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whorekneecentral · 5 months

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Old Friends

Lance Stroll x Vettel!Fem!Reader

Warnings: big brother seb!!!, queen hanna appearance + a mick and gina cameo, lance has a crush, alcohol and the consumption of, being tipsy/kinda drunk, mentions/ insinuated that someone cheated, nipple play, oral (m!receiving), penetrative sex (p in v), creampie, seb teasing the two of you.

Word Count: 2,492

Author's Note: this is one of my favs so far. I couldn't write lance and not put in seb, it just wouldn't be me.

merry smutmas series

Lance gets an invitation to an old teammate’s place to ring in the new year but he finds himself too distracted by someone in particular to care about the ball dropping.

The invite came in the mail; a dying trade his former teammate would tell him.

A little brown envelope with silver glitter all over it, surely his girls helped him put it together. The card inside was hand written, Sebastian's scrawled cursive with pictures drawn in pencil crayon and covered in glitter at the bottom.

You're invited to the Vettel household on December 31st at 9pm for a New Year's Eve celebration.

Please rsvp by December 22nd.

With love,

Sebastian, Hanna & the Vettel children.

Lance didn't have plans, his parents were doing their own things and Chloe would be in Australia with Scotty and his family so he took his phone out and texted Seb right then.

To Seb: Hey man! Got your invite, tell the girls I said their drawings were adorable. Just letting you know I'll be there :)

It took Seb 10 minutes to reply.

From Seb: Thanks Lance! The girls say hello and thank you. We can't wait to see you.

Lance finds himself on the Vettel's doorstep on New Year's Eve, a bottle of some expensive Swiss wine in hand. He knocks on the door and Hanna opens it with a little boy in her arms.

"Lance!" She smiles, stepping to the side for him to come in.

"It's so nice to see you," the younger driver says, kissing her cheek before saying hello to their son.

"Please make yourself at home. Food and drinks are in the kitchen and Sebastian is somewhere around here." She tells him, rocking the sleepy boy, "you know how he is." She laughs, shutting the door.

Lance nods, smiling at her as he follows her into the house. The place is full, he showed up around 10 rather than the 9pm invite but it doesn't seem to make a difference. Everyone is all over the place; he goes over to say hello to Seb and then bumps into Mick who was there with his girlfriend, sister and her boyfriend.

He does in fact make himself at home, putting the wine in the kitchen before getting himself a drink. His red solo cup has some vodka in it and he spins around, looking for the cranberry juice. He sees everything but that.

"Need help?" A voice comes from behind him and before he turns, he knows exactly who it is. He smiles when he does turn, now face to face with her. "Hi y/n."

"Hey Lance," you smile, "what are you looking for?" You walk over, hugging the man hello.

"Cranberry juice." He tells you and you nod, walking to the fridge to grab it.

Lance watches you, admiring your outfit; a slinky silver top and a black mini skirt that frankly wasn't very family friendly but was on par with the theme of the night. He had met you when Seb became his teammate at Aston, you had a habit of following your brother around the world when you got bored of your life. You were only a year younger than Lance but he was intimidated by you.

You were just as bubbly and fun as Seb, loud and out there but in Vettel fashion, you could become broody at the snap of your fingers; something that only happened if someone fucked over your brother or at least that's when Lance noticed it.

Now if Mick had walked into the kitchen then, he'd be teasing his friend.

He was aware of the crush his friend had on his other friend. Mick had encouraged Lance to talk to you time and time again but he could never work up the courage. When he finally did, you were in a relationship and you had been since.

"Here," you hand the bottle over to him, "I put it in the fridge. It gets gross.. well even more gross when it's warm."

Lance smiles, "thanks." He pours the juice into his cup, before settling it back into the fridge. In the meantime, you had been filling a few shot glasses with what looked like tequila.

"Are you driving tonight?" You asked, downing one of the shots. Lance shook his head, "took an Uber."

"Perfect," you handed a shot over to him, picking up another one for yourself. "Bottoms up, Stroll." You tapped your glass to his and down the tequila.

Lance makes a face, clearing his throat which makes you laugh. "So, how are you? How's Fernando as a teammate?" You ask him, pouring some soda into a glass.

"I'm okay. He's pretty okay too, he's no Sebastian Vettel though."

You smiled, "that's what I like to hear. I've been keeping track, you did great this season."

"Yeah? You think so?" He asks and you nod, leaning on the counter as you take a sip of your soda. "Thanks," he smiles, taking a sip from his glass in hopes that it covers the blush on his face. "So uh.. how have you been? How's your boyfriend?"

"I'm good," you smiled, "as for him? Who knows, he's probably fucking some model somewhere."

Your words catch him off guard, Lance chokes on his vodka. Your brows furrowed, his hand rubbing at his chest as you looked at him. "Sorry, I just... I take you two aren't together ?"

"No," you shook your head, "it's whatever though."

"Sorry to hear that," he tells you and you shrug, smiling at him. You were about to say something but Gina was shouting for you, something about shots. "Excuse me," you smiled at Lance, picking up the bottle of tequila and the pack of shot glasses before heading over.

As much as Lance wanted to be sorry about your relationship ending, he couldn't be. This must be some sort of gift from god, for you two to be in the same place while you're single and he had enough liquor in him to tell you the truth.

The hours go by and it's inching closer to midnight with each passing second and you were dancing around the kitchen as you got a snack. A slice of pizza held between your teeth as you poured yourself a drink.

"Hey," you mumble, mouth full as you take the bite and hold the pizza. Lance smiles at you as he gets himself another drink. "Hey."

"You good?" You asked, setting your pizza on the counter. Lance nods, "perfect, you?"

"Yeah," you smiled, shimmying your shoulders as you danced your way over to the Canadian driver. He smiles, watching you. The many tequila shots added up over the night and the fact that the tiles were sticky from what seemed like spilled soda, caused you to slip and fall right into Lance.

His drink spills all over your very cute top. "Oh damn," you tsked, looking down at yourself. "Oh shoot, are you okay?" you asked, looking at him to see if anything got on him.

"I'm okay, are you?" His hands held your forearms, steadying you. "Do you need to change?"

"I probably should," you tell him and Lance nods for you to walk, his hand holding onto your arm to keep you steady. He knew the layout of the house, he had come over for dinner many times before and he had spent the night after one too many glasses of wine.

Lance walks you up the stairs, hands on your waist as you two head up. You walk into the guest room and Lance shuts the door, "are you okay ? Do you need help finding anything?" He looks at you as you sit on the bed.

You shook your head, "all good, Lance. Thank you."

He nods, taking that as his cue to leave so you could change. As he turns towards the door, you grab his hand. "Can you.. undo the knot?" You turned your back to him, pulling your hair up.

It was two single knots done up with a bow behind your neck and your mid back that kept your top up. Lance carefully undid the knot on your back, letting the strings fall to the sides and your bare back left exposed.

"The.. the other one too?" He asks and you nod, "please."

Lance is hesitant, but he reaches forward and pulls the string, undoing the knot. The silver fabric falls to the floor, the beading on it clings when it hits the floor.

Your back is still facing the driver, you've dropped your hair back down but it's abundantly obvious to Lance that he's stood in the room with you, while you were.. well, topless.

"I should.." he starts but you turn to face him, his eyes shifting down to steal a glance at your tits and he looks back up at your face - it took all but a second and he was but a man.

You smile, holding his jaw with your hand. "Stay."

"I really shouldn't." He whispers and you step closer, my chest pressed to his. "Why not?" You asked, standing on your tiptoes, lips ghosting over his.

He doesn't answer but he lets you kiss him, his cold hand rests on your lower back, pulling you flush against him. "You're drunk," he whispers against your neck and you shake your head, "I'm not."

"Are you sure you want to do this?" His eyes find yours when he pulls back and you nod. "I do."

"Okay," he says, kissing you again.

Your hands make quick work of his shirt, undone the buttons as he kisses down your neck to your chest. Lance has got an arm around you, his lips moving down towards your tits, his lips wrapping around your nipple.

The sound that leans your mouth was like heaven on earth to him; he can't wait to find out what other filthy sounds you could make.

It was much too loud downstairs for anyone to have a clue what was happening upstairs. The door was locked and he knew you had at least 40 minutes to midnight.

You push him away for a minute, the man looks at you confused as you scoot him back to the bed, letting him fall onto the soft mattress. Lance expects you to get on top of him, not sink to your knees in front of him.

"Baby-" "Shut up," you tell him, undoing his pants.

He smiles, carefully pulling your hair out of your face as your hand wraps around his cock. Lance bites back a groan, watching as your hand moves up and down slowly, your lips brushing over the tip.

"Please," he whispers and you smile, looking up at him through your lashes as you take him in your mouth. This time, he does groan out loud. "Fuck," he sighed, your hair into a make shift pony tail in his hand.

Your cheeks hallowed, head moving up and down. Lance watches your every movement, eyes fixed on you and everything you did; had he known, he would have spoken to you much sooner.

The stifled gag comes when the tip of his cock hits the back of your throat, eyes watering as you pull back a bit. Lance pulls you up, "as much as I want you to keep going, I wanna cum somewhere else."

"My mouth is just as good, Lance," you tell him, wiping the side of your lips with your thumb, sucking your finger. You don't miss the way his cock twitches at the action.

He smiles, "I'm sure it is, but c'mere."

You let him pull you up before you get on his lap, straddling him.

There was enough liquor in your systems to give you the courage to do things you wouldn't normally do but that you’d definitely remember.

Thighs squished on either side of him and your arms over his shoulders. His hand slides down from your hip to your ass, giving it a little squeeze. He smiles at you, admiring you. "Now, are you gonna stare at me all night or fuck me like I know you've been wanting too?"

For the second time that night, Lance had been caught off guard by your words. "You.. knew?"

"Of course I did, your staring wasn't exactly discreet, babe." You smile, pinching his cheek before you kiss him.

Your skirt bunched up on your hips, panties pulled to the side as you sank down onto his cock.

His hand on your hip guiding you, letting you bounce on his lap, his name falling from your lips.

Lance bucks his hips and your nails drop down from his shoulders to the scratches along his back. He lets out a groan, his face buried in the crook of your neck.

Your hand tangles in his hair, pulling his head back so you can kiss him. You kiss all over his face, Lance's cheeks red not just from the lipstick you had on but from the blush forming on his cheeks; though if you asked him, he’d blame it on the liquor.

"Fuck," you mumble, Lance's arms around you to keep you steady as you bounced on his lap, back arched slightly.

His hands squeeze at your hips, fingers digging in hard enough to leave behind fingerprints.

“Mmm there,” you breathe, chest pressed to his.

Lance's lips find your shoulder, he bites down softly when he feels you clench around him. “Gonna cum for me, sweetheart?” He whispers into your shoulder, peppering kisses over where he had just bitten.

Humming, your arms are wrapped around him, over his shoulders when you cum, wetness covering his cock. It takes only a few more thrusts and Lance follows behind you, the two of you holding onto each other for a while. Your legs are like jelly when Lance helps you up, letting you fix yourself.

He too get redressed and you change into a different top, fixing your skirt and your makeup before turning to him.

"11:58, we can make the ball drop." You grab his hand, pulling him out of the room with you.

Everyone was in the living room, watching the TV and chatting as they awaited the count down. Your brother notices your return, as well as Lances, who stood behind you.

"Outfit change?" Seb asks, handing you a glass.

You nod, "spilled soda on my other top." You tell him, watching as he passed a glass to Lance.

Seb hums, nodding. "And you required Lance's assistance to change?" His brow raises and your cheeks go red. "I.. I don't know what you're talking about."

"Yeah," Seb laughs, "whatever, y/n."

Lance smiles, his arm over your shoulder as the countdown plays; 10, 9, 8.

Your fingers interlock with his; 7, 6.

His cheek presses to yours; 4, 5.

"3, 2, 1, Happy New Year!" The people in the room cheer, friends hugging and lovers kiss. Lance leans over and you turn a bit, your lips pressing to his for a new years kiss.

"Happy New Year, Lance." You smiled, wiping the lipstick from his lips. "Happy New Year, Y/n."

---

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xdacted · 6 months

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The art of sibling hood

Paring: sister!Reader & Charles Leclerc

Warnings: angst, fluff, hurt/comfort

Word Count: 3,815

Status: Complete

***Request made by reader***

Summer break offers us a sliver of peace.

No teams are calling, no coaches screaming, no clients to take care of - there is nothing but family. For a few weeks out of the year, all we have is each other. I can’t ask for anything better.

We all gather at our mother’s house, hiding away there with her. It’s nice, to all be under the same roof again, we haven’t been since Lorenzo first moved out. It only worsened when I decided to take my training to France. 16 years of living under one roof was gone in an instant. We had lived together our entire lives until that point.

It was like losing a piece of myself.

But then, after the sadness rolled away, I was filled with so much joy. To know that both Charles and Arthur were chasing their dream, to see them every weekend battling it out on the track. Though my mother refused to watch, I always did.

But there is always more I want to know, more I want to see. I can’t help myself from asking questions. The countries they see, the people they meet - it’s a world I’ll never know. I almost got involved, my father put me in karting as a child, but it was never my passion. Not the way it was with Arthur and Charles. I found my calling in school.

At six, I was sitting among my classmates in the gymnasium, watching as our instructor introduced the sport of fencing. He was trying to start a club, with a school as small as ours, it wasn’t very likely to happen.

He brandished the swords, explaining the rules. My friend, Anies, had fallen asleep on my shoulder, but I couldn’t tear my eyes away. I was transfixed, hooked. That day, I ran home, with the club papers in my hand and begged my parents.

At first, Papa was hesitant, telling me that this sport was a fighting spot - I wasn’t a ‘fighting girl’. But I pleaded, hooking my arms around his neck and staring up at him. This was my dream. Fencing was racing to me. Fencing was everything.

What I didn’t understand was that fencing was also incredibly expensive. With two children karting and one in fencing, I remember the night I caught Mum and Papa talking it over, they couldn’t afford it.

I was lucky enough to be given a scholarship by a fencing club, I would have the funding to chase my dream. Arthur, however, was not so lucky. I remember how he cried, screaming and howling into his pillow. He mourned the loss of his sport, but he was never angry. Just sad.

I shake off the memories when Charles calls my name.

“What?”

He looks at me, staring at me from his seat on the floor, arms holding his knees close to him. He and Arthur are playing some card game they explained more than once - but I have never cared to learn. Arthur glares at the cards below him, flipping them over in his hand.

He laughs, “I asked how training was going?”

“Good,” I burrow further into the couch, pulling a blanket across my shoulders, “When I go back, I have a tournament in Italy.”

“Well,” Arthur huffs, still fixed on the game, “You’re already a World Champion - Ugh! Charles, you’re cheating! This is why I hate playing with you!”

Charles throws his hands up, turning to Arthur with an indignant expression, “I am not a cheater. I am a man of honor, you just suck.”

With a curse, Arthur throws his cards down.

He stands, “You’re a cheat and you know it.”

“You just don’t know how to lose.”

Arthur throws himself beside me, moving the pillows so he can lean against them, crossing his arms in front of him. I don’t have to hide my laughter, I let it slip from me. The laughter is easy, the tension from yesterday gone. Charles had still been insistent on apologizing, even when I told him to just drop it.

My brother is one of the kindest people in the world.

“What about you?” I dare to ask, offering Arthur some of my blanket, “How’s Ferrari treating you?”

I don’t need to ask because I already know. Even from across the world, every Sunday, I watch him. Every Sunday, I watch my brother get into that car and put his life on the line. And every Sunday I watch Ferrari screw him over. My teammates were getting far too tired of my outbursts.

Charles clears his throat, looking down at the cards scattered across the floor. He sweeps them together, shuffling them, “Fine.”

“Fine?”

I’m stepping on thin ice. My brothers like to assume that when it came to racing they knew everything, but I had grown up around this. My father was a racer and now my brothers were racers - it was in my blood. I had just chosen not to pursue it.

“Yes, fine.” He pushes himself up, standing and walking to the edge of the couch.

“If you say so, brother,” Charles opens his mouth to speak, but the sound of the doorbell cuts him off.

He practically leaps over the couches, nearly tripping over the carpet, to throw the door open. My mother hardly has time to scold him as she steps inside her room because cheery voices are ringing out through the house.

“Hello!”

Lorenzo comes bounding from upstairs and Arthur rolls off the couch, kicking the blanket away from him. The three women who step inside the house bring the light of the shining sun with them.

“Girls!” I cry, it has been so long since I’ve last seen them.

Carla sees me first, throwing her hands in the air. She pushes past Arthur to sweep me into a hug. The position is awkward, as her body curves over the couch and I attempt to reach up to her, but I can feel her laughter vibrate within her chest.

“Did you get in today?” Her eyes are shining and the glasses perched atop her head threaten to fall, “Why didn’t you text me?”

“I wanted to surprise you, of course!” When we pull away, Charlotte and Alexandria are right beside us.

“We need to get breakfast while you’re here,” Charlotte says, pressing her hands together. It isn’t so much a request as it is a plan in motion.

I just nod along. I look around, my brother’s waiting behind them with crossed arms and a less-than-pleased expression.

“What?”

“They’re supposed to be here to see us.”

“No,” Charlotte says, wrapping her arms around me, “We’re here for her and of course - Pascale.”

“Hello, dear,” Mum says, Carla placing welcoming kisses on her cheeks.

I turn to my left, Alex having taken a seat in the open space that Arthur left.

“Hey,” I whisper, pulling her close.

“Hi,” She whispers back.

There’s something different. I can tell when she hugs me, pressing a kiss on my cheek. When we pull away, there’s a glow to her skin and a twinkle in her eyes.

“Is there -?”

Charles is draped across her in a second, gentle hands on her shoulders, “She is my girlfriend. Please, do not be selfish.”

Alex only rolls her eyes and I can’t help but follow.

What a drama queen.

__________

I watch Charles and Alex as Mum bustles around the kitchen. It’s little, but something is different. I can feel it. Something about the way Charles has an arm curled around her waist or the way she clings to his arm. They keep eyeing the rest of us, Alex turning around to whisper in his ear.

Hm. How strange.

Alex was quite shy, this much became evident when I first met her, but she was by no means afraid of the family. Just a few weeks earlier she had come to visit me in France, we spent the day together and had been texting each other constantly.

What could it be?

I met her eyes and she sharply turned away from me.

A secret then.

Papa liked to say that I inherited Mum’s gift for reading people, especially my brothers. Even when we’re separated by seas, I know when something’s bothering them. I know when something is wrong.

But this - this was different.

I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.

But, my mind can help but wonder, what if - no. Could it be?

“Arthur.”

He hardly looks up from his phone, “Hm?”

“Wanna make a bet?”

“What kind of bet?” He asks, still scrolling.

I lean in closer, “I think Alex is pregnant.”

Arthur nearly drops his phone. He whips his head over to look at me, mouth agape, “What?!”

“Sh!” I smack his arm, he is going to give us away, “You’re so loud…”

“Why do you think she’s pregnant?” He whisper-shouts, “That’s crazy. Charles would’ve told us.”

“Maybe he’s going to tell us tonight,” I shrug, pulling away from him.

“Are you in or out?” I crossed my legs, my gut feelings were always strong. I’d guessed many things over the years and felt a change within the people around me before they told me. I’d known Charles got signed to Ferrari before he told us, or that Arthur was going to be moved to F2, or that Lorenzo had met someone new - all of these things, I’d felt. All of these things I guessed.

Maybe I was a bit psychic.

“You’re on,” He stuck his hand out, “€10?”

I scoffed, “That’s nothing - €100.”

“You could be wrong.”

“I could be right,” I looked down at his waiting hand.

“€50?”

I slapped my hand in his, “€50 it is!”

“You’re going down,” He whispered, squeezing my hand. I kick at his shin.

“Ow!”

“That’s what you get, dumbass.”

“LANGUAGE!”

__________

Dinner is an easy affair. The time ticks by slowly, but none of us mind. Warm and laughter fill the house, everyone staying at the table after the food has long been eaten. Stories are tossed around and jokes float about, it's peaceful.

A peace that’s so very addicting.

Here, I can forget that I have to leave in only a few days. I can tell that the boys forget too, throwing themselves over Mum and the table. Arthur laughs so hard that he snorts and Lorenzo’s jokes have Charles reduced to tears - it’s all so nostalgic.

As we eat, I can see Charles and Alex glance at each other, watching as he scoops her hand in his. She whispers something in his ear and he nods.

Before I know it, they are both standing.

“I,” He clears his throat, “I have something to say - well, we do, actually...”

“Well,” Alex begins, a bright smile pulling over her face, “Charles and I are expecting a - a child.”

The table erupts into cheers and exclamations. Mum drops her head into her hands, and before we can rush over, she looks up with tears in her eyes and a dazzling smile on her lips. We stand to offer them hugs and kisses, pats, and words of encouragement.

“I told you!” I cry.

Arthur lets out a loud groan, pushing his face into his hands, “Why?”

Confusion is written across their face and I can only laugh

I hold out a waiting hand.

With another groan and a roll of his eyes, he shoves his hand into his pockets, pulling out the €50 I’m owed. The bill is crunched and he drops it into my palm with little fanfare.

“This is so unfair,” Arthur throws his arms around my shoulders, “How could you have possibly known?”

“I just do,” I shrug, looking up at him with a smile, “I’m just that good.”

“I knew it,” Carla giggles, “You are a psychic.”

I lock eyes with Mum over the table, she flashes me a smile.

“Of course,” I say, “I learned from the very best.”

__________

The ocean calls our name, the lull of the tides and the crashing of the waves. Such a beautiful song and we can do nothing but dance to it. With the sun shining down on our backs, we pile into Charles’s boat, clinging to the railing as we push away from the dock. The salt of the air tangles in my hair, and gentle winds give us a beautiful day. The weather was perfect, the sea was calm. What more could we ever ask for?

We spend the day lounging about the boat, pushing and shoving each other in the water. I manage to convince Charles to let me take the smaller boat out for a spin, with Carla clinging to the seats, and Charolette cheering us on from the deck above. I can’t help but dissolve into laughter at his face, twisted with worry.

The water is cool against our heated skin, it invites us in for more. The longer we stay, the more we forget about the world that surrounds us. It is nearly enough to make me forget about my flight in only a few days. I will have to leave and this will all become a memory.

But what a beautiful memory it will be.

I can’t dwell on my thoughts, because Charlotte demands that we all jump. There is little fanfare for Charles and Lorenzo as they practically wrestle to the sea below. Arthur grips my hand as we jump, throwing ourselves into the Moncao air, caught by the arms of the sea.

It is perfect. It is home.

When the sun begins to dip in the sky, my mother draws herself up from the couch and claims that dinner will not ready itself. The others agree and begin to shuffle off but Carla and I are the last to get back from the boat. Though Charles has always held the title of ‘captain’, I have always maintained that the sea is but a little requirement for boating. We stayed behind to just lounge about in the sun, only coming back to the house when she got a frantic call from Arthur, telling her to come back.

“What’s…” The words die in our throats when we see Alex huddled in the corner, sobbing into her hands. Charlotte stands over her, rubbing a reassuring hand over her back, whispering something into her ear.

Before we can say another word, Arthur and Lorenzo interrupt us. He pulls us into a corner of the house, wiping his hands on his shorts. His eyes dart around the room, lip caught between his teeth.

“What happened?” Carla demands.

“It - it was the press,” Arthur manages, “They got pictures from earlier, on the boat.”

I need to hear little else. I dig my phone from my bag.

Finding the photo doesn’t take much work. It’s there as soon as I open Twitter, Alexandria and Charles standing on the balcony of the boat. Her hands on her stomach, nothing there to show - not yet - but the implication is enough for the media to run with.

I can hardly breathe.

Anger coils tight within me.

Fucking vultures.

Carla gasps from beside me, pressing a hand to her mouth. The headlines make my stomach turn. Far too atrocious to look at, I shove my phone back into my bag. Carla is quick to slip from beside me, rushing over to the couch, and dropping to her knees beside Alex.

Haven’t they gone through enough? Have people not thrown Alex into the fire already? Had they not already ripped her apart? I remember the articles and the tweets when their relationship went public, the look of sadness on her face. People hated her simply because she loved Charles. How they got together and why they got together was no one’s business but their own.

“Where -” I cut myself off, dropping my voice lower, “Where’s Charles?”

For a moment, Lorenzo doesn’t answer me, phone in hand. I can’t tell who’s calling, but the grave look on his face is all I need to know. He shakes his head, dragging a hand through his hair.

“He’s outside,” He whispers, sparing a look over at Alex, “He stormed out and won’t come back in.”

“Of course! He’s upset!” I hiss, this was private. This was personal. The media has taken that away from him.

Lorenzo holds his hands up, “I’m not saying he shouldn’t be - I’m not saying that I’m not,” He sighs, “But this is more - this is more than just…”

He looks away, rubbing a hand over his face, “He can’t run from this now.”

I turn away from Lorenzo and the tears begin to gather in my eyes before I can gather the courage to force them back. I wrap my arms around myself, afraid that I might throw something across the room.

This wasn’t right.

Summer is our time.

There is never any anger, never any sadness. That’s the world that waits beyond the walls of our home, that is the world we leave behind. We shut it all out because summer break is just us. I don’t realize that I’ve begun to dig my fingers into the flesh of my arm until Arthur yanks my hands away.

He doesn’t say anything, just squeezing my hands in his. I can’t look at him, but I feel his gaze on me. When he releases me, my hands drop back down to my sides. I suck in a large gulp of air, trying to calm the pounding of my heartbeat.

Before I can make my way to Alex, Charlotte stops me. She holds her hand up, a sad smile on her face.

‘We’ve got it,’ She mouths, ‘Go.’

Her eyes flicker to the terrace, doors closed tightly. I can see, in the shadows of the darkness, Charles.

“I’ll be back,” I whisper, reaching out to squeeze Arthur’s shoulder before I walk towards the doors.

I gently push them open, waiting for Charles to scream out that he wasn’t privacy, that he needs space, but he never does

I step through.

Charles stands out on the balcony, hands clutching onto the terrace railing. He stares into the swaying trees of our backyard, the melting sun casting a glow around the shadow of the house. Though the wind blows, there is no twinkle of windchimes. There is no echo of laughter or memory of youth, there is nothing. The light from the entry room spills across his back, but he doesn’t turn.

The silence is thick, sitting heavily atop the both of us. With his back turned to me, I can’t see his face. There’s a selfish part of me that never wants to. I never want to see the pain and anger on my brother’s face. I never want to watch his heart fall apart before me. He is my family, an extension of myself.

“Why can’t they just leave us alone?”

His voice is hardly above a whisper, nearly consumed by the distant sounds of the city, but I hear. It cuts through the silence, piercing it with ease. There is sadness in his voice and I can feel the tears burn once more. His shoulders slump forward, a heavy sigh leaving his lips. For a movement, I fear that he might collapse.

I take a tentative step forward.

My brother is many things. Charles is competitive and rash, he is hard-working and self-deprecating. But he is also kind and forgiving, with a smile like the sun and a laugh like the sea. He is good. Our Papa used to say that Lorenzo and I got all the anger and bite, as it never seemed that Charles could hate, to be spiteful.

Always the first to take the blame, always the first to vouch, always the first to arrive, always the last to go.

My brother is good.

And the world is cruel.

“Charles,” I whisper, he doesn’t turn.

I reach for him, my fingertips barely grazing the fabric of his shirt, “Charles.”

He finally turns, biting his lip, tears in his eyes. The words die in my throat. There is nothing I can say to fix his pain, nothing I can do to take his unhappiness away. It kills me. They may be my older brothers, but I have always been fiercely protective of them. To hurt them was to hurt me - and to hurt them was unforgivable.

And Charles.

Charles, who flew through the night to catch my competitions. Charles, who cheered me on, even if he knew nothing about fencing. Charles, who always had an extra Paddock Pass for me. Charles, who always let me have his last cookie or pastry. Charles, who held me when I wailed for weeks after Papa’s passing. Charles put the money he earned in Formula 1 into getting Arthur back into carting. Charles, who always called to scream ‘Happy Birthday’ in my ear.

That Charles.

My brother Charles, would forgive. He will see it as a mistake, he will blame himself. In only a few hours, he will make a statement and tell the truth - because that’s just who he is.

I throw my arms open and catch him as he falls into them.

He doesn’t cry, not at first, just clinging onto me. But then, the moment that Alex’s cries drift onto the open terrace, he begins to weep. He sobbed into my shoulder, pressing his wet face into the fabric of my shirt. He clutches my hand, and I can do nothing but hold him.

I hold him and let him fall apart.

From over Charle’s shoulder, I see Arthur peeking out at us. He wrings his hands, twisting his fingers around. He can’t sit still, pacing around the room, brushing Carla away when she tries to calm him.

I gesture for him to come and he does.

Before I can say a word, he’s wrapping his arms around Charles, burying his face into his back.

“We’ll fix this,” He mumbles, “I - I don’t know how, but we will.”

Charles doesn’t speak, he just searches for Arthur’s hand blindly in the pile of libs and holds on. It’s all we can do. I feel like I am 15 years old, losing our father again. It feels just as it did then, unbearable. But we do just what we did then, we hold each other. Clinging onto the only people that we have known since before we knew them, the only people that will love us even when no one else does.

The only person -

Lorenzo is there, strong arms trying to tuck us all into him. I can feel his warmth against my back and push my face into his chest.

“We’ve got you, Charlie,” He says, “We’ve got you.”

We do.

We always will.

_________________________

A/N:This work has been cross-posted on Wattpad and AO3. All are under the name XDACTED. Thank you for reading and feel free to request fics about any of the drivers <3

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goldenlikedayl1ght · 7 months

Text

timeless - j. kiszka

a/n: this one is super long and holy shit i'm pretty proud of it :) my other song choice for this was wii sports resort theme song. warnings: cursing, past infidelity, some angst, stupid choices, allusions to sex, lots of wedding talk, readers family all being chill, reader being feminine (no real descriptions though) but they wear a wedding dress and are 'mrs', uh, petnames, josh being flirty. my qualifications for writing this is that my dad got married on a cruise but it will be inaccurate, whoops. word count: 10.2k words summary: you decide to be kind after being cheated on. it spirals out of control, thanks to josh kiszka. pairing: josh kiszka x reader now playing: timeless (taylor's version) (from the vault) - taylor swift "and sometimes there's no proof, you just know/you're always gonna be mine/we're gonna be/i'm gonna love you when our hair is turnin' gray"

You book the cruise about six months before you break up with him.

Your whole family is going, you tell him, and it’ll be about five years since you got together when you go, it’ll be romantic!

When he proposes to you two months later, you decide to get married on the cruise. You’ll have the ceremony with your closest family, and then friends will be able to celebrate with you two when you get back, you’ll throw parties!

You catch him cheating on you about six months before you leave for the cruise.

At that point, you had already reached out to plan the wedding with the cruise line, you have your wedding outfit, you won’t be getting your deposit back. He will not be going, he says, because what sadist would go with your ex-fiancé’s family to the Bahamas for two weeks after they find out about your infidelity?

Your sister convinces you to go, telling you that your parents can renew their vows and you don’t even have to go.

You can get over the last of your feelings towards your ex while sipping a pina colada on a beach somewhere.

And this, dear reader, is the story of how you meet your husband on that cruise.

• • •

Day One:

Okay, so you don’t mean for him to be your husband, really. It goes something like this:

Your sister picks you up and you climb into this car with your parents, your sister, your nephew and your brother and his wife.

As your brother and his wife canoodle, still in their honeymoon phase, you make sure your nephew doesn’t spill his juice, and you ask yourself, is this it? Are you meant to have random sex and live a life of freedom yet loneliness and eventually leave everything to your nephew when you croak?

Maybe it isn’t that dramatic, but you still feel shitty!

You’re waiting at the port, sitting by the help service desk as you wait to board the ship. You’re entirely too occupied trying to fend off thoughts of your ex, yet you hear something that just catches your ears just right.

“I’m sorry, Mr. Kiszka, I can offer you a voucher for your next trip with us, but unless a stranger here offers you their ticket, I’m afraid you’re not going on this cruise. We’re all booked up.”

The man the employee is talking to looks like he just came from a trip to the Bahamas, with this wild curly hair and sandals on. He has these, almost goofy, sunglasses on. He stands with a few other people, one who looks just like him with straight hair.

His body language seems angry, but he’s handsome. And you feel it.

You feel an attraction that you haven’t felt since your ex.

And then you remember your ex, and the ticket in your bag that was abandoned by him, and you realize that someone can give this man their ticket.

You realize you can help this angry, handsome man.

You glance at your sister.

“I’m going to do something sort of crazy, and I need you to support me no matter what. Can you do that?” She smiles.

“Always and forever.”

You get up and grab the ticket from your bag, heading over to the counter where the man stands with the employee.

“And I’m telling you,” The man says, and you almost swoon at the stranger’s voice, “These are my credit card bills! My payment for this trip is right here, there has to be something you can do—”

“Excuse me?” Heads turn towards you, and the employee sighs.

“I’ll be with you in just a few minutes—”

“Oh, no, I—” You sigh, and hand the employee your ex-fiancé’s ticket. “This guest won’t be joining us on the trip, and since I paid for his trip, I’d like to give his ticket to the gentleman here.”

Translation: This guest was a lying piece of shit who broke my heart and was supposed to marry me on this trip, and since I footed the damn bill for aforementioned piece of shit, I’d like for the handsome stranger here to stay in my room.

The stranger looks at you like you just saved his life. Your heart swells.

You all look back to the employee, who looks exhausted.

“We can do that,” They scan the ticket, and start reading your ex-finance’s information. “Okay, so, Joshua Kiszka is going to be the name on the room and the ticket,” she starts, “He’ll have to stay in your room, is that okay?” They glance at you. You turn to Joshua.

“Are you an axe murderer or a creep?”

“Not that I know of.” He answers. You smile.

“That’s totally okay.”

“Alright,” The employee glances at their computer again, typing some stuff. “So, there’s two other things. Number one, there’s the romantic dinner for two this Saturday. Is he going to that?”

“Yes,” You answer, not thinking about it. You smile at the stranger, and he smiles back.

“And the wedding.” The stranger’s smile drops. Yeah, that was understandable.

Your hand lands on his arm, and you become vulnerable.

“Just, go with it for a while, okay? We’re not getting married on this trip, I promise.” You smile, and this seems to reassure Joshua, who turns back to the employee.

“We’re a couple of soon to be newlyweds, baby.” He smirked.

The Employee seems less sure. But they scan the ticket and type a few more things into their computer before handing the ticket to Josh.

“All set. I’d recommend boarding together to get your keycards and everything sorted out. Please step to the side so I can help the next guests.”

You oblige, and suddenly it hits you. You’re a stranger standing in front of a family after you just saved their vacation. You just invited a stranger to stay with you. Joshua looks at you.

“Well, that was a crazy way to ask me on a date.” He tells you, and you laugh.

“Did it work?”

“Absolutely, this vacation would’ve been ruined without you!” He grinned. “I’m Josh.”

You give him your name, and you can just see the relief on his face. He introduces you to his family, and you meet his brothers, Jake, Sam, and Danny, as well as his sister and parents. They’re all lovely. They begin to call boarding numbers, and Josh takes his backpack from his twin.

“I’m gonna go with them to figure this whole thing out, we’ll meet for lunch later?” They all agree, and Jake mentions how nice it was to meet you, and you head back to your family to board.

Your family looks extremely confused.

“Everyone, this is Josh—There was a problem with his ticket, and I figured since we had an extra, we can hangout with Josh for the trip.” Your sister laughs, and your nephew copies her giggles.

“Don’t worry, we’re not going to do anything wild together, I’m just so grateful that I’m actually going on this trip.” He said honestly. Then he turns to you. “So, what’s this about a wedding?” You laugh, and link your arm with his, a bit of a bold move on your part, but you’re feeling bold. For the first time in months, you want someone, and it’s making you feel bold.

Mostly, for the boarding process, you stand in pairs. You and Josh, your parents, your brother and sister-in-law, and your sister and nephew. You’re waiting in line when you start to explain.

“So, the wedding was originally supposed to be mine, yes. But, the groom turned out to be, uh..” You try to put it nicely, “Not the one.” Is the best thing you settle on, “So we’re going to use it as a way to have my parents renew their vows, or something.” You explain. Josh nods,

“But you realize that we’ll be regarded as the happy couple the entire time we’re on board, right?” You laugh at this idea of this dude you barely know being in love with you and marrying you.

“Josh, you don’t strike me as the type to shy away from the spotlight.” It’s just something about him that gives you the impression that when he walks into the room, he is the center of everyone’s attention. But he just laughs, almost a tad shy.

“Fine, then I’m making up a wild story about our meeting.”

“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah, you remember it, right? When you invited me to be a guest at a wedding for a man you were in love with but fell in love with me through out the night?”

“Why does it always have to be about weddings with you, Josh?”

“You know me, I’m a romantic.” You roll your eyes at this, and you hand your boarding passes to the person at the podium, who scans them, and then glances to you.

“Enjoy your stay on the Princess of the Ocean!” The ship name almost makes you laugh, “And congratulations to you both! We hope your wedding and honeymoon is all you want and more!” You realize they must have your name on file, or something comes up when they scan your passes.

You don’t get a chance to respond, because Josh’s arm is around your waist, and he says,

“Everyone’s been lovely so far, thank you. We’re having a great time already, right, Doll?” Your face flushes.

“It’s a dream, honey.” You respond and kiss his cheek. The employee wishes you a great trip, and you head off to the ship.

“I guess we’re going to have to get used to that, huh?” You don’t move from his arm around you.

“I guess so, honey.” You tell him.

You make your way onto the ship, wondering if this could be different. When you get to your cabin, it’s decorated with wedding stuff, and it makes you and Josh both laugh with red faces. On the bed, are towels in the shape of swans, who make a heart with their necks.

Josh tells you they look just like the two of you, and you can’t help but get this feeling that it’ll be impossible to stay away from him while on this ship, no matter how big it is.

• • •

Day Three:

But then you don’t see much of Josh for the second day of your cruise, finding your day full of drinking and running around with your nephew, who you can’t help but indulge in all the kid stuff. You take him on the slides, in the pools, to bumper cars. You get him a Shirley Temple when he gives you puppy dog eyes.

But during your second day at sea, you sort of want to see Josh. He’s out of the room before you even wake up, even though he got back to the cabin after you went to sleep last night. You miss your fake husband.

So, when you see him by a bar around noon, you approach him.

“You look familiar,” you start, “Do I know you?” You ask, a playful smile on your face. He laughs.

“Could be, we’re getting married next week.” You giggle and ask the bartender for a tropical, fruity, alcoholic drink. Josh asks him to make it two. “I want to say thank you again, for letting me take your douchebags ticket.” You smile at his hatred towards an ex he’s never met.

“Don’t worry about it. Why’d you decide to come on this cruise in the first place?” You ask curiously.

“Well, we got back from tour about a month ago, and we knew we’d be wanting to take a vacation that doesn’t involve preforming anywhere.” This leaves you with more questions then answers, and he sees it on your face, “We play in a band, my brothers and I. We scheduled a tour for this year and wanted to reward ourselves with some relaxation.” Huh. “How about you?”

“Well, my parents wanted me to go with them to celebrate their retirement. Then, it was to get married because that worked out so well.” You know you sound bitter about it. It’s because you are.

“Well, I like your new husband more anyways.” He tells you. It makes you laugh.

“We’re are you from?”

“Michigan, originally. I live in Nashville, now.”

“For music purposes, right?”

“Right.” He takes a sip of his drink, “And you?”

“Atlanta, Georgia.” You told him. “But I don’t know, that cities way too small when you have someone living there that you thought you’d marry.” You confess. “What type of music do you play?”

“Oh, we’ll play anything, but we’re known for our rock and roll.” He smiles.

“Well, what do you like to play?”

“I really love all of it, but my true passion is film. I sing. I’m partial to singing jazz.” He explains.

“Huh..”

“And what about you? What do you do for work?”

“Nothing as cool as singing for a rock and roll band.” You admit. “I’m a teacher. I’ve taught a lot of groups, but my favorite is high schoolers, honestly. I teach English.”

“Oh, an Academic?” You laugh.

“Shut up, film boy.” He fakes a hurt gasp, placing his hand on his chest.

“I’m hurt, Doll. I don’t know if I want to marry you anymore.”

“That’s a shame. We already put the deposit down, I’m not getting my money back.” He laughs with you this time.

You talk a while more, and before you know it, your stomach is rumbling for lunch. He walks you to the popular lunch spot on board and decides to join you for lunch.

You both wind up taking bites from each other’s plates.

“Do you like grapefruit, Doll?”

“God no, I was sick once, so my mom gave me one, supposed to be very good for you,” You pause, “I threw up while eating it and haven’t eaten a grapefruit since.”

“Aw, that’s a shame, it wasn’t the grapefruit’s fault!”

“Yeah, but now I associate the grapefruit with throwing up.” You told him.

“I’m sure the grapefruit longs for your forgiveness, Doll.”

“Shut up, Honey.”

• • •

Day Five:

You wind up spending all of day three with Josh, but you don’t see him much on day four—It’s your first day at the beach you’re docked at, so you both want to spend it with your family.

You learned a lot about him on day three—His favorite foods, his favorite movies, music, stories of him and his brothers on tour, growing up. He learns that you went to school in Florida before moving to Georgia, and that you have a scar on your stomach from getting your appendix removed when you were nine.

Learning about each other makes you yearn for him.

The fifth day, though, he’s still in the room when you get up. He grins at you when you wake up, coming out of the bathroom amid brushing his teeth. His hair is wet from a shower, and you sit up, deciding you desperately need a shower.

“Morning, Pumpkin.” He grins as you grab clothes for the day from your bag.

“Morning, sunshine.” You grumble.

“Do you want to go to the beach with me today?” He asks.

You grin and nod, “Sure. Sounds cool. Just let me shower.”

When you finally head off the ship to the beach, Josh has decided he needs to hold your hand. It’s a requirement, he decides.

“We’re betrothed, after all!” He defends.

It makes you laugh, but you’re happy to hold his hand. The sun beats down on you, but there’s this warmth that feels good. You’re unsure if it’s from the sun or from Josh, but you don’t ask. You just walk with him.

There’s something that’s just easier with Josh around, something that requires no thinking. You can’t really put your finger on it, but you love being around him.

You pass this private beach that you must pay to get into. Josh, in his infinite wisdom, decides the two of you can have fun with this.

“Do you trust me?” He asks, as he takes your hand and drags you off to a shop with a sign that says, ‘locally made jewelry’ in it’s window.

You’re suspicious, but you would follow him to the end of the earth.

“Absolutely not.” You respond, but make no effort to stop him from walking you to the store. He looks around for a second before pulling you over to the ring section.

“Pick out something nice, we might as well milk the whole marriage thing.” You wind up choosing a delicate looking ring that has gold flower decals and a small black diamond in the middle, which you’re pretty sure isn’t real.

You ask the employee to try it on, and it fits like a glove.

Josh can’t take his eyes off you with this ring he’s about to buy for you.

“We’ll take it.” He says to the employee, handing him his card before you can object, and you look to him.

“You didn’t have to do that.”

“We’re getting married, of course I did.” He jokes, but then he becomes more serious for a moment. “Plus, I told you, I owe you a million times because I wouldn’t be here without you.” He says softly.

You lean forward and kiss his cheek.

“It was my pleasure.” You say softly. The employee is done ringing you up, and he looks like he’s on the verge of tears.

“I just want to say how happy I am for you two. You’re a beautiful couple.” He hands you the ring and you slip it onto your ring finger.

“Thank you.” You tell him, smiling, and admiring your new engagement ring. Josh wishes him a good day and takes your hand to head back to the beach, where the person letting people in stops you and Josh, telling you the cost to get into the beach. Josh goes for his wallet before smoothly throwing in,

“Thanks for this, it’s such a nice place to spend our time before the wedding. One last quiet moment before the chaos leading up to it.”

“Oh, when are you getting married?” She asks.

“Next Thursday.” You smile. “We’re getting married on the cruise ship over there.” You point, and she shakes her head.

“Don’t worry about the admission fee, I remember how chaotic it was to get married in a familiar place, let alone on a boat.” She chuckles softly and lets you pass.

“Thank you so much!” You say gratefully, never letting go of Josh’s hand. He smiles to you.

“You’re a natural.” He says, as soon as you’re far away from the employee.

“Are you kidding? I’m literally shaking, I keep thinking someone’s gonna call our bluff on the whole wedding thing! I don’t know how you’re managing it.” You tell him honestly.

“I think you’re doing great.” He tells you. “Besides, we’re technically not lying! You were supposed to get married next Thursday on the ship, it just wasn’t supposed to be with me and it’s now for your parents.” He reminds. This is true, you suppose. Plus, with Josh, it’s so easy for you to lie and say he’s in love with you or that he’s the love of your life.

The beach is beautiful—It’s clean and quiet, and you both lay in beach chairs that have been laid out for two.

You’re just laying there for a while, but eventually you turn your head to admire him for a while. He wears a short-sleeved button up, that’s this light blue color. It’s opened, exposing his torso. He has on swim trunks too, and his sandals are discarded on the sand. He also wears this pretty necklace that matches his sunglasses.

“I can feel you looking at me.” He says softly, not turning his hand. Your face flushes and you turn your head back and close your eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sun on your skin.

“Sorry. You’re just really gorgeous.” You confess. He smiles.

“Doll, if I didn’t know any better, I’d say you had a crush on me.”

“You’re the one that bought me a ring, Honey.”

“Touche.” Your conversation is cut short when someone approaches you with two pina coladas from the bar. On the house for the happy couple, he says.

After a quick conversation with him, you find out he runs this tropical paradise, and that he’s celebrating twenty years with the woman who waived your admission fee. They got married on this very beach; he tells you. You thank him profusely and when he leaves, you and Josh raise your glasses to each other in celebration for your faux marriage.

“Bajabule.” He hums, taking a sip of his drink.

You think you can get used to being engaged to Josh Kiszka.

• • •

Day Seven:

For those of us in the crowd who have never been on a cruise, there’s always a day on board where you have to dress fancy and nice, and the captain makes this speech, it’s called the captain’s dinner.

When you got engaged to your fiancé, you decided that on this captain’s dinner night, you would book a private, romantic dinner to have a moment of peace before the wedding.

And, like everything else regarding your ex and the wedding, it was nonrefundable, and you were planning on either doing it on your own or giving it to someone else who could enjoy it.

Then, you met Josh. And you had a reason to go.

So, you ask Josh that morning to come with you to this dinner before you leave for breakfast.

“Like a date?” He asks. You smile. Except for swimming and showering, you haven’t taken off your ring.

“Exactly like a date. Be my date tonight, Honey.”

He puts his hand on your cheek.

“Anything for you, Doll.”

So, you spend the whole day excited for your date. You have breakfast with your parents, and then spend the afternoon with your sister and brother, while your sister-in-law takes your nephew and parents to the beach.

You tell them about Josh, and they share this look, you’re not sure what it means, you’re too busy admiring your ring and gushing about how funny and handsome he is.

Your sister sits on your bed, all dressed with her son on her lap as you get ready. You’re nervous and you’re not sure why. Josh gets ready with his brothers.

“You look great,” Your sister assures.

“I just don’t know why I’m so nervous!”

“Maybe because this is your first first date in six years?” That could be it.

“But it’s not with just any random guy, it’s Josh. He’s so casual and cool about everything.”

“Is that supposed to make you feel better?” You see her point.

You sigh and take one last look in the mirror, before slipping on your ring. You turn to your sister.

“How do I look?” Your hair and makeup is nice, and your outfit looks really good on you.

“You look amazing. If he doesn’t like the way you look tonight, he’s not worth it.” You want him to be worth it. You want it desperately; in a way you never knew you could want.

“Thanks.” You smile, nervously. You hear a knock on the door and open it to see him standing there. He wears a white button up with the top two buttons undone, as well as black pants. He’s so good looking it almost kills you.

“Hi.” He grins. “You look amazing.”

“You look amazing.” You respond. You lean forward and kiss his cheek, and he peeks into the room to see your sister and nephew. He greets them and smiles, before taking your hand in his.

“Ready to go?” You nod and tell your sister to give everyone at dinner your love before you head out for your date. Dinner is at this candlelit restaurant, where you and Josh sit at a private table behind this beaded curtain.

“This place is so nice..” You tell him. “I don’t know If I’ve ever been on a first date this fancy.” You confess. He smiles.

“Me neither. It’s beautiful here.” He takes your hand that rests on the table. Your waitress comes in with a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket, introducing herself as Anna, and telling you about the menu for tonight.

“The chef has chosen five courses for our patrons tonight. It isn’t the same as last night’s dishes nor will it be the same as tomorrow’s. It’s preselected, so if there’s any allergies, just let me know. Now, I understand that we’re celebrating a special occasion tonight.” She hums as she pours the two of you champagne.

You look to Josh and wait for him to make up some story about wanting peace and quiet before you get married. Instead, he looks to Anna and says,

“First date. I think this one might just stick, too.”

“First date on a cruise ship? My, what a fairytale.” She smiles. “Well, we hope to give you a night to remember and a start to something wonderful.” She tells you both. “I’ll be back with your first course, soon. Enjoy the champagne, my friends.” She leaves, and you look to Josh.

“Why didn’t you tell her we’re supposed to be engaged?”

“I don’t think she’s the type to tell on us. Besides, this is real. I meant what I said, I want you to stick around...”

“I want you to stick around too.” You confess. You make conversation, getting to know each other through dinner. It’s all delicious, really. Over dessert, you decide that you can’t take it anymore. “I’m having a great time.”

“Me too.”

“I wouldn’t have asked anyone else to go on this date with me.” You confess.

“I would hope not.” He smiled.

“No, Josh, I’m being serious. It has shocked me to my core, but I’m finding myself wanting you more and more.” You tell him, your eyes meet his. “I think one of the best decisions I ever made was giving you that ticket.”

He says your name softly, and when he’s not saying anything like this back to you, you feel tears in your eyes. Is it possible that this man you’ve found yourself falling for has been playing pretend the whole time, the way you were meant to be as well?

“I’m sorry...” You say shakily. “I thought that... That maybe you’d feel the same way about me, but I was- “He squeezes your hand softly.

“Stop. I do want you… I want you so badly it’s destroying me to not have you.” He tells you. Your face flushes. “I’ve wanted you ever since I saw you, and I’ve been thanking whatever force that exists in the universe for meeting you.” He confesses.

Before you can respond, Anna comes back, asking if you want anything else, more champagne, perhaps?

“Can you have someone send it to our room in about two hours?” Josh asks. Anna, who must get that request often, thinks nothing of it.

“Of course. Enjoy the rest of your night, young lovers.” She leaves, and Josh leaves her a generous cash tip, before standing up and grabbing your hand again.

“Come on.” He tells you, and you follow him, curious as to what he has planned. There’s something in his eyes, a spark he gets when he has an idea. You follow him out of the restaurant, your hand locked into his, as you lean your head on his shoulder. He walks with you, all the way up to the top deck of the ship, where it’s quiet and the stars are plentiful. Maybe it’s the alcohol. Maybe it’s the way you’re looking at him. But Josh leans forward and kisses you, and it’s full of a gentleness you haven’t felt in years.

Your hands land on his jaw, as you deepen the kiss slightly, the night air and the passion you feel sends a shiver down your spine, only amplified by Josh’s hands on your hips.

He pulls away for a moment, looking to you.

“Let me take you back to our room.” He says softly.

“To do what?” You ask in a teasing voice. He groans and kisses you again before pulling away to add,

“So, I can make you feel good, Doll. So, I can watch you in pleasure underneath me.” He tells you. His voice is low, and there’s a lust you haven’t heard before.

“Okay.” You tell him.

“Okay?”

“Yes. Yes, Josh, please take me back to the room and fuck me.”

“As you wish, Doll.”

And he does exactly that.

• • •

Day Eight:

Your entire body aches when you wake up, tangled in sheets and in Josh’s arms. You feel amazing. Your eyes flutter open to see him admiring you, and you bury your face in the pillow as you groan. He laughs, his hand gently tracing patterns into your shoulder blade.

“Good morning, Pumpkin.” He says gently, kissing your ear.

“Good morning, Sunshine.” You tell him, before finally picking your head up to look at him. “Josh, I think you’re something equivalent to a sex god.” You say honestly. He laughs.

“Thank you, Baby.” He hums. “Wanna order room service?” He asks.

“Nah... I want you to do that thing you did last night, the one that made me scream.” You reply, and he has this smirk on his lips that makes you want him desperately.

“As you wish.”

You don’t get out of bed until lunch time, and even then, he joins you in the shower.

• • •

Day Nine:

Jake has to beg his brother to come up for air and ask you to join them for drinks that night. He’s worried, maybe that you’ll be scared off by the three of them, or maybe you’ll realize you don’t like him as much.

But you’re thrilled to get to know them, and you head down to the bar around six for drinks and dancing.

“Hey guys!” Sam calls over to you when he sees you. Josh still seems nervous, and you don’t really understand it. You both like each other more than you can put into words, so why is he so nervous for you to meet the three men he calls brothers?

Well, because his brothers are assholes.

You slid into the booth next to Jake, and you go to engage him in conversation. Instead, Sammy loudly calls over to the bartender. “Hey! My brothers getting married next week, how about some shots?”

Josh looks like he might die.

“I am so sorry about him—” You laugh, leaning against him as you try to contain your laughs.

“No, No, it’s funny, I’m glad you told them about it.” You turn back to the boys. “How are you guys enjoying the cruise so far?”

“It’s been great!” Danny yells over the music. “The beaches are so nice!”

“Did Josh tell you about the private beach we found?’

“Yeah! He also told me about the two of you conning your way into free drinks and shit!”

“It’s technically not a lie! I was supposed to be married on Thursday, just not to Josh.” You explain, and Sam laughs.

“You know, Josh has been doing nothing but talk about you, but you’re much funnier than he mentioned.” He hums. You glance over to Josh, who just blushes and rolls his eyes.

“You talked about me? What sort of things does he talk about?”

“Let’s not embarrass him, guys.” Jake says a smirk on his face.

“Thank you, Jake—”

“His new beau doesn’t need to know that he’s constantly gushing about ‘em!” The boys all break out in laughter, and you can’t help but giggle a bit. Josh is overly embarrassed.

“Douchebags! All of you are assholes!” He laughed, not really mad at them. He’s just enamored with you, and despite sleeping with you and telling you as much, it’s still a little bit embarrassing. Not that he’s embarrassed of you, but he finds himself falling for you more and more as the days go by. It’s hard to verbalize.

“Aw, Joshy, they’re just having fun, honey.” You hum. Leaning over and kissing his cheek, a habit you’re finding yourself getting more and more used to.

Shots land in front of the five of you, and Sam holds his up.

“To the happy couple!” You all drink your shots, and you think something crazy.

You think maybe you could get used to doing this. Being a part of their group. Being close to him, to them.

Maybe you could do this for the rest of your life.

You blame it on the alcohol, this feeling that this could last forever.

But when you look at Josh, you’re just enamored by him, in a way that’s deeper than just being a fan or just a crush.

And it crosses your mind for a second.

This crazy idea.

You kiss Josh quick, forgetting about the idea, blaming it on the alcohol again.

• • •

Day Ten:

You wake up with this wicked hangover, and to your disdain, Josh is nowhere to be found. You decide to get dressed and grab breakfast, figuring he’ll either text you or find you when he wants to see you.

But every few moments you’re turning as if you want to say something to him.

It’s frustrating because you know how crazy it is that you like him so much.

And it’s scary because you haven’t felt this way in a long time, maybe even a year or two, because with Josh, you realize how much you weren’t in love with your ex-fiancé, and it’s wild because you thought you’d marry him.

But it’s different with Josh, Better, most definitely. That thought from last night comes back, and you can’t blame it on the liquor anymore, and you can’t blame it on Josh looking amazing in bar lighting, and you can’t blame it on how connected you feel to his brothers because they aren’t around.

Your hand drifts to your ring finger, and you play with your ring, thinking about Josh. You wonder what will happen when you get off this ship. You wonder how it would be taking weekly trips to Nashville, especially when the school year starts and you’re busy with grading and lesson plans.

It all seems totally ridiculous. Why bother then?

But you keep coming back to it. This crazy idea, like an itch you just can’t scratch. You want to verbalize it, you want to ask it of Josh, but you realize how damn wild it is.

Maybe he’ll like that.

You’re lost in your thoughts when you feel a hand on the small of your back. You grin.

“You know, Honey, I—” When you turn around, you don’t find Josh. You find some random asshole who is already drunk, because, when in Rome. “Get the fuck off me, Dude.” You move away from him.

“What’s the matter? You seemed into it before—”

“I thought you were someone else.”

“Oh, you got a little boyfriend?”

“Fiancé, actually.” Like magic, Josh appears behind the stranger. He looks angry. He looks jealous. He looks hot. “Is there a problem here?” he asked, tilting his head. He moves to you and wraps his arm around your waist.

“No problem, man.” The creepy dude backs off, walking off. Josh looks to you and cups his hand to your cheek.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” You say softly, “I’m okay...” You bite your tongue, before adding, “That was sort of hot—”

“I’m sorry?”

“No, not that asshole, you! Being protective of me like that… I’m not used to it.”

“Oh… Well—”

“And you were jealous. So hot.”

“I was not jealous!”

“Honey, you most totally were! It was so so attractive.”

“Why?” He seems genuine.

“Because... C’mon, I have to tell you a story, but we gotta go sit down so I can tell it.” You sigh. You wind up leaving the restaurant and sitting on a beach chair on the top deck. He keeps his hand on your thigh as you relax. Your heart is beating rapidly, and you’re not sure why you’re so anxious, but Josh seems to sense this.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah. Yeah, I just hate this story…” You take a deep breath before you begin. “I was with my ex for about five years. He asked me to marry him after we booked this cruise, and I don’t know why I said yes… Maybe I loved him, but I wasn’t… In love with him like everyone describes I should be... But he never did anything romantic for me, no flowers, no sexy things, certainly no jealousy… So, I’m not sure why the cheating on me destroyed me so much, but it did. I haven’t felt anything for anyone since then. Until you.” You told him, and he just has this focused look on his face.

“He sounds horrible.” You laugh, tears falling from your face that you didn’t even realize you had. He wipes them tenderly.

“Yeah...” You say softly, leaning into his touch.

“Wanna hear my sob story now?”

“Sure, Honey.”

“I’m falling in love with someone who I met last week and might never see again after Saturday.”

“Josh...”

“We don’t have to ruin anything with commitment, we don’t…” His breath is shaky, and you catch tears running down his face, too. “I just need you to know that I’m falling in love with you, and I have no intentions of staying away from you or stopping that process.”

“I wouldn’t ask you to. Never.” You tell him earnestly. “I’m falling in love with you too.” You wipe his tears. Even crying, your boy is beautiful.

“Well, then we’ll just hope that the ship sinks before it docks so we can go down in history as the lovers who should’ve made it.” He smiles. It makes you cry harder, offering all this comfort but no happiness. Josh frowns and wraps his arms around you. “I’m sorry for making you cry.”

“It’s okay…” You whisper. “You have this way with words... It makes it hard not to be moved or not to fall deeper in love with you.”

“I thought we agreed no preventing the inevitable like falling in love with each other?” You pull away from the hug and wipe his tears. He kisses yours away.

“Right, well I’m instilling a new rule. Not preventing us from falling in love with each other. No more tears, either Kiszka?” You hold out your pinky. He links your pinkies together and then you both kiss the ends of your hands on instinct, giggling when you realize you both did it without words. It’s like an invisible string that had connected you all this time.

“You got it, Doll.” He says softly, before leaning forward and kissing you gently. You decide not to worry too much about it, realizing that if the universe was smart enough to bring you and Josh together for these two weeks, you’d find your way back to each other again. How could you not?

You were falling in love with each other, after all.

• • •

Day Eleven:

You wake up the next day to your favorite sight. Josh tangled in the sheets with you, but for once he’s still asleep. You love it. You wound up spending the day with him and then going to dinner with your family, the night full of laughs, because Josh is just so God damn charming.

He’s so pretty.

You grab your phone from your dresser and then take a photo of him, all sleepy and shining under the sunlight.

His eyes flutter open after a few minutes of you admiring him.

“Well, good morning, Pumpkin.” He says in this low morning voice. Your fingers play with his hair,

“Good morning, sunshine.” You grin, leaning down and kissing his head. He turns to you and smiles.

“What do you have planned for today?” At this question, you groan. Fuck, you forgot everything you have to do today.

“I have a meeting with a notary, who doubles as the cruise line’s wedding coordinator, that I was supposed to go to with my ex…” You sigh. “But now I gotta go and tell them that no, I am not getting married, and that the ceremony is going to be a renewal of vows for my parents.” You sigh and rub your eyes. Josh looks at you, and he has that idea spark in his eyes. You see it, and he knows you see it. “What? What is it?” You ask.

For a moment, you wonder if he has the same idea that you’ve had for the past few days. But that’s crazy, why would he possibly think that you two should go through with it, that you two should get married?

“What if we went through with it? Getting married, I mean?”

Well, I’ll be damned. He did have that thought.

“Josh—” You grin, and he shakes his head, burying his face in his pillow.

“Never mind, that’s dumb, I’m sorry…” He sighs. “We just met, it’s a completely crazy idea, I just can’t get it out of my head, and—”

“Let’s do it.”

“What?”

“Let’s get married.” What the fuck are you talking about? Why would you agree to this? “It’s bonkers.”

“I completely agree.” He speaks. “You need a dress.”

“We need rings.”

“We need to tell our families…” You grab your phone and start to make a list. Get notarized, get a dress, get rings, tell families. That’s the list.

Busy busy day. Josh takes your hand and kisses the back of it, squeezing your hand. Then, you get up and head off to shower.

As the two of you get ready to meet the notary, you begin to realize how crazy this is. You met Josh what? Ten, eleven days ago? How did you manage to fall in love with him so quickly? You try not to think too much about it. Worst case scenario, you get an annulment, right?

You’re getting married to a rockstar and you’re not even a groupie.

Josh meets you at the door and takes your hand, and you begin to grow nervous. Not to get married but to tell your parents. This was a wild idea that you most definitely did not see them approving of. But you’re an adult, you can make your own choices.

Josh squeezes your hand when you get into the elevator. As the doors close, you begin to kiss him, full of this need.

Eventually, you do make it to your notary, Linda.

“Hi! You must be Mr. and Mrs. Austin—”

“No, actually. Mr. and Mrs. Josh Kiszka, and I have no intention of being Mrs. Josh. Mrs. Kiszka is fine.” You smile.

“Oh, my mistake. I didn’t realize—”

“Spur of the moment decision. Which, I know is crazy and you probably don’t get that a lot, but—”

“Elopements of all types are extremely common especially in the vacation business.” She assures. “And honestly, I met my wife and knew I wanted to marry her after a week. Some people wait years to get married and only last for a few months. Others get married after two weeks and stay together for the rest of their lives. When you know, you know.” She advises. You like that, and grin.

“When you know, you know.” You repeat. “What do we have to do to get married?” She hands you two forms for a marriage license and goes through them with you.

“And are you going to take his last name?”

Kiszka. Mrs. Kiszka. You imagine your students calling you that, imagine the name on your ID, on a sign in your home.

“Yeah. Yeah, I think I will.” You smile. She guides you through the steps to do that on the marriage license. It takes a while, but you eventually get the licenses filled out, and Linda takes them back.

“Amazing. I’m going to make sure everything looks good here and give you confirmation tomorrow. At the very least, you get married by the captain tomorrow and then when you get back to the states, you’ll fill out the license again, and celebrate your anniversary as tomorrow not when the license goes through.” That seems simple enough.

“Thank you.” You tell her. Josh parrots you, and Linda just smiles.

“Of course. I wish you two a very long and happy marriage.” She says, “Is there anything else I can do for you?”

“Yeah, you remember how we said this was last minute?” She nods. “Where can we get rings and a wedding dress?”

She directs you to a small boutique on the island you’re docked at, somewhere that has lots of gowns for stupid decisions like yours. Then, she tells you there’s a jeweler on board. Is there anything this ship doesn’t have?

So you head off to the jewelers first, and you, honestly, spend more time doing this than anything else. You look at black bands, and they’re not your style. You look at silver, but it really doesn’t go with the gold ring you got the other day.

Then you land on these gold wedding bands. They’re engraved with leaf patterns, and the jeweler advertises custom ring carvings in less than 24 hours.

“Hey,” He says to the attendant at the counter. “Can we see the gold bands?” He takes them out and hands them to you, and you both place it on your right ring finger. It’s bad luck to try them on your left hand, right?

They fit like gloves.

Josh glances up to the attendant. “How long would it take to engrave our initials into each other’s rings with tomorrow’s date?”

“Couple of hours. You can pick them up tomorrow morning.” He tells you two, and Josh nods.

“Great.” He tells him your initials and his, so that he gets them right, and hands him his card.

Your next step is the boutique. And you stop Josh before you go into the boutique.

“Wait here.”

“What?”

“It’s bad luck to see my wedding dress before the day of.” He scoffs, playfully.

“We’re getting married tomorrow, doll. Besides, we’re not really traditional.” He has a point, but you shake your head.

“C’mon, for me? I won’t be long.” You play with his collar. He kisses you gently, and nods.

“Okay, okay. Good luck with your shopping.” He tells you, and you kiss him quickly before heading over to find yourself a wedding dress.

You don’t find a bunch of white options, but here are your options:

The first is a pretty silk thing but it makes your proportions look bizarre. So, you move on.

The second makes you look like a Mormon, with long sleeves and a turtleneck. It goes down to your ankles and is made of a heavy fabric. No, thank you.

The third is a new age dress that is white with complex black designs. You appreciate the look, but you decide it isn’t for you.

The fourth one is one you weren’t excited about, but then when you try it on, it’s all you want. It’s a 50’s style cut, and it comes down just past your knees, with a corset top. But the skirt and corset has floral designs, with the skirt being a thin lace layer with the flower print. It’s gorgeous, and it almost makes you cry to see yourself in the mirror.

It exudes spring energy. You think about Josh’s face when he sees you walk down the aisle.

You go to pay for it at the counter, and you pick up a pair of simple white heels, and a pearl necklace.

There’s a bouquet of flowers that sits by the counter. You get an idea when you see them and throw them into the pile of wedding things you have.

“Special occasion?” The cashier asks, an amused smile on their face as they ring you up.

“My wedding day tomorrow.”

“It’s a beautiful dress.” They hum. “Congratulations.”

“Thank you.” You hum, a blush filling your cheeks. They put the dress in a garment bag, so it isn’t visible, and you hold the bag in the other hand.

“How’d you make out?” Josh asks.

“Lovley. I even got myself accessories.” You grin. Josh leans forward and kisses you quickly.

“My bride to be…”

“My husband to be.” You say softly. “We need to text our families. Maybe we could have them meet us for dinner and tell them then?”

“Yeah, that’s a great idea.” He says. You whip out your phones and spend a few minutes texting your families on the cruise asking them to dinner. Then, you turn back to your husband to be, for real, not just to get free things.

“Wanna go back to our cabin...?” You smirk. “We should engage in premarital… activities.”

“Oh, Doll… You’ll be the death of me...” He growls, taking your hand and leading you back to the ship.

You spend your time until dinner doing your favorite things with Josh, and then you spend about two hours fashioning your bouquet of flowers into a flower crown, leaving a few to tuck into Josh’s hair and suit pocket.

He was off grabbing coffees for the two of you, when there’s a knock on your door. You answer it, and it’s your sister. Oh.

“Hey!” You grin, going back to your work on the flower crown.

“Hey, why’d you ask your roommate and his family to join us for dinner?” She hums. You’re about to answer when she looks around the room. She sees the garment bag hanging from your bathroom door, the white shoes and pearls, flowers scattered around the room. Her eyes land on the gold wedding bands on your dresser. She says your name, before adding, “You aren’t…”

“Listen, I know how crazy it is—”

“It’s more than crazy!” She says, sitting on the bed with you. “You’ve known him for a week!”

“…Ten days.” You say, a little ashamed, your older sister disapproving of your choices.

“C’mon.” She says.

“Mom and Dad have been married for twenty years.” You say. “They got married after six months. Arthur and Veroncia got married after a year! You had a baby with a guy who you aren’t even dating anymore. So what if I’ve only known him for a week? Who gives a shit? People have gotten married after a week and stayed together their entire life, others get engaged after five years and don’t even make it to marriage!” You sigh, rubbing your eyes. “Maybe it’s a mistake. But it’ll be the best god damn mistake of my life, so just stand by the alter and look pretty for me.” You ask.

She looks at you for a few minutes.

“Okay. Yeah, I’ll be there. You’re right, it could be a mistake, but it could be amazing.” She hums. “You have a nicer man than I do.” She grins. You laugh and hug her. “Now let me see your dress, Mrs. Kiszka!”

That night at dinner, you hold Josh’s hand nervously, as if he’ll float away if you let go. Your two families get along great. Your parents love his, your siblings quickly get accustomed to his, and your nephew sits on Josh’s lap, and they entertain each other.

Between Dinner and Dessert, when your nephew returns to his seat, you stand up and gently clink your glass for everyone’s attention.

“Hi everybody. Thanks so much for coming tonight,” Is this a rehearsal dinner? “So, a few of you might have noticed my ring, and uh—It started as a joke. To get free stuff.” You say, earning a few laughs at the table. “But it developed into something more.” You look to Josh. “And what I’m about to say, is crazy, I know that. And I’ve been thinking about it for a few days, and nothing has ever felt so right. So support us or not, I don’t care. This is what’s happening and—”

“Spit it out already!” Your dad laughs. You pause, your hands shaking. Josh takes it in his.

“So, Josh and I are getting married tomorrow.”

Silence. No response. You feel tears in your eyes.

“Mozel Tov!” Your mom gasps, standing up and going over to the two of you. She hugs you tightly, and her congratulations break the tension of the table as the rest of them come over to congratulate you.

Anyone who has reservations against your decisions keep them to themselves. Jake comes over to congratulate you two, and suddenly Josh is nervous again.

“Congrats, man!”

“You’re not mad?” Josh asks.

“Mad? You’re marrying a girl you met last week. That is so rock and roll!” He pulls josh into a hug, and then he hugs you. “Oh, good luck, hot stuff.” He hums and kisses your cheek. You feel loved.

“Good,” Josh grins, “Because you’re going to be my best man.” You turn to your parents.

“You’re not mad?” You ask.

“No, of course not. It’s crazy, but you’re an adult. If you love him, you need to do what’s best for you.” You grin.

“Thank you. We should schedule a different renewal of your vows, too, and—” Your dad hugs you.

After dessert, you hold your nephew in your arms, and he’s sleepy.

“Is Josh gonna be my uncle?” He asks softly, and you smile, kissing his head.

“Yeah. I think so...”

“Good. He’s cool…” You look at Josh and admire him laughing with your sister and his brothers.

“Yeah. I think so too.”

• • •

Day Twelve:

Your wedding day goes by way too quickly, and before you know it? You’re slipping on your heels and clipping the pearl necklace around your neck. Your phone rings.

It’s Josh.

“Hey, Honey. What’s going on?” You ask.

“Doll, there’s a photographer by the venue, was this planned?”

Shit. You forgot about that.

“Yeah, uh, let her take photos of you and our families, and she’ll photograph the ceremony. Then, she’ll take photos of the happy couple.”

“Oh yeah? And who would that be?”

“I love you, Joshua.”

“I love you.” He says your name. You hang up, and your parents are knocking at your door. You open it, and they’re speechless at your ensemble.

“Does Arthur have the wedding rings?” You ask, hoping he’ll give them to your nephew.

“Oh, baby, you look beautiful.” Your mom coos, and it hits you.

You’re getting married.

You grin, and head down to the small venue that has been put together on the ship. The photographer takes a few photos of you, and you’re suddenly happy you paid for the whole package.

And then it’s time. Your parents walk you down the aisle, and when you see Josh standing there, his brothers as his best men, your sister stands with your nephew on the other side of the alter. You kiss your parents quickly, before you stand in front of Josh, taking his hands. Your cheeks hurt from smiling.

“Hey.” You say softly.

“Hi…”

“This is crazy, right?” You whisper.

“Absolutely. You look amazing.” He hums. It’s funny because he looks ethereal. The flowers in his hair look amazing.

“You look amazing.”

“I love you.”

The captain, your officiant, begins the usual--- Telling everyone why they’re here, about life and death.

“Do you two want to say a few words?” He asks.

“I’ll go.” Josh says gently. “For a long time, I never thought I’d find anyone who could keep up with me. Who could love me for all the parts of me… And then you came along and immediately, you showed me this infinite kindness. I knew I would never get over you in that moment. I love you. And I hope this marriage is an infinite source of happiness and wild adventures. And if not, fuck it—” He cringes, realizing he used fuck in his wedding vows, “Fuck it. Let’s make it a crazy and fun marriage even if it only lasts a week.” You almost kiss him right there and then.

“Josh, I don’t… I never really thought I’d fall in love again. I never thought I would fall in love with anyone again. I… I thought that maybe… Maybe I was unlovable or...” You play with his fingers. “Whatever. But when I met you, I realized that I didn’t know what love was before you came into my life. And since I’ve met you, life has just been crazy, full of love and this… this general glow for life. I love you. I love you deeper than anyone I’ve ever known, and I like to think we have a golden type of love. I’ll love you forever, no matter what. Marriage or not.”

You realize you’re crying and Josh wipes your tears.

“I thought we promised no more crying, doll.”

“Sorry, Honey.” You whisper.

The Captain smiles and looks to you.

“Do you take this man to be your lawfully wedded husband, in sickness and in health? In richer and in poorer? For better and for worse?”

“I do.” A ring is slipped onto your finger.

He turns to Josh.

“Do you take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, in sickness and in health? In richer and in poorer? For better and for worse?”

“I do.” You slip a ring onto his.

“You may now kiss the bride.” And he does. He places his hands on your hips and pulls you in, kissing you deeply.

The rest of forever starts now, and with Josh by your side, that doesn’t seem so daunting.

• • •

Day Thirteen:

Only technically is it day thirteen.

After the ceremony, the photographer dragged you and Josh off to take photos, and then you went to dinner. You had cake, and then the party really started. Josh’s parents and your own call it an early night and promise to watch over your nephew.

The rest of you go out and drink until you and Josh stumble off into the night. It’s around two a.m., maybe three.

You lay on the beach chairs that you had your talk on back on day ten. Josh holds your hand as you listen to the waves crash, and even drunk, you admire the stars from the top deck.

“Honey?”

“Yeah, Doll?”

“I love you.”

“What happens when we get off the boat..?”

“We…” he sighs softly. “We try long distance. We can make It work until we decide to move in together.”

“It’ll probably be a while, unless I can get a job before the school year starts in Nashville...”

“I’ll wait for you.”

“And when you go on tour?”

“You’ll knit on our porch and wait for me to come back.”

“You’ll write songs about me?”

“Baby, every song is about you.” You kiss his cheek. “It’s all about you...” He hums.

You listen to the waves crashing as Josh starts to sing you something. Light My Love, you think.

It makes you realize you’ll never regret marrying him.

• • •

Day Fourteen:

You have to get off the ship early. Like, eight a.m. and you have to say goodbye to Josh.

You say goodbye to his parents, his sister, and then his brothers. Jake holds you close for a while, and then tells you,

“See you around, Sister. Be strong, yeah?” You smile and kiss his cheek. He climbs into the car, and you’re left with Josh.

Your husband.

You wrap your arms around his neck, and he places his hands on your waist.

“I love you.” You whisper. “Don’t be a stranger...”

“A stranger? How could I ever be a stranger to my wife? I love you. We’re gonna spend the rest of our lives together, doll. I don’t give a fuck about distance. You’re the only thing that’s ever been easy.”

“I’m a real hassle.”

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic.”

“I want a divorce.” You giggle. He laughs and kisses you, pulling you close. He hugs you for a while. Neither of you say anything. You want to cry. But you don’t. You maintain your composure. You begin planning, you’ll drive up to Nashville next weekend, you’ll make it work.

You have no other options.

None.

You have to be with him. It’s like breathing, it’s the most natural thing in the entire world.

“I love you.” He says, pulling away to look at you. “Doll, I love you so fucking much.”

“I love you, honey.” You kiss him one more time, and then he leaves. He climbs into his car, and you start to cry on the walk back to your car. Your family says nothing, and you just cry as you start to drive. Your nephew frowns, and looks down at his dinosaur blanket, that always makes him feel better. He takes your hand in his and doesn’t say anything.

You begin to look for teaching jobs in Nashville, searching for apartments too. As you’re searching for something, you get a text.

“Good morning, by the way, Pumpkin. See you soon?” You smile and wipe your tears, before texting back.

“good morning, sunshine. see you soon.”

198 notes · View notes

pinknipszz · 6 months

Note

Hi! Firstly, I love ur headcannons and the way u characterize them, specially Lo and Neteyam. Could you do avatar headcannons of how they would be in a traditional dance festival. (Like would they be dancing, drinking, telling stories, etc.) Much love, xx

hi anon! 👩‍❤️‍👩 and thank you! i’m not really confident in my lo’ak and neteyam, but i’m so glad you like them! and that’s such a cute idea :) i hope you like my take on it. love you lots! xx

avatar headcanons | you attend a na’vi festival

⋆✮↪ neteyam and lo’ak + bonus: jake and tsu’tey

neteyam

he plays songs with traditional instruments. his favorite is the gourd drum. it's made out of the bladder from a sturmbeest his mother hunted, and he plays it at the festival. when you asked him why, he embarrassingly admitted that he’s insecure about his singing voice, so he uses the gourd drum to imitate the microtonal drone in na’vi singing. as much as you like to reassure him, you love neteyam’s musical prowess. he even dedicates songs to you.

he makes you dance with him most of the night. the festival itself is all about dancing to honor the great mother. to neteyam, dancing is one of the most intimate things in the world, and he wouldn’t do it with anyone else except you. when you first arrive at the festival in your beautiful attire, he is sweeping you off your feet. he is swaying to the sounds of the hypnotic music, taking the lead and outshining everyone else. everyone has their eyes on their future tsahik and olo’eyktan.

he shows you off at every chance he gets. when you two aren’t dancing, neteyam is dragging you around to meet his friends from training, bragging about how beautiful and kind and talented you are. in these special moments, you admire how the “perfect child” facade slips away to mess with his friends like how he does with his brother. it wouldn’t be like this under any other circumstances. you’re truly grateful to the festival and the great mother, even if neteyam teases you too. you swear he exaggerates everything.

lo’ak

he teaches other na’vi how to gamble. he learned the whole idea of gambling from his dad. he’d teach you and the other na’vi all about human games like “jackblack” and “poker” and “julepe” using makeshift cards and chips. you were really confused about the rules but eventually got the hang of it. your group of friends would bet simple things, like woven clothes or headpieces. when things aren’t looking so good for you, lo’ak would start accusing other na’vi of cheating.

he turns drinking into a competition. he technically isn’t supposed to drink, but it’s a festival so what were his parents expecting? lo’ak likes to provoke other young warriors into stupid challenges to see can who handle their alcohol the best. they don’t fall for it at first, but lo’ak knows how to push the right buttons. these usually end with a lot of empty bottles. lo’ak always wins, but at what cost? his dignity? his honor? there’s too much to count. you like to tease him afterwards.

he pulls you away from the crowd a lot. festivals can get a little overwhelming, and even the great and mighty lo’ak has his social limits. when his dancing becomes sluggish or his mind is off somewhere else, you take his hand to ask if everything’s alright. instead of responding, though, he abruptly pulls you away from the festival to spend some quality time with you. you two are silent all throughout, but you like to stroke his hair and cup his face to comfort him. lo'ak loves you for it.

jake

he’s coming up with new drinks. driven by his mysterious human knowledge, toruk makto is an artist when it comes to mixing alcohol. he just felt that na’vi drinks were too weak, so he asked mo’at if he could change things up a little at the festival. it took a lot of convincing, especially since it’s a special tradition, but she reluctantly gave in. now not only does the clan adore him for bonding with toruk, but also his excellent drinks. he doesn't even have experience from earth. he just mixes things together and prays.

tsu’tey

he babysits the children. festivals were never really his thing. he just grabs a drink and leaves. before, tsu’tey was obligated to stay for the whole duration of the festival as the future olo’eyktan. since that title was given to jake, he doesn’t even bother to show up sometimes. that doesn’t mean the clan doesn’t put him to work, though. he’s the assigned “babysitter,” as jake puts it, which is ironic since tsu’tey doesn’t know a thing or two about kids. somehow, the clan children still like him.

(masterlist)

#avatar the way of water #atwow #james cameron avatar #avatar 2009 #neteyam #neteyam x reader #lo'ak sully #lo'ak x reader #jake sully x reader #jake sully #tsu'tey x reader #tsu'tey headcanons #avatar headcanons #jake sully headcanons #neteyam headcanons #lo'ak headcanons #atwow headcanons #atwow lo'ak #atwow neteyam

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lilacfiresoul · 24 days

Text

cheat, april 2 -- @jegulus-microfic -- 1,144 words

kind of went a little over here lol because this was so fun to write! anyways, enjoy <3

-----

“That’ll be 850, please,” Regulus says smugly.

Lily, rolling her eyes, reluctantly hands over a sheaf of brightly coloured Monopoly money. “And now I’m basically broke. Regulus takes my money yet again.”

Glancing over at his boyfriend, James watches Regulus add the notes to his bank, all of them arranged neatly from highest to lowest in a line next to his properties. They’re already quite far into the game, with several houses on the board and the odd few hotels, mainly on Regulus’ properties. He’s the banker, and James is unsure if that’s the reason for his success, or if he’s genuinely just a good player.

Sirius seems to think the former, as he angrily tosses the dice onto the board and lands, surprise, surprise, on one of Regulus’ properties. Again.

“No!” he howls, slapping his hands on his forehead, earning a bemused look from Remus. “I swear he’s rigged the dice!”

“Sirius, how I can rig dice?” Regulus responds brusquely. “That’s 330.”

“Lily, you shouldn’t have let him be the banker,” Sirius accuses, glaring at Lily. “Whenever he’s the banker, I lose!”

James leans over to Regulus, resting his arm on the back of the chair, mumbling, “Sirius seems to think you’re a cheat, Reg.”

“He’s just a sore loser,” Regulus informs him matter-of-factly. “Every time I’m the banker, he says—”

“—It’s bad luck, Lily, he rigs it—”

“That I’m a liar,” Regulus begins.

“He lies, he schemes, he plots, he—”

“—Plans.” Regulus nods. Sirius flashes him an irritated look, but Regulus doesn’t even sound upset about it, just amused, as if he’s heard all of this before. His fingers are laced together in front of him, a businessman about to suggest a proposal. “You need to get more creative at your insults, Sirius.”

“Oh, shut up,” his brother growls, flinging the money at Regulus in a shower of coloured paper.

James can’t help chuckling, leading to Sirius narrowing his eyes at him. Caught, James drops his arm, straightening in his seat.

“I see how it is,” Sirius announces. “James is helping him.”

There’s a beat, and Regulus laughs. “I don’t need help. I build my Monopoly empire with my own blood, sweat, and tears.”

The game continues. Sirius stews in silence as Remus rolls the dice, missing Regulus’ properties completely and landing safe on an unclaimed plant. Then Mary rolls, grinning as she gives Lily 100.

“I don’t mind giving you my money,” she tells Lily, who swoons.

Regulus goes, where he lands on one of Sirius’ properties. He has to hand over 200 through gritted teeth, like it pains him to part with his fake money, much to Sirius’ delight.

And then it’s James’ turn.

It honestly couldn’t have worked out better. James rolls six, putting his figurine right on one of Regulus’ properties.

With a hotel.

“Ha!” Sirius crows, jabbing a finger at it.

Defeatedly, James asks Regulus, “How much do I owe you?”

Regulus looks at his cards, though James and everyone else at the table knows Regulus is doing it just for show, pretending as if he doesn’t know exactly how much James owes him.

“1150.”

Even though he’s played Monopoly so many times, James has never won at it. One time a few years ago, he’d played with his parents and Regulus. It had gone on for hours, and both him and Effie had lost, leaving it a tense battle between Regulus and Fleamont. James’ dad had won by the skin of his teeth, and has never let Regulus live it down.

James can’t help comparing that time to now, how he only has 500 left, majorly under the rent due, and how the same thing had happened last time. Regulus had let him lose then, hellbent on beating Fleamont, but now he has a mischievous gleam in his eye as James presents him with the last of his money.

“Oh, don’t worry,” Regulus continues. “It’s a hotel. I’ll let you stay there for free, if you give me a kiss to make up for it.”

“What?” Sirius explodes. “That’s not— You can’t do that— Lily—”

Lily holds up her hands. “It’s just my game, I can’t control what he does.”

Scrabbling for the box, Sirius finds the rulebook and flicks it open. “It’s against the rules.”

“I’m the banker.”

“That means nothing—”

Remus and Mary are silently laughing behind their hands, tears in Mary’s eyes as she tries to keep quiet. Lily’s eyes dart between the two of them, pressing her lips together.

“Are you calling my boyfriend a cheat, Sirius?” James asks innocently. “I don’t think it’s in the rulebook.”

“He’s also my bloody brother, James—”

“It’s not in the book,” Remus confirms.

A charged silence falls over the table. Regulus, grinning, hooks a finger under James’ chin to tug him closer. Entranced, James follows, like a dog with a bone, the tide to the moon, the planets to the sun.

The kiss is chaste, sweet, as people are watching, but underneath the table, Regulus squeezes James’ thigh, the promise of more to come later.

They part, and it’s an effort for James not to grab him by the neck and kiss him senseless, but he refrains, the butterflies in his stomach fluttering at the wink Regulus sends his way.

“Cheaters,” Sirius huffs. “Thought you did this alone, Reggie. If you’re doing that, I’m also doing it.”

“Be my guest. You don’t have to hotel yet,” Regulus quips.

The game continues for another few rounds. Mary goes out first, after divvying out her savings to Sirius, of all people. Remus goes out second, unable to pay his debt to Regulus. Lily is soon to follow, tossing her leftover bits of money to Regulus as well. Sirius is the fourth out, coming dangerously close to flipping the board as he also hands all of his money over to Regulus.

It’s just him and James left.

And James, in a cruel, or rather predictable, twist of fate, lands on one of Regulus’ properties. Again.

It’s laughable, honestly.

Sirius puts his head in his hands and wails because his brother has won. Mary, bursting into laughter again, excuses herself to get a glass of wine, and Lily and Remus try to smother their laughter at Sirius’ dramatic reaction.

“You going to steal all of my money?” James whispers. “It’s yours, if you want it.”

“Don’t need to. I’ve already won anyway.”

Regulus kisses him again, and Sirius, mumbling something about cheaters, best friends kissing brothers, and how shitty this game is, flips the Monopoly board.

#frost's microfics #more fluff? what's gotten into me?#i suck so bad at monopoly ngl #jegulus microfic #jegulus fic #james potter x regulus black #james x regulus #starchaser #sunseeker #regulus x james #the black brothers #marauders era #james potter #regulus black #sirius black #remus lupin #mary macdonald #lily evans

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melanieph321 · 9 months

Text

Ruben Dias x Reader - Try Me Part 1/6

Here we go! Get ready for coach Ruben 😆

Summary - Reader is a very passionate football player and Ruben is her new and equally passionate football coach. However, the two of them can't seem to get along.

Enjoy!

"Pass the ball!"

You were flying, that was the feeling.

"Come on Y/N, pass me the ball I'm open!"

Your touch on the ball was magic, you were flying down the field. Your teammates couldn't keep up.

"Y/N!" The coach yelled. "Pass her the fucking ball!" Or he wasn't really your coach, but his assistant. He often used words like "fucking and bloody, followed by another set of curse words in another language." He was nearly your age only a few years older. It was hard to take anything he said seriously.

"She shoots, she scores!" You said and so you did, celebrating your magnificent goal with a tumble of cartwheels. It was the game winner, setting your team up for a great start in the summer cup group stage.

In midst of celebrating the victory with your team, you were suprised to be pulled aside by coach, or not really coach, Ruben was his name.

"What the hell was that?"

"What?"

"That!" He pointed to the goal where you just scored the goal of your life, however, instead looking impressed his face boiled with rage.

"Oh that. It was the game winner coach." Compared to your teammates you called him coach, but in a way that he knew that you were mocking him.

"Yeah, well, if you pull that shit again you can kiss the bench, because that's the only place I'll be putting you if you wanna play for my team."

"You can't bench me." You frowned. "I'm the best player on the squad."

"Unless you get rid of that bad attitude of yours, I'll do whatever I want with you."

"I bet you like it though?" You challengend, your face in his face.

He raised his brow in suprise.

"I found your profile on Tinder, cute pics by the way. A bit inappropriate, but cute."

He worked his jaw, probably fighting the urge to lose his composure with you, his trainee.

It wasn't you who found his Tinder profile. All the girls had a laugh about it in the locker room the other day. You held the phone though, while you're teammates begged for you to swipe right.

"Fuck it." He snorted. "I'm benching your ass the next game."

"You can't speak to me like that!"

"Well, I just did!"

He turned his back on you and walked away, leaving you stranded on the football field.

You longed for a shower once you got home. However the hot water was out, probably because your six year old step sister was splashing away in the tub. The water was cold when you pulled her out.

"Dad?" You entered the kitchen, Mimi in your arms, wrapped up in a towel. Your dad and his friends sat around the table playing cards, a cloud of cigarette smoke hovering above their heads.

"Dad?" He hadn't heard you the first time, the second time made him turn his head.

"Y/N, you're home. Great!" The cigarette stump bounced between his lips when he talked. "Go down to the corner shop will you, get me and Bubby a pack of Camel Blue. And how about some crisps for the beer? We've got guests coming over later."

"Dad, for how long did you leave Mimi in the tub?" You said, ignoring his request.

He frowned. "I didn't leave Mimi in no tub. She probably climbed in there herself, like she always do my good furniture. Ain't that right my sweet Mimi?"

"Yes!" She happily exclaimed. She loved it when he called her that, sweet Mimi. You used to be sweet Y/N when you were the youngest. Now you were just the forgotten middle child, Mimi's babysitter.

"Let's get you cleaned up." You said, drying her wet nose with the towel.

"Don't forget about the cigaretts!" Your dad called after you.

You and Mimi shared rooms whilst the others had their own. You had two older brothers, all with the same father but different mother's. Or, it was only you with a different mother. Mimi, Benji and Charles all shared the same parents. Right around when the boys were ten and fourteen their dad would go on to cheat on their mother with your mother, their next door neighbor. You all grew up around the same estate, until your mother passed away with cancer and you had to move in with them. Their mother eventually bailed too, but not because of cancer, she just hated your dad, leaving Benji, Charles and sweet Mimi behind.

"Daddy's friends are coming" Mimi said. You finished putting lotion on her body, moving on to her drawer to pull out a dress for her to wear.

"Yes." You nodded. "They're coming over tonight. But we'll stay in the room and watch Princess and the frog like we always do, okay?"

"Okay. I just don't like it when they shout."

You pulled the dress over her head, kissing the top of it. "Me neither Mimi, me neither."

After dinner you had Mimi come with you to the corner shop. It was not a good idea for her to be alone when your dad's friends came over.

"Can I have a lolly?" She asked.

"Just the one." You let her choose which ever flavour she liked.

"Y/N! How is football going?" Amin asked. He was the owner of the corner shop. Him and his family lived a floor below yours.

"It's going good. Our team is the top of our group. Hopefully we'll win it going on to the next round."

"Rember our deal." He smiled. "If your team makes it to the summer cup final, I'll bet good money on you to score and share the cut with you."

"How can I forget." You laughed. You needed that money to by new football cleats for the upcoming season.

"Bye Amin! Say hello to your wife from me."

"I will, have a good night girls."

"Thanks for the lolly!" Mimi pulled the candy from her mouth, waving it in the air.

You locked yourself in your bedroom once you got home. You let your computer rest on top of your bed whilst you climbed in to lay with Mimi in hers. There you lay watching Princess and The Frog, putting the movie on repeat until Mimi fell asleep. It wasn't difficult to ignore the drunken laughter happening outside the door. Occasionally someone would pull the handle and give Mimi a fright. But you had taught her to laugh at the muffled up curse words of whichever alcholic got it wrong on their way to the bathroom.

It wasn't ideal, but it was your life. Football made it better though, football made your life worth living.

You pulled out your phone, careful not to wake up Mimi whose limp body lay beside you. You opened up Tinder, suprised to be notified about a message from your latest match.

It was Ruben, sending you a winking smiley face.

You slapped your hand against your mouth, smothering your astonished gasped. The fake profile your teammates made must have really caught his eye, because there he was, in your DM's. You thought about earlier today, muttering "No one puts me on the bench."

Your heart raised, typing out the message, a message Ruben was going to regret answering, if he was bold enough. It read:

I like guys with big eggplants. Do you have a big eggplant? 😘

Taglist:

@kathb59

#ruben dias angst #ruben dias imagine #ruben dias x reader #ruben dias #fanfiction #man city #football imagine #manchester city #footballer x reader #football angst #footballer imagine #football x reader #football

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blkchainsaws · 10 months

Text

way way back in the 1980s

modern au!hanatengu clones and their high school experience.

content warning: brat's dumbass headcanons, drabble, mentions of fighting, a bit suggestive on the first part?, mentions of cheating, karaku is a manwhore

i may(MAYBE) update this as time goes on

brat's says...title from the clone high theme cause, clones, high school, get it?

a group of quadruplets. they're extremely popular in their school.

All four of them are extremely popular with the girls, but there is a ranking list between the girls at their high school. It goes, Aizetsu, Karaku, Urogi and Sekido. All the girls like Aizetsu due to his timid, sensitive nature. He is unaware of this and all his brothers are mad that he doesn't realize it.

Karaku is second, he is rated highly for his looks and his flirty personality. However, with this, he is seen as very easy and alot of girls only want one thing from him, which he doesn't mind.

Urogi is third cause while he is hot and funny, he is extremely loud and quite annoying. He doesn't realize this and if we're being honest, he wouldn't care.

Sekido. He's ranked last cause he's literally angry and snappy to everyone. When the girls ranking list got leaked, everyone was afraid he would lash out at being ranked last. He was more mad that his brothers one upped him on the rankings than everyone else, so most of his anger was directed towards them. The brothers rub it in any chance they get.

worst boyfriends ever

Sekido or Karaku are Heartbreakers. Do not trust these men with your heart they will crush it and step on it.

Sekido has a reputation of being distant and cold to his partners, or dumping them randomly. All girls avoid him after his last breakup ended with his ex moving away to avoid him.

Karaku is notorious for messy breakups. The only girls that will date him are either from other high schools or new girls that come to his school. The messiest breakup he was in involved him cheating for 3 months, on his girlfriend of 5 months. Both girls got into a fight in which one pulled out a knife. When he was confronted all he said was "My bad."

Aizetsu and Urogi haven't had any long-term relationships. They can't make it out the talking stage.

WORLDSTARRRR

Sekido. Straight up. There's countless videos of him fighting at school. He's won every fight. He also fights his brothers, but that's more of a play fighting type of deal.

He will fight for his brothers. You got an issue with one of his brothers, you got an issue with him.

"party at our place! ladies get in free, guys gotta pay."

insane. house. parties.

Urogi and Karaku love to host parties and invite anyone who is anyone. Every party has ended with the cops being called due to noise complaints or everyone running cause the cops showed up.

Their parents haven't caught on yet.

speaking of parents...

They have a super nice foster mother. she adopted all four of them along with their little brother Zohakuten. She's a hard working nurse that loves her boys so much and they love her as well. She wants the best for her boys and always encourages them to do their best.

let me see that report card.

Sekido and Aizetsu are top of their classes. Aizetsu was acknowledged as the top student at his school. When called for his reward he accepted it awkwardly and started purposefully failing so he wouldn't be the center of attention anymore.

Sekido is smart and calculated, but he tends to get frustrated when he cannot understand certain questions or lectures, he refuses to be tutored. His last tutor was Aizetsu but they got into a disagreement over a question that ended with a huge fight and a hole in their shared room.

Urogi and Karaku are...troubled. Urogi makes the worst grades, and Karaku doesn't even try.

athletic af

These boys are athletic. Every sport they try they dominate.

Sekido does football, Karaku does basketball, Urogi does track, and Aizetsu doesn't participate in school sports, but he is amazing at basketball.

These boys are the reason their school is on the map for their school teams.

pranksters and interviews

Urogi and Karaku.

You know those youtubers that walk up to you and interview you? "What's the freakiest thing you did?" They do shit like this to get a reaction out of people. They have been reported many times for it.

They're the reason students get routine bag checks. They once pulled a prank with a homemade stink bomb in a closed class room. No one found it funny, not even them.

what does everyone truly think?

euthanize all of them except for aizetsu

#[🦋] drabble.fic #demon slayer #kny drabble #hantengu clones #kimetsu no yaiba #aizetsu #karaku #sekido #kny urogi #kny aizetsu #kny sekido #kny karaku #demon slayer drabble #drabble

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yuurei20 · 2 years

Text

Ace Fact Sheet

(Voted 16th-most-popular-character on the jpn server (tied with Sam and Trey) in a combination of seven different character-ranking surveys held throughout 2021)

At the beginning of the game Ace mocks the player character for being magically impaired, but then comes to accept them after the events of the prologue.

Ace will cheerfully speak his mind in every situation, sometimes to the point of derailing the mood of the room. He hates indecision, possibly due to his own quick decision-making nature.

We see Ace handle a variety of situations with ease, but he is often unmotivated when it comes to doing work. He seems to have little patience for those who struggle to achieve their goals and no particular goals of his own for the future, making him a mirror image of Deuce. It is particularly shocking for Ace when Deuce is the first of the two of them to learn his unique magic.

Floyd refers to him as Kani-chan (crab), and Rook calls him Monsieur Heart.

Ace has a brother 7 years older than himself who has already graduated from Night Raven College (while this brother has no official name, he is often called “Jack” by the jpn-server fan community for “Jack of Hearts”). Their parents are not magic users. Ace tells us, “When I got my letter of acceptance, my brother was even happier than my parents”.

In Deuce's ceremonial robes vignette, Ace is late to a ceremony where Deuce and Jack are awarded for their track and field achievements because he was up late the previous night, on the phone with his brother.

We learn that Ace’s brother is something of a prankster who once bought himself a luxury watch, presented it as a gift to Ace on his birthday (inside a box that he had Ace unwrap), only to say he was joking and swap it with another box as his “real” present, which was empty.

Ace speaks often of his brother, who taught him the importance of mixing lies with truth when trying to deceive someone, in order to sound more convincing. It may be from his brother where Ace has learned his more back-handed tendencies.

In his labwear event Ace asks Ruggie for permission to harvest mandrakes to help Ruggie with his side job, only to try and sneak away to sell the mandrakes on his own to pocket the profit.

In Ace’s school uniform vignette he offers to carry heavy bags of sugar and flour in exchange for “the piece of tart with the most cherries at the dorm’s tea party tomorrow”. When Trey asks “You don’t have some ulterior motive?” Ace responds, “You’re lookin’ at the very picture of innocence”, but by the end of the vignette it is revealed Ace was trying to trick Trey into revealing the topics on the history exam for first-year students.

According to Deuce, playing card games with Ace is impossible to enjoy, because he always cheats.

Ace taught himself sleight of hand tricks by watching his brother (to which Cater says ‘you’re the type to steal talents’). While his brother was his example, it is Ace’s magicless father who is the most talented of the three at sleight-of-hand and inspired both boys to pick up the hobby.

When the family comes together during holidays, Ace says that he, his older brother and father have competitions together to show off their tricks.

He is also capable of imitating the voices of his fellow students to an impressive degree, and was able to mimic a few lines in mole-language in order to talk to Heartslabyul’s hedgehogs, but he seems to have no talent for rote memorization.

He is also good at sports and refers to himself as a "promising newcomer" to the basketball team. He once saved Riddle from being struck by a Spelldrive disc by catching it in midair (although Riddle admitted he would have easily deflected the disc without Ace’s intervention).

Both Ace and Deuce challenge Riddle in a duel for the position of Housewarden of Heartslabyul dorm in Book 1, but Ace is disqualified for punching Riddle in the face after Riddle makes a disparaging remark about people with poor upbringing and magicless parents.

He is one of several reluctant participants in the Phantom Bride event, happy to mock Deuce from the sidelines until Riddle goads him into joining by insinuating he is a coward. In his Phantom Bride vignette it is revealed Ace is the only one of the first year students who has been in a relationship.

He had a middle school girlfriend with whom he would go with the amusement parks (but “she would refuse to ride anything but the merry-go-round and ferris wheel”) and movie theaters (where “she wouldn’t watch action and horror movies”).

He ghosted her after deciding they didn’t have enough in common. After a group of girls called him out for this poor behavior, he decided he prefers spending time with his male friends and that he has no more interest in relationships.

Despite this, Ace gives an impassioned speech to Eliza about how she will never be able to find someone who meets all her expectations and should instead be with someone who will stick with her “through all the hard times.” He also lectures her retainers for enabling her behavior (including references to Trey and Cater and their behavior towards Riddle).

In Ace’s vignette, Ortho applauds this unusual passion and sincerity, but Ace stubbornly insists it was an act he put on to save them from the ghosts. After seeing the abilities of Riddle, Rook, and other upperclassmen during the event, Ace decides he would like to “become strong enough to surprise them" and focus on his training rather than his love life.

In Book 1 on the ENG-server, there was a continuity error during Riddle’s overblot where Trey’s unique magic, “Paint the Roses”, was instead written as “Sleight of Hand”.

As of this writing (2022/9/3) Ace’s unique magic has yet to be revealed on either server, but it makes you wonder…

What we do know is that he seems to specialize in wind-magic, collaborating with Grim during the Prologue to control Grim’s fire magic with his own wind spells.

There is also an early-design-stages battle menu illustration in the game guide where the characters were originally going to be separated by elemental magics, with both Ace and Trey marked as having wind abilities. This is, however, a pre-finalized version of the characters, so Trey’s focus has possibly been changed.

Concerning Ace’s last name, I am going to quote Wikipedia: “Trappola is an early 16th-century Venetian trick-taking card game…It is also the earliest known trick-taking game where the ace has been promoted above the king.”

Some great artists for Ace fan-art and more (SFW, no story spoilers) Various characters but mostly Ace and Deuce

Various characters, largely Ace

Cute Ace, lots of Adeuce by this artist

Ace, interesting art style

Voice Ace is voiced by Yamashita Seiichirou (山下誠一郎), and he was a collaborator on the earlier Toboso Yana project Black Butler: Book of the Atlantic as Edward Midford. His other work includes Rekka Yukimura from Battle Spirits: Burning Soul, Naruse Kakeru from orange, Yagasaki-kun from Happy-Go-Lucky Days, Hosomichi Kudou from Rumble Garanndoll and Raiden Shuga from 86 -Eighty Six-. He is one of five voice actors that host the monthly Aniplex YouTube show Twisted Radio, and hosted the very first episode in June, viewable with English subtitles here.

He also hosted the most recent episode 6, which can be seen on Aniplex's YouTube Channel, here.

youtube

Both times he appeared with Jack's voice actor, Taito Ban.

A fan-translated translation of an interview with Yamashita from the official twst fan book can be read here

Additional Fact Sheets ・Riddle Rosehearts ・Trey Clover・Cater Diamond ・Ace Trappola・Deuce Spade ・Leona Kingscholar ・Ruggie Bucchi ・Jack Howl ・Azul Ashengrotto・Floyd Leech・Jade Leech ・Kalim Al-Asim・Jamil Viper ・Vil Schoenheit・Rook Hunt ・Epel Felmier ・Idia Shroud・Ortho Shroud ・Malleus Draconia ・Silver・Sebek Zigvolt・Lilia Vanrouge ・Sam・Crewel・Trein・Vargas・Crowley

#twstcharactersheet #ツイステ #twisted wonderland #twst #Ace Trappola #Youtube

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petitelepus · 9 months

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Tfa highschool au reader invites optimus to family game night

"Are you sure I can just join you guys like this?" Optimus, your long-time boyfriend asked as the two of you stood before your house.

You smiled, "Of course! This is like the highest honor, being invited to our family game night!"

"That's the reason why I'm nervous..."

"You will be fine!" You were grinning from ear to ear as you grabbed your Optimus' arm and escorted him inside.

Your parents, Lockdown and Swindle, and little brother Wasp were all familiar with your boyfriend because one way or another they had been in contact with him, even if not directly.

Like how Swindle tried to marry you off to his business partner's son or how Wasp had been a little shithead and stolen your phone to text inappropriate things to Optimus.

So, you were all getting the game night going with something simple and fun, like a game of cards. Lockdown suggested poker and your sweet boyfriend wanted to just please so he agreed.

He didn't know what Hell he unleashed.

"Flush!" Wasp shouted as he put the cards down. A good hand, you and nodded and Optimus nodded, but then your Daddy put his cards down and wiped the smile off from your brother's face.

"Full house," Swindle smirked, putting his cards on the table

"Good job honey." Lockdown grinned at his partner before putting his own cards down, "But nothing you have beats four of a kind."

This would have been maybe normal if the same things would not have happened twice already, only different hands with different people.

"H- how-?" Optimus was baffled. You took pity on him and asked to be excused so you could take Optimus out of the poker table and show him the restroom.

"Your family is really good at poker-!"

"They are cheating." You straight up confessed and your boyfriend blinked. "Excuse me?"

"All the games we play are just a facade. Everybody cheats. All that matters is that you don't get caught." You grinned, "Wanna try again or switch games?"

"How about Go Fish? You can't cheat in it can you?"

"You would be surprised by how much you can cheat." You grinned, "Don't worry my brave Prime. I'm on your side."

"That makes me feel a lot better, yes." He smiled and you pecked his lips quickly, "Let's go rob my family."

#scarletdragontiger #tfa #transformers #transformers animated #highschool au #highschoolau #highschool #wasp #lockdown #swindle #reader #reader insert #optimus #optimus prime #ENJOY!

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sugoi-and-spice · 1 year

Text

Chapter Twelve - Return to Previous Save Point?

Pairing: Tomura Shigaraki x Fem!Reader, (3rd Person)

Rating: Explicit - Minors DNI

Summary: Tomura Shigaraki was her dad's boss's son. He was the creep that stole girls' underwear and tried to grope her in his room. But it's not like he could get her Dad fired just because she wouldn't sleep with him, right? ...right?

CW: Quirkless!AU, Explicit Smut, Dub-Con, Coercion, Blackmail, Cheating, Sexual Guilt, Humiliation, Unhealthy Relationships, Virginity Kink, Groping, Power Play, Hate to Love, Emotional Manipulation, Emotional/Psychological Abuse, Self-Harm, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Implied/Referenced Animal Death

Read Full Chapter on AO3

[excerpt]

The calm she’d achieved through her revelation at the diner was very short-lived. As soon as she saw her house on the walk home, her anxiety and dread came back in full force. She didn’t want to go inside. She knew what was waiting for her there — the same thing that had been waiting for her the last time she’d called Shigaraki’s bluff, if not worse. Honestly, the brutal scolding she’d received from her Dad that day would be the best case scenario.

The worst was that he was already out of a job.

Mirio squeezed her hand, “Hey? Are you sure you’re okay now?”

She looked up at him. He wasn’t nearly as concerned as he had been earlier — didn’t have the reason to be— but he could obviously tell that everything wasn’t quite back to normal yet.

Should she tell him? She should, right? She didn’t even need to give the full details, just something like “I’m worried my Dad’s going to lose his job”. If she was really going to try to invest herself in this relationship again, she should be confiding that stuff in him.

She squeezed his hand back and smiled, “Yeah. Just kind of emotionally drained, you know?”

Baby steps. There was no need to worry him unnecessarily. She’d confide in him about this when there was actually something to confide about. She wasn’t lying at least, she really was overwhelmed.

“Of course,” he brushed her hair back over her ear, hand lingering to hold her cheek. She stared up at him, captured for a moment by the way he looked at her. The love in his eyes. She knew that whoever could reciprocate that one day would be one lucky person.

He leaned down and pressed his lips sweetly to her own. They were full and gentle, warm and still subtly sweet from the slice of cheesecake they’d shared at the diner. Free of roughness and scarring, undemanding, and not a hint of energy drink on them.

Mirio pulled away just a little bit, the tip of his nose still brushing her own, “Is there anything I can do to help?”

“More than that?” she grinned, “I don’t think so.”

He chuckled and leaned down to kiss her again, this one just as sweet as the last.

They didn’t linger much longer than that. Mirio Togata was a gentleman that would never think of copping a feel or even slipping her a little tongue in her parents’ driveway. Instead, he stood fast on the sidewalk and waved her off, not turning to leave until she was closing the front door behind her. She had no reason to complain, he was just being a good boyfriend and making sure she got home safe. But it did make it impossible to let her guard down and brace herself before she was actually in the lion’s den.

So, she didn’t announce when she was home — easing the door open and closed and slipping off her shoes as quietly as possible. She glued herself to the wall of the engawa, listening for any hint to her family’s fate. Crying, yelling, hopeless silence. She was not expecting:

“Three sixes.”

“Bluff!”

“...you sure about that?”

“YOU’RE KIDDING ME!!”

She walked into the living room to see the scene for herself, moved forward by confusion alone. Confusion that only skyrocketed when she saw her family at the dining table, her little brother grumpily pulling a center pile of cards into his hand.

“You know, it’s wrong to lie to your kids!” her brother whined.

“But it’s so fun though,” her Dad laughed, bopping him on the nose with his own two-carded hand.

“Hey sweetie,” her Mom greeted her, “Have a nice date?”

“Y-Yeah…” she answered cautiously, scanning for any sign of distress from the trio, “Lots of fun.”

“Not too much fun though, right?” her Dad joke-warned, earning a playful swat from her Mom.

“PG Rated fun only, sir,” she ‘joked’.

He shot her a playful salute and laughed, “Come on over, Peanut. I’ll deal you in.”

“I-I’m okay, Dad,” she said, “I should actually try and get some studying in today before it gets too late.”

He smiled at her, “Atta girl. Holler if you need anything.”

She nodded and swung by to give both her parents a kiss on the cheek and her brother a hair ruffle before slipping down the hall. She snuck another inquiring look back at the table as they resumed their game in earnest.

It was obvious that her Dad at least still had a job for now. She knew that she couldn’t get too comfortable though. The other shoe would certainly drop soon.

Continue on AO3

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blorbo-adoption-poll · 4 months

Text

Adoption poll preliminary match 11

Chazz Princeton (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX)

Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler)

Killua Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter)

Only two will move on

Propaganda under the cut

Chazz Princeton (Yu-Gi-Oh! GX) Propaganda

Going into parental situation first, he has neither Mother Nor Father and lives with his adult older brothers. They are horrendously rich and the respective "Rulers" of the political and financial world, wanting Chazz to be the Ruler of the dueling world so the Princeton family can achieve world domination, Chazz is the only one out of them that actually knows how to play and I cannot stress enough how utterly important this Card Game is In-Universe. His attitude reflects his social standing well, he looks down on other people and cards, behaving haughty and arrogant, acting as the rival and antagonist for the first few episodes. He starts off using very powerful cards with high Attack and such, being in possesion of them through his wealth. It doesn't take very long to realize that he isn't exactly as confident as he presents himself.

His brothers are undoubtedly emotionally abusive, plainly seen in how they interact with him whenever they're present, pressuring him to the extent that losing horrifies him so much he resorts to throwing someones cards into the ocean to cheat a win, crying and talking to himself in a bathroom before a Duel and simply straight up taking a boat and running away to the North Pole. He ends up disowned anyway.

His favouring of powerful cards turns out to be from his brothers as well as they before a Duel that they decide to broadcast by the way, try to give him an incredibly powerful deck, thinking he wouldn't win otherwise, they make winning a necessity to him. At this point he refuses, wanting to win using his own deck, the cards he got at North Academy, the school he ended up at when he fled.

When Chazz loses one of them grabs him by the front of his shirt and lifts him up though it is unclear wether they are generally physically abusive.

Eventually he ends up beating one of them who's playing the Deck he refused to use in a Duel with monsters that all have an incredibly low attack.

Plus, their dub names are Slade and Jagger, no one called that should be allowed to raise anyone.

Chazz is all around an incredibly great character. He's angry all the time, he is haunted by the worlds most annoying freaks that love him so much, he rallies an audience behind him with ease and the chant of "Chazz It Up", he does not wash his clothes at all and they smell so bad. He wrote a poem once.

I fail to bring justice for the Chazz, but he is simply a little jackass with a horrendous family situation.

(Also he was disowned after the duel)

Ciel Phantomhive (Black Butler) Propaganda

he's tormented and the entire story feels precluded by his eventual death because his soul is already sold to a demon at the start of the series. this guy is like 13 or something and he is fated to have his soul taken from him. which i personally see as a nice metaphorical parallel to the "default" response to severe traumas being eventual death and doom. staying alive is an active struggle and work of will. i propose we kill the demon he's indebted to and give this kid a safe comfortable place to start recovering from everything he's been though. please

Killua Zoldyck (Hunter x Hunter) Propaganda

Boy does not deserve to be with his abusive assassin family so I shall take him in as my own.

#tournament poll #adoption poll #chazz princeton #yugioh #yugioh gx #ciel phantomhive #black butler #killua zoldyck #hunter x hunter

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miracles-and-butterflies · 1 year

Text

For @time-for-a-grandkid-round-up, based on the prompt: “camilo cheering up his family.”

I’m only going to do one person as doing everyone would take forever. And as Camilo cheering up his (side of the) family is a little overdone at this point, I’m going with his favourite cousin. Enjoy!

~~~~~~

Throwing Away the Dry Petals

“I win.” Dolores exclaimed, placing down her ace card.

Camilo groaned. “You win every time. You’re clearly cheating.”

“I’m better and smarter than you, Camilo, that’s hardly cheating. You can’t be mad just because I wasn’t dropped as a baby.” She said.

“Hey! I wasn’t dropped as a baby! Tío Bruno caught me! He just let go for a little…” Camilo trailed off. “Besides, Tía Julieta would’ve healed me. I’m her favourite.”

“You’re nobody’s favourite. You’re a pain.”

“Not true! It’s Mirabel whose nobody’s favourite.”

Casita’s front doors swing open almost hitting both the siblings as Isabela storms through, barely noticing them at all.

Dolores is unfazed, she no doubt heard Isabela coming. She doesn’t even flinch. And Camilo would be lying if he said he wasn’t amazed by how well his sister can keep herself so poker face, even when she hears everything. And almost got hit by a door.

“Hey, Bela! You wanna play with us?” Camilo asked.

There’s no response. Isabela just continued walking away.

“Isabela? Hello? You okay?”

Still nothing. Though, to be fair, she’s probably go far down the path to town to hear him now.

“What’s wrong with her?” He turned to his sister. Her gift was annoying most of the time, but it did mean she knew everything about everyone and it came in handy.

“Ramona broke up with her last night.”

Camilo was speechless.

“Isabela, Isabela Madrigal, was broken up with? But she’s always the one that breaks up a relationship!”

“Exactly,” Dolores said, dealing the cards. “She’s been distant all morning. I don’t think she’s slept either.”

“I really liked Mona. She use to give me and Toñito sweets.”

“Isabela did too.”

“But… why? Things were going well, right? It wasn’t like Viviana, who just flirted with Luisa the whole time, right? Or Sola, the one who just wanted to date a Madrigal? Or—” Camilo cut himself off with a gasp. “Tell me it wasn’t like Gabriela who didn’t like cacti.”

Dolores sighed. “No, it wasn’t like Gabriela. Gracias a Dios, ella no quería tener que lidiar con eso otra vez. Well… Ramona didn’t really give a reason. Just something about Isabela not meeting expectation.”

“Sounds like something Abuela would say.”

“Why do you think Isabela has been acting this way?”

Camilo stood up.

“Wait, where are you going? Don’t you want to play?” Dolores inquired.

“I’m gonna cheer up our cousin,” he answered, determinedly.

“If it’s egging Mariano’s house again, I swear to God I will tell Abuela—”

Her statement fell on deaf ears as Camilo was already sprinting away and laughing at the thought. It was always a good idea and it did always brighten Isabela’s day.

However, he really doesn’t wanna have to deal with Abuela or his parents making him clean the entire Guzmán house again. That thing is huge!

They always could throw eggs at Ramona’s house. Or anyone of her other exes. They could plant cacti outside of Gabriela’s. But he suddenly had a different idea in mind as he began searching for her in town, amongst all the chaos and people.

Camilo found Isabela sat by herself on a bench, staring off into the distance.

She watching a group of young adults, laughing and having together - though Isabela didn’t seem to be looking at them at all. Rather staring straight through them.

“Hey, Isabela? You doing anything?”

It took a moment, but Isabela did turn to him. Shaking her head, as though she’d been pulled from some vision like Bruno.

“What do you want, Camilo?” Isabela asked, not sounding angry but not friendly either.

“You know Eduardo Rodriguez? My age, plays football? Anyways, his older brother, Miguel, is getting married today.” He said.

Isabela blinked. “Um, congratulations? What does this have to do with me?”

“I promised Eduardo that I would go to the reception with Dolores, but she has a date with stupid Mariano and I don’t wanna go alone. So I was wondering if you wanted to go to La Hora Loca with me?”

His cousin didn’t immediately reject the idea, even looked to be considering it. A wedding wasn’t Isabela’s ideal way to get over a break up.

However, Camilo was nodding his head eagerly and encouragingly that she couldn’t bring herself to disappoint him again. Why Dolores didn’t just take Mariano to the wedding, she didn’t know - wouldn’t a wedding be a better date than dinner with the family? Never mind, this would be a distraction for Isabela and it wasn’t like she had any plans of her own.

“Okay, I’ll go. But you better change. You’ve split something on your ruana.”

“What? You of all people can’t seriously be complaining about stains! Have you seen your dress? It’s covered in who knows what!”

“Alright, I’ll change too.”

Camilo smiled, satisfied. He was going to get his cousin to smile too before the night was over. Isabela got up and grabbed him by the shoulder as he turned to walk.

“Insult my dress again and I will plant belladonna in your stomach.”

“Noted.”

~~~~~~

An hour or so later, having changed several times over based on the other’s complaints, they finally arrived at the wedding reception of Miguel and Vanessa Rodriguez.

The lateness was definitely the fault of them both considering themselves style experts.

It was times like this that made Isabela realise how many people were in Encanto and how few she actually knew. There were a few faces she recognised but she couldn’t associate them with any name or memory. While Camilo was effortlessly smiling and waving as he pulled her through the crowds of people.

He hadn’t really conversed with anyone though or even congratulated the bride and groom, but she didn’t really think about it. There was plenty of time for that.

Camilo was distracting her with a story of the last wedding he had attended - an old school friend of Félix’s. An event he ruined by sneaking off into the kitchen and eating the entire cake.

They’d been laughing and drinking for almost two hours at the bar when Isabela hopped out of her chair and extended a hand to him.

“Right, let’s go. We’re not sidelining this party, we aren’t Mirabel. Introduce me to Eduardo and the rest of your friends or the random people you know here from babysitting.”

“I don’t know ‘em. We’re crashing.”

Isabela stumbled backwards a little. From shock, not the cocktails she’d been enjoying.

“You don’t know anyone? I thought you knew Eduardo. You said he’s your age and plays football.” Isabela demanded, whispering.

“Yeah, he’s in my class and on the other football team, but I don’t know him.” Camilo shrugged in response.

Isabela raised an eyebrow. Then she snickered. “That’s a lie. You’re just trying to piss me off.” But Camilo’s signature smirk, usually one given to Dolores, made its appearance. And Isabela paled.

He wasn’t joking. He had invited her to a stranger’s wedding.

She quickly started downing a series of shots that some other guest had ordered and regrettably left unattended.

Camilo was all but losing it, clearly enjoying himself. Though he did lean over and say, “We can leave whenever. Just have fun and relax. What’s wrong with your cousin trying to cheer you up?”

Though Isabela wasn’t yet drunk enough to completely abandon her moral compass, she grabbed Camilo’s hand - a little tighter than necessary - and dragged him to the dance floor.

They weren’t hurting anyone or ruining anything. They were having fun. And goddam, they were good drinks.

So as long as they kept to themselves and nobody caught on, it was okay.

For the next few hours, the pair danced and definitely outshined everyone in the process. Pepa was an excellent teacher.

They took breaks every so often to return to the bar - Camilo did keep Isabela from getting herself totally drunk, which was just as challenging as Dolores complained it was. Though Isabela’s alcohol tolerance was impressive. In turn, Isabela did her best to keep Camilo from drinking alcohol altogether.

They partook in the snacks and cake, and even several photographs. Quickly heading to the bathroom when someone started to question them.

It wasn’t until Camilo ended up chatting with the groom himself that their plan had totally fallen apart.

“You must be a friend of Vanessa’s, how did you meet?” Miguel had asked, innocent enough.

“I’m not. I don’t know her at all.”

Camilo hadn’t meant to say that. He might have been able to save himself, claiming he was someone else’s child, but the way he flushed red and his eyes widened with guilt, there was no chance.

Meanwhile, Isabela had found herself chatting with the younger sister to the bride, Elena.

So when Camilo suddenly sprint by and pulled her away by the hand, she was confused but not particularly surprised. It didn’t take long before she matched his pace and they ran out the building, with several angry family members chasing after them.

They continued running until there was no sound of footsteps and shouting, and they were safely hiding in nature. They stumbled along a clearing overlooking their town under the moonlight.

For a few moments, they were just panting and laugh every time they caught each other’s eyes.

“We got kicked out of a stranger’s wedding,” she wheezed.

“And we had fun while doing it,” Camilo retorted. “Don’t tell the adults though.” He added, just to be sure.

“Why?”

“Why? So we don’t get in trouble?”

“No, I mean, why did you take me? You could have taken one of your actual friends.”

“Because you were upset and I wanted to cheer you up. Dolores told me about Ramona.” He admitted, gently. “You wanna talk about it?”

Isabela just returned to being distant at the mention of her ex-girlfriend. She had almost forgotten about her. The memories of last night resurfacing as she watches the stars.

Ramona had liked stars, was planning to go study them abroad. Isabela had ransacked her Abuelo Sancho’s collection of books to find some about constellations and astrology to impress Ramona with facts and things, and it had worked.

But she hadn’t changed or hidden any part of herself. Ramona was dating the Isabela she had always known.

Which is what made the comment about her not meeting expectations rough. They hadn’t discussed any expectations for each other - relationships didn’t require them. So how on earth did Isabela fail to meet something that didn’t exist?

Fuck. Dating Mariano was simpler than this. At least Isabela knew where she was screwing up: hiding herself.

She gasped when Camilo threw himself into her arms in a hug. Immediately, she pulled him tighter.

“What’s this for?” She asked.

“For you, duh.” He mumbled. Camilo was trying not to cry, laughing as a cover. “Fuck Ramona. It’s her loss, you’re brilliant. And you don’t deserve to be sad because she’s a loser.”

“Poetic.” Isabela said, sarcastically.

“I try,” Camilo flipped his hair dramatically. “I mean it. Fuck Ramona and her expectations, whatever they were. You don’t have to meet expectations. Expectations are just stupid. You’re you and you’re amazing. You’re one of my closest friends and role models—”

“That’s concerning.”

“Stop making me laugh. You’re ruining the moment.”

“Can’t help it.”

“I’m trying to be serious right now.”

“Good luck with that.”

He almost laughed, genuinely, that time. But he wasn’t going to let himself be distracted - this was too important. For good measure, he put a hand over Isabela’s mouth. She was smirking underneath; he could feel it.

“I know things about perfect expectations are still kinda hard for you, but don’t let this one idiot bring you down. Ramona doesn’t know you like we, I, do. There’s nothing about you, on the inside or outside, that needs changing or hiding, just because some random decides it’s not good enough for them.”

Under his hand, there’s a muffled, “There’s nothing wrong with my outside. I’m gorgeous.”

“Great! So apply that same logic and confidence to your inside. You can’t really believe that someone knows how you should act better than you do. Trust me, I’m an actor.”

“I can’t. It’s different.”

“Why’s that?” Camilo asked, removing his hand. Isabela was no longer smiling. He wasn’t asking to catch her out or tell her she’s wrong, but just willing to offer an ear— God, he’s more of Dolores’ brother than he realises, isn’t he?

“I don’t know. It just is…” she shrugs a little. “My inside was the part I changed, the part I believed was wrong. People are forming real connections because they like or dislike me, not my appearance. I’m not bothered…” she sighed, turning away. “We were doing so well and it just came out of nowhere. Mona couldn’t even give a reason. If it’s something I’ve done, how am I suppose to fix it for my next partner?”

Camilo nodded in understanding.

He couldn’t relate to his cousin, but what she was saying made sense. He could see why it upset her and why she blamed herself.

“You can’t,” he said. “You can’t fix it. Someone will come along and maybe they will like you or maybe they won’t. Not everyone likes everyone. I don’t think you’ve done anything wrong. If you had then Ramona would have an actual reason to break up, right?”

“I guess.”

“So whatever it is, it’s on her and it’s out of your control.”

Isabela nodded. She smiled a bit.

“Do you feel any better?” Camilo asked. Admittedly, a little hesitant.

She snorted. And for a minute, she looked like she was about to say no. Then she softened, “Yeah, I do. Thank you, Camilo.”

“Good, I’m glad,” he said. “It’s my job to make people happy, but I care about you. So it’s from a place of love, not work, okay? But, uh… Did you have fun tonight? Or last night? I’m not sure what the time is.”

From the grin covering Isabela’s face, he could already guess the answer, but being pulled back into a hug was the real confirmation.

“The most fun I’ve had in years.”

An idea crept into Camilo’s head, just as they started making their way back home.

“Hey, are you tired yet?” Camilo asked. He stopped and Isabela looked at him, strangely. “I’m not tired and I’ve got an idea how we can make this night even better.”

“I’m listening.”

When the pair awoke the next morning, they were instantly questioned by the adults of why they had been out so late and why there were several angry townspeople waiting outside Casita. They shrugged it off and laughed, claiming they had no idea. Ultimately, nobody worked out it was specifically them who had crashed the wedding. But the town was ripe with gossip about two infamous wedding rashers, and Dolores seemed to be suspiciously glancing their way.

And, well, watching Ramona clean eggshells off her roof was just the icing of the cake.

#encanto #ask me anything #my writing #camilo madrigal #isabela madrigal #dolores madrigal #mariano guzmán #alma madrigal #bruno madrigal #julieta madrigal #pepa madrigal #mirabel madrigal #madrigal family #félix madrigal

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