#my best friend texted me about evermore

[cofigelly]

ೀ SIX EYES

——————————————————————————pairing; college au!gojo satoru x reader

synopsis; you couldn’t help but notice a pair of wandering eyes during your 10am lecture

word count; ~2k words

contents; sfw, f!reader, no curses au, rich college student gojo, cocky/playful gojo, six eye/infinity references

notes; THIS WAS SUPPOSED TO BE A QUICK LIL DRABBLE IDK WHAT HAPPENED? i <3 run ons and sentence fragments apparently

——————————————————————————

the first thing you noticed about him were his eyes.

well, technically, his eyes noticed you first.

in the midst of your monday 10am lecture (known for its lengthy, soul-wrenching talks about finance), you felt his sharp gaze pierce straight into your soul. it was a brief, quick glance — but it was an intentional glance, nonetheless.

you simply brushed it off. it must’ve been him zoning out, or maybe your mind was playing tricks on you. that was until you caught him repeating the same habit again. and again. over the course of the next three weeks.

that same, hungry gaze, taking in every intricacy of your features. a look that felt like it set your entire body on fire, despite the icy blue hue his pupils reflected each time you returned a glance. his stare would only last a few seconds at most, but something about it felt so intense, so overbearing— it made hold your breath each time.

in all honesty, you didn't mind the attention. in fact, you kind of reveled in it — a handsome, 6'3 guy always ogling at you every lecture. it even had you thinking that maybe he was into you?

but that was at first. as more weeks passed, the more your ego shrank. 'is there something on my face,' you wondered, patting at your cheeks to search for some sort of makeup residue or food crumb, 'do i look stupid?' the large, echoey lecture hall felt evermore revealing as you struggled to find a way to shrink into your plastic-clad seat. but you couldn't hide, not from a stare like that.

paranoia getting the best of you, you slide your phone out of your pocket as you send a hasty text to your best friend, “bro who is this guy? he keeps staring at me EVERY lecture,” you send a 0.5x photo, clearly taken from afar.

just as quickly, your friend responds, “NO FUCKIN WAY is that gojo???” “who the fuck is gojo?”

you could almost feel her attitude burst through the text bubbles, “bro… GOJO. his family is literally loaded?? did you not see his dad surpass bill gates on the global ranking of billionaires?” that text takes you a little by surprise, alternating your eyes between him and the message upon your screen. “okay maybe it’s starting to sound familiar, but still. what’s he doing cosplaying as a broke college kid in my finance class?” you sigh as you continue to tap on your screen, “idgaf that he’s loaded it’s pissing me off that he’s staring at me like 🧿🫦🧿 every lecture.”

your friend reacts with a quick “haha” to your text before responding, “idk man maybe you just caught the attention of the richest guy on campus ;)”

you decided you’ve had enough after reading that text. you’re not about to feed your delusions this early on a monday morning. you’ll admit, he’s a good —no, stunning— looking guy, but you have no time to babysit a boy who was never taught that staring was rude. not to mention, this boy isn't even in the same tax bracket as you. 

brushing it off yet another time, you let out a deep sigh as you flip the page, copying your professor’s notes on the board.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

a whole month has passed and this gojo guy is growing more and more cocky with his stolen glances. he's not even trying to hide it anymore.

this fateful wednesday, as you walk into class, he immediately locks onto you. his bright blue orbs follow you from the door to your row, not releasing his gaze in the slightest after you settle into your seat. your grit your teeth in annoyance as you flip through your notebook pages. who does this guy think he is? it’s been a month and he hasn’t even procured the balls to say a single word to you. yet, he’s feasting on you like you’re his final meal on death row. 

the second the class is excused, you immediately beeline towards his seat — stopping in front of his leaning frame while he packs his bag. “dude, what the hell is your problem,” scowling at him as you approach, “i’ve seen you stare at me for weeks now and it’s getting straight creepy."

his ears perk at the sound of your voice, haphazardly zipping up the final pocket of his backpack. when he looks up, his eyes glint with a hint of mischief as he scrunches his nose in a grin — a grin that’s somehow even cockier than his stare.

“i’m just taking in the view, princess,” he jeers, delight in his tone. 

you stare at him incredulously as you take his confession in. so he really has been staring at you? “for one, i’m not your princess," you scoff at his clear disregard of your concern, "second, you might want to think again before you decide to stare at me one more damn time.”

he hums amusingly, shaking his foot in a steady rhythm, “you’re right. i might think about it again.” his grin is even wider now, “why, what are you going to do about it?”

“—look, i don’t know what you’re getting at,” your eyebrows furrow deeper, “but if you keep this shit up, this won’t be the last time you hear from me.”

briskly, you swing around, completely ignoring his bickers as you head straight out the hallway door. 

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

to gojo, everything you said on wednesday was music to his ears.

he strolled into the next lecture, on monday, with the same shit-eating grin on his face. ‘this wont be the last time he hears from you?' god, he hopes that was true. it made him wonder why he didn’t just stare at you harder in the first place.

everything about you captivated gojo satoru.

from the first day of lecture, he was already mesmerized — by the wafting scent of your cologne as you walked past his row, the way your head cocked to the side whenever you thought through a problem set, the distant clicks as you tapped the end of your pencil against your arm nervously.

he simply couldn’t help but steal that initial glance. he also couldn’t help but steal another one the lecture after.

and another. and another.

he knew he was getting ahead of himself, being so selfish with his dangerous stares, but you just had that effect on him. an effect that he's never experienced with anyone else. he bit back his pride when he couldn’t even approach you first, as he normally did with his prior interests.

there was just something so serene, so heavenly about you. he almost wanted to leave you undisturbed, opting to observe you from afar — not wanting to disrupt his delicate masterpiece from behind the red rope at the museum.

but the day you approached him changed everything. ‘how can someone so innocent have such a mouth on her,’ he chuckles to himself, taking his ipad and apple pencil out of his backpack before laying them flat on the table.

you were completely unlike his initial impression of you, much to his amusement. he prefers it this way —actually— he likes a girl who has a bit of a bite. besides, he finally has an excuse to talk to you and do what he knows best: get under your skin. metaphorically (and literally).

he glances at the door as he hears the familiar clanking of your keychain against your water bottle, more excited for the lecture than he's ever been before.

⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪ ⋆౨ৎ˚⟡˖ ࣪

there is no fucking way.

gojo satoru is now sitting in the seat directly next to your unassigned assigned seat in this 300-person lecture hall. the entire classroom is almost packed too. how early did he have to be to even get that seat? why is he in that seat? your thoughts are cut off as he waves his hand at you, muttering a short "yoohoo~," ushering you to sit next to him.

hell no. you still have no idea what he's playing at. is he stalking you? does he have some sort of ulterior motive? what if his scary billionaire family kills you, a dirty plebeian, for sitting so close to their perfect, trust fund baby?

you immediately switch gears, practically running away to find a new seat, catching a glimpse of his pout in the corner of your eye. you ignore him and situate yourself in the very front row, directly in front of the professor's podium. you let out a deep exhale as you unpack your notebook when you hear a loud shuffle next to you.

this guy has no shame.

gojo, in all his glory, happily claims the empty seat next to you —unloading the entire apple store (or so it feels like) onto the desk. "good choice, doll. more leg room up here," he stretches his long, lanky legs before crossing them — making sure his knee briefly makes contact with yours.

"are you serious right now— bro your entire apple ecosystem is getting onto my side of the desk," you scowl at him once again as you shove his macbook closer to him. "serious about what?" he mocks, that signature smile gleaming down on you.

"whatever this is? are you obsessed with me or something," you mutter the last part under your breath, but he takes note of you rolling your eyes at him. "hmmm," he taps his chin all philosophically, "if anything you're the one obsessed with me."

wow, this guy really is insane. you felt your eyebrow twitch in anger as you jerked your head up, "me obsessed with you? how does that even make any sense—" "you said you noticed me staring for weeks," he muses, still looking straight at you, "but you don't think i noticed you staring back?"

you scoff, "i was simply just returning your gaze; not everything is about you!” “untrue.”

after refusing to make eye contact, you finally meet his eyes. "i'm not gonna play this damn game with you, look—"

you've never seen him this close before. you've never seen anyone this close before, really. in this cramped lecture hall, with its seats compressed like sardines, it felt like he was only mere millimeters away from you. your breath hitched as the air seemed palpable, heavy. he was so close, but it felt like he was untouchable — almost as if an infinite void was cast between you two.

for the first time, he dropped that condescending smirk. he dropped the facade altogether. beyond the icy blue hues, his eyes glistened a shade that he only shows to you, a shade you've never noticed in all those times you two locked eyes. they were powdery blue — the same softness as the edges of the clouds in the sky or the frothy, tidal waves lightly crashing against the beach sand.

it made you wonder if it was physically possible for one person to hold so much power in just their eyes. a power that felt like three whole people, six eyes-worth, were constantly peering into every fiber of your being. except this time, it was intense in a whole different way, completely unlike before. the closest feeling you could think of was a warm oven, fresh after a batch of cookies — an inexplicable warmth in contrast to his icy appearance.

lost in each others' eyes, he parts his lips as if to finally say something—

"i would really appreciate if you two kept your eyes on the board instead of on each other," a voice boomed from the podium in front of you.

you both tense up, quickly spinning your bodies around to face the front as the snickers began to fill the classroom. you completely forgot about how close you were sitting to the professor.

you felt a tinge of heat start on your cheeks, creeping its way up onto the cartilage of your ears. the embarrassment was more than enough to shut you both up for the rest of the period, but you knew.

you knew you wanted to feel this way again.

——————————————————————————

final notes; i wrote this in my actual lecture hall instead of taking notes guys😎😎 (i am severely ill)

#gojo x reader #gojo satoru x reader #gojo imagines #gojo satoru imagine #jjk x reader #jujustu kaisen x reader #gojo imagine #gojo satoru imagines #jjk fluff #gojo fluff #satoru fluff #gojo satoru fluff #jujutsu kaisen fluff

[toji-girl]

this is for you my sweet (๑>◡<๑)🤍also I know what I said on my original post but I had a different idea come to my head

Every time Toji's phone rings after midnight he knows it's you without even looking at the dim screen as it vibrates next to him.

It was over your situationship with some dude from work who couldn't commit to a relationship with you but could commit to getting his dick sucked in your living room on the couch.

Every time he'd always slither out of the comfort of his blankets to drive over to your place with bleary eyes hearing you sniffle on the phone when he ditched you again leaving you all dolled up for him.

As soon as you knew Toji was at your front door you yanked it open and dissolved in his arms in a fit of tears, mascara running down your pretty face as you sobbed into his shirt clinging to him with a hiccup.

His arms would always snake around you feeling the burning jealousy settle in his gut like a raging fire he couldn't douse, you're his best friend, and he knew that you'd always be that and nothing evermore.

Toji was a master at knowing what you needed in times like this, he'd sweep you off your feet demonstrating his strength despite your protests and squeals to put you down. "Want me to beat his ass?"

It was a question he'd always ask and you'd always turn him down.

Every time he hoped you'd say yes.

You're too pretty to cry over a guy who couldn't even bother to text or call you to let you know he wasn't picking you up after you spent an hour getting ready and now you felt deflated until Toji came over.

"I-I don't know why it's so hard to text me? That's better than being stood up!" You cried as Toji got you settled on your couch with your favorite blanket and drink after getting your pjs to change into.

He handed you another tissue to blow your raw and sore nose as he let you settle into his side while brushing away your tears with his thumbs. "Because you fuck with wanna-be men who don't care."

There hasn't been anything you haven't told Toji before but you didn't want to tell him that he was right, it was clear your situationship didn't care about you otherwise he'd have stuck to his word.

You also weren't scared to share anything with him either. "He was good at eating pussy." As soon as the words fell from your mouth Toji stared at you with an unreadable look on his face.

"You are what you eat." He murmured and leaned back watching you roll your eyes and sit up to hug him tightly wondering if he ever felt the same about you.

#toji x reader #toji x you #fushiguro toji x reader #jjk x reader

[hyunverse]

stray kids masterlist!

feel free to leave a feedback ^_^

꒰ 𝐄𝐕𝐄𝐍𝐓𝐒 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ 4k music fic fest event

☆ 5k cupid's corner event

꒰ 𝐎𝐓𝟖 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ boyfriend activities

↪ fluff, headcanons.

☆ skz as townspeople

↪ fluff, crack, headcanons. stray kids as people in a small town.

☆ folkmore: an ot8 series

↪ a mixture of all genres and tropes. full fics. a collection of fics inspired by taylor swift's folklore and evermore albums.

☆ war of hearts (until kingdom come)

↪ an ot8 royalty au collaboration. in which stray kids members are different roles in a royalty universe.

☆ college boyfriend! (hyung line)

↪ fluff, headcanons. stray kids' hyung line as your college boyfriend.

☆ random boyfriend texts

↪ text fic, humor, fluff.

☆ random groupchat texts

↪ text fic, humor. inspired by texts from my friend group.

☆ texts you receive while sleeping

↪ text fic, humor.

☆ brother!skz texts (hyung line)

↪ brother!skz & gn!reader. text fic, humor.

texts you'd receive if stray kids members were your brother.

☆ brother!skz texts (maknae line)

↪ brother!skz & gn!reader. text fic, humor.

texts you'd receive if stray kids members were your brother.

☆ sending you a picture (texts)

↪ ot8 skz x gn!reader. text fic, humor.

reacting to them sending you a picture.

꒰ 𝐁𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ hurt comfort with bang chan

☆ single parents club

↪ single dad chan x single mum reader. strangers to lovers. first meet trope. fluff. in which you receive help from a helpful single dad while shopping with your kid.

꒰ 𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐊𝐍𝐎𝐖 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ mornings like this

↪ very soft boyfriend minho. fluff, drabble. how mornings with minho feel like.

☆ antics

↪ established marriage, fluff, drabble. a look into how minho feels about you. spoiler alert, he's stupidly fond of you and your silly habits.

☆ ways he shows you he loves you

↪lee know x gn!reader. teeth-rotting fluff. oneshot. (353 words)

a study into the different ways minho shows you he loves you.

꒰ 𝐒𝐄𝐎 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐍𝐆𝐁𝐈𝐍 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ 1:12pm

↪ established marriage, fluff, drabble. changbin loves gifting you flowers, even in the middle of a work day.

꒰ 𝐇𝐖𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐇𝐘𝐔𝐍𝐉𝐈𝐍 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ wherever you are

↪ childhood best friends to lovers. slowburn pining, fluff, angst. suggestive. (12.9k words.)

Hyunjin promised you that he'll be wherever you are. What do you do when your best friend of years — the only person you've ever loved disappears without saying goodbye? Especially when you've spent your entire life with Hyunjin, you didn't know of life without him.

☆ butterfly hairclips

↪ established marriage, fluff, drabble. joking around with hyunjin, and putting butterfly clips in his hair.

☆ you're the only friends i need

↪ best friend! hyunjin, seungmin, felix. they're not just your roommates — they're your friends for life. in which they assure you that they've always got your back.

☆ morning text

↪ established marriage, fluff, drabble. fluffy & pouty jinnie. you receive a text from hyunjin — your pouty, and needy husband.

☆ enemies to lovers with hyunjin

↪ bad boy!hyunjin x reader. enemies to lovers. oneshot. being paired with the boy who never shows up to class is hard. things get harder when he falls in love with you — even putting in effort to woo you.

☆ dance with me

↪ established marriage, fluff, drabble.

☆ 11:52pm: hyunjin comes home to you

↪ established marriage, fluff, comfort, drabble.

☆ ways hyunjin shows you he loves you

↪ fluff, drabble.

☆ combing hyunjin's hair

↪ established marriage, fluff, drabble.

☆ godspeed

↪ exes, angst, oneshot. you wish him well after a break up.

☆ first time he tells you he loves you

↪ fluff, drabble.

☆ lucky number five

↪ childhood friends to lovers, pining, fluff, oneshot. (3000 words) the five most memorable memories you have with hyunjin.

☆ kisses with hyunjin

↪ fluff, drabble.

☆ cocoa chapstick

↪ established marriage, fluff, drabble.

☆ when you know, you know

↪ super duper soft hyune. fluff, hurt comfort. oneshot. (800 words) in the darkness of the night, hyunjin asks for your reassurance.

꒰ 𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐉𝐈𝐒𝐔𝐍𝐆 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ high school sweethearts

↪ frenemies to lovers, high school au, fluff, oneshot. han jisung is insufferable, a polar opposite of you. yet, you still adore him to bits.

☆ skate

↪ fluff, drabble.

☆ happy place

↪ established marriage, comfort, drabble. based on a scene from a malaysian film, 'imaginur.' everybody needs a happy place. han jisung's happen to be a person.

꒰ 𝐋𝐄𝐄 𝐅𝐄𝐋𝐈𝐗 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ wingman

↪ friends to lovers, pining, fluff, oneshot. you confront felix about his failed dates which you've set up. all hell breaks loose . . . or does it?

☆ you're the only friends i need

↪ best friend! hyunjin, seungmin, felix. they're not just your roommates — they're your friends for life. in which they assure you that they've always got your back.

☆ 6:32pm : you come home to felix

↪ domestic life, fluff, drabble. suggestive.

꒰ 𝐊𝐈𝐌 𝐒𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆𝐌𝐈𝐍 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ midnight existential crisis

↪ best friend!seungmin, roommates au, college au, hurt comfort, oneshot. a heart to heart talk with seungmin about your existential crisis.

☆ you're the only friends i need

↪ best friend! hyunjin, seungmin, felix. they're not just your roommates — they're your friends for life. in which they assure you that they've always got your back.

☆ enemies to lovers with seungmin

☆ cheer up, buttercup!

↳ hurt comfort, fluff, oneshot. (973 words) seungmin comforts you after an argument.

☆ baseball player boyfriend seungmin

☆ ways seungmin shows you he loves you

꒰ 𝐘𝐀𝐍𝐆 𝐉𝐄𝐎𝐍𝐆𝐈𝐍 ꒱ؘ ࿐ ࿔*:･ﾟ

☆ mornings like this

↪ established marriage, fluff, oneshot. how mornings with jeongin feel like.

☆ not worthy enough

↪ idol!i.n, hurt comfort, oneshot. (1336 words) your insecurities can get to the best of you sometimes. however, jeongin's always there to comfort you.

#maze 𖦹 #masterlist ⭑

[greenerteacups]

this might seem v random but, if you haven't come across it already, i would really recommend tavi gevinson's latest online zine 'fan fiction' -- not because of the fan fiction element of it, though, but because of your evident love of taylor swift (who it's about) and your impeccable literary taste. and would love to hear your thoughts!

This was an excellent recommendation, and I loved it. I will admit that the RPF segment had me leery (RPF throws me for reasons I have yet to intellectually inspect but believe may relate somehow to the concept of voyeurism) but I'm glad I finished it, because she pulls it together very well. The dialogue in the last segment is especially great, particularly these parts:

And this:

And this:

Because this gets at what I find so Gordian about Internet conversations among even relatively respectful/measured people about Swift's work and presence: we can't seem to figure out what it is we want from her. There is no right way for a woman to be more famous than most presidents. Do we want her to need us or not? Should she care about our approval or shouldn't she? Is the fact that she doesn't "feel" authentic to us the consequence of having demanded authenticity for so long she literally had to shape her personality to fit what "felt real" to millions of people, and in the process, of course, of course, inevitably, produced work that felt authentic to no one?

And then also, like. To what extent do fans use her autonomy/consent as a lever for bad behavior? I.e. does the "invitation" of personal information in her songs license us to speculate about her like she's a character on a TV show? Where is the line of appropriate speculation in an autobiographical medium? I was talking to my friend at dinner just tonight about how it's gross that people can't seem to give her the credit of writing songs that aren't 100% always About Her, and my friend pointed out that she invites comparisons to her own life by teasing names and iconography we identify with her public persona. It's like Brett Easton Ellis writing a book about a character named Brett Easton Ellis. Sure, they're not the same person, but you've invoked a symbol, and people are not being ridiculous for trying to analyze that symbol in the context of the work. In order to do that, they need to understand what the symbol is. Which means the biographical stuff actually is relevant to the text, and Swift's obvious irritation at her fans for failing to just... fuck off a little bit and let her live, while an entirely fair and morally defensible human response, is complicated by the way that her art is produced to resonate best for those who care most. Folklore and Evermore prove even Taylor is on some level aware of this, because she uses the third-person mechanic (and again in "Bolter") to differentiate those protagonists from the narrative construct of "Taylor Swift" in her other first-person work — i.e. pulling apart the Swift who is speaking and not the Swift who is singing (if that makes sense).

And then, finally: "The irony gets a bit tired. You can just say you like music. It's fine." What a deliciously recursive little bit of irony, considering it's a criticism being offered by a character whose ironic distance is itself being criticized. And the fact that the author is putting her own self-criticism in the mouth of a non-existent popstar who's deliberately flattening her take on her subject matter? Mingling valid with invalid criticism to establish a protective distance from her flaws and prove her smarty-pants intellectual self-awareness while also implicitly disowning the faults in her work, an (ironically) childish gesture of insecurity that stands at odds with the mature intellectual persona? Trying to have about seven or eight different cakes, and eat every one of them? "The irony gets a bit tired." Fucking perfect. I laughed.

#fuck it I'm making another tag for this #swiftism #greenteacup asks

[timetoletmyimaginationfly]

Evermore Part 2

Nanami Kento x Reader

(Song: Evermore by Taylor Swift, Bon Iver)

Evermore Part 1

You sold the last of your furniture. You packed the last box. You have everything ready for the big move. You groaned. You needed a small duffle bag. And you threw one away two days ago. You groaned and left the apartment, in search for a decent sized bag.

The crisp, autumn breeze hit you. You mentally cursed at yourself for not bringing a jacket. You wanted to go back in, but you also didn’t want to walk back up the stairs to get it.

With a large sigh, you wandered around, finding a store to stop at. You couldn’t help but let your mind wander along with your body. You hugged yourself warm, imagining a pair of familiar, strong arms wrapped around you. Just the thought of him still makes your heart flutter. It still makes your chest heavy.

You missed hearing his voice. You missed his scent that made you feel like home. You missed his smiles, smiles that were always meant for you to see.

You broke out of your thoughts when your phone rang.

“Hello? Oh! MinHyuk!” you said, a smile appearing on your face. “I needed last minute things for tomorrow. Yeah, I’ll send you my location.”

As you did, you then searched the crowd. Your heart skipped a beat. You will always notice the tall blonde male. You will always notice the orange and black spotted tie with his blue button up. You will always notice his beige suit jacket and pants. But you pretended. Pretending that you never saw him. Believing that it was the only way for you to move on.

And once you saw your new boyfriend arrive, you felt happy again. He kissed your forehead and the two of you crossed the street with his arm wrapped around your shoulders to keep you warm. You couldn’t help but turn back around. He was already walking away.

You decided to give MinHyuk a chance. He was a celebrity from Korea and you still can’t believe that you were able to catch the attention from one. But, he is a sweet and caring man. Even after his tour in Japan, he found ways to pursue you. So you decided to give him that chance about a month ago.

And within that month, you decided that it was time to leave Japan behind. You wanted to at least listen to Nanami and his warnings. That maybe, you would feel relieved and maybe at peace with your own self. So, MinHyuk helped you. He helped you find an apartment nearby his and you job searched. He helped you fly to Korea and back home to Japan. He helped you move everything and you couldn’t be more grateful with his help, even though you kept declining it.

You wanted to step outside one more time before you leave. You walked everywhere, to all the places you loved going to with Nanami. You allowed the tears flow down as you walked down memory lane. You stopped at the bakery, the place where you two first met and where you fell in love. You remember walking with him for hours, just talking. Talking about everything as if you two were the best of friends.

You remembered him confessing his feelings and the life he truly lived. You remembered worrying about him every time he called you when he was on his way to a mission. You remember the relief when he returned back home to you. You remembered the scary news about these new enemies they met. And you remembered the night that he had to leave you, all for you to live a normal and safe life.

“God I miss you,” you said to yourself. It was getting late. MinHyuk had already text you goodnight. Your phone rang. It was your best friend.

“You didn’t answer me earlier!” she exclaimed. You lightly laughed. After buying your bag and your mini date, you fell asleep.

“Yeah I fell asleep.”

“Stop doing overtime.”

“I know, I need to take it easy with the overtime.” She is protective of you. She made sure you were okay everyday after the break up. Your best friend started to hate Nanami for hurting you but you constantly reassured her that it was for the best. You reassured her that you were okay even though you weren’t. You felt your shoulders ache and you couldn’t help but massage them.

“The moving went okay? You’re ready?” You found an empty bench. You couldn’t help but feel as if someone was there, but you needed the rest.

“Yeah everything’s done. Everything’s moved in. I’m taking my flight tomorrow morning,” you informed.

“Oh! You’re moving in with him too?” she asked curiously. You sighed and shook your head.

“No, I’m not moving in with him. God, we just started dating last month.”

“Will you be okay though? Is it gonna help you forget him?” I frowned. I feel like crying again.

“No,” I said quietly. “I’ll never forget him. Kento-kun means everything to me.” And he does. You believed he was the person for you. And you kept telling yourself that he is your person but it was completely wrong timing.

“You still love him.”

“Yeah, I’ll always love him.”

“Well, I hope you let MinHyuk in your life more,” she said. “He’s really good to you. But also, be careful! Fans in Korea get crazy. Like crazy, crazy.” You couldn’t help but laugh. He did warn you about that. He sort of gave you an option to back out. But if you gave Nanami a chance with his dangerous life, you might as well give MinHyuk that chance, too.

“I’ll be careful. I’ll talk to you tomorrow okay?”

“Alright. Have a safe flight.”

You finally hung up. The moon is so bright tonight. You admired the moon, letting Nanami take over your thoughts again. You suddenly felt the weight off your shoulders. You touched your shoulders with relief. You can’t help but believe that Nanami really is there, somehow protecting you still. You let the tears flow again. You leaned back against the bench, eyes never leaving the bright moon. Maybe he is there. You wanted to go over by the tree but you decided against it. You didn’t want to feel the disappointment if he wasn’t but you didn’t want to feel stuck the moment you see him. Because the times you saw him through the crowds in Tokyo, you were ready to throw your life away just for him.

“The moon is beautiful isn’t it, Kento-kun.” If he was there, you were hoping that he heard you. But you also like to ask yourself that on some nights when the moon was visible outside at night. You finally stood up, ready to go back home. “I hope you’re doing well.”

This time, you didn’t turn back. You continued your walk back home. You continued to let him consume your thoughts and consume the what ifs.

What if you were still with him? Would you still be filled with the worry and tears with thoughts of him not returning back home. Would he had left the sorcerer life? Would you two be able to have a future? The thoughts stayed in the back of your mind.

But for now, you mentally put Nanami in a chest and locked it up. It was time to move on. Time to let the pain eventually leave.

#jjk #jjk kento #jjk nanami #jujutsu kaisen #jujutsu kaisen nanami #jujutsu nanami #nanami #nanami kento #nanami x reader #nanamin #nanami x you #nanami angst #jjk angst #nanami fanfic #kento nanami #jjk x reader #jjk x you

[riikive]

EVERMORE ⌕ ONE

synopsis. in a world of endless chaos, a story continues where it may have left off. but with some new pair of eyes where the truth lies and endless doses of bittersweet. dreams may have been crushed, and secrets may be revealed.

starings. sim jaeyun x female!oc

genres. young adults. romance. drama. thiller. mystery. action. hurt/comfort. angst, friends to lovers, etc.

warnings. cursing, but it is censored

I recommend nobody under 16 years old read this story since there are a lot of tiggers/sensitive topics!

RETURNING TO MEMORIES

The arrival area in the famous Incheon International Airport, from left to right there were family reunions. Crying of happiness, everyone was accustomed to those sounds. People who arrived walked through the automated sliding doors, leaving their suitcases before running towards their loved ones who were waiting for them on the other side.

A female took a breath as she walked through those same doors, watching their reunions. Strangers who spared her nothing but a glance which quickly took their focus on their loved ones. Wishing she could be like those families or friends, hugging her loved ones like anyone in this airport right now. Thinking about it made her heart break a million pieces.

After 10 minutes of standing there, a noise was heard in her purse. She quickly took it out before a small smile appeared across her face once she saw the caller's name. In an instant, she answered the call. "Hello?"

"I am on my way, sorry! I accidentally slept while studying for my exams. I set two alarms and long story short, I didn't wake up for any of them!" Her best friend could be heard panting at the other line as though he had been running to his car.

The female couldn't do anything about it as it was a fair mistake anyone could make and it wasn't his responsibility to pick her up. "Jaeyun, it's okay you don't have to pick me up. I could just call a ta-" "No, I told you I would pick you up and I will do that. I can't let you down! I am in my car right now. Please wait until I come, I will be there as fast as I can. As long there is no traffic or sh*t," he interpreted in an almost pleading tone. Knowing she couldn't say no to anyone pleading.

"It's fine, Jaeyun … Alright, I will wait. Take your time. Please drive safely. Don't even consider speeding," she half-joked with a light laugh. But knowing him, he would speed up even if it's a little bit.

"No, promises. Stay put and don't even dare leave the airport. I will be there as soon as possible! Will call if I can't find you," he said before ending the call. She hummed in response just as the call ended. Looking at the clock on her phone, it read 7:20 p.m. It wasn't in any of the rush hours, but people were still driving from work to home after a long day. Especially in the capital of South Korea.

It has been 3 years since she was in South Korea. Nothing has changed as much. Maybe some minor changes, but that's it. Heejin looked out the window before letting out a soft sigh. Wondering how everyone is doing now. Are they achieving their dreams and goals? Are they happy? She sort of missed her friends here. People who she left after those memories.

Her phone suddenly made some noise in her purse. She quickly took out her phone and looked at who was texting. Her heart dropped after she saw the contract name. 'We have a gathering for you.' "Like I want to go," she scoffed while reading the message on the screen. Putting her phone away without replying, she went to a seat and leaned on it. Looking up at the ceiling, she took a breath.

"Heejin!" Looking forward, she saw her best friend Jaeyun running towards her. He had a smile across his face waving at her. She smiled back as she quickly walked towards him with her two luggage rolling her hands. Suddenly her best friend hugged her, almost making her lose her balance, but he made sure she didn't. She was a little surprised before quickly recovering and hugged him back. "I miss you so much."

She hummed in response. No words could explain how much she missed her friends. She closes her eyes as tears fall on her cheeks. Jaeyun broke the hug and quickly noticed she had tears falling. "Oh my goodness, why are you crying?" He looked at her with worried eyes. She didn't notice the tears, quickly she wiped her eyes and gave him a smile. "Oh, it's nothing…it's just happy tears," she reassured him.

He looked at her still with worried eyes, letting a smile creep across his face. "You look taller," he said, noticing her height. She shook her head, and a smile formed. "It must be the heels I am wearing right now. I am still shorter than you." Jaeyun looked at her shoes and noticed she was indeed wearing heels. "Maybe so, but you're still grown even if it's a tad bit." She nodded at the fact. "You look much better than when I left for Australia," she said not in a joking manner, but as an observation.

He smiled. "Of course, if I hadn't been better, then I wouldn't be able to do what he told me to do." She nodded. "Come, let's go." He quickly grabbed her suitcases before walking.

Once in the car, Jaeyun had convinced her to talk about her years in Australia. How was finishing school there, how were her violin and piano lessons, how were her aunt, uncle, and cousins, and so much more? From then on, she spoke of the wonderful things she has experienced there, also mentioning if she had a choice, she would've decided to stay there longer, forever seen. Then she talked about her repeated nightmares, hallucinations, panic attacks, sleepless nights, especially those thunderstorms. But never talked about why she had those nightmares, hallucinations, panic attacks, and sleepless nights because it will have their old friend, his first love, introduced into the topics. It won't be very pleasant for any of them at the moment.

Fortunately enough, he kept his silence while earnestly listening to the other's stories. It was like he understood not to ask for any further details and the downsides of her stay would be a bad idea. "My violin instructor suggested that I should get into Guildhall or Juilliard. She said with my application and skills, I could make it and my parents could afford any of the university's tuition," Heejin said, feeling happy when her instructor told her that.

"That's amazing! You always dreamt about going to either of the two universities since we were young. Plus you could now study your dream career! He exclaimed as though there was something to be excited about. As though her parents would never allow her to study music or even in those universities. Immediately he noticed the lack of enthusiasm on her part. "They didn't agree, did they?"

"You know them." She gave him a sad smile. "Although, I am glad I could move away from their wrath. At least I could have a little more air to breathe than those past 15 years," she took a breath and looked through the windshield. "I am sorry," he apologized for something he didn't take part in.

Heejin shook her head. "Don't apologize, you didn't do anything wrong. Privileges come with a price." Her mind came to the thought of Sooah, who was like her. But her price was never like her old friend. There was a silence in between them. "I hate how I understand that." A bittersweet tone appeared suddenly from Jaeyun, which wasn't any surprise. "So, when will you plan to move out?" He glanced at her.

"Hmm, maybe a week or two from now, I still need to sort out all of my things from those 15 years of living in that house." Jaeyun nodded. "Alright, just give me a call, the others may want to help out too since it's been a long time." "Noted."

The car suddenly stopped, reminding her they had arrived at the destination. But to her surprise, he didn't simply drop her off. He instead parked somewhere near the house. She looked at him confused about what he was doing. He immediately noticed her confusion. "There is a gathering for you, which I found I was invited to. My parents are there too," he informed her of the knowledge she had purposefully forgotten about.

Her parents played the good cards by inviting the person who would pick her up and would convince her to attend. "I guess we are in this together like the times before." She took a silent breath before taking out her pocket mirror to put on some makeup since she had to attend that gathering after all with no excuse whatsoever. They both stepped out of the car and walked side by side to the house. "Remember if you want to get out of your situation, use the code word," Jaeyun said as they were about to enter the house.

"Lucious?"

"Lucious."

Jaeyun opened the door and held it for Heejin."Ladies first." Her heart dropped just by entering the house. Taking a breath, she went to where the gathering will be held. From left to right, there were the business partners her parents had made connections with over the years since she was born until now. She looked at her best friend and he looked at her. They both nodded and gave a smile to each other before departing to wherever.

Heejin felt small walking around the room filled with strangers. She felt like throwing up all of a sudden. Without even noticing it, she accidentally bumped into someone. "I am so sorry," she quickly apologized. "No, I should be the one apologizing." A familiar voice. Looking up, she realized it was her friend she hadn't seen in 3 years.

"Heeseung?!" She asked. The person looked at her confused for a second before then realized. "Heejin?!" "That's me," she smiled. "Here, let me help you." He held out his hand and she took it. "It's been 3 years, how are you?" He asked her.

"Doing alright, how about you?" She made sure her dress wasn't ruined or her mother might scold her for ruining her dress in front of the guests. Heeseung smiled. "I am doing better, I got accepted into the company I wanted. Just need to finish my studies then I will work full-time there."

"Oh really? Congratulations," she quietly clapped her hands with a smile. "When did you get here?" He asked her. "An hour ago." "Did Jaeyun pick you up?" She nodded. "As he should." Heeseung looked at the clock on his watch. "Well, it was nice talking to you again." "Same here." He walked away and now she was left alone again. With a sigh, she went to where the drinks were. Picking up a cup of punch, she took a slip making sure it wasn't spiked or anything before drinking more.

Suddenly thousands of reporters ran towards her, making her almost choke on the punch. The reporters started to gather around her. "How was staying in Australia?" "How was learning the piano and violin there?" Heejin took another slip while looking around the room. She spotted Jaeyun talking to some people in front of her and behind the reporters. "I must say this drink is luscious." She said loud enough for the reporters and her best friend to hear.

Next, she knew it, Jaeyun was by her side, excusing them before both of them made their way out of the reporter's eyes. "That was fast," she said while glancing at the reporters who were now escorted out. "We have been doing this since we were 12 and 13 years old," he smiled.

previous | masterlist | next

taglist. @beomurang , @enhastolemyheart

if you want to be part of the taglist, please send an ask! Will only accept ask request !!

© 2023 — all rights reserved to user riikive, please do not steal, plagiarise, or translate any of my work without prior permission from me !

#🍷 — evermore chapters #enhypen angst #kpop #kpop fanfic #enhypen #enhypen fanfic #enhypen fic #enha fanfic #enha fluff #enha #enhypen jake #enhypen jake x oc #jake fluff #jake fanfic #jake enhypen #sim jaeyun fanfic #sim jaeyun #sim jake #sim jake fanfic #shim jake #shim jaeyun #kpop fic #kpop fanfiction #kpop angst #kpop series #enhypen series

[geo-winchester]

BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

A/N: Hi everyone sooo today is my birthday and I know I have a tons of request I should be working on but I want to celebrate this day with you guys, so I made this list with prompts of I love you a few are with Taylor swift songs and others are with actions, so I hope you have a great day and send me an asked if you want a request, and before I go I want to thank you for all your love and support you gave to me!!

I LOVE YOU WITH TAYLOR SWIFT SONGS

1. I like shiny things but I marry you in paper rings.

2. And I can’t let you go, your heart print’s on my soul.

3. For you I would fall from grace just to touch your face.

4. But I stay when it’s hard or it’s wrong or we’re making mistakes.

5. All these peoples thinks love’s for show, but I would die in secret.

6. No more keepin’ score now, I just want to keep you warm.

7. And at every table, I’ll save you a seat.

8. I’m a fire and I’ll keep your brittle heart warm if your cascade ocean wave blue come.

9. You’re my best friend.

10. I remember how we felt sitting by the water and every time I look at you, it’s like the first time.

11. You can hear it in the silence. You can feel it on my way home. You can see it with the lights out.

12. And I know I make the same mistakes every time, bridges burn, I never learn, at least I did one thing right.

13. I want to wear his initial on a chain round my neck… not because he owns me because he knows me.

14. Squeeze my hand three times in the back of the taxi.

15. Can I go where you go? Can I we always be these close?

16. With your boots beneath my bed… forever is the sweetest con

17. And all at once you are the one I have been waiting for, king of my heart, body and soul.

18. I hope I never lose you, hope it never ends, I’d never walk Cornelia street again.

19. One single thread of gold tied me to you.

20. I once believed love would be burning red, but it’s golden

21. Please don’t ever become a stranger who’s laugh I could recognize anywhere.

22. Have I know you twenty second or twenty years.

23. All I know is a new found grace. All my days I’ll know your face.

24. Long live the walls we crashed through, I had the time of my life with you.

25. My house of stone, my ivy grows and now I’m covered in you.

26. Don’t want no other shade of blue but you.

27. Say my name and everything just stop.

28. I’d like to hangout with you for my whole life.

29. Baby all at once is enough.

30. Even in my worst times, you could se the best in me.

31. I had the best day with you today.

32. My waves meet your shore, ever and evermore.

33. I don’t wanna think of anything else now that I thought of you.

34. All that ends well to end up with you.

Other ways to say I love you.

35. Put your seatbelt on.

36. I save you a piece.

37. I got you something.

38. I told my family about you.

39. Text me when you land.

40. Do you want the last piece of pizza.

41. I make you coffee.

42. Have you eaten today?

43. To the moon and back.

44. This song reminds me of you.

45. Tell me more.

46. Here, take my jacket.

47. I’ll take you.

48. I got you a key of my house.

49. I made a playlist.

50. I like you.

Characters I write about: Poe dameron, Richard Alonzo Muñoz, duke Leto, Nathan Bateman, Santiago Garcia, Marc Spector, Steven grant, Jake Lockley, Jonathan Levy, William Tell, Llewyn Davis, Taron Egerton, jimmy Keene, Eggsy Unwin, Jake “hangman” Seresin

#poe dameron x reader #richard alonso muñoz x reader #leto atreides x reader #nathan bateman x reader #santiago pope garcia x reader #santiago garcia x reader #steven grant x reader #marc spector x reader #llewyn davis x reader #taron egerton x reader #eggsy unwin x reader #jimmy keene x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin x reader

[sunfl0w3rmoon]

i’m so honoured you follow me 🥰

(btw just to warn you, i’m about to shower you with compliments) 

I loveeee Mastermind, it’s been getting me through the week and to Fridays, and even though it’s a shame it’s over, I have to say, it was one of the BEST fics i’ve ever read.

Firstly, I loveee your Sirius characterisation. He’s adorable. I also love how him and Remus’ relationship grew. It felt realistic, and they seemed like stable people.

Obviously time passed between filming (ie, chapters) and you showed how they’d spent a lot of time together and their relationship had grown and changed really well as the chapters progressed, without directly having to say it.

By the middle, I could tell how close they’d become and yet also I could feel their flirty vibes through my phone. 

Plus I was along the ride with Sirius the whole time, routing for him and Moony. I’m also proud of James and Regulus, they were very cute in the background.

Ugh and Remus was so sweet and unassuming the whole time. Probably half freaking out over his childhood crush acting with him (which was the perfect reveal btw) 

Also; it being the personification of a Taylor Swift song, one of my favourites too, definitely helped my adoration for this fic

Plus special credit to that line in like Chapter 4 I think. Remus going “I think i’ve seen this film before” about Jegulus and Dorlene (I love exile). 

And finally, I can’t explain it, but this line was so moving;

He trusts Remus Lupin implicitly, and he loves the man with his entire soul. They can last a few months apart. But it’s all the more lovely that Remus flies out to be with him on their anniversary, even though he’s supposed to be in LA filming his new movie.

I love it when fics end in a way that makes you feel like the relationship will last. And this does exactly that.

(Also, I know nothing about celebs or awards and when you wrote “And Sirius hugged Oscar” after winning his Oscar, I legit thought for a sec that he hugged the guy who invented the award… I missed the bit where it said Oscar Isaac, though that makes more sense.)

Anyway, all in all, amazing fic!!!!! Take the compliments!!!! 

You’re an amazing writer :)

hiiiiiiiiiiii thank you so much omggggg that is the first message I’ve gotten on tumblr and it brought me so much joy to read 🥰🥰 I’m so so so so glad you loved mastermind as much as I did. It was such a fun fic to write and I’m so sad it’s over, but that just means I can write other things !!!

I had planned to reveal that Remus liked Sirius for a long long time since the beginning but Hope and Lyall really took the cake with their little prank hehe. But I did love that both of them were so oblivious to the other’s feelings. I think that’s so foundational to wolfstar’s relationship.

Remus is such a swiftie I can’t 😩 like yeah he listens to Queen and ABBA and David Bowie but he’s SUCH a folklore/evermore girlie

I genuinely got the idea for this fic while listening to mastermind by Taylor Swift and I texted my friend and was like “WHAT IF ITS MASTERMIND BUT WOLFSTAR” and she was like “YOU HAVE TO WRITE IT” so I did :)

I LOVE THAT LINE TOO. I was like “I need this fic to have the most fluffy, adorable ending to ever end.” So I rewrote the epilogue SO many times to get it right.

Thank you so so so much again for your message ♥️ I love your girl in red pfp btw <3

#remus lupin #sirius black #marauders #mastermind #wolfstar

[ilovedthestars]

Random Summary Tag Game

Ever need to summarize a long fic that you wrote so you can pitch it to someone else, but it's hard to distill it down into just a few paragraphs?

Never fear! Wolf on the Murderbot Diaries Discord came up with the genius idea of a longfic sampler that randomly chooses a paragraph from each chapter, to assemble a summary that is certain to make even less sense than anything you could come up with, enticing readers to read your fic to find out what it's actually about!

I'm exporting it to tumblr as a tag game with her permission.

Here are the instructions:

Choose a long (or long-ish) fic that you wrote. Randomly select a single paragraph from each chapter. If the fic has too many chapters for this to be reasonable, randomly select 5-10 and then choose random paragraphs from those. If the fic is all one chapter, randomly select 5-10 paragraphs from it.

(One easy way of doing this is to copy the text into a document and format the whole thing as a numbered list, which will number each of the paragraphs. Please don't count paragraphs by hand unless you really want to. Here's a random number generator you can use.)

Then, put all your randomly selected paragraphs in order to create your amazing summary. You're allowed to reroll to avoid spoiling major twists.

Here's mine:

Her hands were trembling. I will ensure that your human is safe, said a voice in my head. I am capable of seeing to its treatment with the MedSystem, the mysterious voice asserts. (Who is that? Another crewmember, in a different part of the ship?) It adds, As well as repelling any attempt by the SecUnit to harm my crew. I don’t know why, but that made me angry. I’m not afraid of you. You can’t do anything to me that’s worse than I’m used to. I attached a few memory files of punishment from the governor module, so it knew exactly what I meant. ART said in the general feed, It would be best if I could continue to monitor SecUnit in the MedSystem to ensure that treatment was successful. She stared at the ceiling for a little bit longer, while I sat there nervously. Eventually she said, “Did you really think they were going to hurt you?”

This is from my Murderbot fic Acceptable Mission Cost! (Probably not a longfic by most people's standards, but it's my longest fic, lol)

Please consider yourself tagged if you see this and want to participate! Tagging some friends who were involved in the discord discussion: @every-eye-evermore @blessphemy @wtf-skittens @specialagentartemis (As always, no pressure!)

#tag game #fanfic tag game #have trouble writing ao3 summaries that make sense? #have you considered Not Making Sense? #do i have a method for you! #acceptable mission cost fic #stars fic #stars has thoughts

[hopeurokays]

WENT AND SAW THE ERAS TOUR MOVIE LIKE AN HOUR AGO AND AHHHHHHHHHH. IT WAS SO GOOD (spoilers under the cut)

so my movie theater didn't have popcorn buckets bc their shipment is currently lost

but i got a cup and a poster

i planned on making like 50 bracelets but ended up only making like 20

which is good though cause pretty much nobody had bracelets to trade

i traded 1 and gave out all but 2

i don't know how people don't cry the entire concert

bc i almost cried several times during the movie so the actual concert i think would have me dead

so now im gonna go by era and discuss it

lover:

the opening made me cry

i whisper sung the beginning bc it was still kinda awkward and nobody else was singing loud

until the cruel summer bridge

then we all sung it loud

i LOVE the man and loved getting to see the things i hadn't noticed from tiktok (like the specific dance moves, etc)

the man and lover also made me cry a bit

im so upset she cut the archer

its not even my favorite song or anything but still

fearless:

iconic guitar spins 🫶🏻

everyone did the heart hands, it was so sweet

it was so cute seeing her band sing with her, they're adorable

fearless spins made me cry

love story almost made me bawl, but i held it together

i can remember being in kindergarten and saying my favorite song was love story so thinking about that made me want to sob

evermore:

THEY CUT NO BODY NO CRIME

i was so excited when i realized it was filmed

and then SHE CUT IT

anyways

marjorie made me cry

tolerate it was a materpiece (as expected)

so was champagne problems

reputation:

honestly no words

look what you made me do honestly almost made me cry

when all the other taylors were in the boxes

but still it was all soooooo good

speak now:

enchanted made me tear up

im so glad she wore the purple dress for filming

SHE CUT LONG LIVE 😭😭😭

ik it's the perfect end credit song but still

we wouldn't mind to hear it again

will forever be upset

red:

ngl 22 got me

it was the only one that made me cry

and like i cried like a baby when she gave the 22 hat

i expected it to be kobe bryant's daughter, but it still got it

i was bawling in my seat

but then the rest was really nice

i loved screaming atw

folklore:

ive never seen video of her performing the 1 all the way through and loved it

also betty made me cry

but betty was the first song off folklore id ever heard and was made me listen to her new music so it holds a special place in my heart

also there was a little girl who got up during betty and started dancing, like throwing arms above her head and everything

and she did that for most of folklore

she was a mood tbh

I CANT BELIEVE SHE CUT CARDIGAN

WHYYYYYY

1989:

none of these made me cry, i was too busy dancing lol

they were all really fun

i loved the clubs smashing the car

also i love that she wore the pink one

i just like that outfit best

surprise songs:

i can't say im surprised it was our song and yoyok

and i absolutely loved them

but i was really hoping she would find a way to put all of the songs she sung in la on there

especially you are in love

i wouldve cried and died and just stayed there forever

but yoyok made me cry during the bridge

midnights:

i LOVE the purple jacket/dress combo

kinda freaked out when i realized id have to sit beside my mom during vigilante shit...

but she didn't say anything

i loved the vibes of this era too

other/end credits:

the bracelet part was so cute and clever

and i love the fan moments/bloopers

i do kinda wish the credits would've been styled more like rep tour's was

i also loved the transitions to each era and the text for the album name

it was all really cute

and i loved how taylor was still being goofy

i was worried it wouldn't be as silly as the shows usually are

but im glad it was, it made it feel more authentic

also the quality of everything was SO good

overall i loved it and if you're debating on going just do it (im thinking about going with my friends to watch it a 2nd time...). I'd give it like 1000/10 tbh

#eras #eras tour #taylor swift #the eras tour #eras tour film #eras movie #eras movie spoilers

[nikkosuave]

The Conversation

The moment I saw you standing at the bar, next to the garnishes in jars. I made it a point to get in your line of sight, in hopes that you might simply glance over and lock eyes.

Within minutes, my words widened up your eyes. As I told you, our first date would be a surpise. From there, it was not much time before you agreed and obliged.

Our first date was ecstatic. The measures taken were a little drastic. The connection was fluid and the fact that I picked your favorite number and flowers.. it was magic. You and I both could not believe that I planned it.

I didn't judge on your first mistakes, I actually tried to make you feel comfortable about them. I made it a point to be patient with your situation because I felt you were worth the wait. But as I waited.. and as I waited... and as I waited. Certain aspects felt stronger, but certain distances felt longer. More and more times, I was wronger... I was wonger... I was wronger..

Look.... I GET IT. I am not your ideal subject. I am impulsive, obnoxious, and awkwardly eclectic. I am a degenerate. A degenerate who speaks when he shouldn't and often wishes he wouldn't, puts too much energy into things that need not be prudent.

I know my faults, and you're becoming more aware of yours. Maybe I should have let you go the first time, but that is not the path I chose. I wanted to dig deeper. But as I dug, I was always reassured, you were not ready or you were not steady, because after 5 years your emotions were still heavy.

AND THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH THAT

So,I waited.. and I waited ... and I waited. But as I waited, we began to find comfortablilty in the in-between. A relationship with no means. You expected me to court you and chase you and elate you. As much as I loved to, how could I do that with someone who was already pulling away. Someone positioned in the grey.

I began to feel more like a side fling. So, I tried to focus more on my thing. Did my best to cover up whatever I was feeling. And we can blame it on the timing. That is a major factor. But nothing could take away the fact of, since my ex you have been the ONLY one after.

Now, that is unusual for me. A younger version would have gone on a fucking-spree. But none of this matters. No amount of time, events, or various laughters could have corrected the disconnect that had already occurred. It felt like you were held up and expecting. Which pushed me towards protecting. Protecting and distancing aspects of myself.. when all I desired was to get closer.

Late nights, I finally get time to myself. I finally have time to cuddle and kiss you or at least text you, "I miss you...," but it is too late. Because now you're alseep, so I distract with something else. The urges I allow not to be tested. For if I do, I pull evermore feelings off the shelf. But that is where they belong until it is mutually accepted.

Now, here we are finally having the conversation. It feels good to get off my chest. Honestly, you were right it WAS for the best. Some time soon, your dream career WILL lead you elsewhere. Somewhere, I can not follow. But none of this, none of this, none of this, needs to end in sorrow. I know, I will wake up tomorrow and be unbelievably grateful. Grateful, that I had the opportunity to get to know how amazing you are.

As I promised before, this is not the end. As I promised before, we will always be friends. I would say "maybe another day," but if this is the end, I don't want to pretend. If this is the end, I don't want to pretend.

Life's journey may twist, turn, and bend. However, if at any time you need me, come over, or just pick up the phone. I will always be on the other end.

-N

[bakugosmosaicbrokenhearts]

this time I have to listen to the new album right. Because the way I listened to the previous albums for their original releases was downright horrible. For Reputation it took me months to listen to it in full because I was so confused as to what was going on. For Lover YNTCD made me a hater for like two weeks because it was so bad and I had lost hope for the quality of the album, so it again took me months to listen to it (and at the end it turned out to be my quarantine album so yay for me). Folklore I was so caught off guard by the news I listened to it at like 8 am in my bed barely minutes after waking up and I was practically half dead listening to it so I couldn’t appreciate the moment like the absolute idiot I am (although I knew IMMEDIATELY that illicit affairs was a banger). Evermore also caught me off guard but this time I was PREPARED but I genuinely don’t remember how I listened to it for the first time, although I do remember texting my friends about it and them not giving a fuck. Fearless TV, I remember listening to You All Over Me with my best friend while on a walk, and I remember being absolutely gagged by Mr Perfectly Fine, but I dont remember how I listened to the album in general (but I DO remember how gagged I was by fearless’s (title track) quality and cleanliness). Red TV i don’t remember if I listened to ATW10 first or if I listened to the album first, but I do have a distinct memory of watching the ATW short film on my friend’s computer at a starb*cks, and I also remember being gagged by her version of Better Man and I Bet You Think About Me. Midnights was BY FAR the worst listening experience of my life I simply have to laugh. It was 7am in the morning on my way to uni, depressed as fuck, still recovering from my traumatizing surgery, and being stressed and anxious like there was no tomorrow about fuckass med school. I was on the smelliest, fullest bus in the world (and yet still managed to find a seat!), and pressed play on Lavender Haze, expecting it to be a sweet pop ballad, and instead getting a full on synth pop energetic pop song. And then I got from one song to another, still half asleep might I add and having absolutely no idea what I was even listening to! YOYOK was an immediate stand out because obviously, Maroon jumped out to me from the start, Vigilante Shit was the song that woke me up lmao, and Would’ve Could’ve Should’ve (the 3am tracks had already come out by the time I was listening to the album) was the first song in which I was fully processing the lyrics (keep in mind that I was half dead up until that point lol). My initial overall reaction to Midnights? I guess I can safely say that I knew that it was gonna be pop (even with the album photoshoot, I wasn’t fooled into thinking she was dipping her toes into 70s rock or 90s glam rock, not me!!), BUT I was so dead listening to it that to me, all the songs sounded the exact same (which is not true at all lmao). For Speak Now TV, I organized a listening party, (and by party, I mean me, my sister and my best friend) and it was an experience to say the least. I live in Europe which means that for every fucking ts release, the album comes out at like 6am or something. A la Taylor Swift, i had baked cookies and made hot chocolate for my guests, and at 6.30am, we were all ready to listen to the album in my basement. And when I tell you it was the most disappointing TV in the world to me, I’m not kidding. Since Speak Now is my favorite album, I was hoping for her not to fuck it up. Alas… And let’s not talk about the vault tracks either.

1989 TV was an improvement quality wise. I was still shaken up by my favorite child being beaten up and spat on three months prior but to my surprise, 1989 sounded great!! Concerning the vault tracks, since I am the slowest person alive, it’s only when I was re-listening to them again in my college library that I realized all the references to lost queen haylor. Finally, as for TTPD, I won’t be able to listen to it first thing in the morning because I have classes, so I plan to listen to it when I’ll come home at night after my piano lesson. I’ll cook myself a nice meal, maybe even get a cake or something to celebrate, and listen to the album with unwavering attention, and reading the lyrics with hawk’s eyes (I need to get that joever tea after all).

#Taylor Swift #the Tortured Poets Department #im so excited for ttpd aahshshsb #I’m so sorry for the long post but I had things to SAY

[cosettepontmercys]

Hi! The text post I was talking about was the depression maximizing it's joint slay which is awful but was also kinda funny in the moment. I'm so sorry about your voice! I'm not even sure how it can be gone for that many days still but I hope you are taking care of yourself and getting plenty of rest. I'm glad your work party was okay besides that though which sounds horrible actually. I hope it is a little better by your birthday. Do you have any fun plans?

Wow I guess we are opposites in that way! Coffee is just okay to me and I would never have any reason to drink it basically, if my sister didn't. That makes sense but I think I just prefer hot chocolate in the winter I guess and soda or maybe lemonade in the summer. But I drink soda everyday haha but have been drinking it for a long time and can barely remember ever not drinking it. But I think a lot of people don't drink it as much as I thought anymore so maybe I'm the weird one and I know it might be cuz it's bad for you. But maybe I like things that are really sweet compared to other people.

Well I'm not that familiar with it..I watched a bootleg a few years ago randomly and can't remember why. Otherwise I wouldn't know about it either. I don't even remember it that much except for the basic plot and some songs which I liked. it's the same composers of Cabaret and Chicago..Kander and Ebb, and has a similar vibe to those shows. Just like a show within a show vibes if you know what I mean and what's a fantasy and what's reality and that's why I said it could make a good movie, cuz Chicago did a similar thing in the movie.

Ooh I don't really make playlists and it's hard to know what to recommend to people but I would love that if you wanted to make a playlist for me! That sounds lovely. The songs I recommended to you before were more like rock so I wasn't sure if you would like it honestly. I could totally give you my favorite Paramore songs if you want but would also recommend all of their songs cuz listening to music is so subjective. I also recommend Hayley's solo music! She put out two albums in less than a year like Taylor did with Folklore and Evermore and they have a slower sad vibe that's also similar, but different than Paramore I guess and the lyrics are so good.

Sometimes I find live albums pretty distracting honestly if it includes the crowd but I love live performances recordings if it's like acoustic or stripped down so I would love it for the surprise songs. Like Lover live in Paris was good and Folklore long pond so I guess I wouldn't mind it. I think she released a few live versions right before Speak Now TV came out so it's a possibility.

Evermore is amazing to me..mostly the song but also the album, and the anniversary is today! So what are your favorites? Least Favorites or had to grow on you and do you like it more than Folklore? I think Evermore is hard for me cuz I don't have a lot of favorites on the album but my favorite song is on the album lol and I think its good combined with Folklore. What do you think? Also I see you have been able to get back into reading and enjoyed a few reads which is good. I still don't have time right now but I will continue my Night Circus read in January. I also hope you are resting and continue to feel better!!!

helloooo my dear friend! and OH that makes sense! i'm glad it made you laugh :) my voice keeps coming in and out, and i definitely have this like, you know how people sound when they're sick like kinda scratchy deeper voice? that's kind of how i sound. and of course this last month is when all my neighbors have decided they want to be my best friend and talk to me! and yes! i think my mom and i are doing lunch with my uncle on my birthday, and then i'm going to a hockey game that evening! this is the first year in a long time where i'm not celebrating my birthday by going to see a show (covid aside), so it feels very odd! i have literally no plans! to see any musicals! anytime soon! and that just feels SO very weird to me.

if it makes you feel any better, my ex-ex-boss (boss two jobs ago) drank SO much diet coke — i don't think i ever saw her drink water — so you could always be worse! almost all of my friends love soda, so i'm definitely the odd one out in my friend group! i do love a good lemonade though, and i will occasionally drink a hot choc when it's cold out!

it's funny you bring up bootlegs because i've had two different bootlegs downloaded on my computer to watch at some point for ... the last couple of months now? i hate having things on my desktop because i don't like the clutter so i've been keeping it there to incentivize myself to watch them but ... nope! haven't touched it! haven't even opened it to see if the sound works or anything! but i've got a few crafty projects i want to work on before the year's over, so maybe one of these nights i'll put a bootleg on and try to work on some crafts! i love things that are like [media] within a [media] — it's why i love the starless sea so much, and also the pippin revival! did we ever talk about schmigadoon/schmicago? i still haven't seen that either, but it seems to be that same format! ugh i really need to be better at watching tv / movies in 2024!

i would love to know your favorites! i'll work on the playlist sometime soon and then make my way through it :") i'm excited! i don't listen to a lot of rock — did i tell you i'm seeing fall out boy in the spring? so i do have to learn their music too! i didn't know hayley had her own solo music!! i'll have to add that to the playlist as well! i've been seeing the recent paramore anniversary vinyls on twitter and they're SO pretty!!! i'm always a sucker for a pretty vinyl (not that i have the space for more, nor should i get more — i say, as i have a bunch of vinyls coming)

i loveeeeed lover live from paris! i have the vinyl for it too but i'm too scared to spin it haha. i wish she did an evermore long pond, but i also think it'd be fun if she did a midnights long pond. i find that i tend to prefer the acoustic version of songs over the original, for some reason! just something about the stripped back version of things, i think.

happy (belated) evermore birthday! i think my favorites are: right where you left me, marjorie, and coney island, but i do very much love cowboy like me, evermore, tolerate it, gold rush, etc. the one song i always, always, always skip when i'm in the car is no body no crime — the sirens freak me out! ( i also live very close to a fire station ). do you prefer folklore more or evermore? i think cohesively i prefer evermore more, but i like my favorites on folklore a lot more than i do my favorites on evermore (save for marjorie). maybe i like folklore more, actually. i'm not sure, haha. what are your evermore favorites and folklore favorites?

and no worries at all, friend! i know you're busy! excited to hear your night circus thoughts when you get around to reading it 🤍

#post: answered #🩷 anon

[robertsbarbie]

closure’s backing sounds like what i feel like every time taylor swift drops a suprise album

#eris: text #lb: evermore #also me thinking about sending a letter to my ex best friend and taylor being like ‘shut the fuck uo she doesn’t want that’ #😳😳

[broadstbroskis]

take my hand, wreck my plans | william nylander

a/n: if you’ve been around this blog for a while, you’ve probably seen me talking about “willy fake dating fic” for quite a bit now...well here she is! settle in for a long read (the longest i’ve posted in one go before) and i hope you enjoy reading it as much as i enjoyed writing it! so so so much love to literally every single person who cheered me on while writing this, but extra special thanks to @denis-scorianov​ and @danglesnipecelly​ for all your love and support

also shoutout to my girl tswift for the title, evermore still slaps

word count: 21.5k

It’s right in the middle of the busiest hours of the day when Steph’s text comes in, which means Aubrey barely even reads the message. She sees the words dinner and Friday and responds that she’ll be there, and then goes back to trying to fix the clusterfuck of code that one of her coworkers messed up earlier in the morning before her project has to get sent off to a client at the end of the week.

By the time Friday comes around, she’s only just managed to fix the code but the project is finished enough to send off as a first draft, so Aubrey races over to Steph and Mitch’s place after work, knowing she looks frazzled as hell from the look on her best friend’s face the minute she enters their kitchen. “Sweetie.” Steph says, then bites her lip. 

The feeling is mutual to Aubrey, because she’s giving Steph the same once over that Steph’s giving her. She’d arrived from the office, which took casual Friday to the extreme, in her favorite leggings, denim jacket, and converse- still enjoying the last bit of summer before Toronto turned to fall. Meanwhile Steph was dressed up for the evening in jeans and a flowy top. Her hair was done, her makeup looked beautiful; nothing about her screamed casual dinner at home. Certainly not like the messy ponytail Aubrey was rocking, after running over from work.

“Wine?” Mitch offers, breaking the silence, and Aubrey nods immediately, forgetting entirely about...whatever is going on here in favor of the alcohol she’s been needing since she arrived at the office today.

Mitch pours a glass and offers it out, but honestly, fuck that; Aubrey reaches for the bottle instead and takes a sip. “Nope, listen, these motherfuckers-” And then, she cuts herself off abruptly as she catches sight of the single most beautiful man she has ever had the pleasure of even having in her field of vision, leaning against the counter.

“No, go ahead.” Blondie grins, and fuck that, of course, he’s got the most beautiful smile too. “These motherfuckers, what?”

“Fucked up a huge project at work this week.” Aubrey finishes, pretty lamely, compared to how heated she’d started that sentence. 

“Gonna start throwing that at Matts.” Blondie grins again. “Anytime he fucks up a pass to me. This motherfucker.”

“Heh.” She laughs, lifting the wine bottle in a cheers-esque manner, and then, not knowing what else to do, she takes another large sip.

Blondie is still grinning when Aubrey brings her bottle back down and Mitch is doing a very poor job of hiding a laugh, but it’s not hard to see that Steph’s making murder eyes that Aubrey pointedly ignores, so Steph turns her attention away with a sigh. “What’s up, Will?”

“Oh, uh, Matts and Alison nominated me to see if there was anything we could do to help.” Will says smoothly.

“We?” Mitch raises an eyebrow, at the distinct lack of we that arrived with Will.

“Well.” Will shrugs, like that should explain everything, and maybe it does, because Mitch only snorts.

“We’re okay.” Steph jumps in. “We’ll all be out soon.”

Will nods, and leaves Aubrey with one last grin, before he turns and heads out towards their back patio, which must be where dinner is taking place, but as soon as the door shuts behind him, Aubrey turns to round on Steph and Mitch. “What the fuck?”

“Me, what the fuck?” Steph, her best friend since grade school, knows exactly what she’s talking about. “You, what the fuck?”

“This was a setup?”

“You didn’t know?” Mitch cries, turning immediately to his girlfriend and looking incredibly offended.

“Yes she did!” Steph defends. “I literally texted you: Mitch has a single friend we think you’d get along with if you’re interested. Are you free friday for dinner? We were thinking of having you all over. And you said: sounds good I’ll be there.”

“Well, in my defense, work was a dumpster fire this week and I really only skim-read that text.”

“Well now I know why you showed up like that.” 

“Rude, Stephanie.” Aubrey sticks her tongue out at her best friend, grinning immediately afterwards, because Steph’s her best friend and she’s the only one she would let talk to her this way. “Just for that I’m not using a glass the entire night.”

“Not like your first impression could get any worse.” Steph deadpans.

“Meh.” Mitch shrugs. “It’s Willy. He’s done way worse.”

Steph sighs, pinches the bridge of her nose, and then looks over. “Could you use your one free hand then to take a second bottle of wine out then please? For the rest of us who’d like some, to share?”

Aubrey grins. “Gladly.”

That this was meant to be a setup couldn’t be more clear to her as the three of them make their way out to the porch with more drinks and some snacks. Mitch and Steph have dragged some of their comfier patio furniture around the firepit; there’s a couple curled into each other on one of the couches, an empty one with Mitch’s favorite type of beer on the table next to it, and one seat open on the couch that’s occupied by Will. 

Aubrey shoots Steph a look as Steph practically leaps back onto the empty couch, and then she slips herself into the empty seat next to Will. That level of distinct lack of chill is really her thing, thanks Steph.

Steph merely grins back, formally introducing her to everyone around them. And okay, their friends are cool- like Aubrey knows they are; she’s met more than a few of Mitch’s hockey friends before. She’s many-a-time fifth-wheeled dinner with Mitch and Steph and Matt and Syd. She, Mitch, and Steph still had a group chat going with a bunch of Mitch’s old teammates from the Knights. Hell, Strome and McDavid had joined Mitch in playing with her and Steph on their families’ summer softball team last summer.

But she just can’t seem to understand what they see in Will that they think he’d be good for her. Like sure he’s nice enough, and obviously good looking, and like, yeah she has a good time while she’s there, but like, sparks? Nothing. 

Regardless of the lack of sparks between them, it is a fun night, and she curls up in one of the guest rooms in Steph and Mitch’s that night, fully planning on laughing at them the next morning. 

Except, the next morning, Mitch is already gone for practice and Steph’s first question is, “So when are you going to see Will again?”

Aubrey frowns. “Uhh I don’t know. Probably whenever you have us both over for dinner again?”

Steph frowns back. “What?”

“What what?”

“You didn’t, like, give him your number? Make plans? Anything?”

“Why would we?”

“Because he’s perfect for you?”

Aubrey gives her a look. Was Steph even at the same dinner that she was? They, like, barely interacted; Will chatting more with Auston and what’s-her-name or Mitch and Auston, and her with Steph pretty much the entire night. “Perfect for me? Seriously? That’s the guy you think is perfect for me?”

She huffs. If Aubrey didn’t know her best friend better she’d think she was offended, but, well, she does. “Yes!”

“No!”

“I mean, at least give it a shot!” Steph needles.

Aubrey pulls a face. “Why? So we can break up and make things super awkward at anything you and Mitch throw for the rest of your lives? No thanks.”

“I’m telling you.” Steph says. “Perfect match.” But she drops it after that, suggesting brunch, an offer that Aubrey immediately agrees to.

-----

It’s a quick stop for Aubrey to pop home to change and pick up her roommate, Erin, before the three girls head over to what’s long been a favorite brunch spot, laughing as Aubrey and Erin watch Steph fire off a series of snapchats to Mitch featuring her bottomless mimosas- her favorite way of asking to be picked up on his way home from practice.

Erin laughs so hard she almost snorts mimosa out her nose as Aubrey and Steph recap dinner from the previous night, but once she recovers, she hits Steph with a look. “I am begging you to invite me to this next time, solely so I can watch the two of them interact.”

Aubrey gasps as Steph laughs. “Rude!”

Erin giggles, beginning to recount the date she’d gone on last night-her fourth with this guy from the gym she belongs to-and Aubrey finds herself nodding along with Steph in all the right places, as friends should, happy that Erin’s happy, especially after her shitty last boyfriend, and eager to meet this guy for more than the five minutes he’d shown up at their door. 

Her story is interrupted-for Aubrey, at least-by the vibration of her phone, and she checks the text from an unfamiliar number, rolling her eyes when she sees the message.

hey this is will, followed by an amount of emojis that could only actually be from Mitch. 

hi mitch. She sends back.

lol. Comes the response. sorry.

you don’t have to apologize for mitch. i’m familiar

Will reacts to that with a haha and then it’s a while before she checks her phone again, enjoying brunch with her girls and laughing at the look on Mitch’s face as he comes to pick Steph up and realizes he’ll be driving her and Erin back as well.

he’s really found his place between annoying and relentless. Will’s texted, when she checks again a little later, at home on the couch and pleasantly tipsy, deciding what to Netflix with Erin.

that’s his sweet spot. Aubrey sends, and then points halfheartedly at The Office on the screen, well on her way to a post-brunch nap.

-----

Aubrey knows Mitch and Steph well enough to know that’s not the end of it, and sure enough, the subtle (and not so subtle) hints keep coming. But luckily, training camp is about to begin, and so even if they do keep coming, Mitch, and by extension, Will, are both too busy for Mitch and Steph to push anything too crazy on her and Will.

Until suddenly the season begins, and even though things are still crazy for them, suddenly they’ve got days off or afternoons free and she finds that the subtleness of the hints becomes gradually less subtle.

jesus fuck. Will sends one afternoon and she laughs at it immediately, even as he continues typing. tell steph i’m sorry but mitch had to go.

She laughs loudly, which earns her a look from her nearest coworkers. right there with you.

considering just lying and telling him i already took you out last week to just get him off my back jfc. 

tried that already. knew i was lying right away. Aubrey sends back. She appreciates him trying, but come on. That was like, the first thing she tried.

well, Will sends, and then those annoying three dots appear and disappear about four times, before he finally finishes. let’s just go somewhere then and get them off our backs.

time and fucking place. She replies.

-----

Aubrey meets Will at a bar that’s close to her work, a couple days after that text exchange, just in time for the end of happy hour. He’s got a drink in front of him already, that he quickly finishes when the waiter comes to take her order, so he can order another one while she orders one of her favorite cocktails, before it becomes full price again at the start of the next hour.

“You know, I thought Mitchy would have been more…” Will trails off, looking thoughtful, but then continues after a moment. “Smug, when I told him we were going out tonight. What’d Steph say?”

“Oh don’t get me wrong. They’ll be smug to each other.” Aubrey tells him, confident that the two of them are at home right now boasting about the fact that they were right. “But if they think we’re actually on the same page now and they say anything that I hear, that would be the end. Downward tailspin, cut my hair six inches, new tattoo, you name it.” 

Will laughs. “So it’s like that?”

She nods. “A little lacking in some impulse control.” She holds her thumb and index finger up to him, with about 10cm of space between them, to show him just how poor it is, and Will laughs again. 

“Guess I’ll just have to wait for a nice, big I told you so tomorrow.” He says.

Aubrey snickers. “One a day for the next few weeks more like.”

Will shrugs. “Meh, I’ll figure something out to give him a taste of his own medicine.”

“We should.” Aubrey nods absentmindedly, as a comment she’d made to Steph right after the initial dinner comes back to her. 

“Should what?” Will frowns. 

“Give them a taste of their own medicine.”

“Where are you going with this?” Will asks curiously.

Aubrey grins, as the idea starts to form. “A tragic break up to make things so awkward for the two of them that they’ll regret setting us up in the first place.”

Will pauses for a long moment, but then he grins and leans toward her. “I’m listening.”

-----

Steph is bouncing when Aubrey walks into their weekly Thursday barre class. She’s sure she knows why, but Aubrey gives her a strange look anyway when she slides in next to her. “What?”

“What?” Steph repeats. “Seriously?”

Aubrey laughs. “Use your words, Stephanie.”

“Bitch, you know what I want.” Steph says, which makes the woman in front of them turn and give them a scandalized look.

Aubrey giggles. She’d really just wanted to annoy Steph a little but that was totally worth it all. “Yeah I know. It was good. Like whatever.”

“I hate you so much.”

“I’m going to see him again!”Aubrey protests. “What more do you want from me? I’m not going to like, profess my undying love for him after one date. I’m not Mitch.”

“It was like, our fifth date, and he didn’t profess his undying love for me! He just said he loved me!” Steph huffs as Aubrey snickers. She laughs about it now, they all do, a thing she teases both of her friends about, but she vividly remembers the panic Steph had been in coming home from that date. 

“Well.” She says, grinning. “I guess I’ve got four dates to go then. Or maybe Will does.”

“Will’s too chill to do anything like that.” Steph decides, just as their usual instructor enters. “Ridiculous shit is definitely more your move.”

Aub thinks back to her date with Will the other night, where they’d carefully crafted an entire narrative to start this fake relationship, and fights back a grin, because she’s pretty sure Will can be just as ridiculous. He just does a better job at hiding it. 

-----

Just after noon one day, a few weeks into her arrangement with Will, Aubrey’s phone buzzes and she more than welcomes the interruption from the current project she’s working on.

need a favor. Will’s sent, followed immediately by, please.

sure, what’s up?

His name pops up on her screen next and Aubrey frowns, swiping to accept the call. “Hey.”

“I’m downstairs.” Will says and she frowns, both at the skipped greeting, and at his words.

“Of my office?” She blurts.

“Yeah.” Will says, like it’s the most casual thing in the world, and Aubrey pushes her chair back abruptly.

“Uh ok. I’ll be right down.” She’s already pushing the button for the elevator, waving off the coworker calling after her, asking if everything’s okay. 

Will’s waiting outside, with two cups of coffee in hand, and even though he’d said that he was, Aubrey’s still kind of surprised to see him. He passes her one of the cups in his hand and she takes it, thanking him as she does. “So what’s up?”

“I need a favor.” Will says, starting to walk, and Aubrey follows easily, sipping on the latte he’d brought her. 

She laughs. “You said. What do you need?”

“The team’s got this thing on Friday.” Aubrey gives him a look, because she knows what the thing the team has on Friday is, Steph’s been talking about it for a few weeks now, and it is not as casual as Will is throwing it out to her right now. “And I think I need you to come with me.”

“Do you though?” Aubrey says. “Do you really?”

“I tried for you not to.” Will admits, shooting her a grin, which she appreciates. “But, well, it’s a thing I would have brought any other girlfriend to and then Mitchy opened his mouth too…” He trails off.

“So find a dress.” Aubrey sums up.

Will nods. “Please. I’ll pay for it.” He adds, but she brushes it off. 

“If we’re still stuck in this for Blue and White, you can buy me a dress then.” She grins, and Will returns the grin.

“Deal.” 

-----

Fixing her curls one last time in the mirror by the door, Aubrey grabs her clutch and runs downstairs to meet her Uber. She’s late, not like super late, but more so than she’d  hoped to be, even after texting Will that she was running behind with work and that she’d have to meet him at the venue probably, if he didn’t want to be late.

She shoots off a text to him when she gets in the car, letting him know she’s on her way, and makes polite chatter for a few minutes with her driver, leg bouncing anxiously until he pulls up to where she needs to be.

Will’s standing outside the door when she pulls up, like he’s waiting for her as if this was an actual date, looking at something on his phone in the meantime, which gives Aubrey a minute to take a peek at his suit. He looks good; she might not have any desire to actually date Will, but she can absolutely admit to both herself and anyone (including Steph) that he’s probably the most objectively attractive human she’s ever met, and the suit only ramps that up. It’s custom made, perfectly fitted, a navy blue that brings out his eyes, and maybe a little more casual than some others she’s seen but in a good way. 

His choice in suits makes her feel better about what she’s wearing. Aubrey’d been trying to work off what Steph was wearing, while making sure that what she'd picked out wasn’t overly fancy for the evening or too similar to what Steph had already chosen, ending up in a knee length dress with a sheer high neckline. 

“Hey!” She smiles, catching his attention, mildly disappointed that he doesn’t even flinch in surprise, only looks up as smooth as can be and returns her smile.

“Hey.” He slips his phone in his pocket, reaching out for her hand.

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” Aubrey says immediately, that terrible feeling of letting anyone down instantly relieved when Will waves her off. 

“You haven’t even missed the entire cocktail hour.” He says and she feels her eyes widen as he nods solemnly. “Yeah, it’s like that.”

“Our first stop better be to get me a glass of wine.”

Will laughs, pressing the button for the elevator. “Wouldn’t dream of it being anywhere else.”

Will refreshes his own drink as well, and selects a red wine for her after Aub hems and haws over the options for a minute, a choice that she almost can’t bring herself to take a sip of once the glass is in her hand, for fear that she’ll never be able to drink another Malbec again, guessing this one is well out of her price range based on name and bottle appearance alone. (She takes a sip anyway, it’s as delicious as she’d expected).

Will’s smiling, as if waiting for her reaction, like there’s not a wine she doesn’t like (well, chardonnay, but like, even that she’ll drink if it’s all that available). “Should we do this?” Aubrey asks him, ready to watch him be roasted by teammates for the evening, and he nods, hand moving to the small of her back, leading her deep into the crowd.

But for all the shit he claims to have taken recently about her, they must be on their best behavior, out in public. Everyone he introduces her to is nothing but friendly; the few people she’s met before this event greet her with smiles and open arms, welcoming her into the fold. 

“Are you sure these are the same teammates you warned me about?” She asks Will, when they have a minute to themselves, just finishing up a long and very nice conversation with Justin Holl, Jake Muzzin and their wives, and thinking of the series of texts he’d sent her this morning about “all these assholes.”

“They’re being nice, just for you.” He insists. His arm is still at her waist; it’s barely left there all night. 

“Ugh, so I grew up with seven siblings and I’m not even going to be able to use the skills I got from that to throw down?” She jokes. “What was the point?”

Will actually stops walking for a second, drawing her into him quickly when she stumbles, not expecting the abrupt stop in walking. “You have seven siblings?”

Aubrey nods, wondering if she should bother getting into her family dynamics right now, and settles for a short version. “On my mom’s side, yeah. My parents divorced when I was a baby, and they both remarried. My brother and I have more siblings from both of them; it’s just like a whole thing with my dad.” She winces.

Will’s grinning again, though, like he didn’t even catch it, and he points to himself. “One of six.”

“Oh my god!” She blurts out excitedly, before she can help herself. There’s not many people she knows with sibling counts even close to hers, step and half siblings including, let alone a family like Will’s. “See, you get it!”

“Get what?” She hadn’t even realized that Mitch and Steph had approached them, until Mitch pokes in nosily.

“That younger siblings are actual monsters.” 

“You talk to your sisters everyday!” Mitch frowns, because he doesn’t get it; he never has.

“Yeah, your point?” Aubrey gives him a look as the others laugh around them. “That’s literally what having younger siblings is, and you just don’t know it because you are one.”

“Shots fired.” Steph nudges him.

“You’re the younger sibling too!” he nudges her back.

“Mmm, traditionally, Aub and I count all our siblings together, soo.” She trails off, laughing at the look on Mitch’s face.

Aubrey’s nodding; their families had grown up so close that it wasn’t uncommon to see Steph and her sister hanging around with Aubrey and her brothers, from the time they were children, all the way until today. “That’s why when Cam starts driving me crazy when she’s here next weekend, I’m just dropping her at your place. Basically the same thing.”

“Ohh, so she’s definitely coming?” Steph asks, eyes wide.

Aubrey nods. “Confirmed it with my mom today, I’m going to meet her halfway.” She pauses for the briefest of seconds. “Want to come?”

“Yes! Coffee on the way?”

“Obviously!”

“Yeah, Will and I are definitely going to sit this one out.” Mitch nods firmly.

“You weren’t actually invited, but okay.” Steph pats his shoulder mock-comfortingly. “But we should all do dinner when we get back!”

It takes everything in Aubrey not to show the internal panic on her face. She’s insanely close with her sisters, despite the age gap- she’s close with all her siblings, the brothers that she’d grown up probably terrorizing their parents together and the younger ones that terrorize them all now. It was probably unrealistic to think she could make it through “dating” Will without him meeting any of them, especially knowing how close Steph is with them too. “Yeah, that would be fun.”

She feels Will squeeze her side gently, almost comfortingly, but before they can get much further with this conversation, someone’s coming around and asking them to find their seats for dinner, so they split off to their tables, with promises to make plans for the following Friday over the next few days.

-----

Will’s quiet on the drive home after dinner, in his very expensive car, which is fine because Aubrey spends that time marveling over it. Like, she knew he was boujie, but, wow. 

“Is your sister staying all next weekend?” Will asks, abruptly interrupting Aubrey’s caress of the soft leather of the seat beneath her legs.

“Hm? Oh yeah.” She nods. “Cam’s been a super pain since Kayls started high school this year since she’s still back in junior high, but worse since Kayls just got invited to her first high school party and it’s next weekend.” She sees Will’s wince out of the corner of her eye and laughs. “Oh my god, you don’t even know the half of it! When I texted Cam to invite her up next weekend, she was like why would I want to come hang out with a bunch of old people like you anyway?” 

Will’s laughing and Aubrey’s jaw drops until he shares, “When I was home last summer, my youngest sister made me drop her off at a friend’s house three doors away because I wasn’t cool enough to be seen with.”

She actually laughs at that- if Will, an actual professional hockey player, isn’t cool enough to be seen with, then who is?- but the attitude is so familiar.  “They’re super close, Kayls and Cam, and like I kinda get why Cam’s being super annoying about a lot of shit. Like, I know she feels like she’s being left behind. But god, does she have to take it out on the rest of us?” She shakes her head, clearing both the thoughts and a piece of hair out of her face. “It’s just the age, my mom and I talk about it all the time. They’ll be nice again in a few years.”

Will glances over at her briefly with a look of panic on his face, before flicking his eyes back to the road. “That’s not really a comforting statement. As someone with three younger sisters,” He clarifies. “Not someone meeting yours this weekend.” Aubrey giggles. “But actually, I was wondering what your plans were with her on Saturday night? If you wanted tickets to the game for you guys?”

“Oh!” Aubrey blinks in surprise. “That would...that would actually be really nice. She’d like that.”

“Yeah?” She can hear the smile in Will’s voice.

“Well, she’d like the flex on all her friends on Monday.” Aub admits, knowing that her sister could probably care less about actually seeing a Leafs game. “And on the boys, they’d be super jealous.” At his glance, she clarifies. “Cam’s a triplet.”

He mutters something under his breath and she giggles again; she’s pretty sure that was Swedish and she can guess what it was. “But they’re not coming?”

“Not this weekend.” She confirms. She is definitely not hosting all three of Cam, Tyler, and Danny for the entire weekend. No way, no how. “But once they find out you’re offering tickets? I’m sure my phone will be ringing.”

“You know where to find me.” Will shrugs, pulling up in front of her building. “Thanks for coming tonight.”

Aubrey grins at him. “Fooled Steph and Mitch no problems.”

It feels like it takes a second for the comment to register with Will, but when it does, he returns the grin. “Yeah, no problems.”

-----

Steph waits until they are well on the road to meet her mom and both sisters (because in a surprise twist that everyone saw coming, a high schooler got grounded and a party was cancelled) sitting in stop and go traffic, before bringing up what Aubrey knows she’s been dying to ask. “So how���s Will?”

“Fine?” She responds, before she remembers that she’s supposed to know these things and hastens to finish. “It’s been a busy week with like, work and this shit, but like, he’s good.”

Steph makes a noise, like she’s unsatisfied with that answer and Aubrey gives her a look after she’s braked with the masses, waiting for it to pick up again. “But, like, how are the two of you?”

Ah. Ok. So that’s what this is about. “We’re good.” She assures Steph, absolutely certain her best friend is going to see right through her. “Just like, figuring shit out, you know? It’s still new.”

Steph’s nodding. “I mean, it wouldn’t be if you’d just gone out when Mitch and I first brought you to dinner…”

“Stephanie.” Aubrey says warningly, picking up speed, probably with too much hope that the traffic has cleared.

“Fine!” Steph laughs. “I know, I can’t say I told you so to you or you’re going to panic and break up with him and probably dye your hair and get bangs or something, but like. I’m super happy for you guys. You were so cute last week.”

“What?” Aub says blankly, because she really doesn’t have much else to say, but it doesn’t seem to matter, because Steph’s on a roll now.

“Like, Will couldn’t take his eyes off you the entire night.” She continues. “It was super cute; he kept, like reaching for you, you kept finding him.” She taps Aubrey’s leg excitedly. “Ok, I know I said I wouldn’t, but I’m too fucking excited and I knew you’d be perfect for each other, I knew it.”

“Oh, look! There’s a tattoo place right at the next light.” Aub says loudly, even though she has no intention of getting a tattoo right now- all four of her tattoos were impulsive decisions and the three threats she’s made since she’s gotten in the car feel like far too much thought, not to mention the time crunch they’re on to get back for dinner-but it does serve as the threat she intends. Steph clearly has no desire to try and talk her out of getting one today and switches the topic to something she just saw on the Insta of one of their friends, which lasts them until they pull into the parking lot that’s serving as the meeting point.

“Aub!” For all that Cameron pretends she’s too cool for everything, just like every 14 year old Aubrey can remember, she throws herself at Aubrey the second that Aub and Steph get out of the car. 

Aub squeezes her back, wondering when she got so tall. “Hey Cammie.” Cam swats at her as she pulls back. She hates that nickname, the one that Aub and her three older brothers have called her basically her entire life, but they’ve never stopped, no matter how much their youngest sibling had begged. “Where’s Kayls?”

“Here!” Kaylee huffs from next to their mom, who’s chatting with Steph, has been since she hugged her the minute she got out of the car. 

Aubrey’s eyes narrow, taking in the sibling who looks most like her. “Is that my sweater?”

“No.” Kaylee says too quickly to be true. “Are we ready? We have dinner plans, right?”

“Meeting Aubrey's new boyyyyfriend.” Cam sings, and Aubrey shoves her hand in her sister's face. 

“Not if you’re going to act like that, we don’t.”

“Girls.” Their mom pauses, mid-reach for Aubrey, to give her youngest two daughters a full-on mom look. “Be nice.”

Aubrey laughs at the looks on their faces, before clutching at her mom. “Hi momma. Love you.”

“Love you too.” Her mom squeezes. “Thanks for this gift.” She whispers and winks because Aub knows that her mom loves all eight of them dearly, but these two in particular are driving her nuts right now. “See you Sunday, at Luke’s.”

“Bye, I’m sure I’ll call you ten times before tomorrow!” Aubrey waves at her mom as she gets in her car, sliding back into the driver’s seat of her own, where Steph, Kaylee, and Cam are chattering to each other as they buckle their seatbelts. 

It’s just as she’s pulling back onto the road that Kayls gasps. “Aub, I think I forgot to pack toothpaste.”

“Ohh, me too!” Cam realizes.

Aubrey exchanges a look with Steph quickly. It’s not looking promising that she won’t be making a call to her mom, to talk her off the ledge.

-----

“What do you mean, you didn’t bring pants?” Aubrey rubs her temples as she stares at her sister.

Kaylee shrugs. “I forgot to pack them.”

“I forgot shirts.” Cam calls from the bathroom, where she’d just showered. “Can I borrow one?”

“Did you bring anything?” Aubrey asks wearily. “Toothbrush? Underwear?”

“Of course I brought underwear.” Kaylee huffs, sounding legit offended, like she didn’t forget to pack pants on a weekend trip away.

“Well excuse me for thinking you might not have, since you didn’t bring anything else!”

Her phone buzzes on the nightstand again; it’s got to be the third or fourth time, but she’s honestly been so caught up in her sisters that she hasn’t had time to check. “Just, like, grab whatever from the closet. We’re already late.”

Sure enough, it’s Will texting, letting her know he’s downstairs. be down in a few, She responds, not bothering to go into the whole pants story. “Girls! Three minutes!” She grins at their shrieks, packing a couple things into her purse and laughing to herself as she listens to them get ready. “Kayls! Cam!”

“We’re ready!” They rush out together, Kayls dressed in a pair of her favorite jeans and Cam in one of her favorite sweaters-how they always manage to find her favorites is ridiculous-but they don’t have time for her to make them change. 

“Ugh.” Aubrey just says instead, ushering them out and locking it behind her. “Come on, Will’s been waiting.”

“Will’s here?”

“Yes?” She frowns at the two of them. “Where else would he be?” But Kaylee and Cam are already giggling to each other, enough for her to roll her eyes to herself as she leads them out to Will’s car, knowing it’s definitely too much to expect them to just be cool.

“Hey.” Will greets, as she slips into the passenger seat.

“Hi.” She returns, smiling at him.

“Uh, hi?” Cam says impatiently from the backseat. Will laughs, but Aub gives her a look.

“It’s been literally two seconds. Could you, like, chill?”

“Nope!”

Aub side-eyes her again, but turns back to Will. “These are my sisters, Cam and Kaylee.” They greet him eagerly, a sentiment he returns, and then spends the entire car ride to the restaurant where they’re meeting Steph and Mitch at answering every question they ask with absurd patience. 

“Oh, I smell garlic.” Kaylee says, once Will has dropped his car off with valet. 

“It smells delicious.” Aub corrects, because it’s definitely heavy on the garlic, but it smells heavenly. 

Will smiles over at both of them, though Aub’s not sure if he means it more for Kaylee or her. “This is one of my favorite restaurants.”

“Really?” She blurts out, before she can stop herself, and he nods, reaching for her hand. 

“Great food.” He confirms. “Come on; Mitch and Steph are already here.”

That certainly serves to get her sisters moving-all her younger siblings have stopped being impressed by Mitch but they still love seeing him just as much as they love seeing Steph- and they push their way into through the doors quickly enough that Aubrey rushes to catch up to them, not trusting them alone, and tugging Will along with her.

Cam and Kaylee have already found Mitch and Steph, already chatting away with the two of them, like they didn’t just see Steph two hours ago in the car, and Aubrey and Will slip into the last two seats at the table. 

“You good?” Will nudges her as they sit. 

Aubrey nods. “Yeah. Pretty good.”

He raises an eyebrow. “Pretty good.”

“Well, Frick and Frack may legitimately drive me crazy this weekend but.” She shrugs. “We’ll see.”

“What happened to dropping them off with Steph if they drove you too crazy?”

She laughs. “God, if only, Will. If only.”

“Will!” Kaylee interrupts, looking up briefly from her menu. “What’s good here?”

“Will! What’s this mean?” Cam adds and Aubrey takes a deep breath, even as Will looks like it’s his absolute pleasure to walk them through the names of some of the different dishes on the menu. 

“Wine, please.” Aubrey requests from the waiter, the second he arrives at the table. “Literally, anything you’ve got.”

But Will waves that off, ordering a bottle of red for the table, in perfect French. “Show off.” She grumbles at him quietly and he grins at her from over the top of Cam’s menu, before he goes back to helping her out.

From her other side, Steph’s hiding her own smile, or rather, doing a very poor job at hiding one. “What?” Aubrey presses.

“Nothing.” Steph says. “Just happy to be having dinner all together.”

“Well that’s bullshit.” Aubrey calls her out, at the very blatant lie; Mitch snorts into his hand to cover his laugh. “But always happy to be having dinner with you too.”

Steph beams, clinking her wine glass with Aubrey’s the second the waiter fills them both. “Again, tomorrow, pregame?”

Aub looks over at her sisters, who have moved away from asking Will menu questions and are, instead, asking him questions about the bun in his hair. “Assuming you aren’t bailing me out of jail instead? Sure.”

-----

Aubrey Dupont: we’re going to do apps with steph pregame but want to say thanks again for tix tonight! want to do dinner again with us after if you’re free? 

Will Nylander: i’m free dinner sounds good 😁 it’ll be late though once I get out

Aubrey Dupont: that’s fine! Id say breakfast but we’ve got to leave pretty early tomorrow to get to my brothers to knock a wall down!

Will Nylander: ….holy shit cam was serious

Aubrey Dupont: 😂😂lollll yeah they’re opening up the dining room and living room! We’re all going out to take the wall down, we’re supposed to meet Steph and Mitch and then head out

Will Nylander: lol does mitch know? he booked us a tee time Sunday 

Aubrey Dupont: stfu he did not😂 lol he probably just doesn’t want to get iced that early

Will Nylander: haha what??

Aubrey Dupont: hahaha the first time steph brought him home to meet our families, it was my parents Christmas Eve party, my brothers iced him like three times in the first hour. He was so trashed he couldn’t even walk back next door to Steph’s house. 

It’s just like a thing we do, all our siblings and he was not prepared for it at all 😂

Will Nylander: sooo if I left one in his locker this week, how much trouble would you be in?

Aubrey Dupont: lol a lot but it’d be worth it, you should 100% do that

Mitch Marner: we’re knocking down a wall tomorrow wtf why didn’t you tell me? I’ll brave a Smirnoff to knock down a fucking wall. What time are you and Will picking us up?

Will Nylander: i fucked up, sorry

-----

“That’s really cute!” Zach Hyman’s wife smiles as she hands Kaylee her phone back. 

“Thank you.” Aubrey mouths to her, as Cam and Kayls flock to the phone to check out the pictures she’s taken of them, and Alannah smiles at her knowingly. Aub’s sure she’s got sisters of her own. 

“I’ll see you soon.” Alannah promises. “We should do dinner soon, the three of us, next time the boys are out of town.” And then she’s pushing her way toward Zach before Aub can respond to anything.

“Not a word.” Aubrey says warningly to her sisters, as Steph snickers, thinking of how picky the two of them are about pictures almost always.

“These are actually really cute though.” Cam says, like she even means it.

“Yeah, she did good.” Kayls adds, sliding her phone back into her purse.

“So happy they meet your standards.” Steph says dryly.

“They are the ones to meet.” Kayls flips her hair and it’s all Aubrey can do to fight back a laugh. She honest to god forgets how funny they are sometimes, when they’re driving her as crazy as they are now. 

“You’re too much.” Aubrey tells her and Kaylee grins, looping her arms around Aub’s shoulders and squeezing tightly. “Okay, now you’re really too much. You’re suffocating me; get off! Look,” She nudges Kaylee away, noticing quickly that Mitch has appeared recently- without Will, but with Auston-and tries to draw her attention there instead. “Mitch is here, bother him instead.”

Kaylee peers over. “Honestly, who even cares about Mitch? I’d rather bother Will instead.”

Mitch’s jaw drops as Steph and Auston laugh, but Aubrey feels the tension immediately in her shoulders. “Jesus Christ, could you just say thank you to Will so he doesn’t think you’re a literal monster like the rest of the world does?”

“Thanks, Will!” Kaylee and Cam chorus, and she glares at them right up until she feels a presence at her side and realizes he’s actually right there. 

“It was great to have you guys here this weekend.” Will smiles at them, sounding absolutely sincere, not a hint of sarcasm. 

“We had so much fun.” Kayls is already gushing before Aub can even turn her death glare to her. 

“What’d you guys do today?” Will asks her and again, it’s the sincerity that gets Aub, like he actually cares to listen to her sisters tell him about the brunch place that she and Steph took them to this morning, the stores they hit afterwards, a few of their favorite spots, before they had to go home and get ready for the game. 

He’s sweet and attentive, asking all the questions that he should and nodding in all the right places. “You guys still want dinner?” He asks, probably as soon as he can find a time to interrupt. He’s got to be absolutely starving after that game.

“Yes.” Aubrey answers for them all; she doesn’t really care what her sisters actually have to say on the matter. If Will’s hungry, they’ll eat right now whether they want to or not.

“Can we go back to that bakery we went to earlier, first?” Cam asks, and Aubrey straight up glares at her, but before she can even say no, Cam’s already whining to her. “Oh my, god, seriously? Stop, Aubrey!”

“Ryan, like, swears you’re fun; I just don’t see it.” Kaylee adds, about their brother, the one just younger than Aub.

And like, Aubrey knows they’re just trying to get under her skin, but like, Jesus Christ. “That’s because Ryan’s an actual adult and whenever you two come up here I have to be your literal mom, because you forget to bring toothbrushes and pants and use manners!”

“Take like four deep breaths.” Will says, in that chill way he is about basically everything, and immediately Aubrey feels her glare swing over toward him. That’s basically being told to calm down and there’s literally nothing fucking worse than that, doesn’t he know that?

Probably not. He’s probably never been told to calm down in his life. Jesus, what was it again that made Steph think he was perfect for her?

Mitch, probably recognizing that Aubrey’s about to lose it, pulls Cam into his side for a one-armed hug, mentioning that he’s starving, which at least cues Kaylee into the fact that Will might be too. “Yeah, dinner does actually sound good.” Her eyes flicker over to Will first, before landing on Aubrey, and only when Aub sees the flicker of remorse in them does she actually take that breath that Will had mentioned. 

“What time are we meeting in the morning?’ Steph asks, and Aub knows she’s looking to smooth over any potential blow up.

“9:22.” She deadpans, laughing at Mitch’s face.

“It’s supposed to be a nice day!” He protests. “I wouldn’t have made a tee time if you two had told me we were knocking down a wall! I had to hear it from Willy! What’s this shit?”

“Kicked out of the group chat again.” Aub shrugs, even though she knows well and truly that he hasn’t been- and won’t be again until sometime early spring, when someone does it symbolically for a day as they do every year.

“I’ll kick you out of the group chat.” Mitch says childishly, as Steph tries to collect him, Auston already ready to leave, and promising Aub that they’ll make plans later that night about the next morning.

“Will, where do you want to take us tonight for food?” Kayls asks, as they part ways in the lot.

Will looks a little startled. “Oh! Uh, what-where do you guys want to go?”

“We want to go where you like to eat.” Cam says. “We’ll eat anything.”

Will looks at her for confirmation and Aubrey nods; none of them are picky eaters. “Sushi?” He suggests and both girls nod excitedly, racing off towards Will’s car. “See?” He nudges her as they walk to catch up. “They’re fine.”

She glares up at him; he bumps her again and then again, repeatedly until she smiles. “They’re not awful.” She agrees, especially now that they’ve reminded her just how nice they can really be, at times.

Will’s grinning, matching her own smile. “I know you love them.”

“Don’t call me out like that, William.” He mimes zipping his lips and she laughs. “Ugh, you dork. Let’s go eat.”

-----

Kayls and Cam are in peak hurricane form, only barely dressed and nowhere near packed and ready to go, when Will texts to announce that he’s arrived to pick them up in the morning, so Aub just responds with her apartment number and tells him to come up.

He arrives at her door a minute or two later, with a guest in tow. “Mitchy invited him.” Will explains sheepishly, as he and Auston make themselves at home at the breakfast bar in her kitchen.

“Sorry to just, like, crash.” Auston adds.

Aubrey blinks at them. She feels like Will, of all people, should know better. “There’s legit eight of us; we adopt strays all the time.” He cracks up at that; they both do actually, and she smiles, just as Kayls shouts something about Cam stealing her leggings, from where they’re still in her room gathering her stuff.

“They’re not even yours!” Cam shouts. “Aubrey, tell her I got them first.”

“Well I was planning on wearing them!”

“Well you didn’t say that!”

“It’s just like being at home.” Auston says, smiling fondly enough that Aub laughs. “Make sure you check the straightener before you leave or they’ll fight about who forgot to turn it off in the car.” And then she straight up cackles; that’s a fight she knows well.

Auston and Will are both laughing as well, even as she hears her sisters shout for her. She ignores it, running her hands over her temples and turns towards the cabinet. “Coffee?” She asks them, and they both laugh as a muffled shout can be heard.

“Please.” Will says and Auston agrees so she pours mugs for them both, making idle chit chat, interrupted occasionally as they wait for her sisters to finally appear and be ready to leave. 

They do, eventually, far later than Aubrey would have liked, and late enough that she’s grinding her teeth about it, loud enough that Will nudges her gently when she passes him to get her coat. He’s right though, it’s not like they’re in a rush to get out to her brother's house, but she’s anxious enough by that point to get moving that she doesn’t even realize what Kayls has taken from her closet to wear until they’re all climbing into Will’s backseat. “Oh my god, what are you wearing?”

“They’re literally yours!” Kayls snaps back and that’s not a lie, but it’s not what Aub’s got issue with either. It’s the absurdly clashing patterns in her leggings and oversized long-sleeve.

“I never wear them together.”

“That’s because your fashion sense is basic a-f.” Kayls pronounces each letter individually and Aub knows, she knows that Will and Auston are laughing at the look of disbelief on her face, even if she can’t see them. “You should take some tips from Will; his is on point.”

“Thanks, Kayls!” Will beams at her through the rearview mirror.

Aubrey ignores him. “Will’s homeless, that’s why he dresses like that.” She deadpans, which he protests immediately even as Auston cracks up.

“You’re not homeless.” Cam says to her, and it’s the fake innocent thing that does it for Aub. “Will could live with you.”

Aub pulls a face even as Auston just laughs even harder and Cam stares at her like she’s waiting for an actual answer. “Walked right into that one.” She mutters to herself, as Will meets her eyes in the mirror. He’s fighting back a grin; she can see the laughter in his eyes. “Will, coffee at the next Tim’s, please?” She’s going to need one to get through this.

Will’s full on grinning now, but he pulls off at the next exit in search of coffee and hands over his credit card before she can even object. The rest of the ride to her brother’s house feels like it passes in a flash, Kayls and Cam tumbling out of the car to greet Luke practically before Will’s even put it in park. 

The only thing that stops Aubrey from having a complete heart attack is the immediate sense of calm she feels from no longer calling herself in charge. Luke’s here; he can deal with this shit now.

She feels Will laughing at her as they exit the car. “I thought you’d be more nervous.” He says, as they walk toward her brother, side by side, with Auston.

She snickers. “For what?” And then leans herself into Luke for a hug. “Hi!”

“Jesus, what’d you give them before you brought them here?” Luke returns the hug. 

“Literally anything that would shut them up.” She says, dead serious, and then introduces Will, and Auston, almost as an afterthought. 

Luke is friendly and welcoming, like she knew he would be. They’ve never had the overprotective sibling relationship she hears about from people. They’re too close in age, only a year apart in school; or too close in general, sharing too much as they grew up shuffled to their dad and stepmom’s every other weekend for their court-mandated time. She’s never doubted that he has her back, but he lets her live her life, no matter how stupid the decisions she might make (though he’s certainly not shy about telling her when he thinks she making one).

“Fitz and Steph and Mitch here yet?” She wonders, as they walk inside, the chatter between her sisters and sister-in-law already evident.

“Running late.” Luke says. “But Ryan’s upstairs sleeping. He stayed last night.”

She grins at him, contemplating running up to wake him, but in the end decides against it, settling for following the sound of her sisters’ voices into the kitchen. Rachel’s standing at the counter, setting out snacks and listening patiently as Kayls and Cam detail their entire weekend to her.

“-Will got us tickets for Saturday’s game-”

“-we ate at this amazing sushi place-”

“Rach!” Aubrey interrupts, tugging her sister-in-law away from Kayls and Cam, who are talking over each other. “Come meet Will.”

Rachel sends her a grateful look and immediately turns her bright smile at Will and Auston, introducing herself to them both and offering them drinks. By the time that she, Luke, and Aub finish getting drinks for everyone, Ryan’s coming downstairs, rubbing a hand over his face sleepily, and the introductions begin all over again.

Then Aubrey and Steph’s parents come in with her two youngest brothers, which cues another round of that, and then finally, Steph, Mitch, and Fitz roll in, which has Aubrey cackling when Auston leans over and whispers. “You didn’t tell us your brother is Little Fred?”

“What the fuck are you on?” She frowns at him, but Will’s got the same look on his face.

Will nods over at Fitz, the stepbrother who’d been in the same grade as her growing up and one of her best friends for about as long as she could remember. Said brother is currently trying to mess up Cam’s hair with one hand, while fighting one of her triplets, Tye, for the last danish. “He’s come out with us a few times, I guess with Mitch? He looks like Fred.” She gives the two of them a look. Literally the only thing her brother and their goalie have in common is red hair. Will shrugs. “Little Fred.”

“That’s the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard.” She declares. “The bar is so low.”

“Must be.” Ryan nudges her side. She hadn’t even heard him come up beside her. “Dating you and all.” 

She flips him off and he grins; Ryan’s actually the sibling closest in age to her, with the way all their birthdays work out, but from Luke to Ryan, all four of them are close and when Steph and her sister were added in there as well…well, the group chat gets chaotic.

“Hey!” Her mom snaps her fingers at them. “I don’t want to see any of that today.” And Aub can feel it in her face, the look she’s giving back to her mom, like certain that she’s not serious, because, honestly, has she met any of them? She peeks over at Ryan; he’s fighting back a laugh and that’s all it takes for her mom to lose it, the seriousness on her face quickly turning into a laugh.

It’s enough to get them all moving though, toward the wall they’re going to be tackling today, where they’re divided into teams by her stepdad and Steph’s dad, the only two who competently know what they’re doing.

“Ohhh!” Cam says immediately drifting towards the power saw. “Can I use this?”

Will pulls it away from her hands before she has the chance to even touch it and Aubrey’s calling out to her stepdad. “Mike! Are we stuck with these people all day?”

“Yes.” Her stepdad calls back; he’s already showing Tye and Danny how to demo their end of the wall.

Aub looks at Will and immediately mouths, “I’m sorry,” but he’s already loudly laughing at her. She kinda hates that he’s laughing at her, but she hates even more how contagious his laughter is.

-----

It’s a little past dinner time and Aubrey’s exhausted, too tired even to take her empty pizza plate to the kitchen trash can from where she’s sitting on the family room floor. 

Around her, the rest of her family is in a similar state. Ryan’s actually asleep on one end of the couch, and on the other end, Auston’s half-heartedly grumbling at Derek Carr and the Raiders, while Steph’s lying across Mitch’s lap on the other side of the room. It’s about as quiet as they’ve all ever been, even Mitch and her sisters, which is how she knows they’re all exhausted.

Next to her, Will’s been quietly munching on a plate of fries since he finished his pizza a while ago. Aubrey reaches over and steals one from him. “Hey!” He protests.

“You’ve had the whole plate!” She thought she ate a lot; she honestly doesn’t know where he puts it all. “I just wanted a couple!”

“A couple?” Will repeats and Aubrey nods with a grin, reaching out and swiping another one from the plate. “Keep this up and we’re going to have to stop for second dinner on the way home.”

“I could probably eat again by then.” She rationalizes, stealing another. 

Will laughs, sliding the plate over a few inches toward her, and Aubrey grins triumphantly. It’s quiet for a minute, or mostly quiet, the only sound for the next minute Auston moaning about a fumble, and Kaylee and Cam asking a question about it and then giggling to each other about it before they even get a full answer to it. 

It’s Auston’s perplexed face that reminds her and she nudges Will as she goes in for another fry. “Hey.” She bumps him again, grabbing his attention. “Thanks.”

Will hums, sounding almost confused, and glances over at her. Every time Aubrey thinks it’s impossible for him to be more good looking, he proves her wrong; and always doing the most innocent things. He’s just looking at her, with this tiny little smile, but the light’s catching his eyes and they look impossibly blue and gentle, so soft like the rest of him does right now, in a way he almost never publicly is. “For what?”

“For putting up with my sisters all weekend and their increasingly ridiculous comments.”

Will laughs and he’s so close that she can feel the vibration. He’s leaning back against the wall again, but his head’s tilted a little, just barely leaning against hers, and Aub leans into it a little as he starts to talk. “My two youngest sisters play this game, every time we go to the airport, yeah? After we’ve said goodbye and everything. It’s like this competition between them, for who gets the last touch. And they’ll like chase me down as far as they can until I get to security, back and forth between the two of them…”

Aubrey’s already giggling, picturing the scene. “Same shit, different day,” She summarizes the weekend.

He flicks his finger across her nose and she giggles again. “Bingo.”

-----

It’s only when they’re back in the car and on the highway back toward Toronto after stopping for sushi for a second dinner that Auston says, sounding entirely too casual to actually be casual, “So, like, what’s really going on here with you two?”

Aub feels her stomach drop and it takes everything in her not to look at Will, who of fucking course, plays it enitrely cool. “What do you mean?”

Auston leans forward, from the middle seat in the back, which he’d generously offered to take so that she could sit up with Will even though she’d insisted he’d want the leg room up front; she’s starting to wonder if there was more to it than that. He gestures between the two of them. “It’s just, like, not how you usually are with girls.”

Will’s head whips back to look at him. “What’s that supposed to mean?” He demands.

“Will!” Aubrey hisses. “Eyes on the road.”

Auston’s cackling as Will turns his attention back to driving, but continues to eye him up through the rearview mirror. Aubrey twists in her seat; she can still stare him down. “So anyway,” He continues. “There’s that. And then, I mean, I was in the car with him when you literally texted him your apartment number. That was pretty sketch.”

Aub swings her gaze over to Will. “It came over Bluetooth.” He defends. 

She pats his thigh. “Stick with hockey, kay?”

He laughs, and when she looks back at Auston, he’s laughing too, but he’s also got this thoughtful look on his face. “So anyway, what’s going on?” He presses.

“Steph and Mitch.” She says finally, after exchanging another look with Will.

“Ah.”

“That’s it?” She frowns at him. “That’s all you have to say?”

“Well, I mean, I’m sure there’s more to it, but like, I have met them before.” Auston grins when she and Will both laugh. “So what’d they do now?”

“Do you have an hour?” Will drawls.

“I have beer upstairs.” Auston offers, since they’re basically pulling up to his apartment, and since Will looks over at her for confirmation, Aub barely even takes a second before agreeing.

“Any wine?”

-----

It’s actually kind of crazy how relieving it is for someone else to know about her and Will, outside of the two of them. Aubrey hadn’t even realized how much it was weighing on her until it’s not, until the three of them had spent three hours laughing about it, recapping the entire thing and then just laughing about nothing.

She notices right away that it's equally relieving to Will, that the two of them will drift over to Auston when the team does something together, or that she’ll get a snapchat from one of them from the road that features Will and Auston off doing something ridiculous.

Steph calls her out on it one day, when the two of them are at a game one night. “I did not introduce you to Will for the two of you to spend time with Auston.”

“You ditched me last night!” Aubrey protests, but really, Steph’s not wrong. That was one time, because Mitch’s brother wanted to introduce his new girlfriend to them, and she’s been out here avoiding invites like it’s her job.

Steph continues like she didn’t hear a thing. “I introduced you to Will so that we could have great couples’ friends and hang out all the time, so why aren’t we?”

“I thought you introduced me to Will because we’d be perfect together?” Aubrey bitches and Steph gives her a look, so Aubrey promises that she and Will will do dinner with her and Mitch again soon.

Dinner soon, to Steph, apparently means that weekend, and Aubrey finds herself in Will’s car again, with a bottle of wine and a plate of dessert, driving out to Etobicoke on Friday night. “I like that I’ve claimed this seat now.”

Will laughs. “What?”

“It’s always set where I want it to be!” She grins. “Perfect leg room!”

Her phone buzzes as Will laughs again, but it only takes a quick glance at the screen to click back out of it. “You okay?” Will asks.

“Huh?”

“You just got real quiet, real quick.” He says, turning onto Steph and Mitch’s street. “Everything alright?”

Aubrey huffs out an aggravated breath, trying to decide what, if anything, she wants to say. “My other dad is being...my other dad.”

“Oh?” Will parks in their driveway and she huffs out another annoyed sigh as her phone buzzes in her pocket, knowing it’s just her half-brother again with more shit about their dad. 

“He’s like…” She gathers her stuff and tries to find the words as they walk inside. “I don’t even know. Everybody’s been freaking out since some lady tagged him in a bunch of pictures on Facebook last week but my siblings are at dinner with him right now and they asked him about it and he told them he’s not seeing anyone.”

“Wait, seriously?” It’s the first thing Steph says to her; Aub’s been bitching to her about the whole thing for a week now and she’s more than familiar with her issues with her dad. 

“Yes!” She cries. “My sister asked if he was seeing anyone, he said no. I guess one of the boys asked if he’d taken any trips lately, because of the pictures, and he said no. So he’s just straight up lying and I don’t know why!”

“Maybe,” Will says. “He’s not actually lying.”

Aubrey pats his arms gently. “You’re new here, so I’ll let that terrible thought pass.”

Will looks taken aback but she can barely spare a thought for that as Mitch says, “Maybe he got secret-married again and is just waiting until you’re all there to tell you-OW!” Steph elbows him hard and he grins anyway. “What? I’m just saying!”

“I already went to therapy once this week, Mitchy.” Aub mock-glares at him. “I cried for three hours and only didn’t dye my hair blue because Steph came to pick me up for the game. I don’t need to go again. Keep that shit to yourself and get me some wine.”

Mitch laughs; he’s equally familiar with her post-therapy routine and her feelings for her dad. “Alright fine.” He says, but there must still be something on her face because Will’s hand comes to rest on her shoulder right after that and he rubs it gently for a minute before he comes to sit next to her.

Conversation turns lighter after that- to Mitch’s brother’s new girlfriend, who Steph liked and Mitch thought was only okay and then to Will’s sister’s new boyfriend, who he hates-before they’re all more focused on food and a game later in the evening. 

It’s easy to ignore her phone buzzing when Aubrey and Mitch are dominating Steph and Will at Codenames (or calling cheaters, because Will and Steph most definitely are), but much harder to ignore in the car when she and Will are alone again, and Aub barely even notices when Will doesn’t make the turn for her place, instead just driving straight to his place.

“Oh.” She says quietly when he finally parks and they’re in the garage, instead of just pulling up out front of her building, like he has been recently.

“Didn’t want you to dye your hair blue tonight.” Will deadpans and Aubrey laughs, surprised that it’s kind of watery. 

“Fair, it was definitely a risk.”

Will smiles at her gently. “I’ve been told my guest room is supremely comfortable.”

Aubrey raises her eyebrows; she can siphon out the source of that one. “I hear your brother has pretty shitty taste.” She says and he laughs, that loud one he’s got that she can’t help but smile at because it sounds so ridiculous, but Aubrey’s already getting out of the car, ready to follow him up before he can see.

Will’s condo is pretty much everything she expected- a lot of modern pieces, a lot of white, very Scandanavian- but there’s plenty of Will in it as well. A lot of family pictures. Some hockey stuff-both Leafs and Team Sweden-but not an overwhelming amount. 

She’s still looking at some of the pictures (he looks so much like his mom) when he returns with a couple glasses of wine, and she accepts hers with a gracious smile. “Thank you.”

“We’ve been at this long enough for me to know that wine’s your thing.” He jokes and she laughs.

“I meant for bringing me here.” She shoves at his shoulder; annoyingly enough he doesn’t even move. “I definitely would have done something stupid.”

“What are friends for?” Will smiles and there’s that annoyed feeling again, maybe even more so than just a minute ago, tugging at her stomach, for really no reason. They are friends now, in pretty much every sense of the word. They hang out, they text, they do all kinds of things. It’ll actually probably be hard for her, to not be friends with him, or at least pretend to be, when they have to “break up” for a bit to annoy Steph and Mitch. 

“Yeah.” Aubrey says and it just sounds off so she takes a sip of her wine right away so he can’t see whatever her face is doing. “If you were really my friend, you’d let me borrow some sweats to sleep in. You know. Since you kidnapped me to bring me here.”

“Ohh, I don’t know if we’re that close.” Will says, but he’s laughing as he walks toward his room so she knows he’s kidding.

It’s a pretty quiet night between the two of them once they make themselves comfortable, just chilling on the couch and watching Netflix, and Will’s not stingy with his pours so Aubrey pours herself into his guest room a little tipsy, and maybe that’s why she texts him from bed. You were right, your guest bed is pretty comfortable.

*Supremely* comfortable. Told you so 😜

-----

Aub’s still in Will’s absurdly comfortable guest bed when her daily FaceTime call with her sisters comes in and she answers it without thinking. “Hey.”

“Where are you?” Kaylee asks immediately. “That’s not your room-oh my god, are you at Will’s?” She blurts and Aubrey wants to smack herself.

“That’s Leafs stuff!” Cam exclaims, popping her head into the frame. “You never wear Leafs stuff! Oh my god, do you live there now?”

“Back up, calm the crazy.” She’s cutting off this spiral before they’ve got the story of her and Will eloping spread to her entire family. 

Kayls pouts. “You never let us have any fun.”

“I do not want a call from Grandma this afternoon asking me why I got married to the blond hippie from the Leafs because you two can’t keep your mouths shut and she saw one bad picture.” 

Cam’s jaw drops in outrage. “That’s so rude, we would at least send a good picture out! Like she’d know how hot he really is; there’d be no need to google and accidentally come across a picture of him in a Sugo hat.”

That’s it. She’s up for good now. Aubrey throws the blankets off herself and sits up off the edge of the bed, rubbing her temples in hopes it’ll make her tiny hangover headache go away. Limited success. “You googled him?”

“Of course we googled him!” Kayls says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world. “Aub, oh my god, he’s got-”

“I’m leaving this room right now.” Aubrey warns; she’s already at the door. “Stop talking about him like he’s not here.”

Cam immediately launches into a story about a couple of the girls on her field hockey team and something that had happened at practice after school yesterday, a story that she’s still detailing when Aubrey walks into the kitchen to find Will also looking into his phone with a fond look on his face as a loud jumble of voices shout back to him in what she can only assume is Swedish.

“Coffee’s back there.” He points, greeting her with a smile. “And mugs above it.”

“Thank you.” She’s pretty sure, from the expression on his face, that he knows how much of a lifeline that’s about to be for her.

“Hi Will!” Kayls calls and Aub glares at her, but Will calls back a greeting in return before returning to Swedish, but definitely in an argumentative tone.

It’s a couple more minutes of that-listening to Will speaking in Swedish and going through her usual morning nonsense with her sisters-before Will lets out the smallest groan and then looks at her. “My sisters want to say hi.”

“Oh.” Aubrey says, surprised more than anything.

And before she can really say anything, Cam adds. “Yes! Then we can talk with Will!” Which is how she finds herself sitting next to Will with his dog curled in her lap, both their phones in front of them, speaking with her sisters and two of Will’s sisters.

It’s pretty much maximal chaos, but when they both end their calls a few minutes later, Aubrey’s still smiling as she runs her hand through the dog’s fur and Will’s laughing to himself. “Mmm, good luck to you.” Aub nudges him, easy enough to do since she’s still sitting flush up next to him. “When they’re in town next month. They’ve probably all followed each other on Instagram by now already. Best friends in no time.”

“Gonna be busy with games.” Will says weakly. “Practices, media things. Think it’s gonna be your problem.”

“Like hell.” She laughs, shaking her head when he joins in and doesn’t stop. “Oh my god, that was not that funny!”

“Just thinking of all the ways they’re going to torture us when they’re all together after they’ve spent the last month talking shit about us in a group chat.” Will says, somehow still laughing about that, because he’s literally the most chill person on the planet. Like of course he’s not even bothered by that.

“I don’t have enough food in me to deal with that thought.” Aubrey declares, laughing decidedly less at the thought of actually meeting Will’s family. In person. Where they’ll have to actually see her and see what a farce this is. “Feed me.”

Will shrugs. “Let me change and we’ll grab brunch.”

Aub looks down at the very large sweats she’s borrowed to sleep in. “We’ll stop first, yeah?”

“Depends on how hangry you are.” Will calls back, already walking away.

She pulls a face at his back at that one. She’s actually pretty hungry, but like, she’s not dumb enough to go out to brunch with him in a walk of shame. Not when there’s already a group chat forming about her on Instagram. She doesn’t need Leafs Twitter coming for her too.

-----

It’s easy to settle in a routine from there; meeting Mitch and Steph for dinner a few times, joining Steph for games and then leaving with Will for a second dinner after, and easily splitting off to spend time with her own family and friends or catching up with them when Will is off on road trips. 

It’s so easy to settle into a routine like that, a relationship routine, that she lets herself get lulled into a false sense of security, the message from her dad catching her off guard completely one day.

“What’s wrong?” Will asks, when they’re at dinner after a game. It’s their thing now; pick a restaurant and grab some food right afterwards before he drops her off at home. It’s a nice way to wind down actually; she usually looks forward to it.

Tonight though, Aub has been uncharacteristically quiet since they met up and she was a downright bitch earlier when she and Steph were fighting about something. Like, she knows they’ll forget all about it tomorrow, but still. She owes her best friend coffee at the least. “Hmm?” She looks up at him, barely hearing his question. 

“What’s wrong?” He repeats, giving her a look before she can fight him against answering.

She pushes her food around a little-very uncharacteristic for her, and she can tell even Will’s picked up on that. “My dad wants to meet us all for dinner this week, which means he probably did get secret-married again.”

“Oh.” Will makes a face and Aubrey returns it, laughing when he contorts his even worse. “And that’s-I mean-again?” He finally settles on and she nods, ready to drop this bomb.

“It’ll be wife number six, but secret wedding number three.” She says, delighting in the way his jaw drops. “This is just, like, what he does; he just announces he wants to have dinner with us and then shows up and is like and here’s my new wife, like it’s super casual, and then we all wonder why I need therapy when he’s out here hiding wives and families like it’s a fulltime job.” She finishes, only realizing how heated she is about it when she looks up to find Will staring at her with wide eyes.

“Um.” Will starts.

“Sorry.” Aub hastens, flushing.

“No!” Will says. “No, don’t apologize at all, you can, like, share whatever you want. I just...I got like half of what you just said.” He gives her an apologetic look. “Missing a big chunk of this story.”

“Right.” Aub nods, pretty proud of how calm she sounds. Dr. Seth is going to be so impressed with her next week. “Sorry. We haven’t talked about the two secret families he was hiding when I was growing up. Ok, I’ll back up.”

“He what?” Will cries, but Aub waves him off, diving into the whole history of her dad, her half-siblings, and her step-moms...as well as their various divorces. 

“...and that brings us to now.” She takes a sip of her wine thoughtfully; Will has long since drained his and refilled. She’s pretty sure she didn’t miss anything. “And dinner that’s going to be an absolute disaster.”

“Do you want me to come?” Will offers.

“No!” She says immediately. That’s like-god, that’s the worst idea ever. They do not need to get her greedy father involved in this, who’d take one look at Will and see dollar bills. She’s accepted that she can’t change the way her dad treats her (after many years of therapy); she’s got another dad who loves her and it’s not fine the way her dad doesn’t remember her birthday or what she does for work or pretty much anything important about her, but it is what it is. But like, she’s not going to subject Will to it. “It’ll be-fine.”

He raises an eyebrow. “You think so?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “But thanks anyway.”

Will purses his lips. It’s clear that he doesn’t love that answer, but he doesn’t say anything more on the subject, asking her instead if she wants to split a dessert, as if he doesn’t already know the answer to that question, and Aub, grateful for the change in topic, even agrees to let him pick this time.

It’s a rare gift.

-----

Aubrey knows she had a little too much to drink at dinner with her dad, but she’s not so drunk that she can’t recognize that this is Will’s door she’s standing in front of, knocking loudly and repeatedly. 

She has only a moment to contemplate that-that it’s here she chose to come to after yet another disaster dinner, instead of Steph’s or her brother’s or back home to her own place-before Will’s opening the door, the confusion passing quickly over his face when he realizes it’s her.

“Hey.” He beams and steps back, silently inviting her in, but Aub doesn’t want him to go further away from her. That’s why she came here. “Whoa, hey!” Will says, as Aub steps in the condo and presses herself against him. “Are you-” He lets out a strangled choke as she tiptoes up and loops her arms around the back of his neck. “-okay?”

“Peachy.” She says, pulling him down to kiss her.

It’s not really a great kiss; Will’s kissing her back for a moment, and then pulling back. “Wait-”

“No.” She whines, leaning in for another, and he does it again, caught up for a moment in kissing her, but then it’s like his thoughts catch up to him and he breaks it.

“Aub, we shouldn’t- we aren’t-”

And like why shouldn’t they? They’ve been doing this fake relationship for a while now and not able to hook up with anyone else because of it. He’s objectively the hottest person she’s ever seen. There’s no reason that’s coming to her right now that says she shouldn’t. “We’re friends now!” Aubrey says, running her palms over his shoulders. God, why weren’t they doing this the entire time? “Right?” And Will nods, slowly, but it’s a nod, “It’s fine, friends hook up all the time.” 

“You really want this?” His thumb brushes her cheek as she nods and only then does he pull her back in for a kiss.

-----

If Aubrey thought Will’s guest bed was comfortable, it’s really got nothing on his actual bed. She rolls over, curling into the pillow a little more and opens her eyes to see the sliver of sunlight coming through catch the edge of Will’s face, that one piece of hair that’s sticking up that should be unattractive, but is totally not.

It’s really just unfair.

The sound comes from behind her and Aub jumps when she realizes it’s Will’s alarm going off.  It seems like it barely even fazes him; he just reaches across her and silences it; his arm falling across her when he drags himself back.

“Hi.” She smiles.

“Hi.” Will laughs and it lights up his whole face; she can’t help the hand that comes up to trace over his features. “Come on, that’s not fair.

“What’s not fair?” Aubrey asks innocently, trailing her nails down his chest.

He groans. “I have to go. Skate.”

“You don’t have to go.” She pouts and he groans again.

“You’re making it really hard to have to.”

“Good.” Aubrey giggles, only stopping when Will shuts her up with a kiss.

“Really hard.” He repeats as she rolls her hips into his.

“Fine.” She sighs, flopping onto her back, and she knows the move does exactly as she’d intended when his eyes go right to her chest. “I guess I’ll just have to stay here in bed until you get back.”

“Please do.” He insists, leaning over to kiss her again. “Fastest skate ever.” Will promises.

“You can’t control that.” Aubrey reasons, even as Will’s shaking his head at her while he climbs out of bed.

“Fastest skate ever.” He repeats.

She can’t really confirm or deny that it is; but when he does return, pulling her out of a doze by jumping on top of her, there’s coffee on the table for her too. It’s cold by the time she gets to it.

-----

“You guys are being weird.” Steph comments one night, as Aub’s cheering after Will scores a tie-breaking goal. 

“What?” Aubrey gives her a look. “What do you mean?”

“You and Will.” Steph says, like it should be obvious. “You’re like-” She breaks off, making a noise of frustration.

“You’re in the honeymoon phase.” Alannah supplies helpfully and Steph lights up.

“Yes!” She cries and Aubrey glares over at Alannah but she merely smiles back. “But it’s like, you’re back in it? Like, you weren’t for a while and now...you can’t take your hands off each other again!”

Aubrey doesn’t really know what to say to that. She’s not denying that she and Will have been all over each other ever since that first night they slept together. She can’t even remember the last time she went to her apartment for anything more than to pack clothes and she’s lost track of the number of times she’s reached out for him only to find Will already reaching for her.

But before? She can’t think of any moment where they were ever like they are now. Like there’s too much space between them even when she’s right next to him. Or this pull that brings her toward him no matter where he’s at.

But she doesn’t...she doesn’t know what to say about that. Because it’s not like anything has changed between them. They’re still friends; they still laugh and joke as usual, still gossip about their friends together, are still just waiting to drop a big break up on Mitch and Steph. 

Nothing’s changed, even if maybe, she thinks, something has.

So she shrugs at Steph and says, “We’re just happy. Is that so bad?”

Steph beams and leans her head against Aubrey’s shoulder, and like, Aub knows that’s exactly what she’d been hoping for since she introduced her to Will, but Aubrey still feels like something wasn’t right about what she said.

-----

Aubrey tugs on the Nylander jersey that drapes over her frame as she and Will walk into the hospital conference room. “Are you sure about this?”

“It’s tradition.” He grins. “Stop playing with it.”

“That’s what she said.” She says as dryly as she can, managing to keep the face until he laughs, and then she cracks up with him. 

That’s how the two of them walk into the conference room where the team is meeting; laughing so loudly that everyone stops what they’re doing to turn and look, but she and Will only get a bunch of fond smiles before everyone turns back to their own conversations.

Steph gives her a knowing look when they approach hand in hand, which Aubrey ignores pointedly. “You didn’t warn me we’d have to actually go things wearing this dumb jersey when you plotted to get us together.”

“Oh I didn’t?” Steph says innocently as Mitch and Will sputter in protest. “Must have slipped my mind.”

“Dumb jersey?” Will nudges her.

Aub shrugs, looking up at him with a cheeky grin. “It’s a little big. Might have some trouble getting out of this thing.”

Will grins. “I’m sure some help can be arranged.”

Mitch feigns gagging. “There are children around.”

Wills hand drags up her side briefly-too briefly- as he grins at Mitch. “Where, Mitchell?” But he backs off and Aub does too, both of them catching up with teammates and wives and girlfriends around them.

Or they back off a little, but Aub still finds herself drawn int0 his orbit, especially once they start splitting off into groups to move through the hospital to go see the kids. His hand will brush against hers as they move between rooms; she’s bumping her shoulder against his arm comfortingly as they talk with parents.

It’s not very subtle, but they don’t need to be. Except…

“What is going on?” Auston hisses at her, in passing, as he’s about to step inside the room Will’s just about leaving.

“Nothing.” Aub says innocently, but Will reaches for her hand when he leaves, opting for a fist bump with Auston instead, and Auston’s eyes widen, but Aubrey tugs Will along before he can say anything. “Come on, let’s grab some water real quick!”

The diversion doesn’t last long; Auston catches up to her only two rooms later while Will’s in talking hockey with a little girl and she’s waiting outside, leaning against the wall. He joins her, looking in as well for a moment, before looking over at her. “This is a terrible idea.” Auston says flatly.

“You were on board with it!” Aubrey hisses, trying to keep a smile on her face.

“That was before I realized you guys were sleeping together. Now it’s going to backfire and go to shit.”

Aubrey frowns. “Why?”

“Why?” Auston repeats, like he can’t even help himself. “Oh my god, you don’t even-” He stops abruptly. 

“Don’t even what?” She prompts, when it’s clear he’s not going to continue.

But he doesn’t continue. He just rubs his temples for a minute and mutters under his breath. “Fuck me, how do I have to be the smart one here?”

“Hey!” Aubrey protests, offended. “I am always the smart one.”

“Not right now.” He says cryptically. “And it’s hard to tell who’s being dumber: you or Willy.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Aubrey frowns, but Auston’s already walking away. “Auston!” He ignores her. “Auston!”

“Hey.” Will’s reaching for her arm gently. “What’s wrong?”

Auston’s out of sight now anyway. “Nothing.” She shakes her head, clearing her thoughts and then looks up at him. “Next room?”

-----

“What are you doing Friday?” Aubrey looks up from scrolling through her family’s group chat; Will’s peering at her from across the island.

“Nothing.” She says, after thinking about it for a minute. “What’s up?”

“We play my brother on Saturday.” He says and the shoe doesn’t drop until he adds, “So my parents and sisters are coming in for a bit. Watch the game. Do early Christmas. Hang out a bit.”

“Oh.” She bites her lip. It shouldn’t-it shouldn't be weird. He survived a whole weekend with her sisters, he’s met her entire family; they’ve gone out a few times with varying numbers of her brothers since then. It just...feels weird now.

Will eyes her carefully for a second but continues. “They come in early Friday morning and I made dinner reservations for that night, if you want to come with us.” 

He says it super casually, the way he is about pretty much everything, but she knows him well enough now. There’s a little hopeful tone at the end of it, almost like a question even though it’s not phrased as one. “Yeah.” She says, and even though she’s already nervous about this dinner that’s literally days away, it’s worth it to see the smile grow across his face. “I’d love to come with you guys.”

“They’ll be excited.” Will says, which really undersells just how excited his sisters actually are when they do roll into town later in the week.

Daniella throws herself at Aubrey the second she walks in the door, chattering excitedly about meeting her, and spending the weekend together, and dinner that night, all before Aubrey can even put her purse down. She doesn’t know what her face is doing but whatever it is is bad enough that Will says something to his sister in Swedish and follows it up with a glare when she giggles something back to him.

It works though; Daniella detaches herself, but she does stay close, almost bouncing along next to Aubrey as she steps further inside. “Come on.” Will nods toward the kitchen. “My parents are in here.”

Fuck, his parents. She takes a deep breath. “Cool.”

He grins. The panic must definitely be showing on her face, but his sister just keeps talking through it- Aubrey can relate- or Daniella just doesn’t notice it in her excitement. But Will does, still grinning at her, and she brushes against him purposefully with her shoulder as she goes to follow Daniella, only for him to grab her hand as she passes.

“You don’t have to be nervous.” He squeezes her hand and the only thing that stops her from frowning is his sister. It’s kind of a harsh reminder of the circumstances that she is meeting his family under, the details behind what’s happening here, and that someday-probably soon even- they’ll go back to...well, she hopes that they’ll at least still be friends. 

Even if they stop hooking up.

Danielle goes right up to Stephanie in the kitchen, the two of them whispering to each other in a way that immediately reminds Aub of Kaylee and Cam, enough that she has to fight back a laugh. But it’s Will’s parents that really draw her attention. Michael and Camilla are exactly how she’d pictured from every story Will’s ever told her, full attention on her as soon as she and Will enter the kitchen.

“This is Aubrey.” Will introduces.

“Hi!” She smiles, hoping it’s bright and warm enough to hide her nerves. 

And it works- or more likely, Will’s parents are as perceptive as he is- because they jump right into chatting easily with her. 

She loves them immediately.

They’re warm and friendly, like they’re welcoming her, even though they’re the ones who spent hours on a plane recently. Will’s mom- Camilla, she insists- draws her into a conversation about her family right away- “William told me you have many siblings as well.” “Mum!” “Mum, they’re the best!”- which keeps them going for a while until Michael reminds them they have a reservation to keep. 

“You can keep talking at the restaurant.” He teases Camilla, who’s glaring at him. “Some of us are hungry!”

She rolls her eyes at him- a look that is so similar to one Aubrey’s seen Will make a thousand times- but it serves to get all of them moving. They do keep talking at the restaurant, Camilla shoving her own son out of the way to pull Aubrey in the seat next to her, and Daniella sliding in the seat on her other side before Will can grab it, only for him to mutter something to her in Swedish, sending her quickly sliding over to the next one.

Dinner seems to fly by but it’s actually a few hours later that they’re returning home, pulling out a bottle of wine for a night cap. Aubrey’s just about preparing to go home to her own place before Will’s mom stands up and kisses the top of her head, right in line with all her own kids, promising to see her in the morning, and then the night wraps up and Will’s pulling her into his room, like it’s any normal night.

“Are you-” She trails off abruptly as Will walks right to the closet, like no strange thing. But, what did she even want to ask? Are you sure you want me to stay? It’s not going to be weird if I do?  

“What’s up?” Will pops his head out of the closet.

“Nothing.” Aubrey shakes her head, moving to brush her teeth. She’s not even sure she knows where that question was going; she can’t explain why tonight feels weirder than any other night that she’s climbed into his bed before.

It does though, and that’s made even more evident by the way she tosses and turns once they climb into bed and turn the lights off, settling in on what’s become her side of the bed, right after she brushes her teeth and runs through her nightly skin routine.

It feels like it shouldn’t be so hard to sleep- it’s been a long day, following a long week, preparing for Will’s family to arrive, but she can’t seem to get comfortable and her thoughts are racing.

She rolls over again, facing Will this time, only to find him looking at her with amusement. “You okay?”

“Can’t sleep.” She admit, biting her lip

Will grins, pulling her close. “I can fix that.”

“I’m not having sex with you while you’re parents are here!” Aubrey hisses.

“No?” Her breath hitches as his fingers dance lower down her stomach and then-

“Will!” She laughs, as he gently pinches a ticklish spot.

“Shh!” He’s grinning, she hates him so much. “My parents are-”

“Don’t say it.” She says, surging up to kiss him so he can’t finish that sentence. God, she hopes his walls are thick.

-----

“Stop.” Aubrey hears Will right outside the door. “Go away.”

She can hear one of his sister’s respond, but the actual words get lost in the chaos of her own sisters’ FaceTime, which she’s wrapping up as she lies in bed. It’s loud enough outside that she knows Will’s family is awake already, bright enough that she probably should get up, but she’s too comfortable to make herself move.

“Daniella!” She hears, followed by something in Swedish just as the door opens and a blonde head pokes in.

“See! She is awake!” And that’s all the warning she gets before Daniella is jumping up right next to her.

“Daniella!” Will snaps again, but Aubrey’s already sliding over to make room for her.

“She’s fine.” She assures him, wrapping her arm around Daniella’s shoulders as she cuddles in close.

“Yeah, I’m fine.” Daniella says to her brother, not bothering to pull herself away from Aubrey’s iPhone screen, where she’d barely wasted a minute before jumping into chatting with Kayls and Cam. 

Will’s leaning against the dresser and shaking his head in amusement, watching as Aubrey manages to finish up her call (a task much harder with Daniella in her ear, calling just as much nonsense back as her sisters do), but there’s a soft smile on his face that Aubrey almost can’t bring herself to look at, so she starts twirling her hand through the ends of Daniella’s hair. 

“I can’t believe you two.” Daniella huffs, and she’s so much like Will, just loving her hair played with; Aubrey tries to hide her grin because she knows he’d fight her on it if she had to say it out loud right now. “Not even inviting your sisters here for the weekend.”

“Why would we invite ourselves into that kind of roast?” Will says dryly. “The two of you are bad enough.”

“Like you’re not going to talk about us anyway,” Aubrey adds. “I’ve seen the receipts.” She teases. “I know you talk about us on instagram.” 

“You talk about us on instagram?” Will demands immediately.

“No.” Daniella says, unconvincingly.

“They talk with my sisters every day.” Aubrey whispers to him and laughs when he turns his outraged face toward his sister, who avoids his gaze completely.

“Seriously?” Will cries.

Daniella shrugs. “We have a lot to say.”

“I’ll give you a lot to say.” Will says, mock-threateningly, before throwing himself on the bed on her other side and poking his finger in her side until she’s laughing so hard that she’s begging for him to stop. He does, after one last poke, which Daniella returns with a pout. “Go get dressed.” Will nudges her. “Or Aubrey’s going to go to brunch without you.”

“Aubrey wouldn’t do that.” Daniella says confidently, standing to leave. “She’s nicer than you.” 

Will barks out a laugh. “Is she?”

Both Nylanders turn to look at her, just as she’s swinging her legs out of bed and Aubrey shrugs. “I wouldn’t leave your sister behind.” She says, grinning when Will laughs and Daniella’s got her phone out of her pocket before she even leaves the room.

-----

Will and Alex are close. Aubrey knows this. She knows they talk pretty much everyday whether it’s texting, Facetiming, or even actual phone calls. They’re brothers, sure, but more than that; they’re best friends.

And maybe that’s why it’s hard not to shrink under Alex’s gaze the second they meet. It’s not that he’s not friendly when Will introduces them, returning the smile she gives him.

It’s just that his gaze feels piercing in a way that none of the rest of his family did. It feels like Alex sees through all of her but more than that; he’s studying all of her and doesn’t like what he sees.

God, she doesn’t know what she’s going to do if Alex doesn’t like her.

She tries to be bubbly and bright, more listening than contributing to this conversation that’s mostly just brothers catching up. She knows that dinner later, and at their early Christmas celebration tomorrow, will really be when she gets to make her big impression on him. 

“Willy!” John Tavares calls, looking apologetic about the interruption. 

“Be right back.” Willy pats her arm gently before jogging down the hall and now Alex’s full attention is on her. Now she can’t help but shift her weight from foot to foot, even as Alex smiles at her. “So, Aubrey, huh?”

She fights back the urge to bite her lip. “Yup.”

“It’s exciting to finally meet you.” He grins and Aubrey’s jaw drops a little. “Will talks about you all the time.”

“He-he does?” She asks quietly. It’s about the most unexpected thing Alex could have said to her.

Alex bursts into laughter. “Uh yeah.” He says, like it’s the most obvious thing in the world, but before she can press anything further, Will’s back, slinging his arm around her shoulders and squeezing her into his side tightly. 

“Ready for second dinner?” Will presses a kiss to her temple.

“Always.” Aubrey leans into him, ignoring the knowing look that Alex is sporting currently and the feeling in her stomach that doesn’t quite feel like butterflies.

-----

Aubrey tries to give it a few days after the Nylander’s leave town, hoping the feeling in her stomach will calm itself, but when it’s been a week and it hasn’t settled, she’s forced to admit that she’s going to need outside help.

Can you let me in? She sends, when she’s sure she’s outside the right door.

Open. Come in. 

She frowns at the response, opening the door. “I don’t love that!” She calls as she walks deeper in the condo. “You should really-” She stops abruptly, as a blonde whips her head around to glare at her and Auston stares at her wide-eyed. “Oh!”

“Oh?” The blonde repeats, kind of mockingly, but also seething, and Aubrey doesn’t really know what to do, so she looks over at Auston, who’s pointedly avoiding both of their eyes. “Unbelievable.” She shakes her head, shoving past Aubrey and only when the front door slams does she hear Auston breathe.

“What the fuck?” She asks him immediately, “You could have just said no, it wasn’t a good time to come over!”

“I wanted her to leave!” He protests. “I tried everything! She even volunteered to come take Felix on a walk with me!”

Aubrey cackles, barely managing to compose herself at Auston’s glare. “Well, go and get his leash. We can walk and talk.”

She gets quickly distracted by Felix’s excitement for a walk, snapping like twenty pictures on her phone, before Auston finally prods her about the reason she even wanted to meet today. “So what’s up?”

She takes a deep breath. “Am I in love with Will?”

“Are you in love with...are you fucking kidding me?” Auston responds immediately, looking at her like he had that day they were at Sick Kids- like she’s completely missing something that everyone else knows.

“I’m gonna take that as a yes.” She says reasonably.

“Oh my fucking god.” He says, sounding distressed. “Don’t you have, like, a therapist for this shit? How did I get drafted for this?”

“I mean, yes, I do, but I haven’t gone into the details of it with Dr. Seth before this and I don’t think an hour would cover it.” She says; she’s thought about that already. Auston rubs his temples. “Stop that.” Aubrey chides. “Your hairline is bad enough.”

“Well you’re not helping!” Auston cries. “Jesus Christ, am I in love with Willy? Where the fuck have you been?”

“Egypt, I guess.” She says and he stares at her flatly until she explains. “Denial?”

“Fuck off, I hate you so much. Oh my god.” He groans. “Willy would have laughed so hard at that, fuck you.”

The worst thing is that she knows he would have. He’d have laughed and laughed and laughed, his eyes crinkling and his smile bright and warm, so loud that she couldn’t help but join in.

“Holy shit.” Auston says quietly, watching the smile on her face. “You’re really in deep.”

“Ugh, yes.” Aubrey groans, covering her face. “I hate it. I hate these feelings. I hate not knowing. I hate-”

Auston cuts her off, choking out a laugh. “Not knowing? Not knowing what?” And then he chokes again, once he looks over at her. “Not knowing if Will-” He stops abruptly looking like he’s got a secret that he shouldn’t be telling. “Come on, you aren’t this dumb.”

“You’re being serious?” She says quietly, looking over at Auston hopefully. 

He avoids her eyes, bending down for a minute to pet his dog, but Felix absolutely betrays him by trying to run towards a new smell on a nearby bush, giving him absolutely nothing to look at instead of her. “I mean, come on.” Auston gives her a look. “Don’t make me say it.”

“Did he say it?”

“No.” Auston shakes his head, tugging gently on Felix’s leash to turn around. “But Aub, really? He brought you to meet his whole family.”

“He met mine too.” She reminds him. “And so did you!”

Auston shakes his head. “You...you just don’t see how he looks at you.”

Aubrey bites her lip, but she can’t resist asking. “How does he look at me?”

Auston doesn’t even have to think before he responds. “Like the rest of us aren’t even in the room.” 

“Oh.” She says quietly, looking down at the ground. Felix is just trotting away happily, like Aubrey’s entire world hasn’t been flipped on its axis. 

Auston, at least, seems to recognize the effect of what he’s said. “Look, even if you’re not ready to talk with him, just, like, look at the guy. You’re not in this alone.”

She’s definitely not ready to say anything, but, well, she could give that a try. Just try and see what Auston sees.What everyone sees apparently. “Alright.” She agrees.

“I won’t say anything.” Auston adds. “You two can figure this mess out on your own.”

“You’re the best.” Aubrey declares, leaning up to kiss his cheek.

“I know.” Auston smirks, pulling Felix’s leash out from under her feet.

“Jerk.” Aubrey laughs, shoving his shoulder gently. “If you didn’t have the second best dog in the world right here, I’d push you harder.” She crouches down to scratch Felix’s ears, only for Auston to pull him out of her reach.

“Second best?” He cries, outraged. “Nuh-uh. You don’t get to pet my dog after that kind of disrespect.”

“I just ranked your dog above Zeus!” She protests. “But Pablo’s my boy.”

Auston releases his hold on the leash a little and Felix trots over toward her arms as he teases, “I thought we just agreed Willy was your boy.”

“Yeah, well,” Aubrey scratches behind Felix’s ears, smiling as his tongue lolls out. “Man’s best friend.”

-----

Will’s acting funny when Aubrey sees him the next day.

She only catches him for a few minutes before the game, when they briefly cross paths at his place when she goes to pick up a jacket she left there, and she doesn’t know how to explain it, but something just seems...off.

It’s like...he barely looks at her when she’s in there digging around what’s become her side of the bed and then he brushes past her, muttering something about how he needs to go and for her to just lock up whenever she’s done, which would be fine, except he usually waits for her if she’s around when he leaves so they can walk out together.

Something’s just off.

“Are you sure you didn’t fight about anything?” Steph frowns at her, later that night. “Even like a small, stupid thing that maybe you brushed off? Because you do that.”

“No!” Aubrey swears. “At first I thought he was just annoyed about the book, because the book I’m reading right now takes place in Sweden, so like every few pages I ask him if it’s real? Or what it’s like?”

“God, you must be the most annoying girlfriend.” Steph giggles.

“Don’t even, I know everything about you and Mitch.” Aubrey pokes her and Steph giggles again, admitting defeat. “But no! He wouldn’t even look at me! Something’s up!”

Steph purses her lips. “That is weird.” She admits. “It’s very...not Will.”

“No!” Aubrey cries. “Will doesn’t sit and let things stew! He doesn’t care enough about what people think about him for that.”

“So why is he acting like this then?” Steph asks and Aubrey blows out a frustrated breath.

“I don’t know!” She says. “And I just want him to tell me what’s going on.”

The rest of the game is fairly uneventful for the two of them, slipping quietly out of their seats after the win and chatting between themselves and a few other friends as they all wait. One by one, the boys all make their way out of the locker room, and Aubrey frowns as even Auston and John walk out, stopping briefly to chat with her, before even they go, until finally, finally, Will steps out, his face flickering when he sees her. 

“Hi?” She says, a little annoyed.

“Hi.” Will says, like nothing’s just happened, like he didn’t just do a double take of the worst kind at her mere presence.

“What’s wrong?” She frowns, reaching out for him and gently sliding her hand on his forearm.

“Nothing.” There’s no other word for it; Will flinches. 

“Will.” Aubrey breathes as he shrugs off her arm.

“It’s nothing.” He repeats. “I’m just tired.” Which is so clearly a lie and she frowns, ready to call him out, but he reaches for her hand and says, “Let’s go eat,” with such finality that she doesn’t really know how she’d bring it up.

All she knows is that his hand feels cold in a way it never has before and the silence they sit in at dinner is like nothing she’s ever felt with him, even before they started sleeping together.

-----

“Merry Christmas!” Cam throws open the front door dramatically before Aubrey, Will, Steph, and Mitch have barely even shut their car doors. “Come on, you’re late!”

“Oh boy.” Aubrey mutters and she hears Steph and Mitch laugh.

Will, however, is as quiet as he’s been all drive up to her parents for their annual Christmas Eve party- as quiet as he’s been all week, as he’s been since whatever happened- and it makes her wonder why he even came. She’d told him he didn’t have to come if he didn’t want to; he’d just given her this tiny smile and asked her what time they had to pick up Mitch and Steph.

“How are we late?” Steph asks, as all four of them start yanking off coats and scarves the second they walk in the door. “None of the neighbors are even here yet!” 

Cam huffs at that bit of logic and turns on her heel, walking away from them as they laugh, which cues Aubrey’s brothers into their arrival. Tye and Danny poke their heads around the corner of the wall, calling for Mitch immediately to show them how to do something on a new video game, but right away they’re thwarted by their mom. “Later.” Mitch whispers to them, as Tye and Danny grin, following the four of them into the kitchen. 

In the kitchen, they find Aubrey and Steph’s moms working in tandem- the way they always have on Christmas Eve- to finish the appetizers and set food out. They stop only briefly to greet their daughters and their daughters’ boyfriends, and to direct them on where to put the desserts they brought, before they’re shooing them all right back out.

“Dads in the basement?” Steph asks, like they all don’t know the answer already, and Danny nods, leading the way down the stairs, where Fitz and Ryan have already started a beer pong game against Mike and Tom.

“Shotty next.” Mitch calls, while he waits for Aubrey and Steph to say hi to their dads.

“You gonna be able to walk back next door?” Fitz snorts out a laugh.

“That was one time!” Mitch protests. “Nobody warned me how much drinking there was on Christmas Eve!”

“It’s like we hadn’t spent the last four months together before that.” Aubrey deadpans, focusing more on watching Will greet her stepdad with the same enthusiasm as he had her mom, and her brothers, and Cam.

But then, he comes back to her side, and when she goes to tangle their fingers together, his hand stays limp, just kind of letting her do what she wants, not returning the gesture at all, instead of pulling her closer like he used to.

“Guess I thought you two were the anomaly.” Mitch teases. “Then I learned I’d have to bring my A game all the time.” 

“Yeah buddy.” Tom says, looking over at his daughter’s boyfriend right after he sinks Fitz and Ryan’s last cup. “Who’s with you?”

-----

By the time Mitch and Will get demolished in beer pong, Aubrey and Steph are fighting back a laugh at their dads’ light buzz already going and the neighbors have started to arrive, which brings a temporary pause to pong play for more introductions.

The neighbors all love Will, which, of course they do. Aubrey’s not surprised at all. He’s funny and charming and personable, just has this air that draws people in, and every one of her mom’s friends finds her at some point after they meet Will to gush about how wonderful he is.

“Yeah.” Aubrey says, almost helplessly to Mrs. Jones and Mrs. Morris, as she watches Will with Kayls and Cam across the room. “He’s pretty great.” They smile knowingly at her, Mrs. Jones winking as she passes, leaving Aubrey to watch them with a fond smile on her face.

It’s Will who notices her staring first, because of course it is. Kayls and Cam are oblivious to everything around them. He catches her eye, still laughing about whatever they’re talking about, and there’s a second where his smile grows when he sees her, a second Aubrey feels a grin growing across her own face.

And then it all stops abruptly as something flashes over Will’s face, and as quick as the grin was there, it’s gone.

Aubrey frowns and watches as Will returns to talking with Kayls and Cam again, but notices the smile on his face seems forced now. She wants...well, she doesn’t know exactly what she wants, but she’s tired of not knowing what’s going on with him.

“Hey.” Fitz nudges her shoulder. “It’s too early for you to be sad about going to your dad’s tomorrow. Come take a shot with me.”

“I-” It’s not that. She starts to say, but stops herself. Today’s not the day to try and tease out whatever’s going on with Will. Whatever it is could wait until after Christmas. “Yeah, sure.”

Fitz grins, leading her over to the makeshift bar, corralling a few friends as they go, but by the time he starts pouring, the crowd around them has gotten bigger. Will’s standing next to her, but the space he’s left between them feels so purposeful, and it only makes Aubrey frown as she listens to Fitz’s Christmas toast, as he cheers to a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, to good friends and great family. “And a way too cool future brother-in-law.” He jokes. “Don’t fuck this up, Aub!”

“Yo!” Mitch protests loudly as Aubrey feels the breath get stuck in her chest. 

She can’t even look at Will, so tense she can hardly bring her shot glass up to her mouth. The alcohol barely even burns and she knows it’s not because she’s too drunk to taste it; the numbness of her brother’s comment still stinging, and it’s well after she’s deposited her shot glass on the counter that she realizes, “Where’s Will?”

Mitch frowns, looking behind them. “He was right here, wasn’t he?”

Aubrey nods slowly, trying to stand on her toes and search for him. “Can you just-” She starts.

Steph’s right on her wavelength. “You look up here; we’ll check downstairs.”

Will is nowhere to be found on the main floor, so she heads upstairs and finally finds him in the room they’d thrown their bags in earlier. “Hey.” She breathes out a sigh of relief. “There you are.”

“Here I am.” Will says quietly. He’s in front of the taller dresser, looking at the bulletin board covered in pictures from high school and college- one of the few relics left in the room from when it was hers before her mom refashioned it into a guest room. 

“I’m sorry about Fitz!” She blurts. “He didn’t mean any-”

“We should be wrapping up soon, right?” Will says abruptly, interrupting her.

“What?” Aubrey frowns, shocked. That is...not at all what she thought he’d say.

“This?” He gestures between the two of them. “Like, Mitch and Steph definitely think we're a thing. Can call this off soon?”

“Um.” Aubrey tries to breathe but something’s definitely restricting that ability. “We…what?”

“We can stop this pretending.” Will says, like it’s obvious, and Aubrey feels her stomach drop. This...this was all pretend to him. “Do that break up that’s going to crush them. The whole reason we did this.”

“Right.” She swallows the lump in her throat. “Uh yeah, we can do that.”

Will shrugs. “Cool.” He says, and then turns and walks away, leaving Aubrey standing there wondering where exactly she went wrong.

-----

“Ok.” Steph snaps her fingers and only then does Aubrey look up from the Leafs vs. Calgary game that her best friend invited her over to watch that she’s paying absolutely no attention to- and hasn’t actually been able to focus on all night. Her best friend is standing in front of her, holding a new bottle of wine, and looking concerned. “I’ve asked for your glass like four times now. What’s going on?”

Aubrey bites her lip and holds her glass out. If she’s going to do this, they’re both going to need refills. “I have to tell you something.”

Steph frowns immediately but fills Aubrey’s glass and then her own. “Uhh, ok? What’s up.”

Aubrey doesn’t know whether she needs a deep breath or a sip of wine to settle her nerves. She goes for both. “Will and I aren’t together.”

And maybe...maybe that was the wrong way to phrase it, because Steph’s face just falls. “I’m so sorry, babe.” She says, reaching out and rubbing Aubrey’s arm. “I really thought-” She shakes her head and Aubrey’s still trying to figure out what she said wrong, what she can say to make her see what she really means. “Are you okay?”

“No.” Aubrey says and Steph looks like she wants to reach for the wine bottle and pull her in for a hug at the same time, until she continues. “No, I mean; Will and I aren’t together now because we were never really together at all and no, I’m not okay either, actually, now that you mention it.”

Now Steph frowns uncertainly, like she doesn’t know what to say. And that look? The one on her face right there? If it didn’t feel like her heart was already breaking, she’d be cherishing that look.

Now she can’t even enjoy it.

“You’re going to have to explain this one to me.” Steph says, her voice carefully neutrally.

So Aubrey does- beginning with the night that Mitch and Steph had had them over and her and Will’s plan to get them to stop nagging, to when they’d started sleeping together, to how it felt like they were together for real and on the same page, right up until they weren’t.

“I wanna be so mad at you right now.” Steph says, after a long silence.

“You should be.” Aubrey admits. “I would be.

“Well, you’re making it really hard looking so sad.” Steph glares. “And being so dumb.” Aubrey’s jaw drops, even if the callout is probably well deserved. “Will looks at you like you are the center of the universe. He looks like his entire day has gotten better every time you walk into the room. For God’s sake, he willingly met your dad on Christmas last week! You cannot honestly tell me you think he doesn’t really want to be with you!”

“He told me he wanted to stop!” Aubrey cries. “He was the one who said we should do the breakup!”

“Well if you don’t want to, then tell him!” Steph dares.

“Stephanie.” Aubrey frowns. 

“What?”

“I can’t do that!” Aubrey hisses.

“Why not?” Steph pours another glass of wine for herself and then passes the bottle over. Aubrey accepts eagerly. “Did Will tell you why he wanted to stop this...dating thing?”

“...no.” Aubrey sighs. It’s another thing that’s been driving her crazy.

“So ask him.” Steph says plainly. “And tell him you don’t want to stop.”

Aubrey bites her lip nervously. “But what if he says no?”

“Honestly the worst thing that happens here is that you still break up.” Steph says gently. “But this really just sounds like a matter of you two actually needing to talk about where you stand. Will’s not a mind-reader, Aub; he can’t have known you didn’t want to stop things, especially if this was all your idea in the first place.”

Ugh, she’s right. “I hate everything about this.” Aubrey sing-songs. “Including the fact that you even introduced us.”

Now Steph grins. “You do not hate that we introduced you. You just hate feeling vulnerable.”

That’s too accurate to address, so Aubrey flips her off and reaches for the wine again.

-----

Will picks her up for the Leafs annual New Year’s Eve party and it’s unfair because no one should look that good dressed in black pants and a sweater, but there’s Will waiting by the car with a beanie on his head and a pea coat left open, for maximal torture is the only reason Aubrey can think of.

“Hi.” She breathes, running across the street to him as best she can in her heels. 

It takes him a second to respond. “Hi.” He says finally, opening the door for her. “You uh, planning on blinding us all tonight?” He teases, once he slides into the backseat of the uber with her.

Aubrey giggles at the lame joke as she looks down at her glittery skirt. It’s such a lame joke but she’s just so relieved he even made it. That they still have dumb things to laugh over. “Hmm, over-under on how many of us are wearing something sparkly tonight. 10?”

“Over.” Will answers immediately and she giggles again.

The ride doesn’t take long so it’s only a few minutes before they’re pulling up to the club, where they run into Travis Dermott and his girlfriend exiting their uber at the same time. “Nine more.” Will whispers in her ear, as Kat turns to greet them, and they both catch sight of a sparkly tank under her jacket.

“Hush.” Aubrey bites back a laugh, but only barely, before she pulls Kat in for a hug. Inside is about as loud as she’d expected but once they all step upstairs into the VIP section roped off for them, it’s easier to hear, easier to think, and easier to breathe.

Or at least, it is for a moment. She can feel Will’s eyes on her from across the room, where he’s at the bar ordering drinks for the two of them, and she and Kat have gone to say hi to more people.

“So, uh.” Steph says, in lieu of hello. “I don’t think Will’s being weird anymore.”

When Aubrey turns and follows Steph’s eyes, Will’s still looking at her, unashamed in his gaze or getting caught. He winks back at her, grinning when she smiles at him. “No.” She says slowly. “I guess not.” Steph just grins at that, kind of smugly, and Aubrey huffs at that, turning away to greet Morgan and Tessa behind her.

It’s not long before Will returns with drinks, still grinning as he pulls her immediately to the dance floor. He pulls out some of his most ridiculous moves and Aubrey laughs, harder and harder the more she drinks, and then finally falling against him after he and Mitch attempt the Toosie Slide together. 

“Why are you laughing?” Will demands, wrapping an arm around her waist and taking her hand, leading her into some weird kind of slow dance, even as the song changes into something by The Chainsmokers.

“I just like seeing you like this.” She grins.

His brow furrows. “Like what?”

“Just-” She doesn’t know how to explain it. How open he is right now, how loose and easy and warm he looks because he’s just able to be himself, and how happy she feels to be with him, especially when he’s like this. “Just happy, I guess.”

Will grins again and presses a loud kiss to her temple, that she barely has time to giggle at, because he says, “Always happy to be with you,” like it’s the most casual thing in the world. 

And Aubrey gasps in shock, but she doesn’t think Will even notices, because he’s dipping her back over his arm right after that and then she’s too busy laughing again.

-----

Steph flops down on the remaining couch seat and ignores the look that Auston sends her in favor of fanning herself with her hand. “Sure.” He says dryly. “I’ll move over a little.”

“Would you? Thanks.” She snickers and he shakes his head fondly at her.

“How about you?” He looks over at Aubrey. “Gonna squish me in the corner even more?”

Aubrey’s already settled herself on his other side, on the edge of the couch. “Nah, I’m good here.” She bumps her shoulder against his.

“Is it even possible to squish you in the corner?” Steph muses.

“Why are you squished in the corner?” Aubrey asks, confused. “What, you couldn’t find a date for New Year’s?”

“I make it a point to not bring dates to holiday parties.” Auston says and Aubrey’s jaw drops.

Steph’s snickering into her palm though, so it’s clear this particular brand of assholery isn’t unfamiliar. “Holidays and events.” She cackles. “Keep those expectations low.”

“Although now that I know that all it takes to make a girl leave is to just have you walk in my house the next morning…” Auston trails off thoughtfully.

Aubrey shoves at his head, ruffling his hair on purpose, but she can’t help but laugh along with him. “Don’t you fucking dare. I’ve got better things to do than that.”

“Like what?” Steph says, too innocently to be real. “Will?”

“I’m leaving.” Aubrey stands, as Steph and Auston both laugh. “I don’t have to listen to this.”

“Is noon good tomorrow?” She hears Auston call after her, while Steph cackles next to him. “How about 12:30?” She flips him off over her shoulder, without looking back, instead pushing her way around Fred and his new girl, to find Will where she’d left him at the bar with Mitch.

But at the bar, she finds only Mitch, who’s looking a little confused. “Where’s Will?” She asks.

“Um.” Is all Mitch says and Aubrey frowns immediately. 

“Mitch, what happened?” Aubrey says flatly and Mitch caves right away.

“I don’t know!” He says. “We were just ordering drinks, watching you guys, everything seemed fine, and next thing I know, he was walking away!”

“Well where did he go?” She asks impatiently, barely waiting for Mitch to point before she’s shoving her way through the crowd.

It feels like she circles the entire building before she finally finds Will, and it’s more like she happens to run into him than she actually finds him, which just annoys her even more, enough that she grabs his hand and pulls him outside to a spot far enough away that it’s quiet enough to talk.

It’s not quiet- it’s still New Year’s Eve and there’s people all around them going up and down the street- but it’s far enough from the door that they can’t feel the music anymore, at least. 

Will’s staring at their hands, still linked, but he’s not saying anything, and even though she’s the one who dragged them out into the cold, he’s the one who started acting weird in the first place, and she feels her annoyance grow. “I thought we were having a really good time tonight?”

Will sighs. “We were.” He pauses. “I was, at least.”

“Ok, I was too.” Aubrey says slowly. “So, what happened?”

Will sighs again. “Look, it’s fine, like this was never supposed to be a thing with us, yeah? I’m not mad at you. I’m mad at me. I’ll get over it.”

She’s so confused. “Get over what? Why are you mad?”

“I saw you,” Will says. “Coming out of Auston’s one morning. I was driving past, after practice on my way home.” He shrugs, almost casually, but she can see in his face how hurt he is. “And like, we were never supposed to be a thing.” He repeats and she frowns. Why does he keep saying that? “So I’m not mad at you and I can’t even be mad at him. But I saw you and Matts together and I knew I liked you more than you liked me.” He shrugs again, trying to play off his words as light as casual, but Aubrey’s trying to put the pieces together of what he said. “I know you’d rather be here with him tonight, but that’s why I can’t do this anymore.”

“Oh my god.” She breathes. “You’re so dumb.”

“Hey!” Will protests.

“We’re so dumb.” She corrects, because, really, it’s the truth. “I was at Auston’s that day because he was the only one who knew about us at the time and I needed to talk to someone about if I’m in love with you!”

Will doesn’t move for a second, the longest second of Aubrey’s entire life. “Where, uh, where’d you land on that one?” He asks, like he’s kind of nervous for the answer.

And Aubrey can relate; there are butterflies in her stomach, even though she’s positive she knows how this is going to end now. “Pretty strongly in favor for.” She says and Will beams, that bright smile that lights up his entire face. “I didn’t get to tell you earlier, but I’m always happy to be with you, too.”

“That’s good.” Will says mildly, and Aubrey grins, waiting for the rest. “Because I really love seeing you smile like that.”

Her jaw drops a little. She’s not upset about what he said at all; it’s just so not what she expected him to say. And in that moment of silence, Will grins down at her once more, before leaning down to kiss her.

-----

It’s late the next morning by the time Aubrey tumbles out of bed, yanking a t-shirt of Will’s over her head. Will’s been up for at least an hour already, and she kisses his cheek as she passes, giggling as he lightly pats her ass in return.

“Coffee’s still warm.” He says.

“I still love you.” She teases. “That’s not changing just because you kept the pot warm.” Will flips her off and returns back to the game he’s playing on his Switch. “Have you seen my phone?”

“Near the front door.”

Most of her stuff is still by the front door, thrown hastily down when they’d come in late last night. Her phone’s still got a little battery left, filled with messages from late last night and earlier this morning, but one in particular catches her eye.

Steph LaChance: i told you so 😉

#william nylander #william nylander fan fic #william nylander fanfiction #william nylander imagine #Hockey Fanfiction #hockey fanfic #nhl fanfiction #nhl fanfic #nhl imagines #hockey imagines #my hockey fics

[amortentiaparker]

RED (and blue) + p. parker series

+ chapter seven

→ Y/N, a swiftie, jokingly reposts the “Red (Taylor’s Version) boyfriend application form” on her instagram story.

The details are as follows: Looking for a boyfriend for the last week of August to the month of November- right before RED (Taylor’s version) drops to be exact. Applicant needs to make me fall in love with you immensely and you are required to break me like a promise before the deadline.

And somehow Peter Parker finds himself as the top candidate.

pairing: peter parker x fem!reader

warnings: mentions of alcohol, swearing, cheesy pop culture references

word count: 10.5k (buckle up ladies, gents, and non binary friends)

A/N: welp here we go!! so sorry for the lack of update the past two weeks(?) i am awful at math and keeping up with the construct that is time,, but also we are already halfway thru the thirteen chaps and i hope you will like this part!!

series masterlist + my masterlist

buy me a ko-fi?

six | seven

The decathlon practice questions weren't as hard as this one: what are you going to dress up as on Halloween?

Flash had sent the group chat into a spiral when he said that he'll be hosting a Halloween party this year. You were all freaked out because last year, after a failed attempt at inviting Spider-man to his Halloween party, Flash promised not to throw another one. Yet, he confessed that his optimism returned when you told him the story of your two brief encounters with the Avenger.

Your friend group was a unique composition and Flash was definitely the one that brings the flair for dramatics to the table. And in this case, Flash always goes full blast when it comes to Halloween costumes and he wanted everyone attending to put in the same effort. Technically, there wasn't a list but if you showed up to the front door with a half-assed outfit, you weren't going to be let in.

Just last week, you and Cindy were talking about how relieved you were to not go through the difficulties of picking a costume, and now you were in an empty school bathroom brainstorming for ideas.

"Oooh! We should go as our favorite Taylor album," You suggested, confident with your idea. "Or we'd go as folklore and evermore."

"That's really cute, but aren't you going to get a couples costume with Peter?" Cindy asked as she applied on some lip balm.

Her words left you stunned. Flash had announced the party through text just this morning and with all your stress at the prospect of finding a good enough costume, you didn't stop to think if Peter wanted to go with matching outfits.

"You didn't tell him?" Cindy turned to look at you before she snickered. "Or were you too busy shoving your tongue down his throat?"

"Cin!" You shouted, face starting to warm at her words. "Of course I told him earlier but the bell rang and--"

"And didn't give you two enough time to fix up?" Your best friend continued. "I saw the lip gloss on his lips, y'know. The exact shade you're wearing right now, hmm."

"Stop it," You managed to say just exactly before the bell rang. For the first time today, the sound actually relieved you instead of making you mad. You just hoped you didn't look flustered when you exit the bathroom.

You only had one class with Peter today, with it being P.E means it doesn't promise any time to talk to each other. So with that, the two of you decided to... make the most out of the morning before the bell rang.

Ever since the day of your first kiss, there was a significant shift between you and Peter. You felt a lot more at ease seeing as the kiss sealed the deal and you no longer had to walk on eggshells around him. You shared a "proper" kiss before he left your apartment the day he asked you to be his girlfriend. After that, everything was bliss. You also noticed that Peter was a lot more confident too, acting on his words instead of leaving it as banter. Being told that you were going to be kissed and him following up on it wasn't something you were opposed to anyways.

Seeing that attempting to talk to Peter during gym was a bust, the next time you got a glimpse of him was during decathlon practice. Glimpse was the best word to describe it because Mr. Harrington and MJ singled you out, drilling you with questions that sounded familiar from Sophomore year to new ones that you struggled with. Despite their efforts of telling you that you have their whole support, you still felt the pressure especially with the competition being a month away.

Mr. Harrington's hopes of you accepting all the difficult questions certainly didn't help. In the split seconds you had the time to zone out, only one thought repeated in your mind. The doubt in yourself. What if time didn't bring you to the best version of yourself? What if all the medals and awards you had won for the school all those years ago was the best you were gonna get?

"Not bad, babe."

"Thank you, H," You said, nothing but adoration in your voice. "Not just for coming today, but for everything."

Your gratitude was welcomed with a kiss. Harry laced your fingers together as he led you out of the auditorium hall and towards the parking area where his driver was waiting. You were on a high, having won a special award for participating in this decathlon event and with Harry finally attending to watch you after months of asking.

The memory left a bittersweet taste. You remember how much cheering your teammates did for you, the messages from your parents saying how proud they were, and with Harry finally showing some liking for decathlon. Until he made you quit. Because apparently you didn't have time for him anymore even if he was the one running around playing with dangerous science in his Father's laboratory.

Decathlon means a lot to you because it pushes you to work hard but it always rewarded you in the end. You're also really grateful for the friendships you have formed with your peers. They have always been yours and each other's support system in all things decathlon, but a little loving from your significant other would have been nice.

"Where are you?"

You didn't want to get frustrated, you felt like you didn't have the right to. But it was your first anniversary, you donning a new dress. Sure you were young, but you were in love. You were entitled to going out to celebrate.

"I'll be right there, babe, I'm so sorry," Harry said in a desperate voice. You knew it from when he'd let himself break down and rant to you about the pressure his surname brought him.

"It's okay. Are you alright?" You most certainly weren't but you knew that your boyfriend needed to be checked up on.

"I'm.." He started. "I'm fine. I'll see you, okay?"

Harry promised that he'll make reservations especially after seeing you sulk over leaving academic decathlon. How convenient that he pressured you into leaving when your anniversary date was right around the corner. You felt guilt eat you alive when you assumed that he did it on purpose. Harry was kind to you, but then again when it comes to him, everything is strategically planned. The only thing keeping hope in your heart was his promise of seeing you in this candlelit restaurant.

But you didn't see him.

You were waiting for him to burst through the door with the lopsided smile that you loved so much. Despite the looks a few servers in the expensive restaurant gave you, you pursued. You kept your eye on the door, just waiting for him to walk in.

He was already long gone when you realized that the blame for your heartbreak was on you.

"Y/N?"

Your head snaps back up to see Mr. Harrington's expectant face. He said that if you got this one right, everybody would get to leave early. Great, more pressure.

It was unfair to Peter that you had moments where you thought of Harry. But in your defense, it was always linked to decathlon. The blonde boy had taken it away from you, and now that you had that piece of yourself back, you were afraid it was going to be ripped from your hands once more. You never really understood why decathlon was the thing that Harry went after. Maybe it was because it took most of your time? Or his best friend's? Looking back, you knew it was unfair that he took out that irrational problem on you.

Thankfully, you managed to answer the question correctly. The encouraging claps from your friends should have put your mind at ease but it did the exact opposite. You stepped off the platform and rushed towards your bag to check up on your notes. You mumbled inaudible goodbyes to your friends as you scanned index cards after index cards and let them know that you'll be fine going home on your own.

"Y/N, are you free tonight?" The sound of Peter's voice gave a little calm in the storm brewing in your head.

"I thought you were hanging out with Ned?" You asked, still skimming over your notes. "Don't let me get in the way of your date."

"You can join us for Star Wars, Y/N!" Ned chimed in.

As tempting as it sounded to hang out with your boyfriend, you knew that you had to study first. All you could muster was an apologetic smile at Ned.

"I'd love nothing more," You smiled a little before looking back down at the papers in your hands, "But I gotta study and prepare."

If you were looking up, you would have watched Peter and Ned exchanging a silent conversation between them, the other knowing exactly what the other wants without a single word. Ned left the classroom, leaving only you and Peter inside.

"Baby," He started. "You know that you can take a break, right?"

"I know that," You sighed, shoulders slumped. "But I have to do this. I haven't earned anything to-"

"Hey!" Peter said. You would have been startled if it wasn't for his concerned look and doe eyes. "None of that. You deserve to be part, again, of decathlon. You've never missed a single practice, you kill it every time and-"

Peter didn't get to finish his pep talk because you swiftly placed a hand on his cheek and pulled him in for a kiss. It was chaste but it was a symbol of your gratitude. This boy had been nothing but sweet to you, either as a friend or partner. The word boyfriend still left a giddy feeling in your stomach. It brought a flush over the both of you when you address Peter as such.

"I can't." Your voice wobbled as you looked into his captivating brown eyes.

You had some sense of self-awareness to know that you have been running yourself to the ground when it came to studying for decathlon on top of other exams and assignments. But you couldn't live with another failure. The team took you back despite you leaving them for such a stupid reason and there is this need to prove yourself worthy of your place.

Warm hands found its place around your waist and pulled you in. The comfort that Peter's hug brought you to wave a white flag against your stubbornness. You deserve to take a moment for yourself and once you get back to studying, you'd feel better than ever.

You nuzzled your face into the crook of Peter's neck and he let out a satisfied hum that reverberated in his chest that was pressed against yours. The palms of his hands moved like gentle waves of the sea across the expanse of your back. Its calm presence would have lulled you to sleep if it weren't for Peter speaking up.

"Is that a yes?" Peter asked, one hand finding the back of your neck to softly rub the tension away.

Your eyes fluttered close at the sensation but you managed to tease anyway, "Hmm, but I can't crash my boyfriend's date with his boyfriend."

"I'm sure Ned won't mind." Peter chuckled.

You only nodded before pulling away to fix your things. Ever the chivalrous gentleman, Peter slung your bag over his shoulders. You often find yourself daydreaming about how strong Peter is. That little date at the grocery store a few weeks ago still gets you flustered.

Ned was waiting by the lockers outside of the classroom and his contagious grin spread even wider when he saw that you and Peter were approaching him, hand in hand.

"Yes! Finally a new perspective on one of the greatest movie franchises of all time," Ned said.

Taking the bus was surprisingly good today despite the after-work hours rush. Ned was on another seat as he insisted he didn't want to third wheel as Peter laid his head on your shoulder.

"I like it when you call me that," Peter said, suddenly.

"Call you what?" You asked, fiddling with Peter's fingers using your own.

"Boyfriend," He said with a grin. "Your boyfriend."

Peter's resumé should really have 'being able to make Y/N Y/L/N smile no matter what' as a core skill of his.

"I like saying it," You replied, "I like it when you call me baby."

You broke out into song, "But don't call me kid, don't call me baby."

Peter let out a burst of laughter so loud most of the passengers in the bus turned to look. Ned was the onlooker with the brightest smile. He was feeling pretty smug for playing matchmaker

+

The thought of Peter's Aunt May didn't even occur to you until you were standing outside his apartment's door. It would be your first time in the place meaning it would also be your first time meeting her. As if sensing your nervousness, Peter grabbed your hand in one of his while the other was opening the door.

"May's not home," He said to you and Ned, but you knew it was his way of reassuring you.

Peter led you to the living room and let Ned set up while he went to the kitchen to grab some snacks and drinks.

You could tell that Ned was already familiar with the crooks and crannies of the Parker household. He knew exactly which cabinet to pull the TV remote control out of and how to operate it. You were glad that Peter had a true best friend.

As Peter returned from the kitchen with a bowl of delicious-smelling popcorn, you fidgeted in your seat. The couch was comfy, and it seemed to accommodate three people at best, but Ned had already taken a seat by the carpeted floor. With somebody else being around, you got shy at the fact that you had the urge to cuddle with Peter. You two haven't done it before.

"Hey, you good?" Peter asked as he sat next to you. Not too far away but not close enough for your knees to touch.

You only nodded, hoping the warmth in your cheeks would fade.

The opening credits started to play and the three of you fell silent. You could feel the eyes of both boys on you as if waiting for a reaction.

"If you have any questions, let me know," Ned said and you chuckled in response as Peter lightly tapped his foot against Ned's side.

"That's supposed to be my job," Peter whined.

"It can both be ours!" Ned retorted which left you giggling for a few seconds before you were shushed with a finger to your lips by Peter.

Around ten minutes in, you had to peel your eyes away from the screen to Peter who seemed to be.. fighting an itch?

You could tell he was trying to be subtle with his movements but you still decided to lay a hand on his knee and quietly ask him if he was alright. His nods were a little too quick and you knew how much energy this boy had in him.

"Do you, uhm," You glanced at Ned who was intently watching the film before leaning in to whisper into Peter's ear, "Do you want to cuddle?"

Peter nodded again, but this time he didn't look so hesitant. It was obvious that you two didn't know where to start. With the both of you not having cuddled somebody else, except for a pillow, in quite some time.

Eventually, Peter lifted one arm up, silently asking you to curl up on his side as to not disturb Ned, who was still minding his business and munching on popcorn.

You settled into Peter's side and his arm draped over your shoulders, his fingers immediately drawing heart shapes on your forearm. It's so comfortable in your position that you fought the urge to fall asleep by the crook of Peter's neck since Ned had started talking about different fun facts during the filming of this particular Star Wars movie. There was a faint hint of lavender by his soft hoodie.

You tried to chime in your compliments to the movie by giving simple "woahs" and "that's really cool" and you didn't notice how Peter wasn't even paying attention to the movie in the first place. All he could look at was you.

Movie nights wasn't your ideal way of winding down, but you felt infinitely better by simply being in Peter's presence and how his best friend has welcomed you with open arms. To be fair, he was the one to fill in the form that got you and Peter together in the first place.

"Well, I gotta go," Ned announced as the credits started to roll.

You pouted, wanting to watch the next movie with Ned's amusing commentary. Peter also thought that the movie night would stretch out until one of you passes out in the living room, but apparently, Ned's mom wants him home for a special dinner.

"I want a special dinner too," Peter pouted and you laughed as you stared at the wrappers of snickers scattered on the coffee table.

"We're broke teenagers, Pete." Peter's frown did a whole 360 at the sound of the nickname.

After putting everything back in its proper place, Peter turned to you with an outstretched hand. You took it without hesitation.

"C'mon," He said, not giving you a chance to pull away when he grabbed two sets of keys by the hooks on the door whilst dragging you with him.

"Where are we going?" You asked as the two of you descended down one of the fire exits.

Peter kept quiet and a few moments later of you trying to keep up with him, you ended up in the apartment complex's parking space. He fished out one of the keys in his pocket, pressed on it, and one of the car's headlights blinked on.

"Does May know about this?" You said to Peter as you noticed the neck pillow on the driver's seat with an embroidered M.

"No, but she won't mind," Peter shrugged and opened the car door for you. "I hope."

"What do you mean you hope-?" Peter cut you off by closing the door shut and you huffed, not wanting Peter getting into trouble with his Aunt.

"Calm down, baby." Peter said with a wink as he slid into the driver's seat.

"Now you're just using that to your advantage," You huffed again, stiffening at Peter leaning over you to strap your seat belt on.

"You've been doing so much school work," Peter replied as he started putting the keys into the engine. "You deserve to relax."

Even though you granted yourself the same sentiment earlier, the thought of the decathlon competition arriving so soon wouldn't allow you to take a breather.

"And I did," You started as Peter backed the car. "I had fun watching your favorite movie and if you're not taking me home then stop this vehicle."

You felt guilty for your words but the guilt for not doing your best regarding decathlon was even stronger. You couldn't let anyone down again. If not your teammates, then yourself.

You turned to look at Peter slowly, scared to see if he was scowling, but it was the complete opposite. He had this optimistic gleam in his eye and a tiny smile on his pink lips.

"Just thirty minutes at the place, please, then I promise I'll drive you home," He pleaded. "I'll quiz you on the way and on the drive back if that helps."

"That's actually-" You slumped back in your seat. "That's actually really smart."

True to his word, Peter racked his brain for any common, old, and difficult decathlon question. You got them right every time. You told Peter to stop the practice after he called you good girl. You weren't sure if your breathing evened out after that.

There was still a ten-minute drive left before the destination so Peter suggested you plug your phone in and play your music.

"Is Taylor Swift okay?" You asked, pulling up the music app on your phone.

"For any and every occasion," Peter said with a cheeky grin.

You and Peter were singing along to the music as the city passed by in a blur. You laid your head on the window and closed your eyes, voice starting to get quieter and letting Peter's echo in the car. He had a very lovely voice. Your heart swelled at the thought that no boy has ever sung along to cheesy love songs with you and here was Peter, doing it while on the way to taking you to a special place.

"We're here," Peter said and you felt the car stop.

You could tell where you were, it being a popular park in Queens. You've been here once or twice in passing with some friends. With the moon high in the sky, it was difficult to marvel in the beauty of the place, but with the help of a few trusty street lamps, you could see the autumn leaves on the ground and spot the lake in the distance.

"I figured it was the nearest place but it's already closed," Peter started saying, a hint of disappointment in his tone, "I thought we could open the backseat and stuff."

You stepped out of the car before Peter the gentleman could protest, and you held your breath in awe. It was perfect, no matter if the actual park grounds were closed. The car was parked underneath a huge tree that sprouted red-orange leaves. You breathed in the cool air and felt a gust of wind slightly pick up your hair.

As you took in the wonderful feeling of the cold, you didn't notice Peter had stepped out of the car and made his way to you.

"You're going to get sick," He warned, but adding a playful squeeze on your nose as a sign of his affection. "C'mon, there's blankets."

You followed Peter and he opened the trunk, and lo and behold, there were piles of blankets scattered in the back of the car. It was a variety of wool, quilts, and homemade knits. Peter grabbed a pile in his hands and let you sit down first before he situated himself next to you.

He took a smaller cotton blanket and draped it over your shoulders. You didn't even notice that you left your jacket in his house. As Peter was untangling one of his old hoodies that got mixed with a knitted blanket, you wordlessly leaned your head on his shoulder. Peter stopped muttering his little curses at the tangled material and relaxed at your warmth.

Peter draped a bigger, fuzzier blanket on top of both his and your legs before he settled down by your side. Underneath the blanket, you reached for his left hand and laced them together. His fingertips were calloused but his hand was smooth overall. Save for a scar you could feel by his knuckles. You knew there's a story behind it and you will ask when the time is right, not if Peter beats you to it and tells you. For now, this was enough.

It was silent, only the faint sounds of the city you call home echoing in a few minute intervals. In the dim light, you could make out the faint fogs of your breaths swirl in the cold October air. It was silent, but it was home. You didn't mind letting the autumn leaves falling into place fill the quiet. Peter seemed utterly at ease too based on the steady rise and fall of his chest.

You could feel Peter start to trace the back of your hand with his thumb, like he always does. You sunk in further into his chest and even though the clock struck past thirty minutes, you stayed.

The serene moment was broken when Peter's phone started ringing. You caught a glimpse and saw the name Happy Hogan on the caller ID.

It was obvious that Peter wasn't expecting the call by the furrow of his eyebrows.

"Hello?"

Peter still had his arm around you as he listened to Happy talk. You could make out some muffled words by your close proximity and you were happy that Peter trusted you like this. You remember how unpleasant it was to be ushered out of the room for a curt one minute call.

"Shit, okay, I'll be back quickly." Peter's words caught you off guard and your mind immediately went to thinking that May had gotten into a bad situation.

"What's wrong? Is May alright?" You asked, scrambling to fold the blankets properly.

"No," Peter sighed and he immediately sensed your panic. "No! I mean, she's alright. Just.. mad?"

"Oh no," You weren't daft. "When you basically kidnapped me I thought your Aunt May knew that you were taking her car!"

"I didn't kidnap you," Peter rolled his eyes. "You went with your boyfriend who, well technically, I kid—carjacked the car."

"Oh no," You repeated. "This is gonna be my first time meeting your family and I'm already disappointing them!"

Peter turned to you and clutched your shoulders in a soft grasp, "May's just going to lecture me, it's okay. She's gonna love you."

You weren't convinced but considering how much of a sweetheart Aunt May sounded in Peter's stories, you had to give the benefit of the doubt.

The car ride was silent and you knew that it was making Peter anxious. You plugged in your phone once more and put on the Lover album to uplift the mood.

"Pete?" You finally spoke after minutes of fidgeting with your fingers.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry I said you kidnapped me. You just wanted to make me feel better and you did. You really did," You rambled. "Thank you for tonight."

Peter hit the brakes as the light turned red and then turned in his seat to look at you. He glowed, even if it was simply underneath the city lights.

"No need to apologize, I knew you were only joking," Peter assured you with a quick peck to your cheek. "I'm glad you had fun."

"I did," You bit your lip. "Even though we are now heading into impending doom."

Peter laughed as he stepped on the gas, "May doesn't know that you're with me. She just thinks I took the car on my own, so again, don't you worry your pretty little head; she'll love you."

You gasped, "So I'm an accomplice to a crime?"

"And will be asked to testify." Peter finished, running along with your joking nature.

The atmosphere in the car seemed lighter, even though you were still nervous. This wasn't your ideal first time meeting with Peter's Aunt May but there's no turning back. You could only put on a brave face and hope that she'll like you for who you are and most importantly for her nephew.

The familiar facade of Peter's apartment complex came into view and you gulped. Peter placed his hand on your thigh and when you didn't push it away, he kept it there as some way to keep you relaxed.

It took you a few minutes to finally remove your seatbelt even after Peter has finished parking the car.

"Ready?" Peter asked, hands immediately finding yours as you stepped out of the car.

"No." Was all you could say and you clung to Peter's adorable laughter as if it could steady your uneasiness.

Peter pressed the button of his floor number and luckily you were the only ones in the elevator. He pressed a kiss on your temple as the metal box started its ascent.

"Still not ready." You piped in as you arrived on his floor.

Your boyfriend was unable to respond when the door swung open to a red-faced May Parker.

"Peter Benjamin!" She started. "I cannot believe you-- haven't introduced the lovely Y/N to me."

Peter chuckled at how May was startled by your presence and how quickly she shut off her sermon mode. You elbowed his side before you reached your hand out.

"Me too, Mrs. Parker. It's nice to finally meet you," You said as you shook hands. "Peter has some groveling to do."

"Oh, he definitely does," She glared at him but you could see that she wasn't fully mad at her nephew. Not now, at least. "And you can call me May, sweetheart. Come in."

"I would love to, Mrs- May, but I have to get home or my parents will kill me." You wanted nothing more than to stay and chat with the lovely woman but it was getting late into the night.

"But your stuff's inside, baby," Peter reminded you. "We'll get them and I'll bring you home, is that okay?"

You nodded and followed both of the Parker's inside their home. May headed for the kitchen and you saw that a man was sitting by one of the dining table chairs.

"Is that--"

"Yep, that's Happy. Here," Peter handed you your tote bag and jacket before calling out to the couple in the kitchen, "I'm bringing Y/N home! Don't worry I won't be driving, we'll be walking."

"Don't get us jumped." You snickered.

"Never with Peter, trust me," May chimed in. She handed you a tumbler. "Some tea to keep you warm. Peter told me that's your favorite."

You turned to look at Peter with your wide-eyed gaze, pure adoration oozing from your heart. He has your favorite tea at his place? In his home?

"Thank you, May," You gratefully accepted the container from her.

Peter placed his hand on the small of your back and guided you out towards the door. He said goodbye to May and Happy before he completely turned to you.

Under the fluorescent lights of the hallway, he still managed to have that glint in his eyes that made your heart speed up. You suddenly remembered something.

"Hey, Pete?" You called out.

He hummed in response so you continued after taking a deep breath, "Do you want to go to Flash's Halloween party with me?"

"He's still doing that?" Peter asked, no hint of malice in his voice and just pure curiosity that made you laugh.

"Yeah, he is," You shrugged. "Not even Spider-man rejecting him could crush his Halloween spirit."

Peter only smiled at that, "I'd love to go with you."

It felt as if the unspoken question lingered in the air and you just had to let it out, "I know it's super cliché but would you.. want to-- uhm-"

Peter found it adorable that this time it was you who was tripping over their words. You were still trying to string together a proper sentence when he cupped your cheeks to shush you from your rambling.

"Matching costume?" He asked and all you could do was nod. Peter gave your cheeks a squeeze and he giggled at the sight, "Again, I'd love to."

The walk back to your place consisted of you and Peter brainstorming for ideas, yet always falling short. Some were too cliché, while others were a little difficult and expensive to put together. It was safe to say you were sleepy when you finally arrived home. A little tired, but the day you had took a complete turn for the better. Peter made it better.

+

"What's with the pout?" May chuckled as she placed the freshly baked cookies on your respective plates.

The night Peter walked you back from his place, May texted him, asking when you're free. She said that she wants to get to know you better and it hit you like a freight train; the Parker's were accepting you with open arms. You can't say the same about the family of your ex-boyfriend.

You and Peter decided to let the remaining school days pass and have you come over during the weekend.

"We don't know what to wear for Halloween," You said, starting to laugh at the frustrated look on Peter's face.

"Easy," May shrugged. "Go as Spider-Man."

Your eyes widened and you could see Peter and May's faces do the same. You didn't know Peter was a Spider-man fanatic. Oh how delightful, you thought. This will either fully bond Flash and him together or go back to square one over some machismo pride.

"May!" Peter exclaimed, expression morphing between alarmed and fearful.

"I didn't know you were a fan of Spider-man, Petey." You cooed and some of the tension managed to visibly leave him.

"No-I— May, this is your fault," Peter sighed. "Besides, we're going as a couple. If I go as him then who would Y/N be?"

As a couple made your heart skip a beat.

"Yeah and Flash will have your head," You piped in. Peter gave you a "not helping" look.

May hummed to herself in thought, bringing a finger up to her chin.

"How about you two watch movies or, I don't know, look at clothes then see if inspiration strikes." Oh, so every Parker is just a genius huh?

"That's a good idea!" You beamed, unaware of Peter's loving gaze on your face. "I've been wanting to go to some thrift shops. If that's okay?"

Peter sat up straighter when you turned to him and as always, resembled an adorable puppy with his wide-eyed gaze. He nodded and squeezed your hand under the table to let you know that he wanted the same thing.

Turns out, you didn't need to wait for another day for your plans. May had left to meet with Happy, which Peter had made funny faux gag noises to since technically the boyfriend was his boss. There was still a few hours before the sun goes down and you and Peter took the opportunity to head to a few nearby thrift shops local to Queens.

It was as if you were in a movie montage, haphazardly throwing on different top hats, that looked clean of course, and goofing around with the random pieces of clothing.

Peter had gone down to the men's section on the other side of the store, waiting for quote on quote, inspiration, to strike.

You were doing the same, arms getting tired from moving mostly heavy jackets around to get a glimpse at some piece that you think would make a good Halloween costume.

The store was playing Taylor Swift, much to your delight, and your head was in the music, your feet just moving on their own to bring you to pieces of clothing that caught your attention.

As you hummed to the familiar tune of Dress, the universe managed to play a trick on you once more and had you gaping at a beautiful blue dress.

A character idea immediately popped up in your head as if a light bulb had lit. The dress was mostly baby blue, with faint white lace embroidery to give it more texture. The half sleeves and waist belt were in dark navy blue silk to add more dimension and color. You plucked the dress from where it was situated by the hanger.

You took a few steps to step in front of a floor-length mirror. You placed the dress over your figure and you smiled as it looked like it would be a perfect fit. Its hem was by your ankles and you grabbed the skirt to give a little swish. It was perfect.

A simple half-up, half-down hairdo would work and finding a hair bow that matched the blue of the dress would be easy. It was your first time getting to pick what you'd do for a couples costume and you just hoped Peter would like the idea.

"Darling."

You clutched the dress tighter in surprise as Peter's voice came out of nowhere.

"What?" You asked, letting out a breath that got stuck in your throat when you were taken off guard.

Peter always claimed to be mediocre at all things P.E but every single time, he manages to contradict himself with his agility and reflexes.

You held your breath in anticipation as Peter's eyes flickered from the dress in your hands and then back to your face. He had a knowing smile on his face and you saw it even more up close as Peter only stopped approaching when your faces were nearly touching.

He tucked a stray piece of hair behind your ear and stayed silent for a few moments. His eyes tracing your features as if it was such an interesting painting.

"Wendy Darling," Peter said. "I love it."

Your nose scrunched up in glee. You would never get tired of how much you and Peter had this way of knowing the other's thoughts so well. It applied to everything from such bizarre Halloween ideas and to secrets.

"Really?" You whispered, Peter's face still close to you. "You don't think it's cliché, Peter P?"

"I think it's brilliant," Peter whispered back, one hand now cupping your cheek. "You're brilliant."

"I would hope so, I do go to the top science school in New—"

Your words were interrupted with Peter pressing his lips to yours. The kiss had the butterflies in your stomach go into a frenzy.

"I will need your help though because green is not my color." Peter said, breathless in between kisses.

You pulled back to let out a laugh, "How do you feel about tights?"

"Eh, I'm more of a spandex guy." Peter joked before pulling you back in for another heart-stopping kiss.

"Will pants be okay?" Peter asked as he pulled away, "I saw a nice green pair over there."

"Pants are perfect," You chuckled, keeping Peter's face close to yours as you cupped his cheeks. "It's the hat we really need to perfect."

"May can handle that just fine," Was the last comment from your boyfriend before he pulled you back in.

+

The tables have been turned and now it was Cindy you were trying to comfort about decathlon. You were studying in the library when she received the news that her parents were going to attend the event next month and it had her stressing out in the past ten minutes.

"Deep breaths in, Cin, okay?" You stroked her hair as she laid her upper body across your lap. "Here, I'll do it with you."

You inhaled and exhaled to demonstrate and after a few times, Cindy had finally managed to calm down and sit up again. She grabbed her water bottle and took long gulps.

"Flash's booze tomorrow better be good." Cindy said.

You were suddenly struck with the realization that Halloween is tomorrow. With the end of October nearing, Mr. Harrington and MJ had everyone working double time. You sneaked in online shopping for your accessories when you had the free time to do it, and so did Peter. You got the blue dress from the thrift shop while Peter bought the pair of forest green denim pants that were in good condition. You protested against him making May make his little props but it was a futile attempt when the lady herself said she was already working on it during the one Saturday you were at the Parker household.

"What are you wearing for tomorrow?" You asked, attempting to clear Cindy's mind of the pressure from her parents.

"It's unfair since you won't tell me yours," She pouted as she grabbed her backpack that was seated on another chair. "But guess."

Cindy placed a tube of red lipstick, heart shaped sunglasses, and a pair of clip on bangs that matched her dark hair color. You gasped; it wasn't difficult to tell what the items meant.

"It's too good to pass up! I mean I already have the lipstick and shades, but also I know you saw her announcement about the tracklist!" Cindy gushed. "Honestly just put this together after seeing it."

You grinned, glad that your best friend took your suggestion to heart. The rest of the hour went by with you two talking about what re-recorded song you're most excited to hear. You really should've picked up your index cards again, but it almost felt like an unspoken agreement between you and Cindy that you'd grant yourself a little time to indulge.

Turns out, Peter was a lot more cheesy than you were. He suggested that you shouldn't see each other's costumes until he picked you up to go to Flash's house. Luckily this time, May let him use her car with permission.

You were making sure that nothing was out of its place, the blue ribbon in your hair, the lipgloss Peter said he really likes, and that all your necessities where in your white lace purse, when a knock came. You pulled open the door to see Peter.

You bit your lip to stop from grinning but ultimately failed. He looked adorable. With the plain green shirt with the little cuts by the sleeves which you could tell was a do it yourself job, the familiar pants held by a thick brown belt on the loops, and brown loafers. Peter's costume looked wearable but that's not what truly caught your attention. It was that his usual poofy set of curls were down, almost giving him bangs, and a cute triangular hat, that looked a little small for a teenage boy like him, was on his head.

"You're so cute, Peter." You finally let out and he sighed in relief for a moment before groaning.

"May kept saying that," Peter grumbled, but his pout dissappeared when you gave him a quick kiss on the lips. "You look beautiful, Wendy."

Your cheeks warmed at his words and you stepped out of your apartment as to not be late. But considering it was a high school party, it wouldn't really matter.

You noticed that neither of you had a jacket, but Peter didn't seem to be bothered by the cold. He immediately turned on the heating in the car though. This time, you let the local radio station fill the car with Halloween tunes and you were having the time of your life mimicking monster voices with Peter. You were already on a high without even having to consume anything. You were going to allow yourself to drink a little bit just to let loose, you deserved it after the grueling weeks of study and practice.

As if reading your mind, Peter reached over the console to grab your hand, "Are you going to drink tonight?"

"I-well.." You fumbled. "I wanted to? But I don't want to hold you back or anything so if you need me to be sober I will, but I am a bad driver so-"

"Y/N, it's fine! You don't need to ask me permission for those kinds of things, okay?" You knew what Peter was talking about. "And don't worry about me. I have a really high tolerance."

Flash's house was already blaring with music but you knew it still wasn't jampacked. Multicolored lights were seeping through the open windows and you could feel the faint bass of the music pounding in your chest. The exterior was decorated with pumpkins in different sizes, typical fake cobwebs strewn over the windows, and on its walls were different masks from famous horror movies.

Some other people looked unrecognizable in their costume, but others you made out to be your schoolmates. You saw Jason first by the patio, donning an all black outfit with his hair spiked and as you approached, you could see some fake blood by his lip and temple.

"Jason!" You called out as Peter followed behind you.

He looked taken aback when he first spotted you but his lips curled into a smile, "Why, greetings and salutations, Wendy and Peter. Very clever."

"Thank you," You smiled back. "Which Jason are you this year?"

Every Halloween, Jason showed up as a famous person or character with the same name as him. Last year he was Voorhees, the previous one before that was Bourne.

"I cannot believe you didn't catch my reference," He placed his hand over his chest. "I'm Jason Dean!"

"Oh!" You laughed as you finally saw the reason to the all black ensemble. "I don't know if you should find yourself a Veronica though. Not safe these days."

Jason just laughed and patted Peter by the shoulders, "You got yourself a clever one, Pan."

Peter blushed and you knew it was because he still had the tendency to get shy around your friends. As himself, no problem, but as your boyfriend? It was obvious he was still nervous despite hanging out at lunch almost every day.

You made your way inside the house and by the music alone, you could tell that Flash hasn't taken up the position of DJ just yet. Your suspicions were confirmed when you saw him by one of the tables that had many bowls that held different types of candies. It wasn't hard to spot him either.

"Hey, that's my boss." Peter whispered in your ear, making you laugh.

"Mr. Stark! It is such an honor to meet you." You said as you tapped Flash's red metal-clad shoulders.

"Ha, ha, very funny," Your friend rolled his eyes as he shooed away an obviously drunk boy away from the table, "I swear to god, William, if you throw up on this table again, I will end you!"

“I thought you were done with Spider-man?” Peter asked as Flash finally turned towards your direction.

“Isn’t it obvious that I’m not him?” Flash sassed, gesturing to the glowing thing by his chest.

“You’re dressed like his boss,” Peter shrugged.

“Whatever, Parker,” Flash paused. “Or should I call you Pan? Nice costume by the way. Though Y/N is the one carrying for the two of you.”

“Oh, hush,” You playfully punched Flash by his arm, which you immediately regret because of the ‘armor’ he was wearing. “Drinks?”

“Kitchen, as usual. You might find a Cindy Moon there too.”

“Oh no.” Was all you could say before you grabbed Peter’s hand and marched straight towards the kitchen.

Concern for your best friend was all you could think of in the moment. It was if every minute, a bunch of new people arrive at the house and soon enough the entrance to the wide kitchen was blocked. You grumbled under your breath but before you could even lift a finger, Peter nudged an obviously intoxicated teen out of the way to make some space. You recognized the person as one of the jocks at school and your eyes widened as you looked back and forth between the bulky boy and your boyfriend. Peter never ceases to surprise you.

It wasn’t hard to spot your friend, as she was the only one in the room in a hat, but also her ensemble was familiar to you. White shirt, dark high-waisted shorts, and a fedora hat.

“Cin!” You called out through the loud music. Oh, Flash was definitely DJ-ing now.

“Y/N!” She gasped out loud as she made her way towards you. “And Peter! Oh my god, I forgive you now for not telling me your costumes. You two are so cute!”

You and Peter only looked at each other in concern as Cindy pinched your cheek with one hand and she pinched Peter’s with the other.

“Are you drunk already?” You asked once she let go.

Cindy scoffed before smiling, “No. Fine, one shot only. But that’s because I was waiting for you!”

Your eyes widened when you remembered that yesterday in the library, you talked about wanting to let (a little) loose at the party.

“You don’t mind if I steal your girlfriend for a while, Peter Pan?” Cindy asked as she looped her arm with yours. “Actually, none of that, she’s a strong independent woman who doesn’t need permission!”

You were surprised by Cindy’s strength as she dragged you towards the kitchen counter. As you looked back at Peter, who only had an approving smile on his face, you remembered that this was the exact place that probably started, well, everything. The last time you were tipsy was during the whole red application fiasco when you have just rejected the other boys who thought would get a chance with you. Now, you were planning to have fun instead of worrying about who would volunteer to break your heart.

Peter was watching you down your first shot of the night when Ned and MJ approached him. Ned nodded in understanding when Peter took a step back when he saw MJ in a pale cream floor-length dress, short white gloves on her hands, and her natural curls peaking through the low messy bun.

She let him gawk in confusion for a second before shrugging, “Anya Taylor Joy, man.”

Peter then looked at Ned in his attire. “I like the bat.”

“Knew it. Wanna be the Dustin to this Steve? You both have curly hair,” Ned joked with a wink. He was the only one who knew what you and Peter were dressing up as for Halloween and he was so delighted for the couple that he let go of the idea of Peter dressing up as Dustin Henderson.

Though, what they both decided on mutually was that they’d retire from Star Wars costumes (for now) since they’ve done it for the past years.

It wasn’t long until you felt the room start to spin. Cindy’s a very persuasive girl and you were a good friend who wouldn’t let her try nearly every drink on the table without supervision. Well technically, since you were also drinking, the responsibility of supervision was thrust into your boyfriend’s hands.

“Have one!” You shoved a red solo cup into Peter’s hands. “You said you have a high tolerance, prove it, Petey!”

Peter took the cup from you, without any intention of drinking its content, just so you wouldn’t trip over and spill liquid onto the floor, creating a hazard. You were slurring your words, mixed in with high-pitched giggles and little hiccups in between.

“I still have to drive us home, Y/N,” He reminded you, despite the fact that you didn’t know that no alcoholic drink would affect him.

“Hmph,” You pouted and crossed your arms, making an adorable view for Peter. “Fine, let’s dance!”

You dragged Peter away to the living room before he could even protest. The mirrorball hung in the ceiling reflecting the multicolored lights set an ache in Peter’s temple but he powered through it as he felt you lifting his arms in an attempt to dance.

Deciding to say screw it, Peter gulped down the drink you gave him. He thought back to the times you ranted to him about school works and how this party was the perfect opportunity to enjoy your youth. You were right; that tonight was the night to forget about responsibilities and deadlines.

The vodka burned as it ran down his throat, but it still didn’t have any effect whatsoever. Thankfully, Flash was passing by and surprisingly, gave Peter one of the cups he had in his hands. Peter downed it in a second. This specific drink was a little stronger, but again, not enough. It did help numb some of his senses to make the flashing lights and loud music a bit more tolerable so Peter decided that was his last drink for the night.

Your warm body pressing into him snapped Peter out of his thoughts about his spidey senses. From this close proximity, your vanilla scent wafted in Peter’s nose, and he immediately decided that you were more intoxicating than Asgardian mead; the only alcohol strong enough to give him a hangover.

The upbeat music seemed to energize you as it played, and Peter’s hands found home on your hips. He followed how you frantically swayed to the beat and you pulled him in even closer if it were possible. Your hot breath over his lips made sweat gather in his hairline.

Peter’s strong shoulders underneath your palms sent a flurry of unholy thoughts in your head, but you still had reservations despite the liquor taking its effect on your mind. The strawberry flush on his freckled cheeks wasn’t helping either, especially since you knew that it was your fault for its appearance.

“Y-Y/N?” He breathed over your gloss-coated lips. You had applied a layer earlier before you dragged him to the dancefloor. It was a deeper red color, far from your usual pink, and you had a feeling that you would like it better on Peter’s face.

Peter’s a usually confident boy. It gave you a feeling of pride to know that you had the ability to render him speechless. Peter was almost always flustered around your presence, but it was every time you were on the verge of a heated kiss that he was left to little words.

Sober, it would take you too much time to gather the courage to do what you were about to. You leaned in even closer and took Peter’s bottom lip between your teeth. You could hear his breath hitch and your interlaced hands behind his neck separated a little so that they could trace the nape of his neck and up his hair.

You had no intention of going all the way tonight, or even soon, but you wouldn’t deny that you enjoyed making out with the pretty boy who was starting to melt like putty under your hands.

You felt one of Peter’s hands settle on your waist, the other still on your hip. You both have stopped dancing and stood your ground when somebody slightly bumped into you. It was your turn to hold your breath when Peter captured your lips in a kiss. The strong grip he had on your body made you let out a nearly inaudible moan, but of course, Peter heard it and the boy seized the opportunity to run his tongue on your bottom lip before you granted him entrance.

The alcohol in your system amplified the want you felt for Peter. Yet, in an indescribable way, you were somehow sobered by the way his hands clung to you. You felt like floating because of the intense way he was kissing you but the little pants escaping his lips when you pulled away for a split second to breathe had grounded you to this earth. This reality that had pulled your forces together despite the troubles that haunted your past. You wouldn’t trade it for anything else.

You heard a whistle in the near distance. The two of you pulled away to see Cindy clapping maniacally and MJ next to her. Your blurry eyes didn’t miss the hand she had on Cindy’s forearm to stop her from falling face-first on the floor.

“Damn, Wendy and Peter! Keep it PG,” MJ teased with a smirk.

Cindy elbowed MJ’s side a few times as she chuckled and swayed, “Let’s leave them be. They’re about to make some lost boys.”

In your drunken haze, you completely missed the insinuation and ignored it. You cupped Peter’s cheek to look back at you once your friends left. He was blushing again.

“This place is too crowded,” You whispered, forehead touching Peter’s.

“Too many cool kids,” He snickered.

His laughter at his own pun was cut short when you gently grasped the back of his head and pulled him into another breathtaking kiss, “God, Peter Benjamin Parker, you don’t know how bad I want you right now.”

You heard him gulp before removing your hands from behind his head to interlace your fingers together. This time, it was Peter pulling you away from the crowded scene and towards the kitchen.

Deja vu has hit and you started to giggle out loud. Peter turned to look at you as he grabbed a cup to fill it up with water. To fuel your own amusement, you found an empty spot on the counter and sat up on it.

“Thank you,” You said as Peter handed you the cup, “Looks familiar, no?”

You expected Peter’s brows to furrow in confusion, but he only nodded, a tiny smile playing on his lips. You giggled again.

“Ooooh, you wanted to kiss me so bad that night,” You wiggled your eyebrows as you looked at Peter over the rim of the cup.

Peter was just letting you ramble, his heart swelling when you admitted that you did in fact wanted to kiss him that night after the beer pong game. Except, this time, circumstances are sweeter and kinder to the both of you. Your paths had intertwined to lead to this and none of you were complaining.

“And I so want to kiss you a lot tonight,” Peter mimicked the teasing lilt in your voice.

“Then what’s stopping you?” You said as you jumped off the marble surface, with Peter’s assistance. “Let’s get out of here.”

Peter knew that he was sober and perfectly capable to drive the both of you home, but he still gulped down a glass of water just to make sure.

As the two of you slinked your way towards the front door, Peter halted in his steps when realization struck him, “Wait, did you mean get out of the kitchen or the actual house?”

“The house, silly. You said May wasn’t home, right?” You asked in a sweet voice and continued to walk towards the car as if your words didn’t leave Peter swallowing his nervousness.

The drive back to the Parkers didn’t take long, but every few minutes or so, Peter had to pull you back in your seat whenever you attempted to stick your head out the window. It was New York City, an innocent act like that isn’t safe with the possibilities of bad people around.

By the time Peter parked, most of your dizziness had gone away and you were able to walk properly. You didn’t stop Peter from wrapping his arm around your waist, though.

You could feel the tension when you two arrived in the apartment, the absence of May was obviously freaking Peter out and you could feel it from where you were standing next to him.

“We don’t have to do anything,” You were unsure if your words relieved or disappointed Peter.

“I know, and you’re drunk. I would never take advantage of you or anyone like that.” Peter said before placing a kiss on your forehead.

Your shoulders sagged before you could conceal the dismay in your still hazy brain.

“What’s wrong, darling?”

You flushed at the pet name and even though you couldn’t meet Peter’s eyes, you still managed to speak. “It’s- I- I just wanted to- uhm.. cuddle?”

Peter didn’t say anything for a second so you rambled, “I really liked it when we did last time but Ned was around and I have never been to your room before so it’s fine if you don’t want to-”

“Anything for my Wendy.” Peter interrupted, with a soft, gentle boop to your nose.

Even though you weren’t going to do anything, you still felt nervous as you followed Peter into his room. It would be your first time in there and the prospect of being on Peter’s bed sped up the thumping of your heartbeat.

“Here we are,” Peter said in a shy voice. “Sorry for the mess.”

You didn’t reply and instead, looked around. It was not spotless, it is a teenager’s bedroom after all, but the way it looked was a perfect reflection of the boy that resided in it. Star Wars posters on the wall, notebooks and pens scattered on the desk, and some socks in one corner.

“Are you kidding? It’s so.. you.” You turned around to look at Peter with a smile. The nervous frown on his lips faded away at the sight of it.

“Is that supposed to be a good thing?” Peter asked as you stepped forward.

“A very good thing.” You whispered before attaching your lips to his.

Peter pulled away and wiped a stray smudge of mascara by the corner of your eye, “Do you- want to-uh- stay the night?”

“I would love nothing more.” You grinned and approached the foot of his bed. You looked at Peter and he nodded, giving you silent permission that you were allowed to sit on it.

The moment your butt hit the soft mattress, you were done for. Initially, you planned to just sit down first out of decency, but it was as if tiredness hit you all at once, resulting in you laying down on the sheets. Everything smelled like Peter, the sweet honeysuckle mixed with his natural musk, and the detergent you assumed May favored.

“Do you want to change?” Your sleepy eyes flung open when Peter spoke. “You can borrow my clothes but, shit, that sounds creepy, uhm-”

“Yes, please.” It was as if calming the other person down from rambling was yours and Peter’s thing.

“Can I choose?” You giddily said as you stood up. Sober you would chastise yourself for being so demanding, but Peter was a boy willing to say yes to anything his girlfriend asks him for.

Peter helped you up and held you steady as you crouched down to view his t-shirts that were on the bottom half of the drawer. You were humming as if you were in the grocery store picking out which apples looked best. Peter was just looking at you in admiration.

“This one!” You exclaimed, pulling out a soft, gray t-shirt that you saw Peter wear a few times at school. It had a corny science pun on it, which is why you picked it out.

Your clumsy state had accidentally pulled out some other pieces of clothing in the drawer but you assumed that Peter was tired so he let it be.

He let you in his bathroom and you got dressed in the shirt and some of Peter’s old sweats. The alcohol in your system overpowered the anxiousness and you were quick to settle into Peter’s arms.

You would have loved to stay up and talk about anything and everything that comes to mind because you know that Peter would never judge you for that. In fact, he would join you too. But you were worn out, so you let Peter, your favorite ball of energy, do the talking, lulling you to sleep as if the multiversal theory was a bedtime story.

You fell asleep in the comfort of your lover’s arms with him on your mind. And the sight of a familiar scarf you vividly remember giving to somebody that wasn't Peter, falling out of the drawer.

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