#not like vibing mid afternoon just putting something on

[gremlinshipper]

watching inuyasha during the day just feels wrong

#inuyasha #adult swim #I should be two feet away from the tv working on my social studies homework #not like vibing mid afternoon just putting something on

[krirebr]

Relax

Pairing: Jake Jensen x f!Reader

Warnings: None

Word Count: ~500 words

A/N: I watched The Losers this afternoon for the first time in years to try to combat the Migraine Sads™ and I immediately wanted to grab Jensen's hand and tell him, "Oh no, baby, just stop." So here that is. 😂

It was the middle of a Tuesday afternoon and the bar was predictably dead. A couple was finishing up an appetizer sampler in the corner booth and a man and a woman sat a few seats apart at the bar. That was it. You were working alone, busying yourself rolling silverware.

As you worked through your stack, you saw the man at the bar leave his seat and move down towards the woman. He was cute with spiky blonde hair and a goatee that was kind of dorky but worked on him. Most importantly, he was fucking built. That fact forgave a lot of follicular sins. The woman was pretty. Brunette with a soft round face. But she'd been nursing an Old Fashioned for the last hour and was giving real fuck-off vibes as she compulsively checked her phone. This wasn't going to go well, but you were bored and kind of wanted to watch the train wreck, so you moved down to their end of the bar as subtly as you could.

"So, uh, you come here often?" he asked her, then grimaced. You resumed your rolling, trying to act like you weren't paying attention. "Yeah, no," he continued when she didn't respond. "I've been here a few times." He nodded to her drink. "I also like drinking. It's fun." He scowled but didn't seem able to stop himself. "And good." He shifted his eyes to the corner of the ceiling, looking like he wanted to die. This poor baby. She shot him a glare and moved to one of the high tops on the far side of the room to finish her drink. He just nodded in response.

You filled a shot glass with top-shelf whiskey and placed it in front of him. "On the house," you said.

He took and drank it without looking up then put his face in his hands. "I'm so fucking embarrassing," he mumbled. "Why is it so hard to talk to chicks?"

"Well, my first piece of advice would be to not use the word 'chicks' so much."

He chuckled, still looking down at the bar. "Any other advice?" he asked.

"Yeah," you said. "You gotta relax, dude."

He huffed. "Yeah, easy for you to sa-" he looked up at your face and stopped mid-sentence. His mouth just hung open for a moment then he took a breath to say something you were sure would be horribly awkward.

"Relax," you said again and poured him another shot. "Can I let you in on a little secret?"

"Uh, sure," he said, taking the shot seemingly unconsciously.

"You're really hot," you said with a grin. "You don't need to try so hard."

You could see his brain short-circuit. "Uh, what?"

"You heard me," you smirked.

"Why does it feel like you're flirting with me?" he asked, adorably confused.

"Because that's exactly what I'm doing," you said. "I guess I like the awkward ones."

He blushed and ducked his head bashfully. "I'm Jake," he said, extending his hand to you. You took it and gave him your name.

You checked your watch. "Well, Jake, I'm done here in about two hours," you said with a significant look.

He gave you another cute, little confused look and then, "Oh! You mean-?" You just smiled at him and he matched it with a grin of his own that lit up his whole face. "Ok, two hours then."

Masterlist

Tag lists are open

@stargazingfangirl18 @drabblewithfrannybarnes @thezombieprostitute @jaqui-has-a-conspiracy-theory

#jake jensen x reader #jake jensen x you #jake jensen #drabble #the losers (2010) #reader insert #jake jensen x female reader #chris evans fanfiction #kris wrote something

[neewtmas]

ᴛʜᴇ ʜᴀᴜɴᴛɪɴɢ ᴏꜰ ᴀʙʙᴇʏ ʜᴏᴜꜱᴇ // ᴘᴀʀᴛ ᴠɪ

pairing: george karim x fem!reader

wordcount: 3.6k

summary: a case that takes longer than expected, an unrequited crush, and the hardest decision you ever had to make

masterlist series masterlist

taglist: @maraschinomerry @sstrawberriel @poisonquinzell @holymotherfxrkingshirtballs @the-high-lady-of-3am-crackposts @oblivious-idiot @bobbys-not-that-small @myownpainintheass @taygrls @marinalor @y0urm0m12 @fearlessmoony @pansexualwitchwhoneedstherapy @quack-quack-snacks @ahead-fullofdreams @aphroqite (if you wanna be added or removed, just tell me)

For a while, you continued like this - Emily and George reading and taking notes, you fighting your way through the text in front of you without much success.

"Have you found anything interesting?"

You jumped at the question that broke the silence so suddenly, realising that Emily was talking to you and not George. You glanced over at her before you quickly averted your eyes again.

"Not really", you mumbled, and you could feel your skin prickle from the embarrassment of having her call you out like that. In front of George, of all people.

You jumped again as you felt her hand coming to rest on your arm.

"Are you okay? You look a little pale."

You tensed. Was she making fun of you? But her smile and the concern in her eyes seemed genuine.

"I'm fine", you said, but the slight shaking in your voice proved otherwise.

She got up, her chair scraping loudly over the floor.

"Come with me, I'll get you something to drink."

You looked over to George, who nodded encouragingly before he returned his focus to his book.

A glass of water did sound good, and it would be a chance to get out of the small corner of the library that had started to feel suffocating.

You followed Emily back to her desk in the front, where she rummaged through a little cabinet under the table and pulled out a bottle of water and a cup.

She handed you the filled cup and turned around to open the window, letting in some fresh air.

"How is it, being an agent?", she asked while you sipped on your water.

"It's … I don't know." You stared down into your cup, thinking about all the near-death experiences you had in your time as an agent. "It can be scary, and dangerous. But the people you work with make it better."

She chuckled. "That's true, coworkers can make or break it. Honestly, I don't know how you do it, I could never handle working with my boyfriend every single day. I'd be scared we'd get sick of each other eventually."

She must have noticed your furrowed brows and confused expression.

"George?", she added. "Isn't he your boyfriend?"

You could tell immediately that your face was in the process of taking on the colour of her bright red sweater.

"George? No! Why would you think that?", you croaked out, trying to keep your composure. What was she on about?

Emily laughed brightly. "I just thought I picked up on some vibes between you two." Her eyes sparkled as she leaned closer to you, and for a moment she reminded you of Lucy. "But you know, never say never."

You choked on your sip of water and had to put the cup down before you spilt it all over the floor. She winked at you and made her way back into the other room, while you had to take a few seconds to recuperate.

You smoothed down your shirt and cleared your throat before you followed her. Had you interpreted it all wrong? Just a few minutes ago you could have sworn she was flirting with George. And who could blame her? You'd do the same if he hadn't made it clear to you several times that he wasn't interested.

As pathetic as it was, you felt relieved that this gorgeous girl didn't seem to be interested in your best friend. But when you turned the corner to where you'd been reading, the sight of them sitting next to each other still made your stomach turn. After all, just because she wasn't interested in him, didn't mean he wasn't interested in her.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

It was mid-afternoon when you left to catch the train back. You had been somewhat successful and George had a few pages of notes - that truthfully, you didn't contribute much to.

Your head was a jumbled mess, and you felt an intense need to be alone for a while, just to sort out your thoughts. Too much had happened in the last few days, and at this point, you didn't know what to think anymore.

No words were exchanged between you and George, not on the walk to the train, not during the train ride. When you walked back through the fields to the manor, you let yourself fall back. George didn't seem to mind, he was clutching his notes and you knew his mind was probably far away, thinking over everything you had found out so far.

The sun warmed your skin, and you closed your eyes, soaking it in for a moment. The thoughts in your head were quieting down as you filled your lungs with fresh air, and you tried your best to push them into a far corner of your mind. As soon as you were back in London, you would have a chance to think everything over properly. Maybe you had to go through with it, even though your heart hurt just thinking about it.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

Just a few hours later, you were walking up the driveway. The manor towered at its end, backlit by the light from the setting sun which made it look far more threatening than in the afternoon. The sound of your rapier hilts clinging against the metal of the belts slung over your torsos accompanied the crunch of the gravel under your boots. Other than that, an eery silence had taken over the scenery. The few birds that you had heard chirping during the day were quiet now, and the slight breeze that had ruffled the bushes flanking the walkway had died down completely.

You felt only marginally better prepared than yesterday. Over some sandwiches that Lucy and Lockwood had brought, you had talked through your findings of the day. It seemed as if everyone Lucy and Lockwood had talked to in their - rather mediocre - getup as tourists had roughly the same opinions - the Blackwoods were a family that highly valued their privacy and lived secluded in their manor, with no real association to anyone else. There were rumours that the son's attendance at the boarding school wasn't entirely of his own accord, and talks about how Blackwood's daughter - Genevieve - was rejecting any and all advances and wasn't planning on getting married anytime soon. Not that there was anything wrong with that, you thought, but it seemed to be a big topic of discussion in these circles. As for George and you, your findings largely matched those of Lockwood and Lucy. There hadn't been much that hadn't already been available in the archives in London, and so you stepped into this case more or less still clueless about what the origin of the haunting could be.

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

You were greeted by the butler at the front door.

"Miss Blackwood is waiting for you", was all he said, and out of the corner of your eye, you noticed Lockwood looking at him weirdly. Like he had just realised something.

You didn't get to ponder too long over that though, as the butler led you into the dining room where you had had dinner just last evening. Genevieve Blackwood stood with her back to you but turned around as you entered.

Her face lit up with a smile, that for some reason had your stomach churning. Something about her…

She walked over to you, heels loud on the hardwood floor beneath her long black dress.

"I'm so glad you're finally here", she said brightly, then furrowed her brows. "Unfortunately, my father is still in a state that doesn't allow him to speak to you. We have decided to still go through with it to not take up more of your precious time."

Lockwood adjusted his rapier. "We appreciate -"

The sound of a door opening behind you interrupted him. You turned around, and in the doorframe stood an elderly woman in a bathrobe. Her hands were shaking slightly, and she looked a little dazed.

"Genevieve, darling", she said, voice quiet and breathy. "Where is he? You promised me -"

"Not now", Genevieve hissed, and you felt a shiver run down your back at the venom in her voice. "Can't you see that now is not the time?" She looked over to the butler, who gave her a curt nod and grabbed the woman by the arm. He led her out of the room, ignoring her protest, and for a moment, the sound of the door falling shut behind them was the only sound in the room.

You exchanged a look with George, who stood next to you. Genevieve Blackwood cleared her throat. She looked paler than before. "You must excuse her. She doesn't know what is going on around her. Now, the sun is setting, and we better get this over with quickly."

She led you through more corridors until she reached a large double door at the end of a hallway, that was ornately decorated with flowers and vines carved into the wood, along with iron moulded to fit some of the flowers.

"Behind that door is the wing of the house that is affected by the haunting. This door keeps it from spreading to the rest of the house, which is why we are still living here. I trust you to handle it from here."

She nodded and then walked away swiftly. Lockwood looked after her before he turned to you. "Are you ready?"

With affirmation from all of you, he slowly pushed down the handle. The door opened smoothly and swung open into the dark hallway that lay beyond. It was dimly lit from the last daylight coming through the windows that lined the wall. It didn't look too different from the other hallways you had walked through so far, with the exception that in this one, big oil paintings hung on the wall, showing portraits of the family members.

Lockwood was the first to enter. You followed him and when you crossed over the threshold, it was like stepping outside on a cold winter day. You pulled the sleeves of your jumper down so that they covered part of your hands, then reached for your flashlight.

Without much talking, you dispersed. Lucy moved down the hallway, the end of which lay in complete darkness. She kept her hands on the wall, and her eyes closed, full focus on any supernatural echoes and sounds. Lockwood trailed behind her, keeping an eye on her, ready to step in if anything were to go wrong. George had immediately started taking the temperature at different points of the hallway and scribbled down the readings in his small, tattered notebook.

You on the other hand had turned on your flashlight, moving the beam of light slowly over the walls. The paintings were shiny in the light, the shadows cast by the slight movements of your hand making them look almost alive. You stepped closer to inspect the little plaque that was hammered into the ornate wooden frame. Agatha Blackwood was engraved there, along with a birth year that indicated the woman on the portrait to be in her mid-seventies now. You pointed the flashlight back up and took a closer look at her face.

"That's Lord Blackwood's sister. The woman we saw earlier."

You almost dropped your flashlight as George's voice suddenly sounded so close to your ear. He had appeared behind you, looking over your shoulder at the painting.

"Don't sneak up on me like that in the dark", you hissed, trying to gather yourself.

He chuckled. "Maybe you just need to pay more attention to your surroundings. I could have been a ghost after all."

You huffed. "Pull something like that again and you might end up as one."

You made your way over to the next painting and missed the way his lips curled into a fond smile before he followed you.

You came to a halt in front of a portrait of a man that you identified as Lord Blackwood before you even read the name plaque. He looked exactly how you imagined him, but there was something about him that you didn't like. Maybe his piercing blue eyes, that felt like they were staring right into your soul. You turned to George. "Do you -" Your voice got stuck in your throat as you saw his expression. He was staring up at the portrait with wide, glossy eyes, lips slightly parted. "George?" No reaction. You nudged him once, twice, this time harder. With a gasp, he stumbled a little, breaking eye contact with the painting.

"George?" He looked at you, the far-away look he had just seconds ago was gone.

"Yeah?"

"Are you… okay?"

He adjusted his glasses. "Yes. I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be?"

You hesitated. You didn't want to bring up what his reaction had reminded you of, because you knew he didn't like to talk about it. But that look in his eyes… you felt a wave of dread wash over you at the thought of the boneglass and its effects, especially on George. It hadn't been that long, and none of you knew exactly how much it had really affected him.

"No reason", you finally said, deciding to just keep an eye out for George. Not like that wasn't what you were doing at all times anyway.

You stepped closer, trying to ignore the way the hairs on your arm stood up. You aimed the flashlight at the lower part of the painting.

The Lord was a few years older than his sister, you noted.

Without thinking about it, almost involuntarily, you reached out for the frame but immediately flinched away again as your fingers brushed over it. It was ice cold.

"George", you said quietly. He had gone off to take more temperature readings. Within seconds, he was by your side again. "What is it?"

"What's the temperature here?"

He looked down at the thermometer and pressed a few buttons.

"6°C", he said slowly. "That's much colder than anywhere else." He reached out for the frame just like you did, and just like you he pulled his hand away quickly.

"That's… interesting." You could practically see him thinking.

"Check the other paintings, I'll get Lockwood and Lucy. We might be onto something here."

You nodded and he hurried down the hallway. It was completely dark now, and with a last look at Lord Blackwood, you made your way back to Agatha Blackwood's portrait. A shiver ran down your spine, and if you didn't know any better, you could have sworn you felt his eyes burn into the back of your head as you walked away.

Every portrait you checked was the same - cold, but not overly so. So when you gathered back in front of Lord Blackwood, you all knew that this was it.

"Why his portrait though?" Lucy asked. She had her hand firmly pressed against it and her eyes closed.

"I'm getting nothing from it. It's just really cold."

Lockwood aimed his flashlight up.

"I might have an idea", he slowly said. "But I'm not sure yet. What's behind this wall?"

George pointed over to a door a few feet down the corridor.

"Let's try this door."

It opened easily and led to a study. A large desk stood facing the door, and tall shelves filled to the brim with books were lining the walls.

The glow of your flashlights had a hard time penetrating the darkness that somehow felt heavier than outside. Dust particles danced in the air, and Lockwood, who was last, secured the door - your way out, should things go south. Then he went to get the two bags of equipment you had brought but had left standing at the double door, while you and Lucy started to thoroughly check the room.

It was immediately clear that you were in the right place. The temperature had dropped noticeably, so much so that you were slightly shivering now, despite your warm sweater. You were feeling along the wall right next to the door, at whose other side lay the hallway. The textured wallpaper felt rough under your fingertips, and there was a constant, static noise that felt far away and unnervingly close at the same time. You moved slowly, mentally preparing for any flashback or rush of emotion that might be waiting for you after the next step, but nothing happened. The wall just felt progressively older, and you knew you must be getting closer to the spot where the portrait was attached to the other side of the wall.

Then suddenly, you had reached the corner. Or rather, a heavy, velvet curtain that was draped over what should be the wall. With a little difficulty, you pulled it aside to reveal another wooden door. Without thinking, you pushed down the handle. The door creaked open, and you raised your flashlight, the other hand on the hilt of your rapier as you kicked it open further. It seemed to be an extension of the study, with the same towering bookshelves, and another two desks, slightly smaller than the one in the room behind your back.

You stepped into the room, flashlight raised and your other hand resting on the hilt of your rapier. In the warm glow of the flashlight, the room looked almost inviting - but it didn't feel like it. Immediately upon entering, you could feel your skin prickling. The static noise had slowly increased in volume, and you could feel the beginning of a slight headache forming behind your temples.

You hesitated. Maybe you shouldn't be in here alone. Just at that moment, Lockwood called for you. You took a few tentative steps backwards until you felt safe to turn around. Lucy was in the opposite corner, still feeling around the books, while George was laying out an iron circle.

"What's behind that door, (name)?", Lockwood asked.

"Two desks and more books. It seems like it's just a connection between those two rooms."

Lockwood thought for a moment.

"Alright, then we'll split up. Lucy and I will stay here. George and (name), you take the other room. Put a chair and some iron at the door so that it won't close."

You tried to keep a neutral expression, but on the inside, you were screaming. Of course, you'd split up. Of course, Lockwood had you and George working together. You wondered if Lucy realised just how protective he was over her. How he'd never leave her alone in the presence of a ghost if he didn't have to. You're chest tightened. It must be nice to have someone care about you that much.

George grabbed the second bag, and the two of you moved over into the other room. With two flashlights, the space was considerably better-lit, and you took a while to slowly walk around and take everything in.

Your flashlight wandered over a row of books, and you tilted your head to read the titles. "What do you think the source is?", you asked eventually, just to break the silence. Surely, George already had several different theories, and it was unusual that he hadn't yet shared them with you.

He took a while to reply, and when he did his voice sounded shaky.

"I'm not sure."

You furrowed your brows and turned around. He stood with his back to you in front of one of the bookshelves.

"George?"

You expected him to turn to you, but he didn't. He didn't move at all, the hand holding his flashlight hanging limply by his side.

Anxiety was twisting your insides as you rushed over to him, hand on his shoulder to turn him around. He blinked and scrunched his eyes together as you shone the light in his face.

"George, what is going on?", you asked, hating the way your worry for him was so clearly audible in your voice.

He put his hand on yours and pushed down the flashlight.

"Stop that, you're gonna make me blinder than I already am. I told you, I'm fine. Just feeling a little tired, that's all."

You did not believe him.

"Something is wrong with you!"

He laughed dryly. "There are a lot of things wrong with me. And maybe I'm feeling a little out of it today, who cares?"

You wanted to shake him, scream in his face that you cared, you cared so much, and that he was putting himself in danger because something was clearly not right. Maybe the aftereffects of the boneglass were still lingering, and he just didn't want to admit that.

You took a step back from him, feeling defeated.

"I'm gonna go set up an iron circle."

While you went to gather the chains, George began pulling open the drawers in the cabinet under one of the desks. You didn't get very far with opening the bag and kneeled to take a closer look at the zipper, that seemed to be stuck. Behind you, you heard paper rustling and George muttering under his breath.

"(name)?" George's voice was quiet, maybe a little unsure.

"Mhm?" You leaned further down, moving the zipper back and forth, trying to get it loose while you waited for him to continue.

He mumbled something you didn't quite catch, and you were about to ask him to speak up, but his next words left you frozen in place.

"I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you, just the way I always dreamed about and wished for. I love you more than you could ever know."

⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘⫘

thank you for reading :)

#george karim x reader #george karim #lockwood and co #lockwood and co x reader #lockwood & co #lockwood & co x reader #lockwood and co x you #lockwood & co x you

[harrywavycurly]

Sarah, I literally love you so much you're one of the best people on this app istg❤️

If it's not too much trouble, for the joseph quinn x princess reader can we get something like Joe and readers nighttime routine?

I'm quite particular about my skincare but sometimes I'm soooo lazy and too tired to do it and I need someone like Joe to treat me like a princess and do it for me🥹

Or something similar if you don't vibe w/ that, anything like that would be super cool if you could, please & thank you🫶🩶

Hellooo lovey!! Awe oh my goodness you’re too sweet omg🥹 I literally love YOUUU so much!!! I absolutely can give you some Joseph Quinn and his Princess’s nighttime routine! I feel you on the skin care like I’m obsessed with it but also half the time don’t want to be bothered with it😩😂 so I hope you enjoy, I gave you some conversations that you’d have throughout the night💖

-hi! Hello! Keep scrolling if RPF isn’t your thing and also if you’re not into spoiled/princess reader. I swear I won’t take it personal 😂✨

-find all things Joe x Princess here💖

*You have a thing for skincare…you just don’t always want to bother with it so that’s where Joe comes in*

“My love you have to be still or it’s going to be all wonky looking.” “Sorry I’m just sleepy…that’s a little tight.” “Sorry baby…did you have a long day hmmm? Spent too much time out at the shops with your friends?” “It was fun but yes…I didn’t get my usual nap so I got a little cranky.” “You do like your little half hour mid day nap don’t you love?…how’s that? Need me to redo it? I’m still new on the whole French braid thing.” “I can’t help it…working mornings and getting off in the afternoon just makes it hard for me to not need a nap…oh yes it looks great.” “I for one am pro nap…I enjoy when you’re all sleepy and cuddly in the middle of the afternoon.”

“I’m too sleepy…I don’t want to.” “Baby…you know you’ll be very annoyed in the morning when you wake up and your face is all dry…” “can you…do it for me?” “Put on your skincare? Sure love..you just have to tell me what order you do things in because there’s…a lot.” “I can do that…you really don’t mind?” “Of course not my darling…now what’s first?” “That green bottle…yeah that one it’s my serum to make me look radiant…do you think it works?” “Oh yes it works you’re always looking absolutely radiant love…how’s that feel? I’m not being too rough right?” “It feels amazing…I’m never applying my own skincare again.” “Oh is that so?” “Next is the gold bottle that’s my nighttime face cream…don’t forget to drag it down the neck.” “Jesus this stuff is quite thick…so down the neck…got it…that feel okay?” “Mhhmmm” “baby…come on you can’t possibly be falling asleep while sat on the bathroom counter.” “You underestimate my ability to sleep anywhere…” “what’s the last step love?” “Eye cream…tiny white jar….you don’t need a lot and use your ring finger and tap it in.” “Okay..tap it..in…like that?…are we done now?” “Yes…can we go lay down now?” “Yes baby we can go lay down now.”

“You said we can lay down…” “and you can love…I’m just going to rub your feet with that lotion you like and put those socks on that have the little hearts all over them.” “Oh but I got those new ones with smiley faces on them at the store today.” “Did you? Would you like to wear those instead love?” “Yes please…” “okay…get comfortable for me…perfect…left foot please baby…that’s a good girl thank you…” “will you read to me tonight?” “Sure princess what do you feel like reading tonight?…right foot now love…thank you.” “I like that poetry book you’ve been reading to me lately.” “Oh good choice baby…okay feet are nice and cozy let’s get comfy shall we?” “My feet are very happy…thank you.” “You don’t have to thank me baby…you know I love pampering you.” “I love you Mr. Quinn.” “I love you too Princess.”

#Joseph quinn x princess #Joseph quinn x spoiled reader #joseph quinn rpf #joseph quinn request #joseph quinn fluff #joseph quinn x you #joseph quinn series #joseph quinn x fem!reader #joseph quinn x reader #joseph quinn x y/n #joe quinn x you #joe quinn x fem!reader #joe quinn x y/n #joe quinn x reader #joe quinn fluff #Joseph Quinn #my little british baby #Quinn spoiled

[auroralightsthesky]

~ Mary my darling!! all that’s been on my mind lately is Calvin, wifey, baby El & Six-Thirty going on a little family picnic🥹

it’s a beautiful day, mid spring. the birds are chirping away & the sky is clear, not a raindrop in sight. it was particularly warmer on this day & the plan to go on a little impromptu picnic was in full swing. you decided to wear this baby pink dress, that had a white collar & little pink bows going down the middle of it, almost acting as the buttons of the dress. Cal had bought it for you as a gift. but he didn’t just buy one for you. he bought one for baby Ellen too :,) you were going to match today & you wanted to get Cal’s reaction once he sees the two of you.

his reaction is just priceless once he notices that you are in fact matching. he’s all giddy & telling you how pretty you both look! Cal decides to wear a salmon colored shirt to keep the pinky vibes going. you get the sandwiches & drinks prepped, while Calvin carries around baby El with him, retrieving a blanket & woven basket to put the food/drinks in. once everything is all ready, you take El from Cal & he starts to load up the car. Six-Thirty hops into the back next to baby girls car seat, keeping an eye on her & making sure she’s all good. Six-Thirty is always making sure Ellen is safe no matter what, even if it’s as simple as driving somewhere, he’s always alert & ready to be of aid.

it’s not too long of a drive, so you get there pretty soon after hoping in the car. once you arrive, you are met with miles of green grass & trees lined all along the outskirts of the park. it’s very peaceful, a whiff of fresh air immediately hits you & the sun is casting down, reflecting onto the shiny field. you & Cal hop out, get El & Six-Thirty from the back, & grab the food basket/blanket from the trunk. once situated, you all head over to a spot in the shade, setting down the picnic blanket & take a seat.

the rest of the afternoon consisted of eating little sandwiches & snacks until your bellies were full. Calvin ended up bringing a frisbee to throw around for Six-Thirty to catch & play with, which was fun to watch. you had also brought a few of Baby El’s favorite books to read aloud to her. some of them were interactive, which had baby girl clapping & giggling along🥹 as a little activity to do all together as a family, you retrieved some bubbles from the bag & blew them. they’d get swept up by the wind & El would try to reach out to catch them. Six-Thirty was jumping around, trying to catch them in his mouth too & letting out little barks of excitement. the day was a mixture of family, giggles, & lots of fun !!

~ my love i know this wasn’t super detailed or anything, i’m sorry about that! but this idea has been on my mind & i definitely encourage you to add any thoughts to it if you want 🥰 but i hope you enjoyed this little thought regardless 💗

MEGGY BABY THIS IS SO CUTE!!!!!!!!! I Can't even right now!!! Just the thought of this alone is making me swoon!!!

Ok but the fact alone that wifey and Baby Ellen match?? That's just so perfect!!! I love the baby pink color so picturing them in matching dresses is adorable. I feel like Cal's mother would be taking so many pictures of Baby Ellen for her scrapbook too and maybe in later years, Ellen keeps it to hand down to her daughter.

Oooh and picturing Cal in that salmon colored shirt to keep the pinky vibes going? Ooooh my mans looks so good in it, definitely his color (lol).

Six-Thirty definitely rules the backseat of that car and he's got eyes on all of you at all times, doesn't matter if it's a short ride or a long road trip, he's got eyes at all times. You bet that Six-Thirty's always doing something in the backseat too to throw Ellen into a fit of giggles and Calvin has to look in the rearview mirror every so often to make sure the dog isn't causing trouble but he knows the dog better than most other people and that despite the antics, he knows Ellen's got the best bodyguard in the world.

And the picnic spot!!!! Ugh I bet it's just gorgeous! Just huge stretches of green grass, big shady trees as far as the eye can see and maybe it's a wildflower meadow near the river that's all covered in black-eyed-susans, red buckeyes, purple coneflowers, chicory, daisies, yellow buttercups and Indian paintbrush. Everything smells like spring, the soil, the grass, the water and you and Cal can both agree that this is definitely your spot.

Oooh the sandwiches must be so tasty!! I bet you ten to nothing that you and Calvin learned how to make excellent sandwiches from both his mother and from some of his mother's friends in the neighborhood (I love the Binging with Babish videos on YouTube and he makes some of the best sandwiches I've ever seen, I'll have to send'em to you if you want'em). You guys even made bottles of homemade lemonade like three days before and after they chilled in the fridge for that long? Just perfect.

I love the thought of Baby El crawling all over the picnic blanket and grabbing some of the flowers in her chubby little hands. Maybe wifey makes her a little flower crown because she's the princess in the family and of course the princess needs her crown.

I don't know why but I can totally see Ellen's favorite book either being Peter Rabbit or Goodnight Moon. Those are the two stories that you and Calvin probably read to her the most and what better to read in spring that Peter Rabbit?? (lol).

I have a feeling Six-Thirty is gonna be chasing that frisbee all over the place and may or may not have run into the river. Every time he catches it in his mouth, Ellen's giggling and clapping her little hands which in turn makes you and Calvin laugh.

Meggy this is just perfect my dear, I'm definitely gonna have to save this one for spring because it's just so beautiful! Like the cottagecore vibes I got from this were the ultimate *chef's kiss* (lol).

#calvin evans #calvin evans x reader #lessons in chemistry

[unnamed-atlas]

Consistently amazed by Skizzleman's rise to popularity in the mcyt fandom over the last three years because of the life series considering the fact that several months before the first life series he got caught following a bunch of far right news sources

I'd like to immediately say that this is not me trying to cancel him or dredge up three year old drama I literally just find this particular case of internet drama and it's fallout (or lack there of) incredibly fucking interesting. Bc I assume most newer fans don't even know this happened, and I'd be completely unsurprised if most people who were there don't even remember it. Bc everything went down in the span of like 12 hours and there was effectively no fallout for it despite a complete lack of closure.

So, someone was looking through his following and spotted several far right channels, such as PragerU and Tim Pool. They posted something about it in the morning, not really a callout, just a 'hey man what's up with that?' type of post. Which was really the vibe the whole time, no one really was coming at it from an aggressive stand point, everyone was just kind of like 'hey dude why are you following these people and can you please confirm that your beliefs do not align with theirs?' Bc y’know the mcyt fandom space is full of queer people and neurodivergent people who would prefer to know their creators aren't bigoted.

And so people started asking him about it on twt and he did not respond. Instead he privated his following on every website. He never responded publicly.

In the mid afternoon another one of his followers made a post claiming they had spoken to him privately in DMs. They showed no screenshots but essentially claimed that he had said that he'd been following the accounts because he liked to have varied news sources and hadn't realized quite how extreme some of those channels reputations were. And that he did not want to talk about his politics publicly, but that he was not a bigot. That was it. And everyone just kind of accepted it. And stopped talking about it.

Half a day of confusion and it was over never to be discussed again despite the fact that none of the claims about his private response were ever substantiated and a public response never came.

And then 3rd Life started a few months later and he started growing in popularity. His followings were still private at this time because of this drama. Looking on his YouTube, it seems like they still are to this day.

I remember making a post at the time of 3rd Life about how wild it was that he was suddenly everywhere despite this whole occurrence. I remember getting a response from someone essentially saying, 'yeah that was weird but I think everyone just kind of decided since it was the only thing he'd ever done wrong it was probably fine and put him on thin ice' which. Yeah. Fair. That's kind of the whole thing about this event that sticks out to me. Everyone was so incredibly ready to just be like completely reasonable, if not even a little too lenient, about this whole situation.

There wasn't any harassment, there was no pressure for a public response after the one person claimed to have talked to him in private. Everyone just dropped it. The people who were offput enough by it to not want to interact with his content did just that, stopped interacting and moved on, never to bring this whole mess up again. And everyone else just kind of put him on thin-ice and moved on, again, never bringing it up again, and, I assume, eventually forgiving and forgetting when nothing like this ever came up again.

I assume it has to do with the size of his audience at the time, the fact that really the only eyes on him that weren't from his own personal following seemed to be Team ZIT fans. Because a fiasco like this with a youtuber of a bigger size would've been much messier and drawn on for much longer and probably would've ended with a lot more fallout. I wonder sometimes if this had come to light later, after the first few life series, when he had amassed a larger audience and a larger ensemble of eyes on him from adjacent creators' audiences, if he might've had a much worse experience, and would've experienced a larger fallout, and if this event would've been something that stuck more in the conscience of the fandom.

Idk something about this situation has always just fascinated me. I think about it everytime I see him on my dash, which has been increasingly often despite the fact that I've had his tag blocked since this event. Something about the speed at which things happened, the completely lack of response other than the overtly strange privating of who he follows which he has never reversed, the completely unsubstantiated claims of a private response taken as fact, the complete lack of staying power this fiasco had in the fandom space. It's just wild and I think it's a really interesting look at the way different communities handle situations like this.

#anyways it goes without saying that obviously this is not me trying to get people to harrass Skizz about this 3 years later #don't fucking do that obviously #i legitimately don't even care about the ethics of it all after all this time he's fine #but i find this whole situation so incredibly fascinating. such an interesting case study in group dynamics surrounding internet drama #a strange little occurance highlighting the inconsistencies in the ways audience attempt to hold online creator's accountable #it's about the social dynamics in fandom between fan and creator not the drama itself lol #long post

[vander-affectionate]

HIIII-- how about Vander with fem!reader at the pool or beach or just somewhere bathing suits are worn and reader has a nip slip <3

babe lemme tell you. i want a mini series based off of this ngl, but just enjoy this. summer vibes, annoying neighbor, hot guy and thank you for requesting!! i had fun with this surprisingly???

warnings: minors/ageless blogs do not interact or you will be blocked, fem!reader, reader is mid-twenties and vander is thirties ig? i'd like to think he's prematurely grey but he is a dilf in this so that begs the question, shitty neighbor, sorry if you like bubblegum pop or anything pink, it girl (hope you guys know what that is), but umm idek if you count this as flirting its mostly reader butting heads with the neighbor, pool setting, brief nudity idk man, landlord!grayson, might change the shitty neighbor's name (gimme ideas if you have diff name for our shitty neighbor)

What is summer supposed to feel like? The image in your head was at one point to live healthy like all those health nuts with schedules wired into their day and being out with that tight circle of friends you loved being around so much. But it didn’t feel like that. At all.

It felt like being dragged out into sticky air at the pool of your apartment complex because your next door neighbor had convinced herself (the loud music past ten o’clock girl who swears up and down at the landlord) that she’s the best thing since glittery pink bubblegum lip gloss came out. And just in case the concept of blaring preppy music, miserable humidity in the height of summer, and glitter doesn’t make you turn your nose up then the fact that she’s convinced that she’s your best friend just makes it that much worse.

You thought you could get away with going out in the swim suit you really liked to enjoy the afternoon, even the sun relaxed behind the clouds. You were optimistic about the guy you’d never seen before who flashed you a smile from the other side of the pool area and you thought this would be a good day for you.

You thought.

Then that song you hear three or four times a day begins to fill your ears and the sun practically fazes the clouds away and you sigh audibly, peeking over your shades at the sun overhead. It’s blaring more intensely and you wonder if it’s a sign for you to go in.

You make the mistake of seeing what direction the music is coming from and thar’ she blows. Preppy girl from 503. Her name’s… well you don’t make the effort to remember. It starts with something, but she makes eye contact with you from underneath her tinted red seashell sunglasses and waves at you with this sickly smile that makes you want to throw yourself in the pool.

One look at the sun and it seems to burn hotter.

Run.

You tip your shades off and don’t bother to listen for a greeting from the bane of your existence when you jump into the pool. It’s not that you don’t like her- you don’t. Nothing personal against her really, but another sing-song sentence in your ear would make you want to pop your eardrums especially after the week you’ve had. Hair be damned, you’d just go get it done because another excuse to get away from home would be nothing but bliss if it meant a couple hours of avoiding what’s her name?

“Hey.”

You startle, almost letting go of the concrete and slipping beneath the water line. A glance reveals-

“It’s Chel.” she smiles down at you from where she’s crouched on the pool edge.

You move to the side, grabbing a better grip on the concrete and avoid making eye contact with her. What does she want? And what in all of creation provoked her to follow you clear across the pool?

“I put my stuff beside yours.” she smiles and you don’t bother glancing back, instead you bite back a groan because you don’t want to know if she meant beside yours as in on the same chair or in the chair on the other side of the best shade in the pool. “You know since we haven’t caught up in a while. Let’s go get a drink- I heard about this party…”

You don’t bother saying anything. Maybe you’re dehydrated or it’s from being in the sun too long, but your temples are starting to throb. So, looking her dead in the eye, you sink right back into the water and it burns to open your eye check, but it looks like she’s stripping to follow you in.

You come right back up when you realize there’s no avoiding her and she’s still talking.

You’re still talking? That’s exactly what you want to say and you look behind her, she’s got this confidence to her that makes your skin itch and you lean your head back, wiping your hands over your face to get the excess water off and rub your eyes, partially hoping she’d just take a fucking hint. But a hand is touching you and you tense, head whipping over to the hand on your shoulder and pushing it off.

“Please don’t touch me.” you grumble, pulling yourself up and out the pool.

She doesn’t stop speaking and you’re not sure if you heard an apology in there because you’re not really listening, but you’re kneeling on hot concrete and stopping her before she gets out with you.

“I’ll be back. I need to make a call.” you tell her.

She starts to get out anyway, “I’ll come with you. We might see some cute guys.”

“Please just- stay.” I need to compose myself before I even think about talking to you again.

She doesn’t get that you don’t want to be around her right now and frankly explaining why would be an added headache to the one you feel forming in your head. But she takes some kind of hint and gives another one of those smiles where her nose crinkles and her eyes squint in a way one might at a baby and it’s getting on your nerves. It always does.

And ignoring how her things are overlapping yours in the chair you were seated in a few minutes ago is easier said than done.

Your towel is wrapped around your waist and you’ve chosen to go indoors in the comfort of A/C to find a vending machine, but you’re plagued by a tap on your arm. The back of your hand pushes at the hand on your shoulder, “I don’t like being touched.” you murmur exasperated, but stop halfway through your blank trance to find a completely different figure beside you in the vending machine reflection.

It knocked your breath away when you turned and found that guy from the other side of the pool behind you. For a minute, you’re looking up and up until you finally find his eyes shaded by sunglasses and his smile is sheepish as he tucks it in his pocket.

“Sorry,” he offers gently.

Focus on his face, you remind yourself. Not the lump in his swim trunks, but if he asked, you’d tell him it was his hand you were looking at.

Your attention drifted a bit. Thankfully not downward, but it’s your credit card in hand that he’s picked up. “You dropped this and I thought it’d be a good opportunity to talk to the pretty sight across the pool.”

The way his words bring a smile out of you. He smiles wide as your attention shifts off his face and you rub down your face. Wow. What a smile.

“If that’s alright?” he asks, shifting his weight and it gives you the perfect view of-

Don’t look down.

His chest is wide. And his arms are thick and you can’t help, but smirk. “Are you sure you’re not showing out for Miss Bubblegum Pop?”

His smile widens a fraction and hell, you didn’t think it could get bigger. Your mind drifts, but you don’t let it for long when he shrugs and lets out a breath that deflates his chest a smidge. “If I’m being honest, I was relieved when you came in here because I don’t think I’d have been able to think straight out there.”

Your eyes drift over to Chel who’s flirting with that freshman who just moved into the apartment beside yours and that much closer to her, “Me either. Especially with her taste in music.” 

“Actually,” your heart jolts in your chest when the plastic of your credit card is directing your chin back up to his face. “I was referring to you. I’m not sure how flattering it is to get a number from someone at a pool, but,” he shrugs, scratching the light scruff on his face with a sheepish smile. “I wasn’t going to miss a chance to talk to you.”

Damn it, you’re not outside, but it feels hotter in here with him than it would out by the pool.

“I’m flattered,” you smile. “That’s a high compliment coming from you.”

His brows steeple and it’s comical really because you’re wondering if he knows how easily his smile draws you in.

“I’m assuming you know what kind of effect you have on people.”

“I’m told I have a convivial presence.” he smirks and it makes your chest warm. You’re sure that your heart is melting. “Are you going to take your card now?”

You smile sheepishly, completely enamoured talking to the man with a few grey locks combing backwards and behind his ears. He laughs when your smile falters when you’re both in the hot sun again.

“If it’s too hot out here then do you want to go somewhere else? Usually the pool is nice, but…” His eyes drift over the rowdy state the pool’s sunken into and one glance at a fraternity towel is enough of a sign for you to take your leave.

“Please.” your smile is pleading as your hand shelters your eyes and the man generously blessed with height and a godsend smile escorts you to the shade of your umbrella.

“Oh my.” That voice. You groan quietly, covering your face as a hand pushes you to the side and you find Chel standing before you with a hand outstretched. “Thank you for bringing my friend back, handsome.”

She winks at him. Vander’s hand that was once lingering near your arm had found a home at your lower back, smoothly avoiding touching your skin. He offers her a gentle smile and it looks more reserved than when you’d first witnessed it from across the pool and your eyes fall on Chel who’s eating it up.

“I take it you must be-” 

“A roommate.” She cuts him off and shakes his hand, rubbing her thumbs over it, but he doesn’t allow the touch to last long before his hand disappears into his pocket.

“A neighbor.” you correct with haste. “I’m leaving so you can have the chair.”

“What?” she frowns, pouting heavily as Vander nods at you, silently gesturing to his chair.

“I’ll be back.” he tells you and you’re left staring blankly at Chel who looks more betrayed than anything.

“We were supposed to go together. I knew you were trying to pick up guys alone- that’s not cool, you know.” She nudges you and you narrowly avoid it.

“Don’t go around telling people we’re roommates. That’s weird for me and I wasn’t picking up guys, not that it’s any of your business.” You make a point of avoiding touching her as she takes any contact as an invitation. “Excuse me.” you mutter.

She sighs heavily behind you and you’re grateful to be leaving because you cannot take another moment of her. “You’re lucky to have me as a friend, but you go and leave me like this sometimes.”

You snort a laugh under your breath, saying, “I don’t know where you got the notion that we were friends.”

“We’re not?” You glance up and see Vander pushing his glasses into his hair as you tuck the last of your belongings into a bag.

“No.” you say, zipping it up.

“Well since we’re not friends, I’m obligated to tell you that your top is a little too small for you, hun.”

The bikini straps, once tied around your neck, fall in front of you and your hands barely fly up in time to keep anything more than your aerola from showing.

You sink to your knees in hopes of hiding behind the lounge chair and you can’t yell at her because then all of the frat guys will look this way. She’s walking over to the college guys and the one who lives across the hall from you makes it a point to amp up the music and distract the small crowd.

Vander sits on the lounge chair, pulling the loose button up off his shoulders and holding it out for you, “Are you alright?” he asks as you take the shirt.

You don’t answer. How the fuck should you? She’s fucking psychotic? I mean, what the hell does one do at a time like this?

“Oi, sweetheart.” The thick drawl in his voice momentarily drowns out the blaring music and you look up to see his eyes no longer blocker by shades. “No one else saw anything. I think that lifeguard over there has some words for her and I’ll even talk with the landlord, okay?”

It takes you a moment to gather your words.

“Can I tie the back of this for you?” he offers and watches you nod in response. “I thought my friends were batshit crazy.”

“No one’s that crazy.” you say as you feel the straps of your bikini go taut.

“That’s true.” he smiles at you before checking around him a final time before you check over your top. “It’s more flattering.”

His cheeky smile is contangeous and you have to laugh because it’s a stupid joke. As you put on the hibiscus shirt, you ask, “How is it you know my landlord?”

“Went to college with Grayson.” he shrugs. “She thinks if I hang around here enough it’ll attract tenants.”

“After that fiasco, I might consider staying here for a month or two longer.”

Vander grins, “Only a month? I thought I’d be worth three at best.”

“Need to earn that, handsome.” He smiles at the way it rolls off your tongue.

“Yes ma’am.”

#the arcane x reader #the arcane x you #the arcane x y/n #vander x reader #vander thots #vander x you #vander x y/n #lmk what kind of vibes you get from this #i meannnnn #wouldnt you like to get presents from dilf vander #i would #anywayyyyy #just chillinnn

[perexcri]

Percyyyyy I am a crying mess on the floor. My son! My poor poor son. Even in this universe he cannot escape the shadows.

(Why did the Ministry have that thing in its basement/cellar?????)

This puts a Lot of the first parts into context 😭 Will trying So Hard to not use Too Much magic—as well as being unable to help himself using it around Mike.

‘It was guilt, and it plagued him up the stairs to his room even with Mike’s arm around his shoulders, hanging around him like a cloak he could never shake off. It didn’t help that his best friend was right next to him all the way up the stairs, and for several hours, before the shadows finally took him in their arms into the realm of dreams, he faced the stone walls and felt only wave after wave of guilt and despair. This was all his fault, and there was nothing he could do; everything was broken, and there was no way to put it all back together.’ Ow ow. Written too well! Even before I read your author’s note I could tell that this was somewhat an allegory for depression because I Felt this whole section of the chapter and especially this paragraph. (I’m so sorry you were feeling so low while writing this I understand what its like. I hope you are feeling better now, and if not I send you sunshine and good vibes and hot tea!)

‘I meant it when I said always.’ Michael stabbing me in the heart ow I’m face down on the floor in tears.

I wish they will be able to escape even though I know they won’t. They just,,, deserve to be happy. But that happiness is likely far off for them:((

As always you make magic with your words! I hope you’re having a wonderful week!!

i apologize for the tears Vee T_T please accept these hearts as my humblest and sincerest of apologies 💜💜💜

ooooh yeah and the shadows in the basement cellar - i think my original intention for that was just to have them represent kind of what i think (in a lot of ways) the upside down represents in the show? like to me, the upside down in the show kind of works as this metaphor for things below the surface of a typical small american town that emphasize its seedy underbelly, like the upside down is literally these things that are poisoning the town yet most of the town refuses to address. idk if that makes sense (i just woke up and am very tired lol) but i guess i kind of wanted it to show in this fic that the ministry isn't being entirely truthful and that they, like any other institution in this setting, are potentially doing a lot of harm that nobody is really addressing. they have secrets like everybody else despite the fact that they want to act like they're above it all

ahh but i'm so glad it's helped put the first couple of parts more into context!! i love when stories are told non-chronologically specifically because you find out the context for certain scenes much later, so it makes me happy to know i was able to write something that did that T_T

and ahhhhhh thank you friend!! i am feeling much better, but i will always accept sunshine and hot tea from others :] i'm both sorry that it could be relatable for you to read about (because yeah dealing with that is Not Fun), but i'm also glad you could find some understanding in it?? idk something something "we read to know that we are not alone" something something

AND OH MY GOSH WAIT THE ALWAYS LINE - i added that thing very last minute (by my standards at least, which means it was mid-afternoon when i added it and i posted this chapter at night aksjflkdjsal), so i'm glad you liked it!! i thought it was a nice addition, but also painful considering,,,well. you know.

yeah the inevitability of everything is weighing heavily upon these two right now T_T there's just one chapter left in this part, and i think you can already tell what's gonna happen. i did tag this fic as angst with a happy ending for a reason, though, so please just bear with me through the pain!!

Vee your words mean the world to me :] 💜 i hope you're having a great week too, and i am sending you lots of warm soup!! 💜💜💜

#ask

[matryosika]

through the blinds

pairing — hyunjin x reader

genre — smut 18+

word count — 5.6 k

warnings — dom!hyunjin, sort of perv!hyunjin, slight blackmailing, voyeurism, exhibitionism, use of toys, slight humiliation, oral (m.), unprotected sex, creampie

notes — it's 4 a.m. and this took so long for me to write it, i don't know why. if there are any grammar mistakes i will fix them as soon as possible! please keep in mind that english is not my first language.

hyunjin always struck you as a hypocrite.

it didn't matter how attractive he was or how many times you found yourself thinking about him maybe a little bit too much, you never trusted his personality to be truthfully real.

"there must be something going on with him," you told eunji, the other human resources intern at the legal department, "i am not buying his whole act".

"you know, not everyone is obligated to like you" she teased, drinking from her ice coffeed while both pair of eyes fixed on the small spaces between the blinds on hyunjin's office, "some people... you just don't vibe with them".

"it doesn't make any sense though," you complained, biting your snack, "he has treated me that way ever since i got here. i mean, i would've understood if i did something to piss him off or something, but that never happened".

"maybe he is just trying to remain professional," eunji explained, "see, the man is smart. he wouldn't be too fond of his boss finding about him hanging out with his precious daughter."

"still-" you mumbled, stopping mid sentence to drink from your cup, "he could be nice to me but all he does is avoid any kind of interaction between the both of us. not even a hello, good morning y/n or a hey, y/n, you are doing a great job!".

"hey, y/n, you are doing a great job" eunji praised with the same intonation you did, earning a soft laugh out of you.

"anyways-," you sighed, standing up from the couch on her office and walking towards the glass door, "whatever it is he has against me, that does not take away his attractiveness".

she gave you a teasing smile and you gave her one back, walking along the floor's hallway back into your office. much to your surprise, you found a pile of beige folders on top of your desk that you didn't recall putting there.

a yellow post-it was glued to the first one, and it read "i need you to fill these vacancy reports for tonight".

you rolled your eyes back, knowing who the author of the note was. it was almost childish, knowing how hyunjin would do anything to avoid you 75% of the time. the other 25 percent, he would act distant and cold as if you were the most despicable woman on earth and you couldn't really understand why.

you sat down on your office chair, acknowledging the amount of work you had to get done that day, and you resigned yourself to spending your friday afternoon at the office until late.

[dad, 20:13 p.m.]

i'm going back to the house, do you need a ride?

you sighed in frustration, realizing the amount of work you still had left. to be bluntly honest, this time hyunjin exceeded the workload he assigned you but, when you tried to look for him, he was nowhere to be found around the company.

[y/n, 20:14 p.m.]

wait for me.

fuck him, you thought to yourself while organizing all the paper sheets on their respective folders and picking up your bag from the floor. you had never failed him once so it was only fair for you to be able to back down on work tonight.

you hadn't realized how late it was until you stood a foot outside your office, looking at the dark and empty floor you were now standing. usually, the rest of the interns would leave the building at around 5 p.m. while the rest of the people stayed there up until 7. however, this being a friday night, it made a lot of sense that the building was completely empty by then.

you closed the glass door behind you and walked through the eerie hallway holding the beige folders against your chest, the overwhelming sensation of witnessing a bustling environment completely dead distracting you from the fact that you weren't precisely alone.

a very dim light escaping through the blinds of hyunjin's office made you snap out of your trail of thoughts. was he there? did he leave them on by accident?

there was not much you could see through the small spaces between the curtains and, even though you would normally knock beforehand, the door was slightly opened.

"i am sure he left them on by accident" you thought to yourself, one of your palms slightly pushing the black, cold door.

you soon found yourself feeling nervous at the realization of even walking inside his office, specially when he wasn't there in the first place, but the curiosity was bigger than any other negative feeling you might've had right then and there.

holding your breath and trying to move as smooth as possible, your whole body leaned into the cold room as you took enough courage to walk inside it, turn off the lights and get out of it as if nothing had happened.

however, a sudden sound made you stop in your tracks.

"fuck" a soft groan escaped his lips, your heart beating at a thousand miles per hour while you felt some sort of nervewrecking tension along your whole body.

the following sounds you could recognize them well. soft noises of skin hitting skin followed by a series of curses under his breath made you squeeze your thighs together, leaving absolutely everything to your wild imagination that was already fucked out in both confusion and excitement.

you wanted to witness the scene, but you didn't know how far you could walk into the small hallway of his office before being spotted by him so, as much as your perverted mind wanted to fulfill its dirty fantasies, you stood there in silence, waiting for your whole body to react.

nonetheless, as you waited, it was another word falling from his lips that made you stand completely still on your place.

"y/n" his silky voice grunted over and over again, your name being almost inaudible but, due to the rush of adrenaline, all of your senses were completely enhanced.

only then, your inhibitions and moral codes were completely swept under the rug, the curiosity winning by far this battle. you walked towards the end of the small hallway, expecting to see him sitting down with both of his legs spreaded and his cock out.

but, much to your surprise, he didn't even caught you looking. his whole figure was facing towards the bookshelf behind his office chair and not to the door, earning you a decent amount of time for you to keep on watching his little scene.

your eyes focused on the frantic movements of his right hand, stroking himself at a rather fast pace while his head fell back every once in a while, his dark, short hair moving smothly each time his head did the same thing. due to the position he was in, there was not much you could see other than his back and arms, but it was more than enough to get you completely riled up.

"fuck" another whimper escaped his lips only, this time, it felt 10 times louder, just as if he wanted to be heard. his head fell down, burying itself on something he had been holding against his chest with his left hand.

something you thought had lost last week, after a meeting.

he was hugging your beige cardigan tightly against him, his nose buried deep in your scent while he inhaled it over and over again. the movements of his right arm were starting to get messier and faster, the lewd noises escaping out of his beautiful lips were coming out more frequently and the way his shoulders moved up and down at a frantic pace only indicated that he was close.

so close to cumming thinking about you.

so close to that sweet relief of the tension he struggled with daily by knowing he couldn't have you.

so close, yet drifted away far from it as soon as the buzzing sound of a cellphone caught him off guard.

a sound that didn't belong to his cellphone nor his office phone. a sound he recognized well, because he had imprinted it in his mind every time he walked by your office.

"how long have you been standing there?" his raspy voice queried, not turning around to face you but not moving a single inch of his body either.

the upbeat ringtone of your phone continued on playing while you swallowed hard, thinking about running away and leaving hyunjin behind.

but a part of you was not down to do so. a part of you was begging for you to move forward with the situation, seeing how far he was willing to go just to have you all for himself.

"i asked you a question" the coldness in his tone made you squirm in your place, "at least be decent enough to answer it".

"what do you know about decency," you scoffed, hanging up on the person calling and putting your cellphone inside of your bag, "when you have that going on."

you couldn't catch a glimpse of his facial features but, by the small noise his breathing made, you could only assume he was smirking at you.

"you have to be kidding me," you ranted, still not being able to move from the place you had been occupying the last 5 minutes, "jerking to the thought of me when you can't even speak to me at work".

"how long have you been standing there?" he queried once again, determined to get an answer from you.

"a while" you limited to inform, your eyes glued to every movement he made, from leaving your cardigan near the bookshelf to fixing his clothes, "i heard you calling my name, if that's what you are curious about".

hyunjin's head fell sligthly down to his chest, letting out a sigh of despair and frustration.

"why don't we make a deal?" he requested, turning around to face you for the very first time that night.

his cheeks were slightly blushed, strands of his dark hair were coated in sweat and his lips were a bit swollen. that sight alone was everything you needed to make up your mind about what you truly wanted.

"what kind of deal?" you questioned him.

"less work in exchange of you being quiet about this" he proposed, leaning on his desk while both of his pale hands gripped the edge of it.

"i have a better one" you teased, slightly tilting your head, "you give me what i want and i'll keep quiet about this".

hyunjin's gaze landed on you, the mixture between curiosity and hostility imprinted on his facial features while he pondered his next move.

"what is it that you want?" he queried again.

"you" you bluntly answered, earning a soft scoff from him.

"there's a reason behind me jerking off to the thought of you but not being able to do anything about it" he spoke, the corner of his lips rising in a mocking smile, "i am sure you are smart enough to connect the dots".

"that's why i want you" you pouted, giving him a spoiled smirk, "isn't that more fun?"

"i am not putting my job at risk for you" he shook his head.

"you are putting it at risk anyways" you explained to him, relaxing your figure, "if you don't give me what i want, i'll tell everyone about your little act".

"i am not playing one of your games, y/n" he harshly added, his body tensing up as he realized how deep into the problem he was.

"if you refuse to play, you lose by default".

"it took me a lot of effort to get where i am" he continued on ranting, his words saying one thing but his gaze and painfully hardened bulge between his legs telling another story.

"you should've thought about it before jerking off in your office thinking about your bosses daughter" you insisted, a devilish grin plastered in your face as soon as you realized he was completely cornered and at your mercy.

he stood there in silence for a few seconds, his eyes fixed on you while his tongue poked out slightly from his right cheek.

"this is hilarious" you continued on ranting as his silence extended, "how many times have you masturbated while smelling my cardigan? 10 times? 20 times?"

you knew what you were doing.

"you carry yourself with such pride around here and i'm only finding out that you are nothing but a pathetic coward," by the way hyunjin's fists clenched and his jaw tensed, along with the built-up frustration of being caught, you knew he was on the brink of snapping, "i am just giving you the opportunity to fulfill your perversions and yet you can't take it because you don't have the balls to do so".

hyunjin stormed from his place and walked towards you, cornering you between his body and the wall behind you.

"you don't get to set the rules" he hissed, tilting his head while his eyes scanned the fear in your facial features, "if that's what you want, then we are going to do it my way".

a faint, victorious smile appeared on your lips. "it wasn't that hard to give yourself in, was it?" you softly cooed, your breathing accelerated as you felt his body against yours.

"by the time i am done with you," hyunjin groaned, the tip of his digits grazing along your naked arms without actually touching you fully, "you are going to regret ever making that deal".

"you are acting so bold for someone that can't even speak to me in public" you weakly teased him, feeling the tension on your core as soon as you felt hyunjin's knee parting your legs.

he only limited himself to scoff at your comment, without contradicting or agreeing with your statement.

"we have a congress tomorrow at the conrad hotel, don't we?" he spoke, his eyes fixed on your lips. he leaned on to kiss you, but only allowed himself to brush your lips against yours without actually devouring them, "i hope it goes well for you, y/n".

you stormed into the office looking for a few papers before driving to the conrad, spotting a black box decorated with a red ribbon on top of your desk that caught your whole attention.

"what is this?" you whispered to yourself, grabbing the folder you needed along with the yellow post it on top of the box.

"make sure to wear this for the event and stay close to me" were the words written on the piece of paper, immediately recognizing who the author was.

you opened it as fast as you could, not expecting what to find inside of it.

and let's just say, you were extremely surprised.

a smile escaped through your lips while you kept the box inside of your bag, carrying the folder you needed and walking as fast as you could to your father's car.

"you got the paperwork you needed?" he questioned, his severe gaze confused at your flustered self.

"mhm" you hummed, holding your bag tightly against your body while your mind began to review all the possible scenarios behind hyunjin's gift to you.

the rest of the trip was spent in silence, your father rehearsing his opening speech while you thought about hyunjin.

as soon as you got to the lobby of the hotel, and before walking into the conference hall, you ran into the nearest restroom to fulfill hyunjin's request.

you pulled your panties up, adjusting the toy inside you, and pulled your tight dress down, making sure that everything stayed right in its place as you walked away from the bathroom stall.

the conference room was already too crowded and your eyes toured around it looking for the tall, short-haired man you were supposed to meet with.

[18:57 p.m., hyunjin]

fourth row.

you accelerated your steps to meet with him, sitting with both of his legs spreaded and his body slightly leaned on to the front. only then, when you saw him looking back at you, you felt nervous for the first time that evening.

all the seats were already occupied except for the one next to his right and seeing just how crowded the place was only made you feel vulnerable.

"your father it's about to start the conference" hyunjin's silky voice mumbled, your eyes traveling all the way to his right arm recalling the incidents of the night before, "you might want to pay attention".

you licked your lips in agitation, feeling your warm walls clenching around the toy inside you every time hyunjin's body moved even the slightest bit next to you.

the first few minutes of the event passed by quickly, your father welcoming the people who attended it and inviting him to stick around the set of conferences that were going to be held at the lobby hotel for the next three days.

however, hell unleashed as time progressed.

a buzzing movement was felt inside your cunt, your hips involuntarily moving at the sudden sensation. you turned to face hyunjin with a sneaky movement, your eyes darting over to his cellphone.

but he remained still. both eyes paying attention at the front without even looking at you, his fingers sliding against the screen while controling the toy inside you.

"god" you sighed, trying to maintain your composure while you glanced over to your right side to make sure the man sitting next to you wasn't suspecting anything.

you tried to close your legs, but that only intensified the sensations of the vibrator inside your cunt. your leg started fidgeting against the floor as hyunjin increased the velocity of the vibrations, eyeing you every once in a while just to make sure you weren't making a fool of yourself.

"is that too much?" he softly cooed, only leaning to the side.

you shook your head softly, biting your lower lip while you tried to keep your half-lidded eyes fully opened. he returned back to his initial position, gaze fixed at the front while his knee grazed against yours.

only this time, he increased the vibrations of the toy at a much faster rythm than before, making your whole body squirm unexpectedly on your seat.

"fuck, i'm sorry" you awkwardly mumbled to the man sitting next to you after moving so roughly. both of your hands grasped to the purse sitting on your lap, your vision clouded with the arousal and embarrassment of doing such filthy acts in public.

nonetheless, hyunjin was enjoying the sight. his proud smirk grew bigger every time your hand landed on his thigh, slightly pinching him due to the overwhelming sensations you were starting to feel.

"do you want me to keep on going?" he whispered into your ear, his warm breath on your neck sending shivers down your spine, "or have i already proved to you that i am far from being a coward?"

your eyes rolled to the back of your head at his silky voice, closing them shut to prevent anyone from seeing the grimaces of pleasure imprinted on your face.

"i am so close" you whimpered into hyunjin's ear, no longer caring if someone discovered the filthy show you were putting on right there with him.

hyunjin's digit slided against his phone screen once again, providing you with even more sensations on your throbbing cunt. you squeezed your thighs instinctively, intensifiying each of the sensations.

"look at me" he whispered once again, making you turn your head towards him and getting lost in his lustful gaze, "go on now."

and as hard as you tried to control yourself, you couldnt. your whole body tensed up and your breath got caught up on your throat, not allowing you to make any noise nor movement as you approached your high.

hyunjin offered you a conceited smirk, the tip of his tongue grazing against his teeth while he returned his eyes back to the man talking at the podium, leaving you a wet and mindless mess on your seat.

"9th. floor, room 92" he mumbled softly, standing up from his seat as the first conference came to an end, "don't make me wait".

as the whole crowd applauded and cheered for the man who hosted the first talk, you found the perfect time to sneak out of the lobby and into the hotel.

for an odd reason, knowing that hyunjin was doing all of that in front of the people who he feared the most finding about this only turned you on even more. he was a very analytical man but when it was about you, he just couldn't control himself.

it took him so long for him to be able to even look at you without feeling the need to fuck you senseless and make you a mindless mess for him, but you crashed all that effort the minute you decided to enter his office the night before.

and now that the inhibitions had been already thrown out, he had no problem into giving in his darkest desires.

once you entered the hotel room, hyunjin's figure was quick to appear in front of your eyes, pouring himself a glass of water before turning to face you.

"you had fun?" he queried while the corners of his lips rised into a smirk, "that's what bigmouthed girls like you get".

"so i'm guessing you are hurt because of the things i said last night" you mumbled.

"why would i get upset over lies?" he asked again, tilting his head and leaving the glass of water behind. his body approached you slowly, both of his hands traveling to each sides of your waist, "you called me pathetic yet i just made you cum in front of a hundred people without even having to touch you".

the blood under your skin boiled as soon as you heard those words, your walls clenching around the toy almost instinctively and letting a small whimper escape your lips.

his lips approached yours, softly brushing against them while your whole body anticipated his kiss.

"you said you want me, didn't you?" he questioned, his hot breath caressing your chin and making you even more desperate for him than you already were, "now you have to take everything i'll give you".

he finally crashed into you for a kiss, the desperate and sloppy movements making your cunt clench harder around the vibrator, earning small gasps and cries out of you each time you felt it inside you.

"please, just fuck me already" you panted in between kisses, the fucked out look on your face making hyunjin's cock twitch inside of his pants.

"i've fantasized about youbevery single night since the day i met you," he cooed softly, nipping at the skin of your jawline while touring along your neck, "let me at least take my time with you, precious".

you rolled your head back as hyunjin dragged his wet lips along the crook of your neck, holding your whole body tightly against him.

"is that why you acted so distant with me?" you queried in between sighs, your hand lost in his dark hair.

"you have no idea how bad i had to control myself each time you were near me" he groaned, his soft voice turning deeper as he continued on touching you, "everytime you talked or even looked at me, the rage of knowing that i couldn't have you for myself just made me lose all my senses".

"i don't mean to interfere between you and your position at the company" you whined while he nipped at the skin on your neck, "if you treat me well, i'll keep quiet and be a pretty fucktoy only for you".

he smiled against your skin, his digits pulling down the straps on your dress, "is that what you want to be for me?" he inquired, "do you want to be my personal slut?"

you licked your lips at his words, feeling a spark of lust igniting in your soul as soon as hyunjin's eyes fixed on your nude breasts.

"i want you to use me as you please" you spoke, your nipples hardening under his touch, "i'll be good".

"i know you will be good" he grunted, his digits brushing against your nipples and making your whole body tremble, "you don't seem like the type who enjoys punishments, do you?"

you shook your head slightly.

"if you are good, i'm going to treat you well" he replied, leaning into your body to kiss your chest and breasts, "and you have been good tonight, haven't you?"

"mhm" you hummed, buring your hand on his hair once again, pulling him forward into your body.

his hands dragged the rest of the dress off of your legs, leaving you with nothing but your ruined panties and the toy still inside you, "get on your knees".

you did as you were told, moaning once you felt the toy going even deeper inside your warm hole due to the position you were now in.,

"can't you see what you do to me, y/n?" his raspy voice questioned you, one of his hands unbuckling his belt and unzipping his pants just in front of your eyes, "you always have me so hard and desperate to bury my cock inside you".

you automatically sticked your tongue out as soon as he exposed his length, your mouth watering at the sight of his hardened bulge. he undressed himself for you, getting off of his black pants and white shirt.

"make that mouth useful for me, will you?" he groaned, one of his hands pushing your head over his cock while you failed to take him in completely.

"it is so big" you cried, coughing and drooling over it while you tried to take it all in.

"come on, precious, get used to it" he mumbled, his hands caressing your hair, "so that the next time it will be easier for you to suck me off properly".

next time.

feeling the excitement of an unspoken promise, you did your best taking him. it only took you a few minutes for your mouth and throat to get used to the stretch, bopping your head up and down on it as if you were nothing but an inflatable doll for him.

"good girl" he praised, his gaze fixed on the way your teary eyes looked up to him, "i bet you had thought about sucking my cock before, haven't you?"

you nodded almost desperately, drooling all over his cock and your breasts.

"do you want to know something?" he inquired, his hand pushing back the strands of hair that were getting on your face, "you have no idea how many times i had to jerk myself off at work".

his available hand reached out for his cellphone that was on top of the hotel bed, and opened the already familiar application he had been using during the past hour.

"every time i saw you wearing those cute dresses or tight skirts, i couldn't control myself", his digits slided against the screen, turning on the setting of the toy once again, making you moan all over his length, "each day i sat down at my office thinking about bending you over my desk, all naked and ready for me to fuck".

"fuck, hyunjin" you whined, taking out his glistening cock from your mouth and stroking him with one hand while the other rubbed your clit in circular motions, "faster, please".

"you are so needy, y/n" he groaned, his cock twitching under your care, "you just cummed a few minutes ago and now you want to cum again?"

you nodded desperately, feeling how your juices soaked your underwear and the knot on your lower abdomen threaten to come undone.

"stand up" he commanded, your weak legs only doing much. hyunjin set up the vibrations at the highest pace, making you almost impossible to complete such task, "if you want me to fuck you that bad, then stand up".

you bit your lower lip in exasperation, closing your eyes and doing your best to stand up while both of your legs were completely weak due to the overwhelming sensations.

"don't cum yet" he added, sitting at the edge of the bed with his legs spreaded, "stand up and come right here".

after a few seconds, you managed to stand in both of your feet with trembling legs and glistening thighs.

"take off your panties" he demanded, you following his order as fast as you could while you fought back your high.

"i can't hold it, hyunjin" you whimpered, squeezing your thighs together as if that single movement was going to stop the nerve-wrecking orgasm that was approaching you.

however, the vibrations stopped all of the sudden.

"if you want to cum again, you are going to do it on my cock" he mumbled with a cocky smirk plastered on his lips.

you removed the toy from inside your cunt and sat down with your legs on each side of his body, aligning his hardened cock with your entrance.

"you said you wanted me," he groaned, feeling your juices coating him, "now prove me how bad you do".

you let out a deep sigh as soon as you felt his cock stretching all of your walls, both of your arms traveling instantly to his shoulders and locking themselves on his nape.

"they must be waiting for you downstairs" he teased, his arms locking around your waist while gripping your ass, "i suggest you do it fast, unless you want them to notice that you skipped the whole conference just to have sex with your co-worker".

your head fell back as you started to ride him, your hips moving mercilessly against his while a series of whines and cries left your lips each time his cock grazed that sweet spot inside your cunt.

"you are not doing it fast enough" he complained, his hands guiding your movements on top of him, "are you already too fucked out to even fuck yourself with my cock properly?"

"shut up" you whined, closing your eyes and bouncing on his length over and over again.

"do you want me to do it for you?" he queried in between groans, his hands gripping and spanking your ass cheeks earning small gasps out of you, "do you want me to bend you on the bed and bury my cock deep inside your wet hole?"

you closed your eyes and continued on riding him with sloppy movements, determined to prove to him that you were capable of making yourself cum on your own.

"just beg nicely" he proposed, "and i might fuck the blackmailer out of you".

"fuck, hyunjin-" you gasped, feeling how his hips acquire their own pace while they slammed inside you.

"beg, y/n" his deep voice mumbled.

"please-" you whispered softly, moving your hips in circular motions, "just make me cum again".

"you are not convincing me".

"hyunjin, i am so close" you cried once again, your walls clenching around him almost aggresively while your sore thighs lose their rythm, "i can't keep on going just please- fuck me".

hyunjin let out a deep scoff while he saw you struggling to get off on his cock, both of his arms holding you thight while he exchanged positions and threw you onto the bed, laying you on your stomach.

"next time you even dare to think you have any kind of control over me," he groaned, slamming his cock inside you without a previous warning while he spreaded both of your legs even more for him, "just remember that i was the one who had you begging for some seconds of pleasure".

you buried your head into the mattress, arching your back more for him while he continued on fucking your wet hole.

"i'm cumming" you screamed, both of your hands grasping onto the white bed sheets while you tried your best to maintain your posture, "hyunjin, please-"

"go on," he panted, grinding his teeth while he pushed down your lower back, "make a mess on my cock".

it took him only a few more seconds before having your whole body shaking under his care, your juices dripping out of you and making a mess on him and the bed.

"look at you," he groaned, harshly gripping your hair without giving you any time to overcome your overwhelming orgasm, "look at all the mess you made".

his movements became faster and sloppier, the sinful noises escaping his lips became more frequent and, by recalling the events of last night, you realized that he wasn't far from his orgasm as well.

"fuck- hyunijn" you cried, the overstimulation making you tremble in pain, "don't stop, don't stop-"

"you owe me an orgasm" he grunted, pulling your hair and slamming his length inside your pussy, "where do you want it?"

"inside-" you whined in between broken moans, "cum inside my cunt, please".

hyunjin let out a deep sigh at your words, decreasing his movements as soon as he felt the orgasm washing up on him.

"aren't you such a nice fucktoy" he panted, bucking his hips harder, "letting me fill you up with my cum".

you moaned one last time before feeling his hot arousal leaking out of your soaking hole, dripping onto the bedsheets and your legs. hyunjin dragged his finger along your slit, coating it with both of your orgasms while approaching your face that was buried deep into the mattress.

"next time we fuck," he commanded, placing both fingers against your swollen lips, "i am cumming inside that pretty mouth of yours, just to see if you still want to keep on calling me a pathetic coward, precious".

#skz smut #stray kids smut #hyunjin smut #kpop smut #hwang hyunjin smut #stray kids imagines #skz imagines #skz oneshots #stray kids oneshots

[2goth2moth]

Hey, can I request a blind date with a monster but they end up going home 👀 things get steamy

But then the monster's like "oh no, umm I gtg cuz I'm not human and they'll definitely find out now" kinda vibes?

(so it's basically human reader x shapeshifter in a universe where monsters are hidden)

You can come up with your own reasons for whatever ✌️ (any gender is fine) (I like were/minotaur monsters but you can pick any that you see fit)

Oof, ouch, this got a little more angsty than I wanted it to. I'm sorry! And I'm sorry it took so long. I hope you still enjoy ;-;

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pleasant Surprises (M!Werebear x GN!Reader, NSFW)

Fun fact about me: Picking the xenomorph from Alien in a game of Fuck-Marry-Kill with @xo-philia when we were younger was my monsterfucker awakening! So I couldn't resist putting that in when I had to think of a movie.

Word count: 3430

Includes: Mild angst, mild hurt/comfort, size kink, fur, frottage, minor scent kink, blowjobs with copious amounts of cum, very minor (blink and you'll miss it) pain kink, less-than-ideal communication in sexual situations

Going on blind dates is a little like rolling dice. They always started in the same place, everyone had their little superstitions and rituals to try to make them come out right, but more often than not they ended with uncomfy kisses, awkward goodbyes, and an unspoken hope that you never had to see each other again (okay, the metaphor isn’t perfect, but the foundation holds true). Sometimes, however, blind dates turned out great, a perfect six (or whatever it is you needed to roll), and you ended up really liking the person.

Sometimes blind dates ended with you making out with a massive cutie on your couch after dinner.

The two of you had been introduced by a mutual friend, and had hit it off the minute you met. Characteristically uncomfortable small talk over mid-afternoon coffee smoothly turned into raucous laughter and flirtatious touching between bites of cheap greasy pizza on the hood of his car. You had no idea how the very attractive mountain of a man- Arthur, he’d said in a voice that seemed far too sweet for his intimidating figure- would react when you’d purred a suggestive (but not explicit) invitation to him, but his ears flushed and he stammered out a “yes” before taking your hand and following you inside. You wasted no time leading Arthur to your couch and sitting down next to him.

“So,” you said, “what kind of movie do you want to watch?”

“I like horror.” His voice was a rumbly baritone that distinctly reminded you of brown sugar. “And anything science-y.”

You wracked your brain for any good scary science movies that you had already watched and wouldn’t get distracted while watching again.

“How does Alien sound?”

It was a safe option, as far as you were concerned. It was a good film, a classic in both scary and science-y departments, and you’d seen it enough times that staying focused on the task of “seduce the hot guy on your couch” wouldn’t be too hard.

“I’ve seen it before…” Shit, maybe he wanted to watch something new. “But I always like rewatching it.”

You cheered internally, but kept a calm exterior as you went through the motions of setting up your TV. As soon as you did, you stood up to turn off the lights. “Anything I can get for you?” You asked, running a very flirtatious hand over his shoulders as you passed behind him.

A tiny shiver went through him at your touch, and you relished in it. “N-no, I’m good for now. Thank you, though.”

Your heart squeezed a little at his very pink ears and the blush staining the back of his neck.

God, he’s so cute.

It was impossible to deny yourself a longer-than-entirely-appropriate moment to take in the very pretty flush before flicking the lights off. With the room now dark, you made your way back to the couch. You sit down as close to Arthur as you dared. Warmth soaked through the inches between your bodies, and you had to physically resist the urge to move closer to him. Trying not to jump him right then and there was taking up so much of your brain-power that you didn’t notice his hand creeping towards you until a warm pinky brushed up against your thigh. You stifled a jump and turned to see his handsome, bearded face staring at you, bathed in the light from the TV.

“Is this okay?” He asked, just barely moving his fingers against your clothed leg.

You excitedly shifted in your seat so that you were facing him, kneecaps touching. “Are you kidding me? I’ve been actively holding back from kissing you for hours!”

“Oh.” His eyes went wide. “You can, if you want. I, um. I’d like you to.”

That was all the invitation you needed to dart forward and press your lips to his. It was quick and chaste, and you pulled back almost immediately. Arthur was frozen, awestruck, for several seconds before he shook himself slightly. He moved towards you cautiously, eyes darting nervously around your face, before cupping your jaw in his free hand and kissing you. His lips started moving against yours almost as soon as they touched, the motion a sweet push and pull between you, his beard just scratching against your face. The warm pinky against your leg became a large hand that rested on top of it, squeezing in time with the kiss. You hummed, pleased, and teased the seam of his lips with the tip of your tongue. Arthur’s hand tightened on your thigh and he opened his mouth to you. The kiss turned sloppy, tongues slipping together with slick, filthy sounds.

Arthur’s hand traced a firm path from your thigh to your hip, where it held tighter and stayed for several heated seconds. You pulled away from the kiss, your lips separating with a wet smack. He chased after you with a little whine, dropping his forehead onto your shoulder and lowering his other hand from your jaw to your hip. With another little noise deep the back of his throat, he began nosing against your neck and along your collar. You had to stifle a giggle at the feeling of his facial hair tickling your skin.

Stilling him with a hand to the back of his head, you carefully threaded your fingers through his hair and pulled him back. His eyes stuttered shut and he let out a barely-audible groan, hands twitching on your hips. You grinned and tightened your grip experimentally, very pleased with the strangled moan that he let out.

“You’re so hot,” you cooed to him

“You are too,” he panted, eyelashes fluttering with each pull of your fingers, which hadn’t let up yet.

The sight was too much for you. With a murmured “come here” you pulled him back to you, kissing him fiercely. It was rough, messy, all clacking teeth and noses bumping into each other. The sounds of your mouths moving together was obscene, and you could feel saliva slipping out where your lips met. You kept your hold on his hair, pulling his head this way and back to control the kiss, little spark of arousal went through you with each breathless moan that fell from Arthur’s mouth to yours. His hands kept gripping into your hips, growing tighter with each second that passed.

“Do you want me in your lap?” You asked, backing off just long enough to get the question out.

Arthur didn’t even bother doing that, nodding without breaking the kiss. Before you could even start to move, his hands slipped under your ass and he bodily moved you until you were straddling him. He was so warm beneath you, and you couldn’t help but grind down against him. The feeling of his cock, hot and impossibly hard beneath you, was intoxicating, and you rocked against him, groaning into his mouth with each motion. You could feel his bulge swell even more where it lay against the inside of your thigh. Somewhere in the back of your mind you distantly thought that getting him any harder should have been impossible, but you were too caught up in the feeling of wet, messy kisses being pressed to your jaw and neck to care. His body was moving under you, slight little shifts that you could feel echoing everywhere that he was pressed flush against you. The collar of your shirt was pulled down and away from your shoulder, the tip of his nail dragging against your skin, and he bit down on the newly-exposed skin, biting and sucking until you were whimpering in his lap, grinding down over and over again until you could feel your climax approach all too fast. Both of his hands had returned to their places on your waist, and they bit in as he pulled you to him, his own hips bucking up to meet yours every time. He had stopped his assault on your neck, no doubt leaving a dark, tender bruise behind, and his mouth lay slack and open against you, desperate moans and hot saliva spilling out. All of a sudden, ten pin pricks of sharp, impossible pain bloomed where his hands lay, and you came with a wail, hips stuttering to a stop against his.

Your eyes were closed tightly, chest heaving as you slumped over onto Arthur’s chest. He continued to grind his hard cock upwards, but it was much gentler now, slow rolls of his hips as one of his hands stroked your back. As you came down from your orgasm, you distantly noticed that the TV had stopped (stupid old piece of shit, never worked properly). You also realized just how uncomfortable the wetness of your pants was becoming, and you went to pull back. The hand that was caressing your back locked around your body. You shifted around, testing the give of his arms. Fully immobilized, but not necessarily complaining, you kissed his neck indulgently and wriggled your hips a little.

“As much as I’m enjoying this,” you purred into Arthur’s ear, “I really fucking want to suck you off.”

“Shit.”

You startled back as far as you could at the sound of his voice. The sweet brown-sugar baritone was shredded, gruff and way raspier than it had been.

Way raspier than it should have been, you thought.

You tried to pull back again. His arms didn’t budge. “Arthur, what’s up?” You asked gently.

A deep, quiet whine was his only response. “Did I do something wrong?” He tightened his grip on you, and your ribs groaned in protest. Your heartbeat began to climb as you squirmed again. “Arthur, let me go, you’re hurting me.”

The vice-like arms around you flew away from your body, a deep sigh of relief escaping your lungs. You went to pull back again, to look in his face and ask what was wrong, but his strangled voice stopped you in your tracks. “I’m sorry! I just… I didn’t want you to look at me.”

“Why? I’ve already seen you.”

“Not really. You wouldn’t be here if you had.” He sounded like he was about to cry.

Your heart squeezed painfully at the sound. Without a second thought, you leaned your face into the heated skin of his neck. You could feel hair there, thick and soft, that hadn’t been there before. “Whatever it is, I’ll do my best to not freak out. Or I can close my eyes and you can go, or calm down, or whatever you need to do. Just tell me what you want.”

“I want...I want to tell you,” he said, in that shy near-whisper of a shared secret. “You can look at me.”

Slowly, slow enough for him to tell you to stop, you shifted back to look at Arthur in the face. Whatever it was that you had been expecting, it wasn’t this. Thick, dark hair- no, now that you saw it up close it was very clearly fur- covered his face and neck, darkened his temples, sprung from his arms and hands. His jaw had broadened and lengthened, forming a sort of muzzle, and his canines had grown, pushing insistently at black-edged lips. Large claws tipped his furry hands. His gaze was dropped to his lap in what was clearly some combination of fear and shame, but…

You were undeniably intrigued by what you saw. Intrigued, confused, and more than a little aroused.

“You’re…”

“I’m a werebear.” Despite the new gruffness, his voice sounded fragile. “I’m a monster.”

You shook your head emphatically and leaned forward to put your arms around his shoulders. “I was going to say that you’re gorgeous, but sure, let’s go with that.”

Arthur blinked at you in confusion. “You’re not scared. Or disgusted.”

“Why should I be?” You asked. “You backed off when I told you to, you clearly don’t want to hurt me…”

“But I’m a monster!” He cut you off, heedless of how his hands moved to rest on your thighs. “I’m not normal, I’m not human.”

You silenced him with a finger to his lips. “And I don’t care. I like you quite a bit, if you couldn’t tell. This is just something fun and extra. I’m not going to run screaming for the hills, although I would like to know more about it, at some point..”

“Really?”

“Yes,” you said, all playfulness abandoning your face and voice, letting every ounce of sincerity you had in you spill over. “Really.”

Those large, furry arms wrapped around you, cradling your body against his in a warm embrace. You leaned into it, your hand rubbing the back of his neck. Hiccupping breaths stuttered through his chest and into you.

“Thank you,” his voice rumbled where it was tucked against your neck.

You shifted your weight in the hug, trying to ease the pressure on your knees, and felt his cock against the inside of your thigh. “Still hard?” You teased.

Arthur’s eyes shot open and he pulled away, face stained red under the fur. “Oh damn, I didn’t… shit, I’m sorry.!”

“Don’t apologize,” you cooed, careful not to brush his heated length. “Do you want me to help you with it? I did tell you how much I want to blow you.”

Seconds passed and you questioned whether you had crossed a line, staying stock-still until he nodded his head. “Yes, please.”

He sounded shy when he asked, and you couldn’t help but kiss the tip of his nose before slipping backwards off his lap to the floor. Now that you were level with his crotch, you could really take in just how big he was. The bulge in his pants had seemed large when he was under you, but in front of you it was massive. His thighs were thicker than they had been before, robust muscle and fat dwarfing your hands as you slid them up to his straining zipper. His body heat seared your palms through the fabric. You couldn’t help but wonder how you hadn’t noticed him shift beneath you. Without arousal clouding your brain, you could properly marvel at just how significant- how beautiful- his newly monstrous form was. Your hands paused over his fly and you looked up at him, staring through your lashes, silently waiting for permission to continue.

“Please touch me,” Arthur begged, his hips bucking up slightly.

You smiled at him, scooting forward and turning your head to kiss the inside of his knee, before slowly undoing his fly. Letting your fingers graze over him with maddening softness every time you could, you slid your hands up through the soft fur on his abdomen to push the bottom of his shirt out of the way. A groan escaped his mouth as you scratched over his stomach, into the warm, musky fur on his pelvis, and pulled the waistband of his boxers down just far enough for his dick to spring free, almost hitting you in the face.

The way he had pressed against the zipper of his pants had not done him justice. His shaft was easily the length of your forearm, the head flushed red and glistening with pre-cum. It bobbed and twitched with each minute movement of his body, a lewd display that you thought you could watch for hours. The base was surrounded by a nest of curly fur that you desperately wanted to bury your fingers- or your nose, dear Lord- into. A moment later, the euphoric realization came over you that you could.

You wasted no more time before ducking your head in and pressing an open, messy kiss to the underside of his length. Trailing your mouth along the thin skin, you happily made your way to that gorgeous dark fur. The feeling of nuzzling into it was unbelievable, the strands silky and thick on your skin, that lovely musk filling your senses and making your head go a little fuzzy. With a little moan, you pressed in closer, licking and kissing constantly, letting saliva slip out of your mouth to wet the base of Arthur’s shaft. You carefully tucked your fingers under the waist of his underwear to pull his balls free. They were covered in a dusting of that same fur, heavy and hot where you cupped them in your hands. You made your way back up his shaft, pausing indulgently to suck on the skin of his balls, relishing in the way that Arthur’s thighs quivered where they bracketed your shoulders. Clear, slick fluid dribbled from the head of his dick when you ran the tip of your tongue around its base. A drop fell to your face and you wiped it clean with the back of your hand.

“Oh shit.” His voice came out rumbly and strangled when you delicately lapped pre-cum from the prettily flushed head.

A quick glance upwards showed his bottom lip caught between wickedly sharp teeth, face reddened and eyes shut tight. You mentally promised yourself that one day, if Arthur gave you the chance, you would edge him until he cried with just your mouth.

This was not that day.

In a single swift motion, you stretched your mouth as far around his cock as it would go. You could barely take a quarter of the length and your jaw began aching in seconds, but all you could think was how damn good his heated flesh felt against the inside of your mouth. A moan broke free of your throat, sending vibrations down his massive cock. More pre-cum squirted directly into the back of your mouth and he bucked his hips up, only slightly, but still enough to make you choke around him and draw tears to your eyes.

His balls tightened where they were still cupped in your hands, and you could tell he was close. As disappointed as you were that you couldn’t keep going longer, you knew that he had already been close to his climax when you were dry-humping each other like a pair of horny teenagers. Besides, your jaw was really starting to hurt from where it was gaped around his huge girth. Pulling back far enough that his cockhead just barely rested against your lips, you paused for several seconds, never letting the slick tip leave your skin, smearing a combination of spit and pre-cum onto your mouth and cheeks. You panted, catching your breath for a few moments before you took him back in. Suckling delicately at his tip, you relished in the bursts of pre-cum that shot into you before steeling yourself, relaxing your throat, and swallowing his shaft as far as it would go.

Arthur cried out, the sound deliciously caught between a growl and a wail. His breaths turned ragged, control fraying from arousal and the effort it took him not to fuck upwards into your mouth. You desperately wanted him to feel good, and began working him over aggressively. You bobbed your head up and down, copious amounts of spit sliding down his shaft, gagging as you took him down as far as physically possible. Swallowing around him when his cock hit the back of your throat, your mouth rippled around him and you rolled his balls in your hands.

“I’m...fuck, I’m gonna cum!”

With a great deal of effort, you pulled your tongue back and probed it into the slit at the end of his head. Clearly the intrusion, coupled with the slick pressure of your mouth and loving caress of your hands, was too much, and it pushed him over the edge of his climax.

Salty, bitter cum shot down your throat in thick ropes, making you choke again. You swallowed as much as you could, but it was just too much, and you pulled off, coughing. His orgasm kept going, longer than any you had ever seen before, covering your face and torso with sticky cum. It dripped from your body onto the tile beneath you, spilled from the corners of your mouth, hung in creamy drops from your eyelashes.

A huge, clawed hand carefully wiped the spend from your eyes, moving to cup the back of your head. “Are you okay?” Arthur’s voice was gentle and concerned under the animalistic rasp.

You nodded tiredly, leaning into one of his thick thighs. Exhausted from the excitement, your eyes began to slip closed, your breath evening out into the shallow rhythm of sleep. The last thing you felt was a sweet kiss on your forehead and Arthur’s deep rumbly baritone.

“We’ll talk when you wake up. I promise.”

#shoutout to Teeth for corrupting me! #also you guys should 100% check out his blog if you haven't #it's good shit #monster fucker #monster lover #exophilia #terato #monster x human #monster boyfriend #smut #nsft #enthusiastic consent #minors do not interact #terfs dont fucking touch #bigots dni

[spotofimagines]

Car Sick P1 ~ Dominic Calvert-Lewin

A/N: This is sort of carried on from this blurb I wrote a while ago, bc I loved the idea and wanted to write more for it, you should probs read that first to catch the vibes. This is for @footballffbarbiex writing challenge based on tv and film. I used this storyline from Modern Family with Gloria and Jay. Once again, no real timeline with this, just made up scenarios. I struggled with the next bit of this so I asked you how you wanted it and you chose 2 parts, here's the 1st. Enjoy :)

Warnings: pregnancy, kids, step parents, injury mention - reader is female

Summary: You thought you were just feeling car sick, turns out it's something else...

gif by @hishairmyweakness - gif by @delstroyer

You were dropping your daughter off at Dele's for a long weekend since he didn't have a match or training to attend. After she had squeezed the biggest hug out of her dad and trudged dirt in his hallway, she perched on the sofa with her ipad and juicebox, leaving you and Dele to catch up.

Dele had been showing you how he redecorated his kitchen so you accepted a drink and decided to stay a little while. Plus you figured the news you had for him should rather be said in person than over the phone.

"Hey, Del, I have something to tell you." You said nervously, leaning your hands on the kitchen island. He turned around and took a sip of the drink he just poured as he walked closer to the other side of the island opposite you. "Go ahead." He replied, his eyebrows knitted in concern at your worried tone. 

"Well, remember when we stopped by last Friday since you were playing on her birthday?" you recollected and he nodded along. "And I had one of those herbal teas and a tablet because I was feeling car sick?" "Yeah..." he trailed off quietly, putting his drink on the counter between you. "Turns out I wasn't car sick," he frowned in confusion and looked even more lost than he did a moment ago. 

You fiddled your fingers together and took a deep breath, steadying yourself. You knew you could trust Dele with absolutely anything. You'd been close since you were teenagers, grew closer when you started dating and left nothing in the way when you had a baby. Being so young when it happened meant a lot of things turned against you, a lot of people with a lot of opinions trying to dictate your lives and yet you stuck it through. You haven't been together romantically for a while, however your relationship with him never faultered, your connection of trust staying strong.

But it didn't make this any easier to say. It wasn't hard to see when Dele got hit by moments of gloom at the sight of the mini family you were creating with Dominic. While your split years ago was amicable, and neither of you would rekindle that flame again, more than happy with your close friendship, Dele couldn't stop that jealous bubble rising in him when he saw your daughter enjoy spending time with Dom as much as she does with him. Blame his stubbornness but facing change wasn't his strongest suit. This news was going to be a big step away from that picturesque life you both once envisioned together and you desperately didn't want it to drive a wedge between you nor push Dele away. You had settled into a good rhythmic system with him that suited your daughter and your schedules, you'd hate to tarnish that in any way.

So, yes, you hesitated to tell him.

You sighed and picked at your nails, needing to just get it out before it drove you crazy.

"I'm pregnant." 

Dele's eyes went wide and his mouth opened a little from shock, the frown lines that creased his forehead disappearing. His breath was taken away. Nothing prepared him to hear those words come from your mouth and know that he wasn't involved. It was bound to happen but it still took him by surprise.

He tilted his head as he looked at you, nervously twiddling your thumbs like you always did, and it only took a few seconds for a smile to slowly grow on his face. "That," he cleared his throat and met your eyes with sincerity, "that's great. Congratulations." 

He scuffed his socked feet along the floor as he walked round the counter to wrap you in a warm hug. He squeezed your shoulder and gave your cheek a quick kiss when he pulled away, a genuine smile on his face. No, he wasn't involved this time, but he knew how amazing it was to experience pregnancy and he was certain Dominic would take to it greatly.

"What did Dom say?" He asked, leaning over to grab his glass and take another drink. Your breath caught in your throat and that made Dele side-eye you mid sip. "You haven't told him, have you?" He questioned gently, and you shook your head.

Now it was his turn to sigh. 

The glass clinked loudly in the quiet room when he put it back down, and he had a ton of questions he could have asked you and a ton of things he could have told you to do that he thought was right, but it wasn't his place. Not anymore. So he took a moment to think whilst you rubbed your hands down your front to straighten out your t-shirt again. 

"Are you going to?" You tutted and looked back up at him incredulously. "Of course I am Del, think it'll be pretty hard to miss when I'll be bursting through my clothes!" You joked and he held his hands up in defence as he chuckled, realising it was a stupid question.

"Are you nervous, then?" He tried again, this time opting for something more reasonable. "More nervous than when I told you for the first time." You admitted. Dele whistled lowly and shook his head with a laugh. 

The state you were in a bit under 7 years ago now when you told him you were going to have his child, it was something else. He still insists he hasn't seen someone so frantic, before or since. He could only imagine what was coming Dominic's way.

---

There were plenty of reasons for you to believe Dom would be happy to be a dad. He adored his young brother and truly enjoyed spending time with him when he was back home. He was thoughtful and attentive with all the people he knew so you know he'd be the same, multiplied by a million, when it came to a child that depended on him.

But the way he cared for your daughter above anyone else proved to you, without a doubt, how good he would be. Dom wasn't her biological father, but that never once stopped him loving her the way she deserved. Dom made sacrifices when he needed to and even when he didn't. He'd stay awake if she couldn't sleep, he'd ask to see her on facetime when he was travelling and he always asked her about school, he even did the afternoon pick up with you when he got the chance. If Dom would be such an amazing figure in the life of a little girl he had no obligation to be a part of, just imagine what he'd be like with his own child.

You wouldn't question his want or excitement to have kids with you at any time, having spoken about it before. 

Any time except now.

Dom hadn't been himself the last week, and justifiably so. He picked up a knee injury in the Merseyside derby last Saturday that resulted in him hopelessly limping off the pitch with the physio under his arm to hold him up. A torn ACL was the conclusion after a couple hours in the hospital. While an injury was never welcome, a minimum six months out was tough to take. But with the upcoming England tournament he'd been called up for that he will now have to miss, alongside the rest of the Premier League season, it shattered him. His club and his country had important matches this year and it killed him to not be able to help secure some much needed wins for them.

Most of Sunday was spent doting on him, helping him relax and alleviating both his physical and mental pain, offering comfort through his favourite meals and hours of cuddles, something your daughter happily assisted with. 

However, by the time Monday rolled around, his rest was stifled by your daughter's birthday party.

Despite how often you'd sat him back down, Dom wasn't used to sitting all day and had helped you decorate the house whilst your girl was at school. The balloons were littered in the front room, the buffet snacks laid out on the dining table, and the banners Dom had pinned on the ceiling blew from the gentle breeze coming in through the back door. 

So by the time you pulled into the drive with a car full of young girls eager for sugar, Dom was working on half a bar of energy already. Yet he played along with the party activities and managed to dance, or more shuffle, to some Disney songs on his crutches inbetween sneaking mini sausage rolls and chocolate biscuits. 

You could see him getting more tired as each kid left, but "she only turns 6 once, right?", so he persisted on keeping the party lively until your daughter was knocked out in bed, out of her party dress but still wearing the new bracelet she got from Grandma. 

You trailed behind Dom with two cups of tea as he hobbled toward the sofa, barely managing to keep himself up despite it only being 9pm. He dropped heavily on the cushions in the corner and let his crutches fall on the carpet, not caring where they landed as long as they stayed within reach. The sigh that left him could have knocked down a tree. 

Before you got comfortable, you put his mug on the table and put a random sitcom on the TV. Dom's eyes were closed and his legs were stretched out as best as they could be, his injured knee up on the couch in front of him with a cushion underneath and an ice pack held on top.

"I'm telling you, I feel way too old for this." He muttered just loud enough to hear. "You're only 24." You chuckled a little into your tea at his complaint.

"Yeah," he rolled his head your way, hair falling on his face, "but running after her makes me feel 70, she knocks me out," he spoke quietly but with the last tints of energy in his tone, "and with this peg leg too you gotta change that to 80."

You smiled at him sympathetically and loosely linked your fingers with his, rubbing your thumb on the back of his hand as let his eyes close again.

He was joking, it was obvious. But a niggling part of your brain told you that he wasn't just being dramatic. 

Admittedly it was a tiring evening with your daughter's friends running around, but with the lack of energy left in Dom, how could a baby be added to that scenario and it not be an issue? Maybe it was the wrong time. Maybe, no definitely, getting pregnant when Dom wasn't shrouded by an injury, when he didn't have frustration on top of frustration on his shoulders, when there wasn't a hyperactive 6 year old that needed attention too - that would definitely be a better time to have a baby. But that wasn't what life had handed you. Life was a little more complicated in its ways than to give you an easy run, you knew that well enough by now. 

What concerned you most was how Dom would handle it. Whilst he had picked up parenting duties well over the past couple years, he hadn't been there when your daughter was a baby, nor had he seen how tough it was on you at the time. The thought of raising another was scaring you, so it would surely terrify Dom, doing it for the first time. 

Even before the time came to hold them in your arms, being pregnant was no easy deal. So how could he possibly handle the stress of an upcoming baby, the stress of having to look after 2 kids in the future, the stress of a cranky pregnant girlfriend, the stress of prepping the house and himself, all whilst he's hobbling on crutches and having to watch his teammates from the sidelines too? 

You sipped your tea and let the TV fill the room as your brain ran overdrive with questioning thoughts, sitting silent next to your boyfriend who's head seemed full of only the sleep he was dreaming of, oblivious to the changes that were coming his way.

#dominic calvert lewin #dominic calvert lewin imagine #dominic calvert lewin x reader #dele #dele alli #dele imagine #dele x reader #football #football imagine #my fic #oneshot #my og post

[ketterdam-it]

A Kaz and Wylan Minific

Just a Kaz and Wylan fic except you don’t know what it’s about till you read it. I had such happy fall vibes writing this, I hope y'all love it!

It was late afternoon when a knock sounded on the front door of the Van Eck mansion. Wylan was half surprised that Kaz had knocked instead of making a more stealthy entry.

When he opened the large door Kaz was standing there, unreadable as ever.

"Ready?" Kaz asked grimly, Wylan nodded and he entered the home without another word. They walked soundlessly through the house, and toward the kitchen with a truly daunting task at hand.

It was mid Autumn and the leaves that had turned orange and red were visible through the large windows. The cold wind from outside making even the mansion feel cozy.

Wylan had covered the large marble counters with various bowls, ingredients, and cooking utensils prior to Kaz's arrival, and now Kaz looked at the cluttered countertop as if it were a safe to crack, rather than a cake to bake.

"For Inej." Wylan barely heard Kaz whisper before he sighed, shrugging off his coat and removing his gloves.

"Ghezen!" Wylan shouted, making Kaz jump the tiniest bit, as if ready to fight an intruder, until he noticed there wasn't one.

"What the hell was that for Wylan?" He asked, irritated.

"You're practically naked!" Wylan said and tried to remain serious for the sake of his joke. Kaz glared and lightly hit Wylan in the shin with his cane before setting his coat and gloves down to begin the endeavor that would be baking Inej a birthday cake.

Wylan laughed, and out of the corner of his eye, saw Kaz smile too.

"So, first we need to mix the dry ingredients. Would you like to measure or mix?"

Kaz looked at him with a look that very clearly said "What have I done to get myself to this place in my life?," before he sighed again and said he'd measure.

So the unlikely scene of Wylan Van Eck and Kaz Brekker baking together began, mostly silent aside from Wylan's occasional directions.

The front door opened, not 20 minutes into the ordeal that took significantly longer than if Wylan had done it himself. Footsteps sounded down the hall toward them. Wylan had to stifle a laugh as Kaz looked to him, covered in flour, looking as though he'd been caught doing something significantly embarrassing.

Jesper's voice rang through the house, "Wylaaaaaannnnnnnnn." And now Kaz was the one to laugh. Jesper yelled Wylan's name in a sing-song, high pitched voice and came from the hall, skipping into the kitchen.

He stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Kaz there in the kitchen and the shock on his face was obvious.

"Hello Jesper." Kaz greeted him as if this were the most normal situation in the world.

"What in the- You know what, just, nope, I'm going to go paint with Marya. You guys just, do your thing." Jesper said, giving Wylan a hug and leaving the Kitchen, looking over his shoulder and laughing as he walked down the hall once again.

The cake batter was finished and into the oven after 35 minutes and Wylan and Kaz went to play a game of chess at the dining room table while they waited.

"We can play for a bit but then we'll have to go make the buttercream of fondant." Kaz gave him a blank look.

"Fondant?"

"You know, the thick, rollable layer of icing?" He said, doing the motion of rolling it out with his hands, still nothing, "You know what, we'll just do buttercream."

They sat down and began their silent game. Wylan began to speak, a questioning tone to his voice.

"Don't even start." Kaz cut him of and Wylan laughed a bit before moving his rook to take Kaz's pawn, repaid by Kaz with a glare and Wylan's loss of his bishop.

It wasn't long before it was time to remove the cake from the oven, the purple buttercream was nearly finished while they allowed the chocolate cake to cool. Kaz smiled, Wylan knew he had made sure to use Inej's favorite flavor and colour, and he could see how much effort Kaz was putting into this for her.

It wasn't a huge cake, but it'd be enough for all six of them, it was light purple with dark purple flowers, gold details and "Happy Birthday Inej" written on top by Kaz. Kaz looked truly proud of the cake, and he had truly done a great job with Wylan's help, though he was covered in flour, a bit of frosting, and his black shoes were coated in cocoa powder.

"Who would have thought, 'Dirtyhands the Baker'." Wylan laughed and now Kaz laughed with him.

Suddenly the smile dropped from Kaz's face and Wylan worried he'd done something wrong, "Don't say that ever again. I want you to know that if anyone beside the six of us ever learns of this, you will not survive." Kaz said in his most threatening voice before he pat Wylan on the back and began to laugh again.

#kaz brekker #kaz #wylan van eck #wylan van sunshine #jesper fahey #shadow and bone #six of crows #soc #fanfic #inej ghafa #kanej #kaz x inej #my darling inej #wesper #helnik #Nina zenik #Matthias helvar #crooked kingdom #the grishaverse #leigh bardugo #the darkling #Alina starkov #malina #Captain ghafa #kanej supremacy #the crows #soc incorrect quotes #incorrect six of crows

[atlafan]

Office Neighbors - Part One

a/n: OKAY! this is my new love, professor!Harry x professor!Y/N. This is a slow burn, so buckle up because it’s going to be a longgggg ride. enjoy! (also reblogs/feedback is super helpful) not proofread

warnings:none yet...I suppose some fluff? slight angst?? 

words: 20K

masterpost

You were all cozied up in bed, in a cocoon of blankets. Even though it was August, your apartment had central air, and it was glorious. You loved nothing more than practically sleeping in a burrito of blankets year round. It was a new place to go along with your new job.

Y/F/N Y/L/N, Adjunct Professor, Communication Department: that was your new title. You had your master’s degree, and now you could finally move on to get your PhD. Your specialization was social media and the like, but you also had background in rhetoric and film. The few faculty that served on your search committee were quite impressed with the research you had already started conducting. Your main research was about the pros and cons of anonymity online. The school was a perfect fit. You would be teaching a couple of the intro courses for the major, and some special topics courses.

Today was faculty orientation. You would be given yet another tour of the university, go through some technology workshops, and be shown to your office. You were excited because you hadn’t been able to meet all of your faculty yet, and you’d be going to your first faculty meeting towards the end of the day.

You check your phone and see that it’s going to be in the mid 80’s today. You sigh and get up to start your morning routine. Once your face is washed and your teeth are brushed, you rummage through your closet to see what would be the most appropriate thing to wear. A flowy dress, in theory, would be a good idea, but the idea of sweating between your legs didn’t sound all that great. You settle on a pair of emerald green shorts that fall just above your knee, perfectly appropriate length for school. Plus, they were just a cute pair of shorts in general. You pair it with a white short-sleeve blouse, and tuck it into the shorts to show the shape of your body. Next, you needed to tackle your hair. You could leave it down, but sweat and humidity were not your friends. You had gotten into the habit of parting your hair down the middle more, you were twenty-six now it was okay to go with your natural part. You thought it made you look more adult, whatever that meant. So, you part it, and pull up each side to make pig tails, then you create a bun on each side. You looked professional, but fun. Just the vibe you were going for. You only apply a little makeup, in fear of it melting off of you. You slip on a pair of white tennis shoes for comfort, gather your laptop and other things, and head out.

Rolling through Dunkin Donuts, you treat yourself with a vanilla late instead of your usual, it was your first day after all. You’re not feeling too hungry yet, so you don’t get anything to eat. A college habit that just hasn’t died yet: barely eating anything until the late afternoon. You park at the building where your last meeting of the day will be, always thinking ahead. You sip on your coffee and enjoy your stroll across the beautiful campus to your first meeting of the day. There were a few people in the classroom, and you shyly smile and wave as you take a seat.

Policies and procedures are talked about after everyone in the cohort introduces themselves. You notice that you’re the only CM hire, there were three math hires, two for history, one for CS, two for art, and two for CJ. Some seemed to be around your age, and other seemed older. Everyone was friendly enough. You observed everyone’s posture and body language. You couldn’t help it, you were practically trained to read rooms and people.

The campus tour isn’t anything new. This was about the fifth time you had been walked around by some students to show you where things were, but it was nice to get outside for a good walk. You’re given a break for lunch, and you opt to eat outside at one of the open picnic benches. You notice that most people wanted to eat alone. It was a lot of social time, you yourself didn’t mind the break from talking and sharing.

After lunch are the technology workshops, making sure your account was set up and that you knew how to edit your courses in moodle. It wasn’t terribly difficult, but it was something everyone had to do. Luckily, as a first year professor, you wouldn’t be given any advisees. That you were thankful for. You had taught before, of course, and you loved helping students, but you wanted to make sure you had a good handle on the curriculum before telling students what they should be taking for courses.

Around 3PM a student comes to show you to your academic building, and escort you to your new office before your faculty meeting. There’s a bit of chit chat between the two of you before they open the door to the overly hot building. You cough when you first enter from the humidity.

“Don’t worry, it’s only like this for the first couple of weeks.” She says and you nod.

She guides you straight in where the communication lounge was. Wow, an entire lounge, you think to yourself. There were a few couches and three offices on the main level. A flat screen TV projecting student projects across from one of the couches. She takes you down a spiral staircase where there were four other offices, one vacant for you. There were two computer clusters, a projects and screen, and more couches. You already liked that it seemed to be an interactive space for students.

“Looks like you got the one with the window.” She smiles. “Have a nice day.”

“Thank you so much.” You beam at the student that you’ll probably never see again.

The door was open for you, and two sets of keys were sitting on your desk. The office was bare just waiting for your interior design ideas to be splashed all over it. Your desk was L-shaped with two monitors and a laptop plugged into a docking station. At least you didn’t have to wait to be given your school sanctioned computer. You smile when you see that you were given a Mac as requested. You look at your one window and take a picture so you could find curtains for it. You open and close all of drawers just to make sure there was nothing left behind inside the desk. There were two seats on the other side of the desk for what you would assume would be for student meetings. You could get better ones. You also definitely had room for a small couch, a love seat perhaps.

“Well, look at that, I finally got a new neighbor.”

You jump slightly and turn around. There were a couple of reasons that you were slightly started. Whoever it was that was speaking to you had a deep, gravel-like voice, and they had a British accent. Not totally uncommon at a university, but still something you weren’t expecting. You were also started because no one else was downstairs with you. As you turn around, your cheeks flush when you take in the man with the toothy smile before you.

He was wearing a loose pair of jeans with a couple of rips in them, beaten up white sneakers with different color laces, and a light blue t-shirt. You barely have time to take in his tattoos, or the thick rim of his glasses before he speaks again.

“I’m so sorry, did I startle you?”

“Only slightly.” You give him a half smile. “I’m Y/N.” She extends her hand out to him and he takes it, shaking it gently.

“I’m Harry.”

“Ah! Dr. Styles, yeah. You were away when all of my interviews were happening.”

“Yes, I was away at a conference, but I heard great things. And please, just call me Harry. We’re not a very formal group.” He smirks.

“So, your office is the one next to mine?”

“That’s right.” He nods towards it, and you step out to look at his door.

Dr. Harry Styles, PhD was on his door along with a paper with his office hours printed on it.

“You’re lucky you got one with a window right away, I’m surprised no one wanted to snatch it up. The two across from us don’t have windows, but maybe some people don’t really care about that. I happen to enjoy looking out the window to see what’s happening when my eyes need a rest from the screen.”

You nod your head and peep inside his office. He had put his desk in the back corner of the room. So if students were to come see him, his back would be to them and they could easily see whatever he was doing on the computer, but you notice he also has a corner set up with a few chairs and around coffee table. Perhaps he’s able to discuss things easier this way. Many ideas pop into your head about how you might like to set things up.

“There’s a really great consignment shop downtown with quality furniture for cheap. That’s where I got those that table and chairs.”

“Thanks.” You squint at the three diplomas framed one the wall, and a couple of certifications as well. He had a small shelf with a couple of awards too. “What’s your PhD in?”

“At the base level, Media Studies, but my master’s was in Literary Dynamics. I’m a bit of a book worm as you can see.” He points to the bookshelf full of worn books and you smile. “Got my doctorate here, same as you’re doing, and they offered me a tenure position. Been here about six years total now, I love it.”

You think for a moment to try to put together how old he might be. There was a boyishness to his features, but he also had crinkles around his eyes and a few specs of grey in his hair. Then again, so did you. You greyed early, not that anyone would know since you get highlights in your hair.

“I turn thirty-two in February, if that’s what you were wondering.”

“Oh…I wasn’t, um, I-“

“It’s okay.” He chuckles. “Shall we head up to the faculty meeting? They sent me down here to get you.”

“Yeah, let’s get to it.” You quickly grab your laptop and follow him up the spiral staircase, trying not to look at his butt too much.

He leads you down a hall to a room used for meetings. A large table with people sitting around it casually, a few you recognize from your search committee.

“Y/N!” Lisa, the department chair, exclaims. “Glad Harry found you, come in.” Everyone turns their attention towards you and you smile. You sit down, and Harry goes to sit at the other end of the table. “Right, so let’s go round the table to introduce ourselves to Y/N. Let’s tell her what courses we all teach as well. I’m Lisa, obviously, I teach Game Design and Senior Seminar. I used to teach more, but so it goes when you’re the department chair.”

“Hi, Y/N, I’m Andre, I teach Communication Theory, Digital Media in the New Age, and Journalism.”

“I’m Mateo, good to see you again.” He smiles and you nod. “I teach Tech Comm, Intercultural Communication, and Strategic Communication.”

“I’m Sandra, I teach Global Perspectives in the Media, Film and Video Production Techniques, and basically any other film production courses.” She laughs.

“I’m Harry.” He gives you that same toothy smile. “I teach Communication, Media, and Wellness, Media Effects, Analyzing Screen Media, Literature into Film, and The Craft of Screenwriting.”

“I’m Janette, I teach Philosophy of Communication, Advanced Composition, and Interactive Web Communication.”

“Wonderful, thank you everyone. Don’t worry, Y/N, our admin Lucas will email you all of this info if he hasn’t already.”

“That’s alright, thank you.” She smiles.

“Why don’t you tell everyone what courses you’ll be teaching this fall and spring?”

“Well, this fall I’ll be teaching Communication and Media Studies, Media and Cultural Studies, and Social Media: Technology and Culture. Then in the spring I’ll teach the two intro courses, along with Professional Social Media, and Rhetoric and Semiotics.”

“We’re so happy to have you aboard.” Lisa smiles.

Lisa goes on to explain any policy or curriculum changes. Y/N notices how casual the group is, and also how diverse the group is. It was nice to see.

“Now, I know it’s your first day, and you just moved to the area…feel free to say no, but we’re all headed downtown to the pub for dinner if you’d like to join us.” Lisa says at the end of the meeting.

“That would be great! I haven’t gotten the chance to eat downtown much.”

“Oh, you’ll love the pub.” Sandra says. “Best nachos I’ve ever had.”

You smile and stand with everyone. You notice that everyone just simply walks downtown. You run to your car quickly to drop her bag off, and continues the walk. You all go in and grab a table for seven. You slide into the booth and Harry slides in next to you, followed by Janette and Sandra. Lisa, Mateo, and Andre all sit in the chairs across from you. You weren’t sure if you felt comfortable drinking in front of your colleagues just yet, but you order a vodka-tonic anyways just to be social.

“Sandra’s right, they do have the best nachos here.” Lisa says. “Should we just get a couple of orders of that? We could do one with chicken and one without.”

“I can just pick it off, don’t be silly.” Harry says.

“I, uh , don’t eat meat either, and I can also just pick it off.” You speak up.

“Oh, please.” Lisa scoffs. “We can get one with and one without, no problem.”

“You don’t eat meat?” Harry turns to you slightly.

“Um, no.” He was very close to you, and you weren’t sure how you felt about it. You just met him. You take a sip of your drink so your mouth doesn’t feel so dry. “My doctor told me to cut out red meat, and then I got sick of chicken and stuff, so I just cut it all out.” You shrug.

“Things were sort of the same with me, I just didn’t like how it made me feel after eating it. There’s other ways to get protein. I eat a lot of beans and nuts.”

“Right.” You were curious as to why he was being so open with you.

“Course, I feel like I’m starved half the time, don’t know if that happens to you, but I always keep granola bars in my office if you ever need one.”

“Oh! Um, thank you. Are we allowed to bring mini fridges? I’m really into overnight oats right now, so if I could just leave that stuff in there…”

“We are! It can’t be one of those huge ones though, it’s gotta be one of those ones that looks like a cube.” Harry makes a fake outlines of a box with his fingers. The waitress comes over and takes the orders for the nachos. “Excuse me, love, could I also get a separate order of chicken fingers and fries to go?”

The waitress nods and Harry smiles at her. You raise an eyebrow at him.

“Got someone at home who requested it.” He says before turning his attention to the other conversations at the table.

You wondered whom might me home waiting for him. A wife, a girlfriend…boyfriend? Harry wore a lot of rings, and his nails were painted, but a lot of men were doing that these days so you didn’t want to make any assumptions.

“So, Y/N, where’s home for you?” Andre asks.

“Oh, I’m from Boston originally.”

“Wow! And you moved up here to the mountains. Do you miss the hustle and bustle yet?”

“Not yet, I sort of don’t mind the quiet, although, when I first moved I had trouble falling asleep at night. It was almost too quiet.” You laugh. “But I’ve gotten more used to it. I’m in a great little apartment building, nice neighborhood. I think there are some grad students that I’m neighbors with.”

“Do you going hiking at all?” Mateo asks. “There are some great trails around here.”

“I haven’t gone yet, but I’d certainly be willing to give it a go.”

“We usually all go together before the semester starts.” Lisa says. It surprised you at how close everyone seemed. All different people of different ages. “There’s this really easy mountain about twenty minutes from campus with a beautiful view of the lakes region.”

“Well, I’ll certainly give it a go. Just let me know when.” You smile.

Sandra was absolutely right, the nachos were incredible. Lots of layers of chips and cheese, fresh veggies and guacamole, not to mention the sour cream and salsa. Everyone squares up their checks and heads out. Harry grabs his to go order from the bar. The sun was just barely setting, god, you loved August.

“I parked in the same lot as you, mind if I walk back up with you?” Harry asks after you all say goodnight.

“Not at all.” You smile.

“So, how was the first day? Is your brain ready to explode?”

“Only a little. I think if I take in anymore new information today I’ll pop.” Harry chuckles at that.

“I remember my faculty orientation.” He smirks and shakes his head. “I think I wore a suit, if you can believe it.”

“I’m sure you clean up really well.” You say playfully and he rolls his eyes.

“Well, you’re right about that, but it was super embarrassing at the time. No one told me how casual it was.”

“A little initiation ritual perhaps.”

“Maybe.” He looks at her. “I like your little, um, what do you call those.”

“Oh! My buns?”

“Yeah! Didn’t know if you’d still call them that, or poofs, or something.”

“Poof works.” You chuckle. “I wasn’t sure how humid it was going to be so I just did it up like that. They’re nice for keeping pens or pencils in.”

“Brilliant.” He smiles and reaches his car. “Well, I hope you enjoyed your first day. Feel free to email me if you have any questions. I know being new the area and campus can be overwhelming.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that.” You nod and get into your own car. You take a deep breath as you drive away. “I can do this.” You tell yourself. You enjoyed how friendly everyone was, you could definitely see yourself fitting in with everyone.

//

Harry gets home soon after he leaves campus, only living about fifteen minutes away. He owned a quaint ranch-style home.

“Andy, I’m home, bud!” He yells out. “Got your dinner.” He walks into the living room and sees his son playing video games. “Please don’t tell me you played all day…”

“Hey, dad.” He pauses the game and takes the to go box from Harry. “No, I didn’t play all day.” He rolls his eyes. “I went to the skate park at with Brandon, and then we swam in his pool, remember?”

“Right, I’ll have to say thanks to his parents.” Harry sits down on the couch and sighs.

“Tired?” Andy asks with his mouth full.

“Yeah, it was just a day full of meetings, then we all had dinner. Being social is draining.” He laughs. “How’s the chicken, good?”

“Mhm.”

“Let me get you some napkins…water?”

“Yes, please.”

Harry nods to his son. Harry usually got to be with his son all summer, but this year Andy asked to stay for the school year. It was a rather large discussion that Harry had to have with him and Andy’s mother, who Harry wasn’t on bad terms with, but he certainly didn’t live the one on one chat.

“I just feel like he didn’t get this idea on his own.” She whispered to him in the kitchen.

“I swear I didn’t put the idea in his head. He just asked me out of the blue if he could be enrolled at the middle school. He’s going into fifth grade, maybe he wants a fresh start. He has good friends here, Paige.”

“He has good friends at home too…” She sighs. “I just…so what, now I only get to see him on weekends? I’m his mother, Harry.”

“And I’m his father.”

“You get him for the entire summer.”

“You know it’s not enough time with him. I miss him a lot during the school year.” He drums his fingers on the kitchen counter. “Do you think…I mean…your boyfriend moved in with you, right? Do you think he feels uncomfortable with the change?”

“I don’t know, when Noah and I spoke with him about it he said he was fine with it. He was used to him sleeping over anyways. He’s knowing him for two years now, it’s not that weird.”

“I didn’t say it was weird, I’m talking about comfort. Maybe he just doesn’t want to share his space. It’s not just Noah that moved in, he has a daughter too…”

“Andy and Rachel get along really well. She’s only a year younger than he is.” She sighs again. “I don’t want him thinking he’s being replaced, Harry. What if he doesn’t want to come back into my life once he’s with you all the time?”

“I don’t think that could happen, I’ll make sure it doesn’t.”

“And you’d be able to handle him all year long?”

“Sure, I’d have to change when I’m offering my classes so I’m home at a reasonable time, but I can make it work.” He rubs the back of his neck. “I could always send him home to you if I can’t be around anyways, like how you do with me.”

“Right.” She looks into the living room where Andy had his headphones in, and then back to Harry. “That’s my little baby in there. How can I let him go?”

“You’re not letting him go, you’re letting him grow up a bit. Why don’t we tell him we’ll see how this year goes, and then we can talk more seriously about custody and all that?”

“Alright, yeah, that seems fair.”

“You only live thirty minutes away, I could always drop him off for dinner sometimes, or-“

“Yeah.” She nods. “Well, um, let’s go talk with him then.”

That conversation happened after the July 4th holiday. Andy went home every other weekend to his mother’s, and Harry always talked with him about how his time with her was. Andy would always say that had a great time. He really did just like his friends better where Harry lived, and he was getting older. Maybe he just wanted to live with his dad.

“Alright.” Harry hands him the napkins and water. “Shall we watch a movie and then get you ready for bed?”

“I’m not a baby.” He scoffs.

“You are though, you’ll always be my baby.”

“Dad.” Andy groans. “Don’t be gross.”

“Can’t help it, you’re too stinkin’ cute.”

“Please stop before I barf up my chicken.”

Harry laughs and switches the TV to Netflix. Andy looked a lot like Harry in that he had curly hair and green eyes. He had his mother’s button nose and freckles. Andy liked dressing in basketball shorts and t-shirts, but he also like using a scrunchie or bandana to keep his hair off his face the way Harry did. It was cute.

“Am I going to mum’s this weekend?”

“You are, my darling.” Harry sips on a beer while lounging on the couch during the movie. “That alright?”

“Course.” He shrugs. “I actually have a new skate trick to show Rachel.”

“Do you to go boarding together?”

“Sometimes. She’s better on her skates, though.” He munches on some popcorn. “I kinda like going there on Friday nights because her and Noah go to temple on Saturday mornings, so mum and I get up late and make breakfast together.”

“Good, I’m glad you get that quality time together. I hope you’re paying attention to the culture that Rachel and Noah are bringing into your life, though. She’ll probably have a Bat Mitzvah someday and you’ll have this big party to go to.”

“Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you ever…I mean…it’s sort of weird that you like Noah…”

“Is it?” Harry sits up. “I’ve got no problem with him. He’s a nice guy, takes care of your mum.”

“That’s just it, I have friends with divorced parents and they-“

“Well, mum and I aren’t divorced, Andy, you know that. We never got married.”

“Even still…”

“We wanted to do right by you can be good co-parents. I’d be a real brat if I was rude to him.”

“How come you and mum never got married?”

Harry nearly chokes on his drink. He clears his throat and pauses the movie. Andy never really asked questions like this. He never even saw Harry and Paige as a couple, he never knew them together.

“Um…well…we were really young when you were born. I was twenty when we found out about you, and I was twenty-one when you born, I was just barely finishing school when you came along. Your mum was a year ahead of me, so luckily she got her degree before you were born.”

“Were you together then?”

“Yeah.” Harry nods. “Mum and I dated for about two years in undergrad, and then…well…we found out about you, and we were nervous, but excited.”

“But you didn’t want to get married?”

“I asked her, but she said no.”

“Why?”

“She thought I only wanted to marry her because she was pregnant.” He sighs. “Things like that sort of get complicated when you’re older. I also had a lot going on for school, and she didn’t want me to put my career on hold, she already had a full time job and all that. We tried to make things work, but we both realized a relationship shouldn’t be made to work because of…a baby. We both love you very much, Andy, make no mistake about that, but mum and I make better friends than a couple, I can assure you.”

“Oh.”

“Do you wish we were together sometimes?”

“Sometimes.” He nods. “But only because I hate going back and forth.”

“I’m sorry.” He sighs. “We live as close to each other as we can.”

“I know.” He furrows his brows. “I just don’t like when Noah acts like he’s my dad because he’s not, you are.”

“True, but you should still be respectful. Rachel lives there full time too, so-“

“I can’t stand that either, honestly.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know…ugh, she was on the phone with one of her friends and she referred to me as her brother. Not even step-brother, brother! I’m not her brother.” He huffs.

“Andy…come here.” His son gets up and sits next to him. Harry puts an arm around him and holds him close. “You’re going through a lot of change right now, huh?”

“I guess.” He looks up at Harry. “I think Noah’s gonna ask mum to marry her…which I guess is nice for her, but I’d rather just be with you.”

“You are with me.”

“Permanently, though. I’ve felt better just going over on the weekends, it’s plenty.”

“Mum and I said we’d see how this year at school goes, and then we could decide. I want you here, but I have to respect what she wants too.” He smiles down at him. “Poor you, having two parents who just love you so much.” He kisses his forehead.

“Blegh!” He wipes the spit from his forehead away. “What is wrong with you?” He gets up and goes back to his own seat.

“What? A father can’t love on his son anymore just because he’s in the double digits?”

“Exactly, press play.”

Harry laughs and shakes his head as he starts the movie back up.

//

Your semester was off to a great start. You got your office decorated nicely, and you were able to make it a cozy and homey space, which was good because you spent a lot of late nights there. Balancing teaching multiple sections of three different classes while also making time for research was proving to be a little difficult. Sometimes students were hanging out in the lounge while you were working, so you didn’t feel truly alone.

You were on an incredible team. You met bi-weekly with Lisa just for wellness check ins. She knew how overwhelming the first year could be, and she recommended chatting with Harry. He was the last one to go through all of it, so he would have the best tips. Harry was often out of the building by 3PM most days. He held virtual office hours from his home office. You weren’t entirely sure why he always needed to get home so early. Well, you weren’t sure until the answer slapped you in the face.

“And this is my new neighbor, Y/N.” You hear him say as he knocks on your door. “Got a second?”

“Um…sure.” You stand up and see a young boy with Harry.

“Y/N, this is my son, Andy. He had a half day from school today, so he’s hanging out until it’s time to go home.”

“Oh! Hi, Andy. It’s nice to meet you.” You had foolishly assumed the picture of Harry holding a baby on his desk was a nephew or something since he himself looked so young in the photo.

“Nice to meet you too.” He mumbles.

“What grade are you in?”

“Fifth.”

“Oh, so you just started middle school? How’s that going?”

“Okay, I guess.” He shrugs. “Dad, can I go get a snack at the grille?”

“Sure.” Harry fishes for his wallet and hands Andy a ten dollar bill. “Don’t pig out though, I want you to be hungry for dinner.”

“Okay.” He walks away from them and Harry shakes his head with a smile.

“He’s a human disposal right now.”

“I…didn’t know you had a son.” You say awkwardly.

“Yeah! Yikes, have I not mentioned him before now?” You shake your head no. “Guess that means we haven’t spent enough time together then.” You blush slightly and Harry clears his throat, then pushes his glasses up his nose. “He, um, just turned ten in May…sort of had him young.”

“I see.”

“This is his first time being with me during the school year. He wanted to give this school system a try, couldn’t say no to that.”

“Oh…um…so his mom…?” You didn’t want to pry too much. Harry wore a lot of rings so you weren’t sure if he was married or not.

“She lives about thirty minutes away, closer to the lakes. She’s a para at a law office, does well for herself. We were college sweethearts, but it didn’t work out.” He shrugs and you nod. “She’s got a serious boyfriend and he has a daughter a year younger than Andy. I think he felt like his personal space was closing in on him, so he asked to live with me. I usually just get him for the summer when I’m not teaching, it’s been great having him around more.”

“He has your eyes.” You wanted smack your forehead for making such a weird comment.

“He does! One of the first things I noticed about him when they stopped being that weird, dark color babies have when they’re first born.” You simply nod your head. “Well, I’ve taken up a lot of your time…um…let’s plan a lunch or something sometime soon. I’d love to know how your classes are going. I know it can’t be easy teaching the intro courses.”

“I’m doing well with it, actually. I taught a lot of the first-year courses at my previous institution. I’ve just been more bogged down with my research than anything else.”

“I’d like to hear more about that too, if that’s alright. Didn’t get to hear about like everyone else since I was gone during your interviews.”

“Sure, we could do lunch sometime then.” Harry smiles at that.

“Great. You know, we get together to do a monthly game night with the faculty from the English department. It’s in a couple of weeks, I hope you’ll come. A lot of their classes double count within our major, so it would be good for you to meet them.”

“Yeah, just let me know when it is. I enjoyed the hike a couple weeks ago.”

“I was pissed I missed that.” Harry groans. “I had to take Andy-“

“Dad.” Andy comes back, handing Harry his change. He was biting into a BLT.

“Thank you, let’s go into my office, yeah? You’ve got some homework that needs to get done.”

“Fine.” He goes into Harry’s office with a huff.

“Anyways, I’ll let you know when the game night is.”

“Okay, thanks.” You smile at each other and go back to sit down in your office.

He had a kid, a ten-year-old…holy shit. You couldn’t imagine going through your master’s and doctoral program while also raising a child. Good for him, you think.  Andy was a pretty cute kid, a mop of curls, just like his dad.

//

You gave yourself Saturdays off. Saturdays were for sleeping in, doing a quick pilates workout, grocery shopping, laundry and whatever other chores you may have. Saturdays were for curling up on the sofa with a cup of tea and good movie. Saturday nights were for you and Janette, who you have become pretty close with, to go have drinks.

“You need to find someone to bring home with you tonight.” Janette says, as you both begin your second drinks of the evening.

“Oh stop.” You laugh. “I don’t think I have the energy to pretend to be into someone enough to fuck them.” She rolls her eyes at you. “So…what’s this I hear about a game night with the English department?”

“Oh! It’s so much fun. Once a month someone different hosts it. Sometimes we play board games, sometimes it’s card games, one time we even played Heads Up, that was a hoot.” She giggles. “You should definitely come, Lisa’s hosting the next one. Her house is huge and has a beautiful view of the lakes and mountains.”

“I think I might, yeah.”

“Who told you about it? I think Lucas was planning to add you to the email about it.”

“Oh, Harry mentioned it the other day. He said it would be good for me to get to know the other faculty.”

“He’s certainly right about that.”

“I met his son…”

“Andy was in the office! Damn, I try to keep candy in my office for him. He’s so sweet. He was just a little guy when Harry started, can’t believe he’s in middle school.”

“Yeah, he was really polite. Sort of closed off at the same time.”

“Harry seems to think he’s become more self-aware. It’s a big deal for him to want to live with Harry year round.” She sips her drink. “Shouldn’t gossip too much about it though.”

“Right.” You sip your own drink.

“The students seem to like you so far, we’ve all heard good things from our advisees.”

“Really?! That means a lot.”

“Your teaching must speak for itself.”

“Students are always in the downstairs lounge, it’s nice to chat with them sometimes. They always seem to be visiting Harry. Andre and Sandra are down with us too, and they don’t have as many frequent flyers.”

“I know you’re new and all, but I didn’t think you were naïve.” She chuckles.

“What do you mean?”

“Harry perfectly fits the hot teacher trope, Y/N. He’s slightly mysterious with his tattoos and his nail polish, but still totally approachable. He’s dorky, but funny. He’s got a little muscle on him, but he’s not terribly intimidating, plus he’s fucking brilliant. You should sit in on his Literature and Film class.”

“One might think you have a crush on him from the way you speak about him.” You tease her.

“One would have to be straight, my dear.” She winks at you, and you laugh a little too loud. “However, I know an attractive man when I see one. Girls swoon over him all the time. It was really bad when he first started because he was a little closer in age with students, things have calmed down considerably though.”

“He dresses nicely too, I like his style.”

“It’s a little out there, but it works for him.”

“Sometimes I can smell the nail polish remover from my office.” You giggle. “He really hates when they’re chipped, huh?”

“God, you have no idea. Sometimes in the faculty meetings I’ll catch him chipping away at, next time I see him they’re freshly painted again.”

You take an uber home after having four drinks with your friend. You gossiped about some other people, Harry didn’t remain the topic of conversation for long. You get home and strip yourself of your clothes, and wash up before getting into your blanket burrito.

//

Sundays were for getting a head start on the week. Sometimes you worked from your office at home, but today you forgot something at your office at work, so you decide to just grab all your things and work from your office for the day. You were making some progress on your research and you wanted to keep riding the wave you were on.

You had a tie-dye t-shirt on under your coat that had a picture of Goofy on it, and a pair of jeans on. You didn’t need to be super dressed up for some weekend work. No one was usually in the building anyways. You get some up and put some music on while you do some reading and highlighting.

“Hey! Look who it is.”

“Jesus!” You flinch and look up. “Scared the shit out of me, Harry.”

“Sorry about that.” He rubs the back of his neck. “You’re a tad jumpy.”

“Hard not to be when you’re always coming out of nowhere.” You turn your music down and stand up to walk over to him, crossing your arms over your stupid shirt. “What are you doing here?”

“Well, Andy’s with his mum this weekend, and I needed a change of scenery from the home office, so I thought I’d come here.”

“Oh.”

He looks you up and down and smiles.

“Is Goofy your favorite?”

“Huh?”

“Your shirt.” He points to it. “Personally, I’m partial to Mickey Mouse, but Goofy’s fun.”

“This is a really old shirt, I did laundry yesterday so this is what I was left with.”

“Ah…and I suppose you weren’t expecting to bump into your colleague.”

“Correct.”

“Well, I think it’s proper cute, so no worries, I won’t make fun.” He winks and goes into his own office.

You feel your cheek and it’s considerably warmer than it was from before he got there. You shake your head and return to your seat, opting to put your headphones in to not disturb him. Just as you’re getting going in the zone again, he comes into your office and plops down on one of the reupholstered chairs you had on the other side of your desk.

“Yes?” You ask, taking your headphones out.

“I want you to come observe my wellness class this week.”

“Why?”

“Because I think you could use some time to distress. You don’t teach any 8AM’s, right?”

“No…um…what makes you think I need to distress?”

“You just look like you’re carrying a lot of tension. It’s a great class. We chat, we meditate. Sometimes students fall asleep, but I’ve told them it’s okay. If their bodies are telling them they need sleep, then they should sleep. We do a bit of yoga as well. Plus, I just think it would be good for you to observe me.”

“I was told your literature class would be fun to observe, couldn’t I do that instead?”

“And let you get out of a bit of meditation?” He scoffs. “I don’t think so, sister.” You laugh at that.

“Alright, which day should I come?”

“It’s my Tuesday/Thursday course. You can pick which morning you’d prefer.”

“Anything else?”

“Tell me about your research.”

“Are you just using me to procrastinate?” You raise an eyebrow at him.

“Hey, what happens between me and the stack of papers I need to grade is none of your business.” You laugh at him again. Harry was funny, no doubt about that. “Come on, just a few minutes, tell me what you’re working on.”

“I am researching anonymity online, the pros and cons, how social media is mixed into it, stuff like that. People carry themselves different on the various social media platforms, trying to show specific versions of themselves, but when you’re able to remain anonymous, you somehow are truly able to be yourself without fear of judgement.”

“So, what are the cons then?”

“Oh, there are tons. There’s the fear of someone finding this anonymous version of yourself and being exposed. Then there are the people that forget there’s someone else behind the screen and send nasty messages to other anonymously.”

“That’s my biggest fear with Andy. He’s been begging me for a smart phone, but I just don’t feel comfortable with that yet.” He runs a hand through his hair. “I told him when he was thirteen we could talk about it.”

“It’s funny, I didn’t get my first phone until I was fifteen, and it was one of those ones that slid open and had a keyboard. Literally had to use the family desktop if I wanted to go on Facebook.”

“Do people even use Facebook anymore? Feel like it’s just forty-year-old wine moms and Home Depot dads.” Harry snorts.

“No one uses it anymore because it’s not fun. It may as well be LinkedIn.” You scoff.

“Well, I’ll certainly be looking forward to reading what you whip up when the time comes.” He smiles.

“Thanks.”

“I’ll let you get back to it…um, feel like grabbing a bite later?”

“If you don’t disturb me for the next two hours I’ll consider getting lunch with you.”

“Oh, I love a challenge.” He grins and stands up, leaving your office.

You smile and shake your head. Perhaps your neighbor was becoming a pretty good friend.

//

“You’re coming to Lisa’s tonight, right?” Harry asks you as he slings his bag over his shoulder on Friday afternoon.

“I believe so, six, right?”

“Yup! Do you need directions?”

“I have this thing called a smart phone, and get this…it has an app where if I put in an address, it shows me the route!”

“I really hate it when you’re sarcastic with me.” He rolls his eyes. “Get it enough from my son, you know?”

“Will he be joining the fun as well?”

“Nope, he’s with his mum this weekend. I gotta go get him from school and get him all packed up for her.”

“Does she always pick him up?”

“She picks him up on Fridays, and I pick him up on Sundays.” He shrugs. “It just works for us.”

“Makes sense.”

“Right, well, I’ll see you later.”

“Okay.” You smile and wave him off.

After knuckling at your eyes, you head home around 4PM. You wanted to shower and freshen up before heading to Lisa’s. It was a beautiful, chilly Fall evening, so you opt for a light sweater and black jeans, and a pair of boots. You run your fingers through your hair, reapply some makeup, and grab the bottle of white you had chilling in your fridge. You plug the address into your phone, and get going.

It was about a twenty-five minute drive. Lisa lived in a neighborhood with a lot of beautiful homes. Her driveway was long and winding, and on top of a hill.

“This must be a bitch in the winter.” You say to yourself. Maybe that was why she was hosting the September game night. There were a couple of other cars there, so you didn’t feel totally awkward. You walk up to the door and ring the bell.

“Y/N!” Lisa exclaims and hugs you. “Come on in, so glad you could make it.”

“Thank you for having me. I brought some wine.” You hand the bottle to her as you step inside.

“Oh, thank you, dear.”

“Shoes on or off?”

“On is perfectly fine, it’s all hardwood.” Lisa leads you inside. “I’ll get this open.”

You wait for her to pour you a glass, and then she leads you into the living room. Sandra and Mateo were already there. You wave hello and grab a seat.

“Y/N, this is Dan, the English department chair, Alice, Joe, and Fred.”

“Hi, it’s nice to formally meet you all.” You stand up and shake a few hands.

Everyone mingles and eats the snacks Lisa puts out. Her husband was quite the co-host. Janette shows up next, and you end up sitting with her. Harry’s the last to arrive. Lisa gets him a glass of red right away. He looked handsome. A tan cardigan over a white t-shirt and a pair of light wash jeans.

“Sorry I’m late everyone, Paige was over an hour late picking Andy up. There was an accident on the highway and she got stuck behind it, it was a whole thing.”

Paige, it was the first time Y/N heard Harry actually say the name of Andy’s mother.

“No worries, H.” Andre says. “Relax, we haven’t even decided on the game yet.”

“Thank god.” Harry plops down next to you on the couch. “Janette, did Y/N tell you she observed my wellness class yesterday?”

“She did, she told me she fell asleep the second you turned the lights off.” She snickers.

“Please, keep talking about me like I’m not even here.” You roll your eyes. Harry and Janette both lean over you so they can pretend to speak closer. “Okay, okay.” You push them both away. “That’s enough, thank you.”

“Alright, everyone, I was thinking we could play charades, yeah?” Lisa announces. “It’ll keep us limber.”

“English vs. CM?” Dan asks.

“You know it.” Lisa grins.

You were pretty good at charades so you weren’t worried. The couple of glasses of wine certainly helped boost your confidence. It was fun to let a little loose with your colleagues. It was some much needed bonding. Harry was quite competitive, which surprised you because he was usually so chill about everything. It was down to the final points, Harry needed to guess the name of your film correctly.

You put up two fingers.

“Second word.” You nod and he licks his lips in concentration You pretend to open a book and write it in it. “Uhhh, book…” He furrows his brows. You look up like as if you’re reading something, and then you pretend to write the book some more. “Notes…notebook, oh! The Notebook!” You tap your finger on your nose and your team cheers. “Ha!” Harry stands up and hugs you. He lets you go and looks back at everyone. “That was exhilarating. Better luck next time.” He says to the English team.

“Wasn’t exactly a difficult film to guess.” Alice says playfully.

“I had zero control over the slip of paper I chose out of that hat.” You grin.

You all help clean up before heading out. You slip your coat on and head outside after saying your goodbyes.

“Y/N?” You hear Harry from behind you. “You’re good to drive, right?”

“Yeah, of course. Wouldn’t get behind the wheel if I wasn’t.”

“Alright.” He smiles. “Just wanted to be sure.” He walks with you outside.

“It would be pretty bad if I got so fucked up I couldn’t drive home from our department chair’s house.”

“Lisa would actually get a pretty good kick out of it.” He smirks. You get to your car and press the button to unlock it. “Well…I hope you enjoy the rest of your weekend.”

“Same to you, any big plans while Andy’s gone?”

“Not really, I try to save the fun stuff for while he’s with me.”

“Aw, no hot dates.” You wink at him. Okay, maybe some of the wine was still in your system. He blinks at you for a moment and then he bursts out laughing.

“Right, the ladies are really fighting to knock my door down.” He wipes a tear from under his eye. “Can’t remember the last time I went on a proper date to be honest with you. Not exactly a turn on when you bring someone home and they see kid’s toys hanging around.”

“Oh come on, you’ve totally got the hot single dad thing working for you.” You nudge his shoulder. “Janette I usually go out on Saturday nights for drinks, you should come out tomorrow.”

“Um…which, uh, which bar do you go to?”

“Firefly, little more adult. We don’t really see the college kids there.”

“Sure, yeah, I know that place well. Um, what time?”

“Nine?”

“I’ll be there.” He smiles.

“Great! Goodnight, Harry.”

“Night, Y/N.”

He watches as you get into your car and drive away. It wasn’t until you woke up the next morning that you realize that you essentially asked him out, and that you sort of flirted with him. You text Janette immediately and let her know he may show up.

Jan: Yay! Harry’s so much fun to go drinking with, this’ll be great!

Will it? You think to yourself. It was one thing to have a couple of glasses of wine with colleagues, but you usually got pretty drunk with Janette, always taking an uber to and from the bar. You were a nervous wreck all day, and you weren’t sure why. You were hoping all of your Saturday chores would distract you, but they weren’t.

As you get ready, you decide on a blue dress that showed a tasteful amount of cleavage, pairing it with patterned nylons, and boots. Your hair is down and wavy, and your makeup looks cute, for now. You put on your leather jacket and head out. Well, not before doing a quick shot at home. Your leg bounces the entire time in the uber. Janette is already there at your usual table. She waves you over and you sit down.

“I texted Harry earlier.” She says to you. “Just so he really knew he was invited.”

“I don’t have his number, otherwise I would have. Sorry, I feel like I should have asked first. This is sort of like our girl’s night.”

“Are you kidding?! Like I said earlier, Harry is super fun to drink with.”

After you both guzzle down your first drink, Harry arrives. He’s got a black button up on with the first few buttons undone, exposing the birds on his collar bones. He smiles when he sees the both of you.

“H!” Janette says, getting up to hug him and give him a kiss on the cheek.

“Hello, love.” He gives her a squeeze and a returned kiss. He looks at you and you give him a shy smile before giving him a side hug. “Thanks again for the invite, haven’t been to this place in a while.” He slides into the stool.

“Oh, of course!” Janette says. “I was excited when Y/N said you were coming.”

“Apparently I need to do more fun things when Andy’s with his mum.” He nudges you.

“What do you usually do when he’s gone?” You ask him.

“I usually clean up the house, stalk up on food, wash his sheets…dad stuff.” He shrugs with a laugh. The waitress comes over and smiles.

“Can I get you started with anything?”

“Rum and coke would be great, and I’ll start a tab.” He hands her his credit card and she nods.

“Nother round for you two?”

“Please!” Janette says.

“Yes.” You say with a smile.

The waitress nods and smiles. She walks away and looks back at Harry, blushing.

“Oh boy.” Janette grins. “I think you may get lucky tonight, H.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Our waitress did a double take.”

“She’s probably, like, ten years younger than I am or something. Not my style.”

“Fair enough.” She shrugs.

“What about you? Any ladies you’re trying to take home?”

“Well, if I weren’t in a long distance relationship, sure.”

“You and Sadie are still together?” He asks almost in shock.

“Of course we are! You would have known if we broke up.”

“Doesn’t it get difficult?” He frowns.

“I really don’t mind. When we’re able to be together it’s nice, but I like having my own space.” Janette turns to you. “Sadie is a photographer, traveling for National Geographic.”

“That’s incredible!”

The waitress brings all of the dinks over and you clink your glasses.

“Alright, what’s the gossip, ladies? Who are we shitting on?”

“Hmm.” Jaette taps her chin. “Perhaps Dan? He’s obviously still in love with Lisa.”

“Still?” Your jaw drops.

“Back in the day,” Harry starts, “he and Lisa were quite the item. She met Arnold at a conference. He’s a chef.”

“Ah, that’s why the food is so good.”

“Mhm, he’s retired now, but at the time she had to make this big choice between the two of them, and she chose Arnold. Built an entire life with him. Dogs, kids, big house, you name it.” Harry explains.

“And Dan’s been married and divorced twice. Lisa’s the one that got away.” Janette sighs. “Course, Lisa’s incredibly oblivious, or she pretends to be. You’d think they were simply best friends.”

“I wonder what made her choose Arnold over Dan.” You say.

“Good dick.” Janette says. “Simple as that.”

“Oh, come on.” You roll your eyes.

“You come on! Are you going to tell me you’d give up good dick?”

“So you’re telling me she was seeing both of them at the same time, and she chose Arnold because he hit it better?”

“That’s what I’m inferring, yes.” She sips her drink. “Getting to come every time you fuck is worth it, don’t you think?”

Harry nearly chokes on his drink from laughing.

“I forgot how nasty you can be, I love it.” He says and looks at you. “So, Y/N, what’s your answer? Is an orgasm reason enough to choose one guy over another?”

“Well, considering that I dated some real fuck when I was in college just so I could get some good dick, I’d have to say yes.” You say, enjoying the look on both of their faces. “I mean, it’s hard to remember how much you can’t stand someone when they’re railing you to completion.”

“Very true.” Janette agrees. “Also, Arnold is a really sweet man, sort of the whole package for her. I don’t think Lisa liked be challenged, and Dan, I heard, would challenge her on everything.”

“I’m usually up for a debate, but I get that. I don’t need to be in control of everything, but agreeable people are better.” You say.

“I wouldn’t say it’s because he’s agreeable.” Harry says, finishing his drink, and gesturing towards the waitress for another. “Arnold is smitten, not just in love, big difference.”

“How so?” You ask.

“When you’re…oh, thank you.” He smiles at the waitress brings him a new drink. “When you’re smitten, you walk around with rose colored glasses, to some that can be a bad thing, but I think when you’re that in love, you should really adore the person you’re with too. Arnold adores Lisa, Dan doesn’t. You can tell by the way they both look at her.”

It was nice discussing things like this with people who also observed people the way you did. It makes you wonder, though, what they may have picked up on about you.

After a few more drinks, you knew you needed to stop when your vision began to get hazy. Harry only had his two drinks since he drove himself. He drank some water as the night went on.

“H, Y/N lives not too far from you, help her save a couple bucks and drive her home, would you?”

“Jan…” You scold her.

“She’s right, I could give you a lift, if you want?”

“Um…well…sure.”

You both say goodnight to Janette, and Harry helps you into his car. He keeps the music low as he pulls out of the bar.

“So, where am I taking you?”

“To The Ledges, do you know where that is?”

“Sure do.” He chuckles. “Lived there myself when I first moved to the area.”

“Really?! It’s a great size place. I love it.”

“Got any pets or anything?”

“Nope, just me, myself, and I.” You grin.

“And you prefer it that way?”

“Well, after living at home my whole life, and then having various roommates over the years, I’d say that I’m quite enjoying living alone.”

“Good for you. I’m glad you’re liking it here so much. The person you replaced was such a twat.” You burst into laughter. “I’m serious! He never came to any of the outings. It was like he didn’t even care that we were trying to get him to engage. The second he got his PhD he left. Good riddance.” Harry scoffs.

“I really like it. It’s a lot different than being at a college in the city. I wasn’t sure how I’d do working in a college town, but I’m really enjoying it. I feel safe, you know? I didn’t always feel safe in the city.”

“I’m sorry, that had to have been difficult.”

“On the late nights it was. I usually had UPD walk me to my car. I don’t really have to do that here. I feel like I gained a lot of independence back.”

Harry pulls up to the apartment building, and parks. He turns the ignition off and you raise your eyebrows at him.

“What are you doing?”

“I was going to walk you to the door…”

“Oh…you don’t have to.”

“I insist.”

“Really, it’s okay. Um, thank you for the ride, it was really nice of you.”

“Thanks for the invite, I had fun.” He smiles.

“Me too.” You smile back and get out of the car.

You hear the car turn back on, and you know he waits to drive off until you’re inside.

//

“Paige, I get him for Christmas, why are you trying to change things?”

“You usually get him for Christmas because you don’t usually get him for the school year.” She crosses her arms as she stands outside in the frigid early December air.

“But you just got him for Thanksgiving.”

“You don’t celebrate Thanksgiving!”

“I observe!” He takes a deep breath. “His plane ticket is already paid for, he’s coming with me to London like always, and he will be back to you for New Year’s, like always.” He steps closer to her. “He looks forward to seeing my mum and Gem every winter, please don’t take that away from him.”

“It’s just…we’re hosting a Hanukkah party, and Noah really wanted him to be a part of it…”

“Shit.” Harry rubs the back of his neck. “There’s Jewish holidays all the time, couldn’t Andy be a part of the next celebration?”

“Dad! Come on, the Pats game is starting!”

“One second, just saying bye to mum!” He yells to Andy, and looks back at Paige, eyes pleading.

“Alright…he can still go with you.”

“Thank you.” Harry breathes. “His cousins would miss him terribly.”

“I know, I’d feel terrible doing that to him. I’m just trying to balance all of this. I wanna be a good partner to Noah, and somewhat of a mother figure to Rachel, but I don’t want Andy to feel like I’m favoring them over him. He comes first, he always will.”

“I’m sure he knows that.” He puts his hand on her shoulder. “Have a latke for me, yeah?”

“Yeah.” She smiles and gives his hand a squeeze before getting back into her car.

Harry heads inside and sits on the couch while Andy sits in his usual spot on the love seat, entranced by the football game.

“What was that all about? I heard shouting.”

“Could barely hear each other over the wind outside. Nothing to worry about. We were just confirming plans for your holiday break.”

“I’m still going to London, right?”

“Of course! No question about it.”

Andy smiles at Harry before returning his attention to the TV. Harry was usually very honest with Andy, but he didn’t need to worry him with any of the drama.

//

“You survived your first semester, congrats!” Janette says, popping a bottle of champagne as she walks into your office.

“Not over yet, I have finals to grade.”

“Whatever, the kids are gone, that’s something to celebrate.” She nods towards the plastic cups you keep in your office, and you grab two. “Any plans for the holidays? Going home at all?”

“Oh sure. Doing the Hanukkah thing with my folks, and then doing New Year’s in Boston with some friends.”

“Fun!”

“Wait.” Harry says, overhearing, grabbing the bottle for a swig. “You’re Jewish?”

“Yes?” You raise an eyebrow at him and take a sip from your cup.

“Brilliant. Paige’s boyfriend is Jewish, and I think it’s confusing for Andy. He doesn’t much like asking th guy questions, maybe he could talk to you sometime.”

“Sure.” You shrug. “Any plans for the holidays?”

“Yeah, Andy comes home to London for Christmas, and then I send him back for New Year’s with his mum.”

“You send him on the plane alone?”

“I haven’t always, but they let me walk him right to the gate, and he flies first class, so it’s very safe. They let his mum wait at the other gate too. I like to stay home for a few weeks if I can. I’m afraid I’m a bit of a mama’s boy.” He takes another swig of the bottle. “I am not looking forward to grading these papers. I really should just have each class do a presentation, can grade those right on the spot.”

“Tell me about it.” Janette groans. “My Advanced Comp class is going to be the death of me.”

“Well, clearly this champagne is going to keep us all awake enough to get through it.”

The three of you stand there laughing. You were looking forward to the long winter break. It would give you plenty of time to work on your research, and you wouldn’t be disturbed by any students popping in and out of your office, as much as you enjoyed the chats.

//

It was the beginning of January, there you were, working away in your office. You had a long flowy dress on, for some reason, and your door bursts open.

“Y/N! I’ve traveled across the pond for you!”

“Harry! You’re back.”

“That’s right, darling, I’m back.” He pushes everything off your desk, walks around to your and pulls you close to him. He crashes his mouth to yours.

“Oh, Harry.” You moan.

“Oh, Y/N.” He moans back before laying you on your desk. “I’m going to make you feel so good.” He rips your dress of and kneels in front of you, diving his head between your legs.

You wake up in a cold sweat, panting. Your eyes snap open and you grimace. Your legs feel sweaty, so you kick your blankets off.

“What the fuck?” You say to yourself as you sit up. Harry was attractive, but you never once fantasized about him. You reach between your legs and gasp. “Did I just fucking have a wet dream?!” You lick at your sticky fingers and shake your head in disbelief. “Shower, go shower Y/N.” You were talking to yourself, yes, but it was needed to help you calm down.

You were incredibly embarrassed. Harry was your friend, not someone you wanted to fuck, and certainly not on your desk in your office at work. Most people would be turned off, but doing it in a professional place was a big turn off for you. The idea of getting caught was also not a turn on for you. If you were ever caught you could be fired, and it just wasn’t worth it. Neither was dating a colleague. It wasn’t against the rules or anything, nor was it frowned upon, but dating in the workplace could lead to a lot of problems. You had a PhD on the line. Maybe it was time to just suck it up and go for a one night stand.

//

You had forgotten all about your dream by the time the January faculty meeting hit. That is, until Harry was the last to walk in. Your face flushes immediately. His hair was a little longer, and he had a bit of scruff that he normally wouldn’t have. He smiles and says hello to a couple of people, and then sits down right next to you.

“Hi.” He whispers with a smile.

“Hello.” You swallow and don’t look at him.

“How was your-“

“Can we get started?” Lisa addresses the group. “Much to go over, we need to start talking about the fall schedule.”

You were grateful for the distraction of the discussion, but you felt Harry’s eyes burn into you every few moments. He had to have known you were acting weird, you wouldn’t fucking look at him. Even if you thought to try, you just couldn’t. Two hours later, and the meeting finally ends. You gather your things quickly and head out, and down to your office. Just as you’re able to take a deep breath, you look up and see Harry standing in your doorway, hands in his pockets, squinting at you.

“Are we good?” He asks.

“Um.” You focus on the space behind him. “Yes, why wouldn’t we be?”

“Because you refuse to look at me. Even now, you’re not really looking at me.” He shifts his weight so he’s stand up normally. “Are you mad because I didn’t reach out over break?”

“What? No! I could care less about that, it wasn’t like I reached out to you.”

“So…what is it then? You make eye contact all the time, it’s not like you to not.”

“I…” You suck both of your lips into your mouth. “It’s nothing, it’s stupid, I’m being stupid.”

“If it’s stupid then just tell me.” He comes in and sits down on your loveseat.

“Harry, please.” You shake your head and sit down in your desk chair.

“Come on, Y/N. Clearly something’s bothering you.”

“Ugh.” You groan and get up to close your door. You sit on the edge of your desk. “I…had a rather odd dream a week or so ago…”

“Okay?”

“And you were in it.” You whisper.

“What was I doing in your dream?” He whispers back.

“That’s just it, I don’t know.” You rest your chin in your palm as you cross your arms over your chest.

“Well I must have done something to make you not even look at me. Did I hurt you, do something scary?”

“No…I suppose I wouldn’t call it scary, but I was certainly disturbed when I woke up.”

“What then?” A smirk grows on his face. “Don’t tell me you had a sex dream or something.” When your face stays the way it is his smile fades. “You had a sex dream about me?” You nod yes. “Where were we?”

“Here.”

“In your office?!”

“Shh!” You swat your hands in his direction. “Do you want the building to hear?”

“You had a dream that we fucked in your office?”

“Well, it wasn’t fucking per say…you sort of…I don’t know…it doesn’t matter.”

“No tell me, let’s talk this through.”

“You wiped everything off my desk, ripped my clothes off, sat me on top, and then…” You wince slightly. “You sort of…got your head between my legs, and then I woke up.” You say the rest of it quickly. “And I was utterly concerned when I woke up because I swear I don’t see you that way, Harry. You’re my friend, just my friend. I forgot all about it, and then I saw you and got all embarrassed again.”

He stands up from his seat and gives you a shy smile.

“It was just a dream, you don’t need to be embarrassed. We’re adults, yeah? Let’s act like it.”

“I just don’t want you thinking I’m some…sex maniac or something.”

“I don’t.”

“Okay…I’m sorry if I worried you during the meeting. It really is good to see you, I’m glad you’re back. We could have lunch soon, I’d love to hear about London.”

“Yeah, maybe.” He smiles, but you can tell it’s fake.

He heads out and goes into his own office, closing the door behind him. For whatever reason, your words hurt him. Just my friend rang through his mind. It wasn’t as though it were a lie, you were just friends, but you made it clear you didn’t want him to be the one between your legs in a dream. At first he was flattered, but now…well, now he just felt sad. Was he not good enough to be the one to get you off? Even if in a dream? He hears a knock on the door.

“Yes?”

You open it slowly.

“I hurt your feelings…”

“A little.” He admits. “Not sure why, though.”

“I just didn’t want you to think I was objectifying you.”

“It was a dream, Y/N, you have zero control over it.”

“But I must have been thinking of you subconsciously, right? Isn’t that how that works?”

“Okay, so maybe you were thinking of me and maybe that got mixed in with…whatever else.”

“I just don’t want you thinking I want to fuck you, that’s all.”

“That doesn’t make me feel better.” He mumbles.

“You want me to want to fuck you?!”

“Now who’d being loud?!”

“Sorry…”

“It’s just, well, how would you feel if I told you I didn’t want to fuck you, you probably wouldn’t feel too great about yourself.”

“It’s not that you’re not attractive, Harry-“

“This is making it worse.” He runs his hands over his face and looks at you. “It was just a dream, nothing to worry about, okay?”

“Things won’t be weird between us?”

“No.”

“You promise?”

“I promise.”

“I’m really sorry. I shouldn’t have acted the way I did in that meeting, then we wouldn’t have needed to talk about it.”

“Did you tell Janette?”

“I resent that, just because I’m close with her doesn’t mean she knows every bit of my business.”

“I just didn’t know if I should be expecting some teasing from her.”

“No, none, and you better not tease me either.”

“I won’t.” He smiles. “London was good by the way…”

“Good, I’m glad.” You smile at him. “Talk later?”

“Yeah.”

//

“Not that I’m not happy to be out with the two of you, but why are the three of us out to dinner?” Andy asks.

“Mum and I thought it would be nice to see what you wanted to do for your February vacation. Usually you come see me and we go skiing, but mum knows how to ski too-“

“You’re canceling our trip?!”

“No! We were just thinking mum could take you this year.”

“But it’s your cabin.”

“And I don’t mind sharing.”

“Andy…I thought it would be nice for the four of us to go together. Noah knows how to snowboard, and Rachel wants to take a skiing lesson.”

“Great, so now this going to be a huge family trip? I don’t wanna do that, Mum.” Andy groans.

“Andy.” Harry sighs. “I think Mum and I have been very accommodating to you this year. Could you please just try to help us out a little? Do you know how many kids would kill to have their parents take them on a ski trip for their breaks?”

“I’m not trying to be ungrateful, I’m sorry.” He looks down at his plate and then back up to Harry. “Can’t you still come? The house is big enough.”

“It’s not a bad idea, Har.” Paige says to him and his eyes widen.

“Would Noah and Rachel feel comfortable with that? I wouldn’t want to overstep…”

“I’ll talk to them, I can’t see either of them feeling weird about it. She refers to you as Uncle Harry as it is, and it’s your cabin, I don’t think Noah would care.”

“Would you be alright with it?”

“Sure.” She shrugs. “There’s that spare room on the other end of the house, so you could have your own space and the kids could stay in the bunk room.”

“Wait, so this is happening?” Andy perks up. “You’d really come, Dad?”

“Yeah, if it’s not weird for anyone, I’m in.”

Andy gets up from the table and moves to hug both Harry and Paige, both of them looking at each other surprised. They give each other mental high fives for being able to figure things out.

“I’m really excited now.” Andy says as he sits back down.

“Okay, now that we’ve got that out of the way…” Paige grins and looks back at one of the waitresses, giving her a nod. Happy birthday starts being sung throughout the restaurant.

“Oh my god.” Harry closes his eyes and groans. “This dinner wasn’t about me…”

“Nonsense.” She chuckles. “How often do we all get to celebrate together?”

A small cake with candles is brought over in front of Harry. The singing continues and he feels thoroughly embarrassed.

“Wanna help me blow ‘em out?” He asks Andy.

“Yeah!” He leans over and blows out the candles and the restaurant claps.

Harry looks at Paige and shakes his head. She laughs and thanks the waitresses.

“Andy, go get in Dad’s lap, I’ll take your picture together. I’ve got your gift for him in the car too, I’ll go get it.” Andy crawls into Harry’s lap, and Paige uses Harry’s phone to snap the photo. She beams when she looks at it. “You should get this one printed, it’s adorable.” She gets up and leaves to go get the gifts.

“Did you know about all this?” He says to Andy giving him a squeeze before letting him go.

“She just told me we were meeting you for dinner instead of going straight to your place.” He shrugs.

Paige returns shortly with a few cards and bags.

“Alright, this is from Rachel and Noah.”

“They didn’t have to get me anything…”

“They insisted!”

Harry takes the card out and smiles. Rachel had clearly drawn him a picture, it was cute. His smile grows wider when he takes a nail kit out of the small bag.

“I was due for one of these, I’ll have to text Noah a thank you.” Harry opens the next bag and sees a card from Andy that he also drew. In the bag was a new set of pocket squares for his suits, that he desperately needed, some bandanas, scrunchies, and a gift card to his favorite clothing store. “Went all out son, thank you.”

“Thought your…what was the word you used, Mum?”

“Wardrobe.” She chuckles.

“Yeah! Thought your wardrobe could use an update.”

“Should I be offended?” He says, raising an eyebrow.

“I think you should be happy your son has your keen eye for fashion.” She slides another card over. “That one’s from me.”

“You’ve done enough.” He says before leaning over to kiss the top of Andy’s head.

“Just open it.”

Harry rolls his eyes and opens the card. He starts laughing. There was some joke about being close co-parents, and a gift card to one of his favorite restaurants.

“Thank you.”

“More than welcome.”

Andy hugs Paige goodbye in the parking lot before hopping in the backseat of Harry’s car.

“Were you surprised, Dad?”

“Very! Thank you again for the gifts, it was very thoughtful of you.”

“I’m more excited about going skiing now.”

“Sorry if we scared you. I just wanna make sure Mum gets to see you.”

“I know.” He sighs. “Hey, Dad?”

“Yeah?”

“How come Mum has Noah, but you don’t have anyone?”

“I have you.”

“You know what I mean.”

“I just…I don’t know, I don’t have much time for dating.”

“What do you do on the weekends when I’m not with you?”

“Sometimes I see friends, or I catch up on some grading, I clean up too. You’re gonna start doing more chores, that would be the ultimate birthday gift.”

“It’s okay if you wanna date, you know…”

“I don’t exactly need your permission.” He chuckles.

“I know…but I want you to know I’m okay with it.”

“Well, I appreciate that, thanks.”

//

When Harry walks into his office Monday morning he’s surprised to see a vase full of flowers. There’s a small card with it:

Happy Birthday, H!

-        Y/N

Harry smiles to himself and smells the flowers, he couldn’t believe you remembered. He only mentioned it once when his birthday was. Thirty-two was off to a great start. He hangs his jacket up and gets his computer set up. His first class wasn’t until 9AM, so he had some time to prep and wake up a bit more before heading to the lecture hall. He sees you walk by on your way to your office.

“Oh! You’re here!” You had two coffees in your hands. “My gift wasn’t complete yet.” You walk in and hand him his coffee. “Black coffee.” You smile.

“Thank you, the flowers are lovely.”

“Not that I thought you needed more plants in here.” You joke. Harry had a fuck ton of plants in his office windowsill.

“Well excuse me for enjoying nature.” He scoffs, and takes a sip of his coffee. You sit down on the couch in his office.

“Did you have a good weekend?”

“I did, Paige and I took Andy out to dinner to talk about his February break, and it turned into a little surprise birthday thing, it was nice. Can’t remember the last time we did something like that as a family. I mean, we have shared birthday parties for him and stuff, but I think he enjoys when it’s just the three of us.”

“If you don’t mind me asking…did he ever know the two of you as a couple?”

“No.” Harry sighs. “I think he was almost two when she and I called it quits. Now look at us, we’re all going on a ski trip together, including her boyfriend and his daughter.”

“That won’t be weird?”

“Not really, I’ve known Noah a while.”

“How long have they been together?”

“Well, they’ve been a couple for almost three years, but they were friends beforehand. He’s one of the lawyers at the office she works at. He came on, like, a year after she and I split, they were friends for a while, and I think once he knew she and I weren’t getting back together he made his move.” Harry shrugs. “No skin off my nose, I just wanted her to be happy. His daughter Rachel is as cute as a button too.” He takes another sip of his coffee. “Poor thing, her mum died in a car accident when she was really little. Paige is a great mum, so it was a good fit for everyone I think. The only thing I don’t love is that Noah is, like, almost forty.”

“How old is Paige?”

“Almost thirty-four, so it’s not super weird, but…I think that’s another reason why he waited to ask her out, you know?”

“I’m surprised he doesn’t have his own cabin to take her too.”

“Nope, just a massive house on the lake.” Harry chuckles and looks at his flowers again. “Thank you again for these, it was a nice surprise.”

“Oh, don’t mention it.” She sips her own coffee and gets up to go to her own office.

“How’d you know I’d like these?”

“Everyone likes getting flowers, Harry.” She smiles and leaves.

//

Harry had cancelled his classes during the week of Andy’s February break like he always did. He had forum posts for them to work in in his absence. Going to the cabin wasn’t ask awkward as he thought, and it was good bonding for Rachel and Andy. Harry, Noah, and Paige could hear the two of them giggling as they watched movies at night, it was sweet. Harry mostly stuck with skiing with Andy during the day, and he and Paige took him for a run or two as well. As Andy got older co-parenting got easier, for whatever reason. Any lingering feelings between Harry and Paige had simply fizzled into a normal friendship. There was no malice between them which was good for Andy to see.

“Uncle Harry?” Rachel asks one night at dinner.

“Yes, love?”

“How come you have an accent, but Andy doesn’t?”

“Because Andy wasn’t born and raised in a country where people sound like me. Although sometimes you sound like me when you’ve been around me a lot.” Harry looks at Andy.

“My friends tease me for how I say pasta sometimes.” He chuckles. “I say that like you.”

“It’s true! You say taco like Dad too. It’s pretty funny.”

“Well, those are my two favorite foods so it makes sense.”

“How come you have so many tattoos?” Rachel asks.

“Honey, tattoos can be really personal.” Noah explains.

“It’s alright, I got a lot of them when I was younger. Think my last one was when Andy was born, got his initials my forearm.” He extends his arm out.

“Harry.” Paige clears her throat, nodding towards his mermaid tattoo and shakes her head no.

“Oop! Sorry.” He blushes. “Sometimes I forget she’s there.” He chuckles.

“Can we paint nails after dinner, Uncle Harry?” Rachel pleads.

“Sure! Brought that nail kit you and Dad so nicely got for me.”

“Yay! It’s okay, right, Daddy?”

“Of course, princess.” Noah says lovingly towards his daughter.

After dinner, Harry sits with Rachel at the kitchen table, to not make a mess, while Paige, Noah, and Andy sit in the living room watching TV. On the outside looking in the scene may be odd, but this was working well for all of them. Andy was having a good time and that was all Harry cared about.

//

It was a Thursday night, you both swiped right, and you met him at a bar. After a few drinks you climbed into the backseat of his car and before you knew it you were bouncing up and down on his dick while he pressed hot kisses to your neck. His name was Gabriel, and he was just what you needed right now. Or he would have been if he had been able to last a moment longer. You were so close, and he came into the condom before you had a chance to have your own release. He didn’t even ask if you got yours, he just kissed your cheek and lifted you off him.

“Care to take this back to my place?” He says.

“Think I’ve had enough for one night, thanks.” You say as you button your pants back up.

“Let me at least drive you home.”

“No, that’s okay, I can take an uber.” You get out of his car and slam the door shut. He gets out and looks at you, you turn around and look at him.

“Another time?”

“No, I don’t think so.” You say bluntly and his face falls.

“Thought we just had a nice time.”

“You had a nice time because you got to finish.” You huff as you fix your jacket. You take your phone out and order your ride.

“Thought you did, my bad.”

“Right.” The car pulls up, and you get in.

This is why you hated doing things like this. Men on these dating apps just wanted to get theirs. They just wanted a place to stick it and they didn’t care if you were left satisfied or not. You take a nice, long shower when you get back, scrubbing the smell of Gabriel away from you. You grimace when you see the kiss mark he left on your collar bone. Luckily a shirt and scarf would cover it, and it didn’t look like it would last longer than a couple of days anyways.

//

“Well, were you being vocal about what you needed?” Janette asks you as she sits on the edge of your desk Monday morning.

“I said things like right there or like that…he didn’t even warn me that he was coming, he just did. Then he wanted me to come back to his place with him…”

“Maybe he would have put on a better show for you.”

“The previews certainly didn’t leave me wanting to see more.”

“Preview for what.” Harry says, peeping his head in. He had a slight tan from skiing, and it was sort of cute.

“Y/N saw a really bad preview for this movie about this loser, that’s all.” Janette says. “How was your week away?”

“Actually, not too bad. I think it was good for us to all do something together. Andy had a great time, that’s all I cared about. He even agreed to be with his mum for the entire April vacation.”

“Oh? What’s she going to take him to do?” You ask.

“They’re gonna go to New York to see some shows, I thought it was a great idea. It’ll be good for him to get some real culture.”

“And that’s not a trip you wanted to join in on?” Janette smirks.

“Hmm, large cabin where I have my own space or cramped hotel room?” He weighs his option. “I’ll take the bitter cold and the cabin, thanks.”

“What do you think you’ll do while he’s away?” You ask.

“No idea, I’ve got time to figure it out. Honestly, it’s perfect timing because that’s right during advising weeks so I’ll actually be able to help my students without him sitting in the corner complaining that he’s bored.” He rolls his eyes. “I don’t what’s gonna turn my hair grey first, him or the college students.”

“Oh please.” Janette groans. “Men look so much better with a little grey, makes you look distinguished, it’s us who look like old crones when we let our greys out. I don’t wanna hear it.” She shakes her head and looks at her watch. “Gotta get ready for my next class, so you later.”

“Is it true?”

“What?”

“Do men look better with a little grey.” He runs a hand through his hair.

“Depends on the guy, I think. I mean, I’m twenty-six so a little grey wouldn’t scare me away, but I’m not exactly looking for a silver fox.” You laugh and so does he.

“I missed your sense of humor last week. As good of a time it was, I felt like I had to be very careful about the jokes I cracked.”

“Well, no need for a filter here.”

Harry nods and goes into his own office. He thinks for a moment and then peeps his head back into yours.

“So, what movie preview did you see that you didn’t like?”

“What?”

“When I first came in, you and Jan were talking about-“

“Oh! Um, it was so bad I don’t even remember the name.” You tug slightly at your scarf out of nerves.

“Too bad, I could’ve searched it and had a good laugh.” He shrugs and leaves again.

Sometimes you wondered what Harry’s dating life was like, not that it was any of your business. He had mentioned a couple of times he didn’t make a lot of time for it, but what about one night stands? Did he make sure women got theirs when he was with them?

//

“I’m going to look like a fucking idiot compared to all of you.” You pout as you get your robe and hood on.

“You will not. Sort of miss the master’s robe, honestly, they’ve basically got pockets. You’ll have your doctoral one soon enough.” Harry says, putting on his own robes.

“I can never get this thing right, could you help me?”

“Of course.” He steps behind you and adjusts the blue hood for you.

“Do I need the cap? It’s just an honor’s ceremony.”

“You certainly do, and get used to it. This is one of three times a year you’ll need to put this on.”

“Three?”

“Grad commencement and undergrad commencement are separate ceremonies.”

“And we have to go to both?”

“We do.” He sighs. “You’re also not the only professor on this campus that isn’t a PhD yet, so don’t get down on yourself, yeah? You’re working towards it.” You turn towards him and his hands place gently on your shoulders.

“Thanks, Har.”

He smiles at the nickname and lets go of you. You and the other CM professors head over to the CM Honors Inductee Ceremony. It was a nice event for the honors students within the major. As soon as it ends you rip your cap off. You didn’t enjoy wearing it at all. You mingle with a few parents and take pictures with some of the students that wanted you in their photos.

“Y/N?” One of your students, Kayla, says.

“Yes?”

“I was wondering…for our final assignment, instead of writing you a paper about signs, could I make you a video instead?” She was in your Rhetoric and Semiotics class.

“Hmm, I think that could be really interesting. What would a video entail?”

“Well, I thought I could go to the grocery store and show unwritten rules, like how someone will put a divider down on the belt without having to be asked, or how when you go up to the deli you just grab a ticket, how branding works, stuff like that.”

“As long as you still send me a references page I think that could be fine. Of course, I’d have to show it to the rest of the class.”

“Deal.” She smiles. “Thanks.” You nod and then she walks away.

You head back to your office to hang your robe and hood up in your closet. You grab your back and smack right into your Harry.

“Jesus.” You say and back away. “I’m sorry, I didn’t even see you.”

“No, that was me, I was walking too fast.” He unzips his robe and hangs it up same as you in his own closet.

“Why were you in such a hurry?”

“Single mum at the ceremony got a little too liberal with the hugging, had to get out of there.” He chuckles. “You hungry?”

“I could eat.”

“Wanna go down to the pub? I don’t have Andy’s still in New York…”

“Sure! That sounds great, actually. Let me just drop all this off in my car.” He nods and you both walk down to the parking lot before walking the rest of the way to the pub.

You both sit down at the bar and order drinks. You both end up getting Mediterranean wraps, not feeling quite hungry enough for nachos this time around.

“Any summer plans yet? I know it’s early, but-“

“Paige and I need to sit down with Andy to figure all that out. He got to stay with me all year, so it would be make sense for him to be with her for the summer, but I have a feeling he won’t like that. School gets out in June for him so I’ve got some time…but I have a feeling it’s not going to be easy.”

“Why do you think he wants to be with you so much more?”

“I just think he’s at an age where maybe he feels more comfortable being with me. He’ll be eleven soon, changes are starting to happen.” He chuckles. “Maybe Paige and I could split up the summer or something.”

“How have his grades been? Wasn’t that part of the deal?”

“His marks have been great, he’s doing well. He has some great friends and he loves his teachers. He really enjoyed playing basketball this winter in the town league too.”

“Not that I’m an expert on custody agreements, but couldn’t you do what you’re doing now? Wednesdays and every other weekend with Paige, and the rest of the time with you?”

“He hates the back and forth in the summer, that’s why we agreed on summers with me. I mean, she still sees him in the summer, obviously, but he usually doesn’t have to go every other weekend. We’ll see.” He sighs. “We try to give him what he wants to not make waves, but at the end of the day we’re the parents and he’s the child and what we say goes.” He finishes off his drink and asks for another. “Need a refill?”

“Sure, I could probably handle two.” You shrug.

Two turned into three, then, four, and finally five. The sun had gone down and it was dark outside. You two had split a chocolate lava cake. The bar was starting to fill with college students.

“Holy shit, it’s almost ten!” You say. “Should probably go before some of these kids try to buy me a drink for a passing grade.” Harry laughs at that and agrees. You split the bill, and nearly lose your balance as you hop off the bar stool, clutching as his bicep.

“Wanna split an uber? I can’t drive, and I don’t think you can either.” He chuckles.

“Yeah, good idea. I’ll order it.”

“No, I’ve got it.” He takes his phone out as you both head outside. The car pulls up after a couple of minutes and you both get in. “We’ll drop you off first.”

“Alright.” You smile. “This was fun tonight. I like when we get to hang out.”

“Me too.” He smiles at you. “Can’t believe your first year is almost done.”

“I know, it’s really flown by.” You crane your neck from side to side and sigh. “Maybe now that I know the area better I’ll feel more comfortable trying to really meet someone.”

“Meet someone for what?” You look up at him, making a face as if the answer is obvious. “Oh! That’s cute you think you have time for a relationship.” He laughs.

“Excuse me?”

“Y/N, you spend all your free time on your research.”

“I just spent some free time with you, didn’t I? Janette and I go out, and-“

“Janette travels with Sadie in the summers.”

“Guess that leaves me stuck with you then.” You nudge him. “Actually, I’m hoping to go to Boston for a bit, visit friends and family. I’m hoping to get to the beach too. I love summer.”

“You should come hiking with me. Despite the black flies, May is great because it’s not humid yet.”

“Might have to take you up on that, I really enjoyed it this fall.” The car pulls up in front of your house. “Have a good night, Harry.”

“You too.” You both reach over and hug each other. “See you Monday.”

“See you Monday.” You smile and get out.

//

Once the school year was over, you sat with Lisa and went over your course evaluations. Overall you did really well, and she reaffirmed how happy she was that she hired you. She wishes you a happy summer, and that’s about it. You ask if you’re allowed to use your office in the summer, and she says yes but it gets really hot so it’s not as great as you may think.

Saturday night as you’re having your last girl’s night with Janette you get a text.

Harry: Hey! Know it’s last minute, but I’m taking Andy up Rattlesnake tomorrow morning, care to join?

Y/N: sure! As long as he doesn’t mind…

Harry: got his permission already, we’re all set ;)

You bite your bottom lip and smile, and Janette peaks over your shoulder to see what you could be smiling at.

“God, what a gift it would be if I come back in the fall and you two are dating.”

“Oh, stop.” You nudge her. “We’re friends.”  

“Would it be bad to be more?”

“I don’t really think it’s a good idea to go out with someone you work with…”

“Good luck finding anyone else who’s decent around here then.”

“I could meet someone in Boston, do the long distance thing.”

“That gets old.”

“You’re doing it!”

“Yeah, but I’m more of a free spirit. Sadie and I don’t care about marriage or kids or a house in the hills. You, my sweet friend, would like all of those things.”

“True…” You finish your drink. “Well, if I don’t want to puke on this hike tomorrow I should probably get going.” You both stand and hug and kiss and wish each other fantastic summers.

You get a restful night’s sleep, and get yourself ready in the morning. You had invested in a pair of hiking boots in the fall, so you were feeling prepared. You put on a pair of spandex shorts, and put on some mesh shorts over those. You opt for a sweat resistant short sleeve shirt, and pull your ponytail through a baseball cap. You get everything in your small pack that you’ll need: sunglasses, sunscreen, water bottle, granola bar, rag, and bug spray. You drive out to the trail and park, lathering your arms and legs with sunscreen. You see Harry’s car pull up, and Andy hops out, bandana and clip keeping his hair back, just like Harry’s. Harry had a sleeveless shirt on and you could really see the definition in his shoulder muscles. You put your sunglasses on and head over to them.

“Morning, boys.” You smile.

“Morning.” Harry smiles back.

“Hi, Y/N.” Andy mumbles shyly.

“Hi, Andy. Dad told me you’re doing well in school. Bet you’re about ready to be done, huh?”

“Yeah, only a few more weeks.”

“Can’t believe he’s going into sixth grade. Makin’ me feel old.”

“You are old.” Andy giggles.

“Mhm, thanks.” Harry rolls his eyes. “Let’s get going, shall we?”

Andy walks a few paces ahead of you and Harry.

“His birthday is soon, yeah?”

“Yeah, next weekend, actually…um…Paige is hosting his party this year.” Andy looks back at Harry making a face, and Harry makes a face back at him.

“That’ll be fun.” You say, not noticing the exchange as you look at the various trees surrounding you.

“Yeah…it will be. Um…it’s Saturday afternoon…”

“Weather looking good?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s great. Probably still cold to swim at the lake, though, right?”

“Yeah, but the kids will still have a water balloon fight.”

“Dad, just ask her!” Andy groans as he turns around again.

“Ask me what?”

“He wants you to go with him to the party.”

“Andy!” Harry snaps at him. “Keep walking.”

Andy rolls his eyes and continues to walk ahead of you.

“Is that true, you want me to come?”

“Is that weird?”

“Not really.” You shrug. “Although, I’d only know you and Andy.” You chuckle.

“See…it’s just…Paige’s parents will be there, and that’s fine, but Noah’s parents are coming too, and it would be nice to have a buffer other than my son. He’ll be off playing games and eating junk good, I don’t want him to think he needs to babysit me…”

“I totally get it. I don’t think I have plans, I could go for a little while.”

“Really? I’m not asking too much?”

“Not at all, what are friends for?” You smile and he smiles back.

You walk a few paces ahead of Harry, but still behind Andy, giving Harry the perfect view of your bum in your shorts. He wasn’t staring, but he certainly wasn’t not looking. When you get up to the top your jaw drops. The view of the mountains and the lakes were even better in the late spring. You snap a few photos, taking one of Harry and Andy, Harry taking one of you looking out, and then you all sit down for some water and snacks.

“Andy, do you enjoy hiking with your Dad?”

“Yeah, it’s a lot of fun. We go a lot over the summer.”

“Andy’s hiked two of the 4,000 footers, hoping to get a couple more done this summer.”

“Wow! That’s incredible.”

“You should come with us, Y/N. We’re going to camp overnight at one of them.”

“Oh, you don’t wanna go camping with me, I’m a real snob. I need running water and indoor plumbing.”

“It has that.” Harry says, taking a sip of his water. “There’s bathroom, no shower or anything, but working toilets. You bring all your own camping gear. It’s pretty cool.”

“I’ll consider it. Think I should probably go on hikes that are longer than a mile up.” You laugh.

“You guys can do during the week now that school’s over, right?” Andy says.

“I wouldn’t want to exclude you, Andy.” You smile.

“Don’t worry about me.” He crunches down on his granola bar. He shares another look with Harry, but again it goes unnoticed by you, too busy looking out at the beauty of the mountains and lakes.

You all hike down the mountain in not time and say your goodbyes. Harry tells you he’ll text you with more details about the party later in the week.

“I told you she’d say yes.” Andy says from the backseat of the car.

“I wish you had let me work up to it a little more.”

“You were taking too long. Sometimes you just need to pull the trigger, Dad.”

“Is that so?” Harry laughs. “Things are a little more complicated at my age. Sort of awkward asking a colleague out on a date.”

“If you two are friends does that make it a date?”

“Well, she’ll be attending with me, so that makes her my date.”

“Does that mean you’ll kiss her goodnight?”

“Andy!” Harry looks back for a moment and then gets his eyes back on the road. “No, I’m not going to kiss her. You heard her, what are friends for, that’s all she sees me as.” He sighs to himself.

“That’s why you need to step up your game.”

“Son, do me a favor?”

“Yeah?”

“Just, shut up for the rest of the drive home.”

Andy bursts out laughing, but does as Harry asks, knowing he’s being a bit annoying.

//

It was a beautiful day on Saturday, but you were worried about being cold out by the water, so you opt for a pair of high-waist jean capris that flare a bit at the bottom. You find a sleeveless white blouse and pair it with a blue cardigan. You put your hair up in your two buns, and throw on a pair of wedges.

Harry: I’m outside

“Shit.” You say, just finishing your makeup. You run around, grabbing your purse, and the box you had wrapped for Andy’s gift, and head out.

You open the passenger seat and get settled, smiling at Harry.

“You didn’t have to get him anything.”

“I know, it’s just a new basketball. I saw it at WalMart when I was picking up a card. I hate showing up to these things empty handed. What did you get him?”

“A new bike.” He grins. “It’s in his mum’s garage already.”

“Oh! He’ll be so excited. He skateboard too right?”

“Yeah, I really don’t know where he gets his coordination from. Other than skiing I’m pretty clumsy.”

“Don’t you go to a boxing gym?”

“Yeah, and I look like a proper oaf.” He laughs and looks at you. “You look nice by the way. Your outfits are always so put together.”

“Oh, um, thanks.” You blush slightly. You wanted to tell him that you did your hair the way you did because you know he sort of likes it, but you thought that might be a weird thing to say. “Does, um, Paige know you’re bringing me?”

“She does.” Harry nods. “You’re not, like, nervous to meet her are you?”

“No.” You scoff. “Why would I be?”

“I don’t know.” You shrug. “What did you say to her about me?”

“Well, before I got a chance to say anything last night when she picked Andy up, he spilled the beans.” He rolls his eyes. “So I told her you’re a friend from work…is that okay?”

“Yeah, that’s what I am so it makes sense.” You drum your fingers on top of the box to the beat of the music. “None of your family will be there?”

“They’re going to FaceTime in for it. They came for his tenth birthday since it’s a bit more sentimental.”

“Do you miss them?”

“Oh sure, but I love here too much to go back permanently. I like going during winter break, that’s enough.”

“You don’t go during the summer?”

“Sometimes I do and sometimes I don’t. Sometimes they come to visit here during the summer too. My sister has two kids of her own so it’s not always easy to travel.” You nod your head. “You know, I’ve known you almost a year and I don’t know a thing about your family.”

“What’s there to know? My parents are still together, somehow, I’ve got an older brother who’s a sous chef at a restaurant in Boston. He’s not married, but he has a partner and he’s just lovely. I usually stay with them if I go home for a visit.”

“That’s great! How much older is he?”

“He’s around your age, actually, so not a huge age difference.”

“And when’s your birthday?”

“Beginning of August.” You grin.

“Wow, so you had just turned twenty-six when you came to us.”

“Pretty much, got hired at twenty-five, not too shabby.”

“Not at all.”

The conversation went on for the entire drive. That’s how it always was with you two, always a lot to talk about. When you get out of the car you’re able to get a good look at Harry’s outfit. His outfits were usually well crafted, you’d call his style dad-chic. He was in a pair of tan slacks that he had cuffed at the bottom, a pair of white loafers to go with them, a white tank top tucked in with a floral open short-sleeve button up. Very handsome. You smile at each other and then he leads you around back to where the party was. You weren’t the first people there, but you weren’t the last either.

“Dad!” Andy exclaims and runs over to you both. Harry picks him up and swings him around before setting him down.

“Happy birthday, kiddo.”

“Thanks! Look, all my friends from school came.” He points over to them. Harry recognizes Brandon and his father out of the bunch.

“That’s great, bud, let us come in and say hi to everyone, can you say hi to Y/N?”

“Hi, thanks for coming.” He gives you a surprising hug.

“Oh! You’re welcome, Andy. Happy birthday.”

He runs back over to his friends and you walk further into the backyard. It was stunning. Grass that led to sand that led to the lake water. A boat parked further down by the docks, and just gorgeous views for miles. The house itself was huge, you couldn’t believe it.

“Harry!” A woman, who you would assume is Paige, comes waking over. She was beautiful. Shoulder length blonde hair, sort of thin, but not quite a stick. She was wearing a yellow sundress. Her and Harry share a slight hug. “He’s eleven.” She pouts.

“He’s eleven.” Harry agrees with a sigh. “Oh, this is Y/N. Y/N this is Paige, Andy’s mum.”

“It’s so nice to meet you.” She says to you. “Let me take that for you, thank you for bringing him something. I’ll put this with the others.” She takes the box from you. “There’s wine and beer for the adults if you like, but we also have soda and water if you’re not up for drinking. I certainly had a glass after my folks showed up.”

“Did your mother put her white glove on and see if there was any dust?” Harry teases her.

“She may as well have.” Paige rolls her eyes.

Harry puts his hand on the small of your back and leads you closer into the party.

“This is a lovely home.”

“Oh, thank you. I sort of inherited it. It’s was my grandparents’.” She sets your gift on the table with the others. “There’s snacks inside and outside. Feel free to hangout wherever.”

“Where exactly are your parents?” Harry asks.

“Up on the deck.” Paige points up towards it. “Feel free to avoid them as long as you like. They’re speaking with Noah’s parents at the moment. My sister should be here soon.” She looks at her watch. “I’m gonna go check on some things.”

“Alright, love, thanks.” They smile at each other. You get a bad taste in your mouth hearing him call her love, for whatever reason. “Wanna meet some of the parents. I know that guy, Ed, the best. He’s Brandon’s dad, Andy’s best friend.”

“Sure.” You nod and Harry leads you over. “I never quite understood why some parents stay at kids parties.”

“Well…look around you, wouldn’t you wanna hang for a bit?”

“Got me there.”

“Harry, hi.” Ed shakes Harry’s hand.

“Good to see you, this is my friend Y/N, we work together at the university.”

“Hi.” You shake his hand.

“Great to meet you. Brandon was so excited when he got the invite. He and Andy get along so well.” The three of you watch them and the other kids playing tag.

“Born to be friends I’d say.” Harry says.

“Uncle Harry!” A young girl comes running over to Harry and he picks her up, kissing her check, and then setting her down.

“Hi, Rachel, can you say hello to my friend Y/N?”

“Hello.” She beams up at you, a couple of teeth missing. “My grammy and grampy are here.”

“Are they?” Harry says.

“Mhm, I love them a lot.”

“I’m sure they love you too, sweetheart. Are you having a good time for Andy’s birthday?”

“Yeah! We’re going to have a water balloon toss soon.”

“Oh, that’ll be fun!”

“Daddy said he’d be on my team for it.”

“Well, that’s good.”

She smiles again and then runs off.

“Your ex’s boyfriend’s daughter calls you Uncle Harry?” You ask.

“Yeah…she sort of started doing that on her own. She knows I’m Andy’s dad, but I don’t think it quite registers with her yet how we’re all mixed together.” He runs a hand through his hair. “Can I get you anything to drink?”

“A glass of white would be great, thank you.” Harry nods and leaves you standing with Ed.

“So, how long have you and H known each other?”

“Well, I started working at the university last August, so less than a year. We’re office neighbors.”

“Ah, how nice. He’s a really great guy, isn’t he? I coach the boys’ basketball team and he was the first to sign up for snack duty.”

“He’s definitely always thinking of others.”

“How long have you been seeing each other?”

“Oh, um, we’re not.” You shake your head. “He just asked me to come with him, ex in laws, you know?”

“Shit, I’m sorry for just assuming.”

“It’s alright.” You assure him. Harry comes over with a glass of wine for you and a bottle of beer for him.

“Sorry that took a moment, I ran into Noah inside and had to do the hellos. Still managed to not bump into Paige’s parents though, so that’s good.” He chuckles, taking a sip from his drink.

“Bad blood?” You ask.

“Even though things between Paige and I are perfectly fine, in their eyes, I’m always going to be the guy that got her pregnant and didn’t make an honest woman out of her.”

“That’s annoying.”

“Very.”

An hour or so passes and then Paige announces that the balloon toss will be beginning soon.

“Dad, be my partner?”

“You got it, buddy. Mind holding my drink?” He says to you.

“Not at all, have fun.” You smile.

More people had come down off the deck so they could watch. Some parents partnered with their kids, and other kids just partnered with kids. Everyone starts about a foot apart. This should be fun, you think, knowing Harry’s competitive nature.

“Would you look at Harry, he looks like an old man from Florida.” You hear a woman scoff.

“Notice how he’s been avoiding us, always a child.” You hear a man say, and this makes you turn towards them. They must be Paige’s parents.

Everyone playing was further apart now, some balloons had popped, but Harry and Andy were still in the game. The balloon pops at Rachel’s feet and she giggles loudly. There were only a few people now. You watch as Harry lobs the balloon perfectly to Andy, and Andy catches it with ease. It was Brandon and his dad vs. Harry and Andy now. Brandon overthrows it, causing the balloon to pop on the sand.

“We won!” Andy shouts running towards Harry.

“Great job.” Harry jostle’s Andy’s hair. Everyone cheers for them.

“What do you say, honey, cake and gifts now?” Paige asks Andy.

“Yeah.” He smiles.

All of the kids sit around a large glass table while Paige goes inside to get the cake. Harry walks back towards you and you hand him his beer.

“What were you saying about you have no coordination?”

“I had to win, it’s his birthday.” He laughs and then stops when he sees Paige’s parents. “Lydia, Nathan, how are you?”

“Oh, are you speaking with us now?” Lydia says playfully, giving him a hug. Harry shakes Nathan’s hand.

“You know how it is when you first get to a party, lots of excitement. I’d find you eventually.” He clears his throat. “This is Y/N, we work together at the university.”

“Hello.” You smile and they both look you up and down.

“How nice for you to bring a friend.” Nathan says, his tone laced with sarcasm.

“I’m gonna go see if she needs help with the cake.” Harry says to all of you, and you also decide to move away from the rude people you were standing with.

Paige and Harry stand on either side of Andy’s chair as everyone sings happy birthday. After cake the gifts come out. Noah takes Harry into the garage to grab the bike.

“Alright…this one is from…Y/N!” Paige says brightly as she hands the gift to Andy. He tears the wrapping paper off and gasps.

“Alright! A new basketball, thank you!” Andy says looking in your direction and you nod with a smile.

“Okay, Andy, Dad and I got you something really special.” Paige says pointing over to Harry who was wheeling the bike over. Andy’s jaw drops.

“Are you serious?!” He stand up and walks over to the bike.

“Know you’ve been wanting it for a while, and your grades have just been so good this year, we just had to do it. Mum’s got a new helmet, elbow and knee pads for you in the house.”

“Thank you so much!” He hugs Harry and then he hugs Paige.

“You’re more than welcome, baby doll.” Paige says to him and then he squirms away from her.

“Mum.” He huffs.

“Right, sorry, not in front of your friends.”

Paige’s sister helps her clean up the remains of the cake while the kids continue to play yard games. You find yourself sitting in a lawn chair when a man you have yet to meet takes the chair next to you, but you recognize him as Rachel’s father.

“We haven’t gotten to meet yet, I’m Noah.” He shakes your hand.

“I’m Y/N, nice to meet you.”

“Likewise.” He smiles. “I was happy to hear Harry was bringing someone with him. Takes a bit of the pressure off.”

“Exactly.” You nod.

“How’d you meet?”

“We’re office neighbors, I started working at the university less than a year ago.”

“Oh! Right, you went hiking with them last weekend.” He says in understanding. “Andy told us. He’s quite the gossip.”

You observe Noah as he speaks. His hair has turned to salt and pepper, definitely had crow’s feet, also wore glasses, but he had a warm and inviting smile, similar to his daughter’s.

“He certainly speaks his mind.” You chuckle. “He’s very sweet though, I have to say.”

“Very sweet. He’s a good kid. It’s nice for Rach to have someone to grow up with a little She adores him, definitely sees him as a big brother.”

“That’s good. I’ve always found blended families to be interesting. You all are doing it well.”

“Took us a while to get to this point, but it’s all been worth it.”

“Y/N?” You both turn to look at Harry. “Party’s starting to dissipate a bit, are you about ready to head out?”

“Sure!” You stand up. “It was nice talking to you.”

“Same here.” Noah stands up and gives Harry a thumbs up without you seeing.

You both say your goodbyes, Andy gives you another hug and says thank you again for the gift. Harry tells him he’ll see him Sunday night, and then you head to his car.

“Hope you didn’t mind when I had to leave to chat a couple of times.”

“Oh, it was fine. I enjoyed just hanging out. It was a beautiful day.” The sun was just starting to set.

“Yeah, I’m glad the weather was nice. I think it’s supposed to rain tomorrow.” He looks at you and then gets his attention back on the road. “You really did look nice today.”

“Thank you, Harry.” You smile and give his shoulder a squeeze.

“Am I…taking you straight home?”

You blink a couple of times before looking at him.

“Where else would we go?”

“Well, I’ve got a back deck of my own. We could sit out, enjoy the sunset…if you want.”

“That sounds nice, actually. Yeah, let’s do that.” You smile.

“Great.”

You notice his jaw and shoulders relax. Were you making him tense? You both listen to the music on the radio as he drives you to his home. You smile as he pulls up. It was a decent size ranch. Cream color paneling and red shutters, very cute.

“Here were are.” He says awkwardly as you both get out.

“Do I get a tour?”

“Of course!”

He unlocks the front door and leads you inside. There was an open concept kitchen and living area. The house smelled like fresh coffee. He noticed you taking a whiff.

“I have an automatic air freshener.” He says and you nod.

“I like it, should get one for my place.”

“There’s a full bath down the hall, Andy uses that, and then I have my own bathroom. Three bedrooms totally, and then you can see I technically have two levels, that’s what I use for my office.”

“It’s a huge loft.”

“Yeah, it’s partially why I bought the place. I didn’t feel cramped. Basement’s partially finished which will be great for Andy when he’s over if he wants to have parties or whatever. Uh, and then the deck is this way. Can I get you anything…I only have red wine, I know you like white…”

“Red’s fine, maybe just put an ice cube in it for me?”

“Can do, make yourself comfortable outside.” He smiles.

You slide the glass door open and smile. It was a decent sized deck. There was a small glass round table with chairs, a grill, and some Adirondack chairs as well. You sit in one of those after taking a glance at the flowers and plants he had in pots. You also notice the various flower beds he had in the yard.

“Here you go.” He says, sitting down next to you, handing you the glass of wine.

“Thank you.” You smile and take a sip. You cross your cardigan over yourself.

“Are you cold? I can get a blanket.”

“Oh, no I’m fine, thanks. It’s beautiful out here.”

“Thanks, took me a while to get it landscaped the way I like.” He lights the citronella candle on the small table between you to help keep any bugs away. “I’ve been thinking of getting an above ground pool for Andy, he loves to swim, but it’s a lot maintenance, and his mum as the lake right there.”

“That house is incredible.”

“Noah’s helped her revamp it quite a bit, and the boat’s his.” He takes a sip of his drink and looks at you. “Thanks again for coming today.”

“Of course, I had a really good time.” You smile.

“You’re not just saying that?”

“Not at all. It was nice to finally meet the people you’ve told me so much about.”

“Are you hungry or anything? I could bring some-“

“Harry.” You put your hand over his that was resting on the arm of the chair. “Relax, yeah? I’m all set, thank you.”

“Alright.” He blushes and looks straight ahead. You notice him check an app on his phone. “Are you free Tuesday morning?”

“I think so, why?”

“Weather’s looking good, how about we go on one of those longer hikes?”

“I’d like that.” You smile. “Anything special I’d need to back.”

“Just a lunch, maybe some T.P.”

“You’re funny if think I’m going to take a piss in the woods.”

“Everyone does it.” He shrugs. “Don’t worry, I’d keep lookout for you.”

“You men have it so easy, you can just whip your things out, go quick, and you’re all set. Me, I’d have to roll my pants down, squat, hope none of it got on my shoes, wipe, and then get dressed again.”

“I’ve had to do that before, sometimes you just need to take a shit in the woods.” You burst out laughing at that. “Course that only happened because I went out drinking the night before.”

“Good to know.” You wipe a tear from your eye. “But seriously, I’d love to go hiking with you Tuesday.”

“I know it was more so Andy that invited you on our little camping trip, but you’re welcome to join in on that if you feel comfortable.”

“I would just feel like I’m intruding on your quality time.”

“You wouldn’t be, he likes you…um…I like you.” Your head snaps in his direction and your eyebrows shoot up. “I mean, like, I like hanging out with you, is all.” He was internally cringing at himself.

“I like hanging out with you too.” You swallow. “I’m glad we’ve gotten to know each other so well. You’ve been a great help with my classes. You’re so progressive, not always using the same syllabus and being willing to make things work for the students. It’s refreshing.”

“Please, go on, the narcissist within me is loving it.” He smirks and you roll your eyes. “Don’t sell yourself short, you’re doing really well. I enjoyed observing your rhetoric class. It was a nice refresher. I hope you won’t work yourself to much this summer. I know it’s more time for research and writing, but it’s also time for you to clear your head.”

“Thanks, I’ll try to keep that in mind.” You finish off your wine just as the sun it setting, the light from the candle being the only thing to keep things bright enough to see.

“I can, uh, bring you home now if you want.”

“I could just get an uber so you don’t have to go out again.”

“Don’t be silly, it’s no trouble.”

Harry drives you home, and you find yourself lingering in the car.

“So…Tuesday?”

“Tuesday.” He smiles. “Bright and early.”

“How early?” You raise an eyebrow.”

“How’s six sound? I’ll come pick you up, we’ll get to the trailhead by 6:30. It’s always better to summit earlier in the day.”

“You’re the expert.” You shrug. “Works for me.”

You both lean across the console to give each other a hug a goodbye, like you normally would, only this time…you press your lips to his cheek before getting out of the car. His gaze stays fixed on you, and it’s not until you’re inside your building where he lightly presses his fingers to his cheek to feel where you kissed him.

#harry styles #office neighbors #harry styles series #harry styles au #harry styles imagine #harry styles fic #harry styles fanfic #harry styles x reader #harry styles x y/n #harry styles y/n #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #professor!harry #singledad!harry #professor!y/n

[thran-duils]

My Perfect Pet

Title: My Perfect Pet Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark!Boss Tony Stark. Reader disobeys Mr. Stark’s order to work in his office and learns her lesson for disobeying when he tells her to do something. Words: 2,303 Warnings (for the fic in entirety): Dom/sub, fingering, shameless smut, boss/employee relationship, punishment, office sex Author’s Note: I had a dream, alright? I got distracted from the other fics because of it.

Masterpost (mobile)

You walked into one of the old filing rooms where one of the old assistants was already working to scan old documents in. A whole archive had been discovered recently and they needed all of the papers uploaded onto the Stark database.

Aeisha looked up when you walked in and cocked an eyebrow. “Oh, I thought Abby was going to be down here with me.”

“She really wanted to be around and in Mr. Stark’s office.”

When you had arrived this morning, the head security told you where you were supposed to be. Mr. Stark gave orders at the beginning of the day where all of you were supposed to be and he had wanted you assisting him today. But Abby had complained to you, pouting. You figured it was not a big deal and told her you would take her job down in the filing room instead. She had been ecstatic.

The other girl snorted and said, “Of course she does. She’s been trying to get him to fuck her for months.”

You stammered, “W-what?”

“He has his favorites. She wants to be one of them.” She held up her phone, the newest version, and smirked, “He gives good gifts to keep us away from HR. Not that I would ever consider that.”

“You… have sex with him?”

Aeisha shrugged, “When he wants. It’s not often. In between the ladies at his parties and some other girls in the building, there’s time in between.” She saw the look on your face and gave a hearty laugh. “He’s good in bed. Don’t worry. When I said I wouldn’t consider going to HR, I mean it. That man knows how to work my pussy.”

‘That’s not what I’m worried about,” you muttered, opening one of the boxes. ‘I didn’t know I was gonna have to potentially fuck my boss if he ever gets a wild hair. Wasn’t in the job description. Sure, he’s extremely attractive – sexy – but, Jesus. That’s asking for issues if you ever wanna be in a relationship with someone and he’s still expecting it. Maybe I should be thanking Abby for taking his office today.”

Aeisha closed the scanner and shot you a curious look. “Wait… did you clear that switch with him?”

You shook your head and she rose her eyebrows, looking concerned.

“What?”’ you asked worriedly. “I didn’t think it would be a big deal. We are both gonna do the same thing no matter where we are at.”

“He wanted to see you in there, Y/N. He’s very specific about his instructions.”

Your stomach did a flip flop and you asked worriedly, “Am I going to get in trouble?”

Aeisha shrugged, “Who knows? If he hasn’t sent Abby back down here in the next twenty minutes, maybe it’ll just slide.”

You did not want to lose this job; it was well paying, especially for NYC.

“I guess I’ll just… go up there if she gets put back down here,” you said slowly, thumbing through the files.

You picked some of the papers up and asked Aeisha where she was filing the paperwork before going to your own scanner. You kept tensing whenever you heard someone walk by, thinking it was Abby coming down to fetch you and make you go upstairs where Mr. Stark wanted to see you. It was customary for you to wear pencil line skirts and low-cut shirts with heels, something that had been encouraged by the hiring manager. And you learned quickly it was just the norm with all of the assistants. Thankfully, you had already had a good enough collection started with going out wear that was easily masked as office wear. Such as the bodycon dress you were wearing today, the long zipper up the back that you had had to have your roommate help you with. But now you wondered if maybe you should cut back on it a little bit, knowing what you did now.

Shaking your head, you pushed the thoughts of your mind, focusing on your work.

<><><>

It was almost 9:00pm when you were walking back from the filing room. You told your immediate supervisor that you would take a few more hours today to be able to get off early tomorrow for your appointment tomorrow afternoon a few weeks ago.

You stopped though outside Mr. Stark’s office, hearing noises coming from within. You furrowed your brow confused considering how late it was. You put your hand on the door, your ear coming closer. Someone yelped loudly inside and you threw the door open in alarm, thinking someone was getting hurt.

Upon seeing Mr. Stark being straddled by a naked woman and another kissing him beside them on the couch, you almost vomited in embarrassment.

“I’m so sorry, Mr. Stark. I thought—goodnight!” you stammered, closing the door clumsily and rushing off.

<><><>

You were not surprised in the slightest when you arrived the next morning that Mr. Stark wanted you in his office. Reluctantly, you walked to the door and knocked. He called from inside and you took a deep breath, your heart hammering. All you could see was them on the couch last night and feel your mortification that had kept you up half the night.

He was working off to the side of his desk with a hologram table, his back to you. He was wearing a three-piece suit as usual, sans the jacket, all black.

You did not know what to say – if you should say anything too – so you just stood there awkwardly until he sensed the awkwardness too and turned around. You did not miss the slight smirk that graced his lips at the sight of you.

“Mhm, Y/N. Good morning,” he greeted you, closing the hologram and turning around to stride back to his desk.

“Good morning, Mr. Stark,” you managed to say.

He sat on the edge of the desk, running his eyes over you. You had chosen a mid-thigh dress, still showing leg but the top was long sleeved, no cleavage.

You blurted becoming uncomfortable with the silence, “I really am sorry.”

“For?” he questioned.

That caught you off guard and you stammered, “U-uh. Last night?”

“Oh, that,” Tony chuckled. “I didn’t know anyone was still on the floor. Quite a surprise to see you. Did throw the vibe off a bit, took me out of my element, really.” He cleared his throat and said, “As a matter of fact, thank you for apologizing because the sex really wasn’t as great as it was going to be if I hadn’t of seen you. Because it just reminded me of earlier in the day when I was expecting to see you when I came in the morning and I was severely annoyed when it wasn’t you. So, I was just a little irked during the whole threesome.”

He snickered seeing you at loss for words. “Well, I figure you can make it up to me. We can break in the couch. Just you and me.”

A strangled noise left your throat. “What?”

“Did I stammer? You disobeyed what I asked yesterday. I was gonna let it slide and give you a chance to make it right next time – aka this morning when I requested you again to be in here. I like my assistants in the building to follow directions specifically how I ask them. But then, you came in and interrupted when I was about to plow two of the hottest models on the market right now and threw off my vibe.”

That sounded so ridiculous, you said before you could stop yourself, “You still had sex with them.”

His eyes crinkled with his dangerous smile. “That’s cheeky. You are very determined to get me even more riled up, aren’t you? I didn’t mark you as bratty. Everyone’s got their surprises though...”

He stood up from the desk and you fought to stand your ground, your hands still folded in front of you. His eyes were searching hungrily, eyeing you up like a piece of meat.

“You’re definitely not a top rider like Vivian or Aeisha. They love sitting in my lap… reverse cowgirl…” Heat came to your cheeks as he ran his eyes over you again, lingering on your legs. A wicked smirk came to his face as he met your gaze again. “No. That’s not you. Not at all. You’re a perfect candidate for training.”

Training…?

“In fact, we can have your first lesson now. Lock the door.”

“Mr. Stark—”

He sat on the couch and said, “Do you remember me just saying that I like my assistants to listen? And follow directions just as they’re told? This is your chance to do that. So, impress me, sweetheart. Or leave the building and don’t come back. I’ll have someone mail your check or direct deposit. Whatever the hell you have set up.”

You stared at him in bewilderment, and he was staring back, a hard look in his eyes. He was not messing around. Swallowing sharply, you turned on your heel and went to the door, sliding the lock into place. You turned around, your heart thumping.

“Take your dress off. Put this blindfold on,” he ordered, reaching for the piece of cloth on the table. You had failed to notice it sitting there before; he had already had this on his mind before you had come in apparently. “And get over my knee.”

Mortified, you took a step back towards the door and his eyes flashed at the movement.

“What’s it gonna be, sweetheart?”

You had a choice, really you did. You could find other work, but you did not want to. Sucking down a deep breath, you walked over towards him. He reached forward again and grabbed a small remote, clicking it. The large TV turned on at the end of the office and he turned on a random show, turning the volume up.

Your dress fell to your ankles and you stepped out of it. There was a fire sparked seeing the way he was looking at you, drinking you in. But it made you extremely nervous too; what if this went sideways and you lost the job anyway?

The blindfold was waiting on his thigh and you reached for it, putting it on and laid across his lap. You could feel his length through his dress pants, causing heat to come to your core already as well. You squirmed with the anticipation.

He smacked your ass hard and you gasped loudly with the sting. His hand caressed at your ass, squeezing. “Look at that nice jiggle you had just there. You’re gonna tell me you’re sorry when this is all done and take this like an obedient girl. Right?”

“Right.”

“’Right, sir’,” Tony corrected you.

“Right, sir,” you squeaked in repeat back to him.

He hummed in approval before he smacked you again, harder this time. He yanked your underwear down and ordered you to kick them off. He helped getting them around your heels and you felt him toss them. His hand was back on your ass, squeezing and admiring. Another smack landed and then another, drawing a low groan from you.

Tony’s fingers delved past your wet folds, running up and down your sex. A finger slipped in as his thumb massaged your clit, causing you to pant in need.

“Look at you, you little wanton harlot,” Tony husked, adding another finger.

He pulled his hand away and laid another hard smack across your cheeks, leaving wetness from you.

“Spread your legs,” he ordered.

You did what he told you and you squealed when he slapped your pussy, instinctively clenching and driving your hips forward.

“Keep them open!”

Hesitantly, you did what he said, and you cried out softly when he smacked your pussy again, repeatedly. The contact was reverberating, stimulating. He was driving you insane, loving the contact on your clit from each hit. You heard him spit and his other hand came to rub at your tight ring, wet from his spit, while the other found your nub again, circling faster now. He was working you too well, it was too much pressure. You did not want to come all over him, and you clenched again, trying to stop him from touching you.

He laid a rough smack across your ass and growled, “I told you to keep your legs open!”

Whimpering, you opened your legs again to him and he praised, “Good girl. Now, are you, sorry, pet?” You nodded and he squeezed at your nub causing you to whine sharply. “Tell me!”

“I’m sorry, sir!”

“Mhm, you’re a fast learner. Such a good girl. But what are you sorry for?” he asked, his fingers picking up speed.

“Not listening to you! For interrupting you!” you panted, gripping at the couch fabric.

“Yeah, that was really naughty of you,” Tony agreed, his knuckles brushing your sex as he hit your g spot. “Very naughty.” Your breath was quick and short, and he cooed, “Sweetheart, do you need to come?”

“Yes, sir! Please!” you begged, embarrassed simultaneously how easily you had come unraveled. How easy it was for you to fall into this role.

Tony hit your spot again and you moaned pathetically. “You can let go. Come for me.”

You cried out, shaking, coming undone around his fingers. His other hand came to your throat, holding tight as he continued to stroke you, slower now as you shook with your release. He squeezed in slightly and that only added a cherry on top to your orgasm.

Empty of him, you heard him salaciously sucking on his fingers, his other hand still flexing gently on your throat, and he hummed in approval again. “I think with some more lessons, you can shape up to my perfect pet.”

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21 @undecidedsworld

#tony stark x reader #dark tony stark #dark marvel fic #my shit

[cloveroctobers]

PLASTIC HEARTS — ALL

Synopsis: what the characters are like in the mornings since I’m currently writing this at midnight lol + I feel like ask memes are really underrated and they’re quick to write so I’m open to those too amongst the 100 of other things I have on my list/have yet to write (typical writing probs lol)

Jordan: I feel like with Jordan is either 50/50 with him. If he has to be up pertaining to football then he’s up and determined! it might take him like 2-5 mins more extra in bed to fully get up if his parents (more so billy) don’t drag him out of bed but he still manages to get up and function somehow. If he’s partying the night before then that’s a different story, he’s always hungover and feeling that shit the next morning so he’ll move super slow and will be late to class/grumpy as hell. He’s either happy and functioning well making sure he’s getting a meal regardless if he’s in a good mood in the morning or not cause the boy likes to EAT (just like Michael’s ass) + if there’s no food at the house best believe he’s cruising to a cafe to get him a meal before heading to boredom high—I mean Beverly

If he’s in a crap mood then he’s mean to everyone in his path. It’s best to leave him alone and let him sulk in his corner until he’s out of his grumpy mood which he does get out of...eventually after arguing with someone or snapping on them, taking a nap in the back of class, or after football practice.

Olivia: I’m squinting as I’m thinking this over. I don’t really think she’s a morning person? but she sets her alarm for herself and can get up in the morning without the help of her parents unlike Jordan lol. She is the type to set her alarm ten minutes before she actually has to get up so she can get extra time in the comfort of her bed. It takes the girl some time to get ready in the morning okay? Have you seen her hair? It takes time to get it right for how she wants it and she always says she should pick her outfits the night before but she always seems to get side tracked so that never happens which also takes up more of her time. Eventually she almost always makes it downstairs before Jordan does. They DON’T ride to school together, hardly, unless one of them has a issue with their car or something but they’re usually doing their own thing but have some sort of conversation in the morning over breakfast—trying to build the closeness of their relationship back

Liv likes to be on time if she can or just right on time, either or. And if things come up, then she’s a little anxious which she normally is until she’s meeting up with someone she can hold a conversation with. Half of the time there’s no need to be anxious? It’s just there and she hates it despite the lonerism she found herself in

Spencer: I think Spencer can be a light sleeper since he’s used to some sort of noise going on in his house. Plus his room is in the center of where the noise will take place. If it’s too quiet, like it usual was at the baker’s he finds it a little hard to sleep all the way? There has to be something going on for him to fully sleep like the light noise of tv? Or a sound machine. James said he was the same way as a baby, always alert. So when he wakes up in the morning, he always lets out a soft sigh closing his eyes letting the alarm go off for a few more seconds before he smacking it off. He has to get in the shower to fully wake him up tho. If he doesn’t take a shower in the morning then he’s not fully up and if he doesn’t take a shower at night, he knows he’s not going to sleep well either.

If he has to walk Dillon to school, then he doesn’t mind being late. Now that Dillon is getting older he doesn’t mind walking on his own or with a friend or two but being the protector that Spencer is, he’s going to try his best to make time for Dillon no matter what and the boy secretly appreciates it but understands now if it can’t be all the time. Spencer doesn’t have his license so he’s either catching the bus (if he was still going to Beverly, Jordan or Liv would scoop him up ofc) or speed walking to school which he seems to make just in time?? Always.

Layla: I always view her as someone so chipper. She IS a morning person (unless the depression is hitting her hard, some of us have those days) and usually has it together. She’s a big planner and if she doesn’t continue with being a producer like her dad in the future, I can see her being a event planner big time. Anyways she’s usually very organized, outfits steamed and hung up for the week, weekly calendars and reminders in her phone. Alarm’s set since she’s the only one in the house and only has herself to depend on. I feel she does take a lot on her plate for a teenager so she tries her best to follow a routine/schedule most of the time. Wake up. Stretch. Slippers. Robe. She does not check her phone until after she is done taking care of herself! Brush teeth. Shower. Skincare. Get dressed. Does hair. Checks phone on her way downstairs to breakfast. Layla is a açaí bowl or oatmeal kinda girl, fight amongst yourselves. I see it. I manifest it. She always has to have her hands in something and when it comes to breakfast and baking, you can count on her to always make something. It became something she loved since her mom and her always did that together. And she often likes taking the long way to school and the long way back home.

Asher: not a morning person. Never on time unless it’s for football on Saturday mornings. he’s a cereal kinda guy since his dad can’t afford a professional chef anymore. His favorite cereal is probably Rice Krispies with strawberries and wh*le milk or cashew milk if he remembers to buy it from the grocery app. I feel like he would eventually have to get a job his senior year since it’s kind of a struggle with his dad settling into his new job. It’s a big adjustment with his parents divorced and although his mom still slips him money when he see’s her every other weekend, he’s more tired than he ever was before. He’s used to sleeping in cars if he’s not in a king sized bed but can pretty much sleep everywhere. He can sleep through anything and always has multiple loud ass alarms to wake him up since his dad is either gone before he wakes up like before or just about to leave for his new job. He never bothers to wake him anyways. Asher is a grumpy grouch in the mornings and is addicted to ice coffees and loves a good pastry if he can’t have himself some cereal in the morning.

He’s also annoyed if he doesn’t get his cartoon’s in too before school. Don’t bother him until mid-morning, early afternoon if you know what’s good for you.

Coop: if she’s something else when she’s angry what do you think she’s like in the mornings? Annoying either way? Probably lmao. She’s probably a talker in the morning expressing some wild ass dream she had or either how she had a sucky night and couldn’t sleep properly so she was up writing a new song or something. Since she’s dropping out of school, her mornings could probably start later around 11am? Unless her mother is still home and making her get out of bed to run errands with her or clean the house while she’s gone for the day? Either way she’s probably dancing, talking your head off, blasting music as she gets ready, or browsing Twitter as her form of “morning news”

Chris: I get night owl vibes from Chris. Which is more difficult to do in high school, whew! He has to use melatonin spray or cream to help him knock out and if it fully doesn’t help, he’s dragging the next morning once he fully crashes. Sometimes it can be a good morning or it can be a sucky one. Due to his injury, he gets occasional pain in his joints which he keeps a secret from mostly everyone from his team since they were only described as spasms from his doctor. He deals with it even if it freaks him out from time to time. If it’s a sucky morning, he has to wake himself up with a splash of water to the face and then tending to the pain in his joints before carrying on about his day.

I do think he’s on his phone a lot. Before bed, actually watching soothing videos to help him knock out—don’t tell anybody that and then checking his phone again when he wakes up. Which is apparently unhealthy for the mind but hey with technology continuing to take over, what can you do?

Patience: the girl doesn’t care if she’s late or early. All that matters is trying to get through the day. She’s not crazy about getting up early to sit in 7-8 classes a day but if she’s got to do it, then she’s going to take her time. She wasn’t named “Patience” for no reason okay? When it comes to her appearance, she’s going to make sure she puts in the effort because if she looks good then she feels good and can go about her day. Most of the time she takes a quick breakfast with her on her bus ride to school (thanks to her hair not doing what she wanted it to) and then if there’s time heads to the cafeteria to get whatever they’re serving for breakfast there. At least that’s better than the lunch they serve there.

JJ: total morning person! Or if he’s not? You can never tell. The guys always in the best mood. Even if he was out partying and doing too much the night before, the dude is never hungover. Everyone wants to know his secret. And when he tells them, they don’t believe it. He’s usually a slob of a eater but he also knows how to take care of his body and all about his protein shakes and juicing. He definitely has a meal plan that he takes the time to post on his Instagram stories. The guy loves Instagram and is always posting there. If you need positive words of affirmations, JJ is your guy. Check his stories or if you run into him in person he’s all hugs and uplifting you to get through the day. He’s the guy you need around if you need it. If you don’t want to be bothered? Make sure he doesn’t see you and keep your distance because he will tackle you down and turn into DJ Khaled on your ass.

Simone: she hates mornings and thinks it’s cruel to be up five days of the week for. If she physically feels like she can’t get up due to intense studying or up binge watching real housewives or whatever, she knows it the night before and puts her plan into motion the next morning. Her parents are usually always on her ass, especially her mom so it takes a lot of persuading to let her stay home. And it still doesn’t feel like a free day because her mom is checking up on her every hour on the dot from work. She makes it feel like Simone should have just went to school. If the answer is, “there’s nothing wrong with you, you’re going.” Then Simone is definitely in a sour mood. Her dad almost always drives her to school and she checks up on her son every day through socials if she doesn’t message his second mother. Simone’s also not much of a breakfast person but if her dad is making her eat they’re stopping somewhere before he drops her off or encouraging her to take some of whatever dish he made before they leave.

Now? If there’s something on her mind? Then she’s active and stressing over it before she’s talking to someone about it. She’s out getting a light jog on around her gated neighborhood (she’s getting her fitness game back up after deciding to take tennis seriously again) before showering and getting back into bed for at least thirty minutes to forty five before she has to be up for school. Worries erased for now.

Darnell: is a morning person even if he grumbles that he doesn’t care for it. He’s a sunset kinda guy not a sunrise. It’s not much of a issue for him to get up and start the day with a long exaggerated sigh. He’s not as talkative but get something in his belly and he’s bringing up some interesting facts or news about what’s going on with certain celebrities he keeps up with. I also feel like he knows how to cook and breakfast isn’t his speciality but lunch foods are? Grits, eggs, bacon, and jam on toast is his fav thing to eat for breakfast with apple juice. That’s right, apple juice over orange juice no matter what Spence and dil have to say.

His version of appetizers (which are too big of portions but to each their own) are his go to make for lunch. For breakfast if he can’t have his fav meal in the late morning, he always eats light since he says his stomach is too sensitive in the mornings which has been proven to be true...The James’ can vouch for that

Kia: again 50/50. Depends on her night. She’s also someone who is very active in clubs so it all depends when she gets home and how fast she can get things done at home before she can crash. Sometimes she takes a lot on as well but she thrives off it? It makes her feel productive but she also knows how to balance and have free time when she wants to. Her breakfast always consists of fruit, she loves her fruit. And even if she finds herself running late then she quickly adjusts and cuts out what needs to be cut out of her morning routine and get where she needs to be making herself have the time. Which can be good or bad, depends on how you look at it. Kia is great at handling whatever is thrown at her it seems!

Vanessa: Morning person after she’s fully awake lol. Hates how she looks in the morning, thinks her face is too puffy and definitely uses a jade roller no matter what to help. Her mom is always on her ass + she’s a coach so just imagine that on top while struggling to get up. However once she’s settled, she gets this burst of energy—coach montes believes it’s “the vitamins” and “always eating properly” but the small girl always seemed to get random bursts of energy throughout the day no matter the circumstance. loves a food bagel or pastry for breakfast with orange juice or water, either is fine. She especially loves sunny mornings in California, it just makes her feel better—as it should. She even thanks the sun when it greets her face. Which is something she used to do as a kid too.

Fin.

A/N: I apologize for any typos in advance. It’s now 2am, phones about to die and it’s surely time to crash. Goodnight/morning wherever you are in the world and I’ll fix what needs to be fixed later lol. Feel free to send me ask memes for this week if you want when I do have the energy to write. Toodles!

#all american #all american cw #ask meme #Jordan Baker #Jordan Baker x reader #Olivia Baker #Olivia Baker x reader #Spencer James #Spencer James x reader #all american headcanons #layla keating #layla keating x reader #Asher Adams #Asher Adams x reader #tamia cooper #coop #coop x patience #Patience all american #Chris Jackson #Chris Jackson x reader #Simone hicks #jj parker #jj parker x reader #darnell hayes #Darnell Hayes x reader #vanessa montes #Kia Williams #I couldn’t leave Kia to the side when I added v*mess’s c’mon now