#its only open from 8-4 and i have class from 12-3 ugh i hate it here

[laknight]

i hate waking up early to take an online exam

#its only open from 8-4 and i have class from 12-3 ugh i hate it here #college things

[3mmafr0st]

Hard to Hate Chapter 14

Fred Weasley x Reader Word Count: 1.7k

Warnings: the usual, if you’ve seen the rest of the series you’ll know!

Taglist: @intpeach, @aria-dne, @allthebestmenarefictional, @i-should-be-writing-my-own-fic, @weasleytwinswheezes, @a-disappointing-teen-author, @amorist-3, @222moonss, @carmiml0v3, @lilypad-55449, @losers-club6, @hpbitch, @ohwelliguess​, More in the Reblog. Ask me if you want to be added to the tag list!

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 15,

Read the Russian translation Here

The next few weeks were tough on me, with the already intense stress of trying to remember all of the work we had been doing before the break, and the drama of what had happened. 

Draco was mad at me, upset for leaving, as well as whatever Pansy had been whispering in his ear throughout the month. He hadn’t talked to me since christmas and I hate to say it but I missed him. Even though he was quite brainwashed and could be a little shit, I loved him, he was like a little brother to me.

On top of that, Pansy and her gaggle of bitches were harrassing me whenever they could. Ever since they found my room, the fear that I struck in most of the Slytherin house had all but dwindled. At least before they moved out of my way, but now they just look down on me and I hated it. It felt worse than being feared.

Finally there was Fred. Funny, endearing, and absolutely beautiful Fred. Ever since he and the other Weasley’s returned to the school, he has been cold, distant. It was as if the last few months had never happened, that we had never become friends in the first place. George was still talking to me though. That was my only saving grace.

George and I had decided on the library to hang out that day. Melody didn’t want to study that day, instead opting to hang out with Lee by the lake on a date of sorts. 

“I honestly have no clue what’s going on with Fred, but I’m worried.” George told me, his voice nervous.

“Has he been the same with you, he won’t even speak to me.”

“He won’t talk to me about anything, but he’s definitely upset about something. This is the first time that he’s never not told me about what’s going on in his head and I don’t like it.”

“Do you think that he’s really upset with me, I don’t know what I could have done.” I was upset to say the least. I missed Fred so much and yet he wouldn’t even give me the time of day. It was agonizing. I liked him so much, maybe even loved, and yet he pushed me away.

George and I stayed and studied for a while, until the time came where we were to go to our next class, Potions, which we all had together. This was going to be difficult to say the least.

When George and I walked into the classroom, Fred was already there, sitting with Angelina Johnson. George was irritated to say the least, and since I knew Melody would be sitting with Lee, I offered him a seat next to me. I glanced at Fred, and he seemed to be even more grumpy than when we had first walked in. Snape began his lecture, his droaning and nasally voice going on and on. I should be paying attention to the work that we were supposed to be doing, on the lecture at hand. Instead, I was glancing at Fred out of the corner of my eye.

Angelina and Fred were sitting together, laughing and whispering together. I felt something, simmering in the pit of my stomach. I had no idea what the feeling was, but it made me want to tear Angelina apart. I didn’t even know why, I like Angelina! She’s nice and witty and good at quidditch, and well, basically everything I was but better. She was the perfect version of me, one with no baggage, no psychotic family members or racist family history. Who wouldn’t pick her? The burning feeling soon turned to sadness, this lump in my throat that only got worse and worse. George looked at me, and saw as tears began to well in my eyes, fighting to keep them from falling, I couldnt let the other students see me like this, it would push me even farther down the chain of respect and I couldnt have that. George raised his hand, and was called on.

“Professor, Y/N’s not feeling good, do you think I could walk her back to her common room.”

Snape thought for a moment, clearly trying to weigh his biases in his head, before allowing it. As quickly as he could, George walked me out of the classroom, trying to get me a good enough distance from the classroom before my legs gave out under me against the wall, tears falling down my face.

“Y/N, what’s wrong? Tell me.”

“I don’t know, just, Angelina, the two of them, ugh, I feel so pathetic.” I laughed at myself through my tears. “I mean, who would even think I have a chance next to her.” George looked me straight in the eyes, both of us on the floor now, putting his hand on my shoulder to try and reassure me.

“Y/N, if he can’t see that you’re the absolute perfect girl for him, then he’s either blind, or just plain stupid, knowing my brother, its probably a bit of both.” His joke made me laugh, and he handed me a tissue from his pocket. 

“Thanks, I just feel so hopeless, yknow? Like, the two of you, and Mel are the only good things right now, and even that's been ruined.”

“Believe me Y/N, I get it more than you know.” His eyes looked far away, kind of wistful and longing. 

“So who’s the girl?”

“If I say, it's only going to make it worse.” I thought through all of the different clues, before coming to the most logical explanation.

“Its Angelina, isnt it?” I folded my hands in front of my chest giving him a knowing look.

“Yeah,” He said. “Now I know that you think I’m just saying that because I want her all for myself, don’t you?” I silently nodded, tears starting to prick at my eyes again.

“Well, that’s not true, I’m being serious. If he’s not going to man up, then he must be an idiot.” I didn’t believe him in the slightest, but I pretended to. “Come on, let's head to lunch early, I dont think you want the others seeing you like this when they leave.”

The two of us headed to the cafeteria, simply working on homework at our respective tables, until the rest of the students began pouring into the large hall. I saw Melody walk in, sitting down next to me.

“You feeling better?”

“Honestly, Mels, it's not that kinda sick. It’s just, Fred, yknow?” She silently nodded. She knew all of the events that had happened, or lackthereof. Although she knew about it, she wasnt as involved as George, I mean, she had her own things to do and I understood. 

George was sitting close to me, in a way, our backs to eachother, so Mel and Lee could continue their conversation from Potions. I heard heavy, angry footsteps behind me, and I took a peek as to who it was. Fred was angry, but for what reason I couldnt understand. I could hear the conversation from behind me.

“George, can we talk outside for a moment.” His voice was trying to mask his rage.

“Fine” George responded, and Fred walked the two of them outside of the cafeteria. 

I tried to stay out of it, I tried to sit there, and eat and talk to Lee and Mel as if nothing had happened, but after 5 minutes, the curiosity got the better of me. What if Fred was finally saying something as to why he was so distant, ignoring me for so long. It was a miserable experience and I just had to know why. 

I told Melody that I was going to the bathroom, and then ran off, looking for the two boys.

I walked down the hall, searching around for them, when I heard yelling, two voices that I knew so well. I looked around for a moment, before finding a door that I had never seen in this hallway before. I put my ear up to the door. The voices were muffled, but I could sort of make out what the boys were saying.

“I have no idea what you’re talking about, Fred, am I not allowed to have friends?”

“You and I both know that it's not just friends.”

“I’m not lying, it’s not my fault that you’ve been being an asshole and pushing us away!” The yells were immediately silenced, replaced with the sounds of skin coming in contact with skin, yelps of pain and growls of anger.  

“Alohamora” The lock quickly undid, and I pushed the door open as fast as I could. Fred had wrestled George on the ground, punching him into the floor, as George was trying as hard as possible to gain the upper hand. I quickly wracked my brain for something to separate the two without putting myself at risk before finding the perfect incantation “Relashio!”

The two looked at me, then looked at each other, trying to go at it again, but I quickly cast the Colloshoo hex, sticking both boys’ feet firmly on the ground. 

“You too are unbelievable, you know that? You are brothers for Merlin’s sake, what the hell has gotten into you?” George began to speak but I cut him off, I was too angry to listen. “Fred, you need to check yourself this instant, your behavior in the last month has not been that of a friend. Friends are supposed to be kind to each other, supposed to support each other, talk to each other at the very least! Once you’re ready to explain yourself, I'll be in the astronomy tower. George, if he tries anything like that again, you sure as hell better tell me.” 

“Can you at least let us go?” George asked, as I opened the door of the mystery room.

“It’ll wear off in an hour, you two need to talk through some things.” I shut the door behind me. I was angry, confused, and upset, all of those emotions culminating in the only way that my body could understand, once again tears began to run down my face. Luckily classes had ended early today, because if not, I would have had to go to a History of Magic looking like this mess.  The only thing that I could do was go to the astronomy tower, and hope that Fred had gotten over himself enough to come and talk to me, explain why all of a sudden he was acting like this.

#fred weasley #fred weasley fanfiction #fred weasley fanfic #fred weasley imagine #fred weasly x reader #fred weasley smut #Harry Potter #harry potter fanfiction #harry potter fanfic #Harry Potter fic #Harry Potter Smut #Hard to hate series

[acidproofnotebook]

OPM Chapter 84, Update 125

As first published online

Translator: u/Mynthence

Title Page: In order to remain solitary, instead of in solitude.

Page 1 Page 2 Page 3 Page 4 Page 5

Movements that are a perfect blend of attack and defense.

Even though it’s the same Water Stream Rock Smashing Fist the difference in degrees of completion are plainly evident.

The result is obvious.

Page 6

Fuu!!

Page 7 Page 8 Page 9

grab

Bwoh!?

Page 10

Ubuh!!

Page 11

Wh…what’s…with…

This flashy assault, it’s not like the damn geezer at all…

Page 12

N…not good…

My consciousness is fad…

No….I’m gonna die…

…….tsk!!!

Gwah!

Page 13

What’s with those weird movements

where did you learn them?

Like a beast

Not yet!

Page 14

If I can use the heroes that are unconscious as hostages, there’s still a chance!!

I won’t let you

Ugah

Page 15 Page 16

Bang!

I’ve taken care of all the monsters that came out of the hole

All that’s left is Garou

Page 17

There’s still some monster-like reactions but

Beep beep…

For some reason I can’t ascertain the exact number and location…

Will going through that hole take us to the Monster Association’s base?

The guys from the Monster Association…were they wiped out?

They’re useless…!!!

Page 18

I thought we brought enough forces to capture Garou alive but…

Demon Cyborg…to think that he would be this strong

Silver Fang is here too. With this there’s no chance to take him away…

But if I go back empty-handed after expending all these troops, I might be the next one to be eaten by Orochi…

Page 19

Garou will just have to break through this situation with his own power…

…but it’s hopeless…

Should I start thinking about how to live after leaving the Monster Association…?

Hey brother…if it was you…

Would you still be able to stand up with his level of injuries?

…if I was 60 years younger I could try

…probably

Alright! Just a little bit more!!!

Let’s finish this before the other heroes show up, Bang!

Indeed

Page 20

Gugi…

My arms aren’t working properly anymore…

That geezer Bang, going after his former number one disciple when he’s been weakened…how vicious is he?

Page 21

Not to mention that the geezer that’s beating me up with him is Bomb, the master of the Whirlwind Iron Cutting Fist

For the leaders of the martial arts world to come at me two-on-one, do they have no shame or care for their reputations?

Even if I pretend to beg for my life to these guys, I’m sure the Demon Cyborg won’t let me go

In other words, in order to overcome this extremely critical situation, I need to kill all three of them

Page 22

That’s impossible.

Know the pain of my “number one disciple” Charanko

Garou!!

Page 23

Let’s play Hero!

Garou. You’ll play too, right?

Let’s play, let’s play.

Eh

Okay

Page 24

Introductory music

Justice Man has arrived!

Justice Man Kick

Ouch!

Hey

Page 25

That’s dangerous

What?

I feel bad for him

………………

Then you should play the part of the Monster

Justice Man Cross Chop

Woah

Why did you dodge

S, sorry Tacchan

I scratched up my hand

You’re the Monster. Why can’t you read the mood?

Hold Garou down

Okay

Page 26

Justice Man Kick!

I’ve defeated the Monster, Garou Poop Man~

What’s this, is it the thing they call a flashback?

This is a fairly private memory I’d prefer to not remember

This should be…Right…Tacchan…the popular kid in my class…

Page 27

Eh? What? Why are the boys fighting?

Did anyone call the teacher?

Garou’s going wild

Garou got mad, even though we were just playing

I can’t…stand it anymore…

What’s with him?

Tacchan

Fight me!

Huh? What are you saying?

It’s just Hero

Page 28 I don’t want to be the Monster anymore! It’s not fun! Fight me, and if I win, you have to promise that you won’t bother me anymore!

Sabuchin, Yochan, hold Garou down

That’s not fair…stop…let me go! I…

Ugh

Damnit!!

Woah, he’s snapped! Call the teacher

Tacchan, run away

Hold him down! Hold him down!

What’s going on?

Perfect timing. You guys help out too.

He got carried away because Taachan’s too nice

Gross

I heard Garou got pissed off at Taachan while they were playing Hero. (lol)

Seriously? What’s he thinking?

Poor Taachan

Page 29

Taachan would easily get carried away

Taachan was good at sports

Taachan liked bullying weak people

Taachan was popular with the girls

Taachan was a disgusting guy

Taachan was popular

I was the gloomy guy who was always alone

I didn’t have any friends

I hated popular people

Why did you go wild?

Teacher, Taachan always

I heard you got mad while playing Hero. Is that true?

They always make me be the Monster

You can’t even tell the difference between make-believe and reality!?

That’s not it. Everyone says it’s my fault because Taachan is popular…

You’re the one who went crazy! How will you take responsibility if the windows get broken!

NO!

Page 30

It’s not that I hate being the Monster.

Is it that I didn’t like Taachan being the Hero?

No that’s not it

I was sensing a crushing sense of unfairness through the Hero game. A game designed in a way that would let the popular kid who was loved by everyone to one-sidedly beat up the weak kid that no one liked.

You did something bad, so go apologize.

I’m calling your parents too

This wasn’t just bullying. The game that faithfully reproduced the children’s TV shows was accepted by the public. You’re free to play any role that you want in this game, but the role of the Hero requires the approval of all those who are playing, so naturally I never had a chance to play that part. And of course, a scenario where the Monster wins doesn’t exist to begin with, so I have to always lose.

Page 31

What’s Justice! What’s Evil! In the end, I get killed because of the majority! I can’t accept that! It’s unfair!

I can’t explain the reason very well but I’m angry!

I just want to let them know!

I want them to experience a weakling’s attack!

I want to deny the positions of good and evil!

Page 32

He’s going to fall

This is the end

Page 33

Like I’d let myself be finished off in a place like this!

Page 34 Page 35

What?

Page 36

Oh!

Page 37 Page 38

What’s with that power…

from that broken body!?

Page 39

Give it up Garou!

If you keep on going… You’ll really die!!!

Bang, above you!

Page 40 Page 41

Woah!?

Page 42

A monster!?

So there were still some left!!!

Page 43

!

Genos!

Bang, you saw his appearance just now!

He’s a monster now! He even has companions!

It’s okay if I shoot Garou down with him, right?

Page 44

Did you hear that!!?

I’ll take Garou away from here

You can crush everyone on the ground right now!

I leave the rest to you!!

???

Page 45

Rasen Shoukyaku Hou (Spiral Incineration Cannon)

Page 46

Elder Centipede!

Page 47 Page 48 Page 49 Page 50

What was that!?

Page 51 Page 52

Disaster Level: Dragon Giant Mysterious Insect Elder Centipede

Page 53

W…what….

Is this a living being !!?

Oh no!!!

We need to protect them!

Page 54

Here we go

Page 55 Page 56

So this is the source of the reaction from before…

It’s not that I couldn’t pinpoint its location…it was too big!

Page 57

To think that it could take a direct hit from the cannon and have no injuries

This is going to be a tough opponent…

That centipede is…

Page 58

What do you think you’re doing, butting in like that!

Just let Elder Centipede take care of things here

He is a great calamity that swallows up everything

I’m fascinated by that unstoppable destructive power

You’re not thorough enough Hero Hunter

Once you defeat an opponent, you need to make sure you finish them off

It seems that all those heroes lying down over there are still alive

Page 59

Well…don’t worry

Elder Centipede will end everything

!

Stop interfering!

Let me down right now!

Those are my prey!

Hey, quit struggling

Damnit! Go back!

I won’t forgive you!

Hahaha…why are you so mad.

It’s your fault for not finishing the job.

Also…it’s convenient that we can erase two S-class here.

For the Monster Association, S-class heroes are the biggest threat

Page 60

You also directly experienced it

…..

In any fight there’s something called compatibility

According to our adviser Gyoro Gyoro

Out of all the heroes there are only four who can stand up against the Elder Centipede

Page 61

The peerless one wielding the strongest psychic ability “Tornado of Terror”

The one whose hidden military strength can’t be grasped by even the Hero Association “Metal Knight”

Page 62

The strongest man on earth “King”

And…the top hero that pushed Elder Centipede to the brink of death two years ago

“Blast”

Page 63

They say that Elder Centipede decided to cooperate with the Monster Association in order to get its revenge on Blast

It’s eager to pull Blast, who doesn’t come to the forefront, back onto the battlefield.

But…Unfortunately, those two don’t have the ability to break through this current situation.

Silver Fang is without equal in regards to his strength in hand-to-hand combat, but that only applies to opponents that are of a size that can be affected by martial arts.

Demon Cyborg’s abilities are outstanding but

He shouldn’t be equipped with any weapons that can take on a giant insect beast

And his firepower can’t go beyond the capabilities of his weapons

That’s his limit

Page 64

They will definitely be destroyed

Here it comes!!!

Page 65 Page 66

shine

!

Page 67

Whirl Wind

Water Stream

Page 68

Todoroki Kuuretsu Ken (Roaring Sky Splitting Fist)

Page 69 Page 70 Page 71 Page 72

What is that move

We have a special move that takes advantage of the opponent’s openings

We’re counting on you to distract it

It broken that super hard shell into pieces…!?

This is

The pinnacle of skill

Page 73

Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet Not yet

Page 74 Page 75

Oh….

Goaaaahhhh

!

Guh

Page 76

Oww…

We let down our guard

But it was effective

The shockwave is circulating throughout its body

Blow up into pieces you monster

It’s a super move that can only be pulled off once by geezers like us

I’m glad it hit

Thank you Genos

Page 77

It’s finished

Page 78

Hm?

Page 79

Seriously?

Page 80

This guy molted…!!!

And didn’t it get bigger than before!?

No way!

Page 81

We can’t beat this thing…!

If we have to protect the unconscious heroes at the same time…

What should we do!? Bang!

Even if we back off, it would probably come after us and…

It’s all residential areas outside of Forest Park…

If we leave, it’ll affect the civilians…

Page 82

Bang

I’ll fight it

I’ll hold off that centipede as long as I can so

Take the injured and escape

Page 83

Genos

Are you saying that you’ll fight that thing on your own?

I can’t agree with that…

You don’t need to push yourself. You know that you can’t win

You young ones have still have a future

Genos

Just don’t overdo it

Page 84

Is that…

Really okay?

Page 85

There’s no way

Page 86

That’s okay

Page 87 Page 88 Page 89

There’s no way!

Cannons don’t work on it!

Page 90

This guy

And the guy from yesterday

Page 91

And Garou

Are all part of the Monster Association

This fight

Is unavoidable

Page 92 Page 93 Page 94

Dual Blade Rush

That’s what it means to fight against them

Page 95

I’m participating in this fight

Grind into pieces

Page 96

If you say that’s being reckless

Crack

!

Uh…

Page 97

Genos!!!

At this rate

I…

Page 98

Won’t be able to stay in the fight

Page 99 Page 100

Jet Drive Arrow

Page 101

Uooohhhh!!!

Page 102 Page 103

Ugoah

He went into its mouth

Oh no…

Page 104

!

Digestive juices

I’ll completely melt you in a few seconds

You’re the one that’s going to melt

Page 105

Chou Rasen Shoukyaku Hou (Super Spiral Incineration Cannon)

Page 106 Page 107

…….!!!

He did it!!

Clank

…..

Page 108

Crack crack

Crack crack

Page 109

Crack crack

Crack

grin

Again…

I…

Can’t win…

Can’t protect…

Page 110

We’re getting out of here

sizzle

Brother! Grab those guys and run!!

It’s useless

What’s wrong?

Are you disgusted that you ended up being partially responsible for slaughtering those heroes?

Page 111

That’s not it!

I’m just disappointed by this ending!!!

I…want to defeat them with my own power!

By doing so, I become the symbol of fear…!!

That’s the meaning behind the hero hunting!!!

The symbol of fear? You? Hahaha…

If you were to go back now, you would only end up getting stomped on together with the heroes.

Right now you don’t have the strength to go against Elder Centipede or the officers of the Monster Association.

Page 112

Guh…

Just…you wait…and see…

What should I do…

Page 113

What is it that I lack…!?

Are there still more guys like that?

In front of guys like that…

Am I only able to suck on my thumb while watching them…?

Bang! This isn’t good. If we keep going

We’ll exit the Forest Park!

Page 114

Also…I can’t run for very long while carrying this many people

How old do you think I am

Do or die…

Brother

Page 115

I’m going to go all out for the last time in my life

Page 116

Elder Centipede~!!!

Hey! You pest!!!!!

I’ve brought the “Blast” that you’ve been looking for!!!!!

Page 117

!?

That voice is…King!!?

Blast!?

What…!

!!!?

Look!!

Its movements have stopped

And it’s turned around

Page 118

Blast…?

Yes…that’s right! The opponent that beat you up and made you run away while peeing your pants….the hero Blast!!

If you want to fight against Blast again, come over here!

What’s wrong? Are you so scared that you can’t move!? You’re spineless!!! Hey, if you’re going to shit yourself, do it at home!

A weak little bug like you should go back underground and suck on your mom’s tits!!!

Page 119

King made it to the location in City S where Elder Centipede reappeared!!!

That’s good! King should be able to do something about this situation…

Yes…there are still several heroes in that area

And when I told him that they might become casualties from any fighting nearby

He told me “Give me any information that might provoke Elder Centipede”

He undoubtedly plans on luring the enemy to where he is and fighting it one-on-one

Page 120

When Blast severely wounded it, it escaped and ran away underground

I hope we can defeat it this time…

It was top secret information, but I relayed the information detailing the monster and Blast’s connection to him

Also, I told him that if the battle were to be prolonged or if they were to change locations, the damage to the surrounding areas would be tremendous

And what how did he respond?

Just one word: “Understood”…

Together with the reverberations of the King Engine

Page 121

Draw the enemy this way so there aren’t any more casualties…

If the enemy is wounded, finish it off before it escapes underground…

Finish it as quickly as possible…

Any attacks should be contained within a limited range…and no attacks that might knock the centipede into the residential areas…

That’s all

Page 122

…..

…tama?

Page 123

Saitama~!!!?

It’s going to hit

Page 124 Page 125 Page 126

Ser

Page 127 Page 128

ious

Page 129

Pun

Page 130 Page 131

ch

Page 132 Page 133 Oh

Page 134

Is that you, Genos?

Page 135

So you were here.

Just like King said

Yeah…and it looks like we came just in the nick of time

Good thing we came

Oh…?

Saitama…you look kind of refreshed

What happened?

I kind of feel like I let off a lot of steam

Page 136

I had a lot of stress built up because you kept beating me in those games

So he was still pissed off

Well…I wanted to teach you that your way of fighting with only one style of attack isn’t good…

Saitama-sensei, I wish to ask you a question

What is it?

What do you think I am lacking?

Eh

Isn’t it power?

Page 137

….!!!!

Thank you very much!

Ahhhhhhhh….That’s no good…

You probably shouldn’t use Saitama as a point of reference, Genos…

Sensei’s fights show me the path that I should take

The symbol of strength

That is what I should aim for…

I will also reach that place

Page 138

Garou…so you finally passed out

Rest well

We’ll reach Orochi soon

#OPM #manga #manga chapters #translation #chapter 84 #long #transcript

[goopyartiste]

20 Questions Tag Game

thank you @meliorist-midoriya and @deephasoceanmagic for tagging me in this! it was definitely fun to do! it just took such a long time 🤧

im tagging @peach-pops @kirislut @ordinary-ace @yee-harr @spookykiri and @isanuts ! have fun with this <3

1. what do you prefer to be called name-wise?

i like Isa a lot! its what im used to, but Izzie is fine as well <3

2. when is your birthday?

its January 26! 

3. where do you live?

Miami ⛱

4. three things you are doing right now?

those three things are writings some fics (three at once 🤧), stressing out over homework, and feeling crappy about my grades 😚✌🏼

5. four fandoms that have piqued your interest.

obviously currently its been my hero and haikyuu, but the percy jackson series was and will always be my life! the last fandom would have to be the harry potter fandom, though im not as active as i used to be with it 😅

6. how has the pandemic been treating you?

this pandemic has actually been pretty good to me, other than the fact that i haven’t been able to see my irls. ive taken the time to work on hobbies and my self confidence, although im still working on that myself. if it wasnt for this pandemic, i probably wouldnt have this blog, so im thankful for that at least 😊

7. a song you can’t stop listening to right now?

ugh, there’s like ten currently 😗. my top three though would have to be “hello hello hello” by Remi Wolf, “Levitating” by Dua Lipa, and finally “Afterglow” by The Driver Era.

8. recommend a movie.

AHHHH!! if you like mystery, or even if you dont, Knifes Out is a really good one! im not one for mystery (kind of hate them 😀) but this one is just amazing. and it only gets better with rewatches!

9. how old are you?

currently 16, but my 17th birthday is coming up  (oh my god im almost an adult 😐)

10. school, university, occupation, other?

high school baby 🤪, but i hate most of the classes im taking just because they are killing me <3

11. do you prefer heat or cold?

oh definitely the cold. at least with the cold, you could layer up and look cute. even with the least amount of layers, you’d still be hot 🧍🏻‍♀️

12. name one fact others may not know about you.

i used to do tae kwon do for like two months, but then i quit 🤸🏻‍♀️. the only move i remember is actually just the roundhouse kick :’)

13. are you shy?

haha yeah <3. im really shy when you first meet me, but once i get comfortable and get to know you better, then i am chaos incarnate. at least i think i am 😐

14. preferred pronouns?

she/her works just fine for me :)

15. biggest pet peeves?

biggest pet peeve huh? if im honest i’ve never really given it much thought, but slow walkers just... they annoy me sometimes.... like i get it you want to enjoy the scenery or you just dont like walking fast, but jeez dont take up the whole sidewalk then ;-;

16. what is your favorite “dere” type?

if we are talking about types i like, then most likely a bakadere (probably because i relate to them the most 🤧), but deredere is also a close second :P

17. rate your life from 1-10, 1 being crappy and 10 being the best it could be.

definitely feel as if my life is a solid 8. ive obviously had my rough patches, but its overall been a really happy life and ive learned to enjoy it 😊

18. what’s your main blog?

@goopyartiste or this blog!

19. list your side blogs and what they’re used for.

i dont have any and im too dummy to learn how to make any 🧍🏻‍♀️

20. is there something people need to know about you before becoming friends?

well, i do tend to overshare quite a bit.. also, i am VERY chaotic once i open up and get to know someone. also, self confidence is 📉📉 half the time, so i use humor to cope with it and anything bad, though i do know when to tone it down or just not say anything.

#Impacting Planets; — 🌎 #wow this got long quickly #i was just like staring at all of these questions half the time #lets go🤸🏻‍♀️ #at least i got it done ;-; #i just realized how much i depend of emojis my gosh #👁👁👄👁👁 #its actually kind of scary- #I BLAME THE DISCORD #please i never used to use emojis this much ;-;

[talkfastcal]

you can tell a lot about someone by the type of music they listen to 🎵🎶

rules: hit shuffle on your media player and write down the first 20 songs, then tag 10 people. no skipping!

Thank you for tagging me! @i-like-5sos

1. Long Way Home - 5SOS: Oh! I haven’t heard this song in awhile. This is one of my favorites from self titled (although I will always prefer the acoustic version) I still remember when they changed the lyrics to “white snake on the radio” during my ROWYSO show. My favorite lyric is “so we’re taking the long way home cause I don’t wanna be wasting my time alone”

2. Bloody Mary - Lady Gaga: I remember the first time I heard this being 11 years old and shocked LMAO if I’m being real honest I love the beat (AND THE BASS) of this song. ALSO the chorus “I WONT CRY FOR YOU” is so GOOD

3. Not Warriors - Waterparks: y’all are in for a TREAT THIS IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE WATERPARKS SONGS. I cannot just listen to this song just once. It’s always at least 3 times and it’s ALWAYS blasting (and yes I did replay it 3 times and blast it through my headphones while typing this) When the beat drops and “THERES NOTHING IN MY SYSTEM SO IM FEELING WHAT I FEEL FOR YOU” so POWERFUL!!!! My favorite lyric is “but hey for what it’s worth I think you saved my life”

4. Best Song Ever - One Direction: I still refuse to believe this song is about sex LMAO this is such a fun song to dance to though I love it. My favorite part is Niall’s solo “I said can I take you home with me, she said never in your wildest dreams”

5. Strong - One Direction: OH! FUCK! MY FAVORITE ONE DIRECTION SONG DON’T EVEN GET ME STARTED I LOVE THIS SONG SO MUCH THE CHORUS “IM SORRY IF I SAY I NEED YOU” I CANT I CANT. If you have not heard them acapella sing this do me a favor and go listen ITS SO GOOD ALSO! Zayn’s high note. My favorite lyric is ofc Louis’ solo “think of how much love that’s been wasted people always trying to escape it move on to stop their heart breaking but there’s nothing I’m running from, you make me strong”

6. Kids In The Dark - All Time Low: YES I LOVE THIS SONG I LOVE THIS ALBUM I LOVE THE MEANING OF THE SONG I’m not joking when I say that I found this song and this band during the hardest time in my life and this song just really hit me hard. My favorite lyric is “beautiful scars on critical veins” AND the firework pop towards the end!!!!

7. Olivia - One Direction: I will admit this song has grown on me big time post hiatus (also the fact that now I’m not hiding my sexuality from myself I can freely listen to this song without feeling ashamed) I! Love! This! Song! It’s such a cute love song!! My favorite lyric is “the summertime butterflies all belong to your creation”

8. I Love You 5 - Never Shout Never: another band I was obsessed with back in 2015 I haven’t listened to this song in awhile!! I remember loving this song though and using it everywhere. I also like in the beginning he says “I love you one a two a three shoobe-doo I love you four that’s more than I can afford”

9. Only Angel - Harry Styles: idk not much to say about this Harry song it’s not in my top 5 but it’s a good song! I like listening to it but it’s just not my favorite. My favorite lyric is “open up your eyes shut your mouth and see that I’m still the only one who’s been in love with me”

10. Viva La Vida - Coldplay: no one: - me: AHHHHHHHHH literally this song will never be the same ever since 1d performed it on xfactor. Idk what to say about this song other than the fact that I like it??? I also like 1D’s cover of it??? Yea cool. My favorite lyric is “Never an honest word but that was when I ruled the world”

11. Glitter & Crimson - All Time Low: this song has definitely grown on me since the release of wake up sunshine. ALSO THE BRIDGE! My favorite lyric is “lets start lets start a riot hard to sit still when your head’s on fire”

12. (Love Will) Turn Back The Hands Of Time - Grease 2: don’t clown me y’all but this movie and soundtrack are a guilty pleasure. I love the original grease BUT grease 2!! It’s such a stupid movie but the soundtrack is fantastic. Anyways this song is another guilty pleasure LMAO I love the whole song so I’m not picking a “favorite lyric”

13. Savior - Rise Against: OH!!!! OH!!! THIS SONG RIGHT HERE!!!! fun fact: the first time I actually heard this song was when I watched a video of someone on YouTube burning her littlest pet shops because a trade went wrong and she got scammed so she took her anger out on that. I literally forgot about this song until one day I heard it in my junior year literature class and had major deja vu. Okay anyways I love this song LMAO my favorite part is the chorus “that’s when she said I don’t hate you boy I just want to save you while there’s still something left to save. That’s when I told her I love you girl but I’m not the answer for the questions that you still have WOAH OH OH WOAH OH OHHH”

14. National Anthem - DE’WAYNE: okay THIS SONG it’s so good and it describes what it’s like growing up in America as a POC. I don’t wanna say too much about it since I’m not a POC so I know I will never fully understand the song because of my privilege but I appreciate the fuck out of this. I love the entire song I don’t have a favorite lyric

15. Your Love - Nicki Minaj: I miss this Nicki Minaj. UM not much to say about this song either??? It’s a good song and I like it?! My favorite part is the chorus OH and the outro I love it

16. Just Dance - Lady Gaga: another pop classic from my childhood alright I MEAN ITS JUST DANCE?! HOW CAN YOU NOT LOVE THIS SONG??? ALSO THIS LADY GAGA?! Don’t get me wrong I love the lady Gaga we have now BUT THIS ONE WILL ALWAYS BE ASSOCIATED WITH MY CHILDHOOD AND PRETEEN YEARS. I remember feeling like a badass singing this song when I was 10 years old LMAO I don’t have a favorite lyric I love the whole thing it’s a bop

17. Dear Patience - Niall Horan: Oh!! One of my favorites from Heartbreak Weather. His voice in this song is just so beautiful ugh yes. I absolutely love the chorus of this. My favorite lyric is “feels like you don’t even know me just me and the stars can get lonely”

18. San Francisco - 5sos: OH MY GOD I LOVE THIS SONG ITS IN MY TOP 3 FROM SOUNDS GOOD FEELS GOOD. I hardly see anyone appreciate this song so I’m here to tell y’all: ITS A GOOD SONG?!?! have y’all listened to the live version AS WELL!!!! masterpiece. This song makes me happy especially the guitar at the beginning. My favorite lyric is “reminds me of when we were free I swear that it’s still haunting me” BUT! I do love that pre-chorus

19. They All Float - Waterparks: NICE a song from their first EP okay but I love this song it’s much heavier compared to what they sing now and that’s what I like about it. My favorite part is THE BRIDGE!!! “this is the part where you cut your losses this is the part where you get a job this is the part where you settle for less just like you never wanted to”

20. We made it finally Adrenaline - Simple Creatures: OH MY GOD THIS SONG LISTEN this is the first song I listened to from this band (which btw if y’all didn’t know is made up of Alex Gaskarth from ATL and Mark Hoppus from Blink-182) I mean while it’s more pop (which is what their intention is) ITS STILL A GOOD BAND!!! ESPECIALLY THIS SONG!! ITS SO GOOD DAMN I love the music video omfg. I’m just a sucker for dance choreography since I grew up surrounded by dance (I did competitive dance for a couple of years and my sister was a competitive dancer until she graduated) okay enough about me this song is so damn good I can’t stop saying that alright! My favorite lyric “I think we’re failin to connect you don’t what you do to me do to me do to me” and I LOVE THE CHORUS

This was fun!!! And it took me forever LMAO I’m not tagging 10 people but I’ll tag some

@louhazzabeingloudandloud @28-oops-hi @devilatmydoor @glitter-cal and anyone else who wants to do this!! 💜

#tag games #mutuals 💜 #long post

[weeklyfangirl]

Frat Boy Pt. 17

https://weeklyfangirl.tumblr.com/post/188826127780/frat-boy-pt-18https://weeklyfangirl.tumblr.com/post/188826127780/frat-boy-pt-18part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5, part 6, part 7 (1), part 7 (2), part 8, part 9, part 10, part 11, part 12, part 13 , part 14, part 15, part 16

hi loves, s’been a while :) I’ve been working harder on the frat boy world than you know! 

I had the nightmare again. 

I woke up washed in relief that bodiless entities weren’t hanging over my head- but before the perturbed feeling completely vanished, it snapped back like a rubber band, stinging me harder. 

 The nightmare had gone further this time. 

 The gray crusting wallpaper was, at least, the same. There was a paper house, falling apart as it peeled, and me, trying to outrun the collapse and the ominous beings down its empty corridors. The Watchers, I’d decided to call them, came closer this time as if emboldened by my subconscious inability to dispel them. They’d survived my past dreams, growing stronger with it. And the all-encompassing dread that filled my body sprung each weighted step forward. 

 But before, I hadn’t known what I was running towards. 

 This time, my dream-self knew. There was someone beyond the wall whose animalistic cries weren’t just for anyone. They were for me. I needed to reach them. 

 I ran to the door, just barely ahead of the Watchers. It was barely open, a slight crack to a dark room - but still, it was open. I could kick it further and with a satisfying swoosh, I’d see what - or who - lay beyond it. I could reach them then. 

 It should’ve opened. 

 But it didn’t budge. 

 With impossible dream-logic, it was locked a stubborn two inches ajar. Hopelessly, I tried wedging my body through the opening. A dark shadow appeared at the end of the hall, drawing closer, closer. Slowly, though. It knew I had nowhere left to run. 

 My motions grew frantic, scraping myself against the door as I tried to jam my body further inside. The darkness expanded, trembled, delighted its prey was so easily trapped. 

 There was a flash of the knife from the shadows, the cries grew louder. But I couldn’t reach it, I couldn’t reach him. 

 Darkness stabbed me.

 I woke up drenched in my own sweat. 

 The ghost of the sliding metal lodging between my skin felt hot. My fingers trailed along the dry skin, just below my ribcage, almost certain I’d find a bleeding gouge. Typically, didn’t people wake up before feeling pain?

 --------------

 Dull thuds filled the room. I blurred my vision, imagining the swinging mass to be the thing of my twisted imagination. I socked the punching bag until I felt my fingers were going to fall off. Which was about two minutes. 

 “YOU’RE ALL DOING GREAT! ALMOST DONE GUYS, YOU’RE GETTING STRONGER... besides Y/N!” 

 It was true. My arms were weak noodles. It didn’t stop me from scowling when Renny jogged over in tip-top cheer captain shape. “Come on! Let’s go!! You were doing great!!!” 

 She’d harassed me into coming to the gym tonight screaming “if you don’t show up, I swear I’m going to drag you with me.” Nobody can say she wasn’t true to her word. She’d subbed in for the usual kickboxing teacher, and honestly, she was a natural. A true prodigy. Give a girl a pair of Lulu Lemons and a kickboxing class and she’d… kick its ass? 

 “It’s a free form of therapy eh?” she reasoned, squatting while she spoke. 

 I scowled deeper, hitting the bag weaker than before. 

 “I’m tired,” I managed to moan. So. Incredibly Tired. 

 “Okay I hate to do this, but…” She paused, making sure I’d hear whatever she’d say next. “Think of you-know-whose face.” 

 By sheer Dwayne-The-Rock-Johnson-level will power, I threw my weight against the bag. 

 “There you go!!!” she encouraged, jogging back to the front. 

 I did it once more, in good faith. But my efforts were short-lived and I stopped, breathless, as soon as she was distracted. A droplet of sweat ran down my cupid’s bow. I tasted salt. Anger. Frustration at how weak I was. How helpless I seemed to be. 

 Where was the legendary endorphin high I’ve been promised all these years???! I turned out to be a sweaty sasquatch of a human being, collapsing on the floor as Renny picked up the abandoned towels around me. 

 “You are so dead,” she chuckled. 

 I half-huffed, half-laughed, wholly aware that her statement wasn’t a complete stretch.  

 “So it worked, huh?” Renny asked, driving us out to the free parking lot across the street. Three cop cars whizzed by. No sirens. Non-emergency. 

 “What worked?” 

 “Picturing Harry’s face.” 

 “It wasn’t Harry’s face I was picturing.” 

 “Oh?” 

 She waved her hand to the car waiting to turn in front of us. “Hello? Let’s go fucker!!! Ugh, stupid bitch.” The car moved, begrudgingly, and Renny bee-lined it for the lot. Her tone turned from deadly to friendly in a flip of a switch. “Also, you know there’s a parking garage next to the gym, right?” 

 “Oh, really?” I feigned ignorance. I knew there was a parking garage next to the gym. I just couldn’t afford to pay.

 “Yeah.” We idled at the entrance, and I realized I hadn’t told her where my car is. “Wait, so who were you picturing if it wasn’t Harry?”

 “You know in my nightmares there’s this… dark figure?”

 Her face fell. “Oh my God, you’re still having those?” 

 No matter how much I considered Renny the sister I never had nor asked for, I couldn’t help but feel an odd distance. It was a distance that’d been building over the past weeks, and one that I’d been ignoring, but now, the task seemed impossible. I shrugged, not sure how to explain the unexplainable. I’d dizzied myself all morning trying to figure out what my dreams meant. But in the end, I was too tired. Too tired, too tired, too tired.

 “I’m telling you dude, you should seriously try therapy. I did it after my parents split. Best thing I ever did. It’s something that’s... ugh, it’s stigmatized you know? Therapy is healthy.” 

 “Just like hating yourself in the gym for two hours?” 

 “IT’S HEALTHY!” she shouted at me for the tenth time that evening. I cracked a smile so she knew I didn’t hate it completely. 

 A notification blipped on her phone. She smiled, typing a reply. “Want to hang out with me and Niall tonight?” 

 I half-smiled even though she wasn’t looking at me. 

 “I can’t, I have dinner.” 

 “Oh shit that’s tonight?” She looked up, brows raising. The clock on her dash said 6:48pm - I was definitely late. “Fuck dude, good luck. Tell me how it goes.”

 “I will,” I said. The bluetooth in her car suddenly screeched Timberlake’s “Sexy Back.” We jolted, hands covering our ears as she rushed to turn it down. Her phone glowed - incoming call from Niall - and she looked at me in question. I nodded.

 “Heyyyy boy,” she drawled. 

 His laughter on the other line made me smile. It was crackly through the speakers, somehow making it even more likeable. “Hey beautiful. Where you at?” 

 I got out absentmindedly, closing the door behind me. Her car idled, waiting as I pointed to my car just a stone’s throw away. Nodding, she suddenly laughed at something funny I couldn’t hear. 

 I dug for my keys and slid in the driver’s seat- but my hand paused on the ignition. What in the hell?? My dash was black. Completely black. 

 Did somebody throw a blanket?? Was there a homeless person who’d decided to rest their stuff atop my car? 

 I got out, completely confused, looking at my dashboard covered in a thick liquid. Paint?

 I smeared a finger through it, trembling, a familiar scent, a sick consistency running between my fingers. Knowledge fought against logic just as I caught the tail-end of Renny’s VW disappearing around the corner. 

 There were maybe four other cars in the otherwise deserted lot, dark houses lining the perimeter across the street. The world spun. Saliva bubbled up. Yellow fluorescent street lamps lit my surroundings, but the hue it cast was sinister. I was alone, they told me. Nobody else could see me. 

 Breathe.

 Breathe. 

 The nausea that ran through me at the sudden knowledge of what I’d touched made me convulse. 

 “STOP IT!” I cried, to whoever could hear. “JUST STOP IT RIGHT NOW, YOU FUCKS.” 

 I hurried into the car, locking the doors. My fingers were still wet as I ran the windshield wipers. They weren’t going fast enough. It spread, making it worse. Air vents blew metal. 

 I didn’t care. The tires squealed as I tore out, sticking my head out the window to see. My car swerved on the road as I involuntarily twitched. The blood was drying on my hands. I just needed to leave. We needed to leave. 

 My nightmares no longer lived in the confines of imagination.

 -----

 I called Renny first. It went to voicemail.

 A man exited the convenience store, eyeing me curiously as he went back in his truck. Renny texted -

 With Niall bb. Call you later 

 Fuck. 

 Fuck fuck fuck fuck.

 Fuck fuck FUCK.  

 I didn’t think when I dialled. I didn’t notice my hands were shaking until my phone knocked into my cheek. 

 The dial tone blared in the air. Voicemail. If I was going to die at least one person should know about it.

 I forgot to speak for a moment. “Oh, hi. Harry, uh… they found me. There’s b” - I covered my mouth. Bile rose in my throat. - “...there’s blood all over my car. I’m at the gas station off PCH and Harbor. But you didn’t answer so… never mind. I’ll be fine. I’m fine- fuck.”

 I hung up. The free windshield squeegee they had stationed at each gas pump was the only option. And their murky water were about to get a lot thicker. My dad used to do it all the time for my mom, just like my grandpa always got my grandma gas. Old school chivalry. Father would do it for me now. He’d take care of this. A part of me wanted to call him, but another part didn’t know how in the hell I would explain this. He was busy. Probably already eating with the rest of them or waiting for me. Oh, that’d be awkward. There wasn’t time. 

 I scrubbed with all my weight, pretending the blood wasn’t blood at all. It was thick paint. I just wouldn’t breathe. I wasn’t breathing.

 The squeegee smeared it to a dull red now, the stains lessened but still very much there. 

 My phone rang before I could try scrubbing the other side. 

 “Are you hurt?” the familiar gruff voice asked. Just hearing his voice slightly calmed the mania. 

 “Hi,” I whispered. Why was I whispering? How did I even begin to explain- “Fuck.” 

 Wow, I was eloquent.

 “Y/N, answer the question,” he rushed. 

 “I’m fine. I’m not hurt,” I stammered. “I’m fine.” 

 “Stay where you are.” 

 “I’m sorry, I tried calling Renny but she didn’t answer and now I’m late-”  

 “Just stay where you are. Keep to the lighted area. I’ll be there in ten.” 

 It was less than ten before the grumbling of a motorcycle grew louder, peeling around the corner. It slowed at the entrance, but its rider saw me and the engine roared, only stopping ‘til the sleek machine was propped next to my car. 

 He hopped off with ease, muttering something incomprehensible.

 “I can’t hear you,” I said. 

 He pulled off his helmet, irritated that it didn’t come off easier. Curls in disarray made the worry etched across his face all the more soft. Each time, I forgot how beautiful he was, and the sight of his tall body rushing towards me hit me straight in my unsettled gut. 

 “I’m sorry.” He pulled me in for a hug. “I’m so sorry.” 

 His body held me tight, an influx of Harry and warmth and protection embodied in the steadfastness of his grip covered every inch of me. If I wasn’t so shocked, I would’ve hugged him back.

 I breathed. For a second, the slow electric buzz spreading down my spine was all I could sense. “Y/N,” he breathed. For a second, I didn’t think about why he was holding me. Nothing else processed. 

 He held on a moment longer than I thought he would. His gaze passed me to the car. He was so tall in comparison to it, he didn’t even need to walk around to see the mess.  

 “Fuck.” His words echoed mine from earlier, and he ran a hand down his face. He shook his head, for once, speechless.

 “I’m okay,” I offered.

 He shook his head, backing up only a step. He took my buzz with it. “This isn’t okay, Y/N. I didn’t think they’d do this again.” But the last bit was spoken to himself. His eyes filled with something treacherous, a darkness I’d only caught fractions of before suddenly bore itself to me tenfold. The muscles beneath his black sweater tensed as everything about him tightened. 

 “Again?” I squeaked.

 “It’s pigs blood. An outdated scare tactic.” The obvious came out sharp between gritted teeth. 

 “Well it worked.” 

 His glare locked on me, and I tried not to flinch. He bat his eyes, lessening the sting, and I watched as he tried to return to the present. “You said you were going to be late.” He was trying his best to sound casual, but I heard the strain in his voice. He caught a glimpse of my car and I saw the darkness begin to return before he turned his back to me. 

 “I’m beyond late.”

 He walked to the motorcycle, and I watched as he swung his leg and kicked the stand up in one fluid motion. 

 “Hop on then,” he said, urging me forward with a toss of his head. I walked forward cautiously. 

 “But-”

 “I’ll move your car later tonight.”

 “-I don’t have a helmet.” 

 A ghost of a smile traced his lips. He handed me his helmet. “Don’t fall.” 

 We rolled down PCH, the harbor on one side, the hills on the other. Our coastal city looked different at night. More peaceful. The glitz and the glam more subdued, the orange hues of street lamps shining in a mirrored reflection of the deep blue waters surrounding us. Everything was more approachable and tranquil with everyone tucked away into their homes by 9 PM. 

 Which made it all the more unbelievable that I’d just abandoned my blood-stained car at a gas station.

 He stalled as we crossed the bridge over our beach town’s harbor, and I tugged his jacket to the right - the system we’d established of how I’d give directions. 

 Harry turned his head, the sharp planes of his face stunningly close with how tightly my arms were wrapped around him. Every so often, he’d let an arm fall to rest against mine, letting it warm my own and fastening it tighter around him before we took off again.

 I nodded. He turned. Cruising down Bay View Drive, we passed megamansions of all varieties - tropical Tommy Bahama gated villas with imported plants, Grecian marble fortresses with columns and underground garages. The steep hill to our left held the flower street homes atop them. I rested my head on Harry’s back, wondering what he must be thinking. The girl who always shuns me about money lives here? A nice neighborhood? She clearly doesn’t have the right- 

 He paused at a fork in the road. I tugged his jacket left and we reached the top of Petunia Park’s hill, the entrance to the flower streets. Just above Bay View Drive and the megamansions that were on the water, we were now surrounded by quaint $2 million two-story homes. He paused, the engine rumbling, gently quaking our bodies. 

 I lifted my helmet just enough. “I’m on Carnation.” 

 He remained still, looking out. From the hill, we could see the harbor and the peninsula creating its barrier from the ocean. The houses were twinkling safehouses against the abyss of black horizon. Our little seaside community. In another life, there weren’t as many lights. Traders and fishermen lived in simple homes with simple lives and returned from the sea to sit down at their modest table to have a simple meal and to be simply… happy. If I squinted, I could almost pretend this were something different. That we were in a different time. Time.

 “Harry, I’m late,” I said, as gently as I could. 

 His gaze tore, ripped from reverie. Without saying a word, he adjusted my hands tighter around his waist. Further up the street until there was no view of the ocean, smaller cottages were sprinkled in between the contemporary beach homes. I pulled his jacket hard and he stopped before an earthy gold Provence-inspired home - quaint blue shutters and balconies overlooked an impressive rose garden. 

 I hopped off, handing him his helmet. 

 “S’this it?” 

 “No.” Next door, I walked to the dark-shingled home half its size. I took a deep breath, salty air and dried grass hit my nose. The scent of my childhood. I smiled. “You don’t have to come in. Thank you so much for picking me up-” But when I turned around he was already walking past me, hand reaching back to tug me forward. 

 “Woah, Harry-” I dug in my heels.

 “I’m not inviting myself. Just let me walk you to the door.” 

 Voices drifted to us from the kitchen, the windows probably open. His black BMW was there in the driveway. It blended with the other cars on the street, but to me it looked strange. I’d never get used to it here. I looked to the boy whose black ensemble blended with the night, but whose tall stature made him rise above it.  

 “Okay,” I huffed, because the way Harry’s body was cemented to the ground, I knew that even if I’d said no, he'd walk with me anyway.

 Three knocks was all it took for chairs to scrape along the floor. 

 An excited “She’s here!!” came from beyond the door. 

 “Well thank God, I would’ve eaten the last steaks.” 

 My mom’s eyes brightened as soon as she opened the door - then confusion, then recognition to the boy stood beside me. 

 “You brought your friend.” Her smile grew warmer, opening up her arms. “It’s so nice to meet you.” 

 If the BMW in the driveway was a bizarre sight. This, this right here, topped it all. Harry dwarfed my mom, but he effortlessly leant down, letting her scoop him up. 

 Over his back she mouthed - Nice, then winked.

 “Where have you been? Dad tried calling a thousand times.

 “We were…”

 “At school,” Harry finished. “Her car wasn’t starting.” 

 I shot Harry a look, casually tucking a hair behind my ear. The less they knew the better. 

 “We can have dad look at the car- oh my Gosh, what’s all over your hands?” 

 I looked down - blood. Blood was literally on my hands. 

 “Paint,” I said, ignoring the nauseating fact that pig DNA was stuck beneath my nails.

 “I thought you dropped the art class-?”

 “-It’s a friend’s project.”

 “She’s alive?” a voice called. For once, he was saving instead of berating. As if suddenly realizing we hadn’t even made it through the door before her interview, she turned to Harry with a smile only a mother could give. “Would you like to come in, get some dinner too?” 

 “Oh…” Harry looked at me, almost bashful. “I don’t know,” he settled on. 

 He leant a bit to the side, crossing his arms, then stuffed them in his pockets. It was the only time I could say I’d seen Harry look… awkward. A selfish curiosity wanted to see what he’d look like in my kitchen, in my room, in other parts of my life I’d never thought I’d be sharing with him. He looked like a lost little boy. 

 He must be nervous. 

 “You should stay.” I placed a hand on his arm and he almost flinched at the contact. He looked confused. I couldn’t blame him. Originally I was telling him not to walk me to the door, now I’m saying meet the family! “Stay,” I repeated, softer this time. 

 His eyes searched mine, looking for any hesitance, any joke. He didn’t find any. “Okay,” he said, as if he couldn’t believe it himself.  

 My mom flipped around, hands in the air. “Yay, perfect! There’s two steaks, one’s a little smaller. Y/N, you can have that one...” She continued walking away, heading for the kitchen. 

 I waited for Harry to walk through the door, but he stuck out his hand. Me first. 

 If only he knew what he was walking into. 

part 18

#fratboy!harry #fratboy! harry #harry styles imagine #harry styles fan fiction #harry styles #one direction #harry #one direction fan fiction #one direction fanfiction #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles preference #harry styles blurb #harry styles fluff #dark!harry #dark harry #harry fluff #harry imagine #harry blurb #angst #fanfic

[alicedoessurveys]

Doctor Who Tag

yes im a nerd...

CHILDHOOD

1. Did you like DW as a child?

I was 10 when it came back on telly with Eccleston and the first episode with the autons scared me so much my mom wouldn't let me watch it again until a couple years later, but yeah my teens I was obsessed with DW... still am at age 25

2. Your age at the time of the revival?

10

3. First DW episode you ever saw?

‘Rose’

4. Did you have any of the toys?

I still have the eleventh doctor’s screwdriver... I used to have some of the figures but there in storage now somewhere

5. Which DW character did you play on the playground?

didn't play it on the playground

6. Monster(s) that scared you most as a child?

all of them! the ones that still scare me now are the Cybermen and the Autons... genuinely cant walk past a shop mannequin without being suspicious 

7. Joke/story you didn’t get as a kid?

as a kid, any of the innuendo type jokes

8. DW opinion that has changed since you were a kid?

idk I think I still have the same opinions

9. Who introduced you to DW?

parents

10. Did you like Sarah Jane Adventures as a child?

I LOVED SJA!! I miss that show, and Elizabeth Slade :(

DOCTOR

11. Who is your Doctor?

Ten was the doctor that made me fall in love with Doctor Who 

12. Your favourite Doctor?

omg why not just ask me who my favourite child is... (I don't have kids but you know what I mean) if I had to chose my top three are ten, eleven and thirteen

13. Least favourite Doctor?

purely just because he doesn't have enough episodes... nine...

14. Best regeneration?

none of them I hate regenerations :( they make me sad, im too emotionally invested in every single one

15. Do you like “Doctor-Lite” episodes?

they're not my faves

16. Who is the most human Doctor?

I think nine maybe? or twelve?

17. Best multi-Doctor story?

the 50th anniversary special 

18. Best Doctor monologue?

“Hello Stonehenge! who takes the pandorica, takes the universe. but bad news everyone, cause guess who? HA! You lot you're all whizzing about- its really very distracting. Could you all just stay still a minute because I AM TALKING. Question of the hour is, who's got the pandorica? Answer, I do. Next question, who's coming to take it from me? Come on, look at me! No plan. No backup. No weapons worth a damn. oh and something else, I don't have anything to lose. So, if you're sitting up there in your silly little spaceship with all your silly little guns and you've got any plans on taking the pandorica tonight... just remember who's standing in your way. remember ever black day I ever stopped you and then- AND THEN- do the smart thing... let somebody else try first.”

not copied and pasted, remember that from the top of my head... its always there waiting in my mind incase I ever need an epic monologue :’)

19, What do you think TenToo/MetaCrisis Doctor is doing now?

hopefully living his best life with Rose

20. Best Doctor/companion pairing?

ten and donna 

COMPANIONS

21. Favourite companion?

Donna, Clara, Amy

22. Favourite secondary companion?

is Mickey classed as secondary? idk

23. Least favourite companion?

Ryan

24. Best TARDIS Team?

Doctor, Amy and Rory

25. Most underrated companion?

Graham, but that may just be cause I love Bradders

26. Most overrated companion?

Rose... I like her but idk, I think she gets more hype than she deserves.. don't @ me

27. Favourite companion’s family?

Rose’s mom

28. Who should have been a companion but wasn’t?

idk I cant think of anyone

29. Favourite (canon or non-canon) DW universe relationship?

Amy and Rory

30. Who did you not used to like, but really like now?

wasn't keen on Bill at first but by the end I really liked her, same with Rory

EPISODES

31. Favourite episode ever?

girl in the fireplace

32. Least favourite episode?

most of Chibnall’s episodes tbh sorry not sorry 

33. Which episodes do you skip?

the regeneration episodes

34. Best two-parter?

Human Nature - Family of Blood

35. Historical, present day or futuristic episodes?

I like them all in there own way but I think present is fave, then historical, then future

36. Episode that will always make you smile?

all of them

37. Episode that will always make you cry?

Rory and Amy’s last episode :’(

38. Best run of episodes?

ugh I cant answer this theres too many 

39. Best cliffhanger?

the end of Spyfall part one when the Master reveals who he is... I was SHOOK

40. Favourite Christmas special?

Voyage of the Damned

SERIES

41. Classic Who or New Who?

new who

42. Favourite series?

four or five

43. Least favourite series?

eleven, I just cant with the writing

44. Which series do you skip?

none

45. Favourite series opening?

eleventh hour

46. Favourite series finale?

Doomsday

47. Best series arc?

Bad Wolf

48. Thoughts on series 11/12?

I adore Jodie Whittaker and her doctor, and although I think 3 companions is too many I do love Yaz and Graham (Ryan is hit & miss). I just think theyve been massively let down by the stories/writing... they’ve tried to hard to tick certain boxes and completely missed what Doctor Who is about for a lot of people.. an escape from the real world into these outrageous unbelievable but lovable fun alien adventures 

49. How much of Classic Who have you seen?

not a lot

50. Who should have had another series?

NINE NINE NINE NINE NINE 

MONSTERS

51. Favourite monster/villain?

the master 

52. Most creative monster?

Weeping Angels, whoever came up with monsters that look like statues and only move when you're not looking at them is genius 

53. Monster(s) that scares you most?

Autons, Cybermen, the creepy dolls from Night Terrors, the ones from Waters of Mars, Weeping Angels

54. Monster you think is too easy to defeat?

idk

55. Least favourite monster/villain?

absorbaloff

56. Monster you want to return?

The Master, I really hope that isn't the last we see of Dhawan

57. In your opinion, what makes a monster good?

being genuinely scary, 

58. Daleks, Cybermen or Weeping Angels?

Weeping Angels

59. Best Dalek story?

Daleks in Manhatten

60. Best one time villain/monster?

my brain has gone blank I cant think of an answer right now 

ADDITIONAL MATERIAL

61. Torchwood or Sarah Jane Adventures?

SJA

62. Favourite Torchwood Team member?

I haven't watched it all so I couldn't say 

63. Which Torchwood death made you saddest?

again, not watched it all 

64. Do you rewatch COE or MD?

huh

65. Favourite SJA Team member?

Sarah Jane

66. Mr Smith or K-9?

K-9

67. Maria or Rani?

Rani

68. Do you read the comics/novels or listen to Big Finish?

Nope

69. If you do, your favourite additional stories?

n/a

70. Do you like DW analysis (video essays, fan theories, etc)?

yes

DESIGN/PRODUCTION

71. Favourite piece of alien tech?

the sonic, I love how it is so multipurpose except for when it comes to wood 

72. Favourite piece of Murray Gold music?

I am the Doctor - gets me pumped every time 

73. Favourite TARDIS design?

Ten’s Tardis 

74. Has the 2005 era CGI aged well?

actually yeah, I was rewatching the ‘are you my mummy’ episodes the other day and my God when the gas masks emerged from the faces... ooooooof I was like omg how 

75. Favourite Doctor outfit?

eleven or thirteen

76. Monster with the best design?

not really a design more of a costume.. I live Dhawan master’s costume. that shade of purple, oof he so stylish 

77. Best show runner?

idk

78. Best writer?

Gatiss

79. Best opening titles?

eleven’s titles where the Tardis is flying and being zapped is cool but thirteens music hits different 

80. Will DW age well/stay popular in the future?

I hope so, I feel like its lasted this long surely it can last forever.. if the writers don't fuck it up... 

IF YOU WERE IN THE SHOW

81. Time period you’d want to go with the Doctor?

whatever time means Id get to wear the most beautiful costumes

82. Planet/place you’d want to go with the Doctor?

Galifrey, pre-desctruction

83. Doctor you’d most like to travel with?

any of them, please and thank you

84. Companion you’d most like to travel with?

donna, sceso a good laugh but also I feel like she’d look after me 

85. Monster you’d like to defeat/fight?

The Master 

86. If you could go back on your own history (like Father’s Day), where would you go?

back to when I was a toddler, I wanna see what I was like 

87. If you could ask the Doctor anything, what would you ask?

theres too many to ask 

88. Historical figure you’d like to meet?

Shakespeare

89. How do you think you’d meet the Doctor?

id probably be rescued from doing something stupid and then the doc would be like you know what the bitch clearly needs supervision she's coming with me 

90. Would you travel forwards or backwards in time first?

backwards

IF YOU MADE THE SHOW

91. Historical event would you like to see in DW?

Hamilton

92. Issue you’d like to see addressed in DW?

idk 

93. Who would you completely erase from the DW universe?

Ruth

94. One unanswered DW question you’d love to know the answer to?

where is Clara now?

95. Actor/actress you’d like to see play the Doctor?

Phoebe Waller Bridge (or Lin Manuel Miranda)

96. Actor/actress you’d like to see play a companion?

Andrew Scott (yes I did just basically recast fleabag and hot priest)

97. Is DW “too political”?

series 11 got a bit like that 

98. Which characters fate would you changed?

Danny Pink

99. What about DW could be improved?

I think ive made my options about Chibnall pretty clear... 

100. If you could write an episode of DW, any ideas for what you’d do

bring back Jenny, the Doctor / Daughter adventures they would have. I’m actually writing a fic about it if you wanna read.... here

#doctor who #tag #doctor who tag #doctor who questions #survey

[curiosity-killed]

a bow for the bad decisions

canon-divergent AU from ep. 24 (on ao3)

part 1 | part 2 | part 3 | part 4 | part 5 | part 6 | part 7 | part 8 | part 9 | part 10 | part 11 | part 12 | part 13 | part 14 | part 15 | part 16 | part 17 | part 18

Wei Wuxian rolls his hands, flattens them, and presses the seal into the dirt. A flash of scarlet bursts in the air, then a sudden swell of power, prickling, needling— It dissipates, and Wei Wuxian exhales, resting his wrists on his knees. Eyeing him a moment, Jiang Cheng turns back to the wards and reaches out with his spiritual energy to press tentatively at the barrier. It feels…strange. Alive in a way that doesn’t feel quite like spellwork but more like the cool distance Wei Wuxian kept up during the war. “That’s it, then?” he asks. Still crouched down, gaze longsighted, Wei Wuxian gives a slight nod. His hair’s drawn up high off his nape in a style he hasn’t worn since they were kids, and it sharpens the angles of his face, makes the new hollows and tired lines more apparent. Worry shivers in Jiang Cheng’s chest but he presses it down; he was worse during the war. He’s doing better. Jiang Cheng will bully him into getting some sleep now that the shields are done.

“It feels…different,” he admits eventually, turning back to the energy he can only barely sense before them.

“Mm,” Wei Wuxian hums as he straightens up. He sways, stumbles back half a step, but catches himself. “The trigger arrays in this one will ping any intruders. They’re really more a warning than a true defense. If someone crosses them when they’re live, they’ll hit the talisman traps and so on.” Nodding, Jiang Cheng crosses his arms over his chest and surveys the work. Nine layers, nine shields of warding and arrays spreading out from the center of Lotus Pier to encompass all the outer buildings and main dock. If there’s another attack, the city itself will still be at some risk, but there’s enough ground covered by these defenses that all the townspeople could take shelter and be protected. The knowledge makes something tighten in his chest, a fanged satisfaction baring its teeth. “It’s under your command but tied to the land,” Wei Wuxian continues, wiping his palms on his skirts. “You can grant authority to others but as long as Lotus Pier stands, the shields will hold.” He’d explained it as he worked, but his explanations tend to get…well, distracted, when he’s multitasking. Channeling resentful energy is still a little shaky as far as Jiang Cheng’s concerned, but he thinks he gets the basic premise. Like using residual spiritual energy, the arrays draw on the resentment naturally released by the dying things throughout the region. Flowers, trees, animals — over the generations, they build up enough that the outer arrays can draw off them without leaching too much vital energy. And for the arrays in the center, the strongest and most vicious — well, there are always bodies in the lakes. “Not the Tiger Seal?” he asks. Wei Wuxian’s face is unwontedly serious, drawn, as he shakes his head. “No,” he says. “It’s… Think of it more like Chenqing. They draw from the energy around them but aren’t controlled by it. The only one who can command them is you, and whoever you grant access.” “So you and jiejie and Bujue,” Jiang Cheng suggests. Wei Wuxian wrinkles his nose, dropping his hands to his hips. “Maybe just shijie and a-Jue,” he suggests instead. He says it too casually, nonchalant in a way he only is about serious things. Jiang Cheng scowls. “Why shouldn’t our da-shixiong have access?” he asks. “Ah don’t give me that look, Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian gripes, shoving at his shoulder. “I just mean the more access you grant, the bigger the holes are. Like a fishing net where you keep widening the weave, pretty soon anything can get through. Anyway, it’s not like I couldn’t figure out a way in if I really needed to. I made the arrays, didn’t I?” Relenting, Jiang Cheng lets it go. It makes sense, he supposes, even if he’s not sure he believes Wei Wuxian fully. “Alright. So I just…tell it who to answer to?” he asks. Wei Wuxian hitches his shoulders in a little shrug as if to say ‘sure.’ Stepping forward and holding his palm flat until he can feel the shivering vibration of the ward, Jiang Cheng closes his eyes. He can’t get a hold on this energy like he can his own qi, but he can feel it humming just shy of him. “Jiang Yanli,” he says and feels a ripple, an echo of sensation, course through the wards. “Yu Bujue.” He wants to add the third but holds back for now. Wei Wuxian will kick up a stink and anyway, he can always come back and change permissions now that he knows how. “Well then!” Wei Wuxian says, exhaling. “We’re all set. Ugh I’m starving. Do you think they cooked lunch already?” Jiang Cheng snorts but starts heading back. “Get some sleep tonight,” he says. “You’ve been pushing too hard and you agreed you’d take care of yourself. Last thing we need is a mess at the hunt.” Spinning Chenqing, Wei Wuxian scrunches up his face in annoyance. “I’m fine,” he insists. “The wards needed finished and it’s not like we got much done while Huaisang was here. Anyway, are you sure I have to come to the hunt? I could stay here and keep an eye on things while you and shijie are gone, make sure the defenses are ready, keep up training. The upper talisman class is really coming along, you know. They’re about ready for practical application.” He’s heard some variation of this argument about a dozen times over the last few months, and Jiang Cheng doesn’t hold back his eyeroll. If they were closer to the lake instead of on the far side of Lotus Pier, he’d just shove Wei Wuxian into the water and get it over with. “Yeah because coming to the Phoenix Hunt without our First Disciple and resident war hero won’t feed any rumors,” he retorts. “Anyway, you’ve still got to talk to Lan Wangji, remember?” That sours Wei Wuxian into silence. He kicks idly at a stick in his path, and Jiang Cheng eyes him a little curiously. He doesn’t know what happened between the two of them, and normally he wouldn’t care at all but — well, in those three months, he almost thought they’d be having a wartime wedding once they found Wei Wuxian. Incomprehensible as it was, Lan Wangji’s devotion to finding Wei Wuxian was simultaneously unnerving and deeply relieving. He’d been so sure that the sect leaders, the adults, the ones who actually knew what they were doing, would tell him to leave his hunt and let Wei Wuxian lie with the rest of the dead. When Lan Wangji stepped in at his side to join him, he’d finally been able to exhale a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding at the time. They weren’t friends by any stretch of the imagination, but they’d had a common goal and shared fear. It was like they were both searching for their missing piece; Jiang Cheng for his brother and Lan Wangji for his — his something. Jiang Cheng still isn’t sure what, exactly, Wei Wuxian is to Lan Wangji. “I still think it’s a bad plan,” Wei Wuxian says stubbornly. “It’s a-jie’s idea,” Jiang Cheng reminds him in an attempt to end the conversation. “Shijie thinks the best of everyone,” Wei Wuxian points out. Jiang Cheng inclines his head in acknowledgment. On another day maybe, back in Cloud Recesses or before the war or if he weren’t so sick of this argument, he’d let it go with the acknowledgment that jiejie is far too kind for the vast majority of people in the world. But he is tired and he’s sick of Wei Wuxian pouting about this whole plan. “What happened between you two anyway?” he asks. “He was always in your tents playing music at you while you were half-dressed during the war.” “What’s that supposed to mean?” Wei Wuxian shoots back, brow furrowed. It’s the frown that makes Jiang Cheng hesitate. He’d only been needling, venting some of his irritation by prodding at this easy opening, but now he pulls back. Wei Wuxian has always been a relentless flirt and overly affectionate with anyone he likes, but Jiang Cheng is almost certain he’s never actually acted on that. For all his irreverence and shamelessness, Wei Wuxian has an at times uncanny deference to morals. He might flirt and tease and drape his arms around shoulders, but Jiang Cheng doesn’t really believe he’d go to bed with someone if they weren’t serious, if they weren’t someone he meant to give himself over to fully. And anything less than that, Jiang Cheng is positive he would’ve heard about: Wei Wuxian would’ve crowed about getting a kiss from a pretty girl until Jiang Cheng beat him to death with a pillow. “Nothing,” he says, sighs. “I just — it was impossible to drag you away from him before the war and now you can’t stand to be around him. Did he say something to you?” They’d have a whole other rumor problem on their hands if Jiang Cheng punched Hanguang-jun in the face, but for his brother, he’s willing to do it. If Lan Wangji said something, hurt Wei Wuxian— “Relax, Jiang Cheng,” Wei Wuxian says, laughs. “You don’t need to go beat up Lan Zhan for me. I’m not some fragile maiden.” Shooting him an annoyed look, Jiang Cheng forces his shoulders and hands to loosen. Wei Wuxian shakes his head before tilting it up toward the sky briefly, drawing in a breath of clean air. “So?” Jiang Cheng prods, elbowing Wei Wuxian in the arm. He scowls at him, rubbing at the spot as if it actually hurt, and Jiang Cheng rolls his eyes. “He’s just so — ugh, you know how the Lan are,” Wei Wuxian says. “All he wants to do is drag me back to Gusu to face punishment for my deviant methods. You heard him, all that ‘return to the righteous path’ and ‘I have to exorcise the evil out of you.’ I’m just tired of getting lectured all the time.” It still doesn’t feel quite right, like the explanation’s too shallow. Still, Wei Wuxian had hated all the rules in Cloud Recesses and Lan Wangji had been unusually terse about the cultivation path he walked. “Maybe he’ll relax if you explain it,” Jiang Cheng suggests, trying to sound genuine and not like he wants to shove the two of them in a small room and make them figure themselves out. “Like you’ve talked to me about it. He can’t bother you about returning to sword cultivation if he knows you…you know.” Wei Wuxian breathes out something that’s not quite a laugh, too bitter. There’s a twist to his lips that Jiang Cheng never saw until the war, something dark and ugly under his brother’s amusement. “Yeah,” he says eventually. “Maybe.”

#mdzs #cql #the untamed #untamed fic #yunmeng shuangjie #jiang cheng #wei wuxian #my writing

[marshmallow-phd]

Innocent Intentions

Part of The Untamed - EXO Wolf Universe

Genre: Supernatural, Wolf Au

Pairing: Tao x Reader

Summary: There was one thing you couldn’t stand in all your years at college: playboys. And the campus was riddled with them. So when Tao - a player with a particularly well-known reputation - inserts himself into your life, you come up with a plan to get rid of him, whether he makes your heart race or not. But the more he’s the around, the more you just might find there’s a hidden layer underneath all the rumors, including a secret you never could have guessed….

Part: 1 I 2 I 3 I 4 I 5 I 6 I 7 I 8 I 9 I 10 I 11 I 12 I 13 I 14 I Final

**

Had you ever been this sick in your life?

You were pretty sure that the answer was an astounding no. Sweat beaded on your forehead although you were shivering and couldn’t seem to get warm no matter how many blankets you piled on. At the same time, all you could stand to wear was an oversized sweatshirt and a pair of comfortable shorts. Anything else just felt like too much weight on your body.  

Your stomach seemed to be on a four hour rotation, letting itself fill up with bile before deciding to empty it all out. The worst part was that after you’d finished throwing up, your body suddenly realized you hadn’t given it any sustenance since yesterday’s dinner. Your stomach growled at you and you growled back at it in a pathetic attempt to show some dominance. You knew if you actually tried to eat something, you’d just be seeing it again soon. Besides, you didn’t have the stamina to walk to the kitchen and stand there while trying to decide what would do the least amount of damage.

For the good part of the morning, you simply lied on the couch, unable to go to sleep but lacking the energy to do anything else. At one point, you did remember to call Mrs. Choi and tell her that is was best for you not to come in today. The last thing the shelter needed was for you to spread this bug around and have all those poor kids running to their shared bathrooms to throw up. Taking care of a couple sick kids was hard enough when the yearly cold made its way around. A whole classroom’s worth would just be chaos. Mrs. Choi was more than understanding and you promised to take an extra shift next week to make it up.

Sometime around noon, you were lying on the couch, watching an old rom com on the TV. It was the same old classic trope: playboy finds the only girl not attracted to his games and falls for her in pursuit of winning her over for the sake of his pride. You snorted to yourself. “Yeah, right.” Like that would ever happen in real life. Jerks were Jerks, frogs were frogs. End of story.

Then you shot up from your lying position. Shit! You were supposed to have another tutoring session with Tao today. A smile crept on your lips and a somewhat evil laugh escaped your throat. Looks like you were able to dodge him after all.

Lying back down on the couch, you settled in even deeper into the blankets, enjoying the silver lining. Then the guilt set in. You should probably at least Jae know that you were sick so Tao wasn’t just sitting there waiting for you. Even if that would be entertaining to imagine.

“Hello?”

“Hey, Jae,” you croaked out. Your throat was sore from all the acid that had been passing through it. Maybe you should grab a glass of water after this. Ugh. That meant moving.

“Whoa, you sound terrible.”

Way to point out the obvious. “Yeah, I’ve got the flu or something. So, tell Tao we’ll have to reschedule.”

“Sure!” There was a little more happiness in Jae’s voice than you really thought was appropriate for this conversation. “Feel better, (y/n). And let me know if you need anything.”

“Sure thing.” You hung up before he offered to bring you soup or something else equally obnoxious. Being babied whether you were sick or not was not an action you took graciously. You were a grownup who could take care of themselves.

A little while later, just as you finally beginning to drift off for a nap, there was a knock on the front door. Groaning, you buried yourself deeper into your blankets, hoping the intruder would just go away. But they didn’t.

Louder and louder they banged, determined to be answered. With a roar of your own and newly fueled by annoyance, you threw the protective cover off of yourself and marched up to the door, swinging it open. “What!”

“Well, hello there.”

Your eyes widened. “What the hell are you doing here?”

Tao smirked. “I came for my tutoring session.”

“I’m sick, you idiot. Jae was supposed to tell you.”

“Oh, he did,” Tao nodded. “But you seem to be fine to me.”

“Are you serious?” you croaked out. You were sweating more than a runner just crossing the marathon finishing line. You were sure that your face was a few shades lighter than normal and you sounded like a fifty year smoker. “I’m pretty sure anyone could take a look at me and know that I’m dying.”

The smirk faded from Tao’s face and his eyebrows knitted together. “Are you running a fever? Is it just a cold or could it be something worse?”

“Why do you ev-”

Just then that all-too familiar churning feeling began to bubble in your stomach. In a flash, you turned on your heels and sprinted for the first floor bathroom, not caring in the slightest that you’d left the front door open for Tao to walk right on in. You barely made it in time to empty out your stomach into the toilet. A coughing fit followed, making the burn in your throat even worse.

“Hey, hey, hey it’s okay,” Tao hushed gently as he crouched down beside you. A heavy hand rubbed up and down your back and you hated how nice that felt.

“Go away,” you grumbled as you wiped away the tears that were stinging your eyes.

“I’m not leaving you like this,” Tao declared defiantly. He stood back, staring down at you with a look that dared you to argue. “I’ll go get you a glass of water. Don’t move.” He was gone from the bathroom before you could open your mouth to protest.

After sitting there in silence for a minute or so just listening to the open and close of cabinet doors and finally the clinking of glass and the sound of running water, Tao came back with a tall cup of water.

“I seriously could have done that myself,” you snapped.

“And yet, I see no glass anywhere in sight.”

Damn it.

Before you could even think of a good comeback, round two started. The sound of the bile hitting the water mixed with your own gagging once nothing else was coming up was just making it worse. This wasn’t a state you wanted to be seen in by anyone, but somehow with Tao here, it was a hundred times worse. You just wanted him to go away and leave you alone. You preferred to stay here in misery without an audience.

“I think that’s the universe telling you to stop arguing with me,” Tao chuckled. Crouching down once again, he held the water out for you. “Just swish the first gulp around and spit it out. Then take a sip to swallow.”

You swiped the glass from his hand, not caring if some spilled on the linoleum floor. “I know what to do.” But when you took that first swig, you could only swish it around your mouth for a few seconds before spitting it out into the toilet. “Ugh. Why is it so warm?”

Tao rolled his eyes. “It’s room temperature. And it’s better for your stomach than ice water. Now, take a few sips. It’ll help sooth your throat.” He placed his fingers on the bottom half the glass, pushing it up to your lips before tilting it back.

Once you’d taken three small gulps, you lowered the glass and wiped your lips clean. Neither of you spoke or even moved. This side of Tao was weirding you out. There was absolutely no hint of his usual flirtation in any of his actions. His eyes reflected pure, genuine concern for your health. Why would he be so concerned for you? He didn’t know you and you doubted the two of you bonded that quickly over a few hours of homework. And you knew nothing about him beyond what Wyatt and Kendall had told you. The two of you weren’t even really friends-

“Wait a second,” you narrowed your eyes at him, all thoughts of gratitude gone. “How the hell did you know where I lived?”

A small dose of the smug attitude was back. “Jace in the front office owed me a favor. It was pretty easy for him to look up your home address.”

You gaped at him. No matter that the idea had once crossed your own mind to track down the boy across from you after he was late for Wednesday’s session. But the difference was that you never did. And you were planning on looking for his class schedule, not his home address. “I’m pretty sure that’s illegal.”

Tao shrugged. “Go ahead and report me.”

“I will.”

“Okay.”

You tried to remain bold, but eventually you just deflated. It wasn’t worth the fight. Tao searched around the bathroom aimlessly with his eyes.

“So, you live with your parents?” he asked nonchalantly.

“Yeah,” you replied defensively. “It’s easier to save money than living in the dorms. You got a problem with that?”

He raised an eyebrow, seemingly confused at your attitude. “No. I live with my family, too. I was just making conversation. You don’t have to be so hostile towards me.”

“You came to my house and are now acting all concerned,” you pointed out. “Sorry if that kind of reads straight out of the playboy’s hand book.”

“Didn’t anyone ever teach you not to judge someone based on what you hear?”

Well, damn. He had you there.

But it didn’t help that his personality came off the same as the forerunning rumors in that initial meeting. Right now, though, you were definitely getting another side to the playboy and it was messing with your head. Or maybe it was the illness making you susceptible to whatever angle he was playing now.

But he seemed so genuine in his worry for you and it was making you doubt your own assumption. His closeness right now was creating a fog in your mind. Were you starting to see him more clearly or were you just seeing another character he was putting on?

“Come on,” Tao whispered. “You should lie down.” His arms started sliding behind your back and under your knees.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” You put your hands on his chest, stopping him while trying to ignore the warmth radiating from him under his plain white t-shirt. “What are you doing?”

Tao looked stunned. “I was going to take you to the couch.”

You frowned at him. “I can walk still.”

He threw his hands up and backed off. “Sorry.”

With what little strength you had, you pushed yourself off the floor. Your knees wobbled and you became light headed from the sudden elevation, swaying back and forth before catching the rim the of the counter.

“Still not going to let me carry you?” Tao growled.

You threw him a look. “I’m fine.”

Rolling his eyes, he wrapped an arm around your waist and supported most of your weight as you shuffled towards the living room. He let you sit down on the couch by yourself before heading towards the kitchen.

“Where are you going?” you called out after him.

“You need to eat something!” he yelled back.

You jetted out your jaw, irritated. “I can’t keep anything down!” A little quieter, you added, “ Like you weren’t here to see that fact.”

“I did see it! That’s why I’m making you broth!” Tao shouted.

Whirling around on the couch, you stared towards the kitchen with your jaw hanging open. How was he able to hear that? And he was making you broth? At this point, you wanted him to leave so you could stop being so confused. When you sat back down in your seat, you found yourself… smiling?

No. No, no, no. You didn’t like being taken care of like this. You really didn’t like that Tao was the one making you like it. What the hell was wrong with you? Just kick him out already. You were sure if you yelled enough, he’d leave, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it.

You plastered on a frown and crossed your arms to try and make yourself sour and mad at this whole thing. Fake it until you make it, right?

With a large bowl of steaming chicken broth in his hand, Tao came back to the living room, nudging your leg with his foot for you to move over. You complied, putting a sigh and great reluctance behind it. As carefully as he could, Tao put the bowl down on the coffee table before adjusting the blankets and placing one of them around your shoulders. Crossing his legs so he could face you as he sat down, he picked the bowl and held the full spoon out for you to drink.

Narrowing your eyes, you questioned, “Why are you doing this?”

Tao sighed and lowered the broth to his lap. “Can’t I just be nice?”

“We’re not best friends,” you argued. “I wouldn’t even say that we’re friends. And yet, you’re here trying to feed me. I think any logical person would be questioning why.”

“I like you.”

Your immediate reaction was to go straight into a coughing fit.

Tao nodded. “Not the reaction I was hoping for.”

When you were finally able to breathe right again, you blinked at him. “I’m sorry. Rewind for a second. You what now?”

That confident smirk was making a comeback on his lips as he leaned forward. However, this time, it was softer as he kept eye contact with you. “I like you, (y/n). That’s why I’m doing this.”

“Get out.”

Apparently, he wasn’t expecting that answer as leaned back, blinking. “What?”

“I am not a toy for you to play with,” you spat. “I don’t like playboys, so find someone else to mess with.” The way his face twist up, he almost seemed hurt by what you were saying. That didn’t stop you from marching on, though. “I’m not going to listen to anything that’s not genuine, so just stop while you’re ahead.”

“I’m being serious,” he whined. “I’m not playing a game or just trying to see how far I can get. Let me prove it to you. Can I get at least one chance?”

You opened your mouth just to shut it again. The words leaving his mouth sounded sincere, but you weren’t entirely certain. He was so confusing that you couldn’t get a grip on which version of him was real.

Fine. He was saying that he actually liked you, then you’d let him try. But if there was one thing you knew about playboys, it was this: none of them could commit. As soon as things got serious, they ran. So, you’d show him seriousness, you’d show him commitment. And then you’d sit back and watch him run for the hills, proving you right once again.

“Okay,” you agreed. “Fine. Whatever.”

Tao scoffed, looking off to the side as he shook his head. “And here I thought we’d gotten past judging people.”

You gasped. “I do not-”

Tao took the opportunity to shove the soup filled spoon in your mouth. And it was good, making you momentarily forget about the argument you had lined up for him. It wasn’t just plain chicken broth in that bowl. There was something else in it that gave it an extra flavor.

“What did you put in there?” you asked in awe.

“You’ll just have to eat more and see if you can find out,” he teased. You rolled your eyes, but opened your mouth for more. It was completely out of character for you to allow someone else to feed you, bit if Tao was going to be extreme, then so were you. This was going to be a two player game all the way.

“Okay, I think that’s enough for now,” Tao declared after a few more spoonfuls. “If you can keep that down, then I’ll warm it back up for you.”

Your only answer was a yawn as you stretched. You were exhausted and in desperate need for sleep while your body fought off the virus. For the first time all day, you felt like you could actually take a nap. Leaning back into the couch after shifting in his seat, Tao wrapped an arm around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest.

“Isn’t this too much?” you mumbled. There was no fight in your body, though, and your voice didn’t give much of an argument either.

“Get some rest,” he whispered.

This was wrong. This was one hundred percent wrong, but your eyes were already closed and your breathing was regulating as your mind gave in to the rest. Tao’s chest shouldn’t be this comfortable. You shouldn’t be feeling so content with his warmth around you. And yet, you easily drifted off, forgetting all the complications and just accepting the current situation. You’d deal with whatever consequences came your way later.

**

Tao took full advantage of the situation, staring down at you in awe. You looked so content curled up in his side, exactly where you belonged.

He couldn’t believe his luck in convincing you that he truly did have feelings for you. And they were growing each time he saw you. How could someone so defiant and argumentative be so cute? If having you give in to him and let him take care of you took a fight every time, he’d gladly fight with you every day. How could he have ever hated the very idea of this?

When Tao had first headed this way, he doubted that you were even going to be home. He really thought you were just dodging him. Then you opened the door looking like death and his protective instincts took over. But there you went again, doubting his intentions. Who knew he’d ever regret the way he lived his life up until now?

He was going to have to work twice as hard because of that just to prove to you that the two of you were meant to be, that you were his mate and that everything he was feeling towards you was true. You still looked at him with a seemingly impenetrable wall of distrust. It was going to take time and patience to remove each brick. While Tao had plenty of the former, he was still learning the meaning of the latter.

An itching feeling began to tingle in the tips of his fingers. At this angle, he could only see a portion of your face since most of it was buried in his chest (a fact that was making the wolf in his chest purr in absolute ecstasy). Your skin looked so soft from this closeness. Did it feel like the velvet it was impersonating? Tao had never wanted to run his fingers across a cheek so much in his life. Whenever he did it to the other girls, it was out of strategy. It drove every single one of them crazy. This was the first time the urge came with no ulterior motive.

Full of bravery, Tao lifted his free hand that wasn’t keeping you secure to his side and reached out. Just before his fingertips could brush up against your cheek, however, he heard car tires pulling into the driveway. Conflict arose as he wanted to stay, but right now was not the best way to meet your parents or explain this current predicament or why you were fast asleep on him.

As carefully as possible, he unglued you from him - earning a whine from both you and his wolf - and tucked you in comfortably on the couch before sneaking out the back door. He waited on the side of the house for your mother go inside before sprinting to his car that he’d parked a few houses down the street.

His heart was pounding in his chest as an exhilarating feeling  pumped through his veins. The adrenaline rush that resulted from sneaking out of your house without being caught couldn’t be explained, but he kind of wanted to do it again. And you’d told him to prove just how much he cared for you, so you could bet he’d be doing a lot more sneaking around here in the near future.

#exo #exo fanfiction #exo fanfic #exo wolf au #exo wolf!au #exo werewolf au #exo werewolf!au #tao x reader #huang zitao #z.tao #tao #exo series #exo supernatural au #Innocent Intentions #untamed wolf universe

[purplesurveys]

686

1. What previews did you see at the last movie you saw in theaters? I don’t even remember dude. I do remember the last movie I saw in the cinema was Knives Out, but we were too late to see the previews and arrived exactly when the movie started. The movie I saw before that wasssssss Portrait of a Lady on Fire, but that was so long ago I definitely don’t remember the previews that showed beforehand – or if there were any, at all. 2. Have you ever washed your hair with mayonnaise? Ok I love mayonnaise, but that shit goes in my mouth and not anywhere else in my body lmao. 3. How many things are you a fan of on Facebook? I stupidly liked so many pages when I was 14 and new to Facebook...it must be in the hundreds. I think I still like most of them, but I’m just too lazy to unlike each of them. 4. Do you have more friends on Myspace or Facebook? Facebook is a sure winner here because I don’t even have a Myspace.

5. What generation iPod do you have? I don’t know...it’s an iPod from 2008, though. The really thin one that comes with games, and the screen is already colored. 

6. What celebrities share your birthday? James McAvoy and Queen Elizabeth II are the biggest names I think. I Googled to confirm anyway and it turns out I share a birthday with Iggy Pop too. Pretty diverse group lmao. 7. What's your first and last name spelled backwards? Nybor, and that’s all you’re getting now. 8. What song is playing at the moment? No song, just two electric fans whirring loudly here in the first floor, and my sister watching a playthrough of some game she’s into on YouTube. 9. Do you clench your teeth when you're angry? Ugh no. I hate the feeling/texture/sound of grinding my teeth. I find it a little disturbing and I wince when I hear someone doing it in their sleep :/ 10. Have you ever been to a movie that sold out? Yeah, Killing of A Sacred Deer was surprisingly sold out when we watched it. Then again we were in the part of the city where people are more likely to watch films like that, so maybe it’s not that surprising after all. Other movies I remember being sold out was the entire Twilight Saga HAHAHA. I went to 4/5 midnight screenings and the cinema was packed every time.

11. Have you ever been to a midnight movie? ^ Just mentioned it. 12. It's 2010; are you gonna say oh-ten, twenty ten, or two thousand ten? I always say twenty-ten. 13. How many of your classes change next quarter? Next semester? I graduate next semester...hopefully. This virus is really ruining my life plans for 2020, especially as a graduating student who was expecting to graduate by June and get a job by like, September. 14. Do you believe in the paranormal? Only ghosts. 15. How old are the shoes you're wearing? I’m barefoot at the moment. I haven’t been outside in a WHILE, so I haven’t had to wear shoes in a while as well. 16. What's your state's weather usually like this time of year? The Philippines is a relatively tiny country so our weather from the northernmost to southernmost tips are uniform. That being said, March to June is our summer season so the *country’s weather is very humid and excruciatingly hot for now. Temperature usually plays around 34-37C, but the heat index can reach 42C. 17. Do you get those leg cramps in the middle of the night? I used to get them quite often as a kid - it would wake me up at 4 AM and I’d usually be crying by the end; I couldn’t scream because I never wanted to wake everyone up, so I’d just cry until it was over. 18. What movie last made you too scared to go to sleep? Midsommar didn’t make me too scared to sleep, but for a short time it made me terrified of flowers and the color white. 19. Do you have a Twitter account? Sure. 20. Did Obama deserve the Nobel Peace Prize he was awarded? Oh he won it? That’s pretty cool. I dunno enough about his presidency other than he seems to be ~hipper than all the other US presidents and is generally more well-loved, but I don’t want to make a stand so hastily. 21. Is your cell phone a qwerty (full keyboard) or no? Yeah, touchscreen qwerty. 22. What was the last website you logged onto (besides the one you're on)? WWE Network!!! Just today they announced that they were gonna give free access to the Network, which means thousands of hours’ worth of pay-per-views, shows, and documentaries. I made a WWE account just for it and I’ve already downed two documentaries this morning. 23. What's your home page? It’s a Google Chrome extension called Momentum. I’m too lazy to describe the features so I’ll just show you what it looks like when I open Chrome/a new tab.

24. Put a line from the song you're listening to right now: I’m not listening to a song rn but I do have everything i wanted by Billie Eilish stuck in my head for a few minutes now. A lyric goes: I had a dream / I got everything I wanted / Not what you’d think / And if I’m being honest, it might’ve been a nightmare / To anyone who might care.

25. Music artists you listen to: Are they a little or a lot older than you? They’re typically close to my age, like maybe 4-10 years older than me. The oldest artist I listen to is probably Beyoncé? 26. What always has to be in the refrigerator? For us, eggs. 27. What was your favorite movie of 2009? The Proposal. 28. What do you want for Christmas? That’s sort of a long way from now, dude. By that time I’d have grown a bit and will probably ask for a vacuum cleaner lmaaaaao. 29. If you could go to three places in the world right now: UPTC, Feliz, and a Starbucks. I just want to be out of my actual village – I don’t even want to go anywhere far after this. 30. How many days until your birthday? I was too lazy to do math but Google says it’s 28 days away. 31. Who are you crushing on right now? (Famous or not, it's your call.) Gabie, Kristen Stewart, and Lee Joo Youngggggg. 32. Do you squish bugs or put them in a glass and let them outside? I squish them especially if they’re being annoying, soz. 33. Do you have split ends? I recently got my hair done, so no.

34. Isn't it ridiculous that movie theaters sell hot dogs and nachos? It is pretty stupid considering they’re messy food and you’ll have to eat them in a really dark room. Where I’m from they allow any kind of food in the theatres, so we aren’t restricted to hotdogs and nachos. My go-to food is Potato Corner french fries, since they’re easy to pick up and would never have a strong smell, or make a noise or a mess. 35. What school subject do you absolutely fail at? I don’t think I ever got past an 85 in chemistry in high school. 36. When you're on a laptop, do you hook up a mouse or use the touchpad? I have a touchpad. I’ve never owned a mouse. 37. When's the next day(s) off you'll get at school? Literally right now until April 14th. It’s a lockdown, dude. 38. If you're learning a language, what year are you in? I’m not. My curriculum doesn’t require me to take language electives. I did take Spanish and Korean in Duolingo in the past out of boredom/curiosity, though. I lasted a few levels into Spanish because of its similarities with Filipino, but they have like a million verb tenses and that’s when it got too much for me. Korean was pretty difficult right from the start. 39. Do you think you're done growing or will you grow a couple more inches? Nah, this is it I think. 40. What's your mom's mom's name? Agnes. 41. Do you replace "and" with an ampersand (&)? No, it looks so informal to me. 42. What do you usually get at school for lunch? I don’t have a usual lunch; it depends on what we have at home, because I typically just bring food from home to school. 43. Have you ever encountered a creepy neighbor? I don’t think so. If I did, my brain probably blocked the memory already. 44. How many texts can your phone's inbox hold before it's too full? As far as I know it doesn’t have a limit and just depends on my phone’s overall capacity.   45. Do you like the foam soap or the liquidy soap? I use a liquidy one, so I’ll go with that. 46. Do you like the automatic sinks or the ones with hot and cold handles? Lmao, first of all our country’s not even rich enough for this question. We just have a basic sink. We get whatever temperature is available and we need to turn a knob to have the water running. 47. What day did/does your birthday fall on this year? It’ll fall on a Tuesday, which suckssss because it’s a weekday and I have weekly Tuesday meetings for this semester. It’s also the first week out of the coronavirus lockdown, and I doubt people will even be paying attention to birthdays by then. 48. Do you tend to lean towards bright colors or more subtle colors? Subtle ones. 49. Do you use British spelling even though you're not British? No. 50. Name the farthest/weirdest/most unique place you've ever been: Farthest: Bali, Indonesia Weirdest: There was this park in Palawan that just didn’t fit with the city’s atmosphere at all lmao. Let me look it up... Baker’s Hill. It had tons of vibrantly-colored figurines, decorations peppered with cheesy pick-up lines, and Valentine’s decor (hearts, streamers, etc) spread all over the place. I couldn’t understand what it was supposed to be and it was a surreal experience overall lol. Most unique: Sagada. It didn’t feel like I was in the Philippines for the 3 days I was there.

#survey #surveys

[thephantomofthe-internet]

Homeward Bound : Chapter 10

Steve Harrington x Henderson!Reader, Billy Hargrove x Henderson!Reader

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2 | Chapter 3 | Chapter 4 | Chapter 5 | Chapter 6 | Chapter 7 | Chapter 8 | Chapter 9 | Chapter 10 | Chapter 11 | Chapter 12 | Chapter 13

Chapter Summary: It’s like the Breakfast Club! But lamer...

Word Count: 3,739

Warnings: Swearing, awkwardness, THE BABIES ARE HERE!!!

Author’s Note: Gotta keep up with Amanda, don’t I? 😉

Permanent Tag: @hotstuffhargrove @denimjacketkisses @hargrovesgoldilocks @lilmissperfectlyimperfect @hipsmcgee @thatchickvic

Series Tag: @baebee35 @moonstruckhargrove @kurt-nightcrawler @supernatural-pants @thoughstofaredhead @bby-becca @fear-the-reaper115 @estheflowergirl

You looked up with a grimace. Steve Harrington was standing over you in all his fluffy haired glory, being an absolute dick, as per usual.

“I highly disagree.” You snapped, pulling his arm off you “What the hell are you doing here anyway, what you got an APB out on me now?”

Steve’s demeanour deflated instantly, stepping back, hands finding their way into his front pockets, shoulders hunching slightly. “It’s the last day of school, somebody has to do the annual ‘threaten kids into not being assholes’ speech.” He explained.

“They still do that?” you asked, letting your guard down just for a second.

“Unfortunately, and apparently it’s a rite of passage to do the speech. Which means this year I got spit balls shot at me and paper balls lobed at my head by snot nose kids.” He replied.

“Oh the irony, you used to do that all through high school, especially when it was Callahan doing the talking.” Nancy said, knocking her shoulder into his. Steve smiled, pulling her into a tight hug.

“Hey, Steve.” She said softly into his shoulder. They both looked highly emotional, a strange sight for you. You remembered when she couldn’t stand being in a room with him and he was still just trying to prove that he wasn’t still in love with her, to no avail. And while that went away with time, they never seemed exactly close.

“I didn’t know you were coming in today, I thought it was tomorrow.” He replied, pushing her back slightly by the shoulders, looking her over “How’s Sybs?”

“Good, thank you again for the gift for her, you’re two months early, but she looks adorable in the bunny suit and it’s the only thing she’ll stay asleep in now.” Nancy replied with a smile.

“Good, I’m glad.” He replied. “Your mother must love the attention and the full house again, how’s she getting along with Jonathan? Or did he end up staying back?”

“Jonathan is visiting with his mom; he’ll come down with them later in the week.” She replied easily.

“They still hate each other?” you asked, popping a stick of white chewing gum into your mouth, grinning cheekily at her.

Steve rolled his eyes “You’re just gonna ask that like it isn’t rude, huh? He asked disappointedly “’Cause you know, it doesn’t really matter anymore. They’re married and Karen’s just gonna to deal. Besides, they can’t be that petty as to-”

“They absolutely hate each other. Jonathan wouldn’t come down with me to stay with her; he’s still trying to find a way to not have to stay with her when he gets here.” Nancy replied breezily with a shrug.

“Ha! I knew it!” you cried, grinning like a fool.

“You always gotta be right, Y/N?” Steve asked. You turned to look at him, ready to retort with sass and anger. But he wasn’t cocky or annoyed, he was trying to hold back a grin; his eyes shining with mirth. Nothing about him was confrontational and the need to fight back drained from your body.

“When you’re around, Harrington, I’m always right.” You replied, a small smirk slipping onto your lips. And looking at you, relaxed and bright and joking again, Steve felt his whole body warm and glow. He didn’t release how cold and uncomfortable he was until you smiled; your body language could change his whole disposition and your smile could light up a whole room.

“So wait what are we doing here? Just wandering? ‘Cause I have no one here I need to see, except Mike but I’m not gonna pull him out of class, you know?” Nancy asked.

“Well, I’m hiding from Hargrove. I can’t get caught by him without Dustin or else I’ll get dragged into his truck.” You replied.

“He’s following you around?” Steve asked, tone hostile and worrisome, his whole body lifting to appear more physically opposing.

“No more than you are.” You replied, watching him deflate like a popped balloon. “He just saw me outside the school and decided that he had the time to try to get me in his truck. Probably not something he should be doing while on the clock.”

“He’s definitely got the time, since he’s on probation.” he replied. You cocked your brow, utterly lost, expecting clarification. “Powell caught him driving around drunk a couple months ago, Mr. Sherman put him on probation since it was in the truck. Powell never booked him on it because, according to him, the lost wages should be more than enough punishment. He’s got another week of forced time off before he’s back in.” Steve explained.

Nancy furrowed her brow “Why not just fire him then?” she asked.

“We’re short on mechanics. Usually we get a couple kids from the trade school Milton, but they opened a new shop in Carmel and so we didn’t get many kids up here. Mr. Sherman’s short a man and without Billy, he’ll be down to just him and George Burns.” Steve replied.

You hummed “Billy didn’t mention that…” you said, not really to them but more to yourself.

Billy was never the most honest guy on the block, but he owned up to his fuck ups fairly quickly, usually without being pressed or even asked. He owned up to still not getting along with Max and Susan, his dislike still very apparent. He owned up to not going home in part because he was scared. Hell, he owned up to supposedly still being in love with you! But this, this almost expected thing was hidden from you. You wondered what else he was hiding.

“I don’t know, I mean its Hargrove, he’s not much of a talker.” Nancy said reasonably, smiling sympathetically at you.

“Besides, he probably didn’t want to be doing much talker. Or have the time, I should say.” Steve said, his tone forcefully light and more than a little bitter.

Nancy gasped “You told him?!?” she cried, earning an awkward chuckle from Steve and an eye roll from you.

“He picked me up this morning. I had to tell someone or else I would explode from shame, embarrassment, and the giddiness of a secret.” You replied.

“He picked you up?” Nancy asked “And you didn’t tell me?”

“What exactly is there to tell, Nance? He picked me up, we had breakfast, and then he drove me home. Not exactly rocket science.” You replied, watching her carefully.

“Right, right of course…” she said, nodding quickly, her mind obviously running through a million scenarios. “So…how’d it go? You have fun?” she asked, a little twitchy and excited, far too excited for the subject at hand.

“It was fine. Like I said nothing major, right Steve?” you said, making Nancy jump. She’d forgotten he was there. Steve muffled a laugh, watching her curiously.

“Yeah,” he said, a tiny giggle popping out at the end of the word, forcing him to swallow his giggles, finding a stern face. “Yeah, fine. Are you alright, Nance, you’re really jumpy.”

“Fucking hormones man…I have the memory and foresight of a fucking goldfish…” she  muttered, shaking her head wearily.

You giggled, wrapping an arm around her shoulders “Ah, Mrs. Nancy Byers-Wheeler, you are too fun to bug. Truly, you should be pregnant all the time, it makes it more fun for me. I get to be the smart one.” You said.

“I am still the smarter of the two of us, even with a baby stealing my brain cells.” Nancy frowned, annoyance evident in the heavy line creasing the centre of her forehead.

“I know, my dearest darling, I know.” You replied, making her smile again and sharing it with her.

“Hey! What the hell are you doing?” Steve called at a flock of teenagers in the hall a few feet away. You almost didn’t recognize them.

Max, Lucas, Mike, Dustin, and a girl you could only label as Marcy were all ahead of you, loitering around as the girl you’d labelled Marcy scratched something into the wall.

Mike, significantly taller but somehow not the tallest of the group, turned to find the sound and, without registering the whole of your little band, turned back to his friends and yelled “Scatter!”

You stepped forward, holding Steve back as you replied “Chill, Wheeler, nobody’s gonna tell on you.” Max turned back to look at you, roll her eyes as she grabbed Mike by the back of the shirt collar.

“Chill, dipshit, it’s just Steve and…is that you, Henderson? Jesus you turned into a hippie.” She said, earning a collective sigh from the group.

I haven’t had time to cut it, been busy.” You replied, walking over to the group to muffle her red hair, chopped almost completely off into a red pixie cut, mirroring Mia Farrow from Rosemary’s Baby. “Ugh, don’t mess with it, it took morning to get it to look this good.” She moaned, pushing your hand

“And it still looks like shit.” Lucas joked. Overall, he’d changed the most. While Mike had gotten taller, he still looked a little like an elf and was still too pale, and Max was still freckled and tiny, boyish save for her well done makeup, clearly a way to remind the world that she was still in fact a girl. Lucas was the most mature looking-the tallest of the group and the strongest. Dustin had said he’d taken up the helm of being the group’s sports star, captaining the basketball team in Steve’s place. His hair was still cropped short and his smile was still kind, but awkward. Underneath it all, he still seemed to be the little, awkward, logical boy you’d left in Hawkins with bad clothes and a worse relationship with his little sister, now a eighth grader.

“That’s not what you said earlier.” Max replied, eyeing him up. You cringed at their little routine, still virgining in their attempts at adulthood.

Mike was looking at you all, gobsmacked to see everyone all at once. “Nancy?” he asked, finding his sister in the group. “Jesus Christ what’re you doing here? Mom’s gonna kill you and the baby.”

“Language, Mike! Sybil is picking up on words now!” she cried.

“She’s not here now, is she?” he shot back and the two fell into a stream of bickering.

“Yeah well…it looked better then…” Lucas tried, awkward and strained.

“Y/N! What’re you doing here?” Dustin asked, pushing his way to the front of the group, clearly embarrassed.

“We were bored, decided to loiter inside the school instead of outside.” You replied with a shrug.

“And you are?” a female voice asked, high and tight. The supposed Marcy had stepped forward, hands on her hips and chest stuck out. If you were her age, this would turn into a girl fight, forcing strained seduction and quick backhanded acts of kindness.

“Hey, I’m Y/N,” you said, sticking out a hand for her to shake, which she looked at with a scowl. “I’m Dustin’s older sister.” You added. Quickly, her demeanour changed; she deflated, looking away with a sort of embarrassed inward cringe, shaking her head.

She huffed out a sigh, taking your hand and shaking it weakly “Hi…I’m Marcy, Dustin’s friend.” She said.

“I thought as much, I’ve heard a lot about you.” You replied with an easy smile, trying to urge her on. She looked uncomfortable, feigning toughness in dark clothes and a scowl painted dark purple, emphasizing the thickness of her lips. It all looked like what your mother would call an attempt to muffle your beauty, a form of dazzle camouflage that was meant to distract and scare away, not invite in. You understood her, you were her when you were her age.

“Really?” she asked, a small smile pulling at the corners of her pursed mouth, trying in vain not to smile.

“Yeah, you pop up in more letters than anyone else, well maybe anyone except Steve over here, he takes first place.” You replied, watching both Steve and Dustin cower away, watching you horrified and nervous.

“Y/N, that’s enough.” Dustin said, eyes flicking between you and Marcy, too nervous to look at either of you fully. You tried to sympathize; you didn’t want to be like your mother and embarrass him, but if it’s that easy to embarrass him then you didn’t know how to really communicate with this poor girl.

“That’s cool.” Marcy announced, the evidence of a smile on her eyes and cheeks, her mouth still holding firm despite the lilt in her voice.

“So, what does he say about me?” Steve asked nervously, shifting his weight between feet. Dustin looked at him curiously and a silent look was exchanged; Dustin confused and Steve trying to seem calm as his mind raced with possibilities.

“I mean…nothing major, he mostly just mentions you every time he talks about friends or hanging out.” You replied with a shrug, not registering his tense body language he was displaying.

“Really? Nothing else?” he asked, eyes darting around the hall.

“Not really, I mean, I didn’t even know you were a cop, remember? He’s not great with details.” You replied, watching him curiously. Steve seemed to be calming down, though his nerves were still ragged and raw and now very obvious to you. “You know, if this questioning is going to continue, I’m going to need a lawyer.” You said with a smile, nudging his shoulder. He smiled, though the twitchy energy wasn’t fading.

“Guys,” Marcy called, having gone back to examine her work, her scratchy letters spelling out ‘fuck school’ surely to be cover by paint or simply more scratches before the beginning of the school year. “I gotta get going, Andy’s gonna be here soon, I’ll catch you around, yeah?”

“Yeah, you still looking for a job in town?” Dustin asked, picking up her bag off the floor.

“Got an interview at Darlene’s Dress Shop at the mall, if all goes to plan I won’t be looking by Monday!” She replied, running down the hall without another word. Max rolled her eyes, sending her a half hearted wave.

“Bye Marce…” She muttered, a scowl making lines around her mouth. Lucas rubbed her shoulder gently, shaking his head.

“She’s not worth it, M&M…” he said, pressing a kiss to the top of her head.

“Guys! She had our hall passes! We gotta go!” Mike cried, trying to run off again, only to be grabbed by Nancy, forcing him back.

“It’s the last day of school, exams start Wednesday. Relax, you won’t get detention.” Nancy said softly. Mike nodded, his breathing shaky. Mike seemed to have gotten the worst of the anxiety, or at least the most obvious. Dustin had mentioned he’d turned into a bit of a square but you didn’t see it. He just seemed stressed out, a nervous twinge to his movement, a dart in his eyes. Hawkins obviously wasn’t helping him.

“And besides, if they even tried we’d come and break you out. They can’t hold you here, you’re graduating in a week!” Dustin added, wrapping a careful arm around the lanky boy’s shoulders, squeezing him too tight.

“That’s not encouraging, dude.” Mike replied, his face scrunching from the uncomfortable squeeze, pushing away.

“Well, how about then we get out of here? Can’t get detention if you aren’t in the building.” You offered.

“Yes, you can. We tried that, they just call home.” Mike retorted, crossing his skinny arms over his chest.

“Anybody else?” You asked, turning your attention to the others, already grabbing their bags off the floor. They nodded, heading down the hall. You motioned for Steve and Nancy to follow them, leaving Mike behind.

“Aw Jesus Christ wait up you assholes!” Mike cried, running to catch up with the rest of you. As it turns out, peer pressure and a bit of motherly coaxing still worked on him. You restrained yourself from laughing at him, his shaggy hair bouncing with every bound.

“Where are we even going?” He whined, eyes darting around for some mythical hall monitor or camera waiting to catch him.

“Well, I only have one request for you all, and then you can go wherever you want.” You replied with a shrug.

“We’re going to Scoops after this, its tradition, dumbass.” Max added, brushing her bangs off her face and holding out her palm to you, silently asking for gum. You complied easily, digging around in your purse for the pack and a pen as you found your way back into the front hall and in front of that mural.

You pulled the visitor pass from your pocket and handed it to Steve, motioning for Nancy to do the same. “Go and return these for us and keep Rhonda busy for a minute, okay?” you asked.

“What, why?” he countered, taking the polyester lanyards.

“Because I’m about to get the kids to commit a minor criminal offence and you’re a cop. So go away. You heard nothing.” You replied, pushing him towards the office door. Steve complied, heading into the office like a child forced to say hello to their kissy aunt.

“Alright,” you announced with a clap of your hands “Before you leave this place forever, I think it’s important to leave behind a legacy. Yearbooks get forgotten, photos get switched out, but with a single act of defiance we can leave a message that might last a bit longer.” You pulled the small card from the mess of school spirit themed messages.

“This has been up since I graduated, they never change this board and so you’re message will last as long as the board does.” You explained, showing them the card, the back of which gave the old guidance counsellor’s information for parent use, handed to you with a worried expression that same day.

You wrote the message out of defiance and anger.

Mrs. Donaldson had declared that you should return to high school for a year, do the victory lap to make you truly ready for college life. The idea that you weren’t ready made your blood boil; you were ready as you could ever be. She didn’t understand-after what you’d seen you could handle anything.

“I just think, after the year you’ve had, you deserve a redo.” She said, folding her hands neatly in the centre of the desk, her giant square rimmed glasses slipping down her nose.

“Do I have the marks for college?” you asked boredly, eyeing the teen psychology posters lining the walls with a grimace.

“Well yes, but after Heather’s-” she began, watching anxiously as your bored expression switched into an angry one. She silently braced herself for the explosion.

“What the hell does Heather have to do with me going to college?” you snapped.

“I just think that after Heather’s death you-” Mrs. Donaldson tried, but the cause was lost and you were already on your feet, throwing your half-empty bag on your shoulder, forcing the chair back up to the desk.

“I think Heather’s death has nothing to do with my success and that you trying to use it to keep me here is bullshit. I know who you’re working for and I know that all of this is some sort of scheme to get me. I’m going to college and that’s final.” You snapped.

Mrs, Donaldson sighed, pulling off her glasses and rubbing the bridge of her nose “Just take the card, Y/N.” she said, sliding the neatly printing card across the desk. And, for some reason, you took it.

You had planned to just throw it out and move on with your life. But as you sat on one of the cool metal benches outside the office, an idea slowly revealed itself.

You only had one pen on you, the purple gel pen that always left huge ink blots on everything, but you had to try. The message was clear in your head and came out easily, the pen never splotching. In that brief moment, you believed in fate and magic. It was probably just chance, but you were in the position to believe in such things because the world around you had changed so much that believing in something like fate or luck made as much sense as everything else happening around you.

You let your eyes flick to the head secretary, who was thankfully preoccupied with a magazine and carton of chocolates. You stood from the bench, trying to move as casually as you could over to the bulletin board, pretending to examine its worn news clippings and Polaroid’s. You chose the largest spot of white, up in the right hand corner and, snatching out a snapshot of Heather herself, replaced the photo with note.

‘Don’t let them make you forget things for their benefit. Remember pain. Remember embarrassment. Remember Heather Macpherson.’

“I think it’s only fitting that the third generation of fucked up kids leave theirs behind. Now, this has to be done carefully as to not draw attention to it, you can’t just write in on the bottom of a photo, okay? Do it together, write in on something, and leave your mark.” You told them. You made it feel like another mission, but the way they smiled and looked to one another. They huddled together and whispered wildly, just like they did as children. It would’ve been sweet if the context of all those huddles weren’t tattooed to your mind.

Mike had ripped off a piece of manila envelope and handed it to Lucas, who you assumed had the best handwriting. Dustin seemed to be the only one with a pen and Max was used as a makeshift desk. The note, when finished, was pinned up with a collection of very old yellowed photos. You herded them off and nodded to Steve, who headed out of the office, leaving Rhonda with her whole face lit up.

You remained at the board, wondering how long their note would last. Steve came up behind you, though this time it didn’t startle you this time.

“What they write?” he asked, wrapping an arm around your shoulders. You pointed out the tiny note.

The Russian girl lives.

“I mean, not entirely incorrect…” Steve said, a trying smile on his face, looking for something positive to say.

“It’s stupid.” You said, laughing just a little. Steve looked at you, taking in your easy smile and relaxed posture.

“Yeah…yeah it is. Come on, before they realize you’re laughing at them.” He replied, grabbing your hand and pulling you out the door, giggling like school children.

#stranger things #stranger things 2 #stranger things fanfiction #stranger things au #stranger things imagine #steve harrington #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x you #steve x reader #steve x you #steve harrington fanfic #steve harrington au #steve harrington aus #steve harrington imagine #steve harrington imagines #steve harrington headcanon #steve harrington headcanons #steve harrington fluff #billy hargrove #billy hargrove x reader #billy hargrove x you #billy hargrove au #billy hargrove imagine #billy hargrove imagines #dacre montgomery #joe keery #st

[freedom-shamrock]

BAMF Mari #6 - Chat’s Cradle

Also on AO3 #1 Princess Chat   #2 Snack Chat   #3 Scalded Chat   #4 Chat Ice #5 Chat’s Paw   #6 Chat’s Cradle   #7 Chataplexy    #8 Chatatonic #9 Chatalyst   #10 Chat Nap   #11 Chatcall   #12 Chatachresis   #13 Cat’s Pajamas    

 Adrien found his afternoon classes a breeze compared to the morning.  As long as Marinette continued to issue commands, he was able to sit in her shadow without becoming a puddle of his former cool and collected self.  She was surprisingly adept at working her orders into casual conversation, and she seemed to know exactly when he was losing focus and needed the boost… or whatever it was.  After Chloe accused her of being a bossysaurus-rex, she switched to leaning onto her desk and whispering in his ear.  The warmth of her breath stirring his hair as her soft voice gave him the direction he needed, filled him with happiness and the desire to make her proud.

He should probably avoid telling Plagg about that.

As they waited for their last teacher of the day, Adrien turned halfway in his seat, feeling at relative peace as he watched Marinette field Alya's questions for the Ladyblog.

"Are you aiming to step into the role of backup for Ladybug and Chat Noir?" Alya asked, arching one eyebrow as she eyed her best friend.

"Me?" Marinette asked.  "Psssht.  I think not."  Her giggles were adorable.  "You know I'm a complete klutz.  I definitely do not belong on rooftops."

Adrien frowned.  While she would make an amazing superhero, he really didn't like to think of her in that kind of danger.

"And what do you think of Chat Noir, now that you've spent time with him, hmm?"  Alya winked, grinning with mischief.  "He and Ladybug have always insisted they're just friends."

Marinette nodded, looking a little nervous about this particular angle.  

"Are you the real reason our heroes haven't hooked up?" Alya asked, leaping to the related question before her friend could answer.  "Has Marichat always stood in the way of Ladynoir?"

"What?"  Marinette's eyes were huge as she gawked at Alya.  "No-no-no.  Of course not."  She burst out laughing.  "Chat and I aren't dating."  She waved her hands frantically.  "I made him lunch, because he's far too light… have you ever noticed how thin he is?"  It was a beautiful deflection.

"Sounds like a date to me," Chloe said, crossing the aisle to join in the conversation.  "Though Alya, I suspect it's a new thing.  Look how blushy she is."

Alya made a point to look over Marinette's pink tinged cheeks.  "I hate to admit it, but Chloe's got a good point."  She shrugged.

"Honestly, Alya, I can't believe you haven't realized why Ladybug and Chat Noir haven't gotten together."  Chloe sniffed disdainfully.  She'd gotten much less nasty the last few years, but she still wasn't particularly nice.  "She's obviously not into guys."

Adrien stared at Chloe in shock.  To be fair, it had never occurred to him, but then he brushed it off.  There'd been a boy at her school she liked.  But as that was a Chat-known fact, he couldn't exactly point it out.

"Uhhh…" Marinette mumbled.

"Nuh uh," Nino interrupted.  "I saw the way Ladybug looked at my bro here, on more than one occasion, I might add."  He beamed as he lightly punched Adrien's shoulder.  "She's definitely got an eye for some nice man candy."

"I've always thought she was bi," Marinette blurted.

Alya giggled.  "Sure sweetie.  You see everyone with stereoscopic bisexual vision."

"Hey Agreste," Kim said, stepping closer to Adrien.  "We still on for after school?"

Adrien thought for a moment and nodded.  He'd been so scrambled by Marinette's presence he'd nearly forgotten it was weight training day.  He'd started lifting with Kim as an excuse for why he'd gotten so much more toned and strong in the last year.  Fortunately, his Chat Noir activities hadn't given him a weight lifter's form; his musculature followed the lithe lean pattern of a cat, so his father approved.

Kim slapped his hands down on Marinette's table, pulling her away from Alya's interrogation.  "And DC, you want to join me and Mr. Model Behavior for weight lifting today?"

She looked surprised by the invitation.  "Me?"

Kim smirked.  "You've been holding out on us Mair-bear, and that video made me want to see what you're really made of."

There was a moment of silence before several voices chimed in together.  "Ooooooh!"

Marinette glanced at Adrien and he beamed at her.  Kim's request had awakened a need he hadn't even been aware of.  Just how strong was his sweet princess?"

"Adrien."  God.  He would never tire of hearing her say his name in that firm but caring way.  How were those things even compatible?  He had no idea.  She leaned forward to rest a hand on his shoulder, apparently concerned by his lack of response.  "Adrien," she said again.

"Yes, Mari?" he responded, stupidly proud to have gotten two words out.  It was best not to think about how her pleased smile made him feel.

"Do you want me to come to the weight room with you guys?"  She was so perfect.  Making sure he was okay before committing.

He nodded eagerly.  "Very much yes."

"All right."  She shrugged.  "I'll meet you guys there.  I have to run home for workout clothes."

Adrien and Kim were already changed and stretching when Marinette popped her head in to the weight room, a small duffel hooked on her arm.  "I'll be right in."  She flashed him a smile before ducking back into the locker room."

Kim chuckled, and when Adrien looked up, his friend's grin could only be described as smug.  "About time," he teased.

Adrien puzzled for a moment.  Kim wasn't usually cryptic.  "For what?"

Kim shook his head slowly.  "You've been captain oblivious for years, dude.  It's good to see you've finally gotten with the program."

"Uhmmmmm… okay?" Adrien replied uncertainly.  What program?

"It just took seeing Mair-bear at her most BAMF," Kim continued, "for you to see past your crush on Ladybug."

"What?" Adrien goggled at his friend.  Was that what had happened?

"Don't get me wrong," Kim said, holding up one hand.  "I appreciate the draw of a strong woman."  He winked.  "But it's the sweet ones who look like they couldn't hurt a mouse, but can also toss around forty pound sacks of flour like they're nothing that'll really get you."

Adrien thought for a moment.  Kim had a point, but he wasn't entirely sure he went along with the reasoning.  "She can toss sacks of flour?  Is that how she got so strong?"

Kim shrugged and turned to start adding weight to his bar.  "She's always been stronger than she looks, and I've seen her unloading delivery trucks with her dad.  They make a game out of seeing who can carry more, and throwing them at each other."

Adrien couldn't imagine his father turning any part of his job into a game.  The very idea nearly made him laugh.  Marinette came in then, making him suck in a ridiculous amount of air in response.  She wore the snug shorts and athletic tank top of a dancer, both black with neon green piping.  He wondered if it would be too weird to ask her to push him up against a wall.  She'd taken his other admittedly odd request completely in stride.  He wheezed, looking away as his cheeks went hot.

"Oh goodness," Marinette said, and suddenly her hand was on his arm, her warm skin touching his.  "Are you okay?"

Adrien nodded, bringing up a fist to bang on his chest as he coughed.  "Yeah.  Wreathed brong… breathed wrong."

Kim snickered, but continued weighting his bar.

"Do you have like a routine or regular order of things here?" she asked, looking around the room.  "I'd hate to mess with a flow that works for you guys."

"Naah," Kim assured her.  "Nothing that formal.  We try to have most our time split between lower and upper body, but we switch around whenever."  He patted the barbell.  "This is our usual warm up weight.  You good to give it a shot?"

Marinette glanced at the weights and nodded.  "One of you should go first though," she suggested.  "I don't usually do actual weights, so I want to see the proper form.  And I need to warm up a bit anyway."

Kim nodded and gestured for Adrien to take the bench.  "Model Behavior, here, is a stickler for form, so he's the one to watch.  I'll spot."

They all took turns with the warm up weight, Marinette managing it as easily as Adrien and Kim.  Though they had a rotation, Kim got out of spotting by prepping the next set of weights each cycle.  They'd passed Kim's max bench weight and were closing in on Adrien's, though Mari didn't seem at all slowed down.

"You're a powerhouse, Mair-bear," Kim said as he switched out the weights for them.

Marinette moved into spotting position and looked down into Adrien's eyes.  He lowered the bar, lightly touching his chest before raising his arms back up.  His biceps started to burn as he worked through the set.

"You've got this," Marinette assured him, holding his gaze with her own.  "Just two more.  Aaand one more."

"Ugh," Adrien muttered as he settled the bar back on its stand.

"Great job!" Marinette assured him, quickly sliding into the place he vacated on the bench.

He grinned stupidly at her as he watched her get ready, belatedly realizing he needed to move into position to spot her.  Not like she needed him.  For the next set, usually Adrien's stopping point, he managed a full set of ten, with Marinette's encouragement.

"Nice!" Kim said, grinning enthusiastically.  "I've been trying to get him past that milestone for weeks.  Clearly I wasn't the correct motivator."

"Thanks Mari," Adrien said, shaking out his arms as she got ready for her turn.  "You're a great coach."  

When she'd finished, without hesitation, Kim added more weight and gestured for Adrien to give it a shot.  "You only need to lift it once, and then it's your new max weight, dude.  I know you can do it."

With a deep breath, Adrien lay back on the bench, the cushion giving a little under his head.  He reached up for the bar and opened his eyes, his field suddenly filled with the most perfect blue.  He could see her faith in him in her eyes, and he was certain he could do this if only she believed in him.

"You've got this," she murmured.  "Nice slow breath in, now.  And up with it."

He eased it off the stand, holding it for a moment before lowering it.  He got it to his chest then back up a few inches before his arms started to balk at the weight.

"C'mon, Adrien."  She held her hands over the bar.  "Give it to me."

"Nngggh!"  The boost he got from obeying her was just enough for him to power through.  He managed to push the bar into her hands, and she directed it back to the stand.

"You did it!  I knew you could."  She reached down and brushed two fingers against his cheek.  "You're amazing.  Did you know that?"

He stared up at her, looking so pleased with him, praising and touching him.  He felt so perfect in that moment, warm and loved.  He opened his mouth to thank her.  "Bench me."  She froze with a tiny gasp, and he realized what he'd said.

There was a thump behind her, and Adrien glanced over to see Kim sprawled on the weight room's floor, laughing hysterically.

Most of this series has been written during lulls in volunteer time, and this one follows that pattern.   I wrote a large portion of this by the red light of a headlamp, between 4:30 and 5:30 am, tucked into a military grade sleeping bag, in a cabin with no heat, while chaperoning a Girl Scout trip.  I've currently got one more piece in this world planned, though I'd like something to come between this one and that one.

Tagging @frostymoon11 and @starfirette as promised for the continuation.

#Miraculous ladybug #fanfic #my writing #BAMF Mari #mlfluffiction

[battlewhiskers]

★☆★Guild Wars 2 Asks!★☆★

REMAKING THIS FROM THE PAST Bold answers are updated! (Keep the original text, if you want)

Stole this from @toomanycharr :3€ 2016 :F

1. When did you start playing? December, 2015.

2. What was your first characters race/class (profession)? Charr, Warrior.. But he died by felling off a cliff in Ascalon.

I’m sorry, but he was too ugly to play with

3. How many characters do you have? Nathia Rawsphere (Me, Engineer), Ragnar Nordvik (Charr, Warrior), Amelia Nouctune (Charr, Theif), Samantha Nouctune (Charr, Mesmes), Elizabeth Stonehawk (Charr, Guardian) and Karl Eckerberg (Fleshbag/Human, Hunter) I have about 18 now?? Didnt count copies from EU to NA server. Also Elizabeth and Ragnar are gone :x

4. Whats your favourite race? FOR THE TAMINI.

Ok, Centaurs are still great but Skritts are babys ❤ ❤ But Orges are cool too !!

5. Whats your least favourite race? Kraits.

Ugh all the bleeding and PULLS. Im so sick of spiders immobilizing and pulls from PoF. But I dont hate all spiders, tiny ones are good

6. What do you prefer PvE or PVP? PvE.. but I have hate-love to PvP

What about WvW ? 8)

7. Have you spent IRL money on the gem shop? LODSAEMONEH

I HAVE SINNED, STILL DO.

8. Whats your favourite zone? None really, but I want to die in Caledon Forest.

I’ve gotten a better relation with Sylvari, its not that terrible anymore. But I still dont know which is my favorite zone

9. Whats your favourite city? Lion’s Arch

Still is! But Crystal Desert is also nice :3

10. Whats your favourite PVP map? Battle of Khylo and Temple of the Silent Storm

Give me Alpine or Desert Borderlands thx

11. Whats a piece of gear you always transmute because you love the look of it so much? All of it, trying to keep the same look..

Fashion is still VERY important!!

12. How many achievement points do you have? 1799

EU: 9551 NA: 1171

13. Is it okay to ask to RP with you? Sure!! I’d love to.. even if I’m not the best at it

Tbh I only had 1 RP between this posts, I did watch one recently tho!

14. Is your guild open to new members? Probably, my main guild is Corrupted Freaks

Corr was eaten up by Divined Knights of Baltazar (Looooool now with PoF) I left them shortly after.

CRC (Charr Roleplaying Community) is open for more members :3c

15. Have you ever been really angry at the game? why? Story mode.

Ugh WvW and Aetherblade JP

16. Do you enjoy jumping puzzles? Depends how much I plan to fall down.

Hurt me plenty

17. Whats your best guild wars experience? Running Ascalonian Catacombs with my warband, It were a hell but we had so much fun! … Also running fractals first time with Reesa were nice :3€

Taking time, and watching every cut-scene of the first/core story, I get to emotional and it feels just amazing

18. Do you have a favourite character from the lore? Elders? Only old I know and like is Almorra Soulkeeper :3€

Canach u spicy cactus also Marjory is wonderful

19. Is there a class you like the idea of but the gameplay doesn’t match up for you? I.. don’t know.

I just CANT play guardian now matter what i do >>

20. How far have you made it in SAB (Super Adventure Box) if you had the chance to play it? 3rd level, with a lot of help from Reesa, Swift and Toni

I dont remember, 2 world maybe?

21. Favourite weapon skin? I like the Pact Shotgun which I’m using right now.

Mists weapons and glittering!!

22. Do you have a legendary? Which one or ones? None :C

I have three pre-cursors: Dawn, Rodgort’s Flame and Storm! Also completed Bolt

23. Whats your favourite legendary? .. I don’t know any :D

I cant picckkkk

24. Is there a race you hate with a passion? Asuras..You angry little people. Sorry, not sorry.

I am sorry to every Asura I know and dont know, Quaggans you are the worst

25. What class do you hate to face in PVP? Theifs

Mesmers and Daredevils in WvW, Im so sick of everyone just run away so fast they get 75% health. >>

26. Are there any players you look up to? Reesa and Swift ♥

I dont look up to anyone any more because I grew some muscles myself lol

27. First memorable friend you made through guild wars? Though question.. but I think it were Swift

28. Do you play with sound on or off? On!

29. Do you stream GW2? If so where can I watch you? Nope, not planning to either.

30. Are you obsessed with in game fashion? …*cough*

❤ ❤ ❤ ❤

31. Do you have a favourite dye? Black Cherry is pretty but Wine and Midnight Purple ♥

So many i cant pick

32. Whats the best glider skin in your opinion? Not sure

Ironclad and Crystalline

33. Have you ever had to block someone? pvp-bank and a douchebag that thought it was OK to disrespect my gender identity instead of just leaving it be and shut up.

I can forgive but never forget

34. Weirdest map chat experience? None

Things I reblog from shitgw2playerssay :F

35. Do you have 100% map completion on any of your characters? Having 53% at most >~<

100% on my mesmer~

36. What type of player are you? Hardcore, Casual, Semi-hardcore, Barely online. Obsessed, you can find me from 5 am to 11 pm on weekends, from 5 pm to 10pm on other days. (GMT +1)

Still online every day, if you dont find me on EU check in NA ~

37. What are the top three tips you would give someone just starting to play? !! Save !! !! ALL !! !! Crafting material !!

SALVAGE EVERYTHING.

38. Best memory in guild wars? Finishing “My story”

Pride March omg so colourful and love  ❤

39. Do you stick to one character mostly or are you an altoholic? 90% playing as Nathia.

Uh, trying to stick with one character but i can switch :3

40. What bothers you the most about the game if anything? How far away the Charr helmet/masks can be from their face.

Still relevant ;p

[eccacia]

wonderful you came by [part 14]

Notes: Oh my god, thank for all your reviews! I had so much fun reading your reactions. I'm so lucky to have you guys. I feel really bad for this late post, though, since I did say mid-July, but things got really busy… I took a part-time job in addition to my day job, so I had to get off social media for awhile to meet the deadline for the part-time job. But I'm back with Barry's POV, so… forgive me?

Disclaimer: The opinion mentioned here by Caitlin is from an article on Nautilus called "Cancer Isn't a Logic Problem" by Jim Kozubek.

Read Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9, Part 10, Part 11, Part 12, Part 13, or read on ff.net

Rating: T

After Caitlin had fled, Barry tried everything to get her to come around—if not to face him, then at least to talk to him. Or, at the very least, to agree to talk to him.

He milled around her dorm that night, his hands clammy in his pockets; he didn’t like its eerie silence, but he disliked enduring her silence even more. When, despite his vigilance, he didn’t see her enter or emerge from the dark building, he left her a long, rambling text instead, which he had composed in white heat and had sent in a moment of mad courage, but which, he realized upon his nth reread, was mostly just gibberish. He fell into a fitful sleep with his phone still in hand, and then he jolted awake the next morning three hours before he usually got up, only to be devastated by an empty inbox. Then, in a haze of desperation, with the same mad courage that had possessed him to send that rambling text, he called her three times in succession, after which he realized, with the sudden clarity that only panic at the threshold of even more panic could produce, that he was being creepy; so he decided to remedy that—being unaware, in his state of mind, of how the attempt to remedy a situation can often exacerbate it—by leaving her voicemail.

“Hey Caitlin,” he began, while pacing around his room, “uh, so, I know you don’t want to talk to me yet, but… just give me a call if you do. Uh… yeah. I’ll… hang up now, I guess. Bye.”

And then, as his desperation wore on, he decided, in what would be the final link in his chain of bad decisions, to compose a funnily pathetic voicemail, so that even if she wasn’t talking to him, he would at least have the solace of knowing that she was smiling because of him. And so, with a burst of adrenaline seasoned with the wild hope of a gambler looking to rake in millions even after successive losses, he sang:

“Hey, I just kissed you, And you just kissed me, So here’s a voicemail— Call me maybe?”

He even accompanied his singing with hand gestures—which, he would realize, could not be transmitted through voicemail in the first place.

He ran his hand through his hair and fisted, ran and fisted, ran and fisted, until there was a tingling sensation in his scalp; and then, suddenly exhausted from frustration and anxiety, he tossed his phone aside, plopped down on his bed, and groaned into his pillow.

God. He had it bad, alright. He had it so bad it was pathetic. He hadn’t reached this level of emotional loserhood since middle school, when he had pimples and braces and that brief unrequited crush on Iris that still made his stomach turn every time it crossed his mind.

…Okay, that was an exaggeration. Nothing beats that stomach-turning crush he had on Iris. Granted, there was some reason behind it—she was the only girl that talked to him then—but he still preferred to chalk it up to a pubescent, hormone-induced insanity.

Regardless, the devastation he felt was pretty familiar. He wasn’t in the habit of denying his feelings, so he knew deep in his gut, with a certainty that circumvented rationality and defied his own notions of love, that he was in love with Caitlin Snow. Even if, right now, it felt a hell lot like pain, there was no doubt that he was in love.

It raised a lot of questions, of course, questions which even the ancients grappled with (Barry liked to imagine himself in a Greek chiton and laurels resting on his head when he was thinking about life), and which men and women are still asking today, but have believed answered by the prevailing cynicism surrounding love: What is love? What is “true love,” if it even exists? Can romantic love lead to true love, without the lengthy passage of time? What if love at first sight, or its cousin the whirlwind romance, was, in its noblest form, not just a product of intense physical attraction, but rather—as it seemed to be in his case—a lucid, bone-deep knowledge of being fated for each other…?

He didn’t know. He didn’t have answers. Besides, there were already enough stories about the catastrophic nature of falling in love too fast, so that to experience it meant certain doom for the relationship. And, knowing how sensible Caitlin was, she must have already come to that conclusion. Tomorrow, he could imagine, Caitlin would come up to him during lab and say, coolly, “I wasn’t in possession of my rational faculties. That kiss was a mistake. We’ll remain lab partners so I can ace this class, but this relationship will not cross any other boundary. Understood?”

No. He wouldn’t survive it. He’d be heartbroken. He was already heartbroken just thinking about it.

He sighed, turning to lie on his back. God, he was such an idiot. He’d been so careful, too, in making sure she was comfortable with his touches, starting slowly and lightly but withdrawing if she gave any indication of being uncomfortable; and he’d been willing to do that for months, at whatever pace she would allow, but—he raked his hands through his hair again, until the strands stood on end—best laid plans… and all that.

But, really, how could he resist her last night? How could he resist her in that—as she had put it herself—evil dress, that dress that unraveled the iron self-control he’d resolved to maintain when it came to her? How could he resist her charm and wit onstage, the way she’d dazzled the audience with brilliant comebacks on taunts about her terrible singing? How could he resist her on that dance floor, the way she’d slid her hands up his chest, sly and appreciative; the way she’d turned her eyes away when his compliments made her shy? How could he resist her on that open balcony, under that starry night sky, feeling, for the first time, their longing constellating between them, pulling them towards each other, towards that inevitable first kiss? How—?

He was jolted from his thoughts by the shrill ringing of his phone, and he immediately set out to look for it under the sheets, his heart pounding in his chest—Please let it be her please let it be her please let it be her—

“Caitlin?”

There was a snort at the other end of the line.

His heart sank.

“Oh. Iris.”

“That’s no way to greet your best friend,” Iris said, feigning offense. When he made no attempt to summon a more enthusiastic greeting, she made a sympathetic noise and said, “Still no word from her, huh?”

He felt around Wally’s desk for the stress ball he kept there, and began tossing it sullenly. “No.”

“Aren’t you going to see her tomorrow for that class you have together?”

He groaned. “Tomorrow’s ages away. Can you imagine if she still won’t talk to me by then? We have four hours of lab together. Iris, that’s torture.”

“You drama queen,” she said, laughing. “She just needs some time.”

“You don’t know her. She could ignore me forever if she sets her mind to it,” he groaned. “Iriiis. Iriiis. I’m so sad. I’m so sad I could write a poem.”

She sounded amused. “Like one of those spoken word things?”

“Nah, too long. Maybe like a haiku or something,” he said. He caught the ball mid-air and gave it a vicious squeeze. “I met a girl who broke my heart / So I’m going to make some art—”

“…that’s about as good as your smelly fart.”

“Hey, I resent that. My farts aren’t smelly.”

“They so are,” she said. “Remember that time in my house when you farted after drinking a whole liter of milk? That was the grossest thing ever. Everyone had to retreat to the second floor until the coast was clear.”

He couldn’t help laughing. “God, that was so embarrassing. Joe was so nice about it, too. He was all—”

“‘Iris, don’t make fun of Barry. He’s just a little lactose-intolerant, that’s all,’” Iris said, mimicking her father’s tone, laughing in between words.

But the laughter in him faded when he heard the word lactose, the memory of his last lab experiment with Caitlin—the way she’d jut her chin slightly to the right when she was thinking, the sparkling challenge in her eyes when they made the bet—buffeting him with such force that it felt difficult to breathe.

“Bar?” Iris said. “You still there?”

“Yeah,” he said. “Barely. It feels like my heart’s been ripped out of my chest and shredded into pieces.”

“Mmm,” she said. “Not a bad metaphor.”

“Thanks,” he said. Even in this state, he couldn’t resist a compliment, and Iris knew it. “Are you going to use it in one of your articles?”

“I don’t think so. Hardly the stuff of news.”

“Sure it is. I can see the headline already: ‘CCU Cutie in Dire Need of Heart Transplant—Says Heart Has Been Shredded to Pieces by the Heartless Caitlin Snow.’”

“Did you just really refer to yourself as ‘CCU Cutie’?”

“I did.”

“Ugh. You know how much I hate that feature. It should be banned from the school paper.”

“I was on last year’s list. It’s a nice confidence boost.”

“Since Scott made editor, I thought we’d finally be able to scrap it, but nooo, he’s all, ‘It’s our most popular feature, and no matter how vapid it is, we can’t get rid of it.’ Imagine!” she huffed. “Where’s the journalistic integrity he keeps harping about, huh? Where?”

“If I made it a poem,” he said, spacing out in the middle of her well-worn rant, “will you publish it?”

Iris paused. “Make what a poem?”

“The heart-shredding bit. Or the haiku, whichever’s better.”

“Bar. Newspapers publish articles, not poetry.”

“Same thing. It’s still writing.”

“I could dismantle that premise in, like, ten different ways.”

“You probably could,” he allowed. “But I’m sad. You can’t fight me when I’m sad.”

Iris gave a long-suffering sigh. “Okay look, Bar, you have to stop moping around—”

“But I want to keep moping around—”

“—because moping around won’t make her want to talk to you.”

He winced. “Ow. Harsh.”

“But true.” He heard shuffling at the other end of the line. “I was going to skip grocery shopping to work on an article, but since you’re in this state, I’m going out to haul you out of your room.”

“Nooo. You can’t make me.”

“Oh yes I can. Now get up, call Wally, and be outside of your dorm in ten.”

“Nooo. Nooooo.”

“Bartholomew Henry Allen, you will do as I say—”

“Nooooo—”

“—unless you want me to spam Caitlin with middle-school Barry Allen.”

“—ooooo—” Barry stopped abruptly when he realized the implications of what Iris said. “Hey!” he cried. “I deleted all traces of middle-school Barry Allen from your laptop!”

“I have backup copies online, dummy.”

“Lies.”

“Huh, would you look at that, I also happen to have emo middle-school Barry Allen on my phone—”

“Alright, alright,” he relented, finally getting to his feet. Iris was notorious for making good on her threats. “I’m standing. God, I hate you sometimes.”

“Yeah, yeah.” He could almost see the grin on her face. “Love you too, Bar.”

. . .

Barry loved Iris, he really did, but sometimes she didn’t seem to understand—or she blithely sidestepped attempts to understand—that what was comforting for her wasn’t necessarily comforting for him (or for anyone else, for that matter). Right now, as he considered that tendency of hers, he was staring at the entrance of the grocery where Wally, Jesse, and Eddie were standing, chatting amiably with each other and oblivious to their approaching presence.

“You told Jesse and Eddie to come along?” he balked. “Did it occur to you that maybe, juuust maybe, being a fifth wheel is the last thing I need right now?”

Iris paused. “Actually, no,” she said. “But we’re practically family, anyway. You won’t feel like a fifth wheel. And, hey, you never mentioned feeling like a fifth wheel before.”

“Well, now I am,” Barry groaned. “I mean, okay, Jesse’s fine, but I already told you that things are kind of, you know, awkward with Eddie—”

“Bar, we’ve had this conversation already,” Iris said. “Eddie says he doesn’t find it awkward between you two. He never has.”

“Still,” Barry said, not knowing how else to explain to Iris that he and Eddie just didn’t click the same way he did with Wally or Ray or even Cisco. It wasn’t that Eddie wasn’t nice or friendly, because he was, and in fact Barry even felt bad that he couldn’t get along better with such a great guy. But there was just something about him that seemed a little too great, a little too perfect, and he wasn’t spilling all the messy details about Caitlin to a guy like that.

He sighed. In any case, there was one thing Eddie did spectacularly well that he had no reservations about: Eddie made Iris happy. One only had to watch the way they looked at each other to know how in love they still were, even after two years of being together. It was, in fact, the same way his parents had used to look at each other; and, he wondered, was it the same way he looked at Caitlin…?

At the thought of her he felt the familiar misery rising in him again, and he took a quick look at his phone to see if he had messages or calls from her.

…No such luck, of course. This cycle of tremulous hope and sinking despondence he went through every time he checked his phone was bound to be bad for his heart.

To distract himself from the gnawing disappointment, he tuned back in to what Iris was saying—had she been talking this entire time?—and he managed to catch the tail-end of her monologue. “…and anyway,” she said, “Eddie can probably give you a more balanced perspective on this whole situation.”

He looked at her blankly. “Balanced perspective?” he repeated. “Are you implying that mine’s imbalanced?”

Iris shot a pointed look at his hair, and he realized that it was still standing on end after he’d worked his anxiety out on it. “I am implying that you, Barry Allen,” she said, “are a nervous wreck, and any perspective besides yours would sound balanced.”

“I’m not a nervous wreck,” he protested weakly, running his fingers through his hair in a desperate attempt to flatten down the strands.

Iris only snorted in response.

When they were finally within hearing distance of the other three, Jesse was the first to greet them. “Hey,” she said, her face lighting up. “Nice hair. Is that a new thing you’re trying, or…?”

“Definitely the or,” Wally laughed, clasping Barry’s hand and thumping him on the back.

“Ha ha,” Barry said. He and Eddie exchanged a brief nod of greeting, as usual, and then he promptly turned away when the latter slung his arm around Iris’s waist and kissed her on the lips by way of greeting. They did that often enough by now so that all three of them had stopped calling them out for their PDA, but they strived to see as little of it as possible. “At least I have hair.”

Jesse raised an eyebrow and turned to Wally. “Was that supposed to be an insult?”

“If it was, it was a pretty bad one,” Wally agreed, lightly squeezing her hand. “Considering that I do have hair.”

“Right,” she said, reaching to ruffle his short curls. “Well, Barry, that’s pretty insulting, not to dignify someone with a proper insult.”

“Mm-hmm,” Wally said. “Haha-emoji that.”

Jesse turned sharply to him. “Oh, come on. I said that one time—”

“What? I think it’s cute. I’m not making fun of you.” Wally paused. ���Okay, maybe a little.”

“Wallace Rudolph West…”

“I mean, who blurts out emoji reactions in real life, when you have, you know, facial expressions?”

Barry shook his head, a smile creeping up his face, even as he felt a slight pang of envy at their teasing. Their relationship wasn’t like Iris and Eddie’s, with their vibe of still being madly in love, but there was an easy familiarity between them that stemmed from being friends for a long time, so that they couldn’t seem to shake off acting as friends even if they’d been dating for a little over half a year already.

He wondered what he and Caitlin looked like, from an outsider’s point of view. They definitely weren’t Iris and Eddie—he and Caitlin bickered too much, he mused, and for the life of him, he can’t imagine Caitlin being sweetly affectionate, the way Iris was with Eddie. It was more likely that he’d smother her with affection while she’d constantly duck out of his hugs. They weren’t Wally and Jesse, either—the way he and Caitlin bantered was a lot flirtier (courtesy of him, of course). So, what were they…?

“Uh, earth to Barry?” he heard Jesse saying.

He blinked, his eyes refocusing on their faces again.

Jesse looked amused. “Well? Are you going to tell me what happened, or what?”

“Tell you what?” he repeated, realizing that it was the third time in the past half an hour or so that he’d spaced out while someone was talking to him. He thumbed his phone again out of habit, despite knowing that it hadn’t pinged with a message.

“Wally said to give you a break because you’re heartbroken,” she said.

“I didn’t say I was heartbroken,” Barry said to Wally.

“You didn’t need to, man,” he said. “I was with you in the room last night, you know. All your sighing woke me up.”

“I—really? You were in the room?”

Wally and Jesse exchanged looks.

“He’s so far gone,” Jesse said.

“Yup,” Wally agreed.

“Okay, guys,” Iris said, with the tone she often used when she’d come to an important decision. “So here’s the plan. I just need to pick up a few things from the grocery, and then we can all head to Jitters for coffee.”

“‘Pick up a few things’?” Wally said. “You mean, ransack all the sale items?”

Eddie snorted, placing his hand affectionately on the small of Iris’s back. “We all know we’re just here to carry your things.”

“No,” Iris said, “we’re here because Barry needs emotional support.”

“How is your grocery shopping going to give Barry emotional support?” Jesse said.

“It got him out of his dorm?” Iris said. “Anyway, I’ll be quick, I promise. I only need a few things. Swear to God.”

All four of them exchanged knowing looks. This was definitely not going to be quick.

. . .

“So, tell me about this girl,” Jesse said, as they ambled along the aisle of chips. Iris was browsing the section of sale items, and Eddie was weighing the merits of two different brands of chicken breasts. “She must be something if she can do this to you in two weeks.”

“Yeah, she is something,” Barry said. He scanned the shelves of chips in front of him without really seeing them, taking his favorites off the shelf—Doritos (Nacho Cheese), Cheetos (Jalapeño), Ruffles (Sour Cream)—and tucking them under his arm, until Jesse prompted him to dump them in Wally’s basket. “Let’s see, something about her… Well, I’m taking your dad’s class with her.”

“No way. Who’s the unlucky victim?”

“Your dad’s not a villain, you know,” Barry said, amused at her antagonism. “Anyone would be lucky to be his student. He’s the most influential scientist in America, the founder of one of the top research facilities in the world—”

“—and like, the most overprotective dad in the universe,” Jesse scoffed. “What would you feel if your dad moved halfway across the country to teach in the university you’re going to, just because you told him you were seeing someone?”

“He’s hella scary,” Wally said, who was about a foot away from them. “I still avoid him when I see him. I’m pretty sure he has heat vision. Might fry me on the spot when he sees me…”

“He seems to like me,” Barry said.

“That’s because you’re not dating his daughter,” Wally said. “Keep up, man.”

“Did he ever mention me to you, by any chance?” Barry said to Jesse.

She stared at him. “You know, you really have to tone down on that nerd crush you have on my dad. It creeps me out.”

Barry laughed. “I’m kidding. It’s just fun to see you squirm.”

“Oh, it’s fun to see me squirm,” she said, placing a hand on her hip. “Well, I’ll have you know that he did mention you—”

“He did?” Barry swiveled to her. “He actually did?”

“—but I’m not telling you, because it’s fun to see you squirm,” she finished, smug.

“Jesse. Come on.”

“No,” she said breezily.

“Jesse. This is a life-or-death situation. This could make or break my career.”

“Let me think about it… No.”

Barry turned to Wally. “Do you ever win fights with her?”

“…Nah.”

“He knows he can’t win,” Jesse said.

“I only pick fights I can win,” Wally said. “And to date, I’ve picked zero fights.” He held up a Tostitos salsa dip and a creamy spinach dip, one in each hand. “Which one should I get?”

“Salsa,” they said in unison.

“Nice. I thought so too.”

“So, who is this girl?” Jesse said. “Wait, don’t tell me—is it Caitlin? The one you were with during the sing-off last night?”

Barry stilled, and he unconsciously fingered his stubbornly silent phone again.

Jesse looked at him with amusement.

“You’re way too obvious.”

“Hey, be nice,” he said weakly. He placed a hand over his heart. “I’m heartbroken. I’m very fragile right now.”

“I mean, you were obvious even onstage,” she went on. “Complimenting her over the microphone? Really?”

“What can I say,” he said. “Smooth is my middle name.”

Jesse snorted. Wally, without looking at them, also snorted.

“Hey, you there,” Barry said to Wally, with comically feigned swagger, “are you dissing me? Huh?”

“If you were actually smooth I won’t be dissing you,” Wally hollered.

“You guys were pretty entertaining, though,” Jesse said. “And I’ve never seen Caitlin like that. I’ve always had this image of her as really smart, but also really uptight…”

“Wait, you know her?”

“I know of her,” Jesse corrected. “I attended a few talks that she also attended, and she always asks the best questions. One time—oooh, bacon-flavored chips—one time, in this talk about the latest cancer research, she asked the panel, ‘Is it possible to cure cancer, once and for all?’” They paused as Jesse took the bacon-flavored chips and dumped it in Wally’s basket. “And she really caused a stir, you know, because here were all these hotshot scientists saying that they’ve been able to figure out the molecular changes that lead to cancer, so obviously, they’re getting at a cure, right? But then she goes something like, ‘From an evolutionary perspective, cancer cells are continuously evolving, so we may get better at treating it, but we may never actually cure it,’ like, it was probably going to be a continuous effort instead of something with a definite end-goal.” They ambled over to the biscuits aisle, and Barry didn’t say a word, greedy to hear about Caitlin from someone else. “Kind of like how multiple sclerosis researchers approach multiple sclerosis, you know? And she didn’t sound like a know-it-all at all, she was pretty respectful and appreciative of the ground that cancer research has already covered, but I’m pretty sure that she stepped on some egos that day. It was pretty amazing. Hm… I think I’ll get some oatmeal,” she said. “Are you getting oatmeal, too? No? I think Wally wants some, he’s been trying this whole healthy-eating thing lately, but obviously he’s not trying too hard…”

Barry made a noncommittal noise, zoning out of the scene. He could already imagine the Caitlin that Jesse had painted in her story: He could imagine the figure she cut, emerging from the sea of students in that classy scoop-neck blouse she wore on their non-date, her hair gathered in a neat ponytail, her face young and fresh. He could see her standing before the microphone, in front of a panel of distinguished scientists, curious and unafraid. She probably didn’t see it herself, but whenever she was explaining some scientific theory or process to him, a change would come over her: she would sit straighter and speak more clearly; her eyes would be alight with pleasure, her cheeks slightly flushed from excitement, her posture a picture of quiet confidence. It was no doubt one of the most attractive things about her.

To be sure, it wasn’t the sort of thing that people usually found attractive—it wasn’t even something that he would take notice of in the first place. Linda, for instance, was attractive in the more conventional sense: she dressed well and she dressed confidently; she was charming and she knew it; and, if she chose to, she could use her charm to her advantage. When he first met her, in fact, her presence was positively magnetic. He wasn’t the only guy who looked when she sauntered into the party, wearing a purple dress that dipped alluringly down her back; and when she looked right at him and smiled that mega-watt smile of hers, he felt like the luckiest guy in the room.

And then there was Patty. His blockmates had shipped them the moment they started talking, but even before that he’d found her attractive, too: She had that bubbly charm and approachability about her that neither Linda, with her breezy confidence, nor Caitlin, with her air of impenetrability, had. She was hardworking and always willing to lend a hand, really the quintessential girl-next-door. But sometimes, Barry had a feeling that she was nice because she wanted people to like her. He felt it in the way she kept insisting that he had great ideas, even when he knew they weren’t all that, or in the way she was reluctant to speak up in a group if it meant rocking the boat. It wasn’t bad, per se. He had the same tendency, as Iris would be quick to remind him, and it wasn’t the only thing they had in common—they liked the same science pages, shared the same (well, almost the same) memes. In fact, had he not met Caitlin, he felt like his friendship with Patty would have eventually progressed into a romantic relationship.

But the thing is—he dimly registered Wally, Jesse, and Eddie’s conversation about which brand of rolled oats was better—the thing is, he did meet Caitlin, and he’d never been so intrigued by anyone else in his life. She was smart and stubborn, and, unlike Patty, unafraid to show it; she was self-assured, but without the showiness of Linda’s confidence; and she had no need for the effusive charm that most girls have been taught in order to endear themselves to others. And yet, for all her indifference to people’s opinions, she could be caught off-guard by the simplest things, like his compliments or his staring, and this baffled him to no end.

He remembered the first time they’d met, and he remembered how completely disarmed at how little social tip-toeing she did around people. And, since they’d been in the damp darkness under the bleachers, he remembered wondering if her blunt manner matched her appearance: Would she look as disagreeable as she seemed? Would her mouth be twisted into a perpetual frown? Would her face be angled as sharp as her words? But he couldn’t have been farther from the truth. When, unable to rein in his curiosity, he finally held the flashlight to her face, what he saw was not a sour, disagreeable face: what he saw was a kind face, blinking uncertainly at him in the harsh light. A serious face—one not given to smiling, he could tell—but with soft brown eyes, delicate cheekbones, and a rosebud mouth… which he must have stared at for a good while, because she’d grown uncomfortable under his gaze, and the way her brow had creased in that brief moment of vulnerability intrigued him even more. How could she meet him head-on for nearly every line of banter, and then be disarmed by something as simple as his staring? What was it, exactly, that made her shift from clipped annoyance to speechless bafflement? What did she look like when she smiled?

That was how it all started, he supposed, looking back—it all started with curiosity. How could he have known, really, that something as innocent as curiosity, and the casual observation that it took to satisfy it, would morph into a keen attention on her, which would then transmogrify into a consuming desire to find out more about her, to be with her? How could he have known that curiosity would lead him deeper and deeper into the walled garden that was Caitlin Snow’s mind, until he realized that he never wanted to leave?

He had no way of knowing—at this point, Wally, Jesse, and Eddie had finally decided on a brand of oats, and Eddie said something about dragging Iris away from the sale, and Jesse said something like Let’s talk more later, it’s weird to have a heart-to-heart in the checkout line—really, he had no way of knowing that this was how things would play out, especially soon after things with Linda had ended. He couldn’t have known that he would have been so enchanted by Caitlin, by her smiles—whether it was a full smile, or an amused half-smile, or a suppressed smile, or, God forbid, that slow, sly smile she’d given him last night, when they were onstage and when they were dancing.

He still remembered the first time she’d really smiled at him, and how it felt like finally finding the key to a locked room. It was during their first lab class together, and he’d been making a string of jokes to gauge her sense of humor. He was fast getting discouraged because she either ignored him or gave him The Look—he didn’t know anyone else who managed to convey haughtiness, disapproval, and (he had to admit, at the risk of sounding masochistic) sexiness, with a single raised eyebrow—but, when he made the diatom joke, her expression finally changed: Her eyes lit up; the corners of her lips lifted, and she quickly bit down on her bottom lip to suppress the blooming smile, no doubt not wanting to give him the satisfaction of laughing at his joke.

It was the most endearing thing he’d ever seen.

Every time she smiled at him like that, he felt the entire world—the lights, the voices, the landscape—go soft, and all he wanted to do, as the Beatles sang, was to hold her hand. All he wanted to do was hold her and tell her that she was the most beautiful thing in that moment; to tell her, above all, that he wanted the rest of his life to have moments of softness and beauty like that, with her…

He’d tell that to her straight, the next time he sees her. He’d apologize for what he’d said, and he’d tell her that he was as scared as she was, but he’d be willing to give it a try. He couldn’t live with himself if he gave up on the possibility of them so easily. He had to try. He had to hope that she wanted to give it a try, too.

Now, if only she would talk to him…

. . .

Jitters was, well, a rather jittery affair, at least for Barry.

Once they were seated, and once he’d convinced everyone else to pay for his drink because he was brokenhearted, he’d felt inexplicably nervous about telling his story. It was the first time, after all, that he’d recalled the whole thing with Caitlin from start to finish, instead of the piecemeal updates he’d been giving Iris and Wally; and he feared that once he finished the telling, they’d all laugh at him for being ridiculously dramatic, and he’d have no choice but to hide his unease and laugh along with them, too.  

But he went on and told the story, anyway. He started slowly at first, faltering and frequently losing his train of thought; but, as he caught the rhythm of it, he told it faster and faster until, towards the end, he had to stop for a few moments to catch his breath.

“Wow,” Jesse ventured. “All that in two weeks?”

He tensed. “It sounds impossible, I know—”

“Well, Steve Trevor and Diana fell in love in three days,” Iris mused. “So it’s not impossible.”

“But that was a movie,” Wally said. “Nothing’s impossible in the movies.”

Eddie said, “I fell in love with Iris the moment I saw her”—a chorus of groans—“so, based on personal experience, I would declare Barry’s situation not impossible.”

Iris rolled her eyes, but not even that could mask the brilliance of her smile. “You sap,” she said.

“Geez, you two, get a room,” Wally said.

“Are you sure you want that?” Iris said sweetly. “Need I remind you that Eddie’s room is two doors away from yours?”

“Oh, gross!”

“Iris, TMI!” Barry said.

“Huh, not sure if I’m grossed out or turned on,” Jesse said.

“Jesse!” Wally said, horrified.

“Now that was definitely TMI,” Eddie said, and they all dissolved into fits of laughter.

When they finally recovered, Iris said, “But, seriously Bar, it’s not impossible, but it’s probably best not to rush it.”

“If she pushes you away, don’t give up,” Eddie added, “but don’t push back, either. Give her some space.”

“If it doesn’t work out, don’t take it personally,” Jesse said. “Knowing her, I’m pretty you’ll always be second to her work—if, you know, you’re even gonna make it to her priorities in the first place.”

“Priority,” Iris corrected. “If there are a lot of it then it won’t be the most important.”

“Right, just accept you’ll never be her priority.”

Barry blinked. “…Is that supposed to be comforting?”

“I’m just being honest here.”

“Honesty isn’t always the best policy, you know,” Wally said.

“Oh, really now,” Jesse said, turning to him. “Are you saying that you’ve been lying to me, Wallace Rudolph West?”

“No! Of course not!” Wally backtracked. “I’m just saying it’s, uh, you know, strategic sometimes, to lie—”

“Did you just call lying strategic?”

Wally looked at the rest of them helplessly. “A little help here?”

“Nah,” Iris said, grinning. “I think I’ll enjoy watching you dig your grave.”

“Or who knows? Maybe this is the first fight you’ll win,” Barry said.

“Shall I take bets?” Eddie said. “But someone’ll have to bet on Wally…”

“Ha ha, very funny guys…”

They all laughed, and the conversation, as conversations usually do, moved on to other topics and other lives. Barry tried to follow it, but after a few minutes, his attention wandered again. Talking about Caitlin gave him temporary reprieve from the pain of her silence, and he was grateful to have friends whom he didn’t mind rambling to; but, as he checked his phone for the nth time that day and found no messages or missed calls from her, he couldn’t help but feel the anxiety creeping back in again.

He sighed. He’d get through to her eventually, he thought bleakly, trying to stay positive. At the very least, she can’t possibly ignore him for four full hours of lab, right?

The next day, Barry woke to warm sunshine filtering in through the blinds, creating bands of light around his legs and torso; and, without quite being aware of it, he rolled out of bed with a slight smile. Human beings have a peculiar way of interpreting meteorological phenomena as somehow prophetic of the day ahead, and Barry, being an average human being—albeit slightly better-looking than the average male, or so he liked to think in good humor—saw the beautiful day as a good omen. Surely, the soft rays of sunlight proclaimed, today Caitlin would speak to him. Surely, today she would listen to his apology, smile, and tell him that she was willing to give them a chance, but that she wanted to take it slow. Surely, today she would, as part of ‘taking it slow,’ allow him to hold her hand, or brush his lips to her temple, or, if he were well and truly lucky, steal a kiss from her lips…

He was in a better mood than he’d been the day before, thanks to the fine sunny weather, and he went about preparing for their class together with a bounce in his step. He whistled in the shower, shampooing and scrubbing to the beat of JT’s “Can’t Stop the Feeling!” He styled his hair with gusto, using his trusty matte styling clay (low shine, firm hold). He chose his outfit with care, finally settling on a maroon polo shirt, and he left, with a crafty smirk, the collar slightly upturned. He rehearsed in feverish whispers—Wally was still asleep, after all—the script he’d composed to win her back, one that bore the obligatory stamp of approval of another member of the female species (Iris’s). He tried on various expressions designed to make Caitlin Snow melt—pun completely intended. (Paradoxically, Caitlin became icier on the outside the meltier she was inside, and it was tricky to tell when she was just using iciness to hide her meltiness and when she was just, well, being genuinely icy; but, over hours and hours of careful observation, Barry was finally able to discern that one shouldn’t be paying attention to the iciness of her words: rather one should look out for that one sign of meltiness that she couldn’t control, namely, the light, light blush that bloomed on her cheeks whenever she was flustered.) These expressions included, but were not limited to: the boyish grin, the sheepish grin, the wolfish grin; the puppy dog, the cocky smirk, the smolder.

Having thus prepared himself for battle—because that was what this was, a battle to sway Caitlin from the trappings of her own reasoning, a battle to convince her that his lowly self, with his meager virtues of devastating handsomeness and rather decent kisses, along with his wealth of bad science jokes, was worthy of her affection—he lifted his chin, squared his shoulders, and nodded at his reflection.

“Looking good, buddy, looking good,” he said to himself. “You can do this. You got this. I mean, she kissed you back, didn’t she?”

. . .

The time was quarter to eight. The battlefield was the laboratory, with its wide, gray desks, its shelves of bottled chemicals, and its faint smell of formaldehyde. The hero, the warrior of love marching into battle, was himself, the dashing Bartholomew Henry Allen; and the heroine—he was about to say damsel in distress, if only out of habit of this particular narrative, but he quickly corrected it, already hearing said damsel’s vehement protests in his mind—was the fair Lady Caitlin Tannhauser Snow, icy, sharp-tongued, beautiful beyond belief, and in whom he had met his match.

Before he approached her, his eyes circled the perimeter. There were only three other people there, all engrossed in their phones. They would be no threat. Hartley Rathaway, the assigned and necessary villain for this narrative, was, by a stroke of good fortune, not around. The coast was clear.

He moved in, quietly, stealthily, so as not to startle her from her reading. He slipped into his seat beside her, dropping his bag with a whisper on the floor. She did not look up; did not, in fact, give any indication of hearing his approach. No matter; he expected this. The warrior of love was always prepared, and the warrior of love did not retreat at the first rebuff.

“Hi Caitlin,” he said, tone cheery but not chirpy, smile warm but not too wide. “So, uh… how was your Sunday?”

Not even a glance. Her posture remained the same, and her eyes firmly trained on her tablet. She was highlighting sections of a paragraph from their textbook for this class, and she gave no indication of hearing him. Her iciness may have frozen any other man, but certainly not a warrior of love, and certainly not this warrior of love.

“My Sunday was great,” he said, conversational. The trick was to bait her in with casualness. “I went grocery shopping with Iris and Wally and their significant others—oh, you might know Wally’s girlfriend, Jesse. She’s Dr. Wells’s daughter, but she doesn’t like telling people that. She mentioned that she saw you at a talk about the latest cancer research?”

Still nothing. She had moved on to the next page now, and, as far as he could tell, she was reading intently; she didn’t seem like she was rereading the same paragraph over and over again, in what would have been an anxious tell. He went on, deliberately provocative, “Apparently you told the scientists that they might never actually cure cancer. That was a pretty bold statement.”

Her finger paused mid-highlight, and she narrowed her eyes at him. Bingo, he crowed inwardly. There was nothing like a scientific debate to draw her out of her shell.

“You wouldn’t understand,” she said. “Now, if you don’t mind, I’m studying.”

“I wouldn’t understand?” he said. “Try me, Caitlin.”

She lapsed back into silence, not rising to his taunt.

Damn, he grimaced. He decided to switch gears. “Uh, so, I kind of spent my Sunday morning practicing my singing,” he said. “Did you… um, get my voicemail?”

Silence. She moved on to the next page.

“Well, if you didn’t,” he went on, “I could give you a live encore. Privately, even. And free of charge.”

Not even a flicker in her eyes. She had erected a fortress around her, and her defenses were airtight.

“Or not,” he muttered. He knew she’d be stubborn, but he didn’t expect her to act like he didn’t even exist, and from the stony quality of her silence, he had a feeling that he was bound to give up before she gave in. Even warriors of love, he thought, would wither without, well, love…

Still, he mustered up the courage for one last blind stab at conversation. “So… care to let me know what you’re studying?” He made a show of digging his tablet from his bag. “I should probably try that, studying.”

No response.

He couldn’t take this. He finally turned away from her, feeling so dejected that he couldn’t even pretend to study. How the hell was he going to get through to her? How long did she plan on keeping this up?

More importantly, how long could he endure her silence, before he gave up for good?

. . .

The rest of their lab class passed by in the same fashion.

She didn’t utter a word to him during Dr. Wells’s brief lecture; she didn’t even glance at him from her peripheral vision—he knew because he was always glancing at her from his peripheral vision—and she seemed to go through great lengths to avoid touching him, such as removing her arm from the table when he’d placed his on it. It was devastating. He thought that it might get better once they began the experiment, since they had to talk, after all; but if anything, it only got worse. For the division of tasks, for instance, she only muttered a total of two short sentences before shutting him out again with her steely silence; and, instead of working beside him, as pairs usually did, she worked opposite him, across the absurdly wide lab table. At one point, he even asked her questions that he already knew the answers to, in an attempt to make conversation; but all she said was, “It’s in the book. Look it up.”

By the end of class, he was feeling extremely morose. Gone was the dogged determination to win her back; gone were his fantasies of being a warrior of love on the battlefield. He was just plain old Barry now. Or no, not even—Caitlin’s rejection made him feel diminished, somehow, like he was middle school Barry Allen all over again, with pimples and braces and a nerdy love for dinosaurs that made him the butt of jokes in his class. Even if he knew that her rejection wasn’t entirely personal—he surmised earlier that she might be avoiding him because she didn’t want to get hurt—it still felt personal as hell, as if she were saying that he wasn’t good enough for the likes of her.

Still, he couldn’t help watching her, from the corner of his eye, even if it hurt to look. She moved swiftly, slipping off her lab coat, sliding her notes and her tablet into her backpack, and lifting her backpack onto her shoulder; and then, still without looking at him, she headed towards the door. Her retreating figure was illuminated, mockingly, but the fierce glare of the sun, which had, only a few hours ago, promised to deliver her to him.

He was about to blame the weather for his woes when something caught his eye. He didn’t know if it was a trick of the light, or if he had become desperate enough to hallucinate things… But for a brief moment, he saw Caitlin pause at the doorway. He saw her waver—as if she’d wanted to look back at him before she left.

And then she was gone.

He sat frozen in his seat, unable to reconcile what that split-second of hesitation in her frame meant. Had she merely forgotten something, and so thought twice about going back into the room to get it? But their workspace was clean, and the only thing left on it was his bag… Had she perhaps wanted to clarify something with Dr. Wells? But Dr. Wells, he realized belatedly, had already gone ahead, just shortly before Caitlin herself had left, muttering about some important international call…

Could it really be, then, that she had hesitated because of him…?

The mere thought of it injected a wild, irrational hope in his veins. He startled from his stupor; he shoved everything else into his bag and slung it over his shoulder. Confidence surged in him again, propelling his legs forward, flinging him out the door; he barreled past the flood of students rushing in between classes, mumbling vacant apologies as he went, keeping his eyes firmly trained on her auburn hair in the distance. It was now or never, he realized, heart pounding in his ears; that moment of hesitation he’d seen, that was the crack in her defenses that he’d been waiting for—

“Caitlin!” he called out, just before she turned to take the stairs, “Caitlin, wait up!”

He snaked around the gray lockers; he slid between a crush of people, dressed in identical green shirts for some convention; and, when he stepped onto the landing she was on, bright in a patch of sun, he lunged forward, reached out, and caught her wrist; he held onto it firmly even when she whirled around with enough force to loosen hair from her ponytail, giving him a withering glare that nearly made him recoil.

“Caitlin,” he said, striving to sound calm, even as his palms began to sweat. “We have to talk. Please.”

“Let me go,” she said coolly.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out. He knew he had a script for this, but he couldn’t remember any of the careful turns of phrase, any of the well-worded apologies, any of the clever, self-deprecating jokes he’d rehearsed; instead what came out was a torrent of words that more closely mirrored the emotions roiling in his gut. “I’m sorry for the things I said last night, I didn’t mean it that way, what I really meant was that I—I want to take it slow with you, and the ki—ah, last night was unexpected, but it wasn’t unexpected in a bad way, you have to believe me, please—”

“Last night was nothing,” she gritted out, cutting him short. “Let. Me. Go.”

Her shoulders were rigid and she seemed poised to flee, but she herself made no move to extricate her wrist from his grasp.

He decided this was a good sign. He took a step closer, cautiously gauging her reaction; and, even as she stiffened, she remained rooted to the spot.

“Nothing,” he echoed.

“Nothing.” Her voice was a knife’s edge.

“Look at me,” he said, taking a gamble and leaning closer. “Look at me and say that one more time. Say that last night was really just nothing.”

She pressed her lips together and fixed her eyes on a spot behind him.

“Alright, if you want to ignore last night, fine,” he said softly. “But was watching the sunset at the Observatory nothing, too? Was that conversation about your Dad and my Mom nothing?”

“Don’t,” she said; and he heard, in the word’s long vowel, a slight wavering that wasn’t there before.

Encouraged, he continued, “How about all those long phone calls, those study sessions, the always-extending talking time limits, the cactus-human pact, the blood-buddy pact, the—”

“Don’t—”

“—the way you bite your lip and smile when I tell a joke,” he barreled on, “the way you fisted your hands in my shirt when you kissed me back, the way I can’t stop thinking about you, how you talk and how you laugh and how beautiful you are—”

“Barry, stop,” she said, her voice cracking. Her knuckles were white around the black strap of her bag. “Please.”

The final confession was still swelling on his tongue, but when she said his name, he stilled.

Don’t give up, Eddie had said, but don’t push back.

So he took a step back. He let go of her hand.

“If that was all nothing,” he said, his voice low, “then I’m willing to give that nothing a try.”

Silence. He could almost hear her thinking, could feel her withdrawing, putting up her walls again. Had he lost her? he thought dimly, watching her take a deep breath. Would she really keep on pushing him away, again and again and again…?

When she looked up at him, her face was blank, unreadable.

“Nothing is nothing, Barry,” she said. Her tone was neutral. “It’s not wise to pin your hopes on it.”

And then she turned around and walked away.

He stood there on that deserted landing, enveloped by the unforgiving noonday heat, and as he watched her go, he felt his world splinter at the seams.

.

.

Notes: So… I know you want them to get back together and make out already and all… but there's this pesky thing called character development to pan out, so there'll be one more chapter of them being apart. I'm switching back to Caitlin again, but let me know what you thought of Barry's.

Now to address the million-dollar question: "Yay a new update but when will you update again?!" A perfectly valid question, and I'm grateful for your enthusiasm, but I do get nervous when readers ask me this, because I don't know what to say. I don't want to get your hopes up with a date and then disappoint you when I can't deliver, so… here's an answer, sort of. Given that real life gets busy, and I write slow and revise obsessively, the next update may be in 2-3 months…? Forgive me, it's all the time I can spare for this story. I really try to write as soon as I have time (and inspiration *cough*). But rest assured that I don't plan on abandoning this, no matter how far apart the updates are. In the meantime, there are a number of great fics in this fandom. You can check out my Favorites for recs, or you can ask other SB fans for fic recs. SB shippers are pretty generous with that, and we don't bite, so don't be scared to ask.

A final note. I don't know if this is still relevant, but I guess better late than never. There was an initiative a few months back by a couple of SB fans on Twitter, who requested fans to tweet the show's writers for more SB, or even for more Caitlin/Barry/Cisco friendship scenes, or realistic character development scenes. I know the trailer's out, but… I guess it won't hurt to let them know what you think. If you plan to do it, please do it respectfully and without bashing anyone else.

Alright, that's it for my rambling. Thanks for reading until the end. As a sort of incentive for those who did, here's a sneak peek of the next chapter ;)

. . .

Monday, 7:07 PM

Hi Caitlin, it's me again. I don't want to sound like a stalker or anything by spamming you with voicemail, so… just tell me to stop if you really want me to stop, okay? I swear I will. But if you won't say anything, I'm just going to assume that your silence means, Yes, Barry, you can be as annoying as you possibly can. —Why, Caitlin, it's my pleasure to serve up my specialty. In fact, this is your first daily dose of annoyingness, served fresh from the kissable mouth of CCU Cutie Barry Alle—ah, crap, Wally just heard me saying that. Crap. Now he's laughing his butt off. Can you hear him? Here, I'll move closer. He laughs like a hyena. It's hideous. I don't think you've ever met him, but I hope you will sometime… Anywaaay, uh, I called to let you know that I'm sorry, and I'm not giving up. That's all for now. I'm going to dig myself a hole if I keep going while Wally's listening, so call me if you want to talk, I guess. Bye.

. . .

Reviews are cookies, and I love cookies, so you know what to do ;) Until next time,

eccacia

#snowbarry #snowbarry fic #barry allen #caitlin snow #barry x caitlin #wonderful you came by #iris west #wally west #jesse quick #eddie thawne

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B99 Hiatus Writing Challenge

In the immortal words of Captain Raymond Jacob Holt, “EVERYTHING IS GARBAGE.” – The finale left our favorite squad in pain, we have to wait months for new content, and Dianetti still isn’t canon.

Even Terry knows what we need most in these trying times: fanfiction. 

Under the cut is a list of 30 prompts/summaries put together with a ton of help from @stardustsantiago, @peraltiagoisland, @scullysthumbtacks, @three-drink-amy​, and @dogworldchampion. Feel free to run away with any (or many) of these plot bunnies!! Let’s make this hiatus as gr99 as possible. ★

1. He’s still chuckling at her screaming sheep prank as he walks out of the break room. He’s four paces away when he turns back, ready to stick his tongue out at her and yell one last comeback. Except that’s when he sees it: the Double Tuck.

2. An emergency at the precinct calls Raymond away from home, leaving Kevin alone to babysit little Marcus for the rest of the day. Everything’s all well and good until pre-nap story time, when Kevin realizes he’s never met another child so emotional over Humpty Dumpty falling off a wall. He manages to calm little Marcus down by suggesting they make french toast with bacon smiles for dinner, but the child ends up sobbing at the sight of the refrigerator. (Alternatively: 4-year-old Marcus bonds with his Uncle Ray-Ray’s boyfriend.)

3. “GET THAT LITTLE DEMON AWAY FROM ME.” “Jake, he’s just a baby. Also, weren’t you the one who rented this fur ball for the night?” “I DIDN’T REALIZE I WAS PAYING FOR SHERE KHAN JUNIOR.”

The relief team takes over. Jake and Amy don’t catch the bad guys. The night still ends up on their good dates list.

4. Five hours. No texts or calls or selfies or anything from him for five hours. Amy should have realized it sooner. She should have believed he was being sabotaged. She shouldn’t have driven off after he said, “See you never.” 

5. “Which bird is that?” “It’s the shut the hell up or leave me alone bird.” “Is that its Latin name?”

Rosa Diaz is a graduate student at Cornell looking into going on sabbatical to study birds at the University of Buenos Aires. She’s pretty set in her plans, until she meets novice bird watcher Gina Linetti.

6. Jake is a disgruntled bookshop worker, just trying to save up to pay off his crushing debt. His life is a monotonous cycle of shipment unpacking, shelf restocking, and cashier manning until Amy comes in with a rare old book request, and they spend an entire afternoon searching the store for it. (Truthfully, he knows exactly where to find it, but he maybe doesn’t want his time with her to end.)

7. “Hey, it’s me. Please open the door... Come on, let’s talk. I’m sorry.” “Can I help you?” “Oh, no, you’re not Amy.”

After the most disastrous double date in history, Jake knocks on Amy’s door instead of Sophia’s.

8. Jake Peralta is one of the best wedding planners in Brooklyn. He can handle any wedding with his usual pizzazz and charm. Except for Amy Santiago’s.

9. “All aboard the Terryliner. Next stop, Holtsovania.” “Wait! Can we drop by the farmers market first?”

A perp Charles has been chasing for months surfaces out of the blue. Nikolaj is left at the precinct, and the rest of the squad take turns watching him.

10. He’d hated this song since his bar mitzvah ages ago, but suddenly, he couldn’t bring himself to keep hating it. Not when Amy’s hand was clasped in his. Not when she was close enough for him to see the lighter flecks in her eyes. Not when her smile had him falling deeper and deeper in love.

11. “Geez, Santiago, you didn’t have to pay $950 just for a second date with me! I didn’t realize you were so bummed our date last month was cut short by that case.”

The NYPD Men’s Charity Date Auction is coming up, and it’s Jake’s first time participating in the event. He’s been boasting about how excited he is to get free dinner and help out the local children’s hospital, but truthfully he’s scared out of his mind. (Rumor has it that the crazy 2nd floor receptionist from the Seven-Three was gonna drop at least $500 for a night with him.) He’s as stunned as the entire audience when Amy pulls through with a winning bid at the very last second.

12. Gina Linetti is stuck as assistant manager at the worst sunglass kiosk this side of Brooklyn. Her life changes when Rosa Diaz walks up and demands the darkest and shadiest pair they've got.

13. “Are you hearing that? What the hell is that noise?” “Do you mean all that thumping, yelling, and plates crashing?” “That plus the endless loop of Beyonce songs.” “Yeah, that’s Rosa and Gina having sex.” “WHAT? EW.” “Oh my god. Am I neighbors with a homophobe?”

Apartment neighbors Jake and Amy bond over the loud, crazy people on their floor.

14. I made a deal to save your life, and we can never be with each other ever again or else the person I made the deal with is going to kill one of us and make the other watch... I’m so sorry, it was the only way.

15. “So if I transferred anywhere else, you wouldn’t care at all?” “No, of course not. Do whatever you want, you know, it’s your life.”

He should have said something. Because now she’s gone to work for the Special Victims Unit, and he’s pretty sure she took a part of his soul with her.

16. Amy Santiago is about to have a traditional summer with her family, including her close friend Rosa, at Kellerman’s, a summer lodge she goes to every year. But then, she meets Jake Peralta, a talented dance instructor from the wrong side of the tracks. Will she have the time of her life? (Dirty Dancing!AU)

17. “Peralta, I swear to god, if you get blue soda in my car, I’ll kill you.” “Okay, but can I still eat my pocket donut, though?”

Jake and Amy go on a road trip, minus the complicated relationships but still with the poorly disguised feelings.

18. Midnight motorcycle races weren’t exactly Gina’s style, but the girl in the black leather jacket riding the supercharged R1 has her intrigued. She’s even more impressed when this rider turns up as a classical ballerina in their local dance competition.

19. “Ugh, Dad, The Enigma won’t leave me alone! Today she followed me around the entire playground.” “Now, Nikolaj, be nice to your cousin. She just loves you so much!”  

20. We’re partners for an essay project in History of Magic, and we need to get a book from the restricted section, but I’m not sure how the books are organized in this section, and you won’t stop trying to find weird sex books, like, no I don’t think they keep the wizard’s kama sutra in the restricted section, what is wrong with you? (Hogwarts!AU)

21. “Remember when you got arrested and had to go to jail for three months?” “Yeah, good times.”

The squad and their kids get together for a barbeque, now that they’re all happy.

22. Lieutenant Melanie Hawkins is the best cop in the NYPD for a reason. As they’re being transferred to Rikers, Jake and Rosa find out they’re actually being sent to further infiltrate a notorious drug cartel. And thus begins one of the biggest, most dangerous undercover operations in history.

23. “Detective David Majors is already on this case. I need someone to partner up with him.” “Sir, with all due respect, I’m the obvious choice. I mean, look at me.” “I’m not sure you’re right for this, Peralta. The marshal says the detectives have to go undercover as a couple, and I’m not sure the group to be infiltrated is quite so progressive… I think I’ll send in Santiago.”

Amy gets assigned to date Blotter Dynamite Dave Majors for an indefinite amount of time. Jake considers ruining the operation in the name of love. (Fake Dating!AU - except not with Jake)

24. She’s pale yet covered in bruises, and her movements are slower and more guarded. There’s nothing he wants to do more than just hold her, but from behind the glass separating the two of them, all he can do is ask, “What happened?” (Alternatively: Amy gets injured in the field while Jake is in jail.)

25. “Sir, how did you and Kevin get engaged?” “I don’t think this is much of a proposal story, Jacob. We heard gay marriage had been legalized and then headed straight for City Hall.”

It’s only half an hour into this stakeout, but to Jake it feels like it’s been an eternity. There’s a ring box burning a hole in his pocket, and a jumbled mess of ideas in his head. He knows Amy wouldn’t want him turning to anyone for approval, but the longer they sit in this car, the more inclined he is to ask Holt for advice.

26. I am Head Girl, and I’ve been asked to give a presentation on safe sexual practices, and you will not stop asking me uncomfortable questions to embarrass me. Please stop, I know you know the answer to that, we did it last night. (Hogwarts!AU)

27.  “What the hell, Gina! I thought this was supposed to be a Hip Hop class?” “Rosa, Rosa, Rosa. Did you seriously think I wanted a Step Up-esque number for the first dance out our wedding?” “Uhm. Yes?”

Gina tricks Rosa into taking a couples ballroom dance class with her.

28. A tragic car crash kills Terry and Sharon, leaving their baby daughter Ava to their mutual friends Jake and Amy, who don’t get along at all. (Life As We Know It!AU)

29. Jake and Amy manage to keep their relationship a secret, but that means Dozerman stays captain of the precinct.

30. “Just you and me, and Baby makes three.”

There’s a binder full of color coded information on the shelf, and a Die Hard-themed onesie in the dresser. Jake and Amy’s baby is on the way.

#b99 hiatus writing challenge #b99 #brooklyn nine nine #peraltiago #dianetti #b99 writing prompts #my stuff

[r-o-se]

BASICALLY 101 comments/thoughts/things on Produce 101 S2E2

So we are BACK TOPOFTHEMORNINGTOYALADDIES AND WELCOME BACK TO ANOTHER EPISODE OF p101 live commentary

1.      The kids are watching the last ep

2.      The first vote results, Bae Jinyoung first, Wang Minhyuk last. Poor kid. Stop naming kids Minhyuk theres 6 of them on the field already it’s like Michael in America lol

3.      Back to the evaluations

4.      Woojin goes up, Daniel is like ’He’s rly cute I hugged him already’ tbh everyone call him cute lol

5.      Does JB Baby, what a classic lol. Got a B and praised for his pronunciation

6.      Aaahahahah lmao he asked for water and has to choose between two judges. Chooses Cheetah and she looks blessed af

7.      Kid has problems with opening stickers lol

8.      YGk+ performance, everyone are shook about their legs

9.      Their performance isn’t that good though, poor dudes. One D, other three F

10.   Roll yet ANOTHER compilation of the hottest kids this season

11.   Yongbin aka the dude with a nose bridge straighter and higher than my will to live

12.   Dongsoo and Namhyung from S.How do an AMAZING self composed song, are cute and talented as fuck. Namhyung got an A and Dongsoo got a B. Cheetah loves them ME TOO ME TOO

13.   Compilation of rappers, the overall comment on teachers is ‘Cheetah is cute omg but Dunmill is scary’

14.   Editing: aw cheetah is cute now with longer hair

15.   Cheetah: does the snoop dogg dance yno the smoke weed everyday one

16.   ‘Boys are calmer’ no they are more desperate and scared of failure

17.   Jung Jungji prepared a SHITTON for EXO Growl, a bajillion vids of it. But sadly I guess his nerves got to him, he didn’t do well aaaaaaaaaaaand got an F. Stop fucking laughing at him. Most of the audience is dancing along though such an iconic song

18.   He looks dead inside but says “I’m glad because I made BoA laugh”

19.   HOTSHOT HOTSHOT HOTSHOT SUNGWOON TAEHYUN SUNGWOON TAEHYUN

20.   Do Block B Very Good, MURDER IT IN THE BEST WAY POSSIBLE, AMAZING energy, everyone love it, first and only all company A rank

21.   Who am I fooling I actually watched their performance like 4 times before this on youtube just because of how much I love it the energy is so good

22.   Taehyun’s freestyle krump was on POINT tru kid monster right there. His expressions are soooooo good

23.   Now the kids are writing their future wishes or something like that to a huge whiteboard

24.   Kim Dongbin from kiwi ent looks sooooo nervous save that kid

25.   He’s doing chewing gum and stopped in the middle for some x reason?

26.   He stopped bc one of the judges pulled out his in-ear in a weird way and he thought that meant he needs to stop

27.   HES CRYING OUT OF NERVES RESCUE THAT POOR KID OMG

28.   Everyone are cheering for him  to continue THIS IS SO SWEET AAAHHHHHH EVEN JINWOO MOVED HIS HANDS AND CLAPPED

29.   And he finished his performance w a cute smile and………. got an F

30.   ’My level should be lower than F. I’m grateful for F’

31.   FNC Hwiseung comes out DOES SHINEE REPLAY GOT MY VOTE

32.   JELLY HEESEOK DOES CHAINED UP ALSO GOT MY VOTE

33.   Judges don’t like either and say both feel rushed… Hwiseung got a D and Heeseok got an F… damn

34.   Starship Sewoon and Kwanghyun come in, everyone get hype. One of them hates dancing and individ. trainee Jaehwan went to the same school as Sewoon. They Maroon 5 Sugar, everyone loves it

35.   Sewoon plays guitar and composes, everyone STILL loves it and for a very good reason

36.   BoA: So do u wanna be an idol or a singer?

        Sewoon: CEO

37.   Starship gets a double B

38.   RYTHM TA COVER, amazing vocals, acrobatics, taekwondo (is this the K-Tiger trainee?) basically just a compilation of the coolest kids this season

39.   Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaand Jang Moonbok clip again

40.   He’s doing BTS Boy In Luv and…. It isn’t too good poor dude

41.   Seriously Mnet’s son bc his singing isn’t good yet the only reactions they are showing from crowd are the most positive ones

42.   He got an F

43.   Brand New come up, roll clip of the absolute snake team San E and Jint ent company lol kids are cute tho

44.   Do a song composed by Daehwi, choreo made by Woojin that sounds eerily like a GOT7 Hard Carry  

45.   Daehwi's vocals are good but his range isn’t too high rip. One of the kids did a bboy pose thing on one hand. Someone in the crowd dabbed

46.   Daehwi and Woojin got an A, Youngmin and Donghyun got B’s

47.   End of the evaluation, 7 A rank trainees, 17 B rank, 21 C rank, 25 D rank and 31 F rank. Last season there was like….. 20 something A rank holy shit

48.   Revealing the high pitched as hell song and the difficult ass choreo

49.   The best can go to M Countdown with it, A gets center and the ult center gets a solo part

50.   The one who has an A rank is basically a god and the one who gets the center position is literally the definition of ’what’s a god to a non-believer’

51.   They’re moving in now and get their ugly colour coded sweaters lol

52.   F rank trying to cope ’I actually rly like gray clothes… Still want pink tho’

53.   Why is korea so obsessed with ages lol

54.   Sungwoon took like an air humidifier and candles and an electric mat and whatnot lmaoooo

55.   Goblin parody ensue. Some trainee, Yoo Jinwon looks just like male Eun Tak (The female lead of goblin)

56.   Group practice is soooooo unbalanced holy SHIT

57.   The song is so high pitched they are all dying inside

58.   JINWOO IS TALKING my dude…. In F rank…. Depressing

59.   Daehwi is a sad boy bc the entire B team belted out the high notes like no joke

60.   Two dance black holes make slow mo eye contact if im not incorrect its the Cube F rank and one of the YGk+ F ones with a haircut idk how to describe.. like… its black…  sure is black

61.   Within 10 minutes A rank fucking aces the dance as a whole, sure its not perfect but it looks GREAT

62.   F is a… Mess sighs. At least that’s how they’re portrayed. In group shots at least half of the kids can do the dance just GREAT but sure obvs mnet isnt gonna show them

63.   Daehwi has problems with the high notes poor lil kid

64.   Namhyun, Sungwoo and Sungwoon have no problems hitting it though

65.   I fucking hate this system because rappers need to excel in vocals too which is fucking unfair and they just humiliated BNM Woojin who cant reach the notes and the trainer is NO FUCKING HELP and doesn’t guide him or anything just looks at him judgingly just fuck off dude seriously

66.   Sungwoo is just like Sejeong, got everyone shook during first evaluation, sings like an angel and CAN actually dance but has small problems while adapting to the choreo

67.   Now to the D group training KAHI MY MOTHER

68.   Baekho has problems concentrating to the dance and they only show him obviously thanks Mnet for nothing like he is not the type of person for p101 hes literally the furthest away from the p101 type why did pledis force them there Im so fucking angry dude

69.   Another poor black hole cutie is Cube Guanlin ugh im so sad about him DON’T CRY

70.   But others are helping him which makes me happy thank god for that

71.   C group get compared to chicks and vitamin C lol

72.   The C group vocal trainer is pretty af and everyone are in love including me

73.   ‘Age is just a number’ BOI

74.   Bae Jinyoung keeps looking at the ground SHY BOY but he also messed up his singing poor kiddo

75.   B team has the same vocal coach as A and I think D has the same dude

76.   Honestly I fucking hate that dude he’s so rude to rapper kids and doesn’t even help him and Mnet tries to play it off like ‘haha tsundere’ but no he’s just an asshole

77.   One of the rappers does adlibs lol

78.   But everyone else are just in pain I fucking hate this system so much

79.   Woojin is a small baby but sings like gold

80.   AND D TEAM HAS THE SAME ASSHOLE COACH

81.   He picks out NU’EST right away ugh but MY DUDE REN DOES SO WELL

82.   RBW GUNHEE MY B O I HOLY HELL SINGS SO WELL WHYS HE IN D even the coach said he did the best out of the grades he coaches ( A B and D)

83.   That coach is so much nicer in D

84.   I take everything back he just fucking destroyed my baby Hyungseob I’m so fucking done with everything

85.   B team dance class que

86.   Kang Daniel feels a bit full of himself but tbh he is literally perfect at everything and has the dance clean already

87.   Kim Jaehwan has problems with dance this is like with Juna last season lol

88.   JAEHWAN IS PRACTICING ALONE AS THE LAST ONE THERE POOR KID

89.   The dorm clips, everyone are practicing

90.   Aaaaaaaaand now they’re doing the reevaluation filming

91.   B grade Kim Sangbin danced really well and even sang well even though hes a rapper and then dabbed lmao hope lost

92.   MY LIL JUSTIN KIDDO IS UP but holy shit his singing is really bad I’m sad

93.   Everyone are saying they are anticipating Minhyun to move up by a rank but his clip is awful I’m so fucking sad dude I don’t have any words to express my absolute misery he looks so beaten up and other trainees are trying to console him I’m so fucking sad

94.   Now it’s Baekho’s turn, he doesn’t do too well either but it def isn’t THAT bad and mnet is just trying to make NU’EST look bad because they aren’t showing JR’s clip even though he was good enough to move up to B grade

95.   The dude with the best singing voice, Gunhee, his singing voice broke rip

96.   Moonbok’s clip wasn’t good and everyone are sad bc he practiced a lot

97.   Kwon Hyunbin from YGk+ does really shit and I feel soooooooooooo sorry because he isn’t doing good and people aren’t vvoting for him either but it just won’t come out right and im SO SORRY FOR HIM AAAAAAAGHHHHHH and like YGk+ is a modelling company so he wont debut and then theres this kid Ha Minho who I like too and his rank is like what 94 rn hes gonna fucking die. I hate this show why is it so addicting

98.   Calls to family ft. a lot of tears from everyone but Jisung’s sister has the same sense of humor as Jisung does its gr8 why isn’t he in top 11 vote for him jesus fuck

99.   Judges are gonna watch the reevaluation things now time to Get Sad Bois

100.  Daehwi and Samuel get praised and JAEHWAN MY LIL BOY FIXED HIS DANCE IM SO PROUD

101.  Oh no now theyre gonna watch Minhyuns catastrophe clip I want to fucking die

102. Kahi said that Min gets pressured when competing with other people I’m so fucking sad my boy is so stable and talented if anyone wants good NU’EST lives just fucking hit me up he is sooooo high quality stop bullying him @mnet  @pledis

103. Why do they only show bad clips I’m so sad and the trainers all laugh at them this just… it’s so ugly leave the kids alone they are under such immense pressure with such a difficult song and choreo

104. Finally they are showing the good trainees I’m so glad give them that ATTENTION and MY KID HYUNGSEOB IS THERE WITH A PEACE SIGN

105. And to end it now they’re getting the reevaluation grades and a bunch of kids are moving up I’m glad but they aren’t showing anyone’s new grades

And now, also good  screencaps that didn’t make it into the top 9, some funny, some depressing, Also I’m ready to stab anyone who came up with the goddamn food and bathroom break ration they’re doing by rank like what is this u cant dance u cant eat?? well hello there stalin 

#produce 101 #pd101s2 #pd101 #p101 #p101 s2 #lee daehwi #jang moonbok #starship #yoo sunho #jung sewoon #lee kwanghyun #samuel #seventeen #nu'est #nuest #kang songho #baekho #jr #kim jonghyun #minhyun #hwang minhyun #pledis #17 #mmo #kang daniel #jisung #joo jinwoo #jinwoo #heeseok #jellyfish