#kev was likely on the outside going HEY THAT'S OUR THING

[samijey]

it’s a love language, actually

#jey uso #wwe #wweedit #sami zayn #samijey #you have no idea of how much i wanted this spot #and they gave it to me THREE TIMES #AND ONE OF THEM WITH THE ROLES REVERSED #kev was likely on the outside going HEY THAT'S OUR THING #finding parallels and callbacks is the most fun a girl can have etc etc #stuff i made

[myocsfanfictions]

South Side Story

Shameless Fanfiction Season 1

Desna Hills has come living in the Southside of Chicago four years before. Taken in by Kev and V, Desna is close friends with the Gallaghers. Let's see how this Southside story unfolds.

MASTERLIST

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Chapter 12

I need to talk to you, Ian had texted her, that was the reason she was walking towards the Gallagher house that morning.

Desna was quick to cross those few meters knowing that if she had thought about it longer she probably would have stayed home. But she managed to arrive at the house, opening the door of the kitchen.

“Hey, Des,” Fiona greeted her with a smile.

“Hi, Fi,” she said, “Is Ian upstairs.”

“Sure,” she nodded pointing the stairs, “Help yourself.”

“Thanks,” Desna said before frowning, “Why is it so cold in here?”

“My thought exactly,” she heard Fiona say as she run up the stairs. Desna was about to turn to go towards Ian’s room, when she almost bumped into Lip.

“Hey,” she said avoiding to look at him.

“Hey,” he muttered. Desna could feel his posture tense, not sure what to say to her, “A-are you here for-“

“Ian,” she said looking at him for the first time. Coursing herself when her eyes lingered on his lips a bit longer than she had to. She really missed him, talking to him and feeling him against her body. She was so stupid.

“He um… he is in our room,” he stutter pointing behind his back.

“Thanks,” Desna said lowering her head, moving around him.

“Better for you to be dying,” She muttered as she closed the door, catching Ian’s attention.

“Mandy Milkovich tried to have sex with me,” Ian said with panicked voice.

“What?” She asked her eyes wide, “Where? When?!”

“Yesterday,” he said nervously pacing the room, “She waited for me after my shift, she came here.”

“She is quite straight forward I’ll give her that,” she thought out loud.

“Yeah!” He exclaimed sarcastically, “She took a condom out at me.”

“W-what did you do?” She asked her eyes wide.

"I pushed her away!" he exclaimed sitting on his bed, "And I may, or may not had made her cry."

"Was she really upseat?" Desna asked carefully.

"She ran away," he said looking up at her, "Even Fiona saw her."

So Mandy Milkovich was upseat with Ian. An upset Milkovich running around the Southside was no good. They truely were almost criminals, and most of them really were.

"Is it going to be bad?" Ian asked her with big eyes, waiting for her answer, surely hoping to have some kind of encouragement. But she really didn't know. She knew for a fact how Milkovichs could be scary, Iggy was starting to concern her, for what she knew Mikey's father had been more inside prison than outside, and Mikey himself was now stealing Kash's shop regularly, and not only that surely.

"It's very bad, right?" Ian asked nervously, his legs buncing up and down. So Desna went to sit next to him.

"Being rejected, that happen, right?" Desna asked trying herself to find some good side of the situation.

Ian nodded his head qith quick movements, "Right!"

"I mean you cry and ask yourself why, but you get over with it, right?" Desna asked again and Ian nodded once more.

"Right!"

"What the worst thing she could do?" Desna asked and the answer of that question arrived to her that afternoon when on her phone arrived one message from Ian.

Mandy told Mickey I assaulted her, and now he wants to kill me, Desna's eyes widened as she read those words. She immediately asked Ian what had happened and he told her that Mickey Milkovich entered the shop, ready to beat him up. He got away only because he manage to lock himself in the back, and Kash covered for him telling Mikey that there was another exit from there.

That was not good at all. God, how could she made up a story like that? She knew perfectly well what would have happened and Mikey would not have stopped until he got to Ian.

She spent the following hours constantly checking on Ian through texts to know if he was alive. She was even had problems studying now that she know that Ian could have possibly end up in the hospital.

As Desna was pacing in the living room of her house, she noticed a figure limp on the street. Her eyes widened as she realized that she knew that jacket.

"Oh, shit..." she muttered before running to the door, "Lip!" she found herself running to him. As he heard her voice he lowered his head, tyring to not show his face at her.

"Keep ignoring me Des, I'm fine," he said but she was quick to move part him so that she could put herself in front of him, not letting him move forward.

"Jeez, Lip," she gasped, taking a step so that was now close to him. With her hand she delicately moved the hood from his face so that she could take a better look. His left side was covered in cut and bruises. He got a slash over his eyebrow, one over his nose and his top lip was cut open. She even noticed his left arm slightly bent, like he could not move it freely.

"Oh my God," she said, her fingers touching his cheek making him flinch, "I'm so sorry," she gasped, but he shook his head.

"It's alright," he muttered looking up to meet her eyes. She was studying his face closely. She really hoped his nose wasn't broken, or some other bones in his body.

"What happened?" she asked.

"Mikey Milkovich," he answered and Desna took a breath, before moving to stay next to him.

"I'll take you home," she said touching his back with her hand.

"You don't have to," he told her, but she shook her head stubbornly.

"I'm not leaving you," she answered back. He looked at her, his eyes softened as he observed her face.

"Okey..." he muttered before they headed towards his house. Desna would keep looking him, to see if he was in much pain. She had to call V as soon as they got inside. When she turned she noticed Fiona standing on the porch speaking with Tony, the young policeman.

"Let's use the back of the house," Lip said to her, gesturing at her where to go with a movement of his head, "I don't want them to see me."

"They will anyway," she argued.

"Can you not talk back for once?" he asked turning to look at her.

"No, I don't think I can," she said and her heart melt as she noticed him smiling at her.

"Hey Lip, there's a body on the other end of this," they stopped as they heard Tony's voice, Lip was doing his best to not show his face, but what they had done to him was too evident.

"No, it's cool Tony," as he spoke Fiona saw his injuries immediately.

"Jesus, what the hell, Lip?" she esclaimed, but Lip didn't answered back. He just looked at Desna moving his head so that she'd follow him into the house.

"I'll call V," Fiona said running upstairs, as Desna helped Lip to the kitchen. He set on a chair, making a little graunt, while she went to take a rag before moving to the sink to fill a cap with water. She needed to clean his skin before putting ice on his bruises. Desna duble checked as the frame of an old man dressed in ladies woman sleeping on a chair in the living room.

"Who's that?" she asked frowning.

Lip was holding his forehead, before giving a look in the direction she was looking, then he scoffed, "I don't even know," he said as she walked back towards him, soaking the cloth in the cold water. But when she put the rag against his forahead he issed

"I'm sorry," she gasped moving her hand away just a little bit, "I'm so sorry."

He shook his head, "It's alright, don't worry."

"I'll try to be as gentle as possible," she said getting closer, "But tell me if I hurt you," Lip nodded his head before letting her move her hand closer to his face. She proceeded to clean his skin, trying to avoid the cuts. They didn't seem to bleed anymore, but his eyes was getting darker.

"Why is Mikey after you?" she asked softly still working on his skin.

"He's not," he answered, "He is after Ian."

"Jeasus Christ, for the Mandy thing?" she exclaimed, rubbing his skin lightly.

He hissed for a second before looking to her, "You know?"

"Ian told me that Mikey wants to beat him up," she explained, being very gentle with her touch.

"Wish he told me as well," he said with a chuckle. She moved her hand a little bit, she hoped he didn't need any stitches.

"If he did this to you, I'm really concerned about Ian right now," she admitted. Now she was truely worried about Ian's life. Those people were fucking crazy.

Lip nodded his head before tilting his head, with amused eyes.

"Maybe the fact that I said that Mandy is blowing 400 dudes in 10th grade didn't help," his nonechalance made her wide her eyes, she would have smaked him if he hadn't been already beaten up.

"God, would you ever stop with the sassy comments?!" she exclaimed, but his lips moved into a smirk.

"No, I don't think I will," he answered leaning forward towards her.

Desna groaned, "You wouldn't even know how to shut your mouth to save your life."

"Are you worried?" he asked.

"Yes," she answered shortly, now realizing how close they were. They had both leaned forward, their heads inches apart and their knees touching. Her hand still at the side of his face rubbing his cheek gently.

"Thank you," he said, his eyes staring into hers, "For helping me."

"Don't mention it," she said diverting her eyes to take another look at his cuts. Unconsciusly she smiled.

"What?" he asked her, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"I've just realize that the first time we’ve talked you had been having a fight as well," she said remembering him at thirteen years old fighting on the street just in front of her house.

"You had set next to me on the side road with a pack of ice," he remembered nodding his head. That's how they had become to be friends. Desna didn't like to get out of the house as she had arrived in her new home, but after having helped Lip, him and Ian had started to ask her to go play with them, or to walk together to school.

"You had been my first friend," she said with a small smile thinking back at all the years that had passed. Then she noticed him staring.

"You are not my friend," his words made her smile disappeared. She really could not understand him and why he seemed so eager to hurt her lately. But before she could move away he took her wrist in his hand, keeping her close, "But you are something for me," they looked at each other before they started to lean forward.

"What does it mean?" she asked confused.

"I don't know," he whispered before his lips touched hers once again. Desna's eyes closed as she kissed him back. After all those weeks they were kissing again. She had missed him. His right hand moved at the side of her face, as he deepened the kiss. They were lost in each other as the heard the front door open, making them pull away. But the moviment had been so abrupt that Lip gave out a groan.

"You okay?" Desna asked touching his face with her hands. He nodded with squinted his eyes.

"Shit, Lip, what happened?" Veronica's voice made Desna turn to see her and Fiona walking into the kitchen. Desna looked at Lip for a brief moment before giving V space to take a look at him. When she moved she noticed Fiona looked at her as Desna set on another chair, but she ignored it to listen what Veronica was doing.

She had brought all the medicines they had in the house and started to dab Lip's forehead with cotton wool soaked in hydrogen peroxide. Lip hissed as she did.

"Oh sorry, sweetie," V said gently, as the cracking noise of the wooden stairs announced Frank's presense. He looked at his son, but he didn't say anything as he set on the stool next to the counter, sipping his beer.

"The nose is the most commonly broken nose in boys between the age of 13 and 25," Veronica explained, observing Lip's face.

"T-that's facinating," Lip said before pointig at the man still asleep, "But who is the old dude?"

"It's not a dude, it's you're aunt Ginger," Frank answered like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Lip frowned, "What, the one that owns the house?" Desna looked at Frank, what was he up to this time?

"That's right," it was unbelievable how Frank knew how to lay without flinching, "Hey Ginger," he said towards the man who had been woken up by his loud voice, "Say hello to your nephew," the poor thing looked so confused.

"Dad, stop," Fiona almost begged with an heavy breath.

"Why is he trying to pass off Mr. Perry as Aunt Ginger?" Lip asked confused as Desna double checking the man. She had not realized he was Mr. Perry.

"Who?" Frank asked with a frown.

"The old bus driver," Desna answered and Lip nodded.

"Sleeps behind the dumpster over at the A&P," he explained, his eyes breafly meeting Desna's that smile looking down.

"Social Security wants to talk to Ginger," Fiona began to explain, before glaring at her father, "And he is too lazy to get the real one."

"Where?" asked Desna with a frown.

"Michigan," Fiona said.

"That's retardedly brilliant," Lip commented and Desna frown at him.

"Really?" she asked as Frank spoke.

"Thank you!" the man exclaimed.

"Or brilliantly retarded," Fiona said and Desna felt like agree. And as Frank thanked again, the girl rolled her eyes.

"Now we have to drive all night to go get her," Fiona complained trying to have a reaction out of her father, but it was useless. Fiona took a breath before turning to Veronica.

"Think Kev will let us borrow his car?" V frowned.

"No." Kev was getting restless everytime he figured out that V or Desna had lent something of theirs to the Gallaghers. He almost lost it the morning of the day before when he learned that the Gallaghers had borrowed their toaster because Carl had broke thiers.

"I'll call and beg," Fiona decided standing up heading to the living room.

"We got those from Imelda over at the Holiday Inn," Debbie said entering in the kitchen with Carl, placing old hairdriers on the kitchen counter, "It'll will be a good way to stay warm."

"You okay?" Desna asked Lip as she saw him move his neck with a painful expression.

"I'd like to say yes," he said looking at her with a small smile that she returned.

"Hey, Kev, it's me," Fiona said with her phone against her cellphone.

"Does she has a chance to convince him?" Desna asked V that glared at her. Probably not. "Maybe you could ask him after sex," she suggested, making Lip chuckle.

Suddenly Frank moved taking the phone from Fiona's hand, "You won't need the car," he muttered and everyone frowned at his words.

"How are we gonna get Ginger?" Fiona asked confused.

"She is dead," Desna widened her eyes.

"What?" Fiona exclaimed.

"Who's dead?" Debbie asked looking at them waiting for an answer.

"Ant Ginger," Lip said and Debbie got upset.

"Did you know her?" Desna asked to Lip, that shook his head.

"Debs you've never met her," he said a bit confused.

"And now I never will!" She exclaimed and Desna and Lip looked at each other.

"Don't give me hard time," Frank complained defensively like he always liked to be, "I've been very upset about it. I'm in mourning."

Desna shook her head, how did they all managed to pull up with Frank's shit was something really unbelieveble for her.

"When did she die?" Fiona asked with wide eyes.

Frank shrugged his shoulders, "T-twelve years ago," he stuttered, "I was trying to protect all of you from the drama, how do you think I feel?" he kept justify himself, "That woman was my heart and soul, she practically raised me."

A great fucking job, she did there.

"Dad," Fiona was speaking in the countless attempt to put some sense back in her father's head, "You've been chasing her checks. That's felony. We are leaving in her house. Was there even a will?"

"You don't need a will, if she's not technically dead," Frank said as if it was incomprehensible that Fiona was not getting it.

"Yes, she is technically dead, Dad," Fiona said getting pissed as she moved towards her father, "Dead is dead. Just because you haven't told anybody that she's dead doesn't make her not dead. Fuck!"

That was very dangerous, Fiona could go in jail and the other would have been sent in foster care, and Frank... whatever happened it was alright at that point.

"What are we gonna do now?" Fiona asked before Veronica's lips moved into a giant smile.

"Well..."

**********

Tag List: @th3h0nkz @aunicornmademedoit

If you liked it, plerase leave a ♥️ and reblog!

#shameless smut #shameless imagine #shameless fanfiction #shameless #lip gallagher smut #lip gallagher x oc #lip gallagher x reader #lip gallagher imagine #lip gallagher fanfiction #lip gallagher #fiona gallagher #ian gallagher #carl gallagher #debbie gallagher #liam gallagher #frank gallagher #veronica fisher #kevin ball #smut

[keanureevesisbae]

Kevin Atwater x fem!reader

Summary: Kevin Atwater loses his badge, however a very unexpected someone brings it to the station.

Wordcount: 742

Warnings: None

masterlist // one chicago masterlist //

Kevin hated himself for how he got so nervous around her, but after what happened today, he royally fucked up. He lost his badge. He has no idea how the hell he managed to lose his badge, therefore he also doesn’t know where to start looking. 

This morning he had it. Now he doesn’t anymore.

Kevin sits behind his desk, thinking about all the places he could’ve left it. 

‘Atwater,’ he hears the voice of Trudy Platt and he fears the worse. Her coming all the way up into Intelligence, she must’ve have something on his ass and if it’s badge related, he’s going to hear from it for eternity. 

‘Yeah, sarge?’ he asks, looking up from his work.

‘You got a visitor and she’s a cute one. Brought me a coffee, like the real saint she is.’ 

And behind sergeant Platt, the woman of the cafe he always goes to was standing. It was weird not seeing her wearing the cafe apron, but a thick coat over her frame, as it was freezing outside. ‘Hi,’ she says.

This is not the time to stammer, especially with the entire team, including sergeant Voight standing in the bullpen, watching his every move. ‘Hey,’ he says and he applauded himself for the good start. He stands up from his chair and makes his way over to her. ‘What… How… What are you doing here?’ Kevin asks as he’s closing in on her.

‘I figured your team could use some coffee. I brought a few different things,’ she says, holding up the carton holders. ‘I wrote down on each cup what it contains, so I hope I’ve got something for everyone.’ 

‘Yo Kev,’ Ruzek says, ‘where and why have you been hiding this girl. This is amazing.’ He’s quick to introduce himself to her and it’s actually the first time Kevin hears her name. 

He has been crushing on the woman behind the counter of his favorite cafe for quite some time now. He usually drops by Monday through Thursday, since she’s only working on those days.

As the rest of the team is introducing themselves to her, before they grab a coffee, she gently pulls him to the side. ‘I’ve got something for you,’ she says. She holds out something and that something is his badge.

The one he lost.

‘You found it?’ he asks, which is a stupid question. ‘Where?’

‘You left it on the counter,’ she tells him. ‘I managed to pry it out of a kleptomaniacs hand and figured you wanted it back.’ She lowers her voice as she adds: ‘Discreetly.’

He smiles in relief. ‘Thanks,’ he says. ‘This… This saved my ass.’

‘Well, thankfully I listened to you carefully, as you stuttered your way into impressing me every morning.’

He hated how accurate that was. ‘I see.’

‘Well, if your team asks about us,’ she continues, ‘and I suspect that they will, you can tell them how we’ve been on a few dates. So… It will not be awkward for you.’

Platt was right. She’s a saint.

‘Really?’ he asks.

She nods. ‘Yeah, I figure your team could give you a hard time for losing it. There is just one condition.’

‘Anything, I owe you big time.’

‘You’re taking me out, preferably tomorrow night, if—of course—you don’t have a case.’

Kevin has to admit: this woman is admirable. The more he gets to know of her, the more he starts to like her. ‘You think in solutions,’ he notes. 

She smiles. ‘Luckily for you, I do.’ She stands on her tippy toes and presses a kiss on his cheek, causing his skin to buzz. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow in the morning when you’re picking up your coffee. If it’s okay with you, I’ll be wearing a light green dress for our date.’ 

‘That’s all good,’ he says, feeling at ease with the woman, when usually he was nervous. She squeezes his hand, handing him a card with her name and number on it and then says her goodbye to the others. 

Kevin stares at the badge in his hand, together with the card, after he watches her go down the stairs. 

‘Kev, can we have her deliver coffee for us everyday?’ Halstead asks. ‘You get your kisses, we get our coffees. It’s a win win.’

Burgess smiles. ‘And maybe some more information about this mystery lady.’

He chuckles. ‘Let’s just solve the case and enjoy the coffee, ‘kay?’

+ + + +

Chicago PD taglist: @acdassenza // @wanniiieeee

#bade of honor #chicago pd #chicago pd drabble #kevin atwater #kevin atwater x reader #kevin atwater x fem!reader #kevin atwater fluff #kevin atwater drabble #kevin atwater imagine

[hereforhalstead]

Showtime - Part 2

*Gif not mine, credits to the owner*

• Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader.

• Requested: Part 2!

• Warnings: Swearing

• Summary:   Part 2 of being undercover with Adam, despite being in a secret relationship with Jay. You can find Part 1 here..

• Words: 2353

• A/N : Part 3 coming shortly as I know not much happened here but needed a filler! Also, kind of wish I had wrote this as being undercover with Kevin as that man really doesn’t get the recognition he deserves, but I got inspo when Hailey was undercover with Adam so will have to be one for next time!

***

“What’s the hold up?” you jump as Voight’s rough voice booms from behind you “The mic was playing up so just had to get it fixed, Sarge” Jay responds for the pair of you as you nod in agreement “Right well let’s get going. Jay you’re with Kim and Y/N, Adam is waiting for you in the car outside. Let’s move” he instructs before stomping past you, leaving you and Jay stood in an awkward silence “Good luck” he sarcastically offers with a grin on his face, you find his confidence amusing considering the night he is in for but decide to go along with his humor “Thanks baby, but I don’t need luck”.

“Sarge, we need a code word to listen out for” Hailey speaks across the radio, you pick up the one hidden under Adam’s seat to respond “Mocktail”. Adam looks at you with his bottom lip out and nods “Hey, that’s a good one” he reassures and you place the back of your hand under your chin to gloat “thank you, thank you”. 

As you approach the club, Voight pulls over into a nearby road to hang back and is soon followed by Jay pulling up behind him to park his truck “You head inside, I’ll leave it a few minutes and follow you in” he directs to Kim who tousles her hair before walking off. Adam stops the car next to Voight’s and you wind your window down to allow him to speak “Jay and Kim will be close by and Kev, Hailey and I will be listening in. Any sign of trouble and you get out or say the word and we will be there” he orders and you can feel Jay staring at you from the other side of Voight “Don’t leave her alone in there, can’t be bothered going through the process of getting another partner” he confesses to Adam with a chuckle, Voight glances at him with a stern look on your behalf “Are you still here?” he asks and you try to hide the smile that is spreading on your face at the change in Jay’s confidence “I’m going” he huffs and exits the car.

Adam drives slowly alongside Jay as he traipses along the side walk, still with the window wound down Adam leans across to speak out of your window “Make mine a double water with a side of Lemon, will you?” he grins but Jay isn’t entertained “Careful or I’ll replace it with worse” he threatens back with a sarcastic smile “No tip for you then” Adam tuts before putting his foot down to speed towards the club “Who’s pissed him off?” he questions but you choose not to answer. 

You watch as Jay walks in the back entrance, giving you a look over his shoulder before heading in. Adam hands the keys over to the valet before giving him some speech about how expensive the car is and if there is so much as a scratch he will make him pay for it, how easily he slips into this kind of character is honestly baffling.. The poor man reassures Adam and drives to park the car, Adam turns to you and naturally slings his arm round your waist and settles his hand at the base of your spine to direct you. “You good?” he whispers in your ear and you nod “If you want to leave, just put your hand on my knee and I’ll make an excuse.” he calmly offers and it instantly helps calm any nerves you had, you had been undercover in clubs a few times but not with a group quite this dangerous so it would’ve been strange if you weren’t a bit on edge.

Your eyes instantly fix onto Jay who is stood behind the bar, pouring a drink and handing it to Kim. You’re not shocked to find he is already looking at you, slight worry in his eye as he chews the inside of his lip. One of his classic go to when he is anxious, you thought you were going straight to VIP but one of the men approach you and Adam first. Out of no where, a tall man in a black suit stands closely to Adam and that’s when you realise his ear piece and mic pinned to the collar of his shirt “Dan and Alice?” he asks and Adam is quick to offer his hand out to the man “that’s us, sir”. The man glances down to Adam’s hand but then ignores it, Adam returns his hand onto the small of your back with a grunt so quiet that only you could hear it. “This way, you’re late and they’re waiting for you”. He extends his arm to direct you to the VIP area “All due respect, they’re waiting on our money so we’re not in a rush” Adam jokes but the man remains stern “That’s quite the attitude you got there, he always like this sweetie?” he aims the conversation to you and you roll your eyes “Only when he doesn’t get what he wants, doesn’t happen often” you wink and notice the corners of his mouth flicker into a smile briefly before falling back to the scowl “Let’s get on with this then.” he walks round behind the pair of you, forcing you to walk ahead “What a nice guy” Adam mumbles to you, causing you to nudge his chest with your elbow as a warning “You deserved that” a voice speaks from behind you, a reminder he was hot on your heels and could hear everything you were saying “If you’ve got any other sarky comments, I suggest you get them out now because they’re not as forgiving”.

***

What seemed like a few hours had gone by and you well and truly felt like a spare part, sat on Adam’s lap as a mere trophy to impress the others. Joining in the conversation every now and then but apart from that, you remained quiet to offer a smile or the occasional sympathetic laugh. “You wouldn’t mind going to grab us some drinks, darlin’?” one of the men leans forward to you and hands you his empty glass. You don’t accept his gesture as you leave the glass in his hand and don’t make any effort to move “Isn’t that what the staff are for? Shit VIP area if you have to get your own drinks” you scoff and run your fingers through Adam’s hair “Be a good girl and run along, the men have some business to discuss” he winks and you instantly feel you could vomit. “Just grab us a bottle off the top shelf and some glasses, isn’t hard” Adam stares down the man before he taps your leg and places a kiss to your shoulder “Won’t be long baby, you might find some friends at the bar” you grimace a smile at him and huff as you stand from his lap, ensuring you pull down your dress to have some attempt in covering your ass as you head down the stairs. 

Jay already has his eyes on you as you scan over to the bar, taking a mental note of where Kim’s stood and making your way over to her. You lean forward on the bar to Jay, knowing full well your chest is very much extenuated as he struggles to keep his eyes up “A bottle of your finest whiskey and 5 glasses, we’re in VIP so you can just bring them over. Thanks” you demand and hold up the VIP card you had been given to add to the tab.

“Doesn’t work that way angel, you take your own drinks. I’m not a server” Jay is quick to hit back, clearly enjoying his new role “Whatever, just get me the bottle and a shot of vodka” you put the card on his side of the bar and turn to lean your back on the bar and look towards Adam.

“Everything alright?” Kim quietly asks from beside you as Jay places the shot on the bar, you pick it up as quick as it is put down and drink it in one “Splendid”. 

“Are you gonna take this, or?” Jay pipes up from behind you, you turn to look at him and he truly is a sight. Bar towel slung over his shoulder, shirt sleeves rolled up to the elbows and a slight glisten on his skin “No you’re gonna bring it for me.” you smile and strut away from the bar. Jay looks over to Kim who tries to hide her smile in her hand as he rolls his eyes “Voight, never give her this role again. She’s relishing in it far too much” Jay grumbles into the microphone hidden in his collar, Kim is quick to speak back before Jay can walk away “Don’t listen to him Sarge, I think he’s secretly enjoying seeing her in a short dress and heels”.

You can sense Jay watching intently as you make your way up the stairs in front of him, only urging you to swing your hips more with every step. You reach the top and situate yourself next to Adam at the table, Jay makes no delay to turn his attention back onto the drinks and you laugh to yourself at how obvious you found it to be. “Just there is fine, thanks pretty boy” you wink at Jay who grins down at you “Pretty boy?” the tall man, you soon learn to be named Eric questions “You better watch out, he might have her off you” he raises his brows as he drinks “No chance mate, she ain’t going anywhere” Adam runs his hand up and down your leg, stopping at the  hem of your dress.

“Besides, she ain’t gonna go for him. Look at him, a server at a bar isn’t exactly who you want to be with is it?” Adam chuckles and you feel your stomach pull, even knowing Adam was only speaking in his character it still didn’t sit right with you that he was saying those things about Jay “I don’t know, he’s pretty cute” you hit back as Jay stands awkwardly, still pouring the liquid into cold glasses in front of you. Adam runs his hand along his jawline and huffs in a laugh before wrapping his arm round you and pulling you onto his lap and away from Jay “We can pour our own drinks, you can go now”” he adds and Jay nods “have a nice night”. 

His eyes linger on you for a split second before heading back down the stairs to the bar, you could tell he was pissed off just by the way his shoulders were tight and his back was straight as he returns to the bar. You turn your attention back to the group of men, one of which was staring at you far too hungrily which you tried to avoid but couldn’t for much longer as he placed himself next to you on the leather sofa “Mind if I have 5 minutes with your girl? I’ll get her out the way while you all settle up” The man asks and you grip onto Adam’s sholder, hoping he would get the hint of how you didn’t want him to agree “Think I’ll keep her with me if that’s alright, don’t want her causing trouble” Adam jokes but Eric clearly wasn’t taking no for an answer “Come on sweetie, just a bit of fresh air is all. Won’t be long”. You could tell he wasn’t going to let up so patted Adam on the chest and gave him a reassuring smile “I’m sure I’ll be fine”.

You yet again made your way down the stairs, followed closely by Eric who was quick to place his hand at the nape of your neck to guide you towards the exit. You walked past the bar and Jay looked concerned, followed by a scowl on Kim’s face as she watched you get rushed past “Sarge, Y/N is being led out by a white male. 6′4, black hair with a white shirt. She doesn’t exactly look happy about it”. Kim speaks into her microphone and not second goes by before Jay chimes in “Want me to follow?” he asks but Voight doesn’t respond.

“We haven’t got eyes, they came out but have gone round the back. It’d be too obvious for us to move but I can follow on foot?” Hailey speaks over the radio, Jay looks at Kim with a panic as silence is still coming from Voight “Sarge, we need answer” Kevin adds but still nothing “I’m going after them” Jay huffs and slams a glass onto the bar “No, leave her for a few minutes. She will be fine” Voight’s voice finally emerges but Jay isn’t happy “Are you serious? Some guy  has taken her out of sight are you’re happy to sit back and do nothing?” he spits back, standing with his back to the club to avoid raising suspicion “All change to channel 5, you’ll be able to listen into her microphone and then we can decide when to move in” Voight demands as Jay and Kim switch their devices as instructed “Is he fucking serious? If something happens to her I’ll-” Jay leans forward, onto the bar near Kim. “Can still hear you, Halstead” Voight interrupts over the radio and Jay scoffs “Good.”

***

#jay halstead x reader #jay halstead #one chicago #chicago pd #chicago pd imagine #jay halstead drabble #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead smut #one chicago x reader #jay halstead x you #jesse lee soffer

[homoose]

Weird is Good

Summary: A story about two people tryna make it through the age of COVID-19 in a country where people are fucking dumb lmao. My hc is that Spencer would be like wtf at all these science-denying anti-maskers. Also, two teachers just tryna make it through quarantine and remote teaching in a one bedroom apartment (this is taking place during a mandatory leave/lecture cycle).

Pairing: Spencer Reid x fem!reader

Category: fluff

Warnings/Includes: no warnings. reader is both a kindergarten teacher and a bruh girl with a pirate’s mouth. lots of Spencer x factz.

Word count: 3.1k

———

“We’re home for the next two weeks. ”

Spencer looked up from his desk to see Y/N kicking off her shoes, dropping her bag, and walking directly to the sink. “Starting when?”

“We get to go in on Monday to say goodbye to the kids and get any materials we might need. Then we’re home for two weeks. They’re calling it an early, extended spring break.” Y/N began her hand washing routine. As a kindergarten teacher, she’d always been a strict hand-washer. In the time of COVID, she had only become more zealous. She looked at Spencer. “Have you heard anything?”

“Since we’re so close to the end of the semester, the department head thinks they’ll try to finish out the year as normal.” He set down his pen. “I honestly don’t know. It will all depend on whether people follow the CDC guidelines. The spread of any virus is deducible mathematically, and SARS-COV2 is no different. Based on the outbreak in Italy prior to their lockdown, we can accurately describe its reproductive number, or Rt, to between 2.43 – 3.10.”

Y/N shut off the water and dried her hands on a paper towel. “In layman's terms, Dr. Reid.”

“The Rt tells how many people are infected by the contagious host,” he explained. “In the case of this strain, each infected person is infecting between two and three others. For comparison, the standard seasonal flu has an average Rt between 1.4 and 1.7.”

“So in other words, fucking yikes,” Y/N groaned. She moved to perch on the edge of Spencer’s desk.

“Indeed,” Spencer agreed. “We know how fast the flu can travel through an office or a classroom, so imagine if it was two times as transmissible. But it's also really important to understand that this number changes depending on the mitigations in place. Even prior to full lockdown, mask wearing and social distancing was somewhat common in Italy, so it’s likely the uncontrolled Rt is higher.”

“Jesus Christ.” Y/N scrubbed a hand over her face. “We’ll probably never go back.”

Spencer rubbed his hand up from her ankle to the inside of her knee. “The good news is there’s nothing special about this virus compared to others in terms of how it spreads— it’s just aerosols. So if everyone wears their mask, we’ll be able to keep the spread low.”

⧭⧭⧭

“It’s safe to say that everyone did not wear their fucking masks,” Y/N snapped. She watched from the couch as Mayor Bowser delivered the news that DC Public Schools would remain closed for the remainder of the year. “This is crazy. I mean, I knew it was coming because people in this country are absolute buffoons.” She looked at Spencer, fingers pressed to her temple. “But holy shit, are we ever going to be able to go outside again?”

“With schools and universities closed, people working remotely, and lockdown orders in place, the Rt in the US could stay low. But masks have to be worn at all times, and social distancing has to be strictly followed.” Spencer pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose. “I just— I can’t believe people are refusing to wear masks. The empirical, peer-reviewed data clearly shows—”

“This is ‘Murica, boy.” Y/N mocked. “Ain’t no tyrannical government gonna tell me what to do!” She rolled her eyes. “Trust me, your choice to abstain from social media is paying dividends to your sanity right now.”

Spencer looked truly dumbfounded, setting his newspaper down in his lap. “But that’s just it. It’s not just in social media circles.” He gestured to the article in front of him. “This economist just argued for ‘reopening’ the economy using the justification of herd immunity. Herd immunity can be a plausible option for less lethal diseases. But this virus is not like varicella—the chickenpox,” he clarified at Y/N’s raised eyebrow. He waved his hands around in exasperation. “Putting aside the fact that one facet of herd immunity is vaccinating as many people as possible, its success completely hinges on the Rt of a disease. If you model a population based on an Rt of 2.5, herd immunity wouldn’t be achieved until approximately sixty percent of the population has been infected. Consider that the US population is currently 328 million, and sixty percent of that is 196.8 million. The current mortality rate for SARS-COV2 is 3.06 percent. 196,800,000 multiplied by 0.0306 is 6,022,080. Over six million people would die. It's simple mathematics.”

Y/N let out an exasperated breath. “It used to be that simple math and facts were enough. Now you’ve got basement scientists who think they know better than actual, literal scientists who’ve spent their entire lives studying these things.” She ran a hand over her face and gestured at the news conference still playing. “How long do you think it’ll be before we’re both trying to teach from this tiny ass living room?”

⧭⧭⧭

“Goooooooood morning, kindergarten! It’s Friday, and no Friday is a bad Friday!” Spencer smiled. As he poured his first cup of coffee, he hummed along with Y/N and 23 six-year-olds as they sang their morning song. Observing fourteen days of remote kindergarten from across the living room had given Spencer a new appreciation for elementary school teachers, particularly Y/N. She sang, danced, conducted science experiments, held puppet shows, read stories, led art projects, and fielded questions for four hours a day— three hours less than when they were in the school building. He was exhausted by proxy.

But he was also grateful for the opportunity to watch Y/N in her element. Even though they were at home, she still got dressed every day in bright, patterned sweaters and dresses— her Ms. Frizzle attire, she’d told him once. She was able to channel her personality into a kid-friendly version that her students clearly adored, never afraid to be silly or strange to get their attention and keep them engaged during the long days. He worked from home whenever possible, strangely happy to have the background noise of kindergarten over his quiet university office.

...

“Okay, but where do I put the biiiiiiiiiiiig number?” Y/N made a wide gesture with her arms. “Ariah, where should I put it? In the big box, yes! But oh no, my small number needs a friend. My three is soooooo lonely!” Y/N drew her mouth into a pout. “DJ, how can I help my three not be so sad? You’re absolutely right, let’s put that two right next to him in our number bond.”

…

“I’ve been waitin’  for a girl to mute,” Y/N sang into the gold karaoke mic. “I said, muuuuuuuuuute, I’m blinded by loud sounds. No, I can’t hear the friend who’s tryin’ to talk.”

…

“Oh boy. Kev, honey, we can— we can see you. Kevin, Kevin, Kevin. We can see all of you. I can’t turn your camera off, buddy. You gotta— there we go.”

…

“Mute please, I need— I need everybody to mute, please. Oh my goodness where is that music coming from?” Y/N frantically searched for her index card with the picture of the mute icon, as the sounds of a highly inappropriate song blared through the computer speaker. “I know it’s so loud, guys. Why is my mute power gone?! This is why we need to make sure we keep our mute button on, kindergarten.”

…

“No sweetie, it’s not time to log off yet. I’m sorry, I know it’s such a long day. We have about an hour left. Do you guys wanna do a countdown? It’s the fin-al count-down! Do-do doo dooooo. Do-do-d-do-dooo…”

…

“Annnnnd, I should see all my friends on mute. William, hang on just a second. All my friends need to look at my picture, it’s an oval with a line through it… Okay, William, what did you bring to show us?” Y/N leaned toward the computer screen. “Grandma Kathy? O-oh, she’s— she’s in the—“ Y/N’s eyes widened. “Is that— is that an urn? Oh wow. Um, well, wow. It’s beautiful. Thank you so much for sharing that with us, William. Grandma Kathy, may she rest in peace.”

⧭⧭⧭

A week into Y/N teaching kindergarten from their living room, the university had announced its transition to online coursework for the remainder of the academic year. Spencer had to host his first zoom lecture, and he was absolutely dreading it.

“Spence, it’s going to be fine. It’s not like you’ve never been on a video conference,” Y/N assured him. She sat cross-legged on the couch, waiting for him to let her in to his practice zoom.

“Yeah, but I wasn’t running those meetings. I just showed up.” He squinted at the computer screen. “Are you in?”

Y/N barely resisted the urge to make a joke, knowing that Spencer probably wouldn’t appreciate the innuendo. “No, you have to admit me.”

“What do you mean? How do I do that?”

“There should be a box with a button that says admit.”

Spencer gestured at the computer. “Well there’s a bunch of boxes— which one should I be looking at?”

Y/N sighed and got up from the couch. “IQ of 187 and can’t find the box.”

Spencer dragged a hand through his hair. “I know I shouldn’t find this so difficult. I’m sorry you have to waste your time on this.”

“Hey, it was a joke.” Y/N grabbed his hand from where he was frustratedly pulling on his frazzled curls. “I’m sorry. That was mean and you’re already stressed enough.” She used her free hand to smooth his hair back into place. She scrunched her nose. “I love you and your limited technology skills. And honestly it’s kind of nice to have one thing I can actually teach you about.” She squeezed his hand, leaning over him to peer at his computer screen. “All right, let’s find that elusive admit button.”

When the day of his lecture rolled around, Spencer thanked all the atoms in the observable universe that Y/N had a break during his class. Within the first ten minutes, he’d managed to accidentally kick himself out of his own meeting and then somehow lose track of the screenshare button.

“No one can see me and I don’t know what happened to the screenshare option. It was there and now it’s just… gone,” he told Y/N.

She leaned over his desk, eyes tracking over the screen and mouse clicking around the desktop. “How in the world did you manage to block your camera?”

“I don’t know! I didn’t even touch it!” He pinched the bridge of his nose. “I don’t understand how it’s even possible to be this bad at this.”

Y/N bumped his knee with her own, pulling up his camera settings and preferences. “Relax. You can’t be good at everything. It’s a refreshing reminder that you’re a mere mortal like the rest of us.” With a few rapid clicks, Y/N unblocked his camera and located the screenshare bar. “There. Crisis averted. I’m just going to share your whole screen in case you want to toggle between application windows. So just be aware that they’ll be able to see everything. And then you just click here when you’re ready to stop sharing.”

When Y/N turned her head toward him to check that he understood, Spencer grabbed the side of her face and caught her lips in a kiss. Y/N smiled against his mouth, heart speeding up as he traced the seam of her mouth with his tongue.

“Um, Dr. Reid? Your um— your camera’s working now.”

Spencer nearly fell out of his chair, his cheeks about the color of the Leave Meeting icon. Y/N dropped her head, debating whether she wanted to laugh or let the earth open up and swallow her whole. She ultimately decided to compose herself, stepping back and giving a little wave to the sea of tiny, grinning zoom faces before slinking out of frame, miming sorry to one very mortified professor.

⧭⧭⧭

“Would you want to be our mystery reader next week?” Y/N asked, bookmarking the page of her novel and reclining back in bed. “You just have to pick a story to read. Oh, and think of four clues about your identity to give the kiddos.”

Spencer raised his eyebrow, continuing to read. “Any story?”

Y/N laughed. “Well they’re six, so maybe hold off on the Chaucer and Bradbury for now. A picture book would be preferable.”

“Did you know that the first picture book, Orbis Sensualium Pictus, or Visible World in Pictures, was published in 1658?” He looked up from his own book. “Czech educator John Amos Comenius wanted to create a book that would be accessible to children of all levels of ability. The educational theories he explored are actually still in practice in the field of early childhood education.” He turned toward her from his spot under the covers. “For example, when you have your students make a hissing sound and slither their arms when they produce the sound represented by the letter s? Comenius included an alphabet chart with various animal and human sounds representing each letter. He wanted to demonstrate that the incorporation of multiple senses could help increase learning.”

“I guess you don’t fix what isn’t broken,” Y/N mused. “300 years later, and we’re still using the same methods.”

“362, actually,” Spencer corrected.

She gave him a look. “Maybe we can save the Comenius for another time.”

“The genre of children’s literature encompasses some of the most profound and philosophical story telling of all time.” Spencer returned his attention to his reading.

“...So is that a yes?”

Spencer smiled. “I’ve got a book in mind.”

“And clues,” Y/N reminded him, snuggling down under the covers and reopening her book. “We need some fun clues, mystery reader.”

…

“Kindergarten, we have a very special mystery reader this week. Oh man, are you ready for the first clue? The mystery reader loves jell-o! Raise your little hand if you love jell-o, too. Okay, kindergarten, I see you! Lots of jell-o lovers in the house.”

…

“Okay, clue number two! Our mystery reader works as a community helper— remember we learned about all different kinds of community helpers; firefighters, nurses, police officers. But if the mystery reader could be anything, they’d want to be a cowboy! How cool is that?”

...

“Clue number three for our mystery reader!” Y/N sucked in a gasp. “You guys. The mystery reader can do magic. Oh my goodness, I am so excited for Friday,” she sing-songed. “Will they show us a trick? Hmmm, I don’t know. Maybe if you ask nicely.”

…

“Okay, my friends, the last clue. The mystery reader loves reading. They read every day, and they’ve been reading since 1983! Yes, that was a very long time ago.”

⧭⧭⧭

“Okay, any last guesses about who our mystery reader might be?” Y/N questioned.

“I think it’s your dad,” a little voice called out.

Spencer made a choking noise from where he sat, slightly off camera. Y/N laughed. “The mystery reader is decidedly not my dad, Keyshon. Remember I showed you guys the picture of him— my dad’s a farmer, so he’s kind of already a cowboy.” She clapped her hands together. “Okay, without further ado, drumroll please... Our mystery reader is…” Y/N pushed her desk chair out of frame to allow Spencer to roll in, holding her hands out. “Spencer!”

He gave a little wave, smoothing his hair, suddenly painfully self-aware and nervous about the opinions of two dozen six-year-olds. “Hi guys.”

“You’re the boy on Ms. Y/L/N’s phone.”

“Your hair is so fluffy!”

“Do you have a cowboy hat?”

“I like your sweater.”

“Can you really do magic?”

“What’s your favorite jell-o?”

“Whoa, okay, let’s remember our mute button,” Y/N, holding up her index card. “I promise you’ll get to ask Spencer all your questions after he reads the story.”

Spencer smiled at the excited faces beaming through the screen. “Yes, I’m on Ms. Y/L/N’s phone; I don’t own a cowboy hat, yet; yes, I really can do magic; and the red jell-o is my favorite.”

Y/N watched with interest as Spencer pulled out his book. He’d been secretive about his choice, so she was as curious as her students.

“This is one of my favorite stories. It’s written by Munro Leaf, and illustrated by Robert Lawson. It’s The Story of Ferdinand.” Spencer held the cover up to the camera. “Ferdinand is the bull here on the cover. This story was written in 1935, which was a long time ago! Okay are you ready?” Spencer looked out on a sea of thumbs up, turning the page to the beginning of the story. “Once upon a time in Spain, there was a bull, and his name was Ferdinand.”

Y/N smiled as she listened to Spencer read each page, recounting the story of the peaceful bull. He was an excellent storyteller, changing the inflection and expression of his voice to match each sentence. He held each page up for just the right amount of time, panning it so her students could see each detail of the black and white pictures. He added his own wonderings and exclamations here and there, and her students were decidedly enthralled. Her heart ached at how comfortable he was, how natural this was for him. She rested her chin in her hand, trying to keep her mind in the present— ignoring the persistent little mental image of Spencer as a dad.

“So they had to take Ferdinand home. And for all I know, he is sitting there still, under his favorite cork tree, smelling the flowers just quietly. He is very happy… And that’s The Story of Ferdinand.” Spencer closed the book with a soft smile. “I love this story. Ferdinand is a very special bull. What do you think makes him so special?”

“Ferdinand didn’t fight,” a little voice piped up.

“Yes!” Spencer agreed. “He practiced pacifism in the face of the persistent, ingrained militarism of his country’s culture.”

Y/N placed a hand on Spencer’s knee and gave a quick squeeze. “Right, Ferdinand chose not to fight, even though everybody else he knew wanted to.” Y/N winked at him before turning back to the screen full of kids. “All his friends thought he was kind of weird, but he just really wanted to hang out in the shade and smell the flowers, huh? Sounds pretty good to me.”

“He wasn’t bothered that the other bulls thought he was strange for wanting to be peaceful,” Spencer added. “Sometimes being different can be a good thing. The Story of Ferdinand reminds me that it’s okay to be yourself, even if other people think you’re weird.” His eyes met Y/N’s. “Because there will always be people who love and appreciate you for who you are.”

#spencer reid #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid x you #criminal minds fanfiction #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid fanfiction #criminals minds self insert #dr spencer reid #professor spencer reid #spencer reid fanfic #criminal minds #homoose writes

[bqstqnbruin]

F is for Friends - part 3

Whoops I'm in class rn but I just finished part 3 so here it is! I think this is the longest part so far, but not much longer than the others, so have fun.

But yeah, ignore typos, I might fix them eventually, but knowing me, I'll miss them so call em out if you feel like it.

Read the other parts here: Part 1 // Part 2 // Part 4

________________________

“I don’t get why it has to be him, though,” Keelan whines on the other end of the phone. You did the stupid thing and reminded him that Nolan and some of his teammates were visiting your classroom to do a lab with your honors kids today, and he reacted exactly how you expected him to while you were driving in that morning.

“Because Anderson is an ass and Nolan volunteered.”

“Ok, but why Nolan?” he asks, saying his name like it was cursed

“Because when I called Tom Holland he said he was busy.”

“You know what I mean,” he mumbles.

“No, I don’t.” Yes, you did, but you weren’t about to tell him that.

“Why couldn’t you have invited Fran and Lindsey?”

You sigh, pulling into your parking space outside the school, Javier already waiting for you by the door. “Because they had to be prominent and I don’t think anyone needs the two of them trying to do an experiment. Now, I have to go, Nolan and the guys will be here after lunch, I’m already fucking nervous because of Anderson. I love you, goodbye,” you tell him, hanging up before he can get another word in.

“Are you ready?” Javier asks, handing you the cup of coffee he had picked up for you, waiting outside by his car like he did every morning.

“I almost threw up, like, five times getting ready this morning and Keelan is being an ass about this,” you huff, struggling to swipe your ID to get into the building. “Why isn’t this working?”

He takes the ID out of your hand, flipping it around in his fingers before swiping it himself. “Holding it the right way might help.”

You take it from him, clearly annoyed. “If this is any indication as to how the rest of the day is going to go I’m quitting and looking for another job at 3 pm.”

“So you’re not going to be dramatic today, I see,” Javier jokes, earning a glare from him as the two of you walk up to your classroom, greeting students as you passed by them in the halls. “Hey, listen. You’re a great teacher,” your friend assures you once you unlock your classroom door. “You’re going to be fine. If you need me, I have my free period during your first class they’re here, and I think Charlie has a free period during your second if you still need someone to run interference when Anderson is there.”

“Thanks,” you tell him, turning into your classroom to get ready for the day. Your phone was buzzing with texts, some angry from Keelan about what he was now referring to as ‘the neighbor situation,’ and one from Nolan asking you to confirm yet again where they were supposed to go.

“Are you buying lunch today?” Javier comes back into your room with his own to stash in the fridge that was in the back corner of your class. It wasn’t yours, nor was it for food technically, but that didn’t stop you and Javier from stashing your lunches in there instead of walking down to the teacher's lounge on the other side of the school.

You sit there for a minute, trying to remember if you even grabbed it when you were heading out the door that morning. Between Keelan busting your ass about Nolan, thinking of the lesson the lab that you were doing that afternoon, and just the general morning antics of getting out the door on time, you left your lunch bag on your kitchen counter. “Is there still a box of cereal in there?” you ask him when he opens the fridge.

“Yeah.”

“That’s my lunch then,” you say, keeping it in there so it wouldn’t be exposed to chemicals or attract any sort of rodent or vermin that you had no desire in dealing with. You knew today was going to be hell, and you weren’t even prepared for the college prep kids you were going to see during the second and third periods. You do your best to scramble and get everything you needed, thankful for the first time that you were giving them a test that you could grade during lunch and last period (and honestly, at home since that’s where most grading took place) instead of having to worry about teaching them when your mind was occupied by your honors lesson that day.

By the time your college prep kids were done with their tests, you were trying to mentally prepare for the lab, only to freak yourself out. Your computer dings, right before the bell rings, a message from Anderson saying that he would be stopping by during the second period to observe since ‘it was his job to make sure you were doing well as your superior.’ God, you hated him. The bell for lunch rings, your students filing out of your room as you grab the mug you kept on your desk and poured as much cereal into it as you could.

Javier comes back into your room, grabbing his lunch and plopping himself down at the table, eating his lunch as the two of you fell into conversation as you always did. Not even five minutes in, your classroom phone rings right as you hit print for the instructions you wrote up for the boys.

“Y/L/N’s room,” you answer, the school’s secretary telling you that the guys were in the office waiting for you. “Oh, wow, ok, I’ll be right down.” You hang up, throwing your hair into a bun, and grab your mug of cereal. “I’m getting the guys, do you want to come with me or wait here until we come back?”

Javier comes with you, both of you practically running through the halls out of panic that your students would bombard whoever Nolan brought with him. You were munching away at the cereal as you open the door to the main office, seeing Nolan and two of the other guys in their Flyers jerseys, all of them looking awkward with their hands in their pockets, unsure of what else to do. “Hey, guys!” you greet them, Nolan the first to turn around. Fuck him for looking good and making your heart skip a beat. It’s not fair, is it? “Uh, this is Javier, one of the other chem teachers,” you introduce him once you collect yourself, trying not to focus all your attention on Nolan.

This was at most a crush. Just a crush on the boy who lived next door to you. Who was also hot and sweet. Just a crush that you shouldn’t even be thinking about at school to begin with, so who cares? Having a crush on a boy does not mean that you loved him or that you loved Keelan any less. Oskar and Travis introduce themselves to you and Javier, the five of you walking back to your classroom while you continue to eat the cereal, suddenly very conscious of how weird it looked.

“No Kev?” you ask Nolan, the two of you lagging behind the other three guys while they talk.

Nolan shrugs, feeling nervous to even be with you in the school hallway. Every single thing he’s thought about you in the last how many days started flooding back to him, something was telling him that besides the fact that he shouldn’t be thinking them at all, he shouldn’t be thinking of them in your school. “He said he didn’t sleep well last night so he was going to stay at our place.”

“Hey, Y/N, what are we doing today?” Oskar asks, pulling your attention away from Nolan once you get back to your classroom.

“The kids are going to be designing a lab where they have to use the ideas of limiting and excess reactant to get the desired product.”

“What does that mean?” Travis asks, Javier sitting back and watching everything happen.

“So you’re not always going to have a perfect ratio of chemicals, nor are all reactions going to go to completion where everything reacts with everything,” you start to explain. “Think of it this way: you guys have your roster of however many players, yeah? You need three forwards, and two bluelines out on the ice in a normal five-on-five. Say every line is locked in; it can’t be changed, you can’t move people around, you can’t have people playing with different players outside of their line, it’s always the same five people. If you have nine forwards and 8 defensemen, how many line combinations can you have?”

“Three,” Nolan answers you.

“Why?”

“Because you have enough defense for four lines, but only three lines when you’re looking at forwards.”

“Right,” you say, not noticing the looks that Oskar and Travis were giving Nolan, “so your forwards in this case, are going to be like your limiting reactant, your blueliners are your excess because you would have two of them leftover.”

“And what are the kids going to do?” Oskar asks you.

“I’m going to give them a desired product, tell them how much of it they want to make, and they’re going to have to figure out how much of each reactant they’re going to need to make that.”

“And they can do that?” Travis asks.

“Knowing Y/N, they can,” Nolan mumbles, his cheeks turning red.

Before you can respond, the bell rings indicating the end of lunch. “Well, alright then.”

The boys and Javier lean against the back counter, your students coming into your classroom as you tried to down the rest of your cereal that you forgot about while you were talking to the boys. You knew that you wouldn’t be able to eat during the lab given the chemicals, but you definitely had to eat something.

“Ms. Y/L/N, who are they?” Spencer asks.

You hold up your finger for him to wait a minute, some of your students knowing who they are, one of your girls going absolutely feral in the corner opposite from where they were standing. The bell rings for you finally start class, getting your 24 students to quiet down as they wondered what the guys were doing. “We have guests today!” you tell them in your cheeriest teacher voice. You were genuinely excited for them to be there, but now that they actually were in the same room as your students, your nerves were threatening to take over. “From the Philadelphia Flyers, we have Oskar Lindblom, Travis Konecny, and Nolan Patrick to do our lab with us today! And for this period we also have Mr. Emillion, and later Mr. Fitzgerald later, so we’re going to have a lot of adults in our room.”

You start explaining your agenda for the day with your kids, knowing that some of them were focusing on the boys more than they were on you. You get into your lesson anyway, starting with your review questions. “If you have a reactant that remains after the reaction, is that the excess or the limiting reactant?”

“Excess,” Nolan mumbles under his breath as one of your students says the same thing. You ask another question, Nolan answering again, Travis and Oskar looking between him and each other.

“So, since when do you know so much about chemistry?” Travis leans over to Nolan while you’re explaining the directions to your students.

“I don’t. Y/N already explained it to me.”

“Let me rephrase it: since when do you care about chemistry?” Nolan just shrugs, pretending like he didn’t know what Travis was getting on about. “Oh, come on. Kevin told us about you liking her. At least be less obvious about it if you aren’t going to ask her out.”

Nolan takes in a deep breath, “We’re not doing this now.”

The students go off to do their thing, trying to brainstorm the procedure when you go up to the guys. Javier was already walking around and listening to the students chatter about their ideas. “So, you guys can guide them through everything, don’t outright tell them any of the steps they’re supposed to have written down. Follow what Javier and I are doing, I guess,” you tell them, having to force yourself to look at Oskar and Travis instead of just Nolan. They nod and start walking around, clearly confused.

This was going to end very poorly and you knew it. Especially with Anderson coming in. You watch the four guys walk around, the three hockey players clueless as the students try to figure out how they can interact with them. You realize the copies you made for them were still sitting in the printer tray in the other room, running to get them before anyone noticed you were gone. You were so scatter-brained by everything today, adding to the general anxiety you felt going into the lesson.

You start walking around, listening to the students and guiding them as they needed you to, thankful that they were actually getting the procedure they needed without much difficulty. “Alright, it looks like most of you have the procedure down,” you say to your class, walking around and hovering over your student's shoulders. “Make sure that before you start, either Mr. E or myself have to sign off on it, then our guys from the Flyers can help you with the lab. Sound good?”

Your students all agree, calling you and Javier over to read through their procedures so they can start. You were getting more nervous over the threat of the bell ringing soon and knowing that Javier had to go and teach his class, leaving you alone with the boys when Anderson came in to observe, too. You were running around, trying to scan through the procedures to make sure they were right so they could start working after the bell rang.

The bell sounds, your students starting to get chaotic, “Alright guys, you can take a break now or once you get your reaction heating, but not both. It’s up to you but you get five minutes either way.”

Some of your groups leave to go hang out in the hallway while their other friends move to their next class, some of your students get right to work with their lab goggles to start mixing. You were just waiting for Anderson to come in so he could rip you to shreds for whatever he felt like today.

“Hey,” Nolan says, taking you out of your trance. “You’re doing fine.”

“This experiment has to go well with the three of you,” you tell him, watching Oskar and Travis trying to help some of your students. Trying was the keyword there, but the students looked like they were having fun teaching the guys what to do.

“You’re an awesome teacher, it’s going to go well. Look at them. They know exactly what they’re doing and you barely had to tell them. That’s a great teacher,” you hear him say. You give him an unsure look. “Come on, would I lie to you?”

You shrug, a smile on your face. You could feel the heat rush to your cheeks as he scoffs when you tell him, “I don’t know.”

“Miss Y/L/N! Nice to see you!” you hear that voice calling you when the bell rings, all of your students filtering back in and getting right to work, knowing that Nolan heard you start mumbling under your breath as soon as Anderson appeared in your doorway.

“Hi, Mr. Fitzgerald,” you say, fake sweetness dripping in your voice when Anderson comes right up to you. “Class, say hi to Mr. Fitz!” you call him the nickname you knew he hated.

He looks around your room, trying to see who you brought. The fake smile he had plastered on his face drops when he sees the three guys. “You know the Flyers?”

You tried your hardest to hide the obvious smile on your own face, seeing the anger build inside him knowing that you had someone more impressive to work with your students. You shrug, “Yeah. Nolan here is my neighbor,” you introduce him, Nolan offering up an awkward wave, “I mean, they aren’t the president of a school in a university, but I think the students are having fun.”

“So what are the students doing?” Anderson asks, his face red with jealousy that you brought the boys.

Nolan walks away, as you start to explain that your students are going to make zinc chloride from an anhydrous copper chloride and solid zinc solution. He had no idea what it meant, but he knew that it was a silver piece of metal with a blue solid that you dissolve in water and it’s supposed to create a milky-looking liquid.

He starts walking through the class, listening to your students as they do the experiment, even though he still had no idea what they were talking about. One of your students was sitting in the corner, watching everything happen around him but not participating. “Hey, bud,” Nolan approaches him. “How’s it going?”

The student just nods, not taking his eyes off his paper while his partner does the rest of the work.

“I’m Nolan,” he says, sitting down next to the child. He watches the other student continue to mix the solution to get it to react. “So you let that sit now, right?”

“Yep.”

You and Anderson stand and watch the students, Anderson saying something about how the experiment was going, but you weren’t listening to him at all. You were making sure your students were doing what they needed to, working on the additional practice problems they had while the solution was sitting, seeing them get out the hot plates and set them up for when they would need them later, interacting with each other.

“Anderson,” you say, cutting him off once you see Nolan in the back corner, “look.”

He follows your gaze to Darren, your student who normally didn’t say a word, talking with Nolan and explaining everything to him. Nolan had a huge smile on his face that mirrored Darren’s and his partner Sydney’s. “I’ve never seen him talk with someone before,” Anderson says, dumbfounded. You knew Darren had been assigned to your class because Anderson wanted to see you work with ‘an unworkable student’ as you had overheard him telling Javier at the end of last school year. Darren was laughing with Nolan and Sydney, doing the work and actually helping his partner more than just doing the work on paper and passing it over to Syd like he normally did.

You both stand there, watching the three of them interact. You had a huge smile on your face, feeling the heat rush to your cheeks when Nolan looks away from the students and smiles at you, Darren holding up the beaker with their pale blue solution in it to show you. You give them a thumbs up, turning to Anderson and boasting, “I think they’re doing well.”

Anderson mumbles something under his breath, probably for the better since you had a feeling it was something about you as a general person.

You scan the room again, watching Travis and Oskar interact with the students, still not really sure what they were doing, but they all had smiles on their faces, so you couldn’t complain. You leave Anderson, walking around the room, making sure your students were doing ok. One of the groups asks you a question about the review worksheet they were doing, leaning against the table to help them. You listen to them talk through the problem, seeing Nolan staring at you out of the corner of your eye. Why couldn’t you focus on your students when he was right there?

You look up at the clock when you finish with that group of students. “Alright, y’all,” you get their attention, “Eyes on me for a minute. We have ten more minutes before the bell rings, which means we need to be cleaned up by then so you guys can get to your next class. You can leave the mixtures on the hot plates if they aren’t done heating and I will watch them. What I want one person to do right now is get a paper town and write you and your partner’s names on it and put it on the back counter for them to cool and we can mass them tomorrow, ok?” Your students agree and start scurrying around the room to do what you told them.

You move out of the way, going back to Anderson. “I’m impressed,” he says, a hint of genuine shock in his voice.

“Oh, really?”

Before he can answer, you hear something drop, the distinct sound of glass shattering on the floor. “No one move!” you say, all of your students halting as you try to figure out who dropped what.

Your student Nina waves you over as you rush to get your dustpan and brush, Anderson rushing over to help you clean up. “Are you alright?” you ask her.

“I cut my hand a little,” she lets out, showing you the scratch on her finger.

Anderson cleans up the glass, the rest of your students careful not to break anything else. You knew something had to go wrong. The day was going to perfect for something to not ruin it. “Let’s clean you up.” You help Nina wash her hand, making sure none of the chemicals got on her as you search for a bandage. “Was that the beaker with the zinc chloride?” She nods, you see a tear threatening to roll down her cheeks, knowing that she just ruined the product they had spent the entire period making and heating. Nolan watches you comfort her, feeling his heart flutter at the sight of you bandaging up your student. He pictured himself coming home after a game he got a fight in, you being there and helping him clean up a little more.

“Dude,” Travis whispers, scaring Nolan out of his fantasy. “You’re drooling.”

He waves him off while he watches you comfort your student who had started crying. “Hey, Neen,” you coo, a smile on your face, “It’s ok. Accidents happen. Remember I told you I was a lab assistant when I was in college? I can’t even count how many things I broke during one semester, let alone the entire time I was in the lab. We worked on the motto: if you break things that means you’re working hard. The harder you work, the more you break.”

“But we have to redo it,” she lets out.

You give her a nod, scrunching your face up. “Yeah. But if you get it started I can watch it heat. Do you have a class next period?” She nods. “Alright, hey Spencer?” you call over Nina’s partner, “Come here for a sec? Do you have a class next period?”

“Yeah. But I have a free period first period tomorrow. I can come in then.”

“Ok, here’s what we’re going to do,” you start, “Tomorrow, Spencer is going to come start the experiment, then Nina, do you have a free period at all?”

“Second period.”

“Perfect! Spencer will get it started, Nina will finish it, and if it’s not completely dry by class, I’ll give you an extra day to do the calculations. Sound good?”

They both nod, the bell ringing as you tell your students goodbye. That had to be the most stressful double period of your life, thanks to all the men who had to be in your room with you, the fourth of them now standing there staring at you.

“Not bad, Y/L/N,” Anderson says. “Only one thing broke. That’s gotta be a new record for you.”

He leaves before you could protest, your mouth hanging open even though you weren’t sure how you could even rebuttal his statement. You look at the three guys, Nolan looking significantly more upset than he probably needed to be. “That’s the first time something’s broken in three months.”

“He really is an ass,” Nolan says, grabbing a seat at one of the tables.

“I told you.”

“So, uh,” Travis starts, looking between you and Nolan. “Do you have another class or anything?”

“Nope. I have my last period free, but I have to go to the library in case any chem students need tutoring. You guys are free to go. I really can’t thank you guys enough. I’m not sure what I could ever do to make it up to you, but anything. This was huge,” you gush, really meaning it. The students loved it, and other than the one beaker breaking and Nina’s slight break down as a result, it went really well. You had done the lab in the past where the students had to redo the lab three times before it even worked, this time, you only saw one group redo it one time.

“Yeah, Nolan can probably think of something,” you thought you heard Oskar mumble, Nolan glaring at him. “We should get going, then.”

“Actually, Y/N, do you mind if I get a ride home with you?” Nolan asks as you gather your things to head down to the library. “You know, so they don’t have to go out of their way to drive me home?”

Travis’s mouth hangs open, a stupid grin on his face as he nudges Oskar, both of them looking at you as you’re clearly caught off guard. “Uh, yeah sure, we just have to go to the library, like I said. Are you sure you want to stay? I won’t leave for another hour and a half.”

“Yeah, I do,” he tells you, his cheeks bright red.

“Ok, um, you guys go back to the main office and sign out, I’ll just call down and tell them you’re staying?”

Travis and Oskar leave after bickering over something with Nolan that was out of earshot for you. Why would he want to stay? He had mentioned that Travis didn’t live that far away, so the ‘going out of their way’ argument seemed invalid.

You shake it off, leading Nolan down to the library. “You did a great job with Darren, by the way.”

He shrugs, taking the seat across from you at the empty table you found. Students were walking around, you hopeful that none of them would need help from you. “He’s a good kid.”

“I’m so excited to tell his mom about today,” you say, typing away on your computer. You look up, reading Nolan’s confused expression. “Getting Darren to talk in the class has yet to be successful for me. His mom asked me at the beginning of the year to tell her whenever he has a good day. I’ve never seen him talk that much and genuinely enjoy it.”

“Do you email all the parents when their kids have a good day?”

You shake your head, “I try to. High school kids, because they’re teenagers, don’t always get the praise and excitement from adult figures in their lives because they’re in that period of ‘you’re still a child and are treated as such but are expected to act like an adult.’. Even if it’s something small like they were participating a lot more than normal like in Darren’s case. It makes them more motivated and willing to learn if they know you recognize when they do something good.”

“Really?”

You force yourself not to make eye contact with him, knowing that you would see him blushing as he always was and that would, in turn, make you do the same. “Come on,” you say, pretending to watch out for kids who could be coming for tutoring, “don’t you remember when you were in school getting excited over the simple act of a sticker on a test you got a good grade on? I remember my senior year we were sitting in our world language class and everyone got an A on the test our teacher gave, and we all started begging for stickers because she had given them the last three years we had her. She was so annoyed with us, but every test after that, no matter what grade we got, a sticker was always on the test. It’s little, but it’s fun.”

“Teaching is a lot more than I thought it was,” you hear him say. Honestly, he wasn’t really paying attention to the words coming out of your mouth; he just loved that you were talking about something you so clearly loved.

You laugh, “Yeah. It can be a lot. You haven’t seen my college prep classes. Honors is a little easier because the students are slightly more independent in terms of their work, but my CP kids just have more needs for them to learn the same material.”

“What?”

“It’s the ‘lower level, but the difference is it just takes longer for those kids to learn the same information. So what we did today, I’ll probably do in a month or so with CP, and I would give them the procedure, either straight up or have them fill in the blanks depending on the child and the group.”

“Depending on their group?”

“Yeah. Each lesson has to meet the needs of every child, which means modifying and accommodating it based on if they have an IEP, a 504, which falls under special education plans, or if their parents request it or the student themself requests it but it’s not written. Like, I wouldn't interact with you the same way I would interact with Fran, or Maddy, or Keelan," or elaborate, swallowing hard at the mention of your boyfriend's name. " You interact with people based on how you need to interact with them and what their needs are. Kids aren’t one size fits all, so why should their education be?”

You kept talking but he stopped listening, hating himself for the realization that he came to while you talked about teaching, a soft smile covering your face while you continue to look around for students instead of looking at him: whatever feelings he had for you were more than just a crush, Kevin and Travis sadly being correct. He wasn’t in love with you, but he wanted, needed to be more than just your friend.

But you were still with Keelan.

The bell rings, signaling the end of the day, you and Nolan going back to your classroom until you were contractually allowed to leave. “So what are you doing tonight?” Nolan asks you. He wasn’t sure where he was going with this, but he didn’t want his day with you to end once you pulled into the parking space outside your apartments.

You shrug, looking around your desk for the tests that you had given your CP kids that morning. “Grading these,” you tell him, holding them up before stuffing them into your bag. He opens his mouth, about to say something when you get cut off by the sound of your phone. “Oh, it’s Keelan!” you squeal, Nolan’s entire body deflating at the sound of your boyfriend’s name. “Hey, you’re on speaker, I’m here with Nolan.”

He lets out a sigh before giving you a monotonous, “Hey, guys.”

“What’s up?”

“What are you doing tonight?” he asks you, Nolan’s heart dropping, knowing where this was going.

“I was just telling Nolan that I was going to grade the tests for my CP kids, why?”

“Can that wait until tomorrow, do you think?”

Running through your schedule in your head, you tell him, “Yeah, they’re not expecting them back for a week anyway.”

“Let’s go out tonight.”

Nolan could feel himself getting sick listening to this conversation, for no other reason than he wanted to be the one with you tonight. But he knew he couldn’t as he watched the smile on your face grow. “Where?”

“I want to take you somewhere nice, you know, treat my girl how she deserves to be treated. We haven’t had a date night in a while and I miss you.”

“What time do you want to go?” you ask him, your heart racing. It wasn’t racing in excitement to be with Keelan, but because you were suddenly incredibly aware of Nolan being right there as you were being asked out by the guy you were sure you loved.

“I’ll pick you up at five?”

“Sounds great. I’ll see you then.”

“I love you, Y/N.”

You hesitate, looking at Nolan who was no longer making eye contact with you. “Love you, too, Keel,” you force yourself to get out. You hang up, looking at the clock to see that it was thankfully time for the two of you to leave and go home, giving you around an hour to get ready by the time you got home and got as much ready as you could for school tomorrow. “We’re free to leave now, if you want,” you offer him, packing up your bag for the day.

He just nods, waiting for you at the door as you walk out to the car, driving home in silence, only a mumble goodbye as the two of you get out of your car and go inside.

Five pm rolls around, Keelan getting out of his car to greet you as you go running up to him. Nolan watches you from his window, knowing he was being a creep, but he couldn’t help it. You looked perfect in the dress and heels you had on, your hair and makeup done to make you look more beautiful than he had ever seen. He watched you run into Keelan’s arms, Keelan lifting you off the group as the two of you kissed, Nolan green with envy as he watched him get the door for you for the two of you to drive off to the night he wished he was experiencing with you.

#nolan patrick #nolan patrick imagines #philadelphia flyers #philadelphia flyers imagines #flyers #flyers imagines #nhl #nhl imagines #hockey #hockey imagines #f is for friends

[thebookreader12345]

Snowed In

Pairing: Jay Halstead x reader

Summary: The Intelligence Unit is snowed in at the district, so Y/N decides to have Christmas at the precinct

Requested: Yes, by anonymous

Warnings: none

Word Count: 1,184 Words

Note: There will be one more Christmas imagine after this one, and it is also a Jay Halstead one

“Did you guys see what outside looks like? I could barely see two feet in front of my face,” I tell the team and shake the remaining snow off of my coat and hat.

“Yeah. It looked crazy. Hopefully we can just finish our paperwork and get out of here so we won’t have to be here all of Christmas,” Adam commented from his spot at his desk.

“Right. I don’t want to be here for Christmas. Jay and I were planning on going to my parents’ house for lunch,” I state.

“Y/N’s mom makes the best apple pie I have ever eaten, and I would very much like to eat at least three pieces,” Jay said and gave me a quick kiss on the lips.

“Uh, guys,” Kim spoke and walked up the stairs. “I’ve got some bad news.”

“What kind of bad news?” I ask.

“Well, Voight is stuck in his house because of the snow storm, and because of said storm and the harsh weather conditions, Platt isn’t letting anyone leave the precinct until the storm lets up. And according to my weather app, that won’t be happening any time soon,” Kim answered.

I groaned and pulled off my coat. “Are you serious?”

“I’m sure it won’t be that bad,” Jay pointed out.

I sighed. “All right. I’ve got to call my mom and tell her we might not make it. Excuse me.” I excused myself from the bullpen and walked into the locker room where I put my coat and hat in my locker. Then, I pulled out my phone and dialed my mom’s number. She picked up on the second ring.

“Hey, sweetie. What’s up?” my mother asked.

“We’re snowed in at the district, so there’s a chance Jay and I won’t be able to make it to lunch,” I respond.

“That’s okay, Y/N. I don’t want you two getting hurt trying to come out here,” my mom said.

“I know, but this is tradition. Every Christmas day, I go over and have lunch with you and dad. I don’t want to ruin that tradition,” I mumble.

“We can always do it tomorrow or later in the week,” my mom suggested.

“Okay. I’ve uh, I’ve got to go,” I say.

“All right. Tell Jay I said hi. And stay safe,” my mother spoke and hung up.

..................................

It had been a few hours, and the snow storm had still not given up. Snow was coming down harder now, meaning chances were we wouldn’t be leaving. All of us were sitting at our desks doing nothing. We had finished up our paperwork awhile ago, and now there was nothing to do. I spun around in my desk chair for what felt like the one hundredth time and groaned.

“This sucks,” I mutter.

“It only sucks because we’ve got nothing to do,” Hailey exclaimed and took a sip of her coffee.

“Yeah,” Kevin agreed. “There has to be something to do around here.” At that moment, I got an idea. A brilliant idea.

“Hey. Did we ever hang the Christmas lights on the front of the district?” I ask.

“I don’t think so. Why?” Jay questioned.

“Well, what if we decorate the bullpen? Make it more fun. It’d give us something to do for a bit,” I point out.

“I’m down. If I have to sit at this desk for another minute, I’m going to lose it,” Adam declared.

“Great. And we’ve also got all of that stuff from the display we were supposed to set up but never got to. Okay, Adam and I will go and grab the lights from the garage, the rest of you try and find those decorations,” I order. Everyone went there separate ways to look for decorations while Adam and I headed down to the garage. In the tech room, there were two cardboard boxes filled to the brim with Christmas lights. Adam and I each grabbed a box and brought them up to the bullpen, placing them on my desk.

“By the looks of it, I think we’ll have enough to hang around the top of the room,” Adam guessed. 

“Well then, lets get to work,” I say. Adam and I started on the wall with the windows because it was the closest and the easiest wall to hang the lights on. I pulled off my shoes as Adam placed my desk chair against the wall by the windows. Then, he helped me up onto my chair, and I began draping the lights over the top of the windows. Using a bit of tape when needed, I was able to get the lights to stay in position.

“We’re back,” Kim called out and climbed up the main stairs to the bullpen with Kevin following behind her. “And we brought garland.”

“We were thinking about hanging them around everyone’s desks,” Kevin announced.

“Sounds perfect. Where are Jay and Hailey?” I ask.

“They were just grabbing the last few things. They’ll be here in a second,” Kim answered and started helping Kevin put up some garland. A few minutes later, while Adam and I hung more lights and Kim and Kev put up the garland, Hailey and Jay finally appeared, and in Jay’s hand was a small Christmas tree.

“We found this tree in storage,” Jay spoke. “So we figured we’d bring it up to put on display.” Jay and Hailey went to set the tree up on the break room table while the rest of us continued decorating, and after about an hour, we were all finished. Now, all we had to do was turn on the lights.

“Everybody ready?” I question. Everyone nodded. I took a deep breath, and then I plugged the lights into the nearest outlet. The whole room lit up with lights, and a smile made its way onto my face. I walked back over to the rest of the team, and Jay pulled me into his arms.

“I’m sorry we couldn’t make it to your parents’ house,” Jay murmured in my ear and kissed my cheek.

“It’s okay,” I reply. “Being with you and the rest of the team makes up for it.”

“So,” Adam said. “Any idea on what we’re having for lunch?”

“You know, I think Platt keeps some food in the downstairs break room,” Hailey stated.

“Um, I don’t know about you, but I don’t want to get on Platt’s bad side,” Kim disclosed.

“Yeah. Me either,” I agree. “I guess we’re stuck with the vending machines.”

“When this whole storm passes, I say we go out and get some pizza,” Jay suggested.

“That sounds great. But right now, we’re stuck with vending machine food. So we better get there before the patrol officers take everything good,” Kevin declared. And with that, we all took off towards the vending machines. While it wasn’t the Christmas I had hoped for, I was glad that I spent it with my amazing friends and boyfriend. Maybe this would be our new tradition next year; decorating the bullpen and having pizza for dinner. And to be honest, I couldn’t wait.

_______________________

Tag List:

@prettypyschoinpink @securityfriendly-jay @scarletsoldierrr @lorenakaspersen @virtualreader @carnationworld @caitsymichelle13​ @dreamingmanip @campingmonkey @winterberryfox @nevertoofarfromivar @anotherfan07 @giagma @mrspeacem1nusone @i-like-sparkly-things

#one chicago #chicago pd #chicago pd imagines #chicago pd imagine #chicago pd x reader #jay halstead #jay halstead imagine #jay halstead imagines #jay halstead x reader #christmas #intelligence unit #district 21 #x reader #imagine #imagines

[kevindayscrown]

The one where Kevin Day falls in love with an ice hockey player.

Part 9

Closing Curtain

(TW: Very angsty. Enjoy;))

Anything included in this head canon takes place the semester after the Foxes won the championship against the Ravens.

Disclaimer: I know next to nothing about varsity teams in the United States so excuse any false information. Head over to the directory to find the previous parts.

It was easy like that. It was easy to pretend that it was all part of the game. The two of them were acting, after all. It was nothing more. The weeks leading up to the winter banquet were spent in practices, in studying, in Exy and in the dates with Eric.

Kevin knew it should be ending soon. He’d already fed the press enough, and the news were slowly starting to die down.

He didn’t think too much of the fact that he didn’t want it to end.

Despite not having completely opened up to Eric yet, Kevin had been growing more and more comfortable around him. Their dates consisted mostly of going to some public place for a couple of hours before retreating to the safety of the attic.

Kevin had never before cared about the details in someone’s life, but if someone asked him what did Eric’s laughter sound like (loud and obnoxious like thunder), what his favorite food was (pizza, much to Kevin’s dismay, and a traditional Vietnamese dish), and other silly little questions like these, Kevin would be able to answer them.

Of course, Eric in return, had discovered quite a lot about Kevin, perhaps even things that Kevin didn’t know about himself to begin with.

Despite all that, their first kiss at the attic during their first date was also their last.

After sobering up from the excitement of the day, Kevin had more or less freaked out over it.

He convinced himself it meant nothing.

This was all just a game.

The day of the winter banquet came sooner than Kevin expected it. The Foxes had won enough games to move forward in the season and the new recruits had finally adjusted in the team.

The USC Trojans were hosting the banquet that year. The Foxes would have to travel across the country to get there, and would also spend the night at a hotel.

Much to Kevin’s dismay, this also meant that Eric would get to know the foxes of the Exy team better, and they would also probably embarrass Kevin in front of Eric.

“So, Eric.”

“Yes Nicky?”

Kevin was already rolling his eyes. He looked at the seats in front of them, seeing Andrew staring out of the window while squeezing Neil’s hand. It was a sight the Foxes didn’t get to see often but Andrew hated airplanes and flying. Kevin doubted he cared much about what the Foxes saw right now.

Nicky started asking Eric stupid questions about his ‘relationship’ with Kevin and soon, most of the Foxes joined in. Of course, they were enjoying this, but only Eric seemed to indulge them. Kevin ended up plugging in his earphones and just watching a game of Exy on his laptop.

When they arrived, they went straight to the court, where everything had been set up for the banquet. The foxes were one of the last teams to arrive so they were quickly taken to the locker rooms to change.

At that point, Kevin was already feeling his nerves overwhelm him. He knew he would see familiar faces and yet he’d still have to pretend he was dating a guy.

The two of them had already faced… judgment but it would be different coming from other Exy players.

“Hey,” Eric said when they were dressed and heading outside, hand on the small of Kevin’s back. “You look a bit pale. You sure you’re okay?”

Kevin flinched away from his touch when he noticed that people were looking. People Kevin knew, people he could name.

Eric noticed something was wrong and pulled his hand away quickly.

“Hey, Day!” Someone called and Kevin turned, spotting Jeremy with Jean on toe. A small smile appeared on Kevin’s lips, though it was faint.

“Hello Jeremy.”

Jeremy glanced at Eric by Kevin’s side and offered the pair a toothy grin.

“So, the rumors are true?”

Kevin immediately tensed, sparing a glance at Jean, who stood there unfazed, like a silent reminder.

He could only force a small smile before replying, “They-,”

“I believe we should take our seats? I think food is being served,” Eric said, as if able to feel the tension oozing off of Kevin.

Jeremy nodded and smiled again. Kevin often wondered how could one person have so much kindness to spare.

“Talk to you later, Kev,” the blond said and patted Kevin’s shoulder before walking past him.

Jean kept his gaze on Kevin a little longer before he followed after his teammate.

Eric then led them at their table and the two took a seat in silence.

No matter how many times Eric tried to spark a conversation, Kevin would turn away and say nothing. He would recoil from any kind of touch, always keeping an eye out for who might be watching.

Rumors.

“Day, what’s wrong?” Eric muttered under his breath eventually.

“Nothing is wrong,” Kevin said, casting a cold, apathetic look at Eric.

Eric was taken back by that, eyebrows furrowed, seeing as he hadn’t been on the receiving end of Kevin’s glares in a while.

“Okay, pause. Can we talk about it?”

Kevin hesitated, but then nodded slowly.

The only thought in his mind was that maybe a big break up during the winter banquet would attract the last ounce of attention they could get out of this.

They went to the restroom and Eric waited until the door was closed before he spoke.

“Are we going to go back to pretending we hate each other now?”

Kevin didn’t respond immediately as he leaned up against the counter, arms crossed in front of his chest.

“I don’t understand what you expect from me, Jiang. If anything, the news has died down. You are free to go.”

Eric stared at him in confusion before his expression shifted into one of anger.

“Free to go? Then why did you bring me here, Kevin?”

“One last show? Perhaps breaking up in front of everyone will be our closing curtain.”

Kevin knew that wasn’t what he wanted. But what he wanted didn’t matter. He needed to salvage his remaining reputation and perhaps remove this stain.

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

Kevin avoided looking at Eric.

“Kevin. Kevin, look at me and tell me that none of this was real. If you truly believe that it all was nothing but a performance, then I’ll leave you alone.”

Kevin clenched his jaw and turned to look at Eric, as requested, eyes narrowed.

“I’m straight. I did this because I had to.” Kevin knew how to lie, that was for sure. He knew how to put up a front.

“That isn’t answering my question, Kevin,” Eric snapped as he stepped closer, until he was standing in front of him. “You can’t lie and pretend that you didn’t feel anything.” Kevin could tell that Eric was now getting desperate.

Kevin was cornered and panicking. He had allowed himself to not think about what this whole ordeal had meant, but now he was forced to consider the endless possibilities. He wasn’t sure if he could do that.

“I’m not lying, Eric. If you want us to keep pretending for whatever reason until we are back at Palmetto, then we can do that. But it means nothing.”

It was as if Kevin’s mouth moved on its own, words coming out without him controlling them. He was so used to brushing people off, being distant, that the moment he had to face his own emotions, emotions for another person, he got defensive.

Eric looked into Kevin’s eyes as if looking for the truth there, and so Kevin looked away.

“Perhaps this was a waste of our time after all.”

As Eric left the restroom, Kevin ran his fingers through his hair and slumped against the counter, the tightness in his chest suffocating him.

#all for the game #aftg #the foxhole court #kevin day #kevin day x oc #the raven king #the kings men #aftg headcanons #aftg au #aftg oc #andrew minyard #neil josten #aaron minyard #andreil #nicky hemmick #matt boyd #dan wilds #allison reynolds #renee walker #palmetto state university #exy #jeremy knox #jean moreau #jerejean

[troubatrain]

four times you talked about having a baby + one time you did - k. hayes

a/n: here’s a very cute fluffy 4+1 from my old blog! :)

I.

You watched Kevin on the floor, listening to the babbling toddler in front of him, laughing along with whatever his niece was trying to tell him. His sister had made the trip down to New York, and was out getting lunch with a friend while you and Kevin had offered to babysit. It was the first time you were meeting any members of his family, and you’d only been dating for a few months - but watching Kevin with his niece was doing something to you.

You pull your phone out of your pocket, snapping a photo of the two, “This is too cute.”

“You’re too cute,” Kevin says instantly, his niece walking over to you to be picked up, a grin finding its way to Kevin’s face.

You pick her up kissing the top of her forehead, “I think she’s cuter than both of us.”

You spend the rest of the afternoon in Kevin’s apartment, playing house with his niece. Watching Kevin run around his apartment with his niece was straight up endearing, and you were happy that she liked you too. She’d fallen asleep snuggled between you and Kevin, a couple of goldfish stuck to her Uncle’s shirt and she rested on your lap. By the time Kevin’s sister and her headed back to their hotel, you were absolutely exhausted - not even considering the idea of headed to your own place and opting to crash at Kevin’s.

“Do you think you want kids?” Kevin asks, plopping down next to you into bed, blue eyes looking at you full of hope.

You’d never really thought much about having kids, just thinking that at the time you were too young. It was something you wanted one day but you didn’t know when you wanted that. You’d just started your career and your relationship with Kevin was new but the way he took care of his niece and the way he always took care of you was starting to make you think a little differently.

“Yeah, one day. Don’t get any ideas though,” You scold, waving your finger at Kevin.

“I know, but one day sounds good,” Kevin says, pulling you into his chest.

Kevin lulls you to sleep that night, talking about the future he wants with you. You’d get married, Kevin would prefer in Boston but he’d let you pick regardless. Maybe you’d move to the suburbs, get a house outside of the city with a yard, so you could have some space for your future children. But he told you he’d be okay staying in the city if that’s what you wanted to do. It was romantic to hear him talk about your future like that, deciding that he would just come for the ride.

II.

Kevin’s large hands were tying your skates, while you looked down at him in his stall at MSG. It was Christmas and with Christmas came the family skate that you’d grown to love. The first year, you were terrified, considering you didn’t even know how to skate and you’d only met a handful of Kevin’s teammates.

“Do you think this will be our last one here?” You whisper, low enough so none of his teammates would hear you.

It was a thought that you’d tried to push out of your mind but there was no way you could at this point. The trade deadline was coming in a few months and Kevin was certain he’d be on the trading block. You’d pushed him to talk about it about tons of times but he kept putting it off, knowing he was nervous about a move out of New York.

“If it is, we’ll make it a memorable one,” Kevin places a kiss to your lips, pulling you up to step out onto the ice. 

You watch as Kevin skates around the ice, Marc Staal’s kids chasing after him in the intense game of tag they’d been playing, while you smile at him from the bench.

“He’s so good with them,” Lindsay, Marc’s wife, says to you on the bench, “I think they’re going to miss him if you guys go.”

You nod, know how many dinners Kevin’s had at their place long before you’d even started dating, “I know it’s going to happen but, we haven’t even talked about it.”

“You’d go with him no?” Lindsay asks, trying to gauge how you actually felt about it.

“I mean, yes, he’s the one but-” You start to say only to be interrupted by the woman next to you.

“Just talk to him about it,” Lindsay says, “I’m sure you guys will be okay”

That night you’d been sitting in your shared apartment, a rerun of some terrible reality TV rerun playing in front of you. Kevin was out grabbing ice cream, insisting you spent the night off snuggled up with a movie. Your mind wanders to the conversation you’d had the family skate, and how you felt watching Kevin skate around with Marc’s kids. It was what you wanted and you knew you wanted it with Kevin but you were scared of the future. You’d been so lost in your thoughts you didn’t even hear Kevin walk back into the apartment. A pint of ice cream finding its way into your hands.

“Hey Kev?” You ask, your voice small, “What are we going to do if you get traded.”

Kevin looked confused, “What do you mean?”

“I mean, am I going to stay here or do you want me to go with you?” You ask bluntly, deciding to just get to the root of what’s bothering you.

Kevin takes a deep breath, walking out of the room and into your shared bedroom. You can hear him rummaging through a dresser, or it could have been a nightstand and step back into your living room with a velvet box in his hand.

“I was planning on doing a better job at his, you know, I was going to plan a nice dinner, make sure you’d just gotten your nails done, the whole thing but I think I need to do this now,” Kevin says, dropping down to one knee, “Baby I love you, and I want to be with you. I want to have a family with you, and spend the rest of my life with you by my side - wherever that may take me. Will you marry me?”

You nod, tears threatening to spill from your eyes, flinging yourself forward to kiss Kevin, over and over again, “Did you actually just do that?”

Kevin smiles against your lips, “I’ve been hiding that since the summer.”

You pull back smiling at the man in front of you, “I can’t wait to marry you.”

Kevin grins back at you, “I can’t wait to have a family, we could be like Marc and Lindsay with all those kids running around the ice.”

The idea seemed like a dream to you, but in reality you were getting to live that life with a man who loved and cared about you. Kevin spends the night talking about your future, the plans seeming more definite than the first time he’d done that. Settling on having three kids, and a summer wedding - even mentioning you could get a dog even though he was afraid of them.

III.

You’d ended up following Kevin to Winnipeg and then to Philly easily. You’d been making an adjustment, but Philadeliphia was starting to feel like home more and more everyday. Kevin was happy and he loved his new team - which made it easier for you to follow suit. You’d both started to become acquainted with the city and you knew this was going to be a good place for the two of you.

You bounce the baby on your lip, singing a nursery rhyme while moving around your kitchen, causing Gavin to laugh. You’d ended up babysitting, Claude’s wife, Ryanne, calling you last minute to complain about their sitter canceling their date night. You and Kevin had agreed on a night in, so you offered to take their son for a few hours. You loved Gavin, and quite honestly you spend more time at games playing with him than paying attention to your fiance on the ice.

“I think we should have a boy first,” Kevin says, sitting on the island watching you with the baby.

“I don’t think that’s for us to decide Kev,” You joke, blowing raspberries into Gavin’s cheek, causing the baby to giggle, “Right Gav, tell him, he’ll be happy with what he gets.”

“What do you want?” Kevin asks, holding his arms out for you to pass him the baby.

“A boy doesn’t sound too bad,” You admit, thinking about how many outfits you’d bought for Gavin that you’d love hanging up in a nursery of your own, “What brought this up?”

“You know, we’re getting married soon, and you just look really good singing nursery rhymes in our kitchen,” Kevin admits, “And c’mon you don’t want a little me running around?”

Kevin holds Gavin next to his face with a pout, rubbing his beard onto the baby’s cheeks causing him to giggle and wiggle in Kevin’s enormous hands. It was a sight for sure, and one that often made you think about just letting Kevin knock you up before the wedding.

“I’m not going to be pregnant at our wedding,” You scold, “I’ve spent too much time planning to not be able to drink.”

“You’ve got a good point, we’ll make a honeymoon baby,” Kevin assures you, as if you had a choice.

IV.

Newlywed life was coming to a halting stop the second you touched down in Philadelphia. The summer of bliss that you’d just experienced was about to be burst in with the reality of a new season starting. You’d bought a new place, the space in the city was far more family friendly than the apartment you’d been living in last season. There were plenty of bedrooms, and some outdoor space that still resided in the city. You’d finally finished unpacking, stepping back after hanging up the last of your wedding photos in the living room.

“They look good there,” Kevin says, wrapping his arms around your waist and lifting you off the couch, spinning you around, “You were right, I do like this place.”

Kevin wasn’t entirely on board with moving, but you knew he wanted to start a family and you wanted somewhere in Philly that you would come back to - a real permanent home. It took a little convincing but you managed to get him to crack while you were on your honeymoon.

You had one surprise that came with the house, and it sat in a box in your kitchen. Inside was a pregnancy test - that you’d taken a day before you moved down to Philly for the season. A very tiny jersey, with your now shared last name on the back, a bright number thirteen stitched onto the back. And to complete a very small stuffed Gritty that you had bought on impulse one day. You were excited to finally share the news with Kevin, keeping it a secret while you both handled all the craziness that came with moving and training camp coming up.

“I have something for you,” You say, slipping out of his arms and grabbing the box from the kitchen - dropping it into his lap, “Open it.”

You were on the edge of your seat watching him open the box and pulling the small jersey out, looking down at what was underneath it, “You’re pregnant?”

“I’m pregnant,” You confirm, placing your hand over your stomach.

“You, my wife, you’re pregnant, we’re having a baby,” Kevin blurted out, a goofy grin gracing his face, “Baby, we’re having a baby!”

You laugh, knowing this is the exact reaction you’d get out of your husband, “I take it you’re happy?”

“Easily the best thing that’s happened to me,” Kevin says, grabbing both sides of your face and kissing you over and over again. He spent the next week telling everybody he came in contact with that he was, in fact, having a baby.

Plus One

You hear a large crash, and a chorus of laughs coming from what was supposed to be your future son’s nursery. You sigh, curling your hands around the def-caf tea you’d been drinking, counting down the days until you actually start drinking coffee again, and you walk into the room, a piece of what was supposed to be a crib on the floor, and TK, Nolan and Kevin’s eyes staring at you.

“Sorry,” They all said in unison, guilt across their faces.

You give them a smile, “It’s fine guys, please be careful, and get this done.”

You decided to stay in Philly until you had the baby, the season ending when you’d hit around eight months and the stress of heading up back to Boston just seemed like too much at the time. Now, you were a week until your due date and you and Kevin had pushed everything till now in regards to setting up a place for your son. It was starting to stress you out, and honestly you were grateful for Travis and Nolan’s help, even if it was like having two kids in your house already.

You felt your stomach cramp up and a feeling in your stomach that this baby was coming, you gasp and look at Kevin, your eyes scared, “Kev - I think it’s happening.”

--

Nine hours of labor later, your son entered the world in a way somehow more chaotic than the way Kevin entered your life. Kevin did good, keeping his cool for most of your pregnancy and labor that you were honestly surprised. He finally cried, when he held your baby for the first time, calmly talking to the little boy who he loved probably more than he loved you. You got lucky, in all the craziness of what was going on, Travis and Nolan stayed back and somehow put together all of your furniture in the nursery, even leaving a few gifts behind for your baby boy.

“Thank you for this,” Kevin confesses, the two of you and your son being the only people left in the hospital room, exhausted from the day of visitors, “I mean I knew we’d get here, but I’m grateful we actually did.”

“I hope you’re still grateful when you have to change diapers at 3 am,” You say, knowing the hard part was definitely coming.

“I promised I’d do it, and I will,” Kevin assures you, intending on keeping the promise that you carried that baby for nine months and that he would take on the middle of the night diaper duties.

And you fell asleep that night like you did so many nights before, Kevin rambling about your future, all the things he wants to teach his son. How he can’t wait to teach him to skate, and how he can play whatever sport he wants - or it would be fine if he didn’t play sports at all. Kevin’s voice lulled you and your little family to sleep - and you knew he’d do that forever.

#kevin hayes #kevin hayes imagine #my writing #nhl imagine #nhl imagines

[imagines-r-s]

sticking it - j. farabee

chapter 3

a/n: um, so, here’s this. enjoy it. there’s not much to say, just that this is super cute tbh and that farabee definitely knows his Megan :))

taglist: @butgilinsky​ @barbienoturbby​ @sunsetholland​ @lovenhlboys​ @sortagaysortahigh​ @hockey-racing-fubol​ @oopsiedoopsie23​ @iwantahockeyhimbo​ @bbbbruins​ (if you want to be added, just let me know)

warnings: fluff, this chapter has a lot to do with mental toughness of an athlete, swearing, nothing else i can think of

sticking it masterlist

wc: 3.0k

BZ: hey, i’m outside whenever you’re ready

You grabbed your gym bag and made your way downstairs, finding Joel standing outside his car holding a smoothie and granola bar, “I figured coffee might not be the best thing for you right before practice, so I’m hoping you like smoothies.” 

“You might be surprised how many times I made that mistake when I was younger,” you added walking closer to him, watching as he opened the door for you, “oh wow, a true gentleman.”

“I have to get on your good side. Especially if I want to see you in my jersey again,” he said before shutting your door, “do you have good music taste?”

“I like to think I do?”

“Ok, well you seem somewhat confident with that answer, so you can have aux if you want,” he handed over his phone that was already opened to Spotify. Unsure of what he would like, you decide to put on your pre-practice hype playlist that featured Kendrick Lamar, Childish Gambino, Chance the Rapper, and Meg Thee Stallion. 

Deciding to just hit shuffle, ‘Captain Hook’ by Megan Thee Stallion was the first to play. You expect Bee to just sit there and let you play your music without objection, but you were shocked when you heard him say, “real hot girl shit.”

“Do you know the whole song or just that?” but as he continued to sing the rest of the song, with the obvious censorship, you were shocked to say the least, “wasn’t expecting that one.”

“I love Meg, not even going to lie to you,” Joel said, shrugging his shoulders. 

“Don’t we all, don’t we all.”

Eventually the two of you made it to your gym, Joel bidding you a quick farewell and waited for you to get in the building before driving away. As soon as you entered the gym, you put your gym bag in your locker and joined Nicole and your other teammates on the floor. “Ok, ladies. For warm up today, we’ll be doing 15 minutes of running outside, two ab circuits, and two rope climbs. Nicole and y/n, we need to speak with you right after.” 

“Not the ‘Nicole and y/n, we need to speak with you’,” Nicole said, getting her running shoes on. 

“I’m more concerned about the cardio, babe,” you said, grabbing your running shoes from your gym bag. 

The two of you were the first ones to finish the run, doing your ab circuits and rope climbs as quickly as possible, and went straight to Michelle and Marcus. “Alright, so, your performances at the American Cup were amazing and we’re super proud of you both. But with there being about two months until the US Classics, we want to make sure both of you are practicing safe routines, and safe landings especially,” Marcus said. 

“Right now, we just want you two to get a few full out routines a week and marking the rest. Obviously, we will dedicate time to our dismounts and tumbling, etc., it’s just not safe to be going all out and overworking yourselves,” Michelle added,”Nicole, you’re free to go, you’ll be starting on bars with Coach Collins.” 

Once Nicole had left, both Marcus and Michelle looked towards you, Marcus being the first one to break the silence, “we assume you heard about Kathryn working the dismount?”

Simply nodding in response, Michelle quickly spoke up,”look, we’re going to be honest with you right now. There is a possibility she isn’t going to compete it and just posted it to scare you, but we do know that you have been cleared to work on twisting dismounts, we just want you to start off doing a single full and the highest you’ll go this week is double twists. We’ll continue working towards the triple and eventually the 3.5, but we’re going slow and most won’t be an actual landing.”

“We have a plan in place we think will work, but you have to follow the plan. It’ll only work if you agree to pace yourself correctly,” Marcus added. 

“So, we’ll start week 1 of 8, easing back into twisting. So, twisting drills, lots of twisting into the pit, but we stick with just doing fulls. Week 2 of 8, is going to be starting to work on twisting off the beam, we will just stick with 1-1.5 twists, maybe try a double, but nothing more. Week 3, is going to be getting doubles consistently, and maybe try a 2.5. Week 4, is consistent 2.5 twists and try more drills to get the triple twisting back. Week 5, we do the triples for real and getting them consistent. Week 6 will be working on getting back to doing 3.5 twisting. Week 7 and 8, will have less focus on beam and just work on getting everything else consistently in time for the Classic,” Michelle told you, showing the board that had all of this marked on there. 

“Keep in mind, we are just working on getting the dismount back, but that doesn’t mean you only do beam, we have to do other events, too. And you have to follow this plan, do you understand?”

“Yeah, I understand,” you replied. 

“Alright, today you start on floor and end on beam.” 

…..

The first week was easy enough, you were just doing drills that you had been doing since you were younger, but you knew these next two months would not be as easy as you wanted them to be. Eventually, you had to start working towards the actual dismount. With week two, it was a lot harder than you expected. Although you were doing a skill you had had for years, the idea of doing anything similar to what hurt you still scared you. 

Once you were able to get your single twists back consistently, it was onto adding more twists. By week three, you were working on double twists, which was something you used to do as warm-up and now here you were standing at the edge of the beam, unable to move towards the landing mat on the other side. You knew that if you didn’t get it at some point this week, it would push back the plan, which was something you couldn’t afford. 

Somehow you got past doubles and 2.5, working triples by week 5. Week 5 consisted of doing the dismount into the pit, which was something you were able to do, but you were stuck in the same spot as you moved onto week 6. 

At the start of week 6, Kevin took note of how you were getting home later than he was even after his practice. He took note that you seemed a lot less excited about going to practice, hardly talking to anyone, other than a few spare texts here and there. “Kev, you still planning on coming to the lake with us this weekend?” Carter asked, as the team headed back to the locker room. 

“Yeah, I think so. I have to make sure y/n/n is okay though. She’s been overworking herself again and we all know what happened last time she did that,” Kevin replied. He was familiar with how you were able to invest so much time into your sport, and although he was happy that you were able to after so long, he knew that it could be your downfall. 

“If she wants to take time off, there are enough rooms at the condo, she’s welcome to come. Plus, I’ll ask Teeks to bring Karly, so she has someone there,” Carter offered. 

Kevin appreciated the offer, but he still felt bad. This was a ‘guys’ weekend that had been planned months ahead of time, but he also knew it was an amazing option for you to come and be away from the gym. “Check with the other guys first. I would feel awful ruining the plans we have.”

“Yeah, of course, I’ll ask them as soon as I can and let you know,” Carter answered just as Nolan, Travis, Morgan, and Joel walked into the locker room. He quickly called them over, “Ok, so Kev noticed that y/n/n has been overworking herself and is worried about leaving her here, would it be cool if she came with us? I already offered, but he wanted to make sure it was cool with you guys.”

A series of yes’ echoed through the group. “I can see if Karly wants to come, too, just so y/n/n doesn’t have to deal with all of us by herself,” Travis added, “I can tell Beezer is a little bit too happy about this one.” The group turned towards Joel, who was now sporting a huge smile on his face. 

“Listen, I just like spending quality time with my team and their family. Team bonding, you know,” Joel replied. 

“Mhm, that’s definitely it,” Nolan said rolling his eyes, “don’t forget the PowerPoint.”

As Kevin left the rink, he checked the time and realized now was the time that you were usually at lunch, he decided to head to the gym to talk to Michelle and Marcus. “Ah, Kevin, it’s so good to see you. Congrats on a good season so far,” Marcus stood up from his desk to shake Kevin’s hand. 

“I need to ask something. I know y/n has been overworking and it’s concerning me. Now, I get if this might not be a mutual concern, but if it is, I wanted to ask if she could have the weekend off?” Kevin said. 

“Oh my god, please get her out of here. I know if we let her, she would sleep here, but right now, she needs to play it safe or else she’ll get hurt,” Michelle said as she walked through the office door towards the pair.

“Would the lake be playing it safe or no?”

“As long as she doesn’t follow after you and your friends, she’s making somewhat smart choices,” Marcus said. 

“That’s valid, I respect it. I’m coming to pick her up from here tomorrow morning during her private lesson with you guys,” Kevin said, to which both of your coaches nodded. 

After making some more small talk with your coaches, Kevin made his way back down to the parking lot, running into just the right person, “Nicole, I need a favor.”

“Oh, hey, Kev. How are you? I’m great, thank you for asking. What’s up?”

“Can you possibly sneak into y/n’s apartment tomorrow while she’s at her private lesson and pack her a bag for a four day trip to the lake?”

“Oh, thank God, you’re getting her out of here. And yeah, of course. She’ll get here at 7, so what time do you plan on leaving your place?”

“Well, she’s supposed to be here til 10, so I’ll leave at like 8:30, so just drop the bag off at mine?”

“Yeah, that works. I’ll see you then.”

…..

Shortly after you left for practice, Nicole made her way to your apartment. You had given her a spare, so she had a way in. She quickly grabbed all your hair stuff, a toothbrush and toothpaste, and then 5 outfits, 4 swimsuits, socks, shoes, and anything else she thought you might need. 

She made sure to water your plants before leaving towards Kevin’s apartment. Knocking on the door, Nolan was the one to answer, “Hey, Nic.”

“Hey, Nol. I come bearing gifts - well if you consider all my friends stuff I took from her apartment to give her a break from her stubborn self - then Merry Christmas.”

“Nicole, thank you so much. I owe you one,” Kevin said as he rounded the corner. 

“Don’t worry about it, I’m here to help her out,” Nicole stated simply,”her chargers are in the side pockets and everything else is in the main part of the bag. Ok, I have to go now, have fun this weekend.”

Nolan and Kevin got the rest of their necessities together before jumping into Kevin’s car and heading to your gym. Michelle was the one to let the pair into the gym, having locked the doors for the private lesson. 

They took their time, watching as you were working on some drills with Marcus, but when Marcus’ eyes found Kevin’s he stopped what he was doing. “Hey, look. You’ve been working yourself a little bit too hard recently, so we’re letting you take this weekend off,” Marcus said, guiding you towards Nolan and Kevin. 

“I don’t need time off, I’m fine. I- what are they doing here?”

“You’re going with them to the lake for the weekend,” Marcus continued guiding you closer to them, knowing you would try to make a run for it. 

“Hey, y/n, we have a bag packed for you already, so c’mon,” Nolan said, calmly. 

“I’m not going,” you protested. 

“You’re going,” Kevin said, walking closer to you before picking you up and throwing you over his shoulder. Nolan picked up your gym bag from the ground and followed behind Kevin. 

“Guys, what the hell? This is like kidnapping or something?” 

“We love you,” you heard Michelle say as Kevin made his way out of the gym with you on his shoulder. As soon as you got to the car, Nolan opened the backseat doors and Kevin pushed you in there. You assumed that as soon as they left you would be able to just open the door and run, but you were quickly denied that option when you saw that the child locks were still on. 

“The child locks? Seriously?” 

“We knew you’d run. C’mon, your coaches said you needed to stop working so hard, so it’s not just us saying it. Now we have about a four hour drive, so I say either sleep or just go on your phone, but please just take this time off peacefully,” Kevin said. 

“How am I supposed to do this peacefully when you kidnapped me?”

“Ok, well, that sucks. But Karly is coming too, so you can rant to her when you get there.”

“Bee will be there, too,” Nolan interjected. 

“Thanks for the warning.”

“Don’t act all tough, sweetie. Not all of us are blind,” Nolan said, looking towards Kev. 

“I’m not blind, I just choose to ignore it,” Kevin replied. 

…..

“So, you and y/n, huh?” Karly asked Joel while Travis and Carter were over by the grill, Morgan still inside unpacking. 

“I mean I don’t know,” Joel responded honestly. 

“Do you want there to be?” Karly quickly took note of the slight blush and small smile that gathered on his face. 

“I wouldn’t object, if that says anything,”Karly laughed at the fact that both of you had similar responses to the same question, “what? Did I say something bad?”

“No, hun, no. You both are just a lot alike, that’s all. I think you’d be good for her though, she deserves something good in her life.”

“Yeah, I agree with you on that one,” Joel said, hearing his phone go off, “oh, guys, they’re here, but they need help with their bags.”

As the boys made their way outside to go help with bags, Karly waited inside for you to come in, only to see Kevin carrying your sleeping form with Joel following close behind with your bag. 

“Awe, babe. Did you see Bee carrying y/n/n’s bag? That’s so cute,” Karly said when Travis returned. 

“Awe, babe, how come you never carry my bag?” Travis said, only earning an elbow to the rib from Karly. 

“y/n has been out most of the way home, so we honestly don’t know when she’ll be up,” Nolan said, walking towards the pair. 

…..

Shortly after dinner was served, the group made their way close to the deck, Joel quickly finding a spot on the hammock after pushing Morgan off. Travis and Karly sitting near the edge of the water, Morgan sitting right next to the hammock near his best friend, and Nolan, Carter, and Kevin standing and talking. 

You had woken up in the familiar room of the condo, quickly changing into comfier clothes and attempting to find the others in the house. When you saw that the house was silent, you quickly came to the assumption that everyone was near the docks, so you got a bottle of water and made your way over there. 

“Ah, sleeping beauty has finally arrived,” Travis said, seeing you make your way towards the group.

“Fuck off, dude,” you yawned, “I was tired.”

“Awe, poor baby,” Joel said from the hammock, earning an eye roll from you. 

“Bee, you’re in my usual spot right now, I would watch it if I were you.”

“You’re free to join me,” he said, a smirk evident in his voice. 

“Oh, wow, the girls are fighting,” Morgan’s voice could be heard from beside the hammock. 

You eventually made your way over to the hammock after those on the deck started their conversation up again, “Bee, can I sit by you?”

“Awe, babe, I am going to need to speak up,” Joel said, cockily. 

“I’m not doing that again,” you said, walking towards the hammock and quickly pushing the hammock to the side, which caused him to fall out, “awe, babe, it looks like you fell.” 

You quickly got back up on the hammock, expecting him to push you over the way you did him, but were shocked when he simply laid right on top of you, his head on your chest and arms wrapping around you, “plot twist,” he said, softly. 

“Your face is in my boobs right now,” you stated, causing him to lift his head to look at you, you kept one of your feet towards the ground to keep the hammock moving. 

“Your heart started beating faster when I laid down, so either you’re about to have a heart attack or I make you nervous. But honestly, if you want me to move though, I will.” 

“No, no. You’re fine,” you spoke softly as he rested his head against your chest once more, your hand finding its way towards his head to play with his hair. 

“Hey, we are still over here by the way,” Kevin yelled towards you two. 

“Kev, stop. They’re adorable, let them be,” Karly quickly scolded him.

“I’m just going to move, so that way I’m not third wheeling again,” Morgan grumbled. 

#sticking it #joel farabee #joel farabee x reader #joel farabee imagines #philadelphia flyers #nhl imagines #nhl imagine #hockey imagines #hockey imagine #joel farabee x gymnast!reader

[simonsrosebud]

what is kevin and betsy like? does he take therapy seriously or act more like neil?

(idk how therapy actually works since ive never gone so idk how accurate his sessions w betsy are okay bye)

kevin takes his therapy seriously, yes.  

at first he doesn’t, when he first comes to psu.  he’s too scared to tell betsy anything bc if she tells anyone then kevin is doomed.

but when riko is killed, he starts taking it seriously.  it’s the main reason why his anxiety is amplified and his panic attacks and nightmares become more frequent.  betsy is working through his trauma with him and bringing much of it back to the surface.

when kevin first meets dalton he knows he likes him.  but he still isn’t ready to tell anyone, not even betsy.

unfortunately for him, she’s really good at her job.

“i want to bring the conversation back to this boy, dalton, that you said you’ve been hanging out with.  he’s your friend?”

something like that.

“yeah, he’s a friend.”

“that’s good, that you’ve made friends outside the team.  how did you meet him?  i notice you’ve been bringing him up a lot lately.”

kevin kneads his hands in his lap.  of course he’d make that mistake.  “i was doing homework at starbucks, and he helped me with math and then asked for my number.”  she nods.  “now we hang out a lot.  mainly at his place.  i don’t want andrew and neil to scare him off.”

she nods again.  “what exactly do you think they’d do?”

kevin shrugs.  “i-i don’t know.  but they’d get in my business and probably tell nicky or matt who would tell the whole team, and then they’d be all in my business,” he keeps going when betsy’s face changes an inch.  just contemplating his words, but he reads into it.  “-and i don’t need that right now.  dalton doesn’t even really know that i’m famous.  it’s too soon, and i can’t be outed to the public, it’ll ruin me.”

he only seems to realize what he’s said when betsy starts talking.  “can’t be outed in what way, kevin?”  he stammers.  “i have a feeling you didn’t mean to tell me that, but is dalton really just a friend?”

kevin’s heart is beating out of his chest.  he digs his fingers into his leg.  “no.”

but betsy hasn’t batted an eye.  “that’s okay.  do you want to talk about it?  you’re clamming up.  take some deep breaths, you know i wouldn’t tell a soul if that’s what you’re worried about.”

he pulls his knees to his chest and drops his head.  fuck.  no one was supposed to know, not anytime soon, anyhow.

he composes himself, but doesn’t move.  “i… like guys.”  he lifts his head.  “and girls, but…” he looks away.  “i’ve been seeing dalton, more than just friends.”

betsy is smiling, softly.  “that’s good, kevin.  i know aren’t ready to tell the others, but you shouldn’t be embarrassed.  not with me, anyhow.”  he shrugs.  “would you like to talk more about dalton or move along?”

he shrugs again.  after a minute, wraps his arms around his knees.  “he’s twenty-four, he’s a grad student...  he didn’t have any clue who i was when he met me, i still haven’t really told him a lot.”

“that’s alright.  things take time.  i know you have trouble lettings new people in, and sometimes with physical touch, are there any problems there that you’d like to discuss?”

kevin glares at her, “i’m not talking about our relationship.”

she backs off with an easy nod.  she does a lot of that.  maybe that’s why she works.

somehow, betsy eventually cracks kevin on talking in depth about his relationship with dalton.  she hears all about it when andrew finds out, then when allison finds out, then when nicky finds out.

when the foxes play never have i ever with dalton.  that was a fun one.

“i’m not taking their side, i’m just asking, but do you think perhaps they could have been trying to get to know him and see if he’s all clear?”

he scoffs.  “if they were they’ve got a fucked way of doing that.  they got him plastered.”

“he didn’t have to keep drinking.  from what i’m hearing.”

“he wanted to impress them, he’d never met them before.”  he crosses his arms.

“did you try to tell him to stop drinking?  was it the drinking that really upset you or that your friends were trying to get answers out of him.”

he frowns.  “second one- but it wasn’t just answers.  they went further than just never have i ever dated kevin, they brought up things like wymack and me having to get blacked out to get my tattoo covered, and… i don’t know, sensitive stuff.”  the yakuza.  “it wasn’t okay.”

“did you express this to them?”  he nods.  “you weren’t ready for dalton to know those kinda of things about you, yet.”  he nods and looks away.

“stop reading my brain,” he mumbles.  betsy takes it with a smile, but he’d be lying if he weren’t a tad annoyed about it.  he didn’t think he was this transparent.  

or again, maybe she’s just that good at her job.

contrary to popular belief, saying i love you for the first time didn’t mean that saying it again became easy all of a sudden.  not for kevin.  not for maybe two weeks, until he can get used to dalton saying it more and more.

he talks to betsy about it, just barely.  despite everything he’s told her already, there’s something about this that he’s too embarrassed by.

the only reason he tells dalton is because he wakes up in his bed, sweating and panting in the middle of the night.  the first thing he does is squint his eyes and look for dalton in the dark, and takes a breath when he sees him stir.  he’s still here.  he didn’t leave you.  stop being delusional.

his hands are fists in the sheets, and he presses himself back against the headboard.  you’re fine.

but he still jumps a little when dalton sits up.  “hey,” his voice is groggy, and he rubs his eyes.  he almost reaches for kevin, too, but stops.  “hey, kev.  it’s d, baby, you’re okay.”

“i know,” he whispers.  “i’ll be right back.”

he steps out of bed, hands shaking, and zips across the room to the bathroom.  it’s dark, okay?

he braces himself against the sink.  “get yourself together.”  he splashes water onto his face.  it doesn’t help.  he’s just wet, now.

he leans back against the wall and slides to the floor.  here’s his dilemma.  there’s a part of him that loves dalton more than life itself, he thinks.  and by a part of him he means all of him.

so why is he so scared of it?  of saying it freely, or without a second thought?  he’s never done this before.  he doesn’t know how it’s supposed to be, he just doesn’t understand why he so scared that he’ll get used to saying it and one day be reject-

oh.

dalton is up on his phone when he leaves the bathroom, and turns it off when he crawls back into the bed.  “are you okay?”

“i’m fine,” he says.

“kev”

kevin tucks his hands into the comforter and balls his fists.  “um, i had a dream that you left,” he mumbles. “i know it’s stupid, i just had a moment, it’s whatever-“

“no, it’s not stupid.  i’ve had the same dream before… s’why i said i love you the first time, actually.”

kevin purses his lips.  he can just barely see dalton’s frown.  “um, don’t judge, but i think… i have a hard time saying i love you,” he mumbles.  “so you just have to let me get used to it.”

“okay,” dalton says.  “do you wanna talk about it at all?”

kevin shrugs.  “i don’t know.”  but betsy’s advice swirls in his head.  the only way to know how he feels is talking to him, even if you’d rather not.

“you’re the first person i’ve had a real relationship with.  i think i’m scared i’ll get used to saying i love you and then one day you just won’t say it back.  reject me, or whatever.”  he lies back and feels dalton following.

dalton is lying on his stomach with an arm over kevin and his chin on his chest.  “you’re not crazy for being scared of that,” he mumbles.  “but i can tell you that i don’t see it happening.”  he brushes kevin’s hair from his forehead.  “i’m not leaving anytime soon.”  he kisses his chest since he can’t reach his face without moving.

“okay,” and kevin swallows his fear, or pride, he’s still not sure.  “i love you.”

the next week at his appointment with betsy he tells her of the late night realization, and how dalton reacted to it when he told him.

“the thing to remember about dalton is that we know he’s not going to reject you out of the blue, yes?  from what i see here and there, he’s not just a fling or a short time boyfriend, and he’s now made it clear to you.”

kevin holds his hot chocolate close to his face.  he hasn’t drank any of it, but it’s warm in his hands and the steam is nice on his face.  “yeah,” he murmurs, and without thinking, “i’m pretty sure he’s my soulmate.”

oh?  “i thought you didn’t believe in that kind of thing?”

he shrugs in attempt to hide his shock from saying it, and then tries to hold back a shit eating grin.  “yeah, well… it’s dalton.”

#kevin day #kevin #the one where someone doesn’t know who kevin day is #dalton miller #OC: dalton miller #kevin day x dalton miller #bisexual kevin day #exy #aftg #all for the game #the foxes #the foxhole court #neil josten #andrew minyard #betsy dobson #david wymack #Allison Reynolds #nicky hemmick #therapy

[popculturebuffet]

One Year Anniversary: Top 12 Ducktales Episodes!

Happy anniversary all you happy people! Yes it was one year ago today I started reviewing animation and it’s been a ride to be sure. I’d always WANTED to be a reviewer: I love going on and on about stuff I love, really digging into it and picking it apart... but I could never get started. I tried youtube but I didn’t have the money for the equipment nor a proper shooting space to record, so my efforts.. were not great. And while I TRIED text reviews, my own looming pile of self hatred meant every attempt I made was shot down when it got hard as me not being good enough. 

But one year ago I finally got past that. I’d already been reviewing a bit, doing invididual issues of comics... but got way in over my head trying to do the current line of X-Men comics as it came out, and wisely bowed out of that. But that left a gap: I had nothing to cover week to week and with a demanding new job, I drifted into just doing in charcter chats, little fan fictions script styles. Not bad work, I should do some more at some point and I even got a comissoin once in a while, but nothing I could really live on and not what I wanted to do with my life. 

Enter Ducktales. I’d always WANTED to review the show.. and when the double premire happened, I decided fuck it, and put up my thoughts. And then decided.. hey maybe I can do this every week.. and slowly.. my work evolved, getting better and better, getting more and more likes. I picked up Amphibia when that came by week to week.

And eventually.. this went from a hobby, if one I was passionate about to a career. Not a largely paying one, as only one person was really intrested in paying me for it, friend of the blog and our fincial backer @weirdkev27, but .. it’s money and i’m now making about 30 dollars a month due to a comination of comissions and patreon. Other contributers are always welcome mind you, my patreon is here if your curious and comissions are 5 dollars an episode, but i’ts just nice to have money coming in. To have gone from simply WANTING to review things and make a living off it.. to simply doing it. 

And it’s been one hell of a year.. and not just because 2020 felt like hell or 2021 began with a full on insurrection. I feel like i’ve acomplished a lot in the year i’ve been doing this: I finished what I started with Ducktales season 3, getting better and better as I went. And I didn’t stop there with ducks: I started covering what brought me to Ducks in the first place, the Life and Times of Scrooge McDuck, and while that retrospective has slid a bit on the schedule, I intend to get it back on track this month. I reviewed a bunch of Darkwing Duck episodes leading up to the Just Us Justice Ducks.. chronologically anyway. The actual airing order reads like someone took 50 issues of a comic, made it rain with them, then just started reading whatever ones they picked up randomly. I also covered some of Duck Master Carl Barks work with the classics Night on Bear Mountain, A Christmas for Shacktown and Back to the Klondike, with more to come. 

And the Duck didn’t stop at just reviews I did on my own: Kev comissioned two MASSIVE retrospectives from me: My first for him was Ride of the Three Caballleros where in just a few short months I covered the boys entire televisied careers together from the movie, to house of mouse, to mickey and the roadster racers, to ducktales (again) and finishing with the wonderful Legend of the Three Caballeros. It has probably the worst Daisy imaginable, but otherwise is really excellent and i’m glad I finally watched it. I also covered Don Rosa’s two stories with the boys as part of it. It was a fun ride and I enjoyed every minute of it... okay most of them again Three Cabs Daisy is the worst. And once that finished Kev started up another idea: Shadow Into Light: a look at Lena’s character arc from start to finish that has gone on to be my most popular series on this blog, and that finishes next week. And there’s more to come as after that there’s a short breather with a look at Lilo and Stitch’s crossover episodes.. folllowed by me looking at all three of season 2′s ducktales arcs. And I fully intend to have covered every episode of the series by this time next year, so stay tuned. 

Outside of ducks though I didn’t slow down. I restarted my Tom Lucitor retrospective, covering what i feel to be one of Star Vs’ two best characters, tied with eclipsa, and my personal faviorite as he redeemeed himself, found love and I bitched a lot about the horrible directions the series took and probabably will more as that’s still not done yet. I did what I always wanted to do and started looks at some of my faviorite comics ever, starting with Life and Times and adding in New X-Men and Scott PIlgrim. I also threw in the awesome comic Blacksad. I did pride month for the first time and not only came out publicly, but also did two whole arcs i’m proud of with The Saluna episodes of Loud house and the rednid episodes of OK KO, and generally just had myself a good old fashioned time as an out bi man reviewing childrens cartoons. 

I started Season 2 of amphibia with it’s lows of an endlesss road trip and highs of adding Marcy to the cast and giving us more of the silky voiced keith david. And finally Patreon wise Kev’s taken me on a hell o fa journey: In addition to the restrospectives i’ve covered some additional darkwing duck, and a simpsons homage to the duck comics... but also got a bit weird and obscure with detours like the lost animnaics sucessor Histeria, the apocalyptic comedy where Santa dosen’t know how doors work Whoops! and the adventures of Santa’s bratty teen daughter jingle belle. In short.. it’s been a long year but damn has it been fun and there’s more to come. I’d like to thank all of you for reading, thank my Patreons Kev and Emma for supporting me, and thank my family for doing the same.  So with that out of the way, I figured the best way to celebrate was to do something i’ve been wanting to do for a long time, something honoring the show that gave me this calling in the first place. And with Season 3 sadly being the last, and enough weeks having passed for me to digest it between the finale and today, I could think of nothing better than my top 12 episodes of Ducktales.

Ducktales is one of the best cartoons of the 2010′s. Brilliantly taking EVERYTHING that had come before, the comics, the original cartoon and every bit of duck media period to craft a masterful, unique and wonderful reboot. It was funny, it was insane, and it had damn good character arcs. By the end every member of the main cast along with major supporting cast members like Fenton, Drake and especially Lena, had changed and signifigantly at that. The show was everything I could’ve dreamed of and more and I miss it terribly, hoping DIsney will do a revivial movie at some point. For now though, Frank and Matt’s run on ducktales, as they called it and I do too since i’m a massive comic book nerd, it’s time to look back on my favorite tales of ducks. So grab your sharks, your number one dimes and your friendship cakes with clear gay undertones and join me under the cut as I celebrate one of my faviorite shows and my anniversary in the best way possible. 

12. House of the Lucky Gander! 

 So as i’ve gone on about before and no doubt will again, Donald kinda got the short end of the stick in season 1. While Frank and Matt had good story intentions, keeping Donald away from adventure since he had no interest in it, in practice it meant a beloved Disney Icon who they and disney HEAVILY promoted as part of the series and whose being here this go round was a big draw for fans of the comics.... was only in a quarter of the season and only got TWO plots centered around him in 23 episodes, with only one being the main plot of the episode. The PIlot and Finale both centered around the family more as a whole if your curious how I counted those so while he got plenty of focus in both, it’s still not a day in the limelight sort of thing. 

But unusually for Donald, he lucked out as his one big starring role for Season 1 was both one of my faviorites and one of Season 1′s most inventive outings.  A lot of the episodes enegy comes from a one two punch of a great guest star and one of the series best settings. The guest star is of course everyone’s faviorite overly lucky himbo Gladstone Gander. The show adapted the prick perfectly: The original Gladstone from the comics.. was the worst asshole imaginable, utterly insufferable. And for a villian, and Donald’s rival, that’s all well and good.. but his super luck meant he RARELY , if ever, suffered any consequences for being just...

The 87 series simply made him nicer, while Going Quackers simply removed his luck. No adaptation really got how to make this fucker work.. until this one. Here Frank split the diffrence: Gladstone is still smug.. but he’s no longer actively malicious. While he is an insensitive prick to Donald in this one, unlike the comics he’s not constantly bragging about his luck or how great he is or actively BAITING Donald to fight with him or trying to ruin his relationship or a million other reasons he sucks and I hate him.

This version by contrast... is generous. He’s not the most empathetic, because he doesn’t get how life works, but he does share the riches of the casnio with everyone and in a cameo appearance in “Treasure of the Found Lamp” gladly offers his nephews some diamonds. He’s got a nice surface level charm to him that makes you understand why people like him.. but it’s also clear ther’es nothing UNDER that of value, making you equally understand why Scrooge and Donald hate him. Gladstone in this reboot is a perfect example of why we need reboots or new adaptations in the first place: Because sometimes the original got something wrong or something can be done much better by the new writers. 

He’s perfectly paired with the setting: The House of Lucky Fortune, a mystical casino with an East Asian astatic based in the country of Macaw and provides two great plots. Donald’s really highlights his character: His understandable jealousy at gladstone earning the boys love through nothing while he struggles to make a living for them, and how he feels like a looser and like Gladstone is simply showing that off instead of just not knowing what empathy is. Having Louie be the one to bond with Gladstone was also just pitch pefefct, as is showing some depth for the boy by having himr ealize his hero is an asshole and be the one to help donald in the end. 

The other plot is just pure joy though and is where the setting REALLY shines: Scrooge and the rest of the kids try to leave.. but can’t find the exit. This is where the creative part comes in: The Casino simply morphs to keep people trapped, and caters to them, giving them whatever they want to keep them trapped. In the cases of the kids it’s all hilarious and adorably in character: Huey becomes entranced by a fancy water show, in one of his best bits of the season, Dewey gets a pet tiger who sadly did not come home with him and Webby gets to live the dream we’ve all had of stuffing her face directly in a choclate fountain. Scrooge’s escape is likewise clever: He simply prepares to get a room.. then books it as the check in desk is ALWAYS near the front. 

We then find out Gladston’es trapped get the whole mystical contest with absolutely gorgeous animation, i’ll talk about it in full some time but this episode is just a treat to watch, has a great arc for donald and had some memorable gags. I can’t help but smile when I watch it. 

11. The Dangerous Chemistry of Gandra Dee!  As I mentioned before i’m a superhero nerd so naturally Fenton was one of my faviorite parts of the show. Frank and Matt were just damn good at crafting superhero stories, and like gladstone improved fenton turning him from an awkward donald stand in to an awkward peter parker-esque science nerd who just wants to be a good person and the best hero he can be. He got into science not just because he thinks it’s neat, but because he honestly wants to help people and you can’t help but foot for him whenever he pops up. Lin Manuel Miranda is a large reason for that, bringing his incomparable a-game to the character. While we sadly didn’t get a ton of gizmoduck focused episodes, the fatct we got AS MANY as we did and that Lin didn’t drop out for a minute even with his busy schedule was a miracle and I’m acknowledging that. 

As for why this one, I feel it builds brilliantly on the previous Fentoncentric episode Who Is Gizmoduck?! which just BARELY didn’t make this list and uses the fact we haven’t seen fenton in a while as both a plot point and to move some things forward without having to spend screentime they clearly didn’t have. By having Fenton be just burnt out on superheroics it finds a way to both explain where he’s been, he’s been busy with his new job, and give us an interesting angle to the old “superhero is tired of the life” thing. He never once complains about saving people or stuff... it’s just like any job it gets tiring after a while. As someone who has his dream job but has struggled with it from time to time, I vastly relate. 

Though while I love my boy and Lin is game as always, the episodes real MVP is my other boy Huey. The episode has moved Huey up from being simply Fenton’s fanboy to being his best friend, and adorable as hell relationship. The two clearly respect and appricate each other and Huey is looking out for his buddy the whole episode. His love of love is also just really cute. Added in the mix is Webby, who in one of my faviorite gags of the series, finds out Fenton is  Gizmoduck because Huey is incredibly and insanely blatant with his unecessary coverup. But she of course is game to help while Fenton is trying to play it casual. We also just get a waterfall of great gags as everyone overdoes it wingmanning for fenton: Huey sets up an itallian bistro and tries to purposfully create a lady and the tramp situation, and sings opera (With Manny on acordian), the wonderfully 80′s suit from Fenton’s dad his mom gives him to wear, and Launchpad, who gives us a tremendous list of his exes, and plays my favorite song of the series: It’s a Date, a micheal mcdonnel riff. 

This episode also wisely ups Mark’s Beaks game as Fenton’s arch enemy, still keeping him hilaroius, with the guy acting like a bored teenager and guzzling so much nanite jucie he turns into a hulk, as well as said hulk mode leading to a ton of great gags from kidnapping the children (”I got your kids.. are they your kids? I don’t know how this family works), to “take that coach dad” to eating a pie with tins and all and wondering about said tins. But he’s an actual threat now, taking on fenton in one hell of a fight, and having an utterly transcendent scene where he hacks his way past gyro’s security while dancing.. and dabbing because of course he does. It’s a fun, well done character piece that’s mostly here for i’ts laugh but Fenton’s struggle with Gizmo overtaking his life, and finding out someone he truly hit it off iwth only wanted him for that.. it’s really good stuff and Lin’s delivery after Fenton finds out, the pure pain and betryal in his voice, is just excellent. Also that opera scene is poetry. 

10. Quack Pack!

One of the episodes that started my career naturally landed here. Not for that reason though: Quack Pack is a fun riff on sitcoms, specifically the tgif ones of the 90′s that Disney Afternoon Kids no doubt also watched, the kinds Disney Channel still makes today, and most importanly the kind the Disney Afternoon itself made like Goof Troop and well... Quack Pack. 

Riffs on sitcoms are nothing new and the last year has been FULL of them. 2020 gave us this episode, Beef House and the wonderful “The Perfect House” episode of Close Enough, and this year gave us WandaVision, my second favorite MCU project so far, right behind Black Panther, which used the sitcom deconstruction to create one hell of a character study. 

So you’d think with a year having passed and this concept happening as an entire mini series would dull this one.. but no. it’s still damn funny, having fun at the cliches while, again like WandaVision, having one of the main cast be responsible by accident but go along with it. The episode pivots from glorious affectionate parody of cheesy sitcoms, to that plus horrifying “Humans”, and a character piece for Donald. This brings Donald’s hatred and fed up ness with adventure to a head revealing his fondest wish is just to have a normal life and not loose anyone again. 

It takes one of his best friends to snap him out of it. Look Goofy is my second faviorite of the sensational seven, an episode with him was already an easy sell for me.. but the episode uses him really well. First for laughs as he’s gentically dispositioned to be a perfect sitcom neighbor.. but also for heart. With his family preoccupied and a bit hurt, i’ts Goofy who cuts to the heart of the issue, pointing out NO ONE is normal and even his normal domestic life raising Max, who we see go to prom with roxanne eeeeee, has all sorts of chaos. Normal is what you make of it and pining for some ideal that will never happen was just tearing donald apart piece by piece and by letting go of that.. he finally begins to grow as a person throughout the season. It’s also a great thematic tie in to the season’s overall plot with Bradford and what Makes donald, despite also disliking the chaos his family gets into, different. Donald accepted it and grew as a person.. Bradford clung to his hate and it ate him alive. Or turned him into a non-sapient kind of vulture. Before I close this part out Jaleel White is also excellent and I wish eh’d get back into voice acting. He’s so freaking good at it. Seriously man i’d love to see him and ben in a sonic property together as a mythology gag. Same with Jims cummings and carey. Just think about it whoever owns the sonic movies.. think about it. 

9. The Last Adventure!

Look I knew this was coming, you knew this was coming. But it had to be on here. The Last Adventure is not perfect: The lack of a build up episode like the previous two finales had really hurt this one: even at about 70 minutes, it still feels rushed in places and Huey, one of hte main characters of the season, dosen’t feel like he has a full payoff to his character like Dewey and Louie got. 

But despite those flaws.. this episode is just a damn good ending. Almost everyone gets a big moment paying off their character arc, everyone in the party that comes to rescue webby and huey, along with the two themselves, gets a moment to show off, and everything comes together to give us one last epic sendoff. There’s just moment stacked on moment stacked on moment from Launchpads heroic second wind and donning of the gizmoduck armor, to Webby’s tearful confrontation with Beakley, to Huey using the greatest adventure of all line to foil bradford in one of the most deligfhully nuts moments of the series, I could go on for days with just how triumphant this finale felt. While it left a lot of doors open.. that feels like part of the design. It’s the end of the fight with FOWL.. but our heroes will never stop adventuring, never stop going and never stop being in our hearts and the curtain call at the end is now my faviorite bit of end credits ever, perfectly giving the main cast and friends one last chance to take a bow in their own unique ways. I will always miss this show but I will never be disapointed by the note it went out on. 

8. The 87 Cent Solution!

Look some episodes are show stoppers, some are heartfelt tearjerkers, some are all this and more.. and some episodes are just clever and hilarious. The 87 Solution is the second funniest episode of Ducktales with me and my go to episode when watching the show. It’s just pure fun and with a clever premise: Scrooge notices 87 cents have gone missing, and already coming down with a cold, goes mad with paranoia as the kids slowly don face masks, something that has become even eeerier given everything, one by one realizing he needs to stop. 

While David Tennant is an EXCELLENT dramatic actor, his comedy timing is really something that shoudln’t be ignored and i’ts on full display here as his performance gets more and more deranged, to thep oint he thinks an 8th dimensional imp is repsonsible. He nicely balances the disturbing side of Scrooge’s paranoia, his distancing from his family, with plenty of great gags about it too, the standout being when he offers 2 million dollars to whoever took the money like he’s publicly appeasing kidnappers. It’s fucking brilliant. 

But while David is awesome as ever what really, truly makes the episode is my boy, one of my faviorite characters on the show if not my single faviriote FLINTHEART GLOMGOLD. Keith Ferguson is ALWAYS a dream as the character but this is his best performance by far. Part of this is the addition of Zan Owlson, Kev who I mentioned earlier’s faviorite Ducktales character. She’s not only throughly likeable in her own right, but provides the one thing Flinty was missing; a straight man.. or woman in this case. Scrooge wasn’t TERRIBLE in the roll, but can easily step away from his shit or foil it. Owlson has to put up with Glomgold’s nonsense while desperatly trying to stop him from undoing all her hard work with sheer force of jackass. The two jut play off each other brilliantly, Glomgold not getting sh’es not his employee but his equal and Owlson constnatly snarking at him. 

And of course both things hit their peak in the climax with the family staging a fake funeral (Though no one told donald it was fake), and we get the funniest scene in the entire fucking show as Glomgold burts in in a white suit, money shades and full dance number to “All I Do Is Win’, which when first watching this I was convinced the song was somehow accidnetly on in the background but nope. They got it after using it in the test phase and the scene is better for it. Glomgold twerking on Scrooge’s casket, trying to get on it to dance, and having to be placated like ac hild is the icing on this very rich cake

And the reveal scene is also gold as Glomgold gets into a YEARLONG staring contest with a baby, fails to steal more than the 87 cents and, in my faviorite touch, put on an imp costume just to make scrooge seem crazier... then keeps the damn thing on the rest of the time for no explicable reason. The episode is the show at it’s comedic peak while giving Glomgold a chance to be a genuine threat and that’s Glomgood. 

7. Let’s Get Dangerous!

Frank’s Rebooted Version of Darkwing Duck is probably his greatest achivment with the show. While this show is a team effort, something I slowly realized as I reviewed the show, it’s very clear from the way he talks, how well he knows the show and how much effort was put into porting Darkwing into the reboot that this was his baby. While redefining ducktales for the 2010′s was clearly a huge dream of his... doing the same for the master of suprise was an even bigger goal. And as a huge fan of superheroes i’ve seen my fair share of half assed takes on laired and complex characters. The XCU alone is one giant grab bag of missed opportunities for me. 

So i’ts no exageration when I tell you Frank.. nailed it. In one of the most brilliant moves i’ve seen for a superhero work Frank worked his love of the show into the reboot.. by having Darkwing have been a show, one Launchpad loved.. and so did Drake, who was inspried by the show to become an inspriation himself and while his attempt to do that through a zack snydery reboot failed, Launchpad encouraged him to do it for real. Drake was still himself, but the meta aspect and the toning down of some of darkwing’s more obnoxious traits that didn’t work in a universe that, while patently rediciulous still took it’s characters seriously, he made a BETTER version of the character.

This is where all that comes to it’s peak, and hoppefully convinced Disney to let Frank , and possibly matt, run the reboot. And no, even if Point Grey is producing that dosen’t stop that: Thanks to Invincible i’ve now realized that Seth and his friend Evan producing the show dosen’t mean it’ll be RAN by them, nor unrelated to this. It just means their helping make it and if anything given how lush and gorgeous invincible’s animation is, it’s a VERY good sign their helping out with it if it’s true. 

But wether this versoin continues or not, Frank gave it his best shot. Part of his diffrent angle is having Drake as a rookie here and as such here we see him truly struggle: he’s had his origin, he ahs the cape, he has the gadgets (in a brilliant turn thanks to fenton, who he actually likes... but is so far the ONLY person to not get he’s Gizmoduck), and the city.. but no crime to fight and no real idea how to go about his lifelong dream. The events of the episode slowly shape him: WHile he already had the spirit for darkwing, never giving up, looking good in a cape etc, this episode gives him the heart the same way it gave his original it: With Gosalyn. Dimantopolis and Beatriz just play off each other perfectly, as the two go from neimies to slowly bonding as Drake realizes this kid needs him and that he needs to fight for more than just filing the ohle inside, and goes to hell and back to help her get her grandpa back, with one of the best moments of the episode to me being when Launchpad helps her realize how hard he’s been working at it, an exausted drake refusing to acccept that he can’t get her grandpa back because he promised. He grows from simply trying to live the dream.. to surpassing the original. We also see more from Launchpad, who grows into his new family and helps push his boyfriend and newa dopted daughter in the right directions. The episode really evolves these characters from the simple disney afternoon versions, who while awesome were made into fully fleshed out characters. Gosalyn still has her edge but now has a hard lesson to learn about doing the right thing, forced to give up someone she loves for the greater good but finding a new family in the process. 

Part of what makes the episode work though as while it is funcitonally one big darkwing duck reboot pilot that’s awesome, heartrending and a joy to watch... it’s still a ducktales episode in parts without either part hurting each other. Huey plays a vital role, figuring the ramrod is too good to be true.. and discovering just how it is, then when captured, slowly unravling why Bradford’s there and being at least in part responsible for outing him as a FOWL agent. While this is largely Drakes story the rest of the cast is still vital to it: Scrooge trusting in huey, Louie serving as his logical counter and Dewey meanwhile bonding with team darkwing and helping Gosalyn, knowing exactly where she’s been and providing a nice foil. The episode is just one long and impressive love letter to the original show while creating it’s own thing and that’s really this reboot in a nutshell. It also has some of the best fights of the series, with the first fight between darkwing and bulba, where our hero, unlike his original counterpart, easily troucnes bulba using his speed and skill, is the standout. 

6. Woo-Ooo!

I covered this one recently so I won’t go on for too long.. but I will say I hold this one up as the gold standard for first episodes. In one hour, hell even in jus the first half we get a sense of the whole cast, the tone of the show, and the world we’ve been thrust into. It gets all the table setting out of the way by weaving it into a compelling story of Scrooge getting back in the game, finding a reason to get back to what he does best in those he loves most and setting up the season long arc effortlessly in the process. The worst I can say about the episode is it sets the bar a bit high for Season 1 and a lot of the first half really struggled to reach these heights. This episode is a masterwork and the perfect showcase for what the series would be at it’s height. 

5. Moonvasion!

Speaking of Golden Standards, Moonvasion is one of the best season finale’s i’ve seen. it’s not THE best.. but that’s a really high bar to clear and that spots currently taken in my heart by “The Crossroads of Destiny” from Avatar the Last Airbender. But while not the best of it’s kind, it’s sitll the best the series put out and is an utterly satisfying epic that ties up season 2. 

While I love the Last Adventure, it had a LOT to tie up and was really hampered by having to do all of that with no direct lead in. Moonvasion by contrast hits the ground running with the Moonlanders arriving on earth and all hell breaking loose, and the episode itself breaking into two stellar plots. Scrooge leading an army of every ally he has against the invaders, and Della seemingly going for reinforcements.. but really just trying to keep the kids safe from it, to their anger once they find out. 

Both sides end up going badly: Scrooge looses most of his army as Lunaris was one step ahead of him and is left iwth Beakly and Launchpad, while Della ends up marooned.. and finds Donald. The reunion between the two is the highlight of the special, as the two argue as you’d expect (And Dewey cutting in seemingly to stop it.. only to rant at Donald for costing him “ten years of turbo” is the best gag of the episode), before embracing. 

Our heroes naturally find ways to bounce back though. Louie, capping off his growth for the season, convinces his mom they can’t just hide.. and in the second best scene of the episode sings the lullabye she wrote.. one Donald sung them every night

And no sooner than Della gets her step back and realizes that dangerous or not she and her newly reunited family have to get back in there, do the cousins show up on Fethry’s giant shrimp/girlfriend Mitzi, and our heroes head back. 

Scrooge’s plot hits i’ts peak though as he’s forced to accept the help of an unlikely and unwelcome ally: Glomgold, who turns out to be exactly what they need: While his plan is as stupid, short sighted and insane as you’d expect, complete with forcing Scrooge to dress up as santa just to piss him off and dressing his sharks in parkas (”I call them sharkas”), the sheer lonacy throws Lunaris off as he dosen’t know how to deal with this and Glomgold not only gets the better of him but gets his company back as part of his scheme.  “You were prepared for our best but not our dumbest!” “And i’m the dumbest theirs ever been! Muahahahaha! Wait...”

And of course our other heroes arrive just in time to save things.. and the episode still manages to pull off what many works struggle to, something tha’ts very hard to: a SECOND climax. Lunaris decides to just say fuck it and blow up the earth and i’ts up to our core family to kick his ass in space. Epic space battles, Della’s girlfriend meeting the family and more insues and an emotoinal, action packed and fully satisfying finale is had by all... and it’s all topped with one of the best sequel hooks i’ve ever seen as FOWL makes themselves known to us.. and prepares to strike. 

4. How Santa Stole Christmas! This one will also be short as i’ve talked about this one.. a lottttt. The initial review, my best christmas specials list and my best of 2020 list. I stand by all of that: this is a unique and wonderful christmas special, i’ll be watching it every year, and i’ts full of charm, humor and gay subtext. In short it’s this series but on christmas footing. 

3. Last Crash of the Sunchaser! 

Another one I covered very recently, this episode is a master piece of suspense, slowly building tension as our heroes get closer and closer to the truth about Della.. and to death, the simple but deadly stakes making this an absolute nailbiter from start to finish. This is some of the series best pacing bar none... but what seals it is the ending: the masterful flashback finally explaning whatever happened to Della duck, our heroes lashing out at each other.. all cumilating in the best Scene of the show. I said it might be in the review but no I can confirm: Scrooge bitterly ruminating over things while we find out just how much he’s lost... ending with him tearfully and angrily sitting once again alone in one hell of a powerful shot echoing Scrooge’s first apperance. Damn fine stuff. 

2. Escape from The Impossbin Only one episode not only matches Last Crash in mounting tension and atmosphere but suprasses it. With FOWL and Bradford’s true nature now out in the wind, this episode uses that to create tension and rattles it’s two most unshakable characters: SCrooge’s normal boundless confidence is shot, not sure he can win this time against an opponent who knows him as well as he knows himself while Beakly slowly unravels, pitting Webby against the boys.. and pitting herself against Webby when Webby sees her terroizing them is only dividing them. Both plots start out funny enough but slowly escalate in tension and stakes until by the end your on the edge of your seat. The Beakly plot is the standout of the two, giving Bentina the starring role she badly needed, having gotten even better in light of the finale. Everyone is at the top of their game and everything builds up to one hell of a twist ending and one hell of a badass boast from our heroes: Their down.. but their far from out and this is far from over. 

1. Nightmare On Kimotor Hill!

I”ll be reviewing this episode in full later this week as part of my Lena retrospective, but I stand by putting it up top. This episode is ducktales in it’s purest form and focuses on it’s best original character as Lena grapples with her self hatred and her past. That core helps anchor an amazing concept: going into the Kid’s dreams and finding out their greatest desires. The results.. are all gloriously rediclous and are easily the best gags of hte series as a whole: Dewey’s high school musical santa claus is going ot high school nonsense from getting a’s in Dewology to running away from the abstract concept of a love intrest, to not getting the sybolism of himself crying a moon made of his own tears. Louie quite literally becoming garfield, and my faviorite scene of the show: Huey, wanting to be the tall older brother..g iving himself horrifcly long leg. While everyone else is just understandably baffled, what makes the scene is the banter between Dewey and Huey, with Schwartz and Pudi at their best as Dewey first freaks out and then asks what the hell man, while Huey defends his weird decision (”I”m not good at imagination stuff okay!”), and then tries to get a jar of pickles. Each dream is just so oddly and wonderfully specific to each kid and each one of the triplests dreams, as well as violets being color coded down tot he backgrounds is a very nice touch. The visuals here are just peak ducktales, using the setting for all it’s worth and the climax is utterly emotoinal and heartbreaking... and Lena’s break from her abuser, finally realizing she has the power now is not only a wonderful metaphor... but also just so damn cathartic. And that’s why this one’s the best to me personally: it just packs so much into 20 minutes: some of the series best and most creative jokes, a gripping emtoinal arc, and so much more. It’s just that damn good and tha’ts why it’s the best... that and starting Huelet for me. Seriously that LIbrary scene is so fucking cute. 

Thank you all for reading. If you liked this artcle, join my patreon and help me get to my stretch goal for monthly darkwing duck reviews, a review of super ducktales and more after! Until the next rainbow... it’s been a pleasure. 

#ducktales #huey duck #dewey duck #louie duck #webby vanderquack #scrooge mcduck #bentina beakly #lena sabrewing #santa claus #della duck #donald duck #gladstone gander #gizmoduck #fenton crackshell cabrera #gandra dee #mark beaks #flintheart glomgold #zan owlson #goofy goof #launchpad mcquack #darkwing duck

[reelwriter19]

Smooth(ie)

*Inspired by this image 😍 he posted a while ago & the fact that I literally got my blender in the mail this morning lol ENJOY!

It was the start of a beautiful spring day, and once again, you were sitting at the island mesmerized by the man maneuvering in your kitchen. When you’d first met Kevin, he pretended that your apartment was on the same route as his daily run. He later admitted that he changed his route in hopes to see you more often...and it worked. Now, in a full-fledged relationship for the past 10 months, he ends his workout 3 times a week at your doorstep and takes over your kitchen and Ninja to make a smoothie you can’t seem to function without.

He’s a morning person and you’re the direct opposite, so you’re always grateful that he doesn’t make a fuss. He just shows up, glistening from an intense workout, usually in some sleeveless black tee and makes you want to risk it all right on this kitchen counter before the day officially begins.

“Baby, hellooo...you gon’ stop staring at my arms long enough to try this?”

Kev’s hand was extended towards you with a piece of some exotic looking fruit he wanted you to taste.

CRAP, caught. “I was not…”

With a smirk on his face. “Yeah...ok.”

“What is this?”

“Just try it.”

You oblige and take a bite, juice almost immediately running down your chin.

“Ok detective...I like it.”

Before you can grab a paper towel to wipe your face, Kevin has made his way in front of you to slowly lick the juice from your chin. Boxing you in place on the barstool with his arms on each side, staring into your eyes. Not beat for the wait, you grab his face and move in to finally connect with those lips. Kissing him feels like all the energy boosts, caffeine and vitamins you’ll ever need.

“I like these better though.” You whisper as you continue to graze his lips.

“Uh huh beautiful…” He says as he reluctantly walks away to pour your respective smoothies into glasses. “I told you I have a case.”

He hands you the glass and walks towards your balcony to sit outside. This was also a part of the routine. He’d sit out here under the guise of not ruining your couch with his funk, but you knew it was his attempt to wake you up by blasting you with the morning sun. You pretended to hate it at first, but you honestly cherished these mornings with him. He’d talk about the craziness he’d seen at work the night before, the stress and how he sometimes couldn’t sleep. You’d fallen in love with him because of this vulnerable side.

Feet up and nestled next to him on the chair.

“Voight loves me Kev, I think he’ll be perfectly fine with me calling out for you today.”

“He does love you...which isn’t easy to achieve...but hell no. He’d send Ruz right to your door to come get me.”

You both chuckled thinking back to the night that very thing happened a few months ago.

“How long this time?” You began to pick at the fabric on your sweater as a distraction...you always hated the answer to this question.

“A month….....in New York.”

You sit up to face him, trying to hide the sirens of shock and concern currently going off in your brain. As calm as you can pretend to be, “What’s in New York?”

“I’ll be working with Lindsay out there undercover on a case. But Ruz will be checking in on you here ok?”

“He’s not going with you? I always feel better knowing he has your back out there.”

“I know babe. But Erin is a badass too now...I’ll be fine.”

You hear your phone ringing inside, breaking the moment. You grab the empty glasses from the table before walking back in, wiping a tear that you hope Kevin didn’t notice was about to fall.

“I promise you baby, the month will be over before you know it!” You hear Kev yell as you search for your phone. You find it in the other room and wonder when you could’ve put it there.

Kim Burgess/FaceTime: you take a breath and decide to answer.

“Hey Kim.”

“Y/N...you ok?”

Holding back tears…. “Uh huh, yeah I’m fine. Kev just told me about New York. Why can’t Adam go instead?”

You both pause to look at each other and simultaneously reply…. “LOOSE CANON”, which cheers you up for a moment.

“And you know Voight trusts Kev. It’ll be great for his career too.”

“I know I know.”

“Is he there? I need to ask him something really quick and he didn’t answer my text earlier.”

“Yeah he's outside one second.”

You walk back out to the living room to find Kevin facing you from the balcony on one knee holding a gorgeous diamond ring. You stop in your tracks, as Adam appears on the screen next to Kim whistling like he’s at a hockey game.

“Ha! It worked! Go Kev!!!!”

Kim elbows Adam “Hush! Y/N, we love you guys.”

Standing directly in front of your boyfriend, still in shock, Kevin takes the phone from your hand and addresses the excited pair on the other end.

“Thanks y’all.”

Adam, of course...“Wait man, leave us on speaker. Don’t  we deserve to hear the speech?”

Kim laughs as she disconnects the call.

After putting your phone down, Kevin grabs your hand and traces gentle circles on it with his thumb as he begins to speak.

“Y/N. I love you so deep I don’t even want to think about how empty my heart felt before you. I fight harder to survive out there because of you. I don’t care how grumpy you are in the morning, or how big these sweaters get that you put on when I wake you up...I want this with you every single day for the rest of our lives. Baby, will you marry me?”

With a face full of tears, you drop to your knees and crash into Kevin’s lips.

Breaking the kiss, he’s cheesing with the most adorable boyish look in his eyes. “Is that a yes??”

“YES. Yes of course!” Your hands are shaking so much he can barely get the ring on.

“I love you.”

#reelwriter19 #kevin atwater x reader #kevinatwaterxreader #kevin atwater imagine #kevin atwater x black!reader #Chicago PD #fluff

[adamruz]

Thinking 'Bout You

Summary: a fic inspired by this song. What if Kim moved to San Diego with Roman?

It had been almost half a year since Kim moved to San Diego with Roman. At first she loved the idea because she was in a relationship with a man she loved and was starting over in a new city with no reminders of her ex-fíance. But the relationship lasted only 3 months in the new city after she realized what a jackass Roman was when he drunkenly admitted one night to purposely screwing with her and Adam's relationship because he just wanted to sleep with her.

She missed her friends, her coworkers, patrolling the streets of Chicago, the wind off of the lake, and even though she wouldn't admit it to anyone who'd ask, she missed Adam. The only contact she had with her old life was occasional texts to and from her first partner, Kevin. It took her an entire month to tell Kevin her and Roman broke up because she was afraid to admit she made the wrong decision so soon and that he'd judge her for it.

I messed up. was the text she sent to Kevin.

With Ruz or Roman?

Adam.

Call him.

Kim didn't need Kevin to tell her that. She's thought about calling Adam everyday since the break-up, hell since the first day she arrived in San Diego. But she's the one who ended things, who gave back the ring, all because of her jealous partner who couldn't watch her be happy with someone else. She knew Adam was an amazing guy and some lucky girl was probably already dating him. She had drafted many texts to him, but they never got sent including a happy birthday one, but she just wasn't ready to admit her mistake.

Meanwhile back in Chicago, Intelligence was down a member after Antonio left and everyone knew that spot would've gone to Kim, but she was no longer there. Detective Hailey Upton was brought in and Voight mixed up the partnerships, putting her and Adam together. On the outside, it looked like Adam was holding it together ever since him and Kim broke up and she moved away, but he was falling apart inside. Kevin and Jay tried to get him to join them at Molly's a couple times a week, but Adam always refused. He wasn't in the mood to laugh or have a good time while dealing with a broken heart. Adam had brought up Kim's contact information so many times he lost count, but he could never go through with hitting the call button, not even on his drunkest nights. He was too stubborn and too full of pride to go crawling back to her even though she was still the last thing he thought about at night.

An undercover gig popped up on Voight's radar and he asked the unit for any volunteers. Adam immediately jumped at the opportunity. "I'll go boss." Maybe this would take his mind off Kim, get out of the building where so many of his good and bad memories with her happened. "It's yours Ruzek," Voight said.

Two weeks had passed since Adam went undercover when Jay received a call from his brother at Med. "Jay, Ruzek just stumbled in here with a bullet wound to his left shoulder."

"What's his status, Will?"

"He's ok. Lost a lot of blood, but he's stable. The bullet just missed hitting the bone."

"Ok, we're on our way." Jay rounded up the rest of Intelligence and they all headed to the hospital.

Adam barely remembered what happened, but it was a drug deal gone bad and somehow he had worked up enough energy to walk his way to the hospital. Now, he was lying in an uncomfortable hospital bed, on pain meds, and the only thing he could think about was Kim. What if he had died without her knowing that he was sorry for how things ended and how much he still loved her. He reached for his UC phone and started dialing the 10 digit number he still knew by heart, but then his nurse appeared with some familiar faces.

"Geez Ruzek, did you miss us so much you had to get shot before your assignment ended," Al joked.

"Haha very funny, Al." The team took turns giving Adam a hug and saying how glad they were he was going to be ok.

Dr. Halstead interrupted the reunions, "Adam, you're going to need to stay overnight for a few days, but then you can go home and recover. I recommend 2 weeks off of work and then you can return to desk duty. After that we'll do another check-up and see where you're at." Adam knew it was coming, but he still rolled his eyes.

"Thanks for coming guys, but I think it's best I get some sleep." Kevin handed Adam over his regular cellphone and mouthed "call her" before walking out the door. Kevin hated being the middle man between his two friends, but he just wanted them back together and knew how they each felt about the other.

That night before bed, Kev texted Kim - Adam was shot today on an UC assignment. He lost a lot of blood, but he's gonna be ok.

OMG Kev. How is he doing really?

Just call him Burgess. You know you want to.

Kim couldn't believe it. Adam was shot and she couldn't help but think it was her fault. Maybe if she wouldn't have broken up with him, dated Roman, or moved away, he wouldn't have put himself in this situation. What would she even say if she called him. Sorry didn't feel like enough she thought. She mulled over it for the next 3 days until she decided to just go for it.

It was Adam's first night back home and Kevin and Hailey had come over to help him get situated along with some pizza and beer. Adam's phone buzzed on the table and a familiar, but unexpected name popped up on the screen. Kim. He couldn't believe it. He picked up after only the first ring. "Hey stranger." Crap, Adam thought. He should've let it ring a couple times and not make it seem like he was desperate and longing for her call. And stranger? Really? He thought long and hard about what he wanted to say to Kim when they talked again and that was not it.

"Hi Adam. I know it's been a long time, but I heard you got shot and I just wanted to make sure you were ok."

"I'm doing ok. It hurts, but I'm home now and resting up until I can go back to work. How are you? How's San Diego?" He refused to ask how things were with the piece of shit Roman.

"G..g...good," Kim stumbled as she didn't want to say she ended things with Roman just yet. "Adam, I'm s..," she trailed off as she heard a female laughing in the background. "Oh am I interrupting you on a date?"

"Haha no," Adam chuckled. "That's my new partner, Hailey Upton. She replaced Antonio."

"Adam, you don't have to hide things from me. You can date whoever you want." Kim was trying to keep it together, but she wasn't shocked he had already moved on.

"Kim, I'm serious. She's just my partner. I wouldn't lie to you."

"Uh sorry, I gotta go. Sean just got home and we have dinner plans. I'm glad you're doing ok though. Bye." Kim hoped he hadn't heard her breaking down because tears were streaming down her face before she hung up. Why didn't Kevin tell her Adam had started dating? That would've been helpful information.

Why didn't you tell me he was dating? Kim texted Kev.

He's not Burgess. She really is just his partner. If you want the truth, he's still hung up on you.

Shit. Not only did she mess things up with their engagement and when she moved away and cut off all contact with him, but now again. Tonight of all nights, after he had just been shot a few days ago. How would he ever forgive her.

The two week recovery period for Adam had passed and he was so eager to get back to work, even if it was just desk duty at first. He needed something to keep him busy and his mind off of Kim and that awkward last conversation over the phone. To Adam's surprise, the day absolutely flew by and he was exhausted. Who knew you could get so tired just answering phones and doing computer work all day, but he had to get back in the swing of things.

"Ruz, you coming to Molly's tonight?"

"Yeah Kev, I'll meet you there!"

Adam packed up his stuff and headed down the steps and out into the parking lot. He noticed a shadow hovering over by his driver's side door. It was dark and he couldn't make out who it was at first. Was it someone coming to finish the job from his UC gig? As he got closer, he recognized that smile and the long brown hair.

"Hey Adam."

"What are you doing here? Where's Roman?"

"We broke up, almost 2 months ago."

Adam bit his tongue to prevent the biggest smile he wanted to appear on his face. "Oh, but you said just two weeks ago..."

"I know, I lied because I thought you were dating someone and I couldn't bear the thought of you being with someone else and didn't want you to think I was alone."

"I haven't even thought of dating someone since that day in the locker room. But Kim, you broke things off. You're the one who moved on first."

"It was a mistake," she muttered as she moved closer to him. "It was all Roman. The push test, everything. He just wanted to be with me. I should've talked to you, my fíance, instead of talking to him. I'm sorry." Kim's eyes quickly filled with water.

Adam was so full of rage at Roman and what he did to screw up the best relationship he ever had, but he could tell Kim was hurting and he didn't want to lash out at her. "Come here," he pleaded as he wrapped her up in a hug. All he wanted to do was feel her lips on his, but it wasn't the right time for that. The smell of her shampoo would have to be enough for now.

"I don't know if you're up for it, but would you want to go to Molly's tonight and catch up with everyone?"

"I'd love that actually," Kim said as she backed away from his grace with a slight grin on her face.

#my fanfic #cpd fic #burzek fic #adam ruzek #chicago pd #kim burgess #oc fic #lexi.writes

[daystens-archive]

kandreil but like kandrew and/or kevneil happens before andreil pls and thank you???

hey there!! so. writing this was actually quite satisfying. we deserved kandreil endgame fuck you and everything forever. this turned out a but long tho :/ around 1400 words or so. i feel so powerful. anyway thank you for joining my mini and kinda mediocre celebration!!!!!!!!!

edit: also on ao3

Kevin Day had always been a very organized and clean individual. He kept his stuff in place, and he tried to do the same with his head, no matter how poor the results usually were. His clothes were always folded the same, his books were alphabetically and thematically ordered. He also organized his memories very well, folded them in his mind, categorizing them as good, bad, in between, and the ones to never be revised again.

He had exactly four favorite memories.

The first one was blurry, warm colors and it felt dusty, old, like a sepia photograph. This was how he remembered his mother, bright and radiant under the sun, paler than Kevin himself but the same green eyes, with an exy racquet in her left hand, her head held high and a proud smile after Kevin had scored for the first time.

The second memory was a quiet one, Kevin getting a french word horribly wrong and Jean laughing— actually laughing at him. Between dark rooms and broken bones, Kevin had managed to make Jean laugh.

The third one was one he placed together. An old letter, the first sight of a tall man with the same smile as Kevin, the word 'father'.

The fourth one was the one that filled him with grief, but made his chest feel warm every time. His first kiss with a dead boy, or as well as. Kevin didn't think about Nathaniel often, except he did. Frightened eyes, almost Kevin's height, not one bit of shame, but a peck on the lips that was shy.

Nathaniel had been with Kevin and Riko for a month on probation. He had disliked Riko, despite Riko's efforts to be likable and accepted. Looking back, Kevin felt kind of bad for him and left him thinking, that should have been the first clue. Nathaniel had adored Kevin, though, and Kevin used to melt under the attention that had always belonged to Riko. And it seemed like it would last forever, Nathaniel being their third one, for better or for worse. But Nathaniel disappeared overnight and it took Kevin a whole year to understand that he wasn't coming back. It wasn't meant to be that way, but it was. Someone always leaves first. This was the reason he left Riko. Like Nathaniel disappeared overnight, Kevin decided this family had taken too much from him, and if he was going to die, he would do it as Kevin Day, not Kevin Moriyama.

Because the fourth memory is not one of his favorites because of the memory itself; but because of what it represented to Kevin. Someone always leaves first, and he would never be the one that's left again.

And no matter how much it seemed he would at some point after Nathaniel came back as Neil, and he kissed Kevin again —because there were some things that Kevin couldn't deny to himself, no matter how evident it was that he would lose it— as Nathaniel had come back, so did Neil.

"Satellites can hear your thoughts from space," Neil muttered against Kevin's forehead. Kevin was lying half on top of him, his hand on Neil's chest and Neil's hand on Kevin's back. He pushed Kevin's chin up and looked him in the eye. "What is it?"

It had been three months since Baltimore. Remembering it was almost like a fever dream, a goodbye promise that Kevin was meant to be number one, a phone on the ground, and a zero. Then, Neil with a burned cheek, fast words in French, and an eleven-hour long interrogation. And then Neil was safe.

"How did you even survive?" he said, softly. It was raining outside. It was Saturday, and Andrew had a session with Betsy, so it seemed like the perfect opportunity to be affectionate.

Neil shrugged, nonchalant, indifferent as he was. "It's kind of what I do."

Kevin supposed it was. He could never be indifferent about it, though. The longest years and the longest hours of Kevin's life had been those in which he didn't know if Neil was alive, the clock ticking, too much happening and yet nothing at all, his arms restless from not knowing if he would ever be able to wrap them around Neil again.

"Don't you ever want to talk about it? Or, think about it?" Kevin asked.

This seemed to break Neil's careless mask for an instant. "I don't— I don't know what else to expect," he said. "I was always expecting I would die. I think more about the fact that I won't die. Is there a difference? I think there is."

Kevin thought he understood. "Like you think about the future, not the past."

Neil traced Kevin's queen tattoo as if Kevin would break, as if he was thinking about the past. "I've always thought about the right now. There wasn't time to think about the past. Or the future.

There was something unsaid.

"And now?"

Neil raised a single eyebrow, habit he had picked up from Andrew, and his gaze fell on Kevin's lips.

"Now there's time for the future."

"That's good," Kevin said.

"Yeah." Neil kissed him.

The door opened. Neil broke the kiss.

Andrew stood there, an indecipherable expression on his face. He looked at Neil, and then at Kevin, and then he sighed and headed to the bathroom. Kevin felt Neil relax under him.

“He won’t say anything,” Kevin told him.

“I know,” said Neil. Something in his voice assured Kevin that he did know.

Kevin vaguely remembered Andrew when Neil went missing. There was a flame in him, one Kevin had never seen in him. There was also the slight view of the fire that came with the loneliness, and it reminded Kevin of himself, after Neil disappeared for the first time, back when Nathaniel still existed. It was a question he had never dared to even think, but it was there. “Why would he leave me?” even when it was irrational. Even when Neil had had no choice in either of these situations.

“Andrew kissed me once,” Kevin said.

He didn’t know what he was expecting when he did. Not jealousy, but perhaps anger. Possession. Again, irrational. He sort of wanted to laugh every time he remembered; not everyone was like Riko. However, he didn’t expect exact understanding.

“I think he told me he liked me once.”

Kevin blinked at him.

“You think?” he whisper-shouted.

“I don’t know! It was kinda vague,” Neil said in the same tone.

From the bathroom, Andrew said, "I can still hear you, you know?"

Kevin wondered the same thing.

Neil ignored it, as he did. "Besides, you're telling me that he kissed you. Kissed. Want to talk about that?"

That was also a good question.  

Kevin could somehow still remember how Andrew tasted, how it felt. Cold enough to burn, a cigarette of ice pressed to his lips. Andrew’s hands in Kevin’s hair— then nothing. Just a standard static in the air, we kissed, it murmured, and that is all.

"It was before we recruited you," Kevin said. “We were both a mess back then. So that happened.” He bit his lip, just a little shy. A little lower, “I won’t happen again. I messed up.”

Neil didn’t have the time to reply when Andrew got out of the bathroom, face just washed. “Am I done cockblocking you two?” he asked, and didn’t wait for an answer. He lied against the wall, way too casual for him to be indifferent about this. “We were both messed up.”

Kevin sighed. Without forgetting that Neil was in the room with them, he figured this conversation needed to happen eventually.

It had been different with Andrew. With Neil there was expectancy, adrenaline, like running away from the same devil. Falling for Neil had been a lot like a tragedy set on fire, but the smoke of it evaporated when they were together and safe. Falling for Andrew, however, was resignation. Static, background noise you couldn’t help but notice.

“I did hurt you,” Kevin said.

Andrew didn’t miss a beat. “You touched, you got too close, and you stopped when I told you,” he confirmed. “And then I closed off, got too distant. You didn’t ask me to get closer, but maybe you should have.”

“Yours was just a reaction,” argued Kevin, heatless.

“So was yours.” Andrew sighed, pushed himself off the wall, and sat with them in his bed. “Here is what happened; I kissed you because I liked you, and you kissed me back because you liked me as well. I needed space as much as you needed touch. This is not something to be ashamed of. We were not for each other at that precise time of our lives, and that is all.”

Kevin had expected, somehow, that having this conversation would quiet the noise, stop the static. It did not. He could still remember the exact amount of care with which Andrew would hold him. Not gentleness, or passion. Care. Quite similar to how Neil held him. As Kevin needed to be held.

Kevin took a deep breath, intertwined his fingers with Neil’s, and said, “And now?”

Something appeared to break inside Andrew. Kevin didn’t have time to analyze it.

“Now, you two are in a happy and healthy relationship,” Andrew said with a sarcastic edge. Neil’s hand tightened around Kevin’s. “I’m not planning on  breaking you two up, no need to worry about me.”

“I think,” Neil spoke, for what seemed ages, “that you told me you liked me once.”

Andrew’s eyebrows rose slightly in what meant he was annoyed. “Yes, your point?”

It was quieting. The noise. The rain seemed to be louder outside. Or perhaps it had always been loud, it’s just that there were other louder, deafening sounds drowning it.

As if on cue, Neil said, clearer than before, “I think that, if Kevin likes you and me both, and you like Kevin and me both—”

“I don’t need a pity free ticket to your relationship, Josten.”

“I don’t do pity, Minyard,” Neil said. “You said you wouldn’t mind blowing me—”

“He said what?!”

“Don’t interrupt me, Kev. I think I would mind. ” At Andrew’s scowl, he continued, “However, I wouldn’t mind kissing you. For now at least.”

It dropped, finally.

“I also don’t need you being a martyr,” Andrew said, but it carried no heat. It was just him, asking Neil to argue with him. To prove him wrong. Kevin could tell, as he could tell Neil would give him exactly that.

“I’m not,” Neil stated, plain and simple. “I would like to kiss you for you actually, not for Kevin.” Andrew blinked at him, Neil smirked, just a little smug. “Yes or no?”

Andrew stared at him for so long Kevin almost started to think he was angry. Then he just said, “Yes.”

So they kissed.

Andrew was almost timid; shy even. Hesitant. Neil kept his hands to himself, and Kevin vaguely remembered the first time they kissed; Neil holding Kevin’s face, his arms, his chest. Balance, Kevin thought, amazed. Neil and Andrew kissed with such a care, moved with  grace, in syntony. Neil’s hand was still holding Kevin’s when Andrew’s own hand reached out to theirs without breaking the kiss. Kevin got the most warm feeling inside his chest, a wave of infinite affection.

After they kissed, it was simple. Andrew kissed Kevin again for the first time since their terribly messed up first chance. And it was good. Neil had been able to feed Kevin’s starvation for touch, and he had given Andrew his space. It was not only care. It tasted like a victory.

When they broke the kiss, Neil gave Kevin a shallow peck on the lips and lied on Andrew’s bed in his previous position, dragging Kevin down with him.

“I can’t believe you two parasites have invaded my bed,” Andrew muttered under his breath. Kevin chuckled, because he could.

There was a certain balance in the room. Or perhaps it was between them. A certain peace. It was strange, but not unwelcome. And it was raining outside, but it was sunny as well. Neil lied facing the ceiling, Kevin’s face on his chest, Andrew’s back to the wall, holding Kevin loosely but with care while he joined hands with Neil. It was messy but it was okay. It would be. Kevin had exactly five favorite memories.

#kandreil #aftg #all for the game #tania.500 #andrew minyard #kevin day #neil josten #i worked three days on this so please read it and love it or whatever #also i'll post it on ao3 in a moment 😝😝😝 #prompts #daysten #kandrew #kevineil #should i tag ppl. whatever i'm too lazy rn #t.writing

[dramaticviolincrescendo]

(How to Break the) Alibi Armistice

So, @gallavictorious and I were talking about the logistic problems with Mickey and Terry (a) wanting to brutally murder one other and (b) frequenting the same places. (Read: The Alibi Room.) Could be sorted by Terry just going the hell away, of course, but where's the fun in that? (Okay, sure, there's some fun in Mickey murdering the shit out of Terry, but that's such a simplistic solution and we're sophisticated women. Also, you can only kill him once, but you can make his life miserable forever.)

Anyway. We're thinking it might go down a little like this:

The first time they see Terry after the wedding is at the Alibi. He isn’t alone, but he’s the only one that matters considering the whole burning-down-their-venue debacle. And yeah, they could probably have played it cool, ignored him —  not like he’d do something with a whole bar full of witnesses, right? But Ian still suggests they go home or come back later, which Mickey is not having.

“I’ve been drinking here since I was fourteen. I’m not fucking leaving. He tries to start shit, I will sink his teeth so deep into that bar that he’ll be shitting splinters for weeks.” 

So that’s that. 

Mickey heads to the bar, but before he can order, Terry does indeed step in to start shit. Mickey doesn’t really pay attention to what he says — something about not serving pansies here or whatever the fuck. He’s too busy cataloguing the various ways he can get Terry alone for a few minutes in the alley before Ian wises up. Then he realizes that oh, they’re already in each other’s faces and oh, they’ve got each other by the collar. The fuck did that happen?

Things would have turned bloody then – which would have suited Mickey just fine – had Kev not stepped in and calmly declared that if either of them started whaling on the other, they'd both be banned from the bar. Forever. 

That actually gives them pause. The Alibi's a shit hole, but it's their shit hole and has been for a long time.

Terry's blood-shot eyes turn from Mickey to Kev; the malevolence remains. “You try to stop me from coming here, I'll come back with a goddamn flame-thrower.”

If Kev is unnerved, he doesn't show it. “I don't wanna stop anybody from coming here. But if you do, you have to play nice. No murdering each other. No violence.”

And of course, Mickey is far from amused because, “You came to our fucking wedding, but you won't take sides when the asshole who tried to murder us picks a fight?” Deep down, though, he gets it. The Alibi Room has always been neutral ground. Besides, it's not like Terry's fucking joking about burning the thing down, so. It is what it is.

And maybe no one likes it, maybe no one is totally happy in the end, but they both reluctantly agree, to everyone else's great relief. Kev doesn't try anything as stupid as making them shake hands; he just waits until Terry has retreated to the pool table before pouring Mickey a beer and a shot and asking Ian how's work. 

That’s how the truce is born.

It even lasts for a while, to the utter bafflement of everyone on the South Side, from the transplanted gentrifying assholes to the lifers. Truth be told, it’s mostly due to neither party having much opportunity, or reason, to break the rules. When Ian and Mickey are at the Alibi, Terry generally isn’t; they assume that he visits during their longer stints drinking at home when the money is tighter and Kev less free with the booze. 

Sometimes, Ian will see him there when he stops in on his own, and they ignore each other like they always have whenever Terry isn’t suspecting Ian of sleeping with one of his kids—or catching him at it. Other times, Mickey’s the one who spots him, but Terry doesn’t seem very interested in forcing a confrontation when Mickey’s husband isn’t standing beside him like the tallest, orangest fucking pride flag in Chicago. Doesn’t mean Mickey isn’t occasionally tempted to stick his foot up the bastard’s ass, but Kev always manages to shoot him a glance in silent reminder and he grudgingly downs his glass before hightailing it out every time.

It works. They drink, and nobody leaves in a body bag. All in all, the ceasefire is a success: Kev gets to run his business in peace, and while nobody really wins, nobody really loses either. 

At least not until peace gets boring as hell. 

It happens on a Thursday, and the evening starts off just like any other night they've managed to ditch their responsibilities at the house: they meet up at the Alibi after work for drinks and a chance to be just Ian and Mickey rather than uncles/brothers/responsible adults. Like any other night, they're talking and laughing and Ian has one beer, Mickey three.

It's not very exciting, maybe, but it's theirs and it's nice – until Terry steps through the door with Uncle Ronnie in tow. It takes the evil fucker all of two seconds to spot Mickey, then spot his husband too, seated in one of the booths at the far side of the room. For a moment, father and son simply stare at each other, and had anyone else dared to look for more than the briefest of moments, they'd have seen the cold rage slowly give way to cunning malevolence on Terry's face. He doesn't say anything; he orders a beer and heads straight for the pool table and tells Uncle Ronnie to rack up. 

And then Terry starts talking. Keeping his eyes on the game, on Uncle Ronnie, on anything that isn't Ian and Mickey—he talks, loudly and at length, of what he did to this queer and that, in prison and outside. 

These...are not nice stories. Not very detailed, true, but...yeah. They're not nice.

There's a hush growing in the bar, as patron after patron falls silent, and their eyes dart between the foulmouthed man by the pool table and his son, still and stone-faced at a table nearby. Behind the counter, Kev stands frozen in the process of wiping down a foggy glass, watching and waiting to see if he should grab the broom now or later. 

“He's just trying to provoke you,” Ian says urgently, and his voice is almost steady in spite of it taking damn near everything he has not to get up and run Terry through with the damn cue stick. “He wants you to go for him. Break the truce, get barred.” 

His eyes are on Mickey's face, intent and ready to jump into action the second Mickey makes his move. 

“Yeah, I know.” 

And here's the thing: Mickey sounds calm. This doesn't reassure Ian, because Mickey calm sometimes just means him taking a second to savor the fact that he's about to unleash absolute hell, but then Mickey shifts his gaze from his utter asshole of a father and to Ian. There's a small smile on his lips; it's a sharp thing, true, but a smile all the same. “He wants fucking queer? We'll give him fucking queer.” And he reaches out for Ian and pulls him into a long, hard kiss.

It takes a second for Ian’s brain to reboot enough to break away, hissing, “In front of your dad?!”

“The fuck’s it look like?”

“He’s gonna kill you. Then I’ll be a widower for three seconds until he kills me.”

Mickey’s eyebrows don’t slam into his hairline, but it’s a near miss. “What, are you scared, Gallagher?”

Ian…isn’t. He used to be scared of Terry back when they were kids and he was this dark, shadowy figure who could make Mickey do whatever he wanted simply by virtue of being his father. But they are past that. Terry, like Frank, is old. Terry, like Frank, doesn’t have any power over his kids now. Terry is a blot on their past, but he has no bearing on their future. 

Which is exactly what Mickey’s getting at. 

So Ian shrugs and Mickey nods like he did at the docks, not having to say uh huh, that’s what I thought.

And he leans back in because hey, if Terry does kill them, at least they’ll make it worth the trouble. 

It’s a little awkward, what with the table between them, but they have long been pros at not being kept apart. Leaning over the table, Ian cradles the back of Mickey’s head; Mickey’s hand is on Ian’s neck and the other on his upper arm, clutching at the fabric of his jacket. There's nothing chaste about this, nothing sweet. It's desire and defiance, lips and tongues and teeth, Mickey's fingers digging into Ian's arm, Ian's twisting in Mickey's hair as he pulls him closer, closer, closer. 

(It's another thing Ian blames and hates Terry for. Mickey loves to kiss, loves being kissed, and yet he wouldn't allow it, not for their first year and not for much of their second. No matter how often they stop for a playful peck or something more serious and passionate now, they'll never make up for those lost years and all the kisses they should have shared then.

They sure as hell can try, though.)

It goes on and on. The initial frustration shifts into something softer and more real as any thought of Terry – or anyone – fades and becomes a faraway thing. There is Mickey and there is Ian, and the taste and the smell and feel of the other, and they've done this a thousands times and yet – 

And yet.

And yet it takes a distant vibration and the sound of glass on wood before they hear Kev clear his throat. “Uh, he’s gone. Been gone for ten minutes.” 

Mickey pulls back first and leans over to see past Ian’s shoulder that yeah, Terry’s gone. Nobody appears to be talking about him or them either, so Kev probably isn’t exaggerating about how long they’ve obliviously been at it, especially considering he’s got that dumb smirk on and won’t meet their gazes as he turns back towards the bar. 

And speaking of dumb, Ian is still staring at him like he did after their first kiss, all gooey and gross as if they haven’t done this so often that none of the Gallaghers even complain anymore. Jesus. Leave it to Ian not to have learned how to play shit cool after all these years. 

But what can a guy do when Mickey’s husband is watching him like he farts rainbows, and like he doesn’t give a shit about why they’d attacked each other’s faces in the first place? Mickey doesn’t blame him; he’s having a hard time remembering too right now.

He dives back in, because why not? Their ceasefire says no violence, so (almost) any and all displays of affection are well within the rules. He puts his hand on the side of Ian’s neck where it’s always fit best and reels Ian in, despite how much easier it would’ve been to get on his side of the booth this time. 

“Thought this was about your dad,” Ian mutters into his lips because of course he can’t shut his mouth to save his life.

Mickey shrugs - “Fuck ‘im” - and gives him something better to do with that mouth.

#shameless us #ian gallagher #mickey milkovich #gallavich #meta ficlet #terry milkovich #kevin ball #this has been a Kee and Noelle production