The One I Want: Part 15
Jake "Hangman" Seresin x plus size!reader
Summary: You’re new in town and some guy named Jake is about to be your roommate. Being skeptical of new people keeps you lonely and uninterested in any entanglements, but Jake is desperate to change that.
Notes/Warnings: cursing, emotional stuff and vulnerability, fluff, angst, inaccurate navy stuff, typos for sure (fr didn't proofread tonight)
Words: 3537
The One I Want Masterlist
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“He really didn’t call last night?” Millie finally asks. She’s been watching you out of the corner of her eye for the better half of an hour, sitting in a plastic chair on the opposite side of the gift shop’s counter as she unconvincingly flips through the pages of a bridal magazine.
The stack Millie brought to your work was an attempt to distract you so you would have something to think about other than Jake, but you’ve done nothing other than stare at the same wedding dress on the same page since Millie arrived. You can’t even say it’s a nice dress that would compliment your friend’s figure, so you’re about as useless as they come for a Maid of Honor. Dresses, flowers, bachelorette parties—it all sits nestled in the back of your mind, and you’d feel horrible for not taking the details of the wedding more seriously, but right now you’re not alone in using it as a distraction from missing the men in your lives.
At least Millie has received some reassurance. Rooster has taken every opportunity to call her, to comfort her, to express his love. But Jake? Nothing. The most you’ve gotten is a “He’s fine, just a bit drawn into himself lately. Got a lot on his mind,” from Millie who reported that information secondhand from her fiance.
That Jake has put you in a place of questioning is a blow to your heart, but in an effort to stay sane, you haven’t allowed yourself to create potential explanations for him in your head. He’ll reach out eventually, and when he does, you trust he’ll give you all the answers you need.
But for now, you shake your head.
“What is wrong with that boy?” Millie huffs, leaning back in her chair. “I was hopin’ he’d make up for his lack of calls with a beautiful handwritten letter confessin’ his love, but good lord.”
“He already told me he loves me.”
The magazine drops onto her lap. Her jaw practically unhinges. “How are you just tellin’ me this now?” she asks. “What did you say?”
Running your fingers through your hair, you close your magazine and shove it aside. “He didn’t let me say anything,” you tell her, relief washing over you at finally letting it out. “It was over the phone as they were leaving, and he hung up before I could get two words in.”
Millie sighs. “Oh, Honey.” She sits up and scoots the chair as close to the counter as possible so she can easier wrap your hand in hers.
“You know–” she begins, but then pauses as she rethinks, “Or, well, maybe you don’t know—but you should know Jake doesn’t throw that word around lightly. I haven’t known him as long as the others, but I do know that you were a total game-changer. He told all of us that from the moment he saw you he was a goner.”
Heat floods your cheeks at hearing the words he once told you. You’ve believed him to be genuine for a long time, but it’s incredibly fulfilling to know he felt strongly enough to tell his friends before you were willing to consider your own feelings for him.
Being honest with yourself, you weren’t in the same place the first time you saw Jake. You thought he was beautiful and magnetic, and being that beautiful and magnetic, you were convinced he was going to be just as troublesome. There was no room in your mind to consider yourself a goner. Your shields were unbreakable. But now, when you replay the last few months of your life—replay the first time you really took him in, the first time his fingers touched yours—you can acknowledge that in choosing to stay here, the feelings you’ve developed for him were inevitable. Goner for goner—it just took you a moment to catch up.
Millie grins at the red tinge you can’t conceal. “He’s been Mr. Game Changer himself, hmm?”
Shooting her a look before playfully rolling your eyes, you say, “Don’t tease me about things you already know, Millie.”
“The next time he calls, do you want me to tell Bradley to knock some sense back into that pretty, blond head?”
You chuckle. “No, it’s ok,” you say. “Jake was patient with me. It’s my turn to be patient with him. He’ll come through.”
“I’m sure it'll be soon. For you, he’d–” Millie’s eyes flick just past your head. “Oh, fuck no,” she mutters as the store’s door swings open and closes from behind you. “We don’t accept trash here. Please take yourself out,” Millie sasses, making you turn in your chair.
Brit doesn’t acknowledge the tiny redhead. Her dark eyes are darts, so focused on you she hardly blinks. For some reason, though, you don’t sense the animosity you did the last time she brought herself around.
“It’s been a while,” she says to you.
Millie scoffs. “Not long enough.”
As much as you want to, you don’t feed into your friend’s comments. Defending you is appreciated, but you have a feeling that poking at the blonde will delay her departure, and Brit doesn’t need to be in your life and space any longer than you desire to be in hers.
“What can I do for you?” you ask.
“I came here to say something.”
“We don’t have a good track record there.”
With arms crossed, Brit rolls her eyes. “Right, well…I was pissed.”
Millie mimics Brit’s behavior; arm-crossing, eye-rolling, and attitude included. “Award-winnin’ excuse, honey.”
“Can't you scram?”
“Can and will are two different things.”
Your eyes move to Millie. The fire within her is too powerful to die out against the challenge before her, and you’re positive the two could go on for hours if you let them, neither willing to back down. But you want Brit to get on with it. Surely she knows after her last failure that she’s unable to affect you or Jake and the plans you have with one another, all of which do not include her. So what else is there for her to bother you with?
“Millie, it’s ok,” you say, snapping the tense band of their stare-off.
Her face softens when she looks at you. Words don’t have to be exchanged for her to understand what you’re asking of her. She stands and walks to Brit with a pointed finger. “I’m gonna be watchin’ you through the window like a stalker the entire time.”
After stepping outside, she immediately turns to face the window, just as promised.
You stand as well and brace yourself against the wall, keeping the barrier of the counter between you. “I’d love to get this over with, so what do you want to say?”
Brit takes her time, running her fingernail over the packets of gum in their display before she decides to take a seat in the vacant chair. With her legs crossed, her hands clasp in her lap. “I don’t know if you are aware, but Jake dropped by for a nice little visit a couple of days before he left,” she shares with you. Then she sighs as if bored. “He said some things. A lot of things. Bared his soul and all that shit. It was rather dramatic.”
While shocked, you suppose you don’t need a million guesses to figure out why he would go to her before leaving you. He expressed his concerns weeks ago, and no matter how fiercely you tried to reassure him, you couldn’t snuff it out completely. You could always see it in his eyes—a dimmed but persistent flickering of worry.
Brit yanks you from your thoughts. “You’re not ever going to let him go, are you,” she says.
“No.”
“Yea…” She runs her tongue over her teeth, making that squelching sound you had hoped to never hear again. “He’s not going to let you go, either. He made that clear.”
You get that feeling again—that deep fulfillment from being with Jake. You could’ve lived your whole life and the adventures that come with it—from marriage to children to grandchildren, if that is what you and Jake choose—completely unaware of him working behind the scenes to protect and defend and love you.
It seems silly to not have realized before, but you’re so new to this kind of love that inexperience has you approaching it in a fairly straightforward manner. You don’t hide your emotions or actions from Jake anymore. You’re sad, you cry, he comforts you. You’re mad, you yell, he calms you. You’re happy, you smile, and he smiles right with you. And you’ve done the same for him. Open and honest and, as you once agreed, hearts bare.
You would do anything for Jake, and he for you, but you never considered that his affection extended past what you see. Not because it shouldn’t; that’s what love is, you know that. But the love of your past was hollow, very out of sight out of mind on their end; a disconnection that those men used to boost their egos by making fun of you to their friends or flirting with other women when you weren’t around.
Unless taught differently, a person only knows what they've known. So the idea of Jake going above and beyond in that way simply never crossed your mind.
“At first, I hated him for it,” Brit says, suspiciously even-toned. “Showing up at my door, desperately trying to appeal to god knows what while he repeatedly reminds me that he won’t be with me because he’s in love with you. I mean, can you believe the fucking audacity of a man to do that to a woman?”
You can, because you know hurt and embarrassment inside and out, and up and down. Without the context of their situation—were it any other man spouting off to any other woman—you could find it in yourself to feel sympathy as easily as you find your next breath. But Brit deserves the treatment she’s describing; not for the sake of cruelly getting even after the harassment she doled out, but because she needs to hear the truth of the matter from Jake’s lips. She’s in the wrong, what she has done is unacceptable, and perhaps most importantly: you are not the reason Jake doesn’t want to be with her. Whether she eventually accepts that truth or not is another thing entirely.
“I’ve spent these weeks hating him more than I thought possible,” she says.
You shake your head. “Brit, I don’t understand where this is going, and to be honest, I’m–”
“You once asked me if I was tired,” she interrupts you, her tone raising to overlap yours. It succeeds in silencing you. “Well, I’m tired.”
If you could find your voice, you don’t know what you would do with it. When she cornered you in the Hard Deck’s bathroom with a plethora of insults and threats, you shot back at her with few words and a final question. But considering her lack of self-reflection, it wasn’t a question you imagined she might one day reassess.
Brit rises and straightens out her top. She gives you one final look. “So, now you know.”
Then she exits the store and disappears around the other side of the building where the sidewalk meets the street.
“What the actual fuck was that about?” Millie asks, returning to your side.
You’re still staring at the spot where she vanished. “I’ll believe it when I see it,” you start, then swallow, “But I think she’s done with us.”
—
You love all of the things that still smell like Jake. The sheets, the pillow, the interior of his truck, the kitchen because that’s the first place he’d go after putting cologne on in the morning. He lingers everywhere, and when you close your eyes, you can trick yourself into believing he’s right beside you. But after a while of sitting around the scent with your eyes closed, the illusion dissipates. If Jake was actually near you, only so much time would pass before he’d begin touching and kissing and whispering sweet things in your ear.
“You know I can’t help myself,” he’d say. And without him here, you can’t convince the scene to play out.
It’s like a bad dream that doesn’t lose its power over you even after you wake. It’s still in your brain, in the race of your heart, in the heavy gasps from your lungs. Dreams you often have that, even when sweet and beautiful, aren’t. If they’re not full of horrible images that leave you shaking in bed, they’re reminders of good times with Jake, and it’s the good times that ache the most when they’re over.
Tonight, though, it’s not the dreams that shoot you awake. It’s the ring of your phone from an unknown number.
When Jake first left, every unknown number that popped up on your screen jolted an electric shock through your body. But after so many telemarketers and automated calls from the apartment building updating you on temporary changes to office hours, you stopped expecting anything else.
Grabbing your phone, you slam the tip of your finger onto the little green circle and lift it to your ear. “Seriously, calling in the middle of the night is so messed up! I told you to take me off your list!”
“What list?”
Your eyes widen, and every scrap of half-asleep grumpiness falls away at the sound of his voice. “J-Jake?”
“Hey, beautiful…”
He sounds as tired as you are, but you can practically feel the smile on his face. You’re sure it’s a weak smile, all he can muster due to the exhaustion, but it’s there and it’s for you.
Your vision blurs and you blink and fat droplets soak into his comforter. You rub your thumb over the damp circles. “I should slap you,” you say, your nose already becoming stuffy from your tears.
“Oh, you should do much worse than that,” he replies. You lightly chuckle, so he lightly chuckles, then silence holds until he sighs. “I’m so sorry. I miss you so damn much.”
“So much you didn’t want to call before now? It's been a long time, Jake.”
“I did want to call,” he tells you. “And I could have—I should have—but I just…I freaked out a bit.”
“Why?”
Jake sighs again, and he must’ve pulled the phone away from his face because there’s a muttering so faint you can barely hear it. But then loudly and clearly, he says, “Because I fucked up, beautiful, and I’m embarrassed. You deserved better.”
Your mouth goes dry.
Fucked up. Fucked. Up.
Before you can stop yourself, you catch a glimpse of what the next few moments could turn your life into.
Fucked up. Slept with someone. Sorry. Thought I loved you. Not your fault. You can stay at the apartment until I get back.
Pain, and heartbreak, and tears fatter than the ones you’re currently shedding. Lost trust that will never be found for anyone else. No more confidence. No more self-love. No more vulnerability.
Twelfth new place.
But then he says, “That’s not how I should have told you I love you.”
One sentence. A snap of the fingers and every invading thought is shoved out of your head. You breathe. Shake your head. Swipe your fingers across your cheek to wipe away the first tear brought on by what you thought was about to break your heart.
“It’s not how I wanted to do it,” he continues. “I was going to tell you so many times in the week before I left, but I didn’t know how you were going to react. Then I thought I’d say it at the dock, but Rooster was next to me and Millie was next to you, and no way in hell was I going to have them there the first time I said that to you.
“Before I knew it, we were on the ship and it hit me that I ran out of chances. But I couldn’t go without you knowing, so I didn’t think, I just did it,” he says. “I didn’t realize how fucking lame it was until the next day. I mean, Rooster told Millie on a damn ferris wheel, and Bob…” There's a pause. “Actually, I shouldn't tell you what Bob did for his girl; it shames us all.”
Finally, he takes a breath. “Anyway, after we were gone, whenever I wanted to call you I froze up because I had no idea what you would say and how you would feel. The thought of you being disappointed with me or with something I did–”
“Jake–”
“Especially something like this—it makes me–”
“Jake, I don't care that you told me over the phone,” you manage to slip in between his words.
“Y-You don’t?”
“No, of course not,” you snicker, running the back of your hand under your nose to clear away any snot. “What I care about is that you didn't let me respond,” you tell him. “I care that the only way I've known you're safe has been through Millie.”
This time, Jake’s sigh sounds different; one more of relief than anything. Minutes of talking has anxiety lifting off of both of your shoulders by the pounds. Jake is okay, Jake is safe, Jake still loves you. You’re okay, you’re safe, you’re not so disappointed in him that you didn’t hang up the second you heard his voice.
“Beautiful, if I could kick myself I would.”
“I’m sure you could ask one of the others to do it.”
“Anyone in particular you’d prefer to do the honors?”
You hum. “Javy never skips leg day. I’m sure he’s got a strong swing.”
Jake laughs loud enough for you to jerk your ear away from the speaker. “I’ll surprise him with the good news in the morning,” he says.
There’s a handful of things you could say in response. Cute things. Witty things. Sassy things, like requesting pictures of said kick in the ass as proof. But you don’t say those things. While you’d love to continue on the lighter path of conversation, you have more questions.
“Why didn’t you let me respond?” you ask.
It’s amazing that you can’t see him yet you can feel his shift in attitude. As if in slow motion, you picture each phase of the bright smile disintegrating off his face.
Jake clears his throat. “You want the selfish or the less selfish reason first?”
“In that order is fine.”
“Ok. Selfishly, I didn’t want to hear you say you don’t love me,” he says. “But that wasn’t my first thought. My first thought was that I just needed you to know. I didn’t care if you loved me too, I cared that you knew you were loved.
“It was after it was out of my mouth that I realized you might feel pressured to give me a response, which I also didn’t want for you. Then the selfish part came into play because what if you responded with anything other than that you love me too? Would it have made me stop loving you? No. But it would’ve hurt…badly.”
“You honestly think that I don’t?”
“I don’t know, beautiful.”
You can see his weak smile again, and you can picture how this conversation would go if he were in front of you rather than a thousand miles away. With that smile, he’d hold your hand and brush your hair behind your ear. He’d smooth your tears back into your cheeks with his thumb because he’d hate that they’re there before he pulls you into him to kiss you.
“You’ve been through so much,” he says. “I don’t expect you to be in love with me, but that doesn’t mean it wouldn't hurt to hear you confirm it.”
You cry a little harder for the tears that shouldn’t be shedding; for the uncertainty he’s been feeling; for the questions you’ve been asking yourself over the last couple of months. All unnecessary. All of which could’ve been solved had he given you a chance to respond or called you at his first opportunity.
You empathize with why he didn’t. Jake may be a man who doesn’t throw the ‘love’ word around often, but you’re a woman who has refused to throw it out at all. You protect yourself that way. You maintain some semblance of power by never speaking it aloud to someone who would not reciprocate. You understand what it means to tell someone you love them when you’ve lost those you love, and you’ve refused to do it for that purpose. It’s a risk of facing more loss.
But it’s a risk Jake took that would have instantly proved worth it. You only wish he could have known that at the time.
“Jake, I–”
“Please don’t,” he stops you. “I don’t want you to say anything until I get back. Either way, I mean. If you feel how I do, or, you know…if you don’t. I’d rather not know until I’m with you again.”
“You would rather wait months to know how I feel?”
“Well, that’s the thing, beautiful,” he says. “We might be coming home sooner than expected.”
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tags: @wkndwlff @kmc1989 @sagittarius-flowerchild @dempy @rosiahills22 @oliviah-25 @xoxabs88xox @matisse556 @hardballoonlove @lynnevanss @pono-pura-vida @tgmreader @amgluvsbooks @ravenhood2792 @djs8891 @shakespeareanwannabe @penguin876 @tgmavericklover @athenabarnes @emilyoflanternhill @wretchedmo @shanimallina87 @crowsreadsarahjmaas @mamachasesmayhem @sky2nd @jessicab1991 @rosedurin @averyhotchner @horseshoegirl @roosteraloha @b-bradshaw @elite4cekalyma @buckysteveloki-me @shelbycillian @kissmethric3 @fox-bee926 @hangmandruigandmav @waltermis @fandom-life-12 @a-serene-place-to-be @bruher @tngrace @mamaskillerqueen @emma8895eb @benedictsvestcollection @blackwidownat2814 @himbos-on-ice @hookslove1592 @alwaysclassyeagle
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(sorry for being unhinged in your inbox)
Ok as someone who has put many things in my mouth that I should not have have, and if I scale it by say x 3 if we take Alfred strength (the average human bite force is 180 psi, so I'll make Alfred's 500 at the minimum) here is what he can most likely bite through
I've bitten through leather with some difficulty (dont ask) so I'll assume he can do that with like 2 good chomps.
I've also bitten clean through a plank of wood once, it took a while, but it is possible, so Alfred bites through it slightly faster than a beaver.
General cloth like linen or cotton isnt hard to break so with the right angle, and mind you this is with human shaped teeth so tearing isnt very good, he could probably bite it out in one go, or grind it and fray it very easily.
Hemp rope and burlap is significantly harder and much itchier, and considering how tightly everything is woven, it's kind of as hard to do as leather straight up, and the fibre makes it even slightly harder.
As for sheet metal Ive managed to dent it but never cut through it, I think because if how flat sheet metal is, hed be able to do this as we do with aluminium.
Most plastics are easy for people so hed have no trouble
I've managed to bite through a feldspar and flourite, but nothing harder, so I'll bet he could probably bite through quartz and maybe topaz if we're pushing it.
I may return with further findings.
Once again apologies
okay first off i'm glad i'm not the only one who's put weird shit in my mouth
second this gave me many thoughts. asdkjfh
tl;dr this man needs to be studied and also to never be let outside without a leash. don't let him bite things.
the human mouth is so lamely shaped for biting inopportune things because we have cheeks. big cheeks for holding food. biting stuff like rocks would be so much simpler if we could reach our flat, grinding molars with more ease. and while incisors are meant for tearing, you're right that human incisors are not meant for wood or metal, but rather for vegetal material (frugivory, folivory).
but also consider that human teeth can still very much break skin. the most dangerous part of a human bite, though, is the bacteria in our mouths rather than the puncture wound itself per se,,,
also was it you that put in the tags "mohs hardness scale but it's if alfred can bite through them"? because i loved this tag so much sldkfjhgsads i stan this new mohs hardness scale. also i am SO sorry to tag you again but @if-you-like-pina-colada-s made a very very wonderful addition to my ramblings regarding bite force. you postulate 500 psi at least (fun fact - that's 100 more psi than the grip strength of an average adult bald eagle, bc i'm silly and think about grip strength, too). piña got a number for the stronger nations at ~3,000 psi, which approaches a crocodile's bite force, and if you've seen what a croc can do with their sheer amount of closing power,,,, ough. i find this to be a wide range full of fun to play with.
also i think i went insane one night when i had to remember that in canon we see a probably 3-year-old alfred lift and swing a bison. if we assume your average three-year-old male weighs about 31.8 lbs (CDC) while a male american bison (Bison bison) can weigh up to 2,200 lbs. if we are to believe these shenanigans, that's 69.18x alfred's body weight if the bison is at its heaviest. even a female, which tops at 1200 lbs, is still 37.74x. he's the real ant-man fr!! because i'm telling you someone reminded me of that bit and i was sitting like bro what the hell,,,
this whole conversation is just making me want to compare alfred's skull and jaw to a robust australopithecine. like okay paranthropus robustus boy. gonna start calling him a gorilla fr. 1300 psi? 1500 like a jaguar? fuck this dude do NOT put your mouth anywhere near me. please fuck off immediately.
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Hi!!! Is it possible to get a BoB ship???
I’m 5’3 with a hourglass build but I’m always a little self conscious about my chest bc it seems to draw a lot of attention, sometimes unwanted. Other than that, I’m pretty confident though most would say I’m pretty quiet unless I’m totally warmed up to someone. I tend to be very stubborn and sometimes say mean things when I’m angry, but I always try to keep a cool head as much as I can. I have auburn hair and really dark eyes. Freckles and dimples that everyone seems to love when they notice. It usually surprises people bc I have really bad resting bitch face 😭. Some people I know have gone so long without realizing I have dimples tbh.
I love to read!!! Like totally obsessed. I also know way too much about dogs but I love all animals in general. Id say baking, running, and gardening are like my top hobbies but I also love a glass of wine and a good tv show tbh. I for some reason have a knack for drawing in either very unhinged guys or very calm guys. Idk why there’s never been some middle ground there but 🤷♀️. Idk if any of this even helps but I love your ships! If you can’t get to this one, it’s totally fine! Thank you!
Thanks for your request lovely! Sorry this took so long to get to! life has been busy but i'm glad to finally put this out :))) of topic but from your description you sound gorgeous! Hope you enjoy <33
I ship you with......
Joe Liebgott!
Song recommendation:
I think you two would compliment one another so nicely.
You want unhinged? Here’s your guy, he’s the perfect mix of sweet and psycho. An awesome boyfriend and chaotic in the best way, but if someone crosses you wrong he’s coming at them full force.
When he first meets you, he would swear that you were the girl for him, he genuinely thinks you are the prettiest human being he's ever met, he'll do anything to have you.
Let's say you're a nurse and you two meet in some small pub before D-day. He would be staring at you all night, just waiting to make a move on you. He wants to approach you but then all of a sudden he gets really shy?
And he never gets this way when it comes to women , so he's not really sure what to do. Just say hello? Ask you to dance?
He finally decides on the latter, making his way to you quickly before he can regret it. And when finally gets to you, he's blank. It's like he's forgotten everything he was going to say to you when he looked into your eyes (sounds corny ik but just bear with me) it’s also so cute but the first thing he would notice about you is your dimples 🥺
You guys would have a ball, dancing and talking all night with one another, by the time the night ended, he would be completely smitten with you and try to see you anytime he could, and even during the war he would write you tons of little love letters that would make you smile
He thinks you’re jaw-dropping beautiful, he can’t help but think about you in such a sweet way, while he was gone, he would spend any down time that he had thinking of you or writing you letters. All of the guys would tease him about it for sure 😭
And don’t even get me started on how cute some of the letters would be, he’d write them in his best handwriting and write out the sweetest things ever (he would turn into shakespeare fr)
When he finally comes back from the war and you two settle down together, the first thing he gets for you is a sweet little dog. (if you want one) He knows how much you love them and would do anything to make you smile
Speaking of making you smile, this man would be so attentive to you when it comes to your interests and such. If you wanted, he would buy you plenty of books and he would always ask you about the book you’re reading, or if you want to run with him he would go along with you for sure!
I know for a fact that he would LOVE your baking, I mean this guy looks forward to your famous brownies and cookies. For his birthday his ask for you would be lots of your homemade treats for him.
He would hate for you ever to be self conscious about any part of your body, he would remind you over and over again how beautiful you were to him, and if anyone tried making you feel uncomfortable he would make sure to kiss their ass.
He would love to watch a nice movie with you over a nice glass of wine, it’s probably one of his favorite times with you honestly. Just you and him relaxing with one another after a long day.
Both of you can tend to be a bit stubborn sometimes but it’s really only because you guys want the best in y’all’s relationship, even if he does (very rarely) get snappy with you he’ll make sure to buy you flowers and some treats to say sorry
I know for a fact that he would be so attractive to your confidence, just the way you walk and the way you carry yourself makes him want to praise the ground you walk on.
Also, he lowkey finds it attractive when you get mad at him or you show him that resting bitch face. Like whenever you get heated about something you love and you’re trying to prove a point all he can do is look at you with love 😭
Overall he’d be such a great bf. He’s so sweet and supportive of you and just know that he would ALWAYS be in your corner no matter what 💞
Thank you for your request!! I hope you enjoy again lovely!!! 💝💝
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