed her heart rate down so they couldn’t hear and everyone thought she was dead - when the alpha pack got rid of her body and Allison found it, she told her to tell the others to pretend she was dead bcs of the Alpha pack - they beat the Alpha pack but she and Boyd hid with Satomi’s pack while that went down and helped generally after. she kept going with school and bcs she dipped for a while, ended in Liam’s year and eventually became a nurse in 2017. she works with Melissa McCall and joins for family dinner a lot.

Isaac Lahey - age 25

went to France with Chris Argent but kept going with his studies at Chris’ insistence. was dating dating Scott before he had to leave with Chris but they didn’t actually break up,, it was more ‘i’ll miss you :(’. came back to Beacon Hills when Chris came to help with the deadpool business and stayed bcs of Allison and Scott 💞 his studies were mostly uninterrupted and he studied law, becoming a lawyer in 2020!! so at least one good thing came of this infernal year- he wants to specialise in family law.

Vernon Boyd III - age 26

yea no, Derek didn’t mercy kill him bcs he was fine :) de nile ain’t just a river lads he went into hiding with Satomi’s pack and came back when the Alpha pack was dealt with. went back to school and ended up in Liam’s year. he joined the air force when he was 18 and finished his rotc training stuff in 2018 and it’s pretty alright - he’s a pilot but was discharged in 2019 bcs someone started with him and bcs they were a superior, he couldn’t say shit. so now he likes to wear ‘fuck the army’ and ‘fuck the air force’ shirt. he has mad respect for the people out there but the people in charge? fuck em

Aiden Steiner - age 27

he lives bitches 😎 Ethan had a silver chain on so he plugged the wound with it - it counteracted the oni poison and the chain started melting into the would (he had mild silver poisoning but he was fine). school was normal and now he’s an engineer, living in Beacon Hills. he and Ethan left for London for a while bcs that town was crazy af. while Ethan was very happy there, he missed home so went back. he got an online ordination and learnt Japanese bcs why not

Ethan Steiner-Whittemore - age 27

got married!! whoo 🎉🎉 Aiden officiated (this is 2018 btw) and it was cute. the whole pack was there and the wedding was in London bcs as quaint as Beacon Hills is

‘i’m only planning on getting married once so this is gonna be awesome’ - Jackson Whittemore, 2017

he’s dramatic but yk Ethan was a blushing mess bcs ~life partners~ he’s soft y’all. he’s a primary school teacher in London and they’re part of the South London pack.

Jackson Steiner-Whittemore - age 25

also got married!! whoo 🎉🎉 ngl he’s lowkey a trophey husband/sugar hubby bcs he’s rich af - he does business with his dad but it’s not a big workload. he and Aiden want to adopt and yk being rich will hopefully help

Theo Raeken - age 25

ah yes, the absolute nightmare bi enby returns. (i hc him with he/they pronouns ✌🏽 as you do) so he successfully gained Scott’s trust and is part of the pack - yay! he and Allison have a sort of ‘you’re a bitch’ ‘no u’ *saves each others lives* relationship at this point - it took a while for Allison to warm up to him but he did save Liam’s butt several times so,, anywho, he’s still a werewolf-werecoyote chimera and he’s cool with it. he went to an online school and got his high school diploma - Liam then snuck him into the school and he signed the bookshelf bcs yea he didn’t graduate there but he did go there and now he’s graduated so yay. speaking of, he and Liam are dating, yea ik we been knew. they started dating in 2014 and Theo now works waiting tables at a local restaurants bcs he lives with Liam and his parents (you best bet that when they found out he was living in his car, they made him move in so he pays rent, not at their request but his). that was till 2017 and they moved out into an apartment together. Theo chips in on rent but it usually ends up being split 60:40 (Liam: Theo) so he cooks and cleans a lot,,, mainly bcs Liam can’t cook and does laundry like a maniac-

Liam Dunbar - age 24

this werepup is just as chaotic as always - he cannot be trusted with laundry bcs he doesn’t split colours from whites :) honestly it makes me wanna cry a lil bcs he can’t even fry eggs either- he has Theo to cook for him tho so that’s all good. he’s a history tutor for the high school students bcs he likes history and he knows the pain of high school- *shudder* he got an online Spanish and TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages) degree and is now teaching at Beacon Hills High but yk his first year teaching is all online bcs 2020-

Mason Hewitt - age 23

he’s Emissary to the pack when they don’t have Deaton *wipes tear* he’s all grown up- he went to UCLA and majored in biophysics and minored in LGBTQ studies (graduated 2017). he lived on campus (kept the bat next to his bed lmao) and videochatted with Liam almost everyday - he would visit almost every weekend even tho it’s a 6 and half drive but hey. he got an apartment near the uni where he and Corey lived after he graduated. they’ve been engaged since 2018 (it was actually the day after the Steiner-Whittemore wedding). he’s helping work on a new drug delivery system and they moved closer to Beacon Hills (Sacramento)

Corey Bryant - age 24

he also went UCLA, studying comparative literature and LGBTQ studies, and lived on campus (for 3 years before moving in with Mason in 2017) before graduating in 2018. they’re engaged and moved to Sacramento. he’s writing a novel that will thankfully have nothing to do with their confusing ass lives

Cora Hale - age 28

lesbian queen *bows* still part of her pack in Ecuador, South America - she’s got a lady lover who I call Rosa (affectionately nicknamed Rosalita). they met when she first got there age 12 (Rosa being 13 at the time). Rosa taught her Spanish and made her feel like part of the pack - after all the Alpha pack stuff, when she went back with Derek and Peter, she didn’t realise how much she’d missed them- how much she’d missed her. Derek asks if that’s her girlfriend and she’s like ‘wha- o.o’ and Rosa just goes ‘yup - nice to finally meet you guys’. she still visits DC to see Derek and Beacon Hills to see Erica and Isaac. even tho she lives in a different continent, Peter still looks out for her, sending anonymous donations in Talia’s name to the areas surrounding her pack’s territory

Brett Talbot - 24

*singsongs* ~he did not die~ the car swerved out of the way and the pack took him to Deaton who burnt the poison out of him (it was a long and painful process but he’s fine y’all). he’s the new lacrosse coach at Devenford Prep and he and Liam have a (mostly) friendly rivalry :) he’s a single pringle not bcs of lack of dates but just bcs he hasn’t found the one yet

Lorilee Rohr - age 22

also did not die :) she finished high school (2015) and went on to studying at UC Berkeley (art practice and theatre and performance studies, major and minor), graduating in 2018. she and Brett moved once he reached age 18. she makes and sells art from home

Nolan Holloway - age 25

after proving himself, same as Theo, he was eventually accepted into the pack. he and Gabe were dating and that’s that so he did mourn him for a long while. he works with hunters on the dl, trying to stop them hunting the supernaturals - he’s flipped 23 away from the dark side by 2020. he and Liam are friends which took a while but Nolan has his back (like there was that one time someone from the lacrosse team said they weren’t gonna ‘follow some mongrel’ so he reminded them that Liam was co-captain and if they didn’t wanna follow him, they could kindly fuck off :)) he’s a simp and has a raging crush on Brett like me too bruh

~the end~ for now

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jawlinedolan · 4 years

Text

Sugar Cane Nymph (G.D.)

Sugar cane nymph (G.D.)

disclaimer-> i’m colombian so english is obviously NOT my first language. i’m fluent and generally have non-terrible grammar but I usually just write academic stuff in english. i have only ever written fiction in my mother language before this so please bare with me while i get used to this.

this took a while to write omg it wasn’t supposed to be this long, anyways enjoy and PLEASE PRETTY PLEASE let me know what you guys think about it?💓💓🎊🎊

TELL ME IF YOU WOULD LIKE A PART TWO

summary: Grayson meets his mom’s new neighbor after an unexpected for legged visitor ivades Lisa’s Garden.

word count: +5k

warnings: some minor swearing, a whole buch of flustered grayson and hopefully a bit of humor? also i did not proof-read this sorry

Poor Grayson. For the millionth time that night something was disturbing his peaceful sleep. First the frogs and now his mom chooses this moment to do laundry.He thought half asleep. His hazy mind couldn’t for the life of him imagine any other reason for the incessant rumbling that was currently penetrating the walls of his tiny bedroom. He was mad. All of that crunching and crashing outside had taking him out of his amazing dream.

Oh, and was it an amazing one. So beautiful, just like her. He didn’t even know her name yet her image had managed to plague his every waking moment and now it seemed his slumber too. Not that he minded though, his dream had brought them closer.

He needed his sleep because he needed to wake up early, otherwise he would miss it, miss her. He had discovered her on his first morning run ever since coming back home. He always thought that Jersey had the prettiest countryside in all of North America and now he was sure of it. How could it not be with such a gorgeous nymph galoping around bareback on top her trusty steed. She was out there every morning at exactly 5:50 a.m.

Dammit. When had he became such a sap? Grayson knew he was attractive and he definitely knew how to use it. He had never encountered trouble wooing the ladies before. But this one, oh this one was different. There was something about her, he didn’t even knew her name but he just felt a certain way when he was around her. Well, more like spying behind a particularly dense bush that surrounded the little clearing where she ended her ride every morning. And that he had found on pure coincidence . If you could count trying to conspicuously keep up with a galloping horse for a quarter of mile as coincidence, that is. In his defense he just couldn’t let her get away, it was like she was pulling him without even knowing.

Each morning she would ride up there and he would be waiting behind the bush to watch the show. He could hear it’s powerful hoves before he could devise the big black stallion. Even her horse was different. It had a beautiful shinny black coat that the women at his mom’s beauty salon would envy. It’s mane and tale cascaded down his body in actual curls. Just like hers. He had never seen a horse that didn’t have straight hair.

It was sort of funny, one of the first things he noticed about the mysterious girl was her long and lucious curly hair. And she looked so in sync with the beast. With the dark curls and big brown eyes they almost looked like family.

She was short thing, as he noticed when he saw her stading next to the horse for the first time. He reckoned she would reach to his chest or his shoulders, at best. Her thick thighs hugged the animal’s torso right before she jumped off its back, squatting on her landing which made her delectable ass stretch her jeans. It all looked pretty profesional and innocent, still, he couldn’t help but imagine those beautiful legs wrapping around his waist while his big hads supported that delicious bottom.

Was he seriously getting exited at a half asleep memory or was it just morning wood?

He ignored that thought and kept his eyes closed, continuing with his hazy recollection.

Their conection was amazing, it was just her and her beast. She didn’t use a saddle or tack. She simply spoke to it, like one would another human being, and then she would scratch it’s neck. After that the thousand poud animal did everything she asked. It reared and bowed at her comand and, sometimes, she would let her hair down and they would spin and jump around almost like they were dancing.

No matter how many times he hid behind that bush to watch them, Grayson was in awe at every single thing she did. To him, she was completely mesmerizing.

So mesmerizing, in fact, that he could never bring himself to step out from behind his reliable bush to say hi. She seemed nice enough, surely she wouldn’t think he was some sort of creepy stalker, right? Except, at this point, he kind of was. But his little nymph didn’t need to know that.

Giving up on sleep he decided that if his mom felt the need to do the laundry two days in a row he better find a way of his own of being productive. But upon opening his eyes he was surprised to be greeted by darkness and those stupid frogs chirping outside. He tapped around until his long fingers got a grasp on his cellphone and squinted when the damned thing nearly blinded him with it’s brightness.

Then suddenly the laundry room was shaking again.

“The fuck” he groaned sleepily.

When his eyes finally adjusted to the light emanating from the screen of his Iphone he let out another groan, silently cursing the digital clock that read 4:25 a.m.. His alarm would be ringing in less than an hour for his morning run and he was super tired because some frogs had decided to serenade him until one in the morning. How come they aren’t sleeping yet?

Then there was that rumbling again. But when he realized that his mechanical roommate would be empty of dirty clothes at such unholy hour he began to worry. It’s not like the house was near the street, whatever or whoever was causing all that ruckus had to be in the property. He crept out of his room barefoot trying to be conspicuous and stealthy, even though the cold floor was torturing his toes.

He reached the front door after a quick stop at the kitchen to grab his mother’s big trusty iron frying pan in case he needed to attack. He made a mentan note to not leave everything that could be a potential weapon inside his building shed next time.

After taking a fortifying breath he grabbed the doorknob and turned it as delicately and silently as man his size could manage.

At first glance nothing on the porch seemed out of the ordinary, but when he turned the lights on he noticed it. An overturned plantpot which used to contain an colorful flower that, according to his mom, was an exotic plant that her friend had brought her from her vacation in the caribbean. His mom couldn’t stop talking about her colorful little flower when they showed her her new garden and how she was going to give it a special place in it. And now some rascal had savagely munched on it leaving only the dying stems amongst the dirt.

Suddenly the early morning was eerily silent again. Grayson tried to slow his breathing while straining to hear anything tha would give away the position of the invader. His heart was just about to beat out of his chest, the house was in the middle of nowhere, anything could be out there.

When he finally heard something he couldn’t believe his ears. High pitched and clearly irritated he barely recognized it.

Was that a neigh?

He followed the sound and finally got his answer upon glancing at Lisa’s Garden. The animal that appeared tu be stuck near one of the flower beds looked like a horse, kind of. It had a mane, a tail, four hooves, pointy ears and it was distinctly neighing, everythig pointed that it was a horse. Except for the fact that it couldn’t be any taller than three feet. It seemed he was in presence of a miniature horse.

Quickly running to his building shed he grabbed his diagonal pliers to cut the wire that had most likely trapped his hoof. But when he came back to help the little guy found him with his head deep into the nearest flower pot casually having a 5 a.m. flowery snack.

“Hey! Stop that!” he yelled trying to separate the little beast from it’s colorful victim. “YOU LITTLE FUCKER” Grayson yelled when the animal actually bit him for trying to take away his meal. Weren’t horses suposed to be vegetarian? Well if it liked flowers so much who’s to say it didn’t have other bizarre tastes... like fucking human flesh.

Waking up from all the noise Lisa walked outside to see her 6ft tall 200lb son wrestling a mini horse for a pot of half munched flowers. And she knew their equine visitor very well.

Grayson looked up from his struggle to see his mom walking out of the house with her phone in hand. He looked at her pleadingly and she just chuckled.

“Don’t worry sweetie I called his owners, Emperor’s mom is coming to pick him up as we speak” She told him.

“Wait you actually know where he came from?!” He let go of the animal and marched up to the woman comfortably clad in whool robe and warm slippers while he was out there shirtless and barefoot, hair stuck in every direction, trying to defend their home.

And of course in that moment his beloved brother decided to join in the fun from his bedroom window. Ethan let put a loud snort at his twin’s dishiveled appearance.

“Dude, what happened to you?” he asked in between laughs.

“Shut the fuck up E!” Grayson yelled looking up to his brother. “It could’ve been a murderer or some shit” At that Lisa couldn’t contain herself anymore and let put a loud laugh. She walked towards him with his coat in her hands that she had retrieved while the boys bantered.

“Oh realx sweetie! I don’t think you can die from cuteness overload” She paused while Grayson snatched his coat and glanced at the small black horse. to speak to it in a baby voice. “Ain’t that right Emperor?”

He put on his coat over his otherwise naked torso and and ran his hands through his unruly hair, exasperated. His mom speaking to the little monster briefly reminded him of his beautiful nymph and how her horse actually seemeyto listen, unlike this urchin that had breakfast on his mom’s flowers. He sneered at the animal before speaking.

“So you know the owners, ma?”

“Yeah, they’re sugarcane farmers. Our neighbors up north.”

“Up north? That’s dairy farm?” Grayson replied maliciously. Of course it would be dairy people that would own this mini horse devil. It just made sense.

Lisa just chuckled again at the grave look on Grayson’s face. Ethan just observed carefully from above how Emperor finished a pot of tiny purple flowers and was stretching his little neck trying to reach the next one containing daisies. Or at least he thought that’s what those were, either way it was simply hilarious.

“That’s north of the road, Gray. I’m talking about north of the property, they grow sugarcane organically. ” She explained exitedly.

“Oh... well whoever they are they better come get their poor animal soon.”

“They are already on the way, I just sent Denisse a text” She replied sternly, her sons could be the biggest men-child sometimes. “And even though they’re not vegan, I can assure you they take real good care of their animals.” Since Grayson didn’t seem all that convinced she continued, “Especially their horses, Denisse’s daughter has wall full of horsemanship thophies and first place ribbons, that girl spends hours everyday tending them.”

“Well apparently not enough” He grumbled brooding. “This one is clearly not that educated”

“Oh, Emperor is just a bit... energetic”

Oh hell no. She was actually gonna deffend it.

“ENERGETIC?!” He snapped. “ He ate your exotic flower and destroyed the garden! He’s a monster in a small package!”

“Gray it’s okay. And you’re exaggerating he didn’t destroy anything he just turned a few flower pots.”

“What about you exotic kayacka or whatever it’s called!” He kept on yelling. “HE ANNIHILATE IT”

Grayson was seething at this point. He loved animals and nature, he had gone vegan for God’s sake. But this was just too much, nature had basically trampled him in the last 12 hours. First the god forsaken frogs screaming their slimy little lungs out kept him up half of the night and now this!

This annoying piece of horse flesh had not only awoken him at the fucking asscrack of down, but it had also destroyed the garden he had busted his back to buid for Ma, who was currently laughing at his missery. And as if that wasn’t enough he was more than likely going to miss his secret appointment with his beautiful nymph.

“It’s called a cayena and he didn’t do it intentionally , Gosh, calm down” She pinned him with a stare “And it’s not that big of a deal, there’s more where that one came from I’m sure Denisse wouldn’t mind. Plus her daughter will more than likely begg to help picking up this mess, like I said she always looks out for the horses” She pursed her lips starting to get a annoyed at his irrational fury. “As mother would, she’s always picking up her childs messes”

“Well if she is such a great horse mom, how come her child is a freakin flower eating tornado” Grayson replied grudgingly, feeling like a scolded child for something he didn’t even do. Was he seriously talking about this horse like it was a person?

In the middle of his ire he looked down. Now that the sun was starting to illuminate the early morning he could see it had a kinda nice chesnut color and his beady ayes were staring eagerly at the daisies, that were just a few centimeters out of reach. If it hadn’t been such a nightmare Grayson could almost see himself looking for his allergy pill after petting the cute tiny thing. But it had messed with his garden and managed to get stuck, now he was going to have to ruin the chicken wire to cut him free. So no, Emeperos wasn’t all that cute anymore and after looking at the redish bite mark on his hand he definitely didn’t want to pet it. Lisa’s voice interrupted his musings.

“Listes, go put on you shoes, get yourself some breakfast and try to calm down. Denisse’s daughter shouldn’t be more than a few minutes away, I’ll look after him in the meantime”

“Oh no no, I’m gonna have a word with this chit and she’s gonna fix this immediately.”

Lisa was about to stop Grayson’s angry rambling until she spotted a rider and horse closing in on the house from the north trail.

“I mean, who the hell does she think she is? Letting her animals trample around and how long tilll-“

“Oh my Gosh! I’m so sorry Mrs Dolan I can’t believe he’s done this again.” A female voice rung melodically behind him accompanied by the resounding thudding of heavy hooves on grass. “Emperooor” the voice groaned “ what was it this time?”

Grayson knew that voice, and even if he had never heard her giving soft commands to her intimidating black stallion he would have recognized the feeling she stirred in him. That fluttering on the left side of his chest, the earthquake of butterflies in his stomach, that familiar sense of calmness that only her could bring him.

Lisa´s voice brought him back from his momentary day dream.

“Well son it looks like your wish came true” she said so only he could hear and the raised her voice to greet the girl rapidly approaching them on horseback. “(Y/N) , sweetie, hello!”

Grayson turned around utterly speechless. Astounded by her beauty and awed by the mere sight of her as she dismounted gracefully from the familiar black stud, who was actually saddled this time.

She stepped away from the huge beast and walked towards where they were standing near the garden. With every step closer that she took Grayson felt his lungs closing up on him. What was I supposed to say to her, again? The mini horse, right.

“I’m so sorry Mrs. Dolan. I don't know what to do with him anymore, ever since we moved up here he seems to find new ways to scape stalls and squeeze to fences daily” (Y/N) kept babbling out her sincere apologies while she come to hug the older woman whose garden had been vandalized by her favorite Shetland.

“(Y/N) I’ve told you a hundred times it’s Lisa, and don't worry about it I understand you mother is always telling me how hard you try to keep Emperor in check” She replied glaring slightly at Grayson whose jaw had fallen slightly ajar, she elbowed him discreetly bringing him back from whatever dreamland he was in. “Can't speak for the big man here though, he was a little distressed earlier”

As if he wasn't having a hard enough time (Y/N) shiny browns eyes peered up at him shyly stilling his lungs once again, and a lovely blush spread on her chubby cheeks. He followed the rosy trail with his eyes to the top of her round breasts wondering how far down her body would it reach. And when she spoke softly to him, he was a goner.

“Oh... I’m so sorry, I promise I will fix it up right away” When he didn't reply she added “I'm not as great as Lisa but I’m a pretty decent gardener, I swear its gonna look brand new” Gosh, this was embarrassing. He was so handsome and she has just let her mini-horse ruin his mother's garden.

Lisa’s elbow once again spooked him out of his catatonic state.

“Oh don’t be modest, I bet it’s gonna look better than before. Right, Gray?” Seeing the look in his eyes, she quickly decided that (Y/N) would have a little help fixing her plants. “Sweetie, I know you've made good friends with Cameron but I don't think you've met my sons before”

“No ma’am, I don't think I've had the pleasure” (Y/L) replied in a low voice very unlike herself.

“Okay this is Grayson and that nosy one with his head stuck out the window is his twin brother Ethan” (Y/N) glanced in the direction Lisa was pointing and sure enough there was buzz cut head sticking out the second floor window with a smirk plastered all over his angular face, ready to yell a greeting to his brother’s dream girls. Gray had described her so many times with so much detail that it was scary but it also allowed him to tell right away when he saw the curly haired girl atop the black horse.

“Why good morning Miss Horsey Neighbor (Y/L) it's a pleasure to make your acquaintance” Ethan yelled with a flirty smirk that he knew was sure to infuriate his twin.

“The pleasure is all mine, good sir” (Y/N) replied with a laugh, following along on his joke. Ethan seemed like a funny guy, she could see them becoming friends. The other brother though, they had the same sharp jawline and handsome features, but Grayson’s intense stare was definitely something else. She felt intimidated yet...exited?

Grayson stuck his hand out dumbly trying to get her attention back from his brother.

“I’m distressed and it’s okay, I wasn't Grayson” he vomited his words while trying to produce a smile that ended up looking like a grimace. (Y/L) offered him a blushy smile back none the less.

“It's a pleasure Distressed”

“Huh? Oh, fuck!” Nice job champ let her think you're fucking retarded “ it’s Grayson! I’m Grayson and was not distressed. I was just um...” He trailed off looking to his mom for help bur she merely shrugged “I was uh... worried! For the mini! Poor little guy just wanted a snack and ended up stuck in the chicken wire.”

He stuttered and stumbled trough his explanation but (Y/N), who was usually very perceptive, was still so embarrassed and flustered that she didn't notice he was lying.

“Okay. So, he shouldn’tbe snacking on flowers, anyways, he knows that” (Y/N) mumbled walking towards Emperor who had stopped struggling towards the white daisies and was now waiting for attention from his favorite human. “Alrighty pal, what did you get yourself into” She kneeled on the ground and started inspecting Emperor’s little hoof stuck on the wire. She tried to pull it out but it was too tight, the wire had tu be cut.

Meanwhile Grayson stared amazed at how the little horse devil had turned into horse putty in (Y/N)’s hands. His ears pointed towards and he rubbed his furry neck on her arm looking for scratches. No sign of the Shetland that had rudely attacked him earlier. He looked down at his hand and noticed that the bite mark was barely visible now, maybe Emperor wasn't that bad after all. Maybe.

“It’s too tight if we don't cut the wire he could hurt himself” (Y/N) announced looking up towards Lisa but the taught about it and directed her glance towards her son, who already had a cutting plier in his hand. “Do you think I can borrow that?”

“Yeah, sure, here you go” He was about to hand her the tool when Lisa widened her eyes at him at pointed her chin to the girl crouched con her garden. “Actually, let me do it” He corrected, kneeling down right next to her so that his strong shoulder thighs brushed against her blue jeans. He heard vaguely a big impatient snort behind but paid no mind to de large stallion that stood where (Y/N) had tied his reigns to the garden fence. The thing was so big it could probably pull the fence right off the soil, but instead stood patiently waiting for his master.

“I live in farm y’know I think I can manage a pair of pliers” She replied slightly annoyed that he wouldn't hand her the damned thing.

“Oh, don’t mind him honey he just loves playing with his tools” Lisa pitched in from above them. Grayson prayed nobody noticed his flushed face, but his nymph was deliciously close to him for the first time. Never before he had had the chance of perceiving her intoxicating scent, it was sweet almost like melted sugar right before it turns into caramel.

“I don’t play, ma! I build stuff” He looked up at his mother with a look half annoyed/half pleading. “Besides, I’m sure you're more than capable of cutting some measly chicken wire, I just thought you could keep him calm so that-”

“Oh my God! You're totally right.”

“I am?”

“OF COURSE, he could run around as soon as he's free and continue to dismantle this poor place. Good thinking, Grayson”

Was that even his name she just pronounce? He didn't remember ever sounding so good.

“Yup, yeah. That's it” Yeah I totally wasn't trying to show off for you, nymph.

(Y/N) resumed scratching Emperor with one hand while the other pushed on his neck to give Grayson as much room to cut the wire as possible. Since the kids seemed to be getting along quite nicely Lisa decided to make herself scarce.

“Well guys I’m gonna get inside and make some breakfast” She received two distracted hums and with that she left, not without throwing a pointed glance up at Ethan who immediately stuck his head back inside.

A few minutes later Emperor was a free and happy Shetland. Since he had already eaten, clearly, she decided she could get a head start on the mess the mini had made before riding back home for breakfast. She attached a lead-rope she had brought to the his halter, that he was miraculously still wearing, and tied him to the fence. Grayson just watched her, still kneeling by the dirt bed, she moved so naturally between the mess.

“I’m so sorry, really. For the life of me I have no idea how he came to eat flowers on the first place, I will bring over some seeds later but I’m gonna start cleaning this now, do you have some gardening tools I can borrow?” She was a little breathless after spurting out all of that, she was so nervous now that they were alone.

He got up and dusted his sweatpants.

“Sure, they are in my building shed” He replied puffing out his already beefy chest, his building shed was his pride and joy. “Just let me grab my boots real quick”

“Oh that’s okay I ca-” but he was already running inside.

A few minutes later after running a hand through his hair numerous times to tame his bedhead in front of the living room mirror, they were walking a bit closer than necessary to the shed.

“So, you like building a lot?” At that Grayson put on full display his million dollar smile.

“You could say that” He said looking around the shed for the gardening toolbox.”I build my mom that garden, I mean me and my brother did it but he was more like an.. assistant” Grayson could have swooned when he heard her laughter but instead focused on grabbing the box from the top shelf.

“Are you kidding? I could have sworn that was made by a professional?” She replied, seemingly impressed while they walked back.

“Why thank you, n- (Y/N)” He put the box down next to the first overturned plant pot “I appreciate that” Oh he appreciated it, alright.

“You know, you don't need, it was my horse after all” she sat criss- cross and started rummaging trough the box.

This was it, Grayson needed to pull his shit together if he wanted to make a good first impression on this gorgeous nymph that was eagerly staring up at him, waiting for an answer that his dumbass was unable to produce. With his shaking hands conveniently hidden inside his pockets, he stared confidently into her deep brown eyes and pulled his most charming smile.

And then they got to work. All coquettish smiles, blushing faces and casual hand brushings. They talked about building, horses, video games and even the process of cultivating high quality sugar cane without using pesticides. Grayson was over the moon being the sole focus of her attention, he had waited so long for this. He watched as she pulled away from her face the rebel curls that scaped from her ponytail wishing he could run his hands through the luscious strands and wondering if her round cheeks would be as soft as they looked if he were to touch them with his rough fingertips. He was so immersed in her that didn't realize that their work was done when they picked up the last of Emperors victims, the cayenne on the porch.

Standing on the recently clean porch steps they took a minute to admire their hard work. Or at least for Grayson they were to admire her.

“Well, this is it, thank you so much for you help Gray, you didn't have to” Did she just called him by his nickname? He had to be dreaming.

“It’s okay” he murmured observing how she had to crane her neck up to look at him, she was such a shorty yet when she spoke she appeared larger than life. She was simply amazing. “Time flies when you're having fun” He replied while they started walking towards the horses that were snorting impatiently.

“It was kinda fun, wasn't it?” she untied the big black horse and with one hand she held Emperor’s lead rope while the other pulled on the saddle Horne making for a swift effortless mount. Grayson stood a few steps away looking at the stallion curiously. “You can come closer, Spirit is a perfect gentleman, he likes firm pats like this” He smiled at her demonstration and brought his own much larger right hand to Spirit’s thick neck and let his left one rest cheekily above her knee.

“Spirit” he tested the name on his tongue “Is that his name?” he was looking up at her, for a change, and its was making her breath speed up.

“Well his registered name is actually Indomitable Spirit, my grandma rescued his mom with a poachers arrow on her side” (Y/N) cringed at the memory of the beautiful mare covered in blood “She didn’t have any hoseshoes and her teeth looked like they had never been floated, she was skittish around people... but not as much as the tipycal wild horse. It was like she was scared but she still wanted something from us. Then we realized it was because she was heavily pregnant, it only took us a couple of days to figure out she was close to due date. A month later she gave birth to the most adorable foal with a coat as black as onyx stone” Grayson basked in the glow of her radiant smile remembering how her horse came to this world. And when her face fell, his did too.“It was a difficult labor and she wasn't fully healed yet from her old wounds. The blood loss was fatal, she was too weak to even stand but she pushed through until she was done and the she just closed her eyes and never opened them again. Later on we confirmed she was a mustang so we named him in her honor. You know, most pregnant mares are nightmares, but not her, it was like she knew we would take care of her baby.” She paused at the dreamy look on his face ”Sorry, you probably didn't need the whole pony tale story, I blabber a lot sometimes... a lot of times, actually.”

“No its fine its fine,” he replied hurriedly “I love it, I mean, the story- its quite beautiful,”

“Glad you liked it” She blushed again and Grayson could have pulled her down from the saddle right then and there to cover her cute ass face with kisses, but he contained himself and tried to focus on what she was saying. “Again I’m so sorry about the garden”

“Actually, now I’m looking forward to Emperor’s next great scape if that means i get to hang out with you ” There it was, he had laid out the bait, he could only pray she take it.

“That could very well happen, but I would hate to destroy your garden again” She chuckled nervously

“It would be worth it if I can see you again, soon” The hand on her knee squeezed and his eyes stared hopeful into hers. “Or maybe, we could just grab some vegan ice cream sometime”

“That sounds nice” She started turning her horse around to hide her very obvious blush, but he saw it and it had his heart fluttering and a big cheesy smile appearing on his face.

“Vegan ice-cream it is, then”

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