#fake love triangles

[stusbunker]

Spotless: Schleppen

Chapter Sixteen

Featuring: Dean Winchester/Reader, Dean/Bela

Other characters: Sam/Madison, Lee/Pam/Benny, Jesse/Cesar, Charlie/OFC, unnamed female character

Word Count: 2644

Warnings, etc: Mutual pining, everyone is hungover, Dean steps in it, Sam is so done with their shit, unbeta'd

Series Masterlist

Dean didn’t sleep. Or if he did, it was in the last gasps of darkness and so short, he couldn’t feel its relief. Alcohol affects the REM cycle, so whoever taught him to have a drink before bed to help with his insomnia (John) was wrong. It was just one of the many things he’d learned in therapy. Dean found he had many things yet to unlearn.

No one who had stayed over was in any better shape when he got downstairs.

Bela and Trouble had bunkered down on the couch in the den, Charlie had claimed one of the bedrooms with a woodland elf, the other spare went to Pam and Lee, but Dean was pretty sure he had heard Benny through the walls, so maybe him too. The other girl Charlie brought along was on the floor curled around Jesse fruitlessly, because Cesar, who was sitting with his back to the end of the couch, still asleep, held his partner’s head in his lap. He wondered if Sam was already up and running until Madison came down the stairs in search of caffeine with a shirtless and rumpled Sam on her heels.

“Morning,” Dean said smugly to them both.

Madison met his gaze and tried not to blush, which Dean found oddly refreshing, while Sam just flipped him off and dove in for a cup of coffee before it was even done brewing.

They moved in hushed whispers, but the Winchesters’ words were doomed to carry with their baritone. After Madison admonished them for not having more to eat in their fridge, Dean stepped up and ordered a combo of both greasy and sweet options to be delivered with an impressive tip to the driver for their discretion.

Bela helped herself to Dean’s shower and some of his clothes. And if anyone had found it odd that they hadn’t slept together, no one was ballsy enough to mention it. Or maybe they were all just too hungover to care. 

He still hadn’t seen Pam and company emerge and he wondered if he was going to have to risk walking in on some alternative hangover cures. 

Luckily for everyone, the pounding on the front door for the food was enough to rouse the stragglers and beckon them back to civilization.

“Happy 2018 everybody!” Pam croaked with a shiteating grin on her face as she took in everyone’s subdued state.

She was met with lackluster replies, grumbles and a very sarcastic cheer from Charlie. She tutted at them and sauntered her way towards the jelly donuts.

As rough as he felt, Dean lived for mornings (or early afternoons) like this. His kitchen was filled with people he loved, sharing food and just existing together, safe and warm. It’s what being in a band was all about. He started another pot of coffee when Bela slinked over and hugged him from behind, resting her face between his shoulder blades.

“I’ll just have a nap right here, thanks,” she mumbled against his shirt.

“Oh yeah?” Dean peered down at her. “You know, you can take my bed if you’re still tired, not gonna rush anybody out today.”

“‘S too far,” Bela complained. “And I already showered, no sense delaying the inevitable.”

Dean turned in her arms, letting her rest against his chest instead. He rubbed her back and looked up when he felt someone watching him. You sat folded in on yourself on one of the tall chairs, looking as if you were going to puke all over the counter.

“You okay over there?” Dean asked, more alarm slipping into his voice than the jest he intended. He cleared his throat, but didn’t let go of Bela as she turned to look at who he was talking to.

Gaping at him like a deer caught in the headlights, you nodded. 

Dean reminded himself to breathe, feeling everything you were saying by the look in your eyes. He fucked up. But in that moment there was nothing he could say that would fix it. Bela was supposed to be his girl, it would be too obvious to step away from her now.

As much as he suddenly wanted distance, he held on tighter, like she was a shield against his feelings for you. And against the look of betrayal in your eyes.

“When do you want to leave— Y/N?” Bela broke through Dean’s silent spiraling and started making plans to get home.

“Lemme drive you guys— could use some fresh air,” Dean cut in before they could order a ride.

“Are you sure? I’m a little out of the way,” you asked, worried over being a burden or being trapped in a car with him, Dean couldn’t be sure.

“Positive, just say when, and I’ll get Baby all set to go,” Dean insisted.

Bela kissed Dean on the cheek and thanked him for a wonderful time, promising to text him her schedule later. She reached over the backseat to grab your hand, smiling mischievously, “another one for the books. See you at brunch?”

“If I can eat by then,” you muttered, smirking as she slid out of the car.

“Bye!” Bela called as she disappeared through the door from the garage into the kitchen.

Dean cleared his throat and leered at you in the rearview mirror.

“You gonna come up here or am I gonna have to call you Miss Daisy?”

You rolled your eyes at him, but you didn’t open your door.

“I can wait all day. If you think you can out- stubborn me–,”

“FINE!” you snapped, throwing open the door and almost slamming it into Bela’s car’s rear end. “Asshole.”

Dean tried not to laugh outright, but you were kind of adorable when you were pissed. Once you were situated in the passenger seat, purse and coat lumped on your lap and seat belt secured, Dean continued to wait.

“What?! We can go now.”

“Easy! I’m just adjusting my mirrors, don’t want to back into anything,” Dean added with an air of responsibility.

“You so were not,” you grumbled, huffing before leering at the sideview as Dean crawled out of Bela’s driveway.

It was going to be a long drive.

Once they were out of the canyon, Dean decided he was going to have to put some of those lessons from Missouri to use. “So— you wanna talk about it?”

You glared at him like he asked if you wanted to eat your jacket.

“Come on, I know you’re pissed. Let me have it,” Dean egged you on, okay, maybe he could have said that better.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you muttered, eyes on your hands.

“Really? You gonna pretend you’re not having a bitchfit right now?”

“Dean Henry Winchester, do not make me call Charlie and tell her you called me a bitch.” And just like that you were all in. “I cannot believe you right now.”

“I didn’t mean—”

“No, look, you can’t just go around kissing people and then shoving your relationship in their faces. It’s called mixed signals, asshole!”

“Oh, so you can call me an asshole, but I can’t call you names?!”

You crossed your arms over your chest. “It’s not the same and you know it.”

Dean sighed, he was letting himself get defensive instead of focusing on what you were really saying. It suddenly felt like a horrible idea to have this conversation when neither of you could escape.

“I don’t know what relationship you’re talking about— the fake dating thing you roped me into?! Cuz that’s not real, that’s playing nice— for you!” Dean hadn’t realized how much he resented you for this whole set up, but now that the words were out of his mouth, things made a lot more sense.

“Bullshit,” you spat.

“You want me to ignore her, huh? Pretend she’s not there, in front of everybody this could hurt if it gets out that it’s all a lie?!”

You turned on him then, taking a deep breath as Dean made sure he wasn’t too distracted to drive. “Is it a lie?”

Dean looked back at the road and licked his lips. How much did you know? How much was it safe to tell you? How much of Bela’s life was private, even from you?

“What are you talking about?! Of course it’s a lie, an act, a ruse! You were the mastermind here, remember?!”

“You know what, Dean? I think the lady doth protest too much,” you said. “I think you know it was wrong to do what you did, but now you’re trying to pin this on me. When I only did it to cover your ass!”

“That is so not fair. I own my shit. What are you really pissed at here? Me in general? Me kissing you? Me hugging Bela? Me making your job harder? WHAT?!”

You groaned. “YES! Okay? YES!”

You stopped your tirade and looked at him and Dean felt you deflate as he glanced back onto the road ahead.

You started over, trying for calm, “you are inherently annoying, I think we both know that.”

Dean huffed. “Yeah, thanks.”

“No, listen. I knew this thing wasn’t going to be easy— for any of us. But it’s the best way to turn everything around. But— if you can’t do it anymore, if there’s something you need to tell me, I’ll understand. We’ll figure it out, okay? Just— just don’t lie to me, okay? I can’t fix things if I don’t have the whole story.”

Dean felt about two inches tall. He wiped his hand down his face and growled, pissed at himself and whatever you were fishing for. Because it was still all his fault. Somehow, he had gotten you home, he pulled into the driveway and killed the engine.

“I can do it, okay? This is on me. I’ll make it right. I’ll be on my best behavior, get us out on tour without a hitch. Make the label all the money and start to earn back everybody’s respect. I owe them all that much,” Dean promised to your suspicious face.

“Dean—”

“What?”

“Is there anything I should know? Seriously. I won’t be pissed. I just— feel like, like I’m out of the loop on this.”

“You were there all night. I think you got a good idea how things are going. Uh, what more can I say, you know? I’m sorry, though, for making you worry. Okay?” Dean ducked his head, making sure you were seeing him, eyes trying to make you see what he couldn’t say, but what he most definitely felt.

Maybe he hadn’t learned anything from Missouri at all. But he was still trying.

“If you’re sure— we’ll keep it going. We've still got over a month before we’re on the road, but it’s gonna go fast now. I just need you to be on your A game,” you said firmly, cementing it into the fabric of your shared reality.

Just keep carrying on.

Dean could do that. He had to.

“Sounds like a plan. And Trouble, do me a favor?” Dean leaned over, slipping into his charming self. “You gotta loosen up, okay? Get a hobby, get laid, just find somewhere to put all this shit you carry so it’s not weighing you down. Okay?”

You sighed and rolled your eyes, tossing the door open and crawling out. “Like it’s that easy. Happy New Year, Dean, drive safe.”

“Later.”

Dean waited until you made it into the house before starting the engine back up. He didn’t go home right away, instead he took a drive along the coast, letting his mind try and untangle the knot you’d just made by having that conversation. 

Six am came way too early the following morning and with it, Sam pounding on Dean’s door to get his ass downstairs and into the gym. Right, his New Year’s resolution and his fucking brother holding him to it. 

“Gotta piss, calm down Billy Blanks,” Dean groaned, rolling out of bed.

He did his business, changed into something he could move around in, and finally found some tennis shoes at the back of his closet.

By the time he made it into the part of their basement they had turned into a gym, Sam was already sweating with a jump rope warm up. 

“What?! I’m here aren’t I? It’s not that late,” Dean grumbled at Sam’s judgey face.

They worked out with little discussion, spotting each other when they moved onto weights. They hadn’t worked out the details of this new shared routine, but slowly Dean felt it falling into place. The strain of his muscles and the swelling of his lungs all reminded him to be present and mindful. To let his body take over building when his mind wanted to use it to punish.

After they had stretched and were winding down, Dean decided to tape up his hands and spend some time on their speed bag. But, of course, that drew Sam’s attention.

Anything that hinted at Cain or Alastair always did.

“What?”

Sam looked him over. “You good?”

Dean didn’t want to have a different version of the trainwreck conversation the day before. But Sam knew everything, more or less anyway. Dean didn’t look up from his task, mesmerized by how soft his knuckles had gotten recently.

“I kissed Trouble.”

“You’ve got to be shitting me,” Sam laughed, actually, genuinely laughed at him. “How’d that go?”

Dean considered the act itself. “Well—- she didn’t hit me.”

Sam sat down on the end of the bench, settling in for the dirt. “Were you expecting her to?

Dean looked over and saw Sam was no longer teasing. “Could you blame her? Some guy like me? A fuck up with a history of diddling her friends?”

“Dean.”

“I know, I know. Believe in myself. I am worthy of love. I know, okay. Just… she didn’t say anything. Just stood there after pulling away, staring at me in total shock.”

“Did she kiss you back?”

Dean thought about it, remembering the way your mouth let him in. “At first, yeah.”

Sam chewed that over. “Does Bela know how you feel about her?”

“Sam, I’m not even sure how I feel about her.”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Yeah you are. You just have been too stupid and self deprecating to do anything about it. Does she?”

Dean shook his head.

“Are you guys fucking?”

“Not like, committedly.”

“Okay, well, you should probably stop that. And tell Trouble how deep you’re in it. Like, I hate being alone with you two, it’s so obvious.”

Dean flipped Sam off.

“What? No, I’m serious. You guys just need to get over your shit and tell each other how you feel. And warn me, because I do not want to come home for like a week after all those years of tension is finally worked out, god.”

Dean kind of gets lost in that image for a minute. “Nah, we’d go to her place. I wouldn’t do that to you.”

Sam couldn’t even tease him after how pathetic he sounded. “But first you need to tell her.”

Dean sighed. “I can’t. I promised her I’d behave and stick to the plan. I can’t risk pissing off Dick and Crowley anymore, I don’t want to jeopardize the band.”

“I’m pretty sure I told you this was a bad idea and I just want to reiterate that point,” Sam snarked.

“Yeah, well, them’s the breaks,” Dean huffed as he hauled himself up and squared off with the hanging bag.

He found a rhythm and kept on his toes.

“Dean, seriously, just tell her how you feel. Life’s too short, you know?” Sam said to Dean’s back.

Dean sighed, upping his pace. Because, yeah, life was really too short.

But there was still nothing he could do about it now.

Author's Note: LISTEN! I did not even outline the first 2/3rds of this chapter. IT just HAPPENED, so yeah, they're still both idiots.

Tagging:

@deans-spinster-witch

@mrswhozeewhatsis

@cosicas-cuquis

@fics-pics-andotherthings-i-like

@suckitands33

@ladysparkles78

@deans-baby-momma

@stoneyggirl2

@sassy-pelican

@leigh70

@globetrotter28

@winharry

@lastactiontricia

@rockhoochie

Chapter Seventeen: Trill

#spotless series #dean/reader #dean/bela #fake dating #rockstar au #slow burn #dean angst #dean winchester fanfiction #should i be calling this a love triangle

[anxietyfluffy]

i saw a cute pic on pinterest, so i decided to doodle these three for it because it reminded me of them so much! this took like. 30 minutes. UEWFGEWF

#criminal case #criminal case pacific bay #karen knight #frank knight #andrea marquez #i love karen x frank x andrea but specifically when theyre ALL dating #no fake tv triangle love story shit they ALL hold hands

[fantastic-nonsense]

Lois & Clark was such a deeply chaotic show because what do you mean they did a Clois fake married episode in Season 1 and then turned around 8 episodes later and had Lois get engaged to Lex for the season finale plot

#sex pollen ep...fake married ep...power swap ep....amnesia ep...undercover investigation ep...love triangle drama... #that show really had it all #lois & clark #lois lane #clark kent #lex luthor

[daemonsrhaenyra]

Yessss, join the poly ranks.

#911 abc #bucktommy #buddie #in my head i'm still calling them the firethrouple #but also #finally the potential of an actual love triangle none of that fake love triangle #where it's actually the shape of a roof cause it doesn't connect. #eddie x evan x tommy

[chirpsythismorning]

📝 💐 🛼 💔⏪️💭🧊🌄❤️‍🩹

More Than Words by Extreme

previous ⏪︎ now playing ⏩ next back to playlist

#bizarre love triangle playlist #stranger things #el hopper #el's pov #okay so basically this song sort of captures el's series long realization coming to a head #which is that she never needed to hear mike say i love you for it to be real #she needed to feel it based on his actions #i don't necessarily think she was going to break up with mike here #because arguably she already dumped his ass with that from el letter #HOWEVER i do think she was prepared to solidify her concerns and how she feels now #maybe her hope was to rid mike of his misery and try to meet him on his level and put all of this fake nonsense to rest #with them both coming to the decision mutually that it would be better for them to focus on being friends #bc she will always want that even if mike is too much of a peabrain to realize that it's even an option for them (yet) #he's giving her all these signals up to this point that he does not have romantic feelings for her #it was never about him not being able to say i love you (tho it contributed in that he avoided it) #it was the fact that she needed to hear it at all to believe it that cemented their permanent romantic fallout #a consistent parallel between the endgame couples is that none of them ever say i love you out loud #bc they show it! and the other person knows as a result! #which follows the whole 'show dont tell' rule #el basically broke up with mike in vol 1 and was prepared to not see him for a long time or ever again #but then they were reuniting and she was so relieved that didn't have to be the case #and yet mike isn't kissing her #he's not saying he loves her #he's stalling #but i think el takes it as him respecting her decision to finally call it quits via her from el letter and that maybe he's matured since s3 #but then he's rambling and dancing around his words #and you can literally see the pity start to be written all over her face #it's as if she's realizing he's going to try to mend their romantic relationship AGAIN even tho she can tell his heart isn't in it #she looks confused and almost disappointed #then abruplty romeo is interrupted

[francesderwent]

Jonathan starts out the story with a very close-knit family unit, a mother and a brother who all love each other deeply but who have already faced a lot of hardship. this leads to him having a very batten-down-the-hatches, circle-the-wagons kind of approach to life. his circle expands (minutely) as the story progresses, to include Nancy and Argyle, but he always has a limited list of people he cares for, and his goal is to protect them. he’ll make sacrifices for them, he’ll shape his life with them in mind. his whole universe shrinks to fit the few people who matter, and everything else fades away—including the possibility that those people could find happiness in the wider world. the world is a threat, something to be guarded against. you can’t take on the world and win, it’s not going to change for the better no matter what you do, you just have to keep your head down and deal with the tragedy of it. he’s seen monsters, he’s known loss. he knows all too well that the picture-perfect happy family is an illusion painted over resentment and cruelty, or even just an illusion painted over the complications that come with loving flawed people. any other outlook is naivety—this is why Jonathan has so little patience for Bob Newby, who is decent but simple, buying into all the things that Jonathan has already seen aren’t unbreakable. and this is why Jonathan walks away from Steve and Nancy kissing in the high school halls in season 2, not out of jealousy, just out of impatience with how juvenile and unrealistic it seems to him. they’re playing into the image of what teenagers are supposed to be and do, the path they’re all meant to be on, and Jonathan doesn’t have any time for that. the image is a lie. the path where you try to fit into the world and put down roots there can only destroy you. when Will feels bombarded, Jonathan doesn’t tell him that he’s going to be happy and people will come to understand him; Jonathan tells Will that he understands him. Jonathan will do absolutely anything to be there for the people he loves; the world will do nothing for them but break them. their happiness, if they find it, is going to have the quality of escape: stepping outside the stifling boundaries of what’s expected and hiding out in a Castle Byers, somewhere they can be safe with the people they love, away from everything that wants to hurt them.

Steve starts out with a couple of merely surface-level friendships and no close family; he’s an only child, he has nowhere to direct his love and devotion, and no one giving that unconditional love to him. he’s already won everything small town high school life has to offer him, reputation and good looks and unsupervised freedom. when all of that is revealed to be vanity of vanities, useless trappings laid on top of an empty cynical life, he too sees monsters and comes to know loss. but his reaction to it is different. in season two, Steve still sees some value in going to a party and wearing the costumes he and Nancy worked hard on. he sincerely misses his girlfriend after an hour, without any cynicism, without needing to appear cool. he’s thinking about getting a job with benefits, so he can be someone to rely on. and as soon as anyone steps into his peripheral vision, Steve loves them. he loves Dustin who orders him around, he loves Robin who makes fun of him, he loves the kids who don’t listen to him, he loves Nancy who broke his heart. his perfect popular ordinary life was empty—so he fills it up with real things, that are still very much real ordinary things. he gives ice cream to the kids and watches movies with Robin, he remembers the song that the carousel horse plays, and through it all he keeps on looking for love and believing in love. the more darkness Steve sees, the more fully he throws himself into the world. it’s after he’s come very near to dying that he tells Nancy his deepest wish is to have a big family and see the world with them—he wants to bring MORE little people into existence and then he wants to introduce them to the whole of the world. he wants to have adventures with them, ordinary people in an extraordinary world, forging through it all together. and then, it’s in the oppressive hell of the upside down, where darkness is literally all around him, that he confesses that the dream is still tied up with her—not some picture-perfect fantasy, but a grounded hope, rooted in his real and abiding love for her, as he really sees her. the world is dark, and wilder and more complicated than it appears. but Steve finds his hope in the most ordinary thing there is: a husband and wife and their children. he is the sane man in a mad world that G.K. Chesteron talks about: the normal boy who becomes the fairy tale hero. 

so what about Nancy? Nancy’s outlook on darkness and the world is very much “ride out and meet them”. she sees evil in the world, and chooses to face it head on, and then, as much as possible, she tries to shoot it in the face. not for nothing does she tell Jonathan in season one when he asks what they should do about the demogorgon, “I want to kill it.” she’s not just being dramatic. she means it. what Nancy most wants, from the moment she discovers the tragedy and violence of life, is to eliminate evil in the world. she wants to kill the demogorgon, she wants to root out the unprincipled men who let it loose and see them punished for the harm they caused, she wants to banish the mind flayer even if she has to chase him out with a hot poker, she wants to set vecna on fire and then pump him full of hot lead.

and so, initially, Jonathan’s perspective seems attractive to her, because he too is aware of precisely the evil that she wants to fight, whereas Steve seems to still be appreciating the shiny surface, the veneer of normalcy and happiness that has ugliness underneath it. “it’s all bullshit,” she tells him. she can’t play the role anymore, she can’t pretend everything is fine when everything that she once knew was poisoned by death. and not only is Jonathan aware of the darkness lurking under reality, his rejection of it is so total that he’s willing to reject the entire world along with it. he so hates the evil that Nancy wants to fight that he will turn away from everything else to hide away with just her and Will. that’s romantic. it is! eros loves to say “you and me against the world”, and the romanticism of that does win out in season two. Nancy picks Jonathan and the escape he offers, picks him because he sees the same world she does. but as the story progresses, we see that their worldviews don’t align perfectly. they’re not in agreement about how to deal with the world. Jonathan wants to get through his internship with a minimum of conflict and go home to his family; Nancy wants to prove herself, change people’s minds, make a lasting difference. Nancy is starting to imagine a life she can build with him, Jonathan can only see what he already has and wants to preserve.

so what we see starting to happen in season four is Steve’s perspective is becoming more and more appealing to Nancy. she’s surprised by that, and I think confused by it. it doesn’t make any sense to her, but suddenly his hopes and dreams don’t sound like bullshit anymore. the picture he paints for her of the life he wants sounds nice, especially because he knows what he’s talking about; he’s been quietly practicing for it, taking care of others younger and weaker than himself, attracting no attention and asking for no reward. it’s not bullshit, it’s not naive—it’s the dream she had before everything fell apart, and now it could be real. and why does Steve’s hope become steadily more and more attractive than Jonathan’s escape? because Jonathan can only retreat, into the safety and solitude of the Byers homestead or into a cloud of smoke. Steve can enter into the world and transform it, light it up from within. Steve can act, and Nancy is a woman of action.

#meta whine and rant #tagging for spoilers: #stranger things s4 #me writing this like: i don't think i have anything to say about nancy except that she wants to fight #which - in fact - IS all I said about nancy #I DO not understand her like I feel I understand the boys #but I think I am correct on that one point #also. do not ask me to explain what jonathan's deal is vis a vis college in s4 #because I do not remember #also catch me putting the g.k. chesterton reference in the body of the post instead of in the tags where it belongs #can't stop won't stop babyyyy #also. like. look at this. #steve is a chesterton hero for SURE #but jonathan IS a taylor swift leading man!!! #I'm sitting here writing meta for a fantasy show!! obviously I am ALL ABOUT escape!! #but I do think nancy is gonna go the other way! #also. just. #'high school is fake but marriage is real' is my favorite love triangle take of all time #yeah! reject the ruling forms of teenagerhood!! it's so stupid!!!!! #but then get married and have six little nuggets #stranger things

[thekatebridgerton]

Ok funny idea, modern AU, the spouses are friends and are a little put off by the Bridgerton who are privileged and not understanding how privileged they.

So they pretend to date each other to fend of the Bridgerton but since they change often, people are so confused because are ALL EIGHT of them dating each other or is their cheating!?

Until one day,

Simon text the group chat to save him from Daphne…

Kate: WAIT YOU ARE CHEATING ON ME!? I LOVE YOU, HOW COULD YOU SIMON!?

Simon: Kate, no it’s not what it looks like!!

Daphne and Anthony are staring at each other in shock until Philip comes, trying to run away from Eloise.

Philip sees them and decides to make a scene and looks at Kate: Kate!? You are cheating on me with Simon!?

Kate: Uh, I can explain!

Simon: Wait what!?

Sophie then comes, trying to fend off Benedict and grabs Philip’s arm: Wait, you are cheating ON ME!? HOW!?

Benedict and Eloise look at Anthony and Daphne all confused and baffled.

Then Michael and Penelope come.

Michael looks at Sophie: YOU ARE CHEATING ON ME!?

Penelope smacking Michael’s arm: EXCUSE ME MICHAEL!? HOW COULD YOU!!

Francesca and Colin stare in bafflement.

Then Lucy and Garett come hand in hand and freeze at the other six and the six of them shouted:

Kate, Sophie, and Penelope: GARETH HOW COULD YOU!?

Simon, Philip, and Michael: LUCY WHY!?

Gregory and Hyacinth are staring at their siblings stunned.

Look at that two asks for the price of one.

Okay so clarification before I answer this ask, Yes to the first part, the second part….I'm feeling a bit awkward about this, to be honest. It's just coming across as kinda cringy, you know? Because I personally credit the Bridgerton spouses with a high degree level of intelligence, in every situation except when horniness is involved, this author has always HC that the spouses are smarter than the Bridgertons to a certain degree, and the only moments they’ve actually been more stupid than the Bridgertons has been when their horniness surpassed their common sense.

Which is why, while I do think that the Bridgerton significant others would be the type of idiots hatch a plan to pretend to date each other in order to get away from the Bridgertons, I don’t think they would get caught. What I do think is that someone in the group had too much horniness induced stupidity and actually came clean which sort of created a very funny chain reaction of miscomunication. So in this scenario here’s what I think happened.

Kate is sick of Anthony being garbage in human form with the push and pull between her and Sienna, Penelope low key thinks Colin is a jealous idiot who may result to stalking soon and destroy her secret Gossip Column when he finds out about it, Sophie is dowright ready to sue Benedict for workplace harassment because he won’t let her do her Live in nurse duties in peace, Simon is afraid to find Daphne somehow sneaking into his room one night to have babies which he’s not ready for, Michael is really trying to be a gentleman and not hook up with Francesca whenever she asks him to teach her how to be Wicked and Phillip is just a dude that can’t escape Eloise tendency to boss him around. Meanwhile Gareth and Lucy were just chillin with their respective guardians (Kate and Simon) but somehow got caught in a teenage love triangle with Hermione and Haselby. Because Gregory thinks he can steal Lucy from Haselby and Hyacinth thinks Gareth is looking too much at Hermione. Hence the plan.

So Kate and Simon of course pretend to date each other, because sure they are both athletic, hot people who like to drink posh tea, that gives Gareth and Lucy the excuse to spend time together fending off Greg and Hyacinth, because if Kate and Simon were dating then wouldn’t it be natural for their adopted siblings to also ‘fall inlove’, meanwhile Sophie and Phillip strike the most unconventional pairing ever, using the excuse that they’re both going to the same therapist and bonded over shared childhood trauma, mostly because if Penelope tried pretending to date Phillip they would be so awkwardly awful they’d get discovered in 5 seconds flat. Which leaves Penelope and Michael to ‘take their friendship’ to the next step and also pretend to date.

So Kate basically tells Anthony that oops she’s dating Simon now because, umm ahh, she’s so hot she actually extracted commitment from the Hastings manwhore extraordinaire, meanwhile Simon explains to Daphne that he’s super committed to Kate, who doesn’t…want children? Yup, that’s why he’s dating her, Kate is a modern lady who is cool with adopting teenage Lucy and Gareth and never having kids of their own. He’s a rake, who aint having kids, hence why Kate is perfect for him. Anthony of course gets very mad but can’t do anything about it, neither can Daphne who is absolutely heartbroken.

Lucy is the opposite of Simon, she then tells Gregory that she’s discovered that Gareth is the love of her life, because Gareth… is okay with her getting married to Haselby (who totally convinced his senator father that he’s going to marry Lucy once they graduate highschool because he’s very straight, so straight, really), Gareth is 100% into being Lucy’s lover when they go to college and giving her lots of babies she can pass off as Haselby’s kids, because you know he’s a stud. And her gay fiancée is totally on board, so please just go away and let Lucy have a torrid love affair with Gareth. Gareth too, tells Hyacinth that he’s having a torrid love affair with Lucy, not Hermione, because Lucy is 100% understanding of his need to marry an heiress after college and she’s not opposed to sharing him, in fact their love is so strong they’ve been together since Kate and Simon got involved and when they both get married to other people for convenience sake, they will continue their torrid love affair. See how super inlove with Lucy he is.

Phillip and Sophie meanwhile just tell Ben and Eloise that they are so inlove, nothing can break them apart, their shared trauma has created an unbreakable bond of love, but really they just use their dates to plan each other’s respective professional futures. Because Phillip is totally up for sending Sophie back to school to get her buisness degree, and Sophie is out here planning on how to grow Phillip’s alternative medicine business', encouraging him to get his masters in bothanical research, the kids too are super on board with the ‘Education is money’ plan, so these two are seriously on their path to become billionaires, and Simon is going to be their primary investor once they form an official pharmaceutical research company. Benedict who? Sophie is on her path to greatness, and Phillip and his kids are doing all they can to become the award winning academic family they know they can be.

Michael and Penelope obviously end up being the ones who have the most fun out of all the couples, going as far as getting engaged and inviting the other six to their fake engagement party. Penelope can freely claim they were friends that started seeing each other as something more and Michael is okay with hyping Penelope up as the most beautiful girl he’s ever met, so of course he proposed. She gets protection from gossip (and Protection from Colin) and Michael gets a shield against Francesca’s horny intentions with his virtue. If he gets socked in the jaw by Colin, well, that's his business' okay.

I think that they begin tripping up because the Bridgertons realize that their cover stories don’t match and begin poking holes at it. Because they’re just so jealous they can’t help it. And that’s when horniess starts overriding the spouses natural intelligence. I don’t know who trips up first, but I know that at one point, someone cornered their beloved in a library and said person threw a friend under the bus accidentally.

Maybe Kate was cornered by Anthony and lets it slip that Gareth doesn’t want to sleep with Lucy in the obsessive way Anthony wants to sleep with her (She probably saw his abs in their full glory, that poor woman, Kate.exe not found). Or Daphne catches Simon in one of his horny moments and he lets it slip that Michael has more fun taking Penelope to the theatre and the horse derby than he does when he’s doing romantic things with her, or maybe it’s Lucy, who casually mentions to the friendzoned Gregory that Kate has been her second mother since childhood and has always wanted a big family, which contradicts what Simon told Daphne, or maybe a horny unaware Michael would have told Francesca that Sophie is more interested in going back to school than in Phillip himself, so they’re unlikely to get engaged soon (This one was probably undone by a shot of Francesca’s bare ankle and I’m not even sorry for him). All I know is that it wasn’t Sophie, and it wasn’t Phillip, because those two do not confess things under pressure. But it could have been anyone that started the chain reaction of the Bridgertons thinking ‘hey maybe these people think were idiots’ and prompted them to work together and pool their one brain cell to catch their significant others in their own web of deception.

In my opinion, I don’t see the miscommunication happening in the way Anon suggested, but I do see the spouses accidentally pushing their friends under the bus when they get too horny and short circuit. And causing a very funny chain reaction of ‘I caught you in your own lie’ and ‘no, I wasn’t lying, I was just bending the truth a lot’ defensive arguments that would be extremely funny to read about.

And that’s the tea.

#fake dating au #polin #kanthony #benophie #so it's kind of a funny story #bridgertons being idiots #anthony bridgerton #colin bridgerton #benedict bridgerton #sophie beckett #penelope featherington #kate sharma #honestly Sophie should have pressed charges #Kate being sick of being in a love triangle with Anthony and Sienna is my favorite HC #Phillip just wanted to study in peace #Colin was low key already stalking Penelope and we all know it

[sailorblossoms]

Remembering that first part of CO where Simon was like "these homosexual feelings can't caught up to me if I don't let my gf find me, forcing me to confront the real reason Baz holding hands with her it's driving me nuts" and then he was so ready to (figuratively) throw hands with AGATHA because she had Baz handkerchief (!!) which he took from her and refused to give back to Baz, and how dare Penny say Agatha knows Baz better than him (!!!) The disrespect! Clearly no one was beating him in the obsessing over Baz Olympics!!

(And honestly the fact that Agatha was never actually into either of the boys and was just arguably in a funny goth mood with Baz for a bit, and that neither of the boys where ever actually into her just makes it all much more funny like. They were dramatic as hell with the supposed "triangle" when absolutely no one was straight, no one wanted to be there, and no one but the """"enemies""" were actually into each other lol)

#saw someone recommend this book saying it has an actual love triangle and i was like y r u lying to the ppl???? #its so obviously fake from like very early on #why are u setting up wrong expectations lol #snowbaz #simon snow #baz pitch #pennelope bunce #agatha wellbelove #carry on

[everemu]

im not sure if my crush (boy) (looks like ryro but short) (he found out i like him n doesnt like me) still likes one of the girls i got close w this yr (taller than him n fake blonde) but i cant even blame him bc i liked her too n she liked me too?? (she still has a thing for me cs she told me shed get w me if her n her bf break up) but never told me until she got w her horrible bf who used to treat her bad and gives her RASHES everytime they kiss n everyones telling me my crush will def like me if he got to know me so i believe them (ive talked to him 3 times) (delusional)

my life is so aesthetic guys!! (im talking to myself) 🔥🔥

#delusional #p!atd #the young veins #ryro #cute #high school crush #school crush #crush #ryan ross #i dont fucking know #love life #love triangle #it's complicated #fake blonde #crushing #going crazy #hell is a teenage girl #teenagers #high school #aesthetic #girlblogging #im cryign #cray cray #drama

[angelsdean]

i love two person love triangles !!! i love when it's sooo obvious they're talking to their real life bestie they're in love with but they're sooo stupid and think no way could that bestie love me back this person is someone totally different who just happens to have a lot of similarities w/ my bestie i must really have a type, huh?

#it's idiots in love and mutual pining and miscommunication and the drama of a love triangle w/o it actually being a love triangle #amazing trope #fake dating is a similar dynamic and w/ the pining and idiots and miscommunication #and that's another top fave trope for me #i just love when they're soo silly and stupid and in love and pining #vic.txt

[brazilian-whalien52]

I love guy, I confused mess just like me

#my dear gangster oppa #i like how they got his confusion right and realistic #normally i feel love triangle do not deal with this that well? feels fake most of the time? but understood here

[lesmisscraper]

Treasure Trove, Volume 3, Book 8, Chapter 2.

Clips from <Il cuore di Cosette>.

#Les miserables #les mis #My Post #Marius #Eponine #Rose in Misery #Love Triangle #Azelma #Thenardier Sisters #Gorbeau House #Fake Letters #The Brick #Il cuore di Cosette #Les Mis Letters

[daylightaftertherain]

hmmmmmm sircus and wilmon but in a to all the boys I've loved au

#fake dating and love triangle but done right #young royals

[langernameohnebedeutung]

"Look 🥺"

#izombie #ravi chakrabarti #blaine debeers #liv moore #i really wish they hadn't leaned so hard on the whole love triangle thing #bc Ravi was actually the most sympathetic towards Blaine's amnesia/'amnesia' in season 2 #and it would have been so much more interesting to see Ravi react on the fake-out on its own merit #the way it is he actually becomes NICER to Blaine after the revelation/break-up with Peyton #(telling Liv NOT to kick his dumb ass and that they don't KNOW Blaine took the cures) #but it was such an opportunity to actually focus on a bit more of a Peyton-unrelated dynamic between Ravi and 'amnesia'-Blaine #and then him being betrayed himself #... #anyway #:) #lnob gifs

[quinnharperwrites]

are there any popular tropes you dislike? tropes you think are underrated? ones you refuse to write? ones you enjoy writing?

Hi, thanks for the ask!!!

Ngl, most of the tropes I hate are romantic. Don't get it wrong, romance tropes are some of my favorite (enemies to loVERS OMG!), but when they are bad, they are bad.

Long post ahead. I warned you.

I hate it when one (or both) of the main characters unalive themselves. Especially at the end of the book, because what the heck (cough cough Romeo + Juliet cough)? Getting me all invested, but then when I expect it the least, BAM they're dead. Books with sad endings are still good, but that doesn't mean I can't be mad.

Imagine getting invested in the romance book you're reading: the main characters have good chemistry, no more obstacles, and everything's perfect. Out of nowhere, one of the main character's mom gets in a coma while the sister dies, so they have to fly out of the country to be with the family. Not ideal, but it's okay. They'll come back. So you keep reading until you reach the end and you finally realize that they don't. IGA;BUSODIGOUWZRWIOHEBFAB WHY WHY WHYYYYY

The love angle. I refuse to call it a love triangle because that's never what we see. It's always two characters crushing on the same person. THAT'S NOT A TRIANGLE? <<<< LOVE ANGLE. But the real reason why I have it on the list is because it's annoying. Tell me why I always end up feeling bad for the other character? That, or the ship I wanted crashes and burns. Then, when I try to rant with people, I find out that I'm the only one upset. AIN'T NO WAY. The other reason is because it's been done so many times, and when they are bad, they are bad.

Lastly, we have enemies to lovers done wrong. Enemies means enemies! Not rivals (that already exists)! No miscommunication shenanigans! Enemies! I want bullies! I want them to be at each others throats! What do I get? "Oops, I thought you stole by Hershey bar when we were six, but turns out there was a hole in my pocket. My bad!" No! I don't want this!!!

Yikes that list was long. Are any of you still here? T0T0T0T

Underrated trope that I want to see more: Ok, hear me out. Fake dating. We know it, most love it. But I want to see the main characters undercover, trying to complete their mission (Kind of like SPY x Family). Except, there's a twist! They are on opposite sides, and are probably supposed to take each other out. It's probably flawed in more ways than one, but I still want to see it.

One trope I will never write (other than the ones I hate) is the chosen one (or any other prophecy-style tropes). It isn't because I don't like it; it's because I don't feel like I can write it well T-T-T-T-T-T. The chosen one always ends up like a pick me or a Mary Sue. The WIP I'm working on already has tropes and dynamics that I feel like I can't do justice, but I'm not gonna give those away.

The trope I enjoy writing most is grumpy vs sunshine. Well, I actually haven't written it yet, but I do have some ideas (wink wink). I do that writer thing and imagine scenarios before I go to sleep.

WOW that's a long post! Thanks again @churchofcrows for the ask!

#writeblr #writers on tumblr #writing #writing community #writerscommunity #boost #writers #writblr #book tropes #tropes #writing tropes #writing things #on writing #grumpy vs sunshine #enemies to lovers #chosen one #love triangle #love angle #fake dating #long post

[emisnt2]

SCREW THE WU-MISAKO-GARMA LOVE TRIANGLE!!

Wu is the number one Garmasako shipper and he would force the two to confessed their feelings to each other. He's that kind of friend/brother that would leave the room when the two talk to each other and teases them both for their crush.

#Wu would be that person that would fake coughs when they hang around each other lol #And would set up a date for them #nothinh can change my mind #screw the canon love triangle smh #ninjago #garmasako #wu #ninjago wu #garmadon ninjago #garmadon #misako garmadon #misako ninjago