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glassartpeasants · 23 days

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Run Rabbit Run .09

Yandere!Eustass Kidd x F!Reader

Warnings: angst, mentions of past abuse, pregnancy, implications of death,

A/N: So since theres gonna be a little more people in this chapter then usually so some people are gonna have the same colors but different size fonts to indicate a different persons talking. hope its not to confusing. The key to help for people with the same color is below

Chopper- small orange Nami- regular orange

pt.1 pt.2 pt.3 pt.4 pt.5 pt.6 pt.7 pt.8 pt.9 pt.10

~~~

“We’re here! Everyone assume positions and get ready to dock!” The sound of thunderous footsteps and Tashigi’s voice breaks through your nap. You rub your eyes as the sun shines through the windows of the bunk room.

“Wake up (Y/N)! We’re at Sabaody!” Tashigi’s voice once again cuts through the silence as she calls out to you from behind the door.

“Mmh, I’m up…just give me a second.” You stretch gently before gathering the strength to push yourself up. Breathing heavily, you manage to sit up, the purple turtleneck you wore slightly riding up before you pull it back down. You grab your hat from beside you and position it so that it keeps your hair in place and hides the scar along your face.

“Do you need help picking up your things?” The door opens as Tashigi peaks inside to check up on you.

“That’d be wonderful. I can’t really pick up things like that anymore, haha.” You watch her grab some things and hand them to you before she carries some things herself.

“There's no need to do that. I’m going to have to carry it after I get off the ship.”

“I’m using it as an excuse to just hang out with you for a little longer. Smoker might make me do something.” You couldn’t help but laugh at the slight pout on Tashigi’s face. Yet, you were happy you’d be able to talk to her as friends before you guys became ‘enemies.’ The thought made your heart bleed, but there was nothing you could do about it. Even if you were enemies outside, you’d always be friends in your soul.

The thought of not being woken up and seeing the smiling faces of G-5 marines made a small voice inside you tell you to stay. That you’ll miss them more then you think you would. It was like an earworm replaying the same song over and over again. But when you bite your tongue harshly, all those thoughts leave, and the voice telling you to return to the Straw Hats and that your almost home comes back. It’ll always be hard, never being able to talk to them peacefully ever again. But the memories will soothe the pain.

“Captain! We’’ve docked! We’re on tree 30!” One of the marines notifies Tashigi and you on th ebay that the ship was anchored. Thankfully, quite a bit away yet close enough to bay 41. While you weren’t looking forward to walking that far, it’d be worth it in teh end to see everyone.

“Here’s to hoping my shoes don’t get drenched in whatever makes those bubbles here.”

“It actually doesn’t! Truly weird stuff. Have you never been to Sabaody before?”

“I’ve been here but haven’t actually been on land. Just a quick sight as we passed by to head to the new world.”

“It’s a pretty place but also full of bad people. Bounty hunters, other pirates, and not to mention those disgusting Celestial dragons. Makes me sick.”

“Anyone sane would want to see those horrible people go down.”

Memories of the Celestial Dragons you encountered two years ago flood your mind as you hold back the urge to vomit everywhere. You remember a conversation you had with Killer months ago when you were still under Kidd’s lies. How he told you about how the Celestial Dragons mark their slaves by burning their symbol into their skin. Almost exactly like the jolly roger scarred into your own. Once again, though, you escaped your kidnapper's clutches. But there's so many people who’ll never be given the chance you’ve had. Never be able to see the sun as a free person.

‘No. Don’t dwell on that. Today’s supposed to be happy. Stop thinking about things you can’t control.’

“Well, this is it.” As soon as you were 20 feet from the ship, you and Tashigi stopped. Turning around to face the ship, you saw everyone gather to say goodbye, including Vice Admiral Smoker.

“So this is it, huh?”

“I guess so.” A little chuckle leaves your lips before it turns into tears. Despite trying your best to silence them, they continue to flow.

“I’m so thankful for all of you…You’ve always done so much for me, and there's nothing I can do to repay you. I’m going to miss you all so much.” You can feel Tashigi wrap her arms around you before starting to cry as well.

“Don’t leave (Y/N)! Stay with us!” The two of you held each other tight as tears continued to cry harder.

“I’m sorry! We can still be friends regardless of our sides!” Tears made your vision blurry as you held onto Tashigi for a little while longer before leaving her embrace. Walking up to Vice Admiral Smoker, you lower your head.

“Thank you for everything, Vice Admiral. I promise to protect the honor of G-5 and take down any pirate who dares speak ill of you. And I also promise that no civilian will be hurt by my hands.”

“They better not. Now, get out of here before I change my mind.” With a chuckle, you lift up your head and grab your things with Tashigi’s help.

“Oh, Tashigi, one more thing before I go. I have to ask you something.” With all the overthinking you’ve been doing, a scenario popped up in your head that you couldn’t help but ask her to be a part of.

“What is it?”

“If, by some chance, I do end up keeping the baby with me, and I happen to pass away, would you take care of them for me? Like a godmother or something?” Once again, you were wrapped up in Tashigi’s arms as she cried.

“I’m so honored! Of course, I will. Oh my god (Y/N), you're so sweet!” The two of you hug a little longer before separating. Wiping the tears from your eyes, you wave to the other marines, who wave back to you.

“Goodbye, everyone! I love you all!” With a final wave, you turn your back and make your way to the thousand sunny.

“Do you think she’ll be safe? I can’t help but worry.” Smoker watched as the captain of G-5 gently wiped her tears away. How a single pirate managed to worm her way into the hearts of G-5 will forever be a mystery to outsiders.

“She’ll be fine. As much as I’d like to arrest those Straw Hats right now, I’ll wait. We’ll definitely be seeing each other again. A pirate can only escape for so long.” Crossing his arms, he watches you walk away.

He’s never met someone like you in all his years on earth. Someone who’s been through hell twice yet still has kindness to give to a world that turned their back on her. How you’ve managed to pull through all these months was a miracle. So many nights, people were awakened to the sound of your cries from the night terrors you suffered, but no one said a word about it to him until a day ago. To suffer all that and still find a way to smile is a trait not many can say they have. It’s admirable.

“Let’s get ready to go back to the New World. Everyone get ready!”

“Yes, Vice Admiral!” Watching the Marines scatter helps Smoker ignore the sadness in his chest. Despite how he’d outwardly deny it, he’ll miss you. You can only hang out with someone for so long before they worm their way into your heart. And somehow, you managed to set up a place without meaning, too.

~~~

‘This place is much bigger than I remember. I hope I’m going the right way. Not like I can ask for directions.' You were trying to avoid the public eye yet not look suspicious, so you just kept your head down. With your hair covering your scar and your hat hiding your face, a slight sense of safety coursed through your veins. But not enough for you to ignore the wanted posters that had your face scattered everywhere. Even though there was so much noise around you, you still managed to catch your name being talked about.

“When the hell are the Marines going to catch her? Doesn’t she know the destruction and death she’s caused?!”

“She should just go back to Captain Kidd. Everyone would be safer and happier. She’s being selfish.” Those words make you stop in your tracks as a rage boils inside you. You know you promised Smoker that you wouldn’t lay a hand on a civilian, but how dare they call you that? They don’t know what you’ve been through. How can they tell you what you should do when they haven’t experienced anything you have?

“Let’s not forget she’s pregnant! The most infamous worst-gen pirate has a child! No doubt that child is going to be just like their dad!” Your knuckles turn white from how hard you were gripping your belongings. Every cell in yoru body begged for you to teach them a lesson. To tell people that they had no right to treat you the way they were. That if they went through what you went through, they wouldn’t be talking the way they were. You can feel your body shake in anger as they continue to talk.

‘I have to keep moving. I’m gonna do something I’ll regret if I don’t.’ Taking a deep breath, you begin to fast walk away from the two civilians. You’ve come too far to blow your cover now.

“300,000,00 berri’s if given to Captain Kidd, but only 100,000,000 if given to the Marines? Why would anyone turn her into the Marines if the price Kidd is asking is much higher?”

“Right?”

‘Just keep walking. Just keep walking.’ Water begins to appear at your tear line as you try to ignore the angry tears that threaten to spill. Your heart beats hard as you look at the ground, only sneaking glances at the trees to see that faithful 41.

“Please leave me alone! I’ll give you all my money. Just let me go!” A woman screaming caught your attention, making you scan your surroundings. When you turned your head to the right, down a dark alley, you saw a large masked man gripping a woman's wrist harshly. The scene triggered your own memory of being in her shoes.

“Please! Just let me go! I-I’ll give you all the money I have! Just let me go!” You try to pry his meaty hand off your wrist, but inside, you know it was pointless. It seemed your desperate attempt amused him.

“Now, why would I let something I caught fair and square go?” The way his eyes looked up and down your body made a shiver go down your spine.

“I could get a pretty penny selling you as a slave. You don’t mind, do you?”

“No! Someone help me!” You begged for someone to help her. The chances of your cover being blown would multiply if you jumped in. Yet, the more seconds that went by, the more your hope diminished. Images of that man two years ago, the day everything happened, popped into your head. The man begged for help, and all he wanted was to see his family, but no one did anything. All they did was ignore him as those horrible people arrived and killed him.

You couldn’t do anything then, but maybe now, you could.

Picking up your bags, you walk into the dark alley, your heart beating wildly. Looking up just enough to see the man’s chest, you crack your knuckles before speaking.

“Didn’t you hear her? Let her go.” The sounds of struggling stopped before a raspy laugh left the man.

“Your kidding me? A pregnant lady trying to jump in and help? What are you gonna do? Waddle over here and give birth on me?” His words only made you see red.

“I’m going to give you one more chance. Let her go, or else.” The familiar tingling in your fingertips reemerges as you wait for the man’s next move. Your fingers twitch as you can hear barely silent crackling.

“Oh, I’m so scared!” The man mocked you and seemingly gripped the woman's wrist harder.

“You're hurting me!” As those final words leave the woman’s mouth, you curl your fingers into claws before feeling the tingling get stronger and the crackling gets louder.

Light began filling the dark alley, flashing and flickering as the ball of pure electricity in your hand started forming. Each snap of electricity only made you pour more anger into your attack.

“A devil fruit user? Go figure. Just because you have some powers doesn’t change the fact that you're weak-” After deeming it has enough charge, you throw it straight for the masked man. You watch him try to dodge, only to have it hit him directly in the chest.

The woman manages to pull her wrist free from the man’s grip before running behind you. Both of you watch as the ball of electricity disperses and runs across his entire body. You watch him grab his chest before falling back and landing on the ground with a heavy thud. Without saying a word, you watch as the man spasms on the ground, trying to get a breath in.

“We need to go now.” With the woman nodding, you both quickly walk away from the alley and into the road. Having all your belongings in your hands, you feel slightly drained. Your lungs burn as your mouth goes dry. Sure, you’ve used your devil fruit powers on pirates while in G-5, but that stopped when you found out you were pregnant. So it’s been months since you’ve used it on anyone.

“Are you okay? He didn’t hurt you anywhere else, right?”

“No. And yes, I’m okay.”

“Good.” Turning your back, you begin walking towards Grove 41 once again.

“Wait!”

“Hmm?”

“Thank you. I don’t know what would have happened to me if you hadn’t come.”

“No problem. Just make sure you stop using back alleys and stay on public roads.”

“I will.” You watch the woman run in the opposite direction from you and take that as your cue to continue your original quest.

~~~

After walking for what felt like hours, the familiar smiling lion comes into view, and you feel your heart jump in your chest. Seeing the thousand sunny after being in the dark for so long felt like seeing a miracle happen before your eyes. A new-found energy bursts inside you as you start walking faster with a new vigor.

‘I’m here! I’m here!’ Holding your belongings with a crushing grip, you can feel a huge smile spread to your face. You could hear laughter the closer you got, and your heart felt as if it were going to explode!

Soon enough, you were close enough to where you were able to see a clear view of the crew. You try to speak, but nothing seems to come out. It felt like it was a dream. Even though you were speechless, your presence seemed to be enough as a familiar face called out to you.

“(Y/N)?!” You watch her run up to you along with the others.

“(Y/N)!”

Not even seconds pass before you're encased in a hug. The feeling of being near them was enough to have you start sobbing. Being surrounded by pure love and care but the people you owe your life to felt unreal. You’ve dreamed of this moment for so long, and now that it is finally here, you don’t know where to start.

“You're okay! I was so worried about you!”

“Yeah, me too!”

“We all were,”

“I missed you all so much…I’m so happy!" Despite your limited ability, you try to hold everyone close to you. It’s been so long since you’ve been so happy that the feeling almost felt foreign.

“I can’t believe this is real. I was so afraid I’d never see you guys again!”

“Come on! Let’s go sit down now. I bet you're tired.” Through your tears, you nod as you let them take you aboard the Sunny. You notice a shiny substance covering it.

“What's that?”

“Oh! It’s the coating that’s going to help bring us down to Fishman Island!”

“Wonder if Franky enjoys having his ship covered in bubbles.” Laughter erupts through the tears. Having your shoes crunch against the grass of the safety has a wave of safety washing over you. Sitting on the bench connected to the mast pole, your able to let out a breath you didn’t know you were holding. Robin and Nami sat next to you while almost everyone else sat on the grass.

“Where’s Luffy and Zoro?”

“They should be here soon. I swear if that moss head got lost.” You finally take off your hat as the sun is beating down harshly, making you sweat. With your hair finally being able to move, the strands that once hid the huge scar on your face disappeared. Leaving it for them all to see.

“Oh my god, what happened?! How did you get that scar?!” While you knew you shouldn’t have been surprised they’d notice it right away, it still managed to shock you. Maybe you just lived with it for so long that you’ve forgotten what you used to look like without it.

“This? Oh. I went face first into a corner of a crate.”

“Does it hurt? Here, let me check!” You watch as Chopper hops onto the bench before examining your face.

“How you are not blind is amazing, considering where it’s placed.” Feeling Chopper's little hooves on your face causes a small warmth to erupt in your chest.

“No, it doesn’t hurt. I’ve had it for a while. And it hasn’t caused any problems.”

“What about this one? There's a huge one on the back of your head.” You feel Robin's nimble fingers gently brush through your hair, her gentle touch reminding you of your mother. The sensation made you bite your lip as you choked back tears.

“Can you do that again, Robin? It felt nice.”

“Sure.” Her calm voice and touch made your eyes close as you tried to regain composure.

“(Y/N)?”

“Hm? Yes Robin?” A shiver goes down your spine as you feel her trace the scar.

“Did….Kidd do this to you?” Simply hearing his name makes tears finally slip down your cheeks, and some even onto Chopper's hooves. With your vision blurry, you close your eyes and nod. Even saying his name would leave a bad taste in your mouth.

‘God damnit. I should be crying tears of joy! Not sadness!’ You argued with yourself as you tried to pull yourself together. Gripping your pants, you dig your nails into the fabric.

“How about we change the subject? Umm—” A loud rumbling echoes around everyone, making you hold your stomach.

“Sorry. I haven’t eaten a snack or something.” With the adrenaline finally settling down, you realize how tired and hungry you were.

“Do we have supplies restocked?”

“Of course (Y/N)-swan!”

“That’s good. I’ll just go get something to eat real quick.” Just as you go to sit up, Nami sits you right back down.

“Sanji can get it. You’ve walked all the way here, so Sanji can whip you up something. Right, Sanji?” The stare-down Nami gave the cook made a giggle slip past your lips. You watch Sanji run so fast to the kitchen that dust almost flies behind him.

“Okay, the rest of you, except Chopper, scram.” Nobody moved for the first 20 seconds.

“SCRAM!” Everyone begins to run in different directions until only you, Nami, Robin, and Chopper are left.

“Okay, now that they’re all gone, we can talk about more important things.”

“More important things?” Nami puts her hand on your back, and Robin continues to gently comb through your hair. You watch her look down at your stomach before looking back up at you sympathetically.

“How are you holding up? Do you have any pain?”

“It’s okay. Not anything right now. I get migraines sometimes from the head injury and back pain, but that’s it. Just regular pregnancy things, I suppose.”

“Have you been eating properly and sleeping well? Taken a tumble or anything?”

“No. I’ve been stable on my feet. And almost all I do is eat and sleep.” Chopper lets out a sigh of relief.

“That’s good.”

“I do work out and exercise. Gotta keep myself strong, ya know?”

“We just don’t want you to overdo it. Pregnancy is no easy feat, so it's nice to hear that you're doing well.”

“How far along are you, do you know?”

“Six to seven months.” With Nami and Robin comforting you, it was easier to talk about the baby growing inside you. Yet the nagging thought in your head kept coming back.

“Do you think Luffy will let me stay a straw hat? Even after knowing that I’m pregnant?” You can hear your heartbeat in your ears as you look at Nami and Robin.

“Of course! You’ll always be a straw hat!”

“No matter what!”

“Everything will be okay (Y/N).” You put your arms over Nami and Robin and hold them close. Chopper cuddles close and hugs you as well. Tears fall from your eyes, and you never want to let them go.

“I don’t know what to do, your guys. It feels like no matter what I choose, everything is the wrong decision.”

“If I give the baby up for adoption, there's a chance Kidd will find them or the marines will use them as bait. If I were to keep them, the Marines and Kidd still would be after us. All I want is for them to grow up happy and safe. Is that really too much to ask?”

“No. Not at all. No matter what you choose, we’ll stand beside you.”

“You’ll never have to be alone again.” You see Chopper jump up from the shared hug with a look of shock and wonder in his eyes.

“Chopper? Are you okay?” Everyone split from the hug and looked at Chopper in concern.

“I felt them kick me! When we were hugging, I felt them kick me in the face!” Normally, such words wouldn’t have a positive reaction, but this seems to be a different story. Nami and Robin seemed excited, too, at Chopper's confession.

“Really?! Aw!”

“They know were talking about them.” Robin smiled and giggled softly.

“Have you thought about names?”

“Not really. I don’t know if it’s a boy or a girl even.”

“Well, do you have names that you planned on naming your baby with (....)? Perhaps you can name the baby after them?” It’s been a while since you’ve heard your late fiance’s name—almost to the point that you’ve forgotten it with all the chaos that surrounded your life.

Kidd didn’t know your fiance's name, or you hope he didn’t. On one hand, you somewhat liked the idea. But at the same time, it’d be a constant reminder of the love you lost. You fear you might accidentally compare the baby to a person they’ve never met. And even though the baby was innocent, the fact it’d be the offspring of the man who took everything from you, having their name felt wrong and tainted.

“They deserve to be their own person, so I don’t think I’ll give the baby (....)’s name.” You rub your stomach subconsciously.

“What if they look like him? I know it’d still be my child, but…”

“Even if the baby looks exactly like Kidd, it doesn’t mean they’ll be like him. I bet one of my tangerine trees that they’ll be the exact opposite.” A chuckle leaves your lips as the ease Nami brings seems so natural.

“I’ll take you up on that offer.” You and Nami shake hands, and the sound of the kitchen door opening lets you know the food is finally done.

“After you're done eating, I'd like to give you a checkup to see if everything's healed alright.”

“Sounds good.”

~~~

After finishing your lunch, you head up to the infirmary. When you sat on the bed, you noticed just how out of breath you were. The stairs have been getting harder and harder each day. What used to be an easy task now felt like you were being asked to climb a mountain.

“You okay (Y/N)?” Holding a clipboard, you watch Chopper walk over to you and look at you in concern.

“Stairs are just getting a little harder, but it’ll be okay. So what's your first plan of action, doctor?” It was always so cute to see Chopper get all excited when called a doctor.

“Can I check out any wounds or scars that may have happened since we last saw each other? I’ve made scar cream that is supposed to help reduce the size and stiffness that comes with said scars.”

“Oh, okay. There’s…a lot. Just give me a second.” You begin to take off your sweater before placing it beside you. Chopper's eyes widen as he tries to focus on a single scar, but there's so much more than the last time he’s seen you. He doesn’t know where to start, but he doesn’t want to make you uncomfortable by staring.

“Is there any place you want me to check first?”

“I don’t know if there are any on my back, so you can check there.” you feel Chopper jump on the bed and start to inspect your back. The bra you wore gave the reindeer enough space to inspect your back. While it didn’t cover the scar you hated the most, you simply hid your chest with your hand.

“Not seeing much. Just small ones anyone could have." Chopper goes and grabs your left arm to check it out. You feel his hooves put pressure on the scars before stopping at your hand.

“Did you get shocked? What happened that caused all these small scars?” The realization that you haven't shown anyone your devil fruit powers yet shoots through your mind, and a small excitement courses through your veins.

“Chopper, can you let go of my arm real quick?” Chopper cocked his head before letting go. A big smile plasters on your face before you take a deep breath.

There were sizzling and cracking echos in the room as electricity started to form along your arm and slither around your scared skin. It gave off a flickering glow as you began to accumulate it in your hand.

“Woah! I didn’t know you had devil fruit powers! Why didn't you tell us earlier?”

“I only got them during the two-year separation. I’ve worked my ass off to have control like this. I’m probably not as strong as the rest of you guys, but I think this’ll help.” All your words seemed to go in through one ear and out the other as Chopper watched the electricity form into a ball in your hands.

“I’ve never seen an electricity logia type devil fruit. I didn’t even know there was one.”

“Well, here I am, haha.” Chopper laughs alongside you before he stops. You wonder why, but you soon figure it out when you follow his eye direction. Since he asked to see your arm, you left the branding scar open for him to see. The look of horror is present on his face.

“Oh my god, how did I not see this?!” Moving around to get a better look, Chopper stands next to you on the bed. Carefully moving his hoove near your chest, he stops.

“Is it okay if I check this out?” Swallowing the lump in your throat, you nod.

“Yeah.” You feel Chopper place his hoove on the scar and watch as his eyebrows knit together.

“Unlike the other ones, this one is raised above the skin rather then indented.”

“Is that…a bad thing?”

“No. The one on your chest is a hypertrophic scar, it’s normal to scar like this on ones chest. The others are simply atrophic scars. They're all fine, but…”

“But?”

“I just can’t believe it. With this being in such a sensitive place, I can’t imagine the pain this caused.”

“Yeah. It wasn’t a fun recovery.” Tears gather in your eyes at the memory. There are a million memories you wish you could forget, and this just happened to be in your top five. Remembering Kidd’s approach with that heated metal pole speeds up your heart rate and constricts your chest. Your breath goes jagged as the tears start flowing.

“I look like a freak. Everywhere I look is a reminder of him. How can someone ever love me when all they see is a disfigured shell of a human.” You begin to cry into your hands as the room feels suffocating. Tears slip through your fingers and onto your tummy as you try to catch your breath.

“What have I done to deserve this? Everyone in my family is dead, and I don’t even have a home to go back to! My entire island was wiped out in a single afternoon, and there's only five people who survived to prove the island even existed in the first place! Why do they have to perish while I live?! What’s so great about me?!”

“What’s not great about you?” You and Chopper freeze and look at the infirmary door. There stood Luffy with a big smile on his face.

“Luffy?” Dropping your hands to your thighs, you look at him through your blurry vision.

“I was wondering where you were! But Usopp told me you were in here with Chopper and-” Luffy’s happy voice soon cuts off as he fully registers the state Kidd had reduced you to. You watch his eyes zero in on the branding before his expression darkens.

“Did he do that to you?” He points to the scar, and even though you try to sound tough, you hiccup out a ‘yes’ as you feel your body shake.

“I know it’s their Jolly Roger, but I promise I didn’t want it! Please don’t kick me out, Luffy! I—” You stop in your tracks when you feel something be placed on your head. Rubbing your eyes, you see the brim of Luffy’s straw hat in front of your face. You are at a loss for words as your heart beats in your ears.

“You're not going anywhere (Y/N). I’ll make sure he’ll never lay a hand on you ever again.”

“Cause I’m gonna kill that bastard for doing this to you.”

~~~

Sitting in his workshop, Kidd twirls a sharp scrap of metal between his fingers while looking at the wall. All the bounty posters for the straw hats are plastered on the wall, covered in holes from the number of knives and sharp scraps he’s thrown at them. Even seeing their faces makes rage course through Kidd’s veins.

His eyes zero in on the captains before he throws the metal scrap at the poster. It hilts the man on the poster right between the eyes. His poster is the most shredded. If it weren’t for him, you wouldn’t have been taken and escaped in the first place.

It’s been six months since you left the Victoria Punk, and every second has been a waking nightmare for everyone. While their captain had always been a hothead, he’s been ten times worse ever since you left. The amount of blood on his hands could rival the devil’s—and to many, he was.

The Victoria Punk has become one of the most feared pirate ships currently sailing. When the Victoria's big jaws came into the sight of any other pirates or marines, all they could do was pray. They prayed that by some miracle, Eustass ‘Captain’ Kidd would take pity. Unfortunately, the New World was not known for its kindness, and neither was he.

There was even talk about naming him a new emperor of the sea.

While the title would help him on his path to becoming King of the Pirates, it meant nothing if he still couldn’t find you six months after the fact—couldn’t find you or his unborn child. He didn’t know how you were doing, how the pregnancy was progressing, or what the gender was. It didn’t matter much to him because, in the end, they’d make a great future ruler of the sea.

“Kidd!” Bursting open the workshop door stood the right-hand man of the Kidd pirates. He huffed and puffed, trying to regain his breath after running from across the other side of the ship.

Moving his eyes towards the man in teh doorway, Kidd responds before throwing another scrap metal at the posters.

“What is it Killer?” Walking up closer to the table, Killer slams down multiple papers and photos.

“What am I looking at?”

“I know who’s been harboring (Y/N).” Jumping from his seat, Kidd gets closer to what Killer was showing him.

“What?! Who?!”

“After looking through enough photos and newspaper, I’ve managed to pinpoint the marine squad that’s been hiding her.”

“Well?! Spill it!”

“Marine squad G-5. It’s occupied by Vice Admiral Smoker and Captain Tashigi. How many lower rank marines are on the ship, I don’t know but it can’t be anymore then twenty.” Gritting his teeth, Kidd looks at the pictures of each crew member.

“Next marine ship we see, keep a marine alive. We’ll use them to get G-5’s location.”

“And after we find them?”

“Kill every single one of them. I want that ship to paint the sea red.”

~~~

@rebeccawinters @iggy5055 @dairygrrl @childconnoisseur @menifire1092 @nerdgeekandeverysweet-blog @tremendoushorsepatrolgoth @lovemesomefanfic846 @ryuv1i @carpinchootaku @misoxramen @pinkfoxmusic

#eustass captain kid x reader #eustass kid x reader #one piece x reader

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sjhhemmings · 5 months

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jeff clarke x fem!reader

a/n: hiii let me know if u guys enjoyed this. i got this idea when i was rewatching szn 2 of chicago fire and it got to the plot line where his wife left him after he came home from deployment. heart literally shattered :(( i’ve had this idea for a couple days now and i was inspired, sue me. ily guys, make sure you like, reblog, and do all that jazz to support your writers. hugs and kisses to you all, happy christmas season to those who celebrate 🎉❤️💚

warnings: swearing, fluff, kissing, anything i missed.

Working a 12 hour shift the night before your husband comes home from a year and a half long deployment wasn’t your first choice.

Originally he was supposed to be home after 8 months, but then his contract was extended to 10 months. Then extended again to 12, then finally extended to another 6. Each phone call broke your heart worse than the last. There was nothing you wanted more than to see your husband again. Especially on the hard days when the only thing that got you through was the thought that your husband will be home soon.

3 weeks ago on the dot you got a phone call. Your heart shattered. You were certain that he was going to call and tell you his contract got extended another 2-6 months and that you wouldn’t be able to see him again.

*3 weeks ago*

With tears already building in your eyes and your heart in your throat you answer the phone with a shakey hello.

“Hi Baby! I uh, are you okay? What’s wrong?” Clarke’s voice was initially excited then dropped then second he heard the heartbreak in your voice.

“Oh, nothing. I just miss you is all.” Finally letting out a sob after the last sentence, you truly couldn’t stop the tears.

“Hey, hey, I miss you too. Everything will be okay. I just got some good news actually.”

“Oh yeah?” You say sniffling with a little more hope into the phone.

“Yeah, I just talked to my sergeant and he said I get to come home at the end of this month.”

The second you heard those words leave his mouth, you could’ve sworn your heart stopped. Time stood still. God had finally answered your prayers.

“Baby?” He asked after about 30 seconds of silence from your end.

“Yeah, yes, I’m here. I’m just-“ You cut yourself off with a choked sob. The amount of ecstasy you’re feeling right now is truly overwhelming.

“I know, I feel the same way.” He says with his voice cracking also.

“So, do you have an exact date? That you’ll be home?” You ask more composed after collecting yourself for a few seconds.

“Sarge is thinking about 3 weeks, but no later than 5.” He says a little more excited now.

“Jeff, I, I don’t even know what to say right now. I love you so much.”

“I know baby, I love you too. I actually have to go, Sarge is calling me right now, I’ll see you when I get home,”

“Yes, go, you’re fine. I’ll see you when you get home.” You say with a little giggle hanging up the phone because it’s almost too good to be true.

*Present Day*

Now you’re here, rushing around your house to get ready. You got home at 3 AM last night after an emergency trauma surgery at med. Of course it ran long, and of course you were supposed to be up and ready by 7 to see your husband finally come home.

“Shit, shit, shit!” You mumble to yourself as your looking for your other earring, and left shoe simultaneously in your cluttered house.

Fuck that was another thing you should’ve done. He hasn’t been home in almost two years and now he’s coming back to a dirty house.

Once you’ve finally found your other shoe, and your earring, you face yourself in your bathroom mirror and take a breath. Touching up your hair and buffing out a few things with your makeup, you’re ready.

You grab your purse and begin to walk to your door when the bell rings. Opening it hastily because you literally need to leave right now, you drop your purse at the sight.

“Y/N,” is all he says before you quite literally pounce on him. You wrap your arms tightly around his neck, and your legs around his waist. He holds your body up securely and with ease with one arm while the other combs through your hair.

You’ve imagined this moment for months now. What you would say, what you would do, how you would even greet him again? But all of that planning went out the window the second he stood in front of you again.

After maybe two minutes of you now sobbing all of your freshly done makeup off onto his shoulder, you pull your head back and cup his face in your hands. He lets you down to hold your face the same way. You couldn’t believe it. Right now, you’re staring deeply into the love of your life’s eyes. You two months ago would’ve never guessed this is where’d you be now. It’s almost too good to be true.

“You’re real right? I’m not dreaming?” You whisper with your faces barely inches apart.

“I’m real, you’re not dreaming.” He says both of you giggling at the butterflies swarming between you.

You weren’t going to lie, all of this time apart had you worried the two of you had changed. That when he came back nothing between you would be the same. That he wouldn’t be the same person who left. But after 5 minutes of him being back, you know that even if anything did change, he’s still the love of your life.

A little nervous to make a move you stay frozen with your faces just inches apart. You don’t know why, he’s your husband. You shouldn’t be nervous like you’re 12 years old on the middle school playground afraid to hug your crush.

Your eyes glanced maybe one to many times between his eyes and his lips and you watched his do the same, you slowly move your face in, slightly afraid of rejection, you grin just a bit as you notice he’s moving his face closer too.

The second your lips touched it was a slow and delicate kiss.

You moaned into his lips as you could feel more tears streaming down your face. This was the thing you craved most while he was gone. Just being able to kiss your husband after work. If it were up to you, neither of you would work again and you would just stay at home together forever. The passion and fire setting through your body grew.

Jeff ended up pulling away leaving you wanting more. You look up into his eyes through your hooded lashes trying your best to make sure this was real and not a dream.

“Let’s go inside.” He finally mutters through heavy breathing making your eyes light up. You walk backwards pulling him in as he’s grabbing his duffle bag with one hand and the other around your waist.

Shutting the door with his foot, he rips his shirt off making you truly question how sane you look right now. All you want to do right now is devour this man, but you hold yourself back as you admire his abs. Okay, maybe having a marine for a husband isn’t that bad.

“Are you just gonna stand and stare, or are you going to do something about it?” He asks seductively.

You chuckle at his challenge and walk toward him rubbing your hands down his chest.

“I could stare at this all day, baby.” You say now turning around also stripping your shirt off.

“You know what? No more games.” He finally says turning you around and carrying you over his shoulder into your shared bedroom.

Once you’ve finished having the best, most magical, passionate sex of your life, you’re laying tangled with your husband under the sheets never leaving if that were a choice.

“Abstinence was not for the weak.” You mutter as you listen to his heartbeat with your head on his chest.

“I know baby, you’ve been a good girl for me though, right?” He adds with a hint of worry on the last word.

“Always,” You whisper looking up at him and capturing his lips. “Welcome home”.

#jeff clarke x reader #jeff clarke chicago fire #chicago fire #one chicago #jeff clarke one shot #jeff clarke fan fiction #jeff clarke chicago med #y/n #chicago fire oneshot #chicago fire x reader

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gingerjunhan · 4 months

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hi there~ first of all i love how you write your oneshots drabbles and stuff so i came to request one with Gun-il the only problem being i don’t know what i want? The only thing i know is that i want it to be angsty with a happy ending and for plot you can write about anything!!

☆彡 writing Gunil angst is new for me! I’ve noticed I only ever write about him when I need comfort in my daily life so this should be fun lol. I hope you enjoy!🩷

word count: 1,125 | pronouns used: none | genre: hurt/comfort, established relationship | cws: Gunil is forgetful, crying, feeling guilty, swearing, eating (mentioned), lmk if I missed something!

Music played from your phone as you continued applying your makeup. You and Gunil have had this date planned for two weeks, and you couldn’t be more excited.

Once Gunil got home from work, the two of you were going to go out for dinner and to see a movie. It was stereotypical, but that’s part of why you’re excited. This felt like a totally cliche, and you were surprised you haven’t done it yet. You checked the time. 6:14. He should be home any minute. You happily continued to finish getting ready as you waited to hear the front door.

☆

You were finally done getting ready, and you looked amazing. It was around 6:30 now, and you were starting to get a little nervous. Gunil was normally home around this time. You had reminded him about your date when he left for work this morning, so you knew he wouldn’t be staying late. You both planned to go out around 7:00 so he had time to clean up after work, but now you were wondering if you would be pushing your deadline. The movie you wanted to see started at 8:00, so you had to make use of your time. You decided to text him.

hey is everything alright? I thought you’d be home by now

To your surprise, his response was almost instantaneous.

sorry my love :( Jiseok needed help with a song and asked for my help

we’re almost finished. I’ll be home soon

You responded with a quick, “Okay!” before deciding to try and kill some time. You scrolled through social media for a while- getting lost in the depths of TikTok. When you finally worked your way out of your social media trance, it was going on 7:00. You anxiously debated texting Gunil again, but you decided not to. He’s a grown man, he can remember his own schedule. You continued to find more ways to kill time, and the more you waited the more your heart sank.

After what seemed like forever, the door finally opened. You swung your head around to finally see Gunil as he took off his shoes. It was 7:21.

“Hello, love,” Gunil greeted you as he came over to the couch and gave you a kiss on the cheek. “Sorry I’m home so late. Jiseok really needed my help and we lost track of time.”

“It’s okay,” you smiled, trying your best to sound unbothered. You stood up to go get your things before leaving when Gunil stopped you.

“Wow, you look nice! What’s the occasion?”

You took a deep breath. “Gunil, we were-“ he tilted his head in confusion as he watched your confused reaction to his question. “Um… never mind.” You made your way back to your shared bedroom- admittedly walking away a little faster than you wanted to- and closed the door.

“(Y/N)? Hey, what’s wrong? Did I do something? Did something happen?” Gunil trekked his way down the hall as he asked you his questions, and you didn’t respond. He knocked on the door. “(Y/N)? What happened, honey?” He slowly turned the knob and walked in.

Inside, you had already started undressing. Your cute top has been replaced with a t-shirt, and your makeup was slowly getting ruined by the tears that escaped your eyes.

“(Y/N),” Gunil made his way over to you. “What hap-“

“Do you know what today is?” You questioned him. It came out a little more angry than you intended. Gunil quickly wracked his brain.

“Um… Tuesday?”

You sighed. “Do you remember what we were supposed to be doing today?”

Gunil thought even more. He thought about your outfit, and why you seemed to be so nervous about him coming home late. He thought about what would’ve happened to you today. You had a day off, and you didn’t have much planned for the day other than the fact that you wanted to-

“Oh shit,” he remembered. “(Y/N), I’m so sorry. I got so busy at work that I completely forgot. Do you still want to go get dinner?”

“Nope, just forget it. It’s fine,” you sniffled.

“It’s not fine, honey. You were excited for this date and I forgot. This is all my fault,” he frowned as he watched you take the last of your nice clothes off and replace them with something more comfortable. “Is there anything I can do to make it up to you?”

“Don’t worry about it. You’re busy anyways.”

Gunil felt his heart break. “Are you sure?”

“Yeah, just…“ you made your way towards the bathroom, “leave me alone.”

☆

Last night, Gunil hardly got any sleep because he felt so bad about forgetting about your date. However, he had a plan. You were both back to work today, so Gunil made sure to tell the guys that he had to leave a bit early today. You both typically got home around the same time, but Gunil had to make sure he was home first.

Gunil was in the kitchen, working hard to perfect your favorite meal. He had cleaned up the apartment, did all of the chores the two of you would usually split, and now he was cooking. If Gunil couldn’t take you out, he would make sure you both had a good night in. The table was set a little more fancy than usual, and Gunil was dressed a little nicer than usual as well. He had to make sure everything was perfect by the time you got home.

Right as Gunil took the food out of the oven, he heard you open the front door.

“I’m home,” you called out to him. You took off your shoes and made your way into the kitchen, following the smell that greeted you once you came in the door. Rounding the corner of the kitchen, you were met with Gunil. “What are you doing? I thought it was my turn to make dinner.”

“Well,” Gunil set the food down on the counter. “I felt so bad about forgetting our date last night that I decided to bring the date to you.” He gave you a soft smile, and you couldn’t help the butterflies that fluttered through your stomach. “The table is set. We can eat now if you’re hungry. I also picked out a movie for us to watch afterwards if you’re in the mood.”

You completely disregarded what he said and rushed towards him, wrapping your arms around his neck.

“I love you so much,” you gave him a kiss, and you could feel him smile against your lips.

“I love you too,” he confessed before pulling away. “C’mon, let’s go eat before the food gets cold, okay?”

taglist: @dazzlingligth , @mini-mews , @mxlly143 , @somethingaboutcheese , comment to be added!⁎⁺˳✧༚

#xdinary heroes x reader #xdinary heroes imagine #xdh x reader #xdh imagines #xdh fluff #gunil x reader

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thetimetraveler24 · 3 months

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My PJO Episode Rankings So Far:

Episode 4: I Plunge to My Death

Episode 5: A God Buys Us Cheeseburgers

Episode 3: We Visit the Garden Gnome Emporium

Episode 2: We Capture A Flag

Episode 1: I Accidentally Vaporize My Pre Algebra Teacher

Episode 6: We Take a Zebra to Vegas

Episode 7: We Find Out the Truth, Sort Of

Key:

Good — Okay — Nope

Some thoughts:

These are a lot of complaints actually but here ya go:

Episode 7 just sucked big time. My least favorite and probably the only one I actually strongly dislike.

I don’t hate Gabe. Gabe is supposed to be the Umbridge of the books. He’s supposed to be the side villain you hate more than the main villain because he’s the kind of villain that exists in real life. He’s an abuser. He’s a physical abuser and a master manipulator. That man does not hit anyone in the show. He’s just lazy with a bad attitude. Sally is not afraid of him. She’s supposed to let herself take the hits because she thinks Percy isn’t getting hit. And vice versa for Percy. He lets Gabe take it out on him because he thinks that will keep Gabe from hitting his mom. Show Gabe could never convince either of them that this was true. I hope he’s turned into a statue but I don’t think I’ll feel much triumph about it.

Pacing is way off in most scenes. I think they’re in a movie mindset and trying to cram everything into a short time and take out all unnecessary things. But they have AT LEAST 30 minutes each episode. That’s at least 4 hours total (twice as long as a movie). Breathe a little, keep some of the fluff moments. Make the confrontations longer. It’s too quick. We know Percy is OP but he’s not THAT much OP. And he has actual skill, it’s not all luck like it feels in the show?

Lotus episode probably should have not added Hermes. They should have gotten lured in and then realized something was happening and got out in 20 minutes of the episode. Then move onto Crusty and defeating him before ending with them standing in the entrance to the Underworld. Then the next episode would pick up with them talking to Charon and bribing him and going to Hades. No detours (even though Asphodel was kind of cool). We go straight to Grover almost getting dragged in and then we go to Hades and get out. Then we end with Percy defeating Ares and giving the Helm to Alecto. Last episode starts with the TV interview and the iconic free appliances (I swear if they cut that from the show I’m going to riot). Then Percy goes to Olympus and the back to Camp and everything is normal until the last ten minutes when Luke brings Percy into the forest and reveals his true colors. We end with Percy’s promise to be back next summer and he and Annabeth leave Camp to go home.

I don’t know. Let me know if anyone wants to see how I would have organized the season if I was in charge.

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notoriousbeb · 3 days

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Why is Harry Styles All Over TTPD? A Timeline

TTPD Notes Glossary

Upon much ponderation and rabbit-hole-ing I think a truly stunning chunk of tracks on this double album (18/19) are about Harry.

What will likely be my Haylor magnum opus is under the cut because it is a bit lengthy. Good luck. Or I'm sorry??

I think they both pined for each other for years (well documented amongst the Haylors).

Then she split with Joe Alwyn before she left London for the Eras Tour, but she waited to make the announcement public (probably to give him time to pack up his shit and get out of their shared house) until April 8. However, excited to be “Fresh Out the Slammer,” she reached out to Harry ASAP.

I realize I might sound like an absolute raving lunatic, but I legit think Harry was at Taylor’s Arlington, Texas, Eras Tour shows, at the end of March/beginning of April 2023, and followed her to New York City for several days.

While Harry was tied up finishing up the Asian leg of his tour until March 25, I think he came almost straight to her after that, and love-bombed the shit out of her in his excitement.

But then right before he had to leave for tour, with a stopover in LA for the Satellite video and Late Late Show shoots, he gave her some sort of pulling-away speech about taking a pause or pulling back or something, (I’d wager because of the two world tours), which she took as a total rejection, which caused her to lose it and move on to the disaster we call Matty.

Then, in June, he met Taylor Russell in London. And maybe they were just friends at first, but then Taylor Swift started messing around with Matty, and then in July she started dating Travis and it went public in September. So, I suppose at that point Harry figured, "Okay, to hell with it."

And now, somewhere in London, I imagine their shared good mate, Ed Sheeran, has a pounding headache and wishes he still drank whiskey.

I hope the truth of it all someday comes to light in a tell-all book or movie. Or, at the very least, it would be nice if some more clarity surfaces in one of their albums, or a record by Ed.

Oh, and I think Stevie Nicks, of all fucking people, knows the tea. She considers both of them “like [her] children.” She gave them both matching crescent moon necklaces. And has performed with them. And she wrote the intro poem for this record. Read that and tell me it doesn’t match the story I’ve written in my head. Stevie knows.

And now, the timeline.

There are, I shit you not, about a fortnight of possible days (March 29/30-April 12, 2023) where they could have been together...

March 29/30

Harry likely leaves Toyko after his March 25 show. Love on Tour doesnt start up again until May 13 in Horsens, Denmark.

March 31

Eras Tour is in Arlington, Texas, for N1. It's a rain show. She replaces "Invisible String” with "The 1." The surprise songs were "Sad Beautiful Tragic" and "Ours." Read all my notes on TTPD and go watch these two live performances again. They're...really something.

April 1

She sings "Death by a Thousand Cuts" and "Clean."

April 2

She sings "Jump then Fall" and "The Lucky One."

April 3-6

Neither of them are seen these three days.

April 7

Harry is spotted at baggage claim in Atlanta

April 9

Harry is at the Master's Golf Tournament

April 10

Maybe this is when he leaves her. Taylor goes out for drinks with Jack and Margaret. However, this was an obvious pap walk (the day she had those butterfly jeans on); were the paps maybe called to this location to lure them away from her apartment so a certain person might or might not have could arrive unnoticed after a golf tournament in Atlanta?

April 12

In the afternoon, Harry is spotted with his trusty brown duffel bag (sporting an air travel tag) leaving the gym in LA. In NYC, Taylor is pictured on the roof of Electric Lady (maybe shooting music video?) with a Gucci lion ring just like Harry's but with a green stone. I Mr not the 10th, I think this evening was when he said whatever he said that made her so sad; maybe he thought they should take a pause until their tours were over? Maybe he decided their combined spotlights were just too big to overcome? Who knows? Not me. But my nosy ass wants to know!

April 13

Eras Tour in Tampa N1. Taylor cries during “Lover" and "Champagne Problems.” People think it's about Joe. I think it's not.

Stevie Nicks pens the poem for Taylor that opens this very album.

April 14

Eras Tour in Tampa N2. She plays "The Great War" (performed with Aaron Dessner) and "You're On Your Own, Kid."

April 15

Eras Tour in Tampa N2. She plays "Treacherous."

April 21

Eras Tour in Houston N1. She plays "Wonderland" and "You're Not Sorry" (these choices seem…significant. In a not good way.)

April 22

N2 in Houston. She plays "A Place in This World" and "Today Was a Fairytale" (for her mom, who I am sure was being a rock for her at this trying time)

April 23

N3 in Houston. She plays "Begin Again" and "Cold as You"

April 27 and 28

Harry does shoots for the "Satellite" music video and the last episode of the Late Late Show. The scenes for the music video aren't used. In my opinion his face looks puffy on Late Late (maybe from crying?)

Eras Tour Atlanta N1 Taylor sings "The Other Side of the Door" and "Coney Island."

April 30

Eras Tour Atlanta N3 she sings "I Bet You Think About Me" and "How You Get the Girl." She cries again during “Champagne Problems."

May 5-7

Ah, the Nashville Era's Tour shows. Such fond, fond memories. She sang “Sparks Fly,” “Teardrops on My Guitar,“ "Out of the Woods,” “Fifteen” (Abigail was there, and she dedicated this one to her)," Would’ve, Could’ve, Should’ve” with Aaron Dessner and “Mine” (also Speak Now drop).

May 11

Dinner with Matty and Jack and Margaret at Casa Cipriani in NYC

Is it possible the villainy of Matty is that he planted the original story in The Sun that he and Taylor were dating? It ran May 3, two days before he showed up (from Asia) to the Eras Tour play with Phoebe Bridgers as the opening act in Nashville. I just always thought that was odd. Maybe he had a big fat mouth.

May 12

Eras Tour Philadelphia N1. She played “Gold Rush” and “Come Back…Be Here” (Aww, girl….)

May 13

LOT picks up again in Horsens, Denmark. He's smiling to himself all cute like during "Fine Line." Plus he played "Stockholm Syndrome" for the first time in yeeeears and looked delighted. :(

Taylor's surprise songs were “Forever & Always” and “This Love.”

May 15

I think this is when shit hit the fan. Maybe it’s that H was avoiding her for some reason. Or she just thought he was. I just wonder if she was mistaken...Maybe it was all a misunderstanding that spiraled out of control. (I'm sorry, did that come out desperate? Because I feel desperate).

Either way, she leaves Electric Lady studios with Matty in tow.

May 18

"The Black Dog" is recorded at Electric Lady. "Six weeks of breathing clean air/I still miss the smoke." If we're being very specific from this date, that's April 6.

May 19

She plays "Should've Said No" and "Better Man." (Well, that's seems...not good.)

May 20

Ah, the day of the “Question…?” and “Invisible” combo. (Oh, Tay). Matty is seen entering Taylor's apartment with a big Louis bag full of what many people believe is the typewriter. I always assumed it was a synthesizer or some kind of recording equipment. ¯\_(ツ)_/

May 25

This is the last day she was seen with Matty (and the chorus of angels sang)

May 26

Era's Tour Metlife N1. She sings “Getaway Car” with Jack Antonoff and “Maroon” (this was a very angry face Maroon). To me, at this point, Matty hasn't had enough time to ghost her yet (she just saw him the previous night) and thus doesn't yet deserve such an angry Maroon face. Point number bizillion that this song is about Harry Edward Mothafucken Styles.

May 27

Metlife N2. She sings “Holy Ground” and “False God," and cries.

#haylor #have i lost the plot?#i really don't think i have

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virgoilluminati · 10 months

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One Shot List

Heya, so after the end of Belongings I am planning to have a little break from fanfic series’s to focus on doing smaller fics. But knowing me… they’ll end up becoming short series’s of their own. 😆

So the plan is basically, requests for anyone on my masterlist is open, so just ask me what prompt you would like and who you would like it for, and I’ll write you a fic. ❣️❣️❣️ Been wanting to do this for a while so please send me requests (even if they’re not on this list too). I don’t bite…. (Or do I hehe😏) JK I DON’T I PROMISE

Here’s the prompt list:

1. "You're hair is really soft after you wash it."

2. Ssh. Stop fussing. I'm just braiding your hair."

3. You smell really nice."

4. "Would it be all right if I borrowed your sweater? It smells like you.

5. 'I might have slept with your robe when you were gone."

6. "If you steal the blankets, I am going to put my cold feet on you."

7. Here, let's share the blanket.

8. You're comfy."

9. You are my new pillow."

I0. "You are very endearing when you are half-asleep.

11. "But I want to hear you sing.

12. "We can talk over dinner."

13. "Don't be stubborn. Try it!"

14. "Don't get up - I'll do it."

15. "Will you let me rub your back?"

16: "Care to give me a back scratch?"

17. "Star-gazing was a good idea."

18. "You look beautiful/handsome in the moonlight."

19. "I'll always be here for you.

20. "TIl be here to protect you."

21. "I think I love you."

22. "You are my love."

23. "How about something warm? It will will help you sleep.

24. "It's okay. I couldn't sleep anyway."

25. "Don't be silly. I want to stay up with you.

26. It is not morning yet."

27. "Shush and go back to bed."

28. "I heard you talking in your sleep."

29. "Your bed head is really cute.

30. "We'll do dishes together.

31. "How about a kiss?"

32. “I love your hugs."

33. "Come over here and make me.

34. "Have you lost your damn mind!?"

35. "Please, don't leave."

36. "Do you...well...I mean...I could give you a massage?"

37. "Wait a minute. Are you jealous?"

38. "Is there a reason you're naked in my bed?"

39. "I almost lost you."

40. "Wanna bet?"

41. "Don't you ever do that again!"

42. "Teach me how to play?"

43. "Don't you dare throw that snowba-, goddammit!"

44. "I think we need to talk."

45. "Kiss me."

46. "Hey, I'm with you, okay? Always."

47. "So, I found this waterfall..."

48. "It could be worse."

49. "Looks like we'll be trapped for a while..

50. "This is without a doubt the stupidest plan you've ever had. Of course I'm in."

51. "The paint's supposed to go where?"

52. "You need to wake up because I can't do this without you."

53. "We're in the middle of a thunderstorm and you wanna stop and feel the rain?"

54. "I've seen the way you look at me when you think I don't notice."

55. "You come here often?"

56. "Can I offer you a drink?"

57. "So.. You expecting someone?"

58. "Do you need a place to stay for tonight?"

59. "I gotta tell you... you look incredibly hot.

60. "Do you want to dance with me?"

61. "Look at us... we are basically a couple already."

62. "I bet you would look even better without your clothes on."

63. "Are you single? Just asking."

64. "You're the most beautiful person I have ever encountered."

65. "What would you say if you and me would go somewhere else?"

66. "I love the way you're dressed."

67. "Do I have any chances with you?"

68. "Do you have anything better to do later?"

69. "Can I get your phone number?"

70. "You seem like a bad boy/girl/person type."

71. "I can do whatever you want, babe."

72. "You have the most beautiful eyes I have ever seen."

73. "I bet guys/gals/people are all over you.

74. "You should be a model."

75. "Are you... trying to flirt with me?"

76. "Maybe if I get a free drink I can consider talking to you."

77. "That won't work. Try again."

78. "Oh my god, did you just say that out loud?"

79. "I'm waiting for someone. However, you can amuse me in the meanwhile."

80 "You don't look so bad yourself."

81. "I thought you were taken."

82. "So, have you flirted with every girl/boy/one in this bar yet?"

83. "Do I look like someone who seems interested in you?"

84. "Compliments won't pay my drinks."

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3terna15unshin3 · 11 months

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Then Because She Goes

We’re supposed to leave by half-past eight

★ Chapter 7 of 15, 5190 words

★ Matty Healy x Original Female Character

★ warnings: !!! mature content, minors please do not interact !!!, smut, oral (fem receiving), protected sex, alcohol consumption

<< 6

9 February, 2019

“I’m leaving now, to help set up. And I’m going to bring all my stuff in a bag to get ready there but please keep your phone on you because I have a feeling I’ll forget something. So I may text you in a panic to bring, like, a hairpin with you when you come. Even though I have loads of hair pins so I wouldn’t be asking for that. Anyway, please be there by quarter-past at the latest. There may be some stuff we could use help with before everyone else shows. We’ve probably got it all under control but who knows. I’ll text you.” rambled Este as she prepared to leave the hotel.

Cate and Georgia lounged on one of the two queen beds in the room they’d booked for the three of them, and listened in amusement. Este was overcome with the pressure of wanting the event she and her family had been planning for months to go perfectly. The fear of something going wrong brought out a severely frazzled version of herself, forcing Cate and Georgia to deal with the frequent babbling.

“Yes, yes, yes. You’ll be okay, darling. Off you go.” Cate insisted, ushering her out of the door.

Lugging over her backpack full of things she may need for the night, with her dress in a garment bag, Este walked the short distance to Dartmouth House from their hotel. She weaved through the building to find the room hosting the party, and her parents—Percy and Alfonso—greeted her upon entering.

“Hi, love!” Percy exclaimed, giving her daughter a hug and taking the dress she’d been holding to help find a place to put it. Este fist-bumped her dad, him quickly being called over by Florencia to help move some chairs from one table to another. Even with over four hours before the party was set to begin, the energy in the room was already chaotic.

After the hall was finally up to their high standards, Este scurried away to the private bathroom a few doors down to get dressed. Her makeup was already done, with the top half of her layered hair slicked up and the bottom half blown out into soft curls. She slipped on her long black dress, and after struggling to clasp the small buckles on her heels, she returned to the party room.

Her tense muscles began to relax as 6:30 neared and guests started to arrive. What seemed scary ended up being fine, but a bit draining, seeing plenty of friends and family Este hadn’t seen in a while (and having to catch up with the few she’d rather not see).

At 6:30 on the dot, she caught Matty walking in. The same grey trench coat she first saw him in last year was draped over top of his all black outfit, while his eyes searched the room to find Este. She made her way over.

“Hey, you.” Este said, catching him before he realised she was there. His eyebrows raised in shock and relief, a grin taking over his face.

“I’m on time, right?” He pulled her into an embrace. In heels, she was almost his height.

“You are.” she agreed, backing away and looking Matty up and down. “And dressed for the occasion.”

“With your help, of course.” Putting his hands on his hips and doing a quick spin, he showed off what clothed him for the evening. Coming back around to face her, his eyes scanned downwards at the black dress gripping Este’s body. She radiated an effortless beauty and stood with poise. The hair that usually sat messily around her temples was sleek and neatly pulled away; allowing Matty to have a full view of her face.

“You look incredible.” He said, smiling at her fondly.

Shyness spread over Este’s body language and their eyes locked for a couple of seconds, in gratitude. “So do you.”

Matty was shocked to learn that he’d be seated right next to her. He assumed he might be plonked at a random table due to his late-notice attendance, while Este sat with her family; but sitting shoulder to shoulder with her was a much better alternative and pleasant surprise. He arrived at their table, sending a quick ‘Hello’ to an already seated Cate, and introducing himself to Georgia.

When hanging his coat on the back of his chair and sitting down, he noticed a woman walk by with a familiar, yet also unfamiliar face. Looking back at Este to take note of their similarities, he put the pieces together. “Was that your mum?” Matty asked. Este nodded. He glanced over to Percy again with a small smile. “Introduce me.”

It was said more as an instruction rather than a suggestion, so Este called her over. “Ma!”

Percy’s chin turned to them in attention and smiled as she hurried over. Out of respect, Matty stood up from his chair to greet her.

“This is my friend Matty,” started Este.

He stuck his hand out for her to shake it, but she turned it down and pulled him in for a hug instead. Matty chuckled and rubbed her back graciously, then pulled away. “Her date, actually, for the night.” he corrected. Este blushed. “It’s lovely to meet you.”

“It’s nice to finally put a face to the name.” Percy said, grinning. She kept her hands on his upper arms even after their embrace. “I’ve heard a ton about you. And your busy schedule—so the fact that you’re here with Este is very sweet of you.”

“Oh, of course. When she told me that Florencia wanted to invite me I was just flattered to even be thought of. Couldn’t miss it,” responded Matty.

“She’ll be happy to see you, for sure.” Her gaze met his, before walking away to greet more guests. The smile on her face was just as bright as Este’s. That’s where she must get it from, thought Matty.

“Already kissing mum’s arse. Typical.” joked Georgia, the four of them laughing and continuing to tease him as the flow of events began.

The beginning of the night was rather simple. Este was forced to leave her seat often for her handful of party responsibilities; but once dinner was served, she was able to sit and spend time with her friends. Matty was disappointed to find out that the fancy venue catered the party, after looking forward to and expecting to be trying Filipino food.

Following dessert, Florencia and José cut the cake and had their first dance. As Este observed Matty, turned around in his chair to face the dance floor, she could tell how entranced he was by the way the elderly couple held each other. There was a tenderness to their movement; and though the whole room watched in awe, the slight smile on his face and his glossy eyes led Este to assume he was a hopeless romantic. She wasn’t far off.

Luckily, when Matty was introduced to Este’s father and granddad—what he was most nervous for—he was met by two of the coolest men ever. They both shook his hand firmly, happy to hear about his unconventional career and close friendship with Este, despite their initially stern faces that eventually softened. “Are you the photographer for the night?” asked Matty, pointing out the camera hanging around Alfonso’s neck, after a couple minutes of conversation.

“Oh, yes! We’re cheap, you know, so we had to keep it in the family.” Este’s dad joked, patting and squeezing Matty’s shoulder. “Here, stand up. Anak, come on. Picture!” He backed away from them, raising the camera up to his right eye and shutting the other.

Este rolled her eyes and didn’t budge. “Dad, please.”

“Humour your father, please Este.” pried Alfonso, gesturing ‘stand up’ with his hand repeatedly.

Matty began standing up, reaching to grab Este’s hands and force her up as well. “A photo won’t hurt, love.”

“Fine,” she muttered under her breath with a sheepish grin, shuffling closer to Matty and placing her hand on his near shoulder, her arm bent behind it. Feeling him reach around to rest his on her waist, Este sunk into his side as their bodies met in the middle, both of their heads tilting towards each others’ sweetly. They both smiled wide with their teeth. Click. Alfonso gave a thumbs up.

The party took off once the bar opened and the DJ began her set. Georgia awkwardly gripped four vodka cranberries, trying not to spill them as she walked back to their table, before they cheersed and gulped them down. It was the first of their many drinks of the night.

A sea of white-haired aunties filled the dance floor for now, one of which being Florencia, since it was a bit early and people were busy mingling. She was yet to spot Matty, him getting lost among the other 200 guests there to see and celebrate her and her husband’s milestone. But, as she and her friends danced in a line to Achy Breaky Heart, she caught sight of him. Hurrying over, without even saying hello, she came up behind and gripped his shoulders excitedly, encouraging him to stand.

Matty, confused, stretched his neck around to see who was touching him. Flattered to learn it was the woman of the hour, he followed Florencia’s lead as she dragged him out to the group of ladies and convinced him to join them in dancing. He embarrassingly tapped his toes—flustered and in compliance—trying to replicate the simple line-dance moves that everyone else seemed to know by heart. Florencia kept him glued to her side as she called out what step would come next, the two of them laughing together.

When the song ended, Este watched her nan throw her arms around Matty, the two of them hugging briefly and then trying to converse over the loud beginning of the next song. With his hand on his chest, he thanked her for thinking to invite him, while Florencia simultaneously thanked him for coming out to celebrate. Este giggled at how obnoxious her family was. She loved it.

Matty took his seat again, the three girls’ faces plastered with amusement from the sight of him dancing. “I need another drink.”

As an hour passed, messily stacked glasses scattered their table, all of them now slightly tipsy. It brought on a chattiness between them all, so the nonstop conversation allowed the girlfriends to get to know Matty better, and vice versa. In the middle of him telling a story about his first time in Texas, Cate and Georgia exchanged a secretive set of glances and whispers; followed by the redhead suddenly scurrying away to the DJ. Matty barely realised she left, blabbering on about a guy chasing him and the band out of his house with a gun, and by the time Cate returned to her seat, his curiosity disappeared.

So, a few minutes later, when Matty heard his own song booming through the speakers, he was utterly confused. Georgia, Este, and Cate all giggled along as they got up in unison and headed for the dance floor, him finally realising it was Cate who convinced the DJ to play TOOTIME.

“Come dance!” she yelled over the lyrics, offering her hand out to him.

Matty shook his head in embarrassment, but gave in and let his feet grace the stained wooden floor again. “You guys are the worst.”

The girls danced carelessly in a circle as most of the middle-aged party guests headed back to their seats from the unfamiliar song. Matty approached, grabbing Cate’s still outstretched hand and joining in. Her hand was lightly held in his when he noticed Este’s lips mouthing the words. Not that they were particularly complicated or hard to remember, but still. It was cute, thought Matty.

For the following couple of songs, the four of them stuck around, keeping the dance floor occupied. It filled up once the DJ started playing the classics that everyone could enjoy. Majority of what she was playing had been energetic and lively; but it suddenly went quiet, and the lyrics “I want a Sunday kind of love,” were heard belting through the air.

The opening line to the Etta James song encouraged more guests to drag their significant others to the centre of the hall and slow dance. Georgia jokingly got down on one knee, asking Cate if she would ‘have this dance’, to which she agreed—before quickly forcing her to stand up before anyone got the wrong impression.

Meanwhile, Este considered taking a seat back at their table, but first, she looked over to Matty to see he was already looking at her. He offered his hand, no words needed between the two of them, and so she accepted it with a smile. He pulled her close, her right hand grasped in his, with the other around Matty’s back as his went to her hip. The space between them closed—chests pressed against each others’ and legs tangled together—as they swayed back and forth to the beat.

Matty closed his eyes to the passionate music, listening to its strings swell over top of its understated drums, with his head next to hers. Este rested her chin on his shoulder when her ears perked; suddenly hearing his quiet voice sing along.

“I want a, a love that’s on the square,” escaped his lips and into her ear. It was barely a whisper, but his close proximity allowed Este to hear it clearly.

Her eyelids fluttered shut, like his, to revel in the sound of his voice. “Can't seem to find somebody, someone to care,” she continued for him.

A smile lit up his face. “And I'm on a lonely road that leads to nowhere.” he responded, the two of them going back for a few more lines.

When they settled into silence, Este let go of his hand to hold her own around his neck. She pulled her chin away from his shoulder, repositioning her head to come face to face with him. Matty opened his eyes after feeling her move. Their noses were a mere few inches away from each other’s.

Her fingertips found the curls sitting at the nape of his neck, combing through them gently. Matty’s hair had grown quite a bit into the new year, now parted down the centre and pooling behind his ears when it wasn’t dangling in his face. He leaned back into her touch, clearly enjoying the sensation.

“Hi.” said Matty shortly, smiling with his teeth. “Fancy seeing you here.”

“Hello.” Este rolled her eyes at his cliché attempt at a joke. “It’s weird being this close to your mug. I can see up your nose.”

“Please don’t. I’ve got no idea what’s up there.” He scrunched it up a couple of times to squeeze a giggle out of Este. “I don’t mind being this close to your face. You have a nice one.” She could see his eyes trailing at each of her features, studying her intently. Her heartbeat elevated as she felt him fidgeting with the seam running down the side of her dress, near her hip.

“Thanks. You’ve got a good face too.” responded Este, breaking her gaze with his face and glancing down to the gold chain that dangled over the ink on his chest. He knew what he was doing, keeping the first few buttons of his top undone, she thought.

They continued to softly speak over the music. “Are you enjoying your night?” Matty asked.

“Yeah,” she answered, “I was yanking my hair out with stress leading up to it, honestly. But it’s better now, especially since you’re here. Even though I’m shocked at the fact that you are.”

“Shocked? Is it not clear that I like spending time with you?”

“Well, not that it’s not clear, but you’re so busy and I feel bad—”

“Este.” He cut her off. “I’m here. I want to be here. It’s been great. I like you and your company. Now stop worrying.” Matty assured her, meeting her eyes with his. “I’m starting to think that maybe you don’t even like me,” he joked.

She smiled at his words, embarrassed. “No need to worry about that.” Este denied. “Thank you for being here. Seriously. Since I have no idea when you’ll ever have another moment of free time this year.”

Matty chuckled, removing a hand from her waist to swipe the hair that sat down next to her neck away and behind her shoulder. His touch was slow, gentle, and slightly nervous.

“I’ll make free time for you.”

“Good.”

They heard the final lines of the song, most couples dancing around them coming to a halt slowly. Este almost pulled away, but his arms prevented her from doing so. Instead, Matty brought her in closer, now stationary, and gave her a squeeze. Her chin found its way over his shoulder again to lean her head against his and squeeze back. She felt his lips briefly press against her temple, making her stomach do flips, before he let go and backed away. The shared smiles on their faces were delicate and light.

Este hooked a couple of her fingers loosely around a few of Matty’s, dragging him back to their table behind Cate and Georgia.

“What should I request next? Chocolate?”

The room filled with loud popping noises as Este took down the last balloon display. Matty used his hands to collect the small clumps of rubber that accumulated beneath them. With the big lights now on, strobes off, all of the guests had left. Despite Este’s many protests, he insisted on staying back to help clean up, as the Dartmouth House events manager was very adamant on the Manansalas only booking the room until 11:30pm. The clock’s hands pointed at 11:39; so it was go time.

Once everything looked the way they found it before setting up, the few people remaining finally started to see themselves out. Este and her group of three, now practically sober from the hours passing and the frantic cleaning, went around to bid their farewells to her parents and the celebrating couple.

“You never got back to me about needing a place to stay,”

Este slung the backpack she brought to the venue over her shoulder as they prepared to take off. “Oh, don’t worry. I got a hotel just down the road with Cate and Georgia.” she clarified.

Matty slipped his coat on, looking down at his feet and shrugging. “But hotels are boring.” he mumbled.

“If you’re trying to invite me back to your place you can just ask, Matty.” Laughing at his moody demeanour, she searched his face for a smile to break. As if on cue, one crept through, first revealing itself in the crinkles next to his eyes.

“Fine. Este Manansala, would you like to come back to my house for a drink?” he asked in a sarcastically annoyed tone.

She raised her eyebrows. “Wow, the last name pronunciation was spot on,” Este said, to stall from actually answering his question; suddenly quite intimidated and apprehensive to the idea of being in his house. But, she didn’t want to turn him down; or say goodbye. So, she agreed. “I would love to.”

It was about a 15 minute drive to Matty’s house. And, since he had taken his car to the party, it was also the first time Este saw him drive. After he parked and walked her to the front door to enter, she pointed it out.

“I don’t know why, but for some reason it was odd to see you drive, just now. Like, you kind of give me ‘I can’t drive’ energy,” she admitted with a laugh.

Matty turned the key in the lock and pushed on the handle. “What the fuck is that supposed to mean?!”

Este continued to insist that it wasn’t an insult but only dug herself deeper into the hole. He liked the high pitch her voice reached when defending herself and how she always laughed in the middle of her sentences instead of waiting until they were finished.

Grabbing her jacket and throwing it onto a chair in his lounge, Matty went to the kitchen to uncork a bottle of wine. Este traced his footsteps and followed him there, hers much slower than his as she took in the sight of his space. He wasn’t exaggerating when he’d mentioned that he was the opposite of a hoarder a few months back. Few decorations filled his minimally furnished space, complimenting its brutalist design and cold concrete base. Slivers of personality still shone through in the books piled on his coffee table and art hung on his walls.

Once she was done staring, he handed one glass of red to her and kept the other in his hand. They both took a sip, turning to lean their backs on the edge of his white counter, side by side.

“So, what do you think?”

“It’s very Matty.”

“Thank you,” he chuckled, silently understanding exactly what she meant. “I like seeing you here.”

Este turned her head to face him. “What do you mean?”

“Dunno. I’m just always your guest, like at Greenhouse or your flat, or whatever. It feels good to welcome you into my space, you know? Let you in. Offer you a drink.” he tried to explain.

“You should have me over more often then, so we can stop cramming into me and Cate’s tiny flat or into the shop,” Este pointed out, swallowing some more wine.

Matty stepped forward to pace around the kitchen in front of Este, who now sat atop the chill white stone with dangling feet as they conversed.

“I mean I would, if you didn’t live a two and half hour train-ride away.” he argued. “But, to be fair, Manchester is cooler than London—so I’m not even bothered by going back up there.”

“London is way cooler than Manchester, dude. You guys have everything here,”

Matty came close and rested his free hand on the counter next to Este’s. “I guess. There’s something Manchester has that London doesn’t, though. And it’s pretty tough to beat.” he said, inching his fingers so close to hers that she could feel their warmth.

She quietly hoped he couldn’t see her cheeks burning. They were so hot that Este almost reached up to feel them, but remembering her hand was millimetres from Matty’s made her shut down the instinct and freeze in place. “And what’s that?” she asked.

The glasses of wine, now the least of their concern, were set down. With both hands now free, Matty planted one on the either side of Este, confining her between his rapidly beating chest and the flat surface she sat on. She spread her legs apart so he could stand between her thighs and watched as his eyes went back and forth between her eyes and her lips.

“You.”

Este didn’t leave much time to think before closing the space in front of her, pulling Matty in by the back of his neck and pressing their lips together. His hands grabbed her waist, squeezing needily. She pulled away before anything progressed, to mumble into his mouth, “At least London has me tonight.”

Dragging her in to continue, Matty’s hands wandered up and down her back as their lips moved in sync. It was gentle—but desperate—as what they had both been wanting finally unravelled before them. Este gripped the hair she’d previously toyed with on the dance floor, having gotten the impression that he liked it.

With a couple of tugs, as she let his tongue graze hers, she heard a low groan escape Matty’s throat. They were so close that she could almost feel its vibration against her. His hands migrated downwards, coming past her arse and teasing her upper thighs. Este’s skin tingled as his thumb caressed over it through her dress.

“I didn’t bring you here just to do this, by the way,” Matty clarified, exhaling and breaking contact to catch his breath. “It wasn’t some sick plan of mine to go to your nan’s party to be able to snog you in my kitchen afterwards.” He rested his forehead on hers in the meantime.

“I know.” Their laboured breathing filled the room. “Does that mean you want me to stop?”

“God, no.”

Este knew exactly what he wanted. With hands frantically running through his hair, she kissed him again—deeply—with an open and hungry mouth, eliciting a whine. Her touch lit his skin on fire, and it felt right to Matty. Like her lips were destined to be within his. He thought about the silliness of why they hadn’t been doing it all along.

“Why have we only come round to this now?” considered Este aloud, reading his mind and finding a break to speak as Matty trailed kisses down her jaw.

“No idea.” His lips focused on the skin right below her ear, as she moaned with shyness and his hot breath tickled her peach fuzz. “We’re a couple of pussies,”

She giggled and brought him back to eye-level. Matty’s hand now cupped her face, thumb rubbing back and forth on her cheek, moving their swollen mouths against one another again. The absence of his hands on her leg made Este eager for more of him.

“Can I unzip your dress?”

After she nodded enthusiastically, he did what she granted, yanking the gold hardware down to feel her smooth skin with his palms. In a similar fashion, Matty encouraged her to unbutton his shirt. What had been unhurried and delicate soon turned ravenous, Este and Matty's craving for each other becoming clear. They didn’t even bother bringing their clothes with them before she followed him up to his room, leaving the articles scattered on the kitchen floor.

When her back landed on his wrinkled sheets, he held himself above her and studied her with admiration. He playfully made fun of her choice of knickers, sporting a pair of red boy shorts covered in pink hearts, making Este cover her face in embarrassment. Removing them to reveal her blushing complexion, Matty met his lips with hers, both of them smiling into the kiss. His hand crept down near her hip, tracing a line over her skin to the spot where he then applied pressure to her clit through the red-patterned cloth.

“Matty, please,” Este moaned into his mouth and squirmed her hips upward for extra friction. He melted at the sound of his name escaping her lips, eventually making his way down between her legs.

He kept a hand pressing on the space right below her belly button as he pulled her underwear down her legs with the other. The pressure in her lower stomach was finally satisfied when Matty used his tongue on her wetness, focusing on the bundle of nerves that made her writhe in pleasure. As she tugged on his hair, he hummed into her, and Este whined in response.

Her chest heaved up and down, increasing in speed as Matty brought her closer and closer to the edge. He could tell Este would finish if he kept at it, so he pulled away, licking a stripe up her sternum to bring himself to be eye-to-eye with her again. She rolled her eyes at the smug look on his face before crashing her lips onto his. “I was close, you fucking prick.”

“I know.” he panted with a smile, before gasping at the feeling of Este gripping him over his boxers. “Fuck,” Matty moaned and collapsed beside her onto his back.

Pulling back his waistband, she rolled onto her side to reach in, wrapping her hand around him and pumping up and down. The drop of precum right at his tip swiped under Este’s thumb while Matty whimpered into her neck. She watched the muscles beneath the tattoo on his lower stomach convulse. Deciding he deserved a taste of his own medicine, she deprived him of contact once she saw his mouth drop open and eyes flutter shut in pleasure.

They opened violently as Matty was snapped out of the trance Este sank him into. He turned his head towards her, breathing heavily. “I see how it is.”

She tugged off her bra as he slipped protection on and climbed back between her legs, finally pushing into her—his hip bones flush against her body. Este latched at the curls on the back of his head, with his face buried into her neck, moaning in unison with the sounds of skin against skin. Matty wasn’t afraid to make noise, and that turned her on.

A light-headed feeling took over Este’s mind as the sensation of him inside of her overwhelmed her. It hadn’t been this good for her in a while. She clenched around him to draw a growl out of his lips and watched his face twist with indulgence as he returned to hovering above her.

Matty bit down on his bottom lip with his teeth, eyebrows furrowed, thrusts growing messy. The previous teasing, done by Este’s hand and Matty’s mouth, made their movements quick and left them already close to finishing. “Come on, Matty.” encouraged Este, wanting to push him to his climax.

Her almost pornographic tone of voice muttering his name made Matty drive into her with harder force for his last thrusts before one final push brought him there. He came and gasped—twitching within her—and dropped to his elbows, hiding his face in her hair. “Oh my god—fucking hell, Este.”

A couple seconds of open-mouth breathing passed before he pulled out and dove downwards to bring Este to her orgasm. Matty’s talented tongue lapped firmly as he held her buckling hips down to the mattress. He felt her hands lightly pushing on the back of his head, aching for as much pressure as possible. She moaned, crying out a ‘Don’t stop,’ when Matty moaned back. The vibration and feverish mouth against her cunt brought her over the edge, clenching the sheets in her fists and letting Matty’s name fall from her lips as she came.

After the come down of her climax, he laid his head on Este’s stomach. They panted, giddy and satisfied. She reached up and wiped a bead of sweat from above her eyebrow, before feeling Matty’s flushed face with the back of her hand.

“You’re burning hot.”

“Can you blame me, darling?”

8 >>

#matty healy #the 1975 #matty healy fanfiction #matty healy x oc #the 1975 fanfiction #matty healy fic #tbsg #Spotify

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mcntsee · 11 months

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60 DIALOGUE PROMPTS!!

Alright, since I can’t seem to come up with anything good to write, I’ve decided to let an AI generate random dialogue prompts. If you are interested in any of them being part of a fanfic, please send an ask with said prompt. Also, if you have an idea of what you want me to do with the prompt, feel free to include it in the ask. Angst? Happy? Funny? Only writing for Kaz Brekker at the moment, but might do it again for more characters.

(I’ll be crossing out the ones that have already been done.)

1. "You make me feel like I'm not good enough."

2. "Am I supposed to be scared now?"

3. "Could you be happy here with me?"

4. "But this- this is the only thing that's made the last three years bearable."

5. "Perhaps you'll take me out one day - or do I have to make an appointment?"

6. "I've forgotten what it's like to feel young."

7. "She's been missing since Friday and you're not worried?"

8. "I daren't stay long. I just had to see you."

9. "It looks like you're in trouble there. Can I help?"

10. "He/she was unconscious when I found him/her”

11. "You came back!"

12. "You stand there and accuse me, but where were you at the time?"

13. "You were meant to be watching him/her!”

14. "I'll find her and bring her home, I promise."

15. "Have you read the newspaper stories about my wife?"

16. "Tell me what you saw, for her/his sake!"

17. "H-how long have you been standing there?"

18. "You haven't called me that in years."

19. She was beginning to realise how far down in his memory he’d buried his childhood

20. "I'm sorry if it upsets you, but I'm going to marry her."

21. "You did a bad thing for a good reason."

22. "If you do this, you will be dead to me."

23. "You have her/his eyes."

24. "I just want a nice, easy life. What's wrong with that?"

25. "You're paying a small price compared with what she's going through."

26. "Are you kidding me? We're not 'fine'!"

27. "What do you remember about your mother?"

28. "Where does a child hide in a town like this?"

29. "If only I'd just gone over when she called."

30. “If you’re not going to let me help, I’m not staying to watch you burn.”

31. “You shot me!” “Oh, don’t pretend to be surprised. It’s unbecoming.”

32. “We were friends.”

33. “You seem tired.”

34. “You talk like we’ve already lost.” “Look around you, dumbass! We already have!”

35. “Was I just not enough for you?”

36. “It’s easy to hate someone when you don’t look them in the eyes.”

37. “Ah, yes. I am delighted to exist as a pawn in your power-plays.”

38. “How am I supposed to go on?”

39. “Aren’t you tired? Can we stop this and give our hearts rest?”

40. “We started this together and we should end it together.”

41. “You bring the best out of me but I’m the worst for you.”

42. “What I mean is, I’m going to stop watering a dead flower, expecting it to grow again.”

43. “But you make me feel like home! You are my home.”

44. “I just need this one moment. This last one.”

45. “I was not ready to lose both a lover and a friend in one night.”

46. Because that’s all we are now, right? A memory, a faded picture, a failed potential.

47. “Please, just stay a little longer.”

48. “Am I going to die?”

49. “I know exactly how this ends.”

50. “You were never one of us.”

51. “I would’ve died for you.”

52. “You almost died! And for what?”

53. “If I leave now, I won’t come back.”

54. “Don’t look at me like that, I don’t want pity.”

55. “And then he left.”

56. “I wish I could fix this.”

57. “You hurt me and I still trusted you.”

58. “Can we have this conversation when you’re not upset.”

59. “You really were my first and last.”

60. “I hope you got what you wanted.”

#angst #fanfiction #six of crows fanfic #six of crows x reader #kazzle dazzle #kaz brekker x reader #kaz brekker

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bitchinbarzal · 8 months

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Lulu’s End Of Summer Party!

to celebrate me reaching 1.7k and hockey season starting soon I decided to do a prompt list party! this will run for one week sep 16 - 23.

all posts will be under #lulussummerparty

when requesting please send in the full prompt and not just the number. this makes it easier for me, the writer. if you don’t do this and just send the number your request will be deleted no questions asked.

you can find my list of who I write for here

1. "I love you."

2. "don't let go'

4. " can't lose you”

5. "how'd you find me?"

6. " got you, don't worry"

7. "I'll always wait for you"

8. " have to keep you safe"

9. "I knew you'd come for me"

10. "I'll take care of it, don't worry"

11. "just- just hold me for a second"

12. "I thought I'd never see you again"

13. "I know it hurts, we're almost done"

14. "you're the most important thing to me"

15. "I trust you more than anyone in the world"

16. "you don't understand, I will do anything to protect you"

17. "You're jealous aren't you?" "I'm not jealous."

18. "could just use a hug."

19. "I saw that. You just checked out my ass."

20. "You're everything to me."

21. " don't care what they think, to me, you are perfect."

22. "You're not going to lose me.'

23. "Hear my heartbeat? Just focus on that."

24. "How much of that did you hear?"

25. " could kiss you right now."

26. "Just pretend to be my date."

27. "I'm going to take care of you."

28. "Are you still awake.."

29. "Don't get up. I'll do it."

30. "I think I love you."

31. "Just one kiss?"

32. "You're adorable when you are sleepy."

33. "It's ok. I couldn't sleep anyway."

34. "Shhh, come back to bed."

35. "Wait! don't pull away... not yet."

36. "You always make me blush so much!"

37. "From the second I saw you, I couldn't get over how beautiful you are.

38. "No you can't get up. You are my prisoner for today."

39. "You own my heart."

40. "I said I would be there when you need it but-" "You weren't. That's the thing. You weren't."

41. "Please don't leave me."

42. "Letting go was the hardest thing I have ever had to do."

43. "I'm sorry, but I don't feel the same way."

44. "Why can't you love me back?"

45. "I can't forgive you."

46. "Leave."

47. "It's okay. I understand. You can leave. They all do."

48. "Don't. Don't do that. Don't make me choose. Every time I'll pick him. Every time. I can't have you hate me for that."

49. "I don't have a choice. I never had."

50. "Does it ever stop hurting?" "No, you just make room for it."

51. "We are not the same and never will be."

52. "You've never hurt me. Ever."

53. "I don't want your apology."

54. "You're not safe here."

55. " wish you were here."

56. " wasn't ready to say goodbye."

57. "Stop pushing everyone away."

58. "It's better this way."

59. "Don't make this harder than it already is."

60. "There's nothing you can do."

61. "It wasn't your fault."

62. "Don't leave."

63. "Say that again."

64. "I promised I would protect you. And I intend to keep that damn promise."

65. "You weren't supposed to laugh! I'm so embarrassed."

66. "No, don't cry. I hate it when you cry."

67. "You're burning up."

68. "Hold my hand. You are going to be fine."

69. "You need to eat something."

70. "Why didn't you tell me?"

71. "Don't touch me!"

72. "You think I am dumb enough to fall for that stupid move?"

73. "Do you trust me?"

74. "Be more careful next time. I don't want to bandage you up again."

75. "I'll never let you go."

76. "Hands off."

77. "It was you the whole time."

78. "I feel like I can't breathe."

79. "Prove it."

80. "I might never get another chance to say this."

81. "You make me want things I can't have."

82. "Tell me I'm wrong."

83. "You did what!?"

84. "We'd make such a cute couple."

85. "Don't ask me that."

86. "You're not my favorite person today."

87. "you didn't just break my heart, you broke my trust.

88. "i don't have the energy to fight you anymore."

89. "I'm not ready to live without you."

90. "you can't be bitter now, this was your decision."

91. "I lost myself the day i lost you."

92. "please don't make me go, I want to stay."

93. "you said you'd follow me anywhere" - "you know I can't follow you there."

94. "you're the only mistake i don't regret, but that doesn't mean it wasn't a mistake."

95. "you didn't deserve me."

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payservewomen · 2 months

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I’m tempted to say “I’ve hit a new low”😔 but in reality, I’ve been at rock bottom for…a very long time. Years I suppose.

But at least a few years ago, I interacted with women outside of work. But now? I don’t even leave my bedroom on my days off from work.

I sit on my bed, watching humiliation clips; calling ignore phone lines; taking embarrassing photos of myself; edging myself, oftentimes for many hours(almost never less than 4hrs. up to 12hrs)

The one newer development is- I’ll edge for a while, but then the sadness/anxiety makes me go limp….or i’ll be semi hard but my loser penis only grows slightly larger.

It’s like i’m trying to keep in as small as possible, because I know it should be teeny tiny. It CAN grow to 7in but considering how pathetic I am, part of me wishes I had a microdick. Then I could forget these thoughts i have of becoming a normal person again.

Then I could search 24/7 for a superior woman who wants to use and abuse me.

I fantasize about meeting a woman and dating….Getting comfortable with her to the point that I’m able to do the best I’m capable of in making her orgasm…. But then we open up and share kinks etc….and i know as time goes on, there will be many times my dick doesn’t work.

Slowly over time, she realizes just how much of a beta i am, and begins flirting with real, confident men.

By this time, we’re living together; Maybe one month she asks me to cover all the rent, then bills and spends her money on going out….Then a “friend” of hers(maybe with a unisex name that’s usually a woman’s name)is coming into town; she offers our place to stay….Tells me to make dinner etc saying “ali loves lobster tails and filet mignon! I know ur low on money, but it’s ok! I’ll still have enough left until ur next paycheck! Thanks sweetie! Maybe we’ll meet at the airport, then I’ll let you know when we’re on our way, flight gets in i think about 5pm but who knows if it’ll be on time”

I get off work, begin prepping everything….texting her asking if ali’s plane arrived at 5:30….”it did but we’re tryna find the luggage etc. With traffic it’ll take quite a while, plan for a late dinner!”

By 6:30, still nothing, so i text then call to find her phones off.

I figure she’ll probably be walking in any minute….So i check the “find my iphone” tryna be extra sweet and have everything timed perfectly. I see it moved from the airport towards home and begin making dinner….Until i realize another hour has passed. I check it again to see it’s been somewhere between home and the airport for 2 hours now!

Next thing i know, it’s 10, then 11, then 12 midnight!

I’m dozing off and finally see a text “Omg babe i’m sorry! I lost track of time! Ali said getting a hotel room would be easier, and we’ve just been catching up but ugh it got so late and you know how i don’t like to drive at night anyway, so I’m just gonna stay here tonight, see ya tomorrow!”

I just fall asleep, and wake in the AM to see several weird video texts from a number i don’t know….I hear giggling and a man’s voice….almost seeming like someone’s trying to record something and my gf saying “no stop don’t! that’s mean ali!” There’s at least 4-5 clips like that, the last one ending with my girlfriends sexy belly on the screen. I figure ohhh they’re just having fun i guess? But it did give me a bad feeling in my stomach….

Those vids were sent at about 1am. Then at 2am, just a close up of what i’m sure is my gf’s skin, but i can’t tell what part of her body…..but the audio on it was simply my gfs voice sounding like she’s whining or moaning or something? and saying “mmmmm ohhhhk fuck it”

Then 30mins later the clip begins blacked out, but with clear audio…just sounds like licking and slurping….Then a man’s voice “yeah worship it bitch. Now, say it” then the phone moves, showing an arrogant looking man smiling, then it slowly pans down over his entire perfectly fit muscular body….very slowly, stopping on each part of his stunningly perfect body….i mean this guy had an 8pack! Absolutely chiseled in every way. Then it stops to show his abs and v-lines, and then slowly shows his balls…I didn’t know balls could actually be that big!

Then slowly as possible, the camera moves to show the thickest cock i’ve ever seen!

Then the vids stop…but there’s a text at 4am with only an address….my gf knows i wake up for work at 4am…

i call and text her but her phones off ofc. I go to work, and finally around noon, my gf calls saying she’s going shopping with Ali, saying she didn’t bring any of her credit cards asking if i’ve got any money left…i tell her i’m not sure how much, but i’ve got $500 in a sportsbook app from winning the night before…”omg babe that’s perfect! Don’t worry i can move it from there, is it your normal password?” I answer yes, and ask her just to leave at least $100 or so….

And ask if theyre gonna be having dinner tonight…”yeah sweetie we are! I’ll let you know when we’re on the way”

I ask her wtf all those vids were. and who that guy was and she replies “huh? Wait what? You’re telling me you got videos from a random number?! And it had a perfect man’s body with a horse cock?! Lol babe i dunno what websites you’ve been visiting but i’d imagine it’s something to do with that!🤣 What?! u think i’m cheating on you with an old friend or something?! jk! Love u babe”

I hang up the phone and immediately get the same text with the same address, i look up the address to find a really really nice hotel is there. Then another text comes through simply saying “penthouse suite, beta cuck”

Then another text….just a screenshot of a receipt from stub hub for tickets to the nuggets game that night, 5:10pm. 2 tickets, $250 each, wow, better than i’ve ever had for sure.

Then one more text again with the hotels address, saying “ur welcome to stop by whenever, but i suggest you either wait for us to get there or something. not getting up to open the door if we busy fuckin. Can’t wait to see your bitch ass cry🤣”

This one hits me like a ton of bricks and it’s feeling more n more that it’s gotta be exactly what it seems….but no way she’d do this to me!

The great part of our relationship is complete and total honesty and openness! My gf, allison is kinky and loves to be a dirty slut, and we have talked about her fucking others, maybe even a gangbang!

But we’d only done a handful of super kinky things….we’re both submissive so it’s kinda hard to push it and try really crazy n kinky things….we both need that more aggressive attitude!

But i know she loves me deeply. We’ve such an intensely strong emotional connection, more than either of us ever have!

Still no word from my gf and it’s 8pm. At 9pm she finally texts me but it’s the exact same as from the other phone number and it’s just the hotel address and room number…..I call her back, and it rings and rings until going to voicemail. Maybe she didn’t hear it, i call again…it rings 3-4times, less than the last time, then goes to voicemail. I try again and it rings twice then voicemail….Again, same thing. I call yet AGAIN, prob the 6th time and it goes straight to voicemail!

I check the phone locator app and see her phone was at ball arena(nuggets play there)the length of the game….and moved to exactly where the hotel is.

I get dressed, now fearing the worst, but thinking “ok this makes no sense! Either she’s playing some joke on me; something weird like that or some surprise for me?”But i do realize that the most likely thing is…maybe she’s been partying with her friend, she cheated and isn’t sure how to deal with me…..But what’s up with the pics etc? ofc she’s aware of my pervy kinks etc, and she’s prob making it seem like she’s cheating on me, i’m hoping!

I walk to the light rail station, and get on the train….Ugh yeh don’t have the money to get an uber…i checked my bet365 account to see its at zero!

Wtf?! I had some futures bets….ones i could cash out for about $250 total, but they were all just cashed out! i’ve not one bet at all and no money here!

I see that $800 was withdrawn and my bank account was credited $800! But $500 used for the tickets, and $300 spent at some weird fancy store downtown.

Ok that’s it i’ve gotta see what’s up as i’m sitting on the train, mind running wild. Fuck, i gotta get off and walk 20mins, then get a bus!

I get off the train, walking to the bus stop…..Bus finally comes and oh fuck, as i’m tryna buy a bus ticket on the app(for $2.75) It dawns on me “fuck i don’t have enough money in my account” i look at the driver and say “i’m not sure why it’s not working” he looks at it and says “yeah cuz you’re card is being declined, sorry” and closes the doors.

I’m defeated and want to cry. Looking at google, i see it’ll take 2.5 hours to walk there….

It’s now almost 10pm and i consider going back home, but then wtf?! I can’t just sit at home wondering wtf is going on!

So i walk and walk…i watch the clip again and again of the perfect man’s body, fantasizing that the woman i’m in love with is cheating on me in the meanest way possible….Finally, it’s after midnight and I arrive at the hotel….I ask the front desk how to get to the penthouse, and she tells me “the elevator is right over there, but Sir, there isn’t anyone staying there right now”

I thank her and walk away tryna figure out what to do.

I text my gf asking why she texted me that address. she texts back right away with another address! I lose it and call a few times, each time it’s sent to voicemail. I text her back yelling “OK WTF is going on?! What’s your problem? Tell me what’s happening right fucking now!”

She texts back “i’m sorry sweetie, i didn’t mean to upset you! Just having fun with my friend, sorry guess i didn’t realize….I’ll be home tonight, but we’re out, omg babe i’m so drunk! I’ll see you at home, probably late!”

So i begin to walk back home…and remember the light rail isn’t running anymore….Now, I’ve got a 3.5 hour walk!

Finally i arrive home, it rained a little and i’m soaked, socks wet, and miserable and exhausted….

I open the door and hear slurping sounds and my gf giggling. My heart sinks and i already know what’s happening….I yell “wtf are you laughing about?! The fuck is wrong with you, ur being a fucking bitch!”

And i see the same man from the clips emerge from my bedroom, butt naked….he’s holding my favorite shirt, sweat dripping off his immaculate body and he wipes it off, then wipes his asshole with it, now it has skidmarks and throws it at me, saying “wtf did you say bitch?”

I ask who he is and what he’s doing at my place he replies “whatever tf i feel like doing faggot!” I say no it’s my place, and no i’m not gay” i emphasize gay, since i’m not a fan of bigotry and homophobia…”yeh didn’t say your gay, but you ARE a bitch ass faggot! Wtf you gonna do about it, huh? that’s wtf i thought, now, on your knees…obey or i’m gonna beat you up so badly….maybe you’ll get outta the hospital by the time i get out of jail, but it’s your choice” while making his pecs bounce in a very intimidating way. he walks up to me cracking his knuckles saying “ya know, i really DO hope you put up a fight; nobody ever wants to fight me” I look him up and down, knowing he’d kill me quickly….He’s gotta be a foot taller than me….im 5’9 and he’s gotta be at least 6’6!

I ask if i can take my shoes and wet socks off first and he laughs then slaps me in the face, open handed but hard, immediately followed by a left handed slap, i lose my balance and stumble to my knees, then i say “ok ok” on my knees looking up at him.

“Thank me for bullying you. Do it bitch” i thank him, he laughs, spits on me and gives me a wedgie….i make noise indicating it’s hurting, and he proceeds to give me an atomic wedgie…laughs then demands i take my clothes off but keep my wet socks on….

He laughs hysterically at my dick and shouts “baby, how tf were you actually fucking THIS?! omfg, ok come on slut”

And i see my love…she’s crawling on all fours..crawls up to this greek god and begins kissing his feet. She works her way up his legs, as she kisses and licks literally every inch of his perfect body.

Ali then says “ok now, don’t make me tell you again”

She looks me directly in my eyes “Bobby, keep looking in my eyes, ali says we must keep eye contact and he’s in charge here, ok? Please listen to what he says, i don’t want you to get hurt, i really don’t…not physically anyway. I say that because i i i DO want you to get emotionally hurt. I am sorry but when Ali told me he wanted to fuck me, i told him about you. Over months he kept teasing me for fucking such a loser; i love you but you are a loser. He’s been sending me pics of him, and the girls he fucks and omg babe, they cum so hard, and I fondly remembered being fucked by ali. I broke up with him cuz he cheated constantly and i thought that wasn’t ok, Now i realize how superior he is. It’s a small price to pay to be allowed to touch a superior man, im sure you understand. After i admitted how badly i wanted him he began insulting you and making fun of you. He made me take pics and record our sex, and that’s why i haven’t cum in so long, he said i wasn’t allowed with a loser like you. Ali is a sadist, he loves to make women worship him and loves nothing more than breaking beta men like you. That’s not an insult; you’re a beta, he’s an alpha, ya know?

He’s been planning for months to do this….it’s his masterpiece of destroying a loser!”

By this time i’m crying, tears streaming down my face…

“now bobby, we’re recording all of this and you’re now going to thank ali for making your fantasies come true. I know it hurts; the goal is to break you. Ali and i will marry, and you will work for us and live in a tiny room in the basement. U will be used and abused. I know it hurts but this is your new life now. Sure you can run away or something, but then ali will send all the vids and clips to your entire contact list.

But right now you’re going to beg ali to let you eat his sweaty asshole, do it you fucking piece of shit!” By this time ali is rubbing her pussy with his foot and it’s making her horny af….mmm fuck, i fucking hate you loser!” And she spits on me, confusing and hurting me.

I begin to beg to eat his asshole….

And wow, I began this planning on just whining about being so sad and pathetic but then wrote all this…wow i’ve got issues

#findom humiliation #beta bitch #loser abuse #loser humiliation #self humiliation #degrade and humiliate me #findom addiction #beta #verbal humiliation #pathetic loser #alpha man #beta loser #pathetic men #pathetic sissy #beta slave #pussy free loser #gross loser #humiliation task

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foreveralwaysanauthor · 9 months

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Camp Wanamaker (Ch 6/10)

July 22, 2023

Notes - I was up at 5 this morning, cranking out pages before the chaos of the morning started and, after going to my nephew's 13th birthday party until 7:30, I wrote more. Now, here I am - tired and in desperate need of a shower after spending a few hours soaked in chlorinated water - to deliver you this chapter. I hope you enjoy it!

Chapter 6 - Sugar, We're Goin' Down

Storm clouds loomed over Sanbornton, their presence cascading the town in ominous shades of grey. Overnight, the sky had darkened significantly, releasing a downpour of heavy rain throughout the area. However, as the sun began to rise into the sky, the rain began to slow, and, by the time the breakfast alarm rang throughout Camp Wanamaker, all that was left were scattered mud puddles and the smell of petrichor. Though the clouds still signified the desire to unleash heavy rumbles of thunder and brilliant bolts of lightning, the sky remained silent - almost eerily so. The weather had remained fairly calm since the early morning hours and the only sign of bad weather to come was the rain that drizzled over the area from time to time.

From her seat at the front desk in the main office, Vivien let out a deep breath and took a sip of the lemonade her grandfather had given her as she stared out the nearby window, hoping that her glare would be enough to scare the lingering storm clouds away. The last thing she needed was to receive an anxious call or text from Bentley that her boyfriend was having a rough time dealing with the storm on the other side of the camp while she was unable to leave her post.

Not long after breakfast, Vivien had been pulled aside by her grandparents and asked to handle the phones in the main office while her grandparents held the staff meeting. So, while they were spending the morning handing out cabin assignment lists and filling everyone in on which events would be going on during the upcoming Color Wars, Vivien was stuck sitting behind a desk, answering calls and placating nervous parents. It wasn’t the most entertaining job, but it was a job, all the same, and the young brunette knew just how important it was to the camp.

Letting out a heavy sigh, Vivien reclined in her office chair, tipped her head back, and stared up at the ceiling. Despite her best efforts, she hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before, struggling to find sleep while her mind raced. It wasn’t often that she struggled to find the ability to sleep, so to have it happen two nights in a row had to mean something was bothering her more than she cared to admit. Though she knew exactly what it was that was bothering her, there was nothing she could do to change it - not until Noah came to tell her she could.

Oh, how Vivien hoped Noah would grow some balls soon! She wasn’t sure how many more sleepless nights she could suffer through. She knew Noah wasn’t the most confident person in the world - especially if it came to matters of the heart - but the growing tension between him and Royce was starting to affect her mental health and, if he held out for too long, Vivien was sure she’d end up strangling the golden-haired male. If it came down to it, she’d tell Riley herself and get things over with so that things could return to normal again.

Pushing her hands through her hair, Vivien slid her eyes shut and sighed. The Tylenol she had taken before leaving the lodge had done little to help her growing migraine, but resting her head against the desk and trying to keep the lights above her from assaulting her eyes did help a little. Hopefully, she would hear from Noah before the day ended so that she could talk with Royce in the quiet of the lodge and they could move on with life. Summer was supposed to be their time to take a break from the stress of the world and enjoy their time together; why did it seem like there was more stress now than there had been when they were spending their days at the Birch family cabin?

Groaning as the phone on the desk began ringing again, Vivien pushed herself to sit upright, picking up the phone and holding it to her ear before putting on her best customer service voice and greeting the person with the camp’s greeting, “Camp Wanamaker front desk, this is Vivien. How can I help you?”

“Hey, Vivi, it’s Charlie,” the woman on the other end of the line greeted. “Your auntie and I are heading over to pick up some fireworks at the place by our house since the ones your Nonna found in the basement were apparently bought in the nineties. Do you want anything while we’re out?”

As the front door opened, Vivien looked up before sighing, “An energy drink and a bottle of those migraine pills Aunt Hayley keeps in the bathroom cabinet.”

“Headache again?” Charlie asked.

“That would be why I asked for the pills.”

“Didn’t you tell us that those knock you out for a few hours?”

“Hence the energy drink,” Vivien confirmed, looking up once more as a blonde head of hair entered the room. Smiling up at Riley, Vivien held up a finger, telling the girl to wait for a minute. “If the migraine pills make me tired, I’ll drink some of the energy drink to counteract it.”

Charlie sighed, “Is this like that time you tried to convince me that eating ice cream in the middle of winter would make you warmer because it cools you from the inside out?”

Vivien smirked as the memory came to the front of her mind. “Maybe,” she muttered.

“Yeah,” Charlie drawled, “not happening. Pick one.”

With a sigh, Vivien relented, “I already took some Tylenol, so I guess I’ll take the energy drink.”

“Deal,” Charlie said, the smile evident in her voice. “I’ll make sure to pick up the Excedrin while we’re out so that, if your head is still bothering you by the time your dosage runs out, you can take some before bed.”

“Thanks, Char.”

“Anytime, sunshine,” the woman said softly. “Try to get some rest once you can get away from that desk for a few minutes.”

“I’ll try.”

“That’s all I ask. Love you.”

“Love you too,” Vivien said with a smile before returning the phone to its cradle. Taking a deep breath, Vivien turned her gaze to the short blonde before her as she folded her hands together and leaned on the desk. “How’s it going, Riley?”

Riley Nicholls was a shy little thing who could easily pass for a child if she didn’t wear her staff shirts around the campground. Her barely five-foot-tall frame made her blend in with most of the crowds of campers and, despite being fairly loud and proud around her friends, the eighteen-year-old was shy to many people and often mistaken for a thirteen or fourteen-year-old. More than once, Vivien had spotted her arguing with one of the temporary staff members who only stayed at camp for two weeks, telling them she belonged in the dance studio. More than once, Vivien had backed her up and helped her get where she needed to be.

Taking a deep breath, Riley leaned against the upper shelf of the desk and sighed, “Shitty.”

“What’s wrong?” Vivien asked.

“What isn’t?” the blonde sighed. “Turns out the dance studio isn’t really needed during Color Wars.”

Vivien nodded slightly. Typically, during the points-based, team-driven week, the normal hotspots like the music hall, dance studio, and library were abandoned in favor of the archery station, ropes course, and climbing wall. The more points one gathered for their team, the more likely they were to receive a pizza party at the end of the week. Vivien had been through the same song and dance many years over and, if she was honest, she thought it was common knowledge. Then again, she had been going to the camp for a lot longer than most of the workers had.

“Same with the music hall,” Vivien shrugged. “I guess it just means we’re left to do as we please for a week.”

Riley contemplated the brunette’s words before muttering, “I hadn’t thought of that.”

With a chuckle, Vivien asked, “What else is bugging you?”

“That solved a lot of my problems, actually,” Riley admitted, a small grin tugging at her lips as she eyed the girl before her. “I do have a question for you, though.”

“Shoot,” Vivien nodded, leaning back in her chair.

Almost hesitantly, the blonde asked, “Can I ask you how you know Noah?”

Vivien shrugged, “He and I met in kindergarten. I used to drag him around and tell him what to do all the time. We were inseparable for years and spent a lot of time together growing up. Why?”

The girl on the other side of the desk seemed to contemplate her options before sighing and saying, “I’m not sure how else to put this, so I’m just going to say it.” Vivien nodded, gesturing for the girl to just let out whatever was bothering her. “Are you and Noah together or are you with Royce?”

“What?” Vivien breathed, incredulity mingled with disgust flooding her face.

“Well, you and Noah were attached at the hip for a while,” Riley began, “but then you and Royce were really close after that and, when I asked around, nobody gave me any clear answers as to who you were seeing. I wanted to ask Jade, but she’s always busy at the pool, so I figured I would just ask you.”

Vivien sat with her mouth agape as she processed the girl’s words. Then, with a noise of aversion, she asked, “Who on earth would think I’m dating Noah?”

The front door opened and Riley gave the brunette a curious stare as she lowered her voice and asked, “So, you aren’t?”

“No!” Vivien barked, giving a shiver of disgust. “Ew, gross, no. Even if Noah and I were the last two people on this planet, I would rather die than date him.”

“Nice to know how much you love me,” an amused voice chuckled as a head of golden brown hair entered the room. As Vivien rolled her eyes at him, Noah said, “I’ll have you know, it’s mutual.”

Smirking, Vivien grabbed her lemonade and claimed, “If you were my husband, I’d put poison in your coffee.”

“If you were my wife,” Noah began, stepping past the desk and leaning close to Vivien before finishing, “I’d drink it.”

Briefly raising her cup of lemonade in a sort of toast, Vivien took a sip of her drink and returned her gaze to Riley as Noah left the room, watching the girl’s eyes follow the taller boy into the other room. Once she had Riley’s attention once more, Vivien smirked into her cup and set it down before clarifying, “Honestly, Noah and I have never dated, nor will we ever go on a date. He and I are just childhood friends - nothing more, nothing less.”

Nodding almost to herself, Riley swallowed thickly, gave the younger girl a grin, and said, “That’s good to know. Thanks, Viv.”

“Anytime, Riles,” Vivien claimed, watching the girl disappear out the door she had come in through. Once the door was closed and Vivien watched as the girl disappeared down one of the paths leading further into the camp, she turned back to the doorway Noah had gone through and called, “You’re clear to come back in, Noah.”

That was the only invitation the older boy needed as he rounded the wooden frame, giving Vivien a tentative smile as he asked, “Did she really think we were dating?”

With a roll of her eyes, Vivien nodded, “No shit, Sherlock.”

“What did you tell her?”

“That I would rather be strung up by my feet and used as a human pinata for a gaggle of sugar-cracked-out six-year-olds and the entire batting lineup for the Boston Red Sox than have you shove your tongue down my throat.”

Sighing, Noah implored, “Is that really what you told her?”

“Of course not,” Vivien chuckled. “I just cleared the air, that’s all.”

“You didn’t tell her, did you?”

“No,” Vivien said with a firm shake of her head, leaning back in her chair, “but you really should get on that before she decides to move on.”

“You say that like it’s easy,” Noah sighed, leaning against the wall.

“Because it is,” Vivien shrugged. “Considering you had your tongue halfway down her throat the other day, I’d say you’re making it far harder than it needs to be.”

Noah’s gaze fell as he took in a deep breath, “That’s not the same as asking her out. That’s not exactly easy.”

“It was pretty easy for me, actually,” Vivien claimed. “When I asked Royce out, I made it quick and easy.”

“Rip off the bandaid?”

“Exactly.”

Noah sighed, “How come it doesn’t feel that easy for me?”

“Because your balls haven’t dropped yet,” Vivien snickered. At Noah’s disappointed sigh, she relented, “Seriously, though, you just need to let it happen on its own. Until you’re sure of your feelings for her, I can’t ask her out for you like we’re back in middle school.”

“You never-”

Settling a stare on the older boy, Vivien recounted, “Avery Poske, Nick Duncan, Robin Wells, Hayden-”

“Okay!” Noah cut in, urging the girl to silence herself as he frantically reached over the desk and covered her mouth with a hand. “Okay, I get it. You’ve helped me a lot before. This time, I’ll do it myself.”

Swallowing her disgust at the action, Vivien stuck her tongue out, swiping it over Noah’s palm with a grimace until he reeled back, dragging his hand over his jeans. Wiping her mouth with the back of her hand, Vivien smirked, “You’d better because, if I have to wait much longer for you to grow a pair, I will end up strangling you and tossing your body in the lake.”

“Violent much?”

Staring blankly up at the older boy, Vivien stated, “You’re being a total wuss with this girl, my boyfriend probably thinks I’m going to leave him for you at some point, and I haven’t slept in two days. Me throwing your lifeless corpse into the lake will seem tame if you don’t figure your shit out soon.”

Noah nodded, taking in a deep breath before smirking and giving the girl a mock salute. “Aye-aye, captain. I’ll steer this ship from here on out.”

As the older boy left the room and closed the office door with a slam, Vivien rolled her eyes one last time and sighed, “Yeah, with his luck, this ship will slam right into a fucking iceberg.”

For the first time in a little over a week, busses full of campers rolled along the dirt path leading to the grounds of Camp Wanamaker as the morning sun cleared away the dark clouds that had hung in the air the day before. The day moved quickly as buses arrived and campers filled the area. The first bus arrived after breakfast and, while some returning campers embraced their friends and flocked toward their cabins to set up for the next two weeks, it wasn’t until almost lunchtime that the place began to feel more full of life and laughter. The final buses bringing in campers from the airports wouldn’t get there until late, but the grounds already began to feel more crowded as gaggles of excited children flocked toward different areas of the camp.

Royce wasn’t exactly upset to have the distraction of campers filling the area again. While he would miss the peaceful serenity of spending mornings on the lake, reading books or comics with Vivien and Bentley, it would be a lie if he said that he didn’t miss seeing the excitement on every camper’s face as they ran through the grounds. A part of him wished he could have been like them at some point, running through the campground without a care in the world, at ease with everything going on around him. Maybe, in another life, he was just that - a carefree kid. Then again, if that were true, the chances of him being with Vivien in that world were slim to none, and a world without her just wasn’t worth living in, if you asked Royce.

As a pair of kids with bright red hair ran into him - all but tackling him to the pine-needle-riddled ground as they dragged him from his thoughts - Royce let out a breath of a laugh, making sure they were alright before letting them continue on their way. There wasn't much for him to do in the library, something he had been warned about the day before at the staff meeting, but Royce had still spent the majority of his time there before the all-camp call had rung out, calling every staff member and camper alike to the mess hall for lunch.

Royce had texted Vivien throughout the morning, asking her what she was up to, but after finding out that she was leaving with Miles for lunch, Royce was quick to close up the library, throwing a bookmark into the novel he had been invested in before practically running to leave the building. On days when Vivien would spend her time in the music hall with Miles and Royce would sit behind the library desk to read, they would meet up where the path to the music hall met the path to the library and walk together to have lunch or dinner. Hoping they would continue the trend, Royce picked up the pace and jogged down the dirt path behind the fenced-off swimming pool, looking around for Vivien as he approached his destination.

Slowing his pace once more, Royce walked along the path until he could see the front of the pool, spotting his girlfriend and Miles standing by the snack shack near the front of the pool fence, laughing at something someone in the snack shack had said. The only people Royce knew worked in the shack were Jade and Erica, so he let out a soft chuckle, knowing just the type of jokes the pair would no doubt unleash without any campers around. Royce beamed as Vivien spotted him, her face lighting up like a Fourth of July firework display as she waved him over. Shoving his hands in his pockets as he neared the small shack, Royce found his smile faltering as he heard an all-too-familiar voice laugh from within the shack.

“Hey, Royce,” Noah beamed, raising a hand in greeting as he ran a towel over his head.

“Hey,” Royce greeted tersely. “What happened to you?”

“Some kids were running on the side of the pool and pushed him in,” Jade claimed.

Erica cackled from her chair, “I told them to.”

“Why?” Royce wondered slowly.

Noah was the one to answer, sighing, “She told me I needed a cold shower and I told her to fuck off.”

“So, I made them give him a cold bath instead,” Erica grinned, obviously very pleased with herself. “I even caught it on video.”

“How did you convince them to push him in, though?” Royce asked. “Some of those kids haven’t even been here for a full day yet.”

Reaching under the counter, Erica smirked as she produced a small wicker basket filled with fake gold coins. “Kids that age will do anything for free snacks.”

Royce picked one of the coins out of the little basket and examined it, reading the engraving that declared the tokens were redeemable for a free snack. “Smart,” he mused.

“I know, right!” Erica snickered. “They pocketed these and took off like a pair of little bullets.”

Noah sighed as he draped his towel over his shoulders, “Yeah, two little bullets with enough combined muscle to tackle The Rock.”

“Anyway,” Jade began, redirecting the conversation as she rolled her eyes at her girlfriend’s antics, “are you guys heading up to the mess hall?”

“Yeah,” Miles breathed, clearing his throat as he pushed himself away from the wall he’d leaned against. “Are you three coming?”

Jade nodded as Erica chuckled, jerking her thumb toward Noah, “Yeah, we’ll head out once dipshit over here is ready to go. Can’t lock up the pool until he’s gone.”

Noah didn’t look bothered by the jab, simply looking over at the blue-haired girl with a raised brow as he stated, “Chief gave me a new key.”

“We have no intention of letting you forget the fact that some kid stole your old key because you were distracted while locking up,” Jade stated, sending the younger boy a firm stare.

Turning toward the others with a smile and a hand pressed to the side of her mouth, Erica stage whispered, “He was trying to get laid.”

“I was not!” Noah quickly argued, his face visibly turning red despite the dim lighting of the shack. While both Jade and Erica made noises of mock understanding, Noah sighed, admitting, “I was getting advice.”

“From who?” Jade scoffed.

Tentatively raising her hand as Noah pointed a finger in her direction, Vivien grinned, “Me.”

“What did he need advice from you for?” Miles asked, quick to scrutinize the boy’s intentions with Vivien.

“He was wanted to know more about this place downtown that he wants to take this girl and I-”

Before Vivien could finish, Erica let out a bark of laughter and turned to Noah with knowing eyes, “So you were trying to get laid!”

Rolling his eyes, Noah relented, “Fine, yeah. Happy now?”

“Kinda, yeah,” Erica chuckled, shrugging. “Now, go get some clothes on, you drowned mole rat. I want some chicken fingers before all those grubby little hands get to them first.”

Sighing, Noah pulled his towel from his shoulders and tossed it in Erica’s direction before stalking off to change. Royce watched silently as Vivien fell back into an easy conversation with Erica and Jade, their previous conversation seemingly forgotten as they began rambling about the start of the Color Wars. As much as it shouldn’t have, the ease with which Vivien switched topics astounded Royce. He could tell he wasn’t the only one as he looked past his girlfriend to his older brother, finding him watching the girls interact with a raised brow and his hands on his hips. Miles found Royce’s gaze with ease, offering his younger brother a small shrug and an encouraging grin that urged Royce to take in a deep breath and force himself to relax. Maybe he was just overthinking things.

By the time all of the campers had arrived, the sun had already set and dinner had already been served, so it was announced that night over the speakers throughout the camp that the teams for Color Wars would be announced on Tuesday, something Vivien was perfectly fine waiting for. After eating a couple of melatonin gummies and passing out with her head on her Aunt Hayley’s lap that night, Vivien wasn’t entirely sure she could move her exhausted limbs enough to venture out to the mess hall again. She had fought valiantly against the sleep that desperately wanted to claim her, but as her aunt’s nails gently scratched against her scalp and Royce took the opportunity to rub soothing circles into the palm of her hand from his spot on the floor, she lost the battle and allowed darkness to envelop her.

It wasn’t often that Vivien had detailed dreams - especially not ones that she could remember - but as she stumbled from her room to her boyfriend’s at two in the morning, her blanket wrapped tightly around her and one of his hoodies clutched in her shaking fingers, she wondered if dreams were always so terrifyingly vivid for anyone else. If they were, she could only imagine how scary nightmares were for the people who could recall them once they were awake. Thankfully, Vivien couldn’t remember much about her dream - a melatonin-induced nightmare where a skyscraper-sized green gummy bear lumbered after her, a knife somehow clutched in its gummy, fingerless hand - but she knew she wouldn’t be asking for any sleep pills any time soon. Another thing she remembered was the vague determination to eat the heads off of all gummy bears she came across in the future, but that made little sense, even to her.

Gripping dazedly onto the doorframe of Royce’s room, Vivien took in a sharp breath and looked around, her bleary, unfocused gaze searching the room for her boyfriend. Finally catching sight of the lumpy blankets that covered her boyfriend’s sleeping form, she inched her way further into the room, practically stumbling toward his bed before tripping over a shoe and slamming to the floor in a heap. Vivien let out a disgruntled noise as the bed creaked sharply, but as she looked up, she attempted to murmur something that would encourage Royce to keep from moving out from under his covers. Kneeling on the floor beside his disoriented girlfriend, Royce took her face in his hands and softly asked, “What happened?”

“There was a gummy bear with a knife,” she muttered as though it made all the sense in the world. It didn’t take much for Royce to piece together what she meant, but his eyebrow still lifted all the same as she leaned into the hand on her cheek and mumbled, “Didn’ wanna be ‘lone.”

Royce shifted, pulling Vivien upright before settling her against him as he looked around the room. As difficult as it was to scan the pitch-black room, he easily spotted the sneaker he had tossed aside the night before and grabbed it, tossing the offensive shoe toward the dresser. Though he knew it would be difficult, Royce began thinking of ways he could maneuver Vivien onto the bed. Despite her soft appearance, he knew all too well how much muscle was under her skin - something that would be more dead weight than anything while she danced over the thin line between being awake and being asleep.

Just as Royce was about to resign to the idea of pulling his pillow and blanket from the bed and setting up a sort of makeshift bed on the floor, a set of shadows appeared in his doorway. Looking up, he found both Riven and Bentley stepping into the room, the younger rubbing the sleep from his eyes as the older softly asked, “What happened? Is she alright?”

“Bad dream, I think,” Royce noted. “She said something about a knife and a gummy bear.”

“Why are you guys on the floor?” Bentley murmured through a yawn.

“She tripped,” Royce stated. Shifting his gaze from Bentley to Vivien and finally to Riven, Royce said, “I can’t lift her.”

Riven nodded, understanding the boy’s silent question. “Do you want me to bring her back to her room or do you just want me to help you get her on yours?”

“Mine is fine,” Royce said. “She said she doesn’t want to be alone.”

Bentley moved out of the way as Royce shifted Vivien’s head toward Riven, allowing the girl’s skating partner to take on the girl’s weight and lift her from the floor. Without the girl fighting to keep herself awake, Vivien’s grasp on the hoodie she’d borrowed loosened and Bentley was quick to snatch the golden fabric from the air as he pushed himself to his feet and helped Royce up. Before setting Vivien down, Royce turned toward Royce and nodded toward the bed, offering him the chance to slide into place if he desired. After pushing aside his blankets and sliding in close to the wall, Royce watched as Riven lowered Vivien to the mattress, making sure to bring the blanket over her once Riven moved away.

Bentley reached a cautious hand out, pushing the brunette’s hair from her face with a small grin, “I think that medicine she took last night is kicking her ass.”

“It always does,” Riven commented. “Give it a few months and it will happen again.”

“She’s done this before?” Royce asked, keeping his voice low to avoid waking his girlfriend.

Riven nodded, peering down at the sleeping brunette as he stated, “She hardly ever takes anything more than headache medicine, so when she takes something like allergy pills or sleep gummies, this is usually the reaction she has. We’ll be lucky if she’s able to walk around much tomorrow.”

Royce sighed, stiffening as Vivien sluggishly rolled closer to him, tucking her face into the crook of his neck. Looking up to Riven once he was sure Vivien was comfortable, he asked, “What do we do?”

Riven shrugged, letting out a yawn as he replied, “Keep her comfortable. At breakfast, I’ll talk with her grandparents and let them know what happened. They’ll give her the day to rest and she should be fine by tomorrow. For now, just try to make sure she doesn’t get up and walk around again.”

With a nod, Royce watched as Riven left the room, followed closely by Bentley. Before Bentley could leave the room, Royce asked, “Where are you going?”

Turning back toward his brother with exhausted eyes, Bentley gestured down the hall and yawned, “My room.”

Without another word, Bentley turned on his heel and headed down the hall, leaving Royce with his mouth slightly open, an unasked question on his lips. Though he wasn’t surprised Bentley wanted to go back to sleep, he was surprised his younger brother didn’t just slot himself into the empty space on the other side of Vivien. It wouldn’t have been the first time he had done so. Resigning himself to a night of watch duty, Royce relaxed into the mattress and brought a hand to Vivien’s head, holding her close as he stared up at the ceiling. It wasn’t long before the bed dipped to the side and Royce’s attention was dragged toward the head of messy blond hair that situated itself on the far end of the mattress, a pillow folded in half underneath it.

“I thought you were going back to bed,” Royce muttered.

“I am,” Bentley claimed. “I never said whose bed I would be using.”

Royce let out a breath of a chuckle, “Are you sure you want to be here? What if Viv starts getting up and walking around again?”

Lifting his head from the pillow and looking over Vivien at his brother, Bentley asked, “We’re in this together, aren’t we?”

“We are.”

“Then I’m staying.”

Nodding mostly to himself, Royce let his head fall back to his pillow, bidding his brother a quiet goodnight before closing his eyes and relaxing into his bed once more. With any luck, he’d get some rest until morning and Vivien would stay where she was until the melatonin wore off. It didn’t take long for Bentley to fall asleep, snoring faintly as he shifted onto his side, leaving Royce on his own as Vivien mumbled nonsense in her sleep. As the clock ticked over to four o’clock, Royce drifted into a light sleep, his mind struggling to relax after two hours of jolting awake every time his girlfriend moved.

Hours later, as sunlight poured in through the window, a pair of tired green eyes blinked open, glaring daggers at the light that burned through the cheap, cotton curtains beside the bed. It took Vivien’s exhausted, foggy brain a while to realize that she was no longer in her own bed, but once she slotted the puzzle pieces into place, she pushed herself to slowly sit up, her muscles protesting at the movement. Once the room stopped spinning like the Round Up ride at the carnival, Vivien looked around the room, quickly discovering she had somehow made her way to Royce’s room from her own. The journal on the nightstand was an easy tell, but so was the Polaroid camera and the photo booth strip of pictures they’d taken together at the state fair.

After taking her glasses and fully charged phone from beside her boyfriend’s journal, Vivien took her time getting to her feet, listening for any sign of her boyfriend or their friends as she eased herself upright. To not make herself dizzy once again, Vivien carefully made her way out of the room, using the wall as a brace until she reached the staircase. Descending the stairs, Vivien found that the lodge was far quieter than she was accustomed to. At the end of the stairs, she looked around for any sign of life, calling out for anyone who would listen, but when nobody replied, she made her way to the couch where she discovered a piece of paper with her name on it.

“‘Pip,’” she read to herself. “‘We’re going to get some breakfast from the mess hall and see about letting you rest for the day. If it’s after nine by the time you’re reading this, we’ll probably be in our usual places. We’ll be by around lunch to check in on you. Don’t push yourself. Just get yourself a drink from the cooler, put on a movie, and rest on the couch. You need it.’”

Pulling her phone from the pocket of her pajama shorts and checking the time, Vivien sighed; it was well past nine. With her chances of joining Miles at their normal post being dashed and the drive to leave the cabin surprisingly low, Vivien folded the note and set it back on the coffee table before dragging the small cooler out from under the table, grabbing herself a drink, and slouching back into the couch. Opening her phone once again, Vivien began scrolling through TikToks, hoping to find something interesting. After a while of finding nothing but Broadway memes and baking videos, she resigned to opening Disney+, where she connected her phone to the television mounted on the wall and allowed herself to get lost in the cult classic that was Hocus Pocus - one of her favorite comfort movies.

Glad she hadn’t bothered to turn the lights on, Vivien leaned to her side and laid down on the couch, tugging the blanket from the back onto her as she curled into a comfortable spot. The movie was easy to get sucked into and Vivien was surprised how much time had passed as Max flicked open his lighter and brought it to the wick of the black flame candle. As the door to the Sanderson sisters’ house swung open and the three teenagers hid from the witches, Vivien jumped as the door to the cabin opened in a similar manner, banging against the doorstopper as a person with their arms full entered the building.

Peering over the armrest, Vivien sighed as she pushed herself to sit up once more, pausing the movie as she complained, “Noah, you scared the shit out of me!”

“Sorry,” the older boy said quickly as he maneuvered his way into the living area and set a plastic bag and a stack of books on the coffee table. “Your grandparents sent me over with a bunch of stuff and told me to check up on you. They were going to send your boyfriend, but he was roped into helping out in the health center. I guess a big group of kids are doing archery today and they wanted as many hands on deck as they could get.”

“Oh boy,” Vivien sighed. “We’ll be lucky if some kid doesn’t end up with an arrow sticking out of some body part or another.”

“I know, right.”

Reaching to take the bag from the table, she asked, “Do I want to know what you brought?”

“Other than your shirt for Color Wars, probably not,” Noah chuckled. “I think there’s soup, a bag of snacks, some soda, and a bunch of fruits.”

Vivien peered into the bag the boy had set aside before asking, “What, no alcohol?”

“Sadly, no,” Noah smirked, “but I will say it was funny to see your grandpa offering to send you some of his ‘special brownies’ and getting smacked upside the head by your grandma.”

Vivien shook her head, a fond and knowing smile stretching across her face, “Sounds about right.” After a moment, she turned her gaze back to Noah and said, “Thanks for bringing all this down for me.”

“Of course,” Noah nodded. As he turned to leave, he asked, “Do you want me to let everyone know that you’re awake?”

With a shrug, Vivien replied, “If you see them, sure, but don’t go out of your way. They said they were going to check up on me around lunchtime.”

Checking the watch on his wrist, Noah nodded, “In that case, they’ll be here soon.”

“And I’ll still be here.”

Noah smiled, “Alright, well, I’ll let you rest before they get here.”

“Okay,” Vivien breathed, shifting back into the couch cushions. “Thanks again, Noah.”

With a dutiful nod, Noah turned back toward the door and made his exit, leaving Vivien to her own devices as he began walking back toward the main area of the grounds. As the sand under his feet shifted, Noah ran a hand through his hair and smiled as he recalled the conversation he had witnessed between Vivien’s grandparents. In a way, he supposed not much had changed in the years since he left town. They were still some of the nicest people he knew and Noah soaked in the opportunity to watch them be so at ease with each other. Without grandparents of his own, Noah had always seen Vivien’s grandparents as the type of people he wished he had in his life. In turn, they had treated him as their own. It seemed as though that hadn’t changed despite the years they had spent apart.

As Noah reached the section of sand that melded into the pathways that lined the camp, the lunch bell rang. He watched as children in different buildings filed out, hurrying to the mess hall to see how many points their team racked up over the few hours since they had been placed on a team. Stopping in the middle of the path to let a group of kids in neon green shirts run by, Noah chuckled and looked around, spotting Bentley hanging a smock on the hook by the art barn doors. Deciding to let him know what was going on with Vivien, Noah maneuvered through the sea of eager children until he reached the art barn, leaning against the railing with a breath of relief.

“You know, I never thought this week would be so chaotic,” he chuckled as the blond boy turned toward him.

Shrugging, Bentley claimed, “Viv said it usually is. I’m trying to stay out of most of it.”

“You and me both, Bentley,” Noah said with a smile. Running a hand through his hair, he said, “I just wanted to let you know that I stopped by the lodge to drop off some stuff for Vivien and she seems to be doing a lot better than I heard she was.”

“She does?” Bentley asked, glancing toward the entrance of the beach. “What is she doing?”

“Resting on the couch, watching a movie,” Noah stated. “She was moving pretty slowly, but she seemed alright otherwise. We talked for a little bit before I left.”

Bentley nodded, “Thanks, I’ll be sure to let everyone know.”

“Alright,” Noah nodded. “In that case, my work here is done. See you up at the mess hall.”

“See you,” Bentley said, giving the older boy a wave as he watched him leave. As Bentley looked out over the sea of campers heading toward the mess hall from all sorts of places, he spotted a single, dark-haired figure weaving through the crowd in the opposite direction, heading toward Bentley despite the pushback. Snickering at his brother’s misfortune, Bentley called, “Having fun there, RJ?”

Royce lifted his head, sending his little brother a glare as he pushed through the last bit of the crowd, grabbing one of the pillars that held up the art barn’s extended roof to pull himself away from the chaos. “I think we should wait a little bit before we go check on Viv. If we go back into that mess, we’ll be lucky if we come out with all of our limbs intact.”

“We don’t have to rush to check up on her anyway,” Bentley shrugged. “Noah went to check on her and drop some stuff off.”

Bentley watched as Royce froze, his mind visibly racing as his eyes flitted between Bentley, the crowd, and the beach. “When did he stop by?”

With a shrug, Bentley said, “Probably a few minutes ago. He was just here. I guess Viv’s watching a movie or something.”

Royce reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, checking it for any notifications he might have missed before asking, “Why didn’t she tell me she was up?”

Though Bentley was sure the question was more for Royce than it was for him, Bentley suggested, “Noah said she was moving a bit slow still; maybe she just hadn’t thought of it.”

Royce glanced up at his brother, plastering a small smile on his face before nodding, “Yeah, maybe. Do you want to go check up on her with me?”

With a nod, Bentley followed Royce to the beach, tucking his hand into his brother’s as a way to comfort him as he let Royce practically pull him toward the lodge. Bentley could only hope Royce would calm down a bit when he saw Vivien. From what Riven had texted him earlier, Royce was on edge all morning - pacing the floor when he wasn’t sitting down and bouncing his leg anxiously when he was told to sit. Though he knew most of Royce’s stress was due to Vivien remaining asleep far later than she ever did, he was sure his older brother’s lack of sleep didn’t help matters any. With any luck, spending time with his girlfriend and making sure that she was back to her normal self once more would ease him back down from whatever strained high he had been on from the moment Vivien stumbled her way into his bedroom at two-something in the morning.

Wednesday was the halfway point of the week and, while Vivien despised the fact that she had missed out on a day at the archery range, helping Mick instruct campers as to how to hold and fire their weapon, she was more than willing to help her grandfather host a makeshift sword fight in the grass of the soccer field once she was able. Proudly donning her red Color Wars shirt and some war paint, Vivien held stood like a great warrior in the center circle of the field, brandishing a foam sword as the four sections of campers sat around on the grass. Divided by the colors of their shirts, each of the children was tasked with learning how to sword-fight. It wasn’t based on skill or speed, but rather just an event to have fun and fight against their fellow campers for the top spot on the leaderboard.

Most of the campers had gotten prepared ahead of time, some having asked their teammates or counselors to paint eye black under their eyes while others got creative with face paint to show off their team color. Regardless of how decorated the campers were, they all sat patiently as Chief George took to the center circle with a foam sword and began to fight his granddaughter, showing the campers how far they could go in the event and making sure to tell everyone that, regardless of whether or not they were fighting their siblings, physical fights were unacceptable.

Once Vivien and her grandfather had demonstrated how the fights were meant to go, they began picking pairs of campers - two from each color - to fight in a best-of-three match. The green team was vicious against the other campers, chasing the others down and aiming for victory no matter the cost. Those on the red team weren’t ones to back down, still fighting to win even if they were down to their last chance. Blue team, on the other hand, seemed quick and calculated, finding their opponent’s weak spots and using them to their advantage. The yellow team appeared to be more in it for the fun than anything, but the competition became fierce once they were told that the prize at the end of the week was a pizza party for their group.

By the end of the tournament, everyone was sweaty and exhausted, but the smiles on everyone’s faces made everything worth it. Around the dinner table, campers expressed their delight at how things had gone, some proudly pointing to the points tracker on the wall that displayed just how many points each team had and how many each individual had made for their team. Despite the copious amounts of sunscreen each camper had been practically bathed in, some still had obvious shades of red marking their skin. Looking around the sea of campers that filled the mess hall, Vivien was glad that everyone seemed to have been in good spirits regardless of where they stood on the leaderboard.

Settling into place beside Carrie and across from Royce at their usual table, Vivien sighed as she tucked her hand into Royce’s, “I think tonight will be an early night for most of the cabins.”

“You think?” Carrie questioned rhetorically. “I saw a kid fall asleep in their mashed potatoes a minute ago.”

Vivien snickered, stabbing a piece of kielbasa with her fork before reaching for the drink she was sure she had grabbed. When she found nothing but air in the space she swore she had left her glass, Vivien looked around the table and sighed. Had she really not picked up a drink before heading back to the table? Glancing behind her at the punch bowl, Vivien realized that, if she wanted any, she would have to get up and get some soon or else there wouldn’t be any left. Looking across the table at her boyfriend, Vivien offered him a small grin and pried her hand from his before slowly standing, telling those at the table her intentions before stepping out from the bench seats and making her way toward the punch bowl.

As she reached the table with the large, mostly-empty bowl, Vivien reached for a cup, only to smack into another hand. Following the limb up to the person’s face, Vivien grinned as she greeted Noah, “Looks like someone got into the ketchup.”

Noah’s cherry-red, sunburnt face looked painful, if Vivien were to say the least, but he smiled all the same, “Yeah, I guess Hannah Montana lied; it isn’t the greatest moisturizer.”

Vivien looked up at Noah and shook her head with a smile, rolling her eyes at his comment as she took a cup from the stack. “Good on you for trying, though.”

“Thanks,” Noah chuckled. Glancing around as he took up a cup, Noah lowered his voice and muttered to Vivien, “I think I’m going to ask her out later.”

Turning to Noah with an almost impressed look in her eyes as she poured herself some punch, Vivien asked, “You finally grew a pair?”

Rolling his eyes, Noah grinned, “Yeah, I did. She and I had the chance to hang out some while almost everyone was out on the field, so it made things a lot easier.”

Vivien smirked as she nudged Noah aside, “Told you so.”

“You did,” he agreed with a nod.

“Well, you’ll have to stop by later to tell me how it went,” Vivien offered. “After making me wait all this time, I kind of deserve to know.”

“You do, yeah.” Noah took in a slow breath, glancing over Vivien’s head to where Riley and some of her friends had gathered at a lunch table. “I’ll stop by after.”

“Cool,” Vivien nodded, offering her free hand to the older boy. “We’ll probably be watching a movie or something.”

“Alright,” Noah breathed, joining Vivien in a one-handed version of the handshake they had come up with in third grade. “See you then.”

“You better.” As Vivien turned to go back to her table, she scanned the room, finding a pair of amber eyes on her. Sighing as she lifted her cup to her lips and took a drink, Vivien hoped whatever result came of Noah’s confession would put an end to whatever narrative Royce had concocted in his mind. At the least, it would make him less suspicious of her friend. At the most, it would solve their problems entirely. She could only hope that Noah would keep confession quick and to the point. There was no need to prolong this any further than it already had.

After dinner, Vivien found herself chasing after Riven and Bentley, the latter of whom decided to declare that the first person back to the cabin would choose the first game they were to play that night. At first, Vivien felt as though she had been given an unfair advantage as she had the muscle to carry her faster than most. However, her hopes of annihilating everyone in a game of Uno were dashed all too quickly as Riven, her only true competitor, picked Bentley up like a human backpack and took off in a run, passing Vivien far quicker than she cared to admit. The thought of being forced into playing one of Riven’s ridiculous games was the only thing that kept Vivien running. Despite knowing Bentley would probably pick something like Monopoly or The Game of Life, she knew how close the easily impressionable boy had gotten to the maniacal older skater. She would be lucky if they didn’t play some knock-off, Silent-Library-type game.

Getting to the destined picnic table just a few seconds later than the pair, Vivien resigned to her fate as Riven and Bentley raced into the lodge to pick out some games to play. By the time the others made their way to the picnic table, Vivien had sprawled herself out on the seat grumbling her defeat as Royce nudged her to sit up, giving her words of encouragement as he fought the smile that dared to appear on his face. Once Bentley and Riven appeared once again, Vivien was surprised to see that Riven had settled for an only slightly tamer game than she had expected - Cards Against Humanity.

They had played it before since their time at camp and, unlike the child-friendly deck Mick had bought at Walmart to keep at her family’s house, it took them all of three rounds to realize the contents within the long black box were not rated PG. Butchy had tried to stall the game, offering them the opportunity to let him dig through the box for the cards he deemed inappropriate, but he was quickly shot down by the majority who wanted to play a few rounds. As Riven opened the box and Bentley eagerly dished out the cards to each player at the table, Vivien looked at the end of the table where Butchy sighed, shaking his head and examining each of his given cards with wide-eyed scrutiny. Fleetingly, she wondered how long it would take before he made them put the game away this time. Their fastest time had been twenty minutes, but there were some days it seemed as though he couldn’t give a shit about their cards and they ended up playing for well over an hour.

As Riven set out the deck of black cards for everyone to pick from, a voice called out to Vivien from a distance. Turning in her seat, the brunette smiled as she spotted Noah running toward them. If the smile on his face was anything to go by, he had good news. Grateful it hadn’t taken the older boy long to get his ass in gear, Vivien stood from the table, asking the others not to start without her as she made up the distance between herself and Noah. Meeting her friend in the sand not far from the edge of the lodge, Vivien asked, “Well?”

“We’re going out to the drive-in Saturday night,” Noah admitted.

“No way!”

“Yeah,” he chuckled.

Letting out a squeal of excitement for her friend, Vivien surged forward, bringing her arms around Noah as she bounced excitedly on the sand. “I’m so happy for you,” she breathed over his shoulder.

“Thanks,” Noah sighed, relaxing as he briefly brought his arms around Vivien. “I plan on telling people at breakfast.” Once Vivien backed up a step, he said, “I wouldn’t have done it so soon if you hadn’t pushed me to.”

“Or caught you in the pool shed.”

“That too,” Noah smirked.

“Good luck getting any sleep tonight,” Vivien said with a smile. “I stayed up well past midnight when I asked Royce out.”

Noah let out a sigh, “Great. I guess I’m in for a fun night, then.”

“That you are.”

With a chuckle, Noah nodded toward the picnic table and said, “Have fun with your game night.”

“Thanks,” Vivien said. “Have fun getting to sleep.”

As he turned away, Noah smirked, “Thanks, I’m going to need it.”

Smiling to herself, Vivien shook her head and jogged back to the others, not feeling their eyes on her until she sat back down at the table. Looking around the table, eager to begin the game, Vivien stalled as she found nine sets of eyes watching her every move. “What?” she asked.

“What was that about?” Miles asked, gaining the girl’s attention with ease.

Vivien shrugged, “Nothing major. I’ve been helping Noah with something and he finally grew the balls to go through with it.”

Though Miles looked ready to press for more answers, Royce made it clear he didn’t want to push the matter as he tapped his brother’s shin with his sneaker, giving Miles a small, almost unnoticeable shake of his head to dissuade him. Miles didn’t look thrilled with the idea, but allowed his shoulders to relax as Riven started the game, eager to rid the air of the tension that had formed while Vivien was away from the table. As the game progressed, Royce found himself less and less engaged. While he wanted nothing more than to believe that Vivien’s statement had been true, the growing concern he’d felt throughout the last two weeks was beginning to wear him thin. Glancing back at the sandy path Noah had departed from, he took in a deep breath; how much more of this could he take?

Hoping for a better day, Royce rose from his bed early Thursday morning, aiming to surprise Vivien with a morning swim. All in all, he just wanted to spend time with her away from everything before the day truly started, but that too seemed impossible as, when he headed to her room, he found it empty. Silently searching the cabin, Royce found no trace of his girlfriend until he made his way to the living room. Looking out the window, he a figure standing on the end of the pier and, as he made his way outside, he realized Vivien was already ready for the day, watching the sunrise from her seat on the end of the pier.

Calling out to her as he made his way onto the wooden pier, Royce smiled as she waved. However, as he neared her and saw a head of dripping, golden-brown hair just over the side of the wooden dock, he tried not to let his frustration show. Just before Vivien was Noah, treading water as he welcomed Royce to their early morning conversation. Trying to appear at ease with the situation, Royce took in a deep breath and forced a smile onto his face as the pair roped him into their talks of school teachers he didn’t know and movie references Vivien had yet to teach him.

It took a lot of patience to sit around while Vivien and Noah traded stories, barely including him at all. As the sun rose higher in the sky and the breakfast alarm sounded, they headed back to the shore, Vivien and Noah continuing their chat as Royce followed behind, halfheartedly listening to the conversation at hand. Once Noah left to change for the day, Royce took a breath of relief and tried to force his growing agitation toward the male aside as he settled on the lodge’s porch swing with his girlfriend.

By the time they reached the mess hall, his frustration had returned as Noah met up with them on the path toward the large wooden building. At first, Noah had only conversed with Carrie and Riven, but as time progressed, the older boy moved further toward the front of the line, slinging an arm around both his and Vivien’s shoulders as he walked between them. If it hadn’t been for Vivien and Bentley keeping his hands hostage along the way, Royce would have clenched them into fists. If Noah’s gratingly silken voice wasn’t enough to set Royce on the verge of violence, his lopsided smirk was.

Choosing to say nothing and be grateful that Noah was typically kept busy at another table with some of the lifeguards that alternated shifts with him at the pool, Royce kept his lips in a tight, thin line and allowed the others to lead him toward the mess hall. He endured a few more minutes of Noah’s presence as they waited in line together. Royce only noticed how distracted he had been when Bentley grabbed his wrist, keeping him from adding a scoop of fresh raspberries to his plate. Grateful at least one of them had been paying attention, Royce ditched the spoon in the container and reached for some cantaloupe instead before grabbing a drink and making his way to the table they usually filled.

Enjoying the short break of peace, Royce ran his hands through his hair with a heavy sigh. A tray appeared across the table and, as Royce glanced up to find Carrie sitting there, the blonde asked, “Are you alright?”

“Peachy,” Royce grumbled through gritted teeth as he took a stab at his meal.

Deciding to drop out of the conversation before things could get any more tense than they already were, Carrie leaned away, sighing as she picked up her fork, “Forget I asked.”

“I plan to,” Royce muttered before shoving a forkful of waffles into his mouth.

Though Carrie was more than prepared to fire back at the teenager, she swallowed her snappy comeback as Vivien took up the seat next to her and dragged her into a conversation about the upcoming murder mystery week. Royce managed to drone out most of the conversation around him, hoping to get through most of his food before anyone else so that he had the chance to cool down on his own.

He had no right to be so worked up over nothing. Vivien’s friendship with Noah was just that - a friendship. She was allowed to have friends. He had spent a few days with Jade and Erica at the mall with Vivien and Bentley, talking with them on their breaks and joking around with them as though he had known them just as long as Vivien had. In the case of Riven, Royce had only been intimidated by him for a few days as Vivien talked about him constantly. Then, when he met the older boy Vivien loved so much, he realized how ridiculous it was to worry about the two falling in love. If anything, they were more like siblings than anything. Why was her relationship with Noah any different?

Perhaps it was the way he looked at Vivien like she meant the world to him - the way he constantly stared and would look for Vivien before anyone else. Royce took in a breath and inwardly shook his head; no, that couldn’t be it. If it had been just that, he wouldn’t have been so worked up. He could understand Vivien being seen as a brilliant beacon of light anytime she stepped into a room; she snatched Royce’s attention every time he saw her and he soaked her in like a sponge. He couldn’t fault someone else for seeing her in the same manner.

If that hadn’t been the case, what was? He quickly ruled out Noah’s quick humor as he knew how easily Vivien laughed at her friends’ jokes. Noah’s gravitation toward Vivien was next to be questioned, but Royce found himself to be understanding of that in more ways than one. Not only was Noah an old friend of Vivien’s, but he was also a new worker at the camp and had few friends at the start of the summer. Royce knew it was only natural for the older boy to want to stay close to his comfort zone as Royce did the same thing all the time.

Maybe what truly bothered him was how Vivien seemed to gravitate toward the older boy for the last week and a half more than she had in the month or so they had been at camp. Glancing over at Noah from the corner of his eyes, Royce realized he couldn’t blame her for finding the older boy worthy of her attention. Noah was tall, athletic, muscular, and Royce had heard both workers and campers muttering about how attractive they found the lifeguard. If the boy’s apparently swoon-worthy smile wasn’t enough to win someone over, his kindness and genuine concern for those around him seemed to be.

The more Royce thought about it, the more he realized just how different he was from Noah. The older boy could probably run from the mess hall to the parking lot without feeling as though he was about to collapse, his hair probably didn’t look like a rat’s nest in the mornings, and, if Royce were to guess, the eighteen-year-old probably a long line of girls wanting to snatch him up if given the opportunity. He was practically a Disney prince whereas Royce was comparatively closer to being Quasimodo.

Royce softly sighed as he pushed himself up from his seat, unable to finish eating. If Vivien had a thing for Noah like the majority of the staff and campers seemed to, Royce would be kicked to the curb by the end of the month, if he was lucky. If she chose to keep him around for that long, maybe it would give him the chance to come to terms with the pain the loss would bring him. If it came down to it, he might have to fight down the animosity he harbored toward Carrie in order to ask for some acting lessons. He would need all of the help he could get in order to seem less pathetic when the time came for Vivien to break things off.

Ditching his near-empty tray with the staff member at the counter, Royce made his way outside, the thick humidity in the air doing nothing to ease the tension that threatened to overwhelm him. He sucked in as deep of a breath as he could manage before descending the front steps and walking away from the building. To Royce’s dismay, he didn’t get far before a call of his name stopped him. Turning back, Royce felt his chest tighten as Vivien bounded down the steps of the mess hall and jogged to make up the distance between them.

“Where are you going?” she asked as she slowed to a stop. “You usually wait for me or Bentley to walk you to the library.”

“I know,” Royce shrugged, taking in another breath and sighing it out. “I just needed some time to think.”

“About what?” Vivien pressed, the gentleness in her smile twisting the knife Noah had unknowingly stabbed into his back. How much longer would it be before Vivien’s adoring smile was focused on Noah instead?

Royce looked away as he admitted, “A lot of things, really.”

“I’ve been told I’m a great listener,” Vivien claimed, a sincerity in her eyes that made Royce want to give in and unleash all that bothered him. However, he was sure he would simply come across as the pathetic, clingy boyfriend who couldn’t stand his girlfriend having another guy around.

“That’s okay,” Royce said, offering a small chuckle in return as he began walking. “I think I just need to figure things out for myself. Thanks for offering, though.”

Though Royce knew how determined Vivien was and how hard she pushed to make things right with those around her, he had hoped she would have dropped the subject and left him to wallow in peace. However, Vivien didn’t seem to share that sentiment as she asked, “Is there anything I can do to make things easier?”

“Not really.”

“Oh.”

Quickly offering Vivien a smile, Royce said, “It’s alright. I’ll get over it sooner or later.”

“‘Get over it’?” Vivien repeated curiously as she stopped walking. Once ROyce turned back to face her, she asked, “Get over what?”

“It’s nothing,” Royce tried to reassure.

Vivien’s quick thinking was something Royce adored about her, but in this scenario, it only served to send a surge of mild frustration through him as she pressed, “It must be something if you’re taking time away from everyone to think it over.”

“It’s not that bad,” he shrugged. “I just want to get my head on straight, you know?”

Vivien seemed to stall, her mind presumably racing as she thought of something to say in return. However, her response gave Royce pause. “You know you can tell me anything, right?” When Royce remained silent a moment too long for her liking, she let out a nervous chuckle, “I know I sometimes talk enough for the both of us, but you have to know that this relationship isn’t a one-way street. You can confide in me as much as I know I can confide in you.”

“I know,” Royce breathed. “It’s just… In this instance, I don’t think it would be the best idea.”

“Why not?”

With a sigh, Royce admitted, “I just want to wrap my head around everything first. I don’t want things to get blown out of proportion.”

As though Royce’s words sent every thought she’d had out the window, Vivien’s eyes widened a fraction as she said, “Okay, you’re starting to worry me now. What’s going on?”

“Like I said-”

“Don’t tell me you need to think things over, Royce,” Vivien interrupted with a scoff and a roll of her eyes. “If whatever it is, is bothering you this badly, I need to know how to help you.”

“You can’t,” Royce tried, hoping the desperation in his voice would come across as honesty. “I don’t want this to come between us and-”

Cutting her boyfriend off, Vivien sharply interrupted, “I thought you said before that nothing could come between us.”

Royce sighed, “I didn’t mean it like that.”

With a bewildered yet frustrated gleam in her emerald eyes, Vivien pressed, “Well, how did you mean it, then?”

Not wanting the conversation to get any more strained than it was, Royce tried to placate his girlfriend as he sighed, “Can we not do this right now?”

In return, Vivien laughed - a sarcastic, sharp laugh that felt like it tore away the last shred of hope Royce clung to. “Yeah, no. We’re doing this now. If this is something that could affect us or our relationship, I have a right to know about it.”

“And you will, eventually,” Royce tried, his voice unconsciously rising to match Vivien’s. “I just want to think things over first; is that such a bad thing?”

“It is when I can help you figure things out a hell of a lot quicker,” Vivien snipped, “but you won’t let me help you for whatever stupid fucking reason.”

“Why is it so wrong for me to want to do things on my own?”

“Because I can help you!” Vivien argued loudly.

“And I don’t want your help!” Royce proclaimed in return.

Confused and upset, Vivien refused to back down as she pressed, “Why not?”

“Because all you’ll do is make things worse!”

As though the tsunami of emotions between them had settled in that instant, Royce froze as Vivien visibly recoiled, the frustration in her eyes dissolving. The young couple stood frozen in place for what felt like forever, staring at each other in disbelief. Sure, they had disagreed about things before, but only over inconsequential things like stolen food or what movie to watch. In the seven or so months they had been together, things had never gotten so out of hand.

Taking in a deep breath as her mouth clacked shut almost painfully, Vivien gritted her teeth and nodded before slowly saying, “Fine.”

Unsure of himself, Royce breathed, “What?”

“You want time and space to figure your shit out?” Vivien asked rhetorically as she took a step back. “Fine; I’m giving it to you. But don’t expect me to be so willing to talk once you finally decide to pull your head out of your ass.”

“Viv,” Royce began as he reached out to Vivien, only to have his hand meet air as she stepped away.

“Save it,” she hissed before turning her back on Royce and making her way back toward the mess hall.

Meanwhile, Royce stood where she left him, his hand still stuck in the air as he remained rooted in place by the tension that hung in the already thick, humid air. He had tried to walk away, to work things out by himself; how had that made everything worse in a matter of minutes? Letting out a shuddering breath as the mess hall’s screen door slammed shut, Royce brought his hand out of the empty air and slowly turned, allowing himself to stumble toward the library on autopilot as he let the morning’s events sink in.

Anyone with eyes could tell that something between Royce and Vivien just wasn’t right. Bentley had been one of the first to piece together the puzzle as he noticed Vivien return to the mess hall alone Thursday morning. He knew something had to have happened, but when he asked, Vivien simply shook her head and told him to ask his brother. He tried to make light of the situation by asking Miles, but when Vivien didn’t so much as smile, he knew something was truly wrong. She always at least smiled at his terrible jokes or little taunts, so if she wasn’t finding anything funny, whatever was bothering her had to be serious.

He silently observed Vivien throughout the rest of the day, trying to pinpoint anything that could set her off. It wasn’t until lunchtime that he realized it wasn’t just Vivien who was acting off, it was Royce too. Instead of sitting next to or across from his girlfriend at the lunch table, Royce sat silently on the opposite end, poking aimlessly at his food and barely taking anything in. Vivien, on the other hand, sat across from Riven and next to Erica, talking in somewhat hushed voices. Whatever was wrong seemed to have been bothering both of them in different ways and Bentley was determined to figure out whatever it was.

After lunch, he stayed glued to Rocye’s side. At first, it didn’t seem like Royce noticed how clingy his brother was as, once they reached the library, he had tucked himself behind the desk and engrossed himself in the book that was on the counter. However, once Bentley pointed out that his brother had been stuck on the same page for almost twenty minutes, reading and re-reading the same thing over and over, Royce sighed and set the book aside. Despite Bentley’s gentle questioning as to what was going on, Royce grew frustrated quickly and asked him to leave things alone as it was none of his concern.

“It is, though,” he stated. “You and Viv are my best friends. Normally, you guys are all over each other to the point where I have to fight to keep my breakfast down, but now you’re acting like you can’t stand each other. I just want to know what’s going on so I can help.”

“You don’t need to help anything,” Royce claimed, resting his forehead in his hand. “Viv is giving me space to think, that’s all.”

“Think about what?” Bentley pressed.

“A lot of things,” Royce sighed. “Our relationship, mostly.”

Concern washed over Bentley like an icy wave as he asked, “Your relationship? Why would you need to think about that? Are you thinking about breaking up with her?”

“What?” Royce asked, meeting Bentley’s wide oceanic eyes before shaking his head. “No. I think, if anything, she’d be the one considering that.”

“Why would Viv want to break up with you?” Bentley questioned, now more confused than ever. “She loves you.”

Royce sighed heavily, “I doubt she’s feeling that way right about now.”

“Why? What did you do?”

“I told her I needed time to think, but she kept pushing to help me,” Royce began. “Normally, it wouldn’t be a problem, but where the problem is her relationship with Noah, I didn’t want her to get upset about it if I said the wrong thing.”

“Did you tell her that?”

Royce shook his head, “She just kept pushing and, since I was already pretty worked up about the situation, it turned into a sort of fight. I told her I didn’t want her help, she asked why, and I told her it was because she would only make things worse.”

As though Royce didn’t already feel bad admitting to what he’d said, Bentley’s wide-eyed, kicked puppy expression made the pit in his stomach so much worse. “Did you at least apologize?”

“She walked off before I could,” Royce admitted.

“Royce,” Bentley sighed exasperatedly.

“I know,” Royce groaned. “I plan to apologize once I’ve gotten everything figured out, but if she’s going to give me the time to think, I’m going to take it.”

Bentley took in a long, deep breath and sighed, “Alright, but you should try to make it quick.”

“Why?”

“It’s Vivien,” Bentley replied simply.

Royce sighed; while he knew Vivien wasn’t the type to hold a grudge forever, he also knew how personally she took things. She cared deeply for those around her and their opinions of her. Royce could recall one time Miles had commented that Vivien’s perky morning attitude was atrocious - a snippy joke he had made before his first cup of coffee - and, for a week, Vivien toned it down until he asked what was wrong. If that was anything for Royce to go by, she was probably taking his offhanded, snappy comment to heart. He had known in the moment that he had fucked up, but now he realized just how badly.

“Just so you know,” Bentley began as he rose from his seat and made his way to the door, “I’m on her side of this.”

As the door to the library shut, Royce sighed, “Yeah, me too.”

The next day, Bentley played the role of the spy, trying his best to sneakily retrieve information from Vivien while campers fought over which team would have the highest points by the end of the day. At first, Vivien hadn’t noticed the boy’s intentions, too caught up in the monotony of tallying points to see the obvious. Then, as she walked with Bentley toward the climbing wall at the amphitheatre, she realized just how eager he was to get anything out of her. He was subtle, she’d give him that, but he wasn’t subtle enough. After he tried to see if she wanted to go with him to pick out some comics they could read later and she turned him down, Vivien noticed how his expression faltered and he seemed to return to his thoughts, determined to find a way to bring her closer to Royce.

She tested just how far he would go with it before finally relenting when he asked if she wanted to help him move set pieces in the playhouse. Having other people around as a buffer would help and, with any luck, her Aunt Charlie would be there to distract the youngest of the Murphy brothers from whatever scheme he had concocted. The walk to the playhouse was spent listening to music as Vivien pulled her earbuds from their case and handed one to Bentley, allowing them to listen to her summer playlist as they walked. Bentley was more than willing to listen to the music, bopping his head along to the beat of the songs as they walked, but, in reality, Vivien just wanted a break from Bentley’s constant inquiries.

When they reached the playhouse, she turned off the music and headed wherever Bentley led her. Vivien quickly sent a pleading look to Riven and Carrie, hoping one of them would help take the blond boy from beside her, but it was Charlie who figured out the girl’s silent desires first. Taking Bentley by the shoulder with a smile, Charlie asked, “Would you mind helping me touch up the paint on a background set?”

“Uh,” Bentley froze, his gaze flickering between Charlie and Vivien.

Before he got the chance to deny anything, Riven brought an arm around Vivien’s shoulders and said, “That would work. I need my Pip here for some help hanging the curtains.”

“You can’t reach them on the ladder?” Bentley wondered.

Instead of directly answering, Riven chuckled and said, “You know, studies show that keeping a ladder in the house is more dangerous than a loaded gun.”

“That’s why he owns ten guns,” Vivien continued with a smirk, knowing exactly what show Riven was quoting.

Dutifully, Riven nodded, “Yeah, in case some maniac tries to sneak in a ladder.”

Through Bentley’s confusion, he watched as Riven led Vivien toward the stage, wondering if their conversation had been a joke or not. While he was still trying to find the words, Charlie chuckled and led him off to the side of the room where a few of the set pieces for the upcoming play had been set aside, some in more need of a touch-up than others. While they had been finished earlier in the summer, the heat and rain that seeped in through the cracks of the old buildings had done some damage to the edges and, while it was truly only noticeable if you were close to the stage or had worked on it yourself, Bentley couldn’t allow it to look that way when the time came for the show to begin.

After handing Bentley a brush and helping him get to work, Charlie lowered her voice and said, “You know, I admire you for trying to help Vivien and Royce solve their issues.”

Glancing up at the older woman as he dipped his brush into a pale blue paint, he breathed, “You do?”

Charlie hummed as she nodded, “Sometimes people don’t realize they need help. However, if you push too hard, sometimes the help becomes a hindrance.”

“Hindrance?” Bentley questioned, the word feeling uncomfortable on his tongue.

Looking up from her paint job, Charlie nodded, “Take it from someone who has been there and done that a million times before; sometimes it’s better to let couples solve things themselves.”

“But-” Bentley cut himself off, his mouth clacking shut as he tried to think of how to phrase what he wanted to say. When he came to the right conclusion, he said, “I just don’t want them to end up breaking up over something stupid.”

Charlie chuckled, shaking her head slightly as she reached over and placed a hand on Bentley’s, “I highly doubt this would be the way they would break things off. Vivien is far too in love with your brother to let that happen.”

“How do you know?”

The woman’s eyebrow lifted as she asked, “Can you not see it yourself?”

Glancing over his shoulder at Vivien who had found her way onto Riven’s shoulders to hang the curtains on the rods above the stage, Bentley sighed, “I can see how much she cares about him and I know how much Royce loves her.” Turning back to Charlie, Bentley met the woman’s eyes as he said, “It’s just, when I was younger, our Uncle Tommy and Aunt Celine had this really nasty fight and, after a few days, they broke up. They had always seemed inseparable to me and I don’t want that to happen to Royce and Viv.”

“It won’t,” Charlie said with a determined shake of her head. “They may be young and dumb, but they won’t let some small argument break them up. Like I said, I’m proud of you for standing by their sides through it all, but just remember to give them both space to breathe. They’re navigating this the same way you are.”

Nodding, Bentley allowed the woman’s words to sink in as she patted his hands with a smile. As he turned back to his painting, Bentley sighed and tried to force himself to relax. Maybe she was right; Royce and Vivien were smart enough to figure things out on their own. All he would have to do was stand by them and reassure them that he would be there when they needed him. Taking in a deep breath, Bentley dipped his brush in paint once again and returned to his art. He would just have to hope the issues would resolve on their own.

A severe weather alert echoed throughout the mess hall at dinnertime, setting everyone’s phones off with blaring alarms as thunderclouds in the distance loomed. Though the storm wasn’t supposed to come into the camp’s area until after midnight, the alert still set everyone on edge. Chatter about the thunderstorm filled the mess hall until well after most everyone had left to get their campers in bed for the night, but that did little to sway Vivien from visiting one of her favorite quiet spots.

The boat house was always a good spot to watch the rain in peace and quiet. Growing up, Vivien would run to the boat house with her Nonna to watch the storms roll in, climbing to the little storage area where they kept extra oars and other boating essentials to get a better view of the rain hitting the lake water and the lightning illuminating the skies. Despite the fact that she was old enough to make the trek on her own now, Vivien hadn’t spent much time in the boat house as she preferred to keep Royce company during the majority of the storms at camp. Now that she had found the time to sit by herself in the cramped storage area and peer out over the water, however, she wondered why she hadn’t taken the chance to do it sooner.

Her dripping hair clung to the red shirt she had worn almost consistently throughout the week, but Vivien couldn’t bring herself to care. In a way, it felt nice. Cool, but nice. The heavy rain would bring an end to the thick humidity and allow everyone to relax for the weekend. The tensions between herself and Royce had felt particularly high with Bentley’s constant questions and lingering presence throughout the day, so she could only hope the rain would wash that away along with the muggy air. As much as Vivien adored Bentley, the way he had pressed her for information in the first half of the day had made her feel as though the whole situation with Royce had been her fault. She knew that wasn't his intention, but that didn’t mean she didn’t feel as though it was.

Taking in a slow breath, Vivien brought her knees to her chest and tried to relax as she watched the rain bounce off the lake’s surface. With any luck, this whole issue would be resolved once Royce figured everything out for himself. Vivien glanced toward the doorway she had entered through as it creaked - she’d have to break out some WD-40 to clear that up once the rain stopped - but finding nothing there other than some wind, she turned back toward the water in the distance. As she let out a yawn, Vivien rested her head on a nearby shelf, letting out a slow, calming breath, and closing her eyes, allowing the sound of the rain to lull her into a sense of serenity.

Before long, however, the peace and quiet of the boat house were broken as the door slammed shut. Jolting awake, Vivien turned toward the door to find a soaked Miles stepping inside. Believing him to be there in search of her, Vivien took in a deep breath, ready to sigh and explain her reasoning for staying in the old building, but found her excuse cut short as a voice from below muttered, “Sorry.”

Vivien’s eyes widened. Was that Royce? When did he get into the boat house?

Miles sighed, pushing his hair from his face as he moved further into the old wooden building, “You didn’t answer my call.”

“I know.”

Vivien watched as Miles walked further into the boat house, but as he disappeared under the storage area she was hidden away in, she lost track of where he was. If she had to guess, he was probably sitting on the ledge by where a few of the canoes had been tied up, his legs presumably hanging over the edge above the water. As his voice carried up to her once again, her guess was proven correct, “You want to talk about it?”

For a while, the boat house was practically silent, the only sound being the distant rain and the lapping of water. Then, a wavering, timid voice choked out, “I messed everything up, Miley.”

Fighting the urge to climb down from her perch and throw her arms around her boyfriend, Vivien pressed herself against the wall and tried to make herself as small as possible as she heard Miles comforting his brother. Then, Miles asked the fated question, “What’s happened, baby?”

The words spilled from Royce’s mouth faster than Vivien had heard him speak before as he confided in his brother, “This whole thing with Noah has been bugging me for weeks now and I tried so hard to keep it to myself so I don’t hurt Viv, but it just kept getting worse and I- I tried to take myself away from the situation and it- I just- I-I think-”

“Breathe,” Miles cut in, stopping Royce’s ramble long enough for the young brunet to suck in a shaky breath. “Good, now try again.”

It took Royce a moment to collect himself, but once he had, Vivien wished she had moved when she had the chance. “I think Viv is going to break up with me.”

Bringing a hand to her mouth, Vivien hoped it muffled her noise of anguish as her boyfriend’s words cut through her like a knife. Hoping her boyfriend’s older brother would be the voice of reason while she sat above them in stunned silence, Vivien listened as Miles breathed, “Why on earth would you think that?”

“Why wouldn’t I?” Royce asked in response. “Noah’s everything I’m not and it’s only a matter of time before she realizes that.”

“Vivien loves you for who you are, RJ,” Miles argued gently. “What could Noah possibly have that you don’t?”

“Do you want that alphabetically?” Royce questioned dryly. When silence filled the air - something Vivien assumed was due to Miles sending his brother a disbelieving stare - Royce began listing his thoughts. “He’s taller than Vivien, he’s got a pair of adequately-working lungs, most of the girls at camp think he’s the next Prince Charming, and, to top it all off, he’s got his whole life planned out.”

“That’s great and all, but do you know what he doesn’t have?” Miles asked. When Royce was silent, Miles answered, “He doesn’t have Vivien wrapped around his finger. Only you have that and despite what you think, that isn’t going to change.”

“How are you so sure?”

“Because I have eyes, Royce,” Miles replied. “Anyone who looks at the two of you for more than two milliseconds can see how much she cares about you and vice versa. If you think she would willingly throw away everything the two of you have built, maybe you don’t know her at all.”

What felt like forever passed before Royce took in an audibly deep breath and sighed, “I hadn’t thought about it like that.”

Miles hummed, “Did that help at all?”

“Yeah,” Royce said softly. “Thanks.”

“It’s what I’m here for.” After a moment, Vivien heard movement, then she heard Miles once more, “Now, come on, let’s get back to the lodge before everyone starts to think you ran away or something.”

Royce breathed something in agreement and, before long, Vivien watched as Royce led the way out of the boat house. Watching the brothers make their departure, Vivien froze as Miles turned back, his gaze flickering up toward her as Royce left the building. Giving the girl a small nod and a wink, Miles followed Royce out of the building, saying something about seeing lightning from the corner of his eyes as he slid the door almost completely closed once more.

Vivien remained glued to the wooden platform beneath her as she wondered just how long Miles had known she was there. Had he said all of that with the knowledge that she could hear him or was he being genuine and had only spotted her while on his way out the door? Regardless, he had helped her all the same. She would have to thank him for that in the morning. Well, after she talked with Royce, that is.

True to the weather alert everyone had received the night before, thunder rumbled over most of the state of New Hampshire as lightning lit up the sky. While the general consensus around Camp Wanamaker was to keep the campers and counselors inside to avoid any incidents, that plan only lasted until the first bus pulled into the parking lot, ready to pick up a load of children to drive home. Soon after, a few cars appeared in the driveway and it appeared as though the floodgates opened as some campers were escorted by their parents and an umbrella to their family vehicles while others braced against the weather and made a run for it before their parents could exit the car.

For once, Royce wasn’t overly bothered by the storm. Some storm days were worse than others, but being holed up in the Lakeside Lodge with his earbuds firmly tucked into his ears seemed to make it easier to deal with. He could hear the faintest hint of thunder as it rolled overhead, but it could have easily been mistaken for the song’s bass and, if anyone were to ask him about it, that’s what he would adamantly claim it was. Grateful Riven had allowed Vivien to send him a sample of their newest songs before the summer break, Royce turned the volume up on his phone as it switched songs and stretched as he pushed himself up from his mattress.

It wasn’t often that he stayed in his room in the mornings, but after all that had happened last night and his talk with Miles, he had felt the need to close himself off for a while and just relax. He would work up the strength to talk with Vivien at some point or another, but as he pulled the door of his room open, he silently hoped it wouldn’t be until the storm had dissipated a bit. Making his way downstairs, he waved to the group that had gathered in the living room, but as he realized Vivien wasn’t among them, found his small smile faltering as he traveled toward the little kitchen at the back of the cabin.

Flipping on the light with a yawn, Royce headed for the fridge and pulled open the door, grabbing a bottle of soda from the shelf and closing the door. As he opened the bottle, he turned, jumping at the sight of his girlfriend standing in the doorway, silently watching him with an unreadable expression. Taking in a sharp breath as he tightened the cap on his bottle again, Royce tugged an earbud from his ear and sighed, “You scared the shit out of me.”

“I wasn’t trying to,” Vivien breathed, her voice nothing more than a light whisper. Royce didn’t like the way her eyes looked anywhere but his, but he tried to push the worry from his mind as Vivien spoke once more, “I said hi, but I guess you didn’t hear me with your headphones in.”

“I didn’t,” Royce chuckled. Silence filled the air and, as Vivien reached for the large bag of cheese puffs on the counter between them, Royce tried to break it as he asked, “So, how are things?”

To his dismay, Vivien shrugged, “Pretty shitty.”

“Oh.”

“Mhm,” she hummed. Glancing up to meet her boyfriend’s gaze, Vivien asked, “How are you handling the storm?”

“I’ve been listening to music to block it out,” Royce answered.

Vivien nodded, her eyes flitting back to the floor as she hugged the bag of Cheetos to her chest and she asked, “Have you been thinking about things like you wanted to?”

Royce swallowed thickly as he nodded, “I have.”

“Good,” Vivien commented hollowly. Before silence could fill the air once more and bring thick tension into the small room, emerald eyes flickered upward, finding their target with ease as she said, “In that case, I think we need to talk.”

Unwilling to tear his gaze from Vivien's, Royce nodded just enough for it to be seen, “Alright.”

Nodding almost as though it was more to reassure herself than anything, Vivien took a small step backward before stopping. Turning toward Royce once again, she shifted the bag of cheese puffs into her left hand before hesitantly offering her right hand to the boy before her, her fingers twitching for the familiar warmth the boy offered. Instinctively, Royce’s hand found purchase in Vivien’s, a smile appearing on his face as he followed her out of the room and toward the main living area.

Standing behind the couch, Vivien scanned the room before finding her aunts in their typical resting place - one perched in the other’s lap despite there being ample room on the loveseat for them to be sitting side by side. Clearing her throat enough to gain the room’s attention, Vivien kept her gaze on the pair to make sure they knew she wanted to talk with them as she asked, “Moon House?”

Charlie glanced at Hayley for confirmation and the brunette was quick to nod, smiling as she said, “So long as you don’t go hunting for your birthday presents.”

“Promise I won’t,” Vivien said with a small nod.

Hayley chuckled, “In that case, go right ahead, baby girl.”

Vivien nodded and began leading Royce toward the exit, but before he could pass the loveseat, he found his wrist captured by Charlie who looked up at him and said, “Remember, just because you two have had your first fight does not mean you two can have make-up sex.”

“Especially not in our bed,” Hayley scoffed before taking in a spoonful of ice cream.

“Don’t plan on it,” Royce chuckled awkwardly, feeling the familiar burn of embarrassment under his skin as Vivien tugged at his wrist, urging him away from the interaction.

As Vivien pulled him toward the door, she instructed him to put his earbud back in while she grabbed an umbrella and threw on the first pair of shoes she could find. Before long, they were outside, walking shoulder-to-shoulder through the heavy rain toward the treehouse that had been built not far from the lodge. Allowing Royce to go first, Vivien handed him the umbrella and stood by, keeping watch to make sure he had made it safely onto the deck that wrapped around the treehouse. Once she was sure he had made it up safely, Vivien began her ascent, climbing the tree’s limbs until she was safely standing beside Royce. The pair locked gazes for a fleeting moment, both wondering who was more nervous about the interaction that was to come, but it was broken as Vivien led the way into the small cabin.

Though both of them dripped water onto the floorboards, Vivien appeared to care very little about the consequences as she pulled her hoodie off and tossed it on the floor by the door, her shoes joining them as Royce followed suit. Looking around the celestial-themed room as he pulled his earbuds out once more, Royce felt a bit out of his element. He had never been to the treehouse before and, despite knowing that it was where Vivien’s aunts had been staying since the beginning of their time at camp, he hadn’t expected it to basically be a bedroom adorned with stickers of the solar system and a few strings of star-shaped fairy lights everywhere.

On the other hand, Vivien was quick to adjust to her surroundings, pushing some of her aunts’ belongings aside as she made her way to the canopy bed and made herself comfortable on it. Glancing over at her boyfriend, she let out a breath of a laugh and asked, “Are you going to come sit or would you be more comfortable on the floor?”

As though he hadn’t noticed Vivien had moved, Royce jumped, caramel eyes locking on the brunette as he numbly nodded, crossing the room and making sitting on the edge of the mattress so as not to disturb anything. “So,” he began, “what did you want to talk about?”

Taking in a deep breath, Vivien turned toward Royce and shifted so that she sat cross-legged on the bed before saying, “Well, for starters, I want to talk about this whole Noah situation.”

Though Royce had anticipated this becoming a topic of conversation, he hadn’t expected it to be the first thing Vivien chose to work on. Nodding understandingly, Royce swallowed thickly as he nodded, “Alright, well, I just want to start by saying that I never once worried about you cheating or anything like that.”

Allowing a small grin to tug at her lips, Vivien said, “Thank you.”

Royce hummed, grateful she had accepted his claim. A more relaxed pause of silence took hold of the air as Royce thought of how he wanted to phrase everything, but he didn’t allow it to linger for long. “I don’t even know how it started,” he admitted. “All I know is that, after a while, I began to wonder why you were with me instead of someone like him. He’s a lot better for you than I am.”

“Who decided that?” Vivien asked rhetorically. She knew the answer. Hell, both of them did.

Royce thought for a moment before sighing, “I guess I did.” When Vivien nodded, he backed up his statement by listing off his observations, “He’s athletic, witty, he’s apparently attractive to a lot of the workers, and he knows what he wants for his future and how he’s going to get it. You deserve someone who is structured like that.”

Despite Royce’s sincerity, Vivien shook her head, “Why on earth would I want that?”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Royce asked in return.

“Because I’m not some white-picket-fence, suburban cookie-cutter who plans on spending her life in a loveless marriage, looking after a zillion kids while her husband works and spending all of her free time wondering why nothing exciting ever happens,” Vivien stated matter-of-factly.

Though his girlfriend’s response utterly confused him, Royce tried not to let it show as he asked, “What do you mean?”

Taking Royce’s hand in hers, Vivien squeezed it and smiled as she clarified her answer, “The whole, ‘having your life planned out’ thing isn’t exactly something I’d like. Especially not when you take into account how Noah thinks life is supposed to go.”

Curiosity successfully piqued, Royce found himself asking, “How?”

“He plans on settling down, having a few kids, and eventually taking over his father’s spot at the company his family owns - working a dumb nine-to-five job at a desk until he can finally retire,” Vivien claimed. With a shrug, she said, “I couldn’t live like that. I thrive on adventure and spontaneity; experiencing life to its fullest. If I were to go out with someone who had everything planned down to the day they die, I would lose who I am.”

“So,” Royce began slowly, piecing the puzzle together as he went, “you wouldn’t want to go out with Noah even if he asked you to?”

“Of course not,” Vivien scoffed. “It would be like dating my own brother. Besides, he’s in a relationship.”

Taken aback by the ease with which Vivien spoke, Royce’s mouth bobbed open and closed like a fish before eventually snapping shut as he allowed the information to sink in. “He’s dating someone?”

With a breath of a laugh at her boyfriend’s expression, Vivien nodded, “Noah’s going out with Riley Nicholls. Actually,” she lifted her watch and investigated the date before meeting Royce’s gaze once more, “they were supposed to go to the drive-in tonight as their first date.”

Royce seemed to flounder for words as he thought about the situation, but eventually came to a conclusion as he asked, “So, if he liked Riley this whole time, why were you spending time with him all week? To help him make her jealous?”

“No,” Vivien answered easily as she pulled her phone from the pocket of her shorts. “I caught the two of them making out in the pool shed while I was helping Erica and Jade put stuff away. Once we got over the awkward questioning phase, Noah asked me to help him figure out how he felt toward Riley. Now that they’re talking about going on dates and stuff, I’d say he’s figured it out.”

Letting out a disbelieving scoff of a laugh, Royce breathed, “I can’t believe this.”

“Yeah, well,” Vivien shrugged, scrolling through her texts with Noah before tapping on a picture he had sent and turning the phone toward Royce, “believe it.”

Though he didn’t feel the need to look through his girlfriend’s phone for proof, Royce allowed her to push the device into his hand. The picture before him was of Riley and Noah sitting together in the mess hall, the blonde rolling her eyes with a smile on her lips as Noah pressed a kiss to her cheek. They looked happy together. Taking in a breath as he realized just how out of hand he had allowed things to get, Royce practically dropped the phone into Vivien’s hand as he sighed, “I’m so stupid.”

“That’s one way to put it,” Vivien teased.

Royce’s bark of laughter bordered on surprise more than humor as he found his girlfriend’s eyes again and asked, “How long have they been together?”

“Well, I’m not sure how long they’ve been screwing around and stuff - not that I’d really care to know in the first place,” Vivien admitted, giving a grossed-out shiver as she did, “but they’ve been a couple since Wednesday night.”

“Wednesday?”

“Mhm,” Vivien hummed. “That’s what he stopped by to talk to me about while we were getting ready for game night.”

Recalling that night, Royce said, “You said something about him finally growing the balls to do something.” Vivien nodded and Royce asked, “That something was him asking Riley out, wasn’t it?”

“It was, yeah.” Vivien sighed, “I was planning on enjoying game night in peace and telling everyone about it on the way to our stations after breakfast Thursday morning, but, well, you know what happened there.”

“I screwed everything up,” Royce breathed.

“In a way, we both did,” Vivien shrugged. “I could have easily told everyone about it when he told me, but I didn’t, and I take full responsibility for that. Now that it’s over, though, I think we’ve learned that we need to try communicating things better, right?”

“Yeah,” Royce agreed, quickly nodding adamantly.

“Good.”

“I’m so sorry I let it get this far,” Royce sighed.

Vivien grabbed a small black object from the nightstand by the bed before leaning back on the mattress and staring up at the white sheet on the ceiling as she chuckled, “Don’t be. We’re still learning how to handle things like that. It’s only normal, I suppose.”

“I guess so,” Royce allowed.

Vivien watched him for a while before patting the empty space beside her and asking, “Well, are you going to watch the stars with me or what?”

Curious, Royce slowly leaned back against the mattress and watched his girlfriend as she pointed the small object - one he now realized was a remote - at the headboard of the bed. Following her gaze up to the ceiling, Royce watched as a star show covered the plain white sheet above them, filling the celestial room with realistic stars and glowing cosmos. Before Royce could think to ask Vivien about it, she moved, lifting his arm up and sliding herself under it before resting her head on Royce’s shoulder. Deciding it would be best to leave well enough alone, Royce allowed himself to smile, tightening his grasp on Vivien as she relaxed into him. Maybe she was right; they had made it through just fine.

#Camp Wanamaker

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