#or wait thirty years to start living as myself

[biblically-accurate-soup]

being trans is just. waiting. and waiting some more

#god. whenever i see my parents i get so many trans emotions (negative) #i want to legally change my name! i want to start hrt! i want to have top surgery! but i also want my parents present in my life #so i’m just waiting. for what exactly? i don’t know #i don’t want to say i’m waiting for my parents to pass away. but i also don’t know when i can start living my life #without having to sacrifice almost all of my old one #ashe speaks #sorry i’m just really sad and exhausted today #i remember foolishly thinking that i just had to wait until i graduated college #but now i’m presented with the unfortunate truth that i can either start living my life NOW #or wait thirty years to start living as myself #or no longer have my parents in my life #and some would say ‘if they don’t love you for who you really are you don’t need them!!’ but have you considered maybe it’s more complicated #maybe one day i will get to the point i feel i can let them go. but it isn’t now. and it won’t be happening soon either #i just don’t want to wait until i’m 40 to publicly be myself #anyway!

[bunnyhugs77]

Honey I'm Home

୨୧- Just a little slice of life of a hard working dad, his tired wife and their twin girls.

୨୧ WC: 900

Jungkook pushes open the door to your small two-bedroom flat, his keys jingling in the door which attracted the two little girls on the other side to come running instantly.

The soft patter of their socked feet hitting the wooden floors as they rushed to his as fast as they could. "Daddy!" The girls squealed. Jungkook crouched down, his once drained expression replaced with one full of delight.

"Girls!" He exclaims, taking the both of them in each of his arms, listening to their adorable laughter as he engulfed them into his tight embrace. "Daddy! Can't breathe!" Aria squeaks from where her head rested against his chest. Always the dramatic one of the two.

Jungkook laughs, apologizing and letting them go. Aria runs back to the kitchen where he could only assume the source of that flavourful scent was coming from. Meanwhile Hye-Ji stayed back to show him the flowers she'd picked just for him.

"Are these for me?" Bending at the waist to collect the crushed dandelions that were once in the grip of her fist. She nods with the brightest smile he's ever seen.

Picking her up as well, letting her rest on his side with one hand, careful not to ruffle the very elaborate princess dress she was wearing as he finally begins to make his way to the kitchen. "Thank you so much princess, I'll make sure to add this to my collection." He places a kiss to the crown of her head.

There you were. His eyes seemed to soften once they landed on you. In a button up and your favourite pair of mom jeans." Hi baby," He gets the chance to peck your lips briefly before Hye-Ji was asking to be put down.

She quickly ran off to her sister in the living room where there were colouring pages ripped out, building blocks all over the place, a box of crayons in the laundry bin full of clothes that were waiting to be folded.

"Hi." You manage a smile before resuming your blank stare into the pot of tomato sauce for the spaghetti that you'd been stirring for god knows how long. "Is everything okay?" Disregarding your mundane 'yeah' he know something is up.

"Honey, what's wrong? Talk to me." You sigh, dropping your shoulders, finally looking at him. He was in his typical work-wear for his day job as a private banker meanwhile he works part-time nights as a mail courier.

"Today was a bad day." Letting your head fall into your husband's firm chest in defeat. His hands raised to hold you in his arms the same way the have been for the last 5 years.

The shiny silver band of his wedding ring catching the light for a moment as he gently rubbed your back. "You wanna talk about it?"

You pout softly, "There's nothing to say, look at the state of the house. Hye-Ji turned the house upside down looking for her dress this morning. Then I took them to the grocery store and Aria got lost." Jungkook's eyebrows raise, but you weren't done.

"I finally got them to sleep for an hour while I did some laundry, and then I ended up falling asleep myself, waking up to crayons and toys everywhere, and Hye-Ji was crying because she missed you and then I started crying because I missed you too and-"

You couldn't believe this was making you tear up. The day was hectic and the fact you'd have to do it all over again tomorrow. Jungkook hushes you in a comforting manner, practically swaddling you in his arms. "I'm sorry I couldn't be here," you sniffle, stepping back.

"It's not your fault. You work two jobs. it's just hard sometimes." You admit and Jungkook gets an idea. "Go." He says and your brow arches, "I'll finish dinner, and take care of the girls. Go rest, or read that Jasper Wilde book you've been wanting to read. Please. Let me help, you deserve it." He pecks your forehead and you weren't going to fight him on it.

Leaving the kitchen and the responsibilities to him. Telling yourself that it would only be a thirty minute nap but it turned into 2 hours. By the time you walked back into the kitchen, it looked like you'd walked into a whole new house.

Everything was neat and tidy, the girls were sitting on the ground with a bowl of abandoned grapes shared between them as they watched Moana with an entranced gaze.

The laundry basket was gone, the floors were clean and the air smelled of soft fresh linens and cinnamon. Looking back to the kitchen where Jungkook quietly tidied up, humming softly to himself. You stood hidden from where you were admiring your little family.

You may not have had much but you had everything you needed right here. "You're amazing you know that?" Jungkook says as you approached him. "I should be saying that to you." You counter.

"No. I mean it, Y/n. Having two jobs is easy, but doing what you do everyday is a job for a saint. I appreciate everything you do for us, I love you so much." His lips pressing against your forehead while your heart felt so full of love. "I love you." You say.

"I have to potty!" Aria declares and the both of you look at each other.

"Not it."

"Not it."

#jungkook smut #jungkook #bts #jungkook ff #bts one shot #jungkook x reader #jungkook fic recs #fluff #drabble

[transvampireboyfriend]

Teacher AU

Eddie who studied to be a music teacher but right before graduation Corroded Coffin takes off. It's fast, they have to mail him his diploma to avoid a crowd of fans at his classmates' ceremony.

But it goes as fast as it comes, a few years of touring and then popularity wanes. Eddie is not bothered by it, neither are the guys, they enjoyed it while it lasted, yet they all knew they couldn't live like that for the rest of their lives, so it's all for the best.

Eddie lives off of album and merch sales and writing songs for other bands and artists now. This is when his best friend, Chrissy, tells him she heard the music teacher was retiring at her old pre-school.

Eddie applies for the vacant position, fearing they won't like his former star status but ultimately, after a good interview, he gets the job.

Steve who became a pre-school teacher and started teaching as soon as he could. He lives with his best friend, Robin, and coaches the town's junior basketball teams (both boys and girls) on his off time.

Steve who's nearing his thirties and getting a little frustrated with his love life. No matter how many dates, no matter how many 6 month relationships, no matter how many 1 year and a half and moving in together debacles, he still just never quite fits his partners, he never feels that thing, that excitement everyone talks about. No matter how amazing the person. Robin calls him an idealist, says he's being naïve. Steve sticks by his instinct to hope for more.

Steve who stares (a little slack-jawed) at the new music teacher for a good minute when he comes pick up his kids. Trying to take in the wild hair pinned up by a pencil, the glasses around big cow eyes, the tattoos peeking out of his long sleeves, the dimples.

He was aware Mrs. Wallace retired and a new teacher was brought on, he just hadn't expected his heart to race at the mere sight of him.

Steve completely misses his name, has to ask him to come again when those beautiful brown eyes get a mischievous sparkle and look expectant, like he got stood up waiting for an answer.

"I said it's nice meeting you" the new teacher repeats

"Oh! Of course! You're very nice. I mean it's very- It's nice meeting you too" Steve says and forcefully shuts his mouth, pressing his lips into a thin line.

The new teacher's smile just gets bigger and he nods and leads the kids to his class.

Robin thinks it's beyond funny that Steve doesn't know the new teacher's name, but she refuses to explain, refuses to tell him what it is and encourages him to find out on his own.

Steve approaches the guy in the teacher's lounge at lunch.

Beyond whatever the hell makes Steve's brain functions jump ship when he's around him, Steve does think it was rude of him to stare and not even introduce himself when they first met.

His mother may have been real shitty, but she didn't raise someone impolite.

"Hi," Steve starts, making the other man look up at him from underneath his glasses. Steve looks away for a second to avoid getting lost in those eyes.

"I think I owe you an apology," Steve starts, the other teacher raises his eyebrows and lowers the book in his hands.

"I'm sorry?"

"That's my line," Steve points out, he's rewarded by a small laugh and dimples, "I was rude," Steve explains, "I was staring and I didn't even introduce myself. I'm Steve." he smiles and extends his hands to the other man.

"I know." the guy says, smiling big enough to show his teeth, but gently taking Steve's hand in his own "I told you, they were nice enough to put all the names in my schedule, remember?" he says,

Steve freezes.

How come he didn't think of that? His schedule is the same, all schedules for teachers have everybodys' names. They even distributed new schedules for everyone when the hiring decision was made, Steve just hadn't bother to look at it yet, knowing the important bits hadn't changed.

Steve would facepalm if his dominant hand wasn't otherwise occupied.

"Uh-" Steve starts, thankfully the other man cuts him off,

"Hey," he says, with the kindest eyes Steve has ever seen, and still gently holding Steve's hand, "It's cool. I get it." he tells Steve,

Then he asks, "Are you a fan?"

Steve stares again.

Excuse him?

Judging by Robin's smirk accross the room, Steve's face must be as red as a ripe tomato.

Steve yanks his hand back.

Well, that's presumptuous. Just because Steve isn't very good at thinking whe he's around him, doesn't mean that- Sure, Steve came prepared to flirt with him, but he does not appreciate beaing treated like he's easy.

Steve frowns at him before turning around and promptly walking away. He guesses he'll have to go check his schedule if he wants to know the name of this jerk.

#stranger things #steve harrington #eddie munson #steddie #steddie au #steve x eddie #steveddie #steddie headcanon #. #bonus when robin meets Chrissy shes like oooooh. oh wow. love does exist #steve is that vine of the lady on the bus yanking her hand away agagshsjsksjs #sorry if this isn't at all legible. I don't know if the confusion is clear here idk idk im sleeby

[notafunkiller]

cherry

Summary: During your family getaway, things get a little messy when you meet Bucky's old friend.

Pairing: (fake) boyfriend’s brother!Bucky Barnes x female reader

Warnings: age gap (r is 26, Bucky is 38/39), teasing, pet names, language, alcohol, mentions of sex, jealousy, no mention of y/n

Word Count: 4.5K

story masterlist

Bucky Barnes masterlist

A/N: This story will have around 4 parts, this is the 2nd part.

Please, do not repost or translate without my permission!

You keep coming across each other in the morning and during dinner for the next couple of days. He’d refused the offer, you heard from Jessica. You noticed he doesn’t enjoy talking about business in general, so you never open the conversation about it.

His family is really lying to him without shame, and you can sense how cold their bond is, but what can you do? You wish he knew... you wish you could talk about it with him. If only...

That’s why you are surprised when both of your families decide to organize a getaway in Austria for the weekend, and Bucky is coming along.

Thankfully, the cabin you’re staying at has more than enough rooms even with Bucky and William’s sister there.

Rebecca is a physiotherapist, she’s thirty and she lives in France. She seems very close to Bucky. They’ve been hanging around a lot since you arrived.

You wish you could say you are close to your family. You’ve been barely speaking to your mom since this whole arrangement became a real thing. But you didn’t say even a single word to your dad. And Bucky noticed, but he didn’t comment on it even as he helped you get your luggage to your room.

“You know I could have done that myself, right?” You smile.

“No need to. Your boyfriend should have, but he’s a punk.” He shakes his head disapprovingly. “No wonder why you won’t...”

You immediately puff, anticipating what he wanted to say. Why does he want to bring that up? “What, fuck him?”

“I was gonna say share the room with him. My little brother’s sex life is none of my concern.”

You nod, all flushed. “Good. I’ll go take a shower and be right back.”

You don’t know why you tell him this because it’s not like it’s his job to inform anyone. That should be William’s, but he’s not here. And even if he were, you know you wouldn’t ask him to.

“Alright. Uhm, see you later.”

Bucky didn’t anticipate Rebecca waiting for him in the doorway of his room. She has a “I know everything” look, making him blush even though he did nothing wrong.

“How old is she?” She asks soon as Bucky closes the door.

“Who?”

“You know who, Bucky.” She jumps on his bed amused. “Your little crush.”

He puffs in response as if that’s a real answer.

“Come on, don’t be mad. It’s okay. Maybe she’ll realize she is into older guys.”

“Rebecca!”

“What?”

Bucky groans. “You are talking about our brother’s girlfriend.”

Rebecca’s eyes glow, and he has no idea what he’s just started.

“They haven’t been together long though. I doubt two people who live in different rooms-”

For some reason, he gets defensive immediately and interrupts her. “That is their choice and you should respect it.”

So it’s hers, Rebecca puts two and two together.

“You think he is that bad?” Rebecca changes the subject a bit to get more out of him, and Bucky realizes, but he can’t help but ask.

“What?”

“In bed. She seems angry all the time.”

She doesn’t remember the last time she saw her brother looking like this. This is more than a crush at this point. He’s annoyed, angry and livid, all at once.

“What? You never thought about it? Never heard them?”

“Can you go to your room now?” He snaps, trying to brush the images of you with William off his mind. It makes him sick to his stomach. “I don’t wanna talk about my little brother’s sex life!”

Rebecca laughs, walking to the door.

“You didn’t deny she’s your crush! And I didn’t even say her name, by the way.”

Shit... He didn’t even realize.  Things are going too far, he needs to snap out of it.

“Your room, Rebecca.”

“Such a bad man, mid-life crisis hitting you for two years..” She stops for a few seconds before she corrects herself with a wink. “One earlier.”

Bucky groans. “Rebecca!”

“She’s into you anyways, Buck. You’ll save him from dating or even marrying someone who doesn’t love him.”

Somehow, her words set him on fire and cool him at the same time. Rebecca is good at reading people, and he sensed something is off about you and William, too, but how can he hope... how can he think about kissing his brother’s girlfriend even after a break up?

“She was checking your ass on the stairs.” She adds with a smirk. “And it was not subtle.”

And then he’s left alone with his confusing thoughts and feelings.

*

Something’s wrong with him. He’s been completely —and obviously— avoiding you ever since he helped you with the luggage, and you wonder what you did wrong. As soon as you get inside any room he is in, he finds excuses to leave. Was your tone too rude earlier? You didn’t intend to get mad, but you couldn’t help it.

You know he is an adult, and he should be able to face you even if it bothers him, yet you can’t help but feel bad when you see him outside, in the cold.

You take the nearest blanket without thinking twice and open the door.

His head snaps in your direction, and you smile shyly, wrapping the blanket around his back.

“Don’t worry, I won’t bother you, I just came to give you this.”

His shoulders relax, and he reaches out to take your hand. “Thank you! You’re not bothering me at all. You can sit with me if you want.”

Neither of you has any idea where this came from. You thought he didn’t want to be around you, but how can you say no to this?

You sit on the chair next to him and smile when he covers you with the blanket.

“No, no. This is for you.”

“I’m not gonna let you catch a cold, love.” His voice sounds authoritative but not distant.

“Then let’s share.” You grab the end of the blanket and adjust it until you are both covered. “See? Perfect!”

After that, you’re quiet for a few seconds, trying to find the right thing to say or ask him.

“Are you alright?”

Bucky smiles. “I’m alright.”

“Well, you look alright.”

He blushes and laughs at the same time, making you giggle. He looks so adorable like this.

“Then why did you ask that?”

“To make you smile. You were quite tense.”

“When?” He tilts his head, and your shoulders touch under the blanket.

“Ever since we arrived, to be honest. Did I do anything to upset you?”

“No, love, you didn’t upset me.” He immediately assures you, but you’re not certain he’s being honest, and he senses it. “I mean it, I’m sorry if I gave you that impression and made you uncomfortable.”

It’s easy to notice when he is lying at least. He surely didn’t intend to make you feel bad, but he’s been avoiding you.

“Don’t worry about me.” You sigh. “You can just tell me next time, though. So I won’t be in your way.”

“What does that mean?” He can feel the panic rushing through his whole body.

“I mean, it’s your family, and they decided to have this random vacation. I could have stayed home.”

Not entirely true because you were asked to come along.

“Well, your family is here too, plus your boyfriend. But it’s irrelevant, anyway. I am sorry for ignoring you, I was just… consumed by my thoughts,” he says honestly, and you smile.

“It’s okay. It happens to me too.”

Especially when it comes to him.

“Why are you not with William?”

You try not to look disappointed as you answer. He has a point to ask you that. After all, William is your official boyfriend, and you two didn’t spend much time together. But you hate it anyway.

“You want me to leave, huh?”

You try to take off the blanket, but he doesn’t let you.

“No, no. Don’t go, I mean... I just expected you two to spend more time together.”

“Well, I wasn’t too keen on coming here. I have a lot of work to do on Monday, and I wanted to prepare some docs beforehand, but my parents forced me indirectly to...” Bucky snorts, amused for some reason, so you stop talking.

“You don’t like spending time with old people much, do you?”

Old people? Does he mean your parents?

“By old people you mean you?” You ask jokingly and turn to him just to see him smirking. The little beard he grew over the last few days makes him somehow even more gorgeous. He’s probably, truth be told, the most attractive man you’ve ever met.

“Yep. I’m turning thirty-nine after all.”

Holy fuck... The question is why you find this so sexy.

“That’s a very nice age,” you comment amused, playing with the edge of the blanket. “You make thirty-eight look very good.”

You don’t have to look at him to know he is smiling again. Good, he should know, and it’s not wrong to compliment someone.

“Thanks.”

You start to talk about random things shortly after: jobs, projects, random hobbies. He is shocked you enjoy origami, and you can’t believe he was in a band during high school. Well, you can imagine it, but it still surprises you. It’s comfortable and nice, but every time he calls you love, you feel yourself shivering more and more. And he senses it, immediately starting to brush your arms with his hands under the blanket.

“Maybe you should go inside.”

“No, no, I’m fine,” you protest, melting under his touch. It feels so good. “Can I ask you something?”

“I don’t know, can you?”

“Ha, funny!” You playfully roll your eyes. “Is it your parents’ anniversary or something?”

Bucky lets out a chuckle. “No, no special occasion for them. Why?”

“Saw a birthday cake...”

“It’s not for them.”

Fuck, is it William’s birthday? No way. Your parents would have told you… you wish you checked the calendar with everyone’s birthday before starting this conversation.

“Is it Rebecca’s?”

“Nope.

“Then...” You think for a little and when it hits you, you gasp. “Yours?”

“Yep.” He pauses, turning his head just enough so he can look into your eyes. “My daddification era is starting.”

Your immediate reaction is a burst of laughter as the lightheartedness of the moment caught you off guard, followed by a flush of embarrassment creeping up your cheeks. It feels like your face is on fire.

“But you’re not turning forty...” You mumble, your words barely audible. “I mean, I had no idea. I’m so, so sorry, it’s so embarrassing!”

“So no gift for me, huh?” He teases, utterly unfazed. He hadn’t expected anything at all, and seeing you blush so furiously is endearing. “I feel deeply hurt.”

Without thinking, you lightly slap his chest. “Shut up!”

“That’s not how you talk to your elders, ma’am.”

“Okay, dad,” you snort in response, but there’s a momentary pause from Bucky. He holds his breath, a flicker of different emotions crossing his face.

*

The knock on the door doesn’t wake him up, but it surprises him. He slowly drops his phone on the bed and puts on the nearest T-shirt before opening the door.

There’s no one there waiting, instead, he finds a tall cocktail glass made of paper with a note inside it. Confused, he carefully picks it up from the floor before getting back inside again.

If you don’t drink anything today, I’m gonna punish you... with my presence.

So think twice before refusing :)

Happy birthday, Mr. Barnes

*

What Bucky doesn’t expect when he gets downstairs in a great, great mood is to see you, Rebecca, and Cherry talking on the couch.

He freezes, shocked, but he doesn’t have time to recover before everyone starts to hug and wish him a happy birthday. Cherry kisses both of his cheeks and hands him a small gift, which he assumes it’s a watch based on the size.

“Surprise!”

Bucky smiles. “It’s actually a surprise, I really didn’t expect to see you here.”

“Becca said we should keep it a secret. When did I ever miss your birthday?”

He instantly looks in your direction, worried for some reason you might misunderstand this situation, but you don’t seem mad at all. And why would you? You are with his brother. You’re not his. Not even a little. Because if you were...

Rebecca smirks satisfied and hugs him too. “Happy birthday, grandpa!”

He hears you laugh, and before he can think twice about it, he sticks out his tongue playfully toward you.

“Keep it low with the flirting, will you? Your little brother is in the room,” Rebecca whispers, amused, in Bucky’s ear before letting you wish him a happy birthday.

You stop awkwardly in front of him, wondering if you should hug or kiss his cheeks.

He makes the decision for you, grabbing you by your waist and getting you closer. You open your arms and wrap them around his back, shocked, knowing how intimate the way he’s holding you might look. But you don’t care. You let yourself enjoy this as you rest your chin on top of his shoulder.

“Happy birthday, Mr. Barnes.”

“Thanks for the drink, love. The best gift I received.”

You hide your smile in his shirt.

“You haven’t even opened others yet.”

“I don’t have to.”

You bite your lip, breaking the hug before it gets too suspicious, and give him space so your mom can wish him a happy birthday.

Rebecca winks at you, which makes you even more confused, but you don’t think much about it, focusing on Bucky.

The breakfast goes well, with Bucky in the center of attention despite his obvious attempts to shift the focus to anyone else. Your parents decide to get some shopping done around lunch and get some food for all of you, so you don’t have to worry about much. William tries to do some affectionate gestures from time to time, but you ignore them as much as you can, without making it obvious. You still have to play your part.

Cherry seems like a nice girl. She’s Rebecca’s age and they met during university. They all have been friends for a couple of years, and it’s easy to see that by how comfortable they act around each other.

As they talk about some fancy place in Spain you’ve never been to, you scroll randomly on Instagram.

You decide to search Rebecca and Cherry up so you can follow them, and as you look at Rebecca’s photos, one post in particular catches your eye.

You can’t hold back your gasp, which immediately draws Bucky’s attention.

“You good?”

“Yes,” you answer absently and zoom in on the first pic. There are around ten people there, including Bucky, Rebecca, and Cherry. It’s clear they are all close, but you didn’t realize how close Bucky and Cherry are. They are sitting next to each other in almost every photo. In the second to last one, he is holding her by the waist in a very boyfriend way, which makes you close your eyes.

Of course they were a thing. Of course! And now she’s here... You feel close to crying and you don’t remember the last time you felt so stupid.

Why do you care so much? You are officially dating his brother and you’ve been just friends.

You close the app quickly and stand up, ignoring Bucky’s eyes on your back as you announce, for the sake of appearances, that you’re gonna take a nap.

You don’t let yourself tear up until you close the door.

What if they hook up again here? What if you’ll hear them?

Jesus, anything but that! You couldn’t bear it... You’d be sick for real.

*

You don’t go down for lunch. Your mom comes a few times to check on you, then William, then your mom again with lunch.

You feel hurt and annoyed with yourself. You can’t act like a kid all the time, so when Rebecca comes to check on you, you decide to go downstairs with her.

Bucky looks at you immediately, concerned and confused, but you don’t let your eyes linger too much on him, especially since he is sitting next to Cherry. You drop onto the couch, next to William, and he smiles.

“Feeling better?”

“Much!” You lie, but you do it well enough not to get questioned.

“So now that we’re all here, can we see the surprise, Buck?” Rebecca asks excitedly.

You watch Bucky get up without saying anything, and everyone stays quiet until he returns with a tray full of drinks. He keeps one to himself and takes another one that looks like a cherry mocktail while everyone else hurries up to take one of the drinks. Bucky heads toward you with a smile. “I guess I am not as rusty as I told you last night.”

You know exactly what he means: his first job was as a bartender. He shared stories with you about glasses he broke in the first month, but how he learned, yet it’s been years since he’s made a drink.

You can’t deny the drink looks tempting, especially with your penchant for cherries, but the mere thought of sipping it turns your stomach. “Thanks, but I can’t drink this.”

Bucky raises his eyebrows, the wrinkles on his forehead becoming more pronounced. “What’s wrong? Still feeling sick?”

“No, I just hate cherries. I can’t drink it,” you lie in a disgusted tone, keeping your eyes on the table.

“Do you want me to make you another one?” He asks immediately, surprised because he saw you eating cherries before. Why would you hate them all of a sudden?

Cherry herself is walking toward you with Rebecca, so in a moment of madness, you extend your hand. “Can I taste yours?”

Bucky nods, and you immediately take the glass from his hand and take a sip.

It tastes okay, but it’s not your favorite, for sure.

“Thanks, but I’m okay.”

“Is it bad? Should I-”

“I’m fine, enjoy your drinks, Bucky. It’s your birthday.” You try to sound as casual as possible. “Gonna get some wine.”

“Wine?” Your mom's surprise is evident in her voice. “Since when do you drink wine?”

“Special occasion. My brother-in-law,” You have to force the words out of your mouth without choking. “Is turning thirty-nine.”

You haven't even gotten tipsy until now, so the half glass of wine, combined with the lack of a proper lunch, makes you feel a bit dizzy. Rebecca immediately catches on and nudges Bucky, who’s been on the edge all night, to help you. William and your parents have already gone to their rooms.

You’re half asleep when you feel Bucky’s arms wrapping around your waist, causing you to open your eyes in shock.

“What are you doing? Let me down.” Your face makes contact with his chest as you speak.

“I’m taking you to bed.”

You snort immediately, letting him climb the stairs with you in his arms. “You can’t take me to bed, silly. Go back to your p-pretty... friend.”

“I’m carrying my pretty friend right now.”

“Smooth talker.” You sigh when he opens the door. “Not me.”

“Who do you mean then, love?” He helps you sit on the bed, and you instinctively reach for his hand, running your fingers along it. His skin feels remarkably soft and warm. You don’t remember the last time you found hands attractive. Or veins. At least, not like this…

Deep down, you know you never stood a chance anyway. Even if you weren’t officially with William, you’re far from Bucky’s type. Cherry, from what you've observed, is an amazing woman, and you can admit that he has great taste.

He probably sees you as too young for him, perhaps even as a little girl. 

You scrunch your nose, and Bucky sits on the bed too since you won’t let go of his hand. He allows himself to enjoy this fleeting moment for a few seconds, aware that it won’t last. This won't hurt anyone, right?

“She’s so pretty and nice, I get it.”

“Get what, love? And who is pretty?” He lets you take his other hand too as he gently asks.

“Cherry.” You sigh, tapping his palms with yours lightly. “I guess she came here to win you back. And I understand. But like... you’d be wasted,” you complain, grabbing his face all of a sudden.

Bucky leans in instantly, closing his eyes.

“If something didn’t work once, why would it work now?” You stroke his beard gently, taking your time. “I mean, sometimes it does, but I can’t see it happening for you. You’re old,” you laugh, making him laugh too.

“I’m old?”

“Ihm, you are. The daddification era looks good on you.”

Bucky’s mind is racing now. From your touch to your words... he feels weak.

“Thank you, love. But how do you know about Cherry?”

“Saw some photos on Instagram this afternoon. You looked gorgeous and all over each other,” you bite your lip, unable to stop touching him. Even if he doesn’t belong to you...

“It wasn’t like that. It wasn’t serious, love.” He brings his hand to your face too, caressing your cheeks, which only makes you giggle.

“Hmm?”

“We’ve been friends for ages and we just had some... fun for a little while, but it wasn’t a relationship.”

You puff. “That is a form of relationship too! And maybe she wants you now.”

“I doubt that. But even if she did, I don’t want her like that, okay?”

“But she’s so pretty and funny,” you add, surprised.

“Many women are. But I told you, there is nothing like that.” His tone is serious, but you can’t understand.

“But you had sex with her,” you point out, visibly upset. You hate that even though it’s silly.

“O-kay, you need to get some sleep.”

You move your hand down to stroke his chin. “I’m serious, you’re...” You find yourself glancing down to his lap for a brief moment. Although you can't see anything, you just know it’s big. “A whole package. Don’t waste yourself.”

“You think I want Cherry?”

You don’t understand the surprise in his voice. Why wouldn’t he want her? If he wanted her once...

“You’re so confusing,” you murmur, and your eyes fall on his bottom lip the moment he licks it. It’d be nice to feel how soft it is. His mouth seems so soft and wet, and you bet he knows how to use his tongue. Ah... “You wanted to have sex with her, but you wouldn’t want anything with her now?”

Bucky smiles widely, surprised by your interest in his past. He knows it’s silly, especially since you are with William for some reason and he’s pushing forty, for fuck’s sake, but he can’t help himself.

“It was only for a summer.”

“Is this what you do with everyone?” He gasps when he feels the tips of your fingers on his lips as you speak.

“W-why?”

“Don’t waste yourself, okay, pretty boy? They don’t deserve you.”

Bucky literally chokes, completely taken aback.

“What?” He gently grabs your chin. “Who doesn’t deserve me? Cherry?”

“All of them.” You yawn, trying to keep your eyes open. “You deserve a better family.”

You’re so sad for him. They’re lying to him, and he’s so lonely.

Bucky’s confused but also touched by your words. You probably noticed how tense his relationship is with his parents, and you paying attention to that gets him emotional.

“We all do. But right now, you need to rest.”

“Don’t go to her tonight, okay?”

“Jesus, princess.” He strokes your cheek gently, and you giggle for a second.

“I’m not a princess. But please don’t do it. I can’t hear it…”

“Hear what?”

In response, you clap your hands together three times, mimicking the sound of skin slapping. “Please.”

“You mean sex?”

“Duh! At least...” You shake your head, trying to fight tears. You don’t want to cry. “Not tonight. I don’t want to hear it.”

Bucky sighs. He’s already told you he isn’t going to, but you mean sex now, and he wants to make that aspect clear too.

“I am not going to be with Cherry in any way, okay, princess? You won’t hear a thing because there isn’t a thing going on, alright?”

You nod happily and giggle. “Yes, sir.” You move your hand to your forehead, imitating a military gesture.

“Wow, such a good girl,” he snorts. “I expect this attitude from you tomorrow too, love.”

You roll your eyes, still in a good mood. “I’m sleepy, go away.”

“After you made demands about my sex life?” Bucky laughs. “Should I make demands about yours?”

“Go away!”

“Oh wait, there’s no sex li-” You hit him with the nearest pillow you find before he can finish his sentence.

“Augh! So aggressive.” He leaves the room still giggling.

*

You wake up in the morning feeling well-rested, without any headache or stomach ache. You can’t believe how embarrassing you acted toward Bucky. Like who are you to ask him not to sleep with someone? You wonder how he hasn’t told you to fuck off already.

He’s so kind, and here you are, lying to him, just like the rest of the family. Just like William. You’re deceiving him… 

Even if he was into you after all, you lying to him like this would ruin any potential relationship before it even begins.

You need to stay away from him.

Packing doesn’t take as long as you anticipated. William helps you get your bag in the car, and your family makes sure to remind you to be a good girl as if you are a naughty kid being left with a new nanny.

As much as you avoided Bucky until then, you can’t help but stare at him as Cherry hugs him. Indeed, there is nothing but friendliness all over his face, and you wonder if this is how it’d be if you fucked him —in another universe. You’d still be his friend? You cannot understand this. Not even a little.

Unfortunately, you don’t notice Rebecca looking at you until it’s too late. As she hugs you goodbye, her words make you freeze.

“Take care of yourself, and please don’t play with both of my brothers’ hearts.”

The shame floods your entire body, overwhelming you. You rush to the bathroom to splash water on your face, attempting to hide the tears staining your cheeks.

You fucked up really badly.

Tags:

@charmedbysarge @identity2212 @vicmc624 @cjand10 @mayusenpai666 @abitofblues

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #boyfriend's brother!bucky #boyfriend's brother!bucky barnes #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes au #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes smut #marvel fanfic #marvel fanfiction #bucky fanfiction #my stories #my fanfics #sebastian stan #fake dating

[roguerogerss]

complaining

pairing: coriolanus snow x reader

w/c: 3.6k

warnings: literally full on SMUT, bit of swearing, underage drinking but only if ur american, coriolanus is a warning in himself.

a/n: help my smut writing has gotten so good the past few months this popped off so hard. been obsessed with coryo since the movie came out (you cant expect a mentally ill woman not to fall in love with him. you just cant.) so here’s this. i’m disgusted by myself too. bye. (requests r open, send me stuff here)

-

Livia Cardew's 18th birthday had been a mistake to attend. The party had been held at Pluribus Bell's nightclub, a place in which you only found yourself when you made an appearance at your friend's birthday parties, and the entire club had been packed, not only with Livia's family and your classmates from the academy, but with their friends and families, too.

Overall, there must've been three hundred people there, all tightly packed together, some drunkenly pressed against eachother, dancing, others swaying silently by the bar or stood by one of the table booths, yelling in eachother's ears to get their points across. You thought that, of the three hundred, you might only have known thirty.

Livia, unfortunately, considered you as a close friend, which was certainly true when you were young children, but, as the years had gone by, you'd actually found her, and most of the other girls in your class, to be almost insufferable. Nevertheless, you'd managed to land yourself an invitation to her family's mansion before the party had started, and you'd pretended to be having a good time, even although the crystal glasses that you were drinking from and the buffet that Mrs Cardew had set out on the gold-trimmed marble dining table, had settled a queasy feeling into the pit of your stomach.

The only other face in the Cardew's enormous living room that wasn't constantly grinning, was Crassus Snow's own son, Coriolanus, who you'd make eye contact with on occasion, and he'd send a small, knowing smile, and an eye roll back in your direction.

You liked Coriolanus, a lot, actually, you considered him to be your best friend, sometimes you even dabbled with boyfriend. But your classmates couldn't know that, simply down to the type of bond that you shared, and so, after every bout of eye contact, every blush-inducing smile, you'd simply turned your body away, back to Clemensia, or Livia, or Arachne, and waited for the next time you'd catch Coriolanus' eye. Of course, he was almost always staring - he thought you were the only thing in the room worth looking at - even while speaking to his fellow classmates, and so, every time you turned around, you'd repeat the process over again.

"Are you even listening to me?" Arachne would say, voice as booming as ever, and Livia would intervene, calling your name to have you rejoin the conversation.

The party had been terrible to begin with, the opulent nature of the Cardew household having you feeling sick, right from the get-go, and had only gotten worse when you'd all left and gotten into chauffeur-driven cars to be taken to the nightclub. You'd been sweaty just looking at the crowd when you arrived, and saying hello to classmates that you didn't like but had to pretend to for the social status of it all had exhausted you even further.

But the night had ended the same way it always did, with you leading Coriolanus Snow back to your apartment, hands loosely intertwined with eachother.

You and Coriolanus lived in much the same circumstances, both in the same apartment building, where the exterior and most of the homes inside were packed with marble and precious stone, the two of yours being an exception to this.

You'd both come from rich families, of course you had, this was the Capitol after all, but, after being orphaned in the war, you lived alone, in an apartment that seemed to have crumbled more every time you arrived home, with pieces of plaster falling from the ceiling day by day, and new cracks appearing in the walls as often as every hour.

Coriolanus was only slightly better off than you were, what with Tigris and the Grandma'am still living with him.

Ever since the war, you'd been on eachother's side, no matter the circumstance. If either of you had chance to sneak food from the dining hall of the academy, you'd share it between you, and if there ever came a cold winter, Coriolanus would invite you over, and let you share the scarce warm clothes and blankets he and his family owned, topped with a bowl of cabbage soup from Tigris.

You supposed your sleeping together after the very occasional night at Pluribus' nightclub had come naturally, and the sleeping together most every night for the past few months had been only the normal progression. You didn't mind it, but, of course, no one at the academy was ever to find out. It would only spark rumours, which would certainly mean that, soon enough, your classmates would find out about both of your financial positions, which could absolutely not happen.

Your nights together remained simply intimacy in the dark, and you supposed you were both okay with that.

Coryo had his first two fingers interlocked with your last two, and your arms swung between you as you walked ahead of him. Neither of you were particularly drunk, a personal choice rather than an inability, as Livia's parents had paid Pluribus Bell extra for their daughter's party to feature an open bar, which could've been taken full advantage of by the pair of you, considering you'd never have enough money to even get into Pluribus' normally, nevermind buy enough drinks to make you both feel lightheaded.

But the Cardew's were high up in the Capitol, and Livia's entire family was in attendance, which meant that, with them, came the rich and famous, government officials, celebrities. The two of you, not having rich parents to fall back on, couldn't risk getting blackout drunk. It was the kind of thing that was funny if you were affluent enough, but embarrassing and ill-mannered if you weren't.

"You know," Coriolanus gave your arm a particularly hard swing, "I think we're getting pretty good at that."

"Good at what?"

"The whole, pretending we don't really know eachother, thing."

You scoffed and turned your body slightly to face him. "We don't pretend we don't know eachother."

"Well, whatever you'd call it. Pretending we're just acquaintances?" Coriolanus moved his tongue around in his mouth a little, mulling over the words like he'd only been asking himself the question. And then he gave his head a shake. "No, we're definitely pretending that we don't know eachother."

"It was your idea." You shrugged. Your conversations seemed to often be pointed, but it was all in good spirits. You knew that you loved eachother really.

"I'm not saying it wasn't." You laughed at his remark, "I'm saying we're good at it."

"And you're happy to do it?" You raised an eyebrow at him and he shook his head almost too enthusiastically. Maybe the posca was stronger than you'd thought.

"Not particularly, but if it means that this keeps happening, and you keep sharing the food that you steal from the hall, then I could keep going." Your mouth fell open in feigned hurt, and you clamped a hand over your chest.

"You're only sleeping with me for stolen leftovers?"

Coriolanus shook his head and grinned at your joke, looking down at his feet, which were aching with how tight his boots were. "I'm kidding, obviously. Of course I don't like it, but you know what everyone's like."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't hurt to be friends in public." You swung your hands between you for a few seconds while Coriolanus considered your proposal. You were nearing your apartment, and you fumbled in your coat pocket with one hand for your key-card.

"No. No it probably wouldn't." He said finally and you gasped.

"Are you agreeing with me for once?" You'd reached your apartment complex, now, and the LED lights on the archway into the building were almost blinding when paired with the crystal chandeliers that lined the lobby. The pair of you began climbing the marble staircase that brought you to your apartment, which was situated on the second floor. You always found it almost comical, how the Capitol had kept it's glory in apartment buildings but that the people housed within some of them were one missed rent payment away from eviction.

"I always agree with you." Coriolanus laughed, giving your hand a tight squeeze. You pressed your keycard against the lock-pad and, the second the door buzzed open, you'd untangled your hand from Coriolanus' to undo the buckle on your too-high heels which had once belonged to your mother, who's feet were only one size bigger than yours and so you were able to just about get away with wearing her old, but still stylish, shoes.

"Only when we sleep together." You gave him a seductive wink which had him laughing.

"Which seems to be more often than not these past few months." Coriolanus took off his blazer and tossed it over your tattered sofa, which was beautiful in it's glory days, but was now cracked and moulting.

Your face had broken into a cheeky smirk as you approached him, your back still to the door as he faced you. "Are you complaining, Snow?"

In one, swift movement, Coryo had backed you into the door and had one hand on your waist, the other above your head. He cocked an eyebrow at you in a way that had you weak in the knees, "Do I seem like I'm complaining?"

"I'm not sure, pretty boy, you'll have to do better than that." Your smirk was still present, and, without hesitation, Coriolanus' lips were crashing down onto your own, with just as much hunger for you as you were used to.

He moved fast, he always did, and he'd removed your coat from your shoulders and thrown it to the floor without even a second thought, and was now twirling the straps of your dress between his fingers teasingly. Your hands roamed his chest, blindly searching for the buttons of his shirt, and, when you found them, you fumbled with them until you'd undone them all, and then you pulled it from his arms, so that he was in nothing but his father's old black slacks.

Your dress was Livia's - you'd told her you just couldn't decide what to wear, and she'd offered it up - and it was huge and puffy and made you vaguely resemble a cupcake, and so, when Coryo's fingers finally slipped under the straps and began peeling them down your shoulders, you felt an incredible sense of relief to finally be out of the thing.

When you'd stepped out of the dress, Coriolanus almost dropped it on the floor, but you stopped him, "Ah, ah! That's Livia's, I can't get it ruined. Her father would probably skin me to make a new one. Can you put it over the sofa?"

He laughed and obliged, he always did, draping the dress neatly over the arm of the sofa before coming back to kiss you, this time even rougher than before. His lips trailed down your neck, hands roamed your body, fingers familiarising themselves with the black lacy set you'd worn under your dress, the only reason being that you knew Coriolanus would be the one taking it off of you that night.

He pulled back from you for a second, admiring your form, how your waist dipped in and you curved back out at the hips, how perfectly the bra sat on your chest, and, most of all, how you were all for him in that moment, how you seemed to always be all for him. "Oh my God." Was all he seemed to be able to muster.

The underwear had actually been stolen from a boutique near your house, one owned by Coriolanus' own cousin's boss. But you figured he didn't need to know that.

Coryo's head had dropped to your collarbone, and his lips travelled all the way across your chest, occasionally sucking or biting, which had your breath hitching in the back of your throat. "You're taking your time tonight." You observed.

"Mm." He hummed against you and then brought his head up so that his icy blue eyes were staring straight into yours, "Do I still seem like I'm complaining?"

"Oh, shut up, Snow." You giggled and grabbed the back of his neck, pulling him back down to kiss you again. Coriolanus seemed satisfied with his teasing of you, because his hands had started to travel south, until his lithe fingers had pushed your underwear to the side and he'd pressed one of them inside of you, earning a mewl of approval and making your back arch away from the door.

Coriolanus chuckled against your lips. "Every time."

"Again," You tried to sound convicted but whined when the tip of his finger brushed against a sensitive spot, "Shut up, Snow."

Your hands reached for his belt and he didn't stop you as you made quick work of unbuckling it and pulling it from his belt loops. As soon as it was on the floor, the button on his pants was undone and they were on the floor, too.

"Eager." Coryo remarked and you moaned as he added a second finger and increased his pace. Normally, by this point, he'd have you on your bed, or at least the sofa, but it seemed he wanted things to be different tonight.

As soon as a third finger found it's way inside of you, you were a moaning, whining mess, and your teeth sunk into Coriolanus' shoulder as you tried to stifle your whimpers. Your knees had started to buckle and you knew your legs would give way any moment now. "Coryo...Coriolanus, I can't...I can't stand up." You were so breathless that even trying to get a sentence out was next to impossible.

Coryo's free hand held you steady by the waist, fingers gripping your back and thumb pressed firmly into your stomach. "You can take it, honey. Know you can."

His words had you melting and you felt yourself nearing the edge as he curled his fingers inside of you. "Coryo, I'm gonna...God, you have to stop-"

"I'm not stopping. Want you to finish on my fingers before I fuck you." He'd never spoken so lewdly to you, ever, and it had you wondering what had gotten into him, at the same time as it had you clenching around him.

"Coryo!" You called out as you felt yourself getting there. "Fuck, Coryo-"

"I know, baby. I know, come on." He looked you right in the eye as he said, "Cum for me."

That was all you needed, you came undone right there, pressed against your apartment door, moaning so loudly you were certain that Tigris and the Grandma'am would hear you, ten floors up. You, once again, sunk your teeth into his shoulder to try to quiet yourself, but it was hardly of any use.

Your legs had given out halfway through your orgasm, and Coriolanus' hand had dug into your waist harder to keep you held up. When you'd finished, he grinned at you, breathless, and scooped you up with minimal effort, only to dump you onto the sofa. His underwear was gone in seconds, and you were still wearing your set, but he was hovering over you, seemingly ready to sink into you and make you feel even better than before.

His lips found your neck again, and he was saying right in your ear, "You did so well, sweetheart. So well."

He was one for praising, and you were one for receiving, so it only made your pupils dilate even further. "Are you ready?"

His eyes were locked onto yours, fingers wrapped around your chin, always so caring, whether he'd just finger-fucked you against a door or not, always making sure you really wanted it. You nodded, "Yes. Ready."

"Okay." He kissed you again, "Let me know if you need to stop, yeah?"

"I will. You know I always do." He'd pushed your underwear aside again, and slipped into you with a slight effort in no time, which really reinforced his, 'sleeping together more often than not', statement, as it had taken at least a few minutes and some words of encouragement the first couple of times.

You gasped and dug your nails into his back, which had Coriolanus' face screwing up slightly. He'd always liked when you dug your nails into him, the pain feeling more pleasurable than anything. "You feel amazing. You always feel amazing." His hands found your breasts, squeezing them through the sheer lace.

"Do you want me to take my underwear off?" You asked through breathy moans. Coryo shook his head quickly and kissed over your bra.

"No." He said, almost authoratively, and thrusted into you harder, faster, as his hand wandered over your body and his eyes raked over you. "Want it on."

You nodded and obeyed, unable to do anything but almost scream his name, with how fast, and rough he was pounding into you. "Coryo, I'm getting close again-"

"You can hold it." He threw his head back in pleasure and a guttural moan left his throat. "I'm nearly there too. Can't hold it, seeing you like this." He gestured to your underwear.

"You like it?" You asked seductively, earning another moan and a nod from Coriolanus. "Got it for you, wore it tonight for you. Knew you'd like it."

"Fuck, who's all this for?" You knew he was close now, could feel him twitching inside of you. You were close too, but you liked the hold you had over him.

"Sorry, I'm not sure what you mean." You teased, still breathless but with a smirk on your face. Coryo shook his head at you, convincingly disapproving, and then his hand was on your throat. Lightly enough that it didn't hurt, but just hard enough that your breathing was slightly laboured and he had more power over you than you had over yourself.

"Who is this for?" Coriolanus asked again, voice harder this time. You weren't sure where this was all coming from, but you certainly enjoyed it. You were cocky at the best of times, and you liked having someone keep you in check.

"You, Coriolanus." He groaned and thrusted into you so hard you were seeing stars. "Fuck, Coryo, it's all for you. I'm always all for you."

"Good girl. That's a good girl, all mine." He gave your throat a light squeeze and then released you, leaving you gasping for air. "Shit. Gonna cum." He dropped his head again, still unrelenting in his pace or roughness. "Are you there?"

"I'm there too." Your moans were strangled, so loud you could hardly even quiet yourself by clamping a hand over your mouth. "God, Coryo!"

You came for the second time, Coryo following right behind you, and you felt his load come out in ropes inside of you, only making your high even higher. Coryo collapsed on top of you, both of you breathing heavily and bodies shaking together. "That was amazing, Coryo." You cooed, hand stroking his white-blonde curls back from his forehead.

"Might've been the best we've had." Coriolanus was so out of breath he could barely form a full sentence. You hummed in response, nodding your head and then letting it fall back against the arm of the sofa.

"So you liked this?" You teased, plucking your bra strap from your skin and then letting it ping back on you. Coryo's face turned a light pink colour and he laughed.

"So what if I did?" He lifted his head, chin resting against your belly, "I liked it, a lot. Think you're beautiful. You know that."

You nodded. "I do."

Coryo shook his head, really laughing now, "There's the arrogance."

"Arrogance? You live in the Capitol, Coryo, there's many more arrogant than me." You hadn't stopped stroking his head, and Coriolanus thought he could've fallen asleep, your voice always calmed him, someone safe, and the added touch and his physical exertion made sleeping sound even more appealing.

"I'm kidding. You are beautiful, you should know that." His voice was soft, quiet, and you were glad that his eyes were closed, because your cheeks felt warm and you were certain you were blushing. "Do you think we should start acting like we know eachother?"

"I'd like that." You admitted. "Should we introduce ourselves? Maybe tell eachother two truths and a lie?"

"You know what I mean." Coryo finally stood from where he'd been laid, between your thighs, and gave you a kiss on the forehead as he bent down to retrieve his discarded clothing. You sat up aswell, fixed out your underwear, and reached for your dress. "I'd like people to know that I know you."

"In this kind of way?" You gestured to both of your nakedness as Coryo pulled his underwear back on. Your cheeky grin was back, the one he loved so much. Your constant teasing made it hard to know whether or not the pair of you were actually in love or just best friends sleeping together, but Coryo didn't mind too much, as long as he had you, he was happy.

"Maybe this can wait until we've passed first base in public. Cant skip straight to fourth, you know?" You'd put your dress back on by now, and Coryo had just finished zipping his trousers and was fussing over his hair. You crossed the room to him, and his hands settled on your waist and he pressed a small, fleeting kiss to the tip of your nose.

"Oh, that would be dastardly." You checked the time on your mothers watch, which you still had encircled around your wrist.

"Pluribus' doesn't close for another two hours, should we go back?"

#coriolanus snow smut #coriolanus snow x reader #coryo snow #coryo x reader #the hunger games #the hunger games ballad of songbirds and snakes #tbosas #coriolanus snow

[targaryenluvs]

The crows are highly overprotective of child reader?

Little Crow

platonic crows x child!reader, kaz brekker x child!reader

mentions of y/n, seen as a girl - i made this in the middle of the night man it might not make sense at times - zemeni reader so dark skin, brown eyes and hair etc

It was hard living on the streets of Ketterdam.

No one bothered to look twice at you. Those who did would toss a coin your way and continue on, proud of themselves for helping a child.

Your parents were long gone, having dumped you on the step of an orphanage, two months shy of your first birthday. You were ten now, kicked out of your orphanage for starting fights which usually were just self defence.

There was an underground fighting ring that Ms Andero, the mistress of the Orphanage was more than willing to put you in, for a good price as well as punishment for the ‘trouble’ you caused. You ran away before she had the chance.

Two years on the streets had toughened you up for sure but you would do anything for a hot meal.

That’s why when the Crow Club opened up for a job specialising in information you did everything you could to get it. They were looking for someone female preferably, small and under thirty.

A very odd set of requirements but then again you wouldn’t want someone blowing their hip out after getting caught eavesdropping.

So you did your best to clean up, and you were on your way.

A sweet guy was waiting at the club, with a Zemeni man that looked bored beyond doubt. “Why are we stuck with hiring new recruits? Any of the dregs could’ve done it.”

The smaller boy looked up and smiled, “Because you kept hassling Kaz about getting a cat Jes.” The darker skinned man chuckled, “It was a cute cat, it looked exactly like Kaz. Just more smiley.” The two laughed as you slowly approached, “Who are you?” ‘Jes’ asked. “Uh I heard that there was a job open here?”

“Aren’t you a bit young?” You frowned, feeling rejection coming your way. “I uhm, I just really want a job. I’m fast! I’m super smart, I can jump roofs like realllly far. I can do anything and I’m so small people forget I’m around.”

“What do you think Wylan?”

“I think she’s pretty good for the job, no one would suspect someone so cute and innocent. Men are stupid and never suspect anything besides other men.” A woman spoke up from behind you.

You quickly stepped back, a bit frightened.

“Oh no, I didn’t mean to startle you. I’m Nina. What’s your name?” You meekly smiled, “Uhm Y/n.” “Well Y/n, you are hired.”

The first few days were daunting. You’d never imagined yourself stable nor with your own room. It was small, but you were grateful for anything. What you were yet to do was meet “The Boss” as Jesper liked to say.

But when you did you were met with a harsh, scary contorted version of a smile which made you want to run all the way back up to your room.

“I told you he’d scare her.” Inej whispered to no one in particular. You looked back at Nina but she only egged you on.

You slid into the booth and smiled, placing the parchment in your hands on the table.

“It’s nice to meet you Mr Brekker.”

“You have good information, you never get caught. You’re small and easy to conceal. As long as you don’t cause me or any one else trouble you can stay. Continue to clean up after yourself you are not my responsibility.” He spoke quickly whilst receiving a harsh glare from Inej, Jes and Nina.

“I always clean up after myself, I cook for myself and dress myself I’m completely independent you’ll have no problems from me Mr-”

“Kaz.”

“What?” He looked up from the floor, “You can call me Kaz. Not Mr Brekker, you make me feel twenty years older.”

“Okay. I uhm I found out about a heist and it’s fully planned out. I also may or may not have broken into someone’s office and stolen all of the plans for the heist and its right there.” You said sliding it over to Kaz, “They said it was for someone called Pekky? Pekka?”

Kaz looked at you straight away, “Are you sure? Where was the office?”

“Uhm across the street from that place everyone here hates. Golden Lions.”

Nina leaned in and whispered, “Dime Lions.”

“Dime Lions!”

For a second you swore you saw a smile or a smirk which was more fitting to the ‘Bastard of the Barrel’.

“You might just be a good addition to us, Inej can teach you more. Everyone be here by night, we’ll go over the plan. Be ready. Always be ready.”

Over the next few months you felt content. You were forever grateful you had the bravery (or so you called it) to take the initiative to go for the job in the first place and you ended up with an amazing family. You even managed to break ice with Kaz and he no longer labeled you “child.”

You’d become as great with your skills as Inej from constant training. You’d learnt to pick locks from Kaz, you loved sitting in on Wylan’s terrorism lessons, Jes even let you touch his revolvers after weeks of bugging, Nina taught you about her Grisha powers and different languages and Matthias taught you about Fjerda.

You finally felt confident enough with yourself to go out on a heist with everyone after begging Kaz to let you come. You’d originally wanted to break in and scout the place with Inej but Kaz shot the idea down quickly. It irked you. Did he think you were a liability? Not good enough?

Soon you’d learn it was the opposite.

You had been appointed to the role of lookout. Perched upon a nearby roof with Wylan, Jes would prove as a distraction, Inej would break in at the time and Kaz was inside, scouring the ballroom for a certain George Pell. The second his men approach with the problem of the breach he was to alert Jes, Jes would protect Inej, the two of them would make their escape as Wylan and you would let the bombs go off, giving Kaz his escape with all the other Lords and Ladies.

It was perfect, until it wasn’t.

For starters the security was 3x what had first been reported. Second of all a certain Pekka Rollins was in attendance. Kaz had made the mistake of not looking over the attendance list, mostly because it was an open invitation to the wealthy and no black list was in existence. Third of all, Inej had fallen sick, an infection of a wound.

Which meant you would be taking her place. Kaz had scoured the Dregs for anyone who could take her place but no one could compare to your skills as well as Inej’s.

“When you hear the bombs go off I’ll be at the door, you’ll know who I am because?”

“Secret code.”

“Good. Once you hear it, let me in, and we’ll go out the way we came in. We run back to the rendezvous spot and wait for the place to die down before making our way back. It’s important no one sees your face, this plan relies on anonymity. Pekkas men see us? We’re done for. Understand?”

“Got it Jes.”

“Atta girl.” He laughed as he ruffled your hair.

The two of you were perched on the roof, waiting for Wylans signal that Kaz had made it in. The flashing light had the two of you moving in.

As you lowered yourselves in you heard an explosion which had the two of you drop to the floor. Jes had knocked over a display. Which caused a guard to bang on the door, “Who’s in there?” She asked.

Jesper grabbed your arm as the two of you hid behind the door, as she entered Jesper shot her point blank. As you looked towards the necklace you were meant to grab.

Jesper dragged her body to the side and looked out the door before closing it. “We need to hurry this up, I don’t like this night. This mission seems off.” You nodded as you picked the lock to the cabinet. The glass seemed to be Durast made, trying to shatter the glass and attract more attention seemed stupid and you were sure the glass would be hard to break.

You heard a pop and you carefully opened the cabinet to extract the necklace. The best way to steal something in your mind was to act as if you already owned it. Before putting it on you hastily grabbed a nearby gown and put it on, to play the part of course. Not because it was absolutely breathtaking. You quickly clipped the necklace on and asked Jesper if he could change it somehow in size or colour.

“I- what? I can’t I’m not-”

“Jesper don’t act dumb. I’m ten not stupid.”

He laughed, not as big and sweet as usual but still. “Why do you hide it?” “I, I don’t know. I just feel people would treat me differently.” You hugged him as he stumbled back. “I love you no matter what Jes. If anyone says anything I’ll stab them.”

He smiled as he wrapped his arms around you, “That’s good to know, no one will come after me if I have a big scary protector.” You withdrew, with a faked look of shock, “I’m not scary!”

“I detest. You scare me every day. With your little knives and intelligent self you put us all to shame.” As you were about to respond you heard shouts and screams, indicating it was your time to go. As the two of you returned to the skylight you came down from you saw three men inspecting the rope you used to repel downwards. “There! Bloody criminals!”

The two of you ran towards the open doors, to be met with guards rushing at you from both ways. “Shit, what now?” You spied a door in-front and grabbed his hand as you rushed towards it.

You were met with a stampede of people trying to exit the buildings. You both ran into the crowds, hoping to blend in, which you did successfully. As you rushed out your dress got caught on something. By the time you freed yourself the ballroom was empty and Jesper was nowhere in sight.

You were captured within seconds, and you decided to not fight until you were locked up or alone. It would give you time to put your thoughts together, but you didn’t get the chance since you were promptly knocked out with a punch to the face.

You woke up in a bedroom, shackled to the bed. Your dress and hair was the same and thankfully the necklace was still on. The distorted shape hid its real size and original self. You looked around and realised it was still nighttime. But you couldn’t tell if it was the same day or not. As you inspected the shackle you realised the lock was simple. One of the many locks Kaz had you practice with.

You took the lock pick you kept in your boot out and began. Under a minute the lock was off, Kaz would be proud, or happy or whatever emotions he can feel. You thought.

You looked around the room and notice a small window, higher up, letting the moonlight bleed into the room. There was a bucket on the side, next to the door and you shuddered to think of what it was used or intended for. You were hot, the room was small and cramped, much more so than your room at the Slat. You quickly undressed, much more comfortable in your normal shirt, vest and pants. You tied your hair up and slipped the necklace into a hidden pocket. Before making your way to the bucket, placing it on the bed and hoisting your self up to the window.

You weren’t high up, one storey it seemed and you could make the jump most likely but you didn’t want to leave anything up to chance. You used the sewer pipe and uneven bricks to climb down into the alley. You ducked behind a bunch of crates as you noticed a guard walking past. Once he was gone you ran.

As fast as possible, you made your way down the surprisingly empty streets. Richer homes, light lamps still on, cafés with an abundance of flowers out front.

You were in a nicer area obviously.

After running for what felt like forever before you entered familiar waters. As the Crow Club came into view you ran faster than before, your legs ached but you were so close. You weren’t going to stop until you knew you were safe.

You barrelled through the doors and ended up on the floor as you heard people make their way over to you.

“Saints Y/n you scared us to death. We thought they got you.” Inej said as she hugged you tightly. You scoffed, “Please I’m the fastest person in the Barrel, you honestly thought their fat asses would get me?” She smiled as someone spoke up.

“Well they obviously did. Look at you.”

Kaz spoke as he rose from the booth, leaning heavily on his cane. “All the Dregs are looking for you. I’m so sorry Y/n/n I should’ve kept you in front of me. Look what they did to you.” Jesper frowned as he took your hands, getting you up from the floor.

“It’s okay I’m okay.”

“Both of you, go grab Nina from the Slat.”

“But-”

“Now.” The two looked at each other, Jesper shrugged as Inej sighed, she knew better than to press Kaz, especially when he was in a bad mood.

“I knew you weren’t ready.” He said as he approached you. “Hey, I am ready. Everyone makes mistakes Kaz. Nothing goes exactly to plan, otherwise there wouldn’t have been a plan B, or C or-”

“You could’ve been seriously hurt, or injured. I don’t need a liability on the team, someone I have to constantly worry about.”

“Aw, you worry about me?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Sure sure Kazzle. As much as you hate to admit you have a soft spot for me. I’m not a liability and you know it. I can handle my own, I just need more training. Plus the plan was already awry before I got nabbed. Wylan already had bombs going off the second Jes and I were inside.”

“He was ambushed. The light wasn’t mean to go off, you were meant to wait until all the guards were drawn away, busy directing the guests inside. Then you were supposed to go in, come out the same way. If George was alerted I’d let Wylan know and Wylan would draw their attention with the bombs. He was fighting someone off and turned the lantern on accidentally. The bomb as well.”

“See? We’re only human.”

“It was a stupid plan, not only did we all blow our covers but Pekka saw me. Now the Stadwatch will come around with accusations but nothing solid. You were taken for hours, beaten and on top of it all we didn’t get what we wanted.” Kaz spoke as he turned and made his way up the stairs as you followed.

“Oh didn’t we?” He was about to open his room when he turned sharply. “Y/n.” You giggled before taking the necklace out, “I know it looks a little funny but it’ll be back to normal once Jes gets his hands on it.” A slight smile tugged at his lips, “Impressive.”

“Ah! That was a compliment. I think I may die of shock Kazzle.”

He shook his head and you knew he was smiling. You sat on his bed as you admired the room, you’d never been in here before and it was pretty standard but what shocked you was his taste in books, poetry?

Kaz Brekker reciting poetry seemed like a funny dream.

He slowly made his way back to you, with a damp cloth and bowl of water. His breath wavered, “Sit on the chair, stay still.” You complied and sat idly, a book in your lap. He slowly brang the cloth to your lip, wiping the blood away.

After a few minutes he withdrew quickly. You looked in the mirror and smiled again, Kaz Brekker had a soft spot for a street kid, who would’ve thought?

Whilst he sat going through his own work you sat going through his books. By the time you finished your books the day had seeped through the window as you felt your eyes grow tired and before you knew it you were asleep.

You woke up to the nice smell of waffles and syrup. As you got up you realised you weren’t in your own bed, no you were still in Kaz’s room. To your right on the table was a tray of food.

“Eat.” And you didn’t need to be told twice, after eating your own food and returning it to the kitchen you sat at one of the chairs in front of him. “Have you eaten?” Kaz didn’t respond, “Did you sleep?”

“You were in my bed how could I have slept?” You tilted your head, “I was on a very comfortable chair. Not the bed.” He looked up slightly, “Your neck was in an odd position so I moved you.” You smiled, “Thank you.” His eyebrows contorted, “For?”

“Everything. You could’ve kicked me out on the street when I showed for the job. When I messed up in cooking you didn’t shout, when I was training you didn’t get fed up when I failed. You had patience when it came to me. Most people would’ve thrown me out by then. You took a chance on me. On my first job I messed up and you still kept me. Thank you Kaz.” Kaz stood from his chair and so did you.

He looked down at you, “I was a child, on the streets like you. I did not meet the right people. No one took me in. I was alone. You showed potential the moment I talked to you first, I wasn’t going to let the same thing happen to someone I’ve come to, value.”

“I’m assuming that’s your way of saying I love you and I love you too Kazzle.” Before you knew it you hugged him. You immediately tried to pull back but an uncertain gloved hair rested on your head, shaky and ghosting but there.

“I love you too.” He wanted to say, but he couldn’t.

And if he couldn’t say it? He’d show it. He protect you from the horrors the barrel had to offer. The crooked people and places.

He’d keep you safe.

Because of Jordie.

No, because he loved you.

#six of crows x reader #kaz brekker x reader #nina zenik x reader #jesper fahey x reader #wylan van eck x reader #inej ghafa x reader

[ashdreams2023]

Hello! I was wondering if I could request a Severus Snape x older sister reader? We know Sev is like a grouchy and independent person, I kinda want to see him turn into an attention seeking little baby when it comes to his older sister lol. Like imagine Dumbledore and McGonagall's shock when they see Sev whining to a woman who they don't recognize (I was thinking she didn't go to Hogwarts and went to another magical school) They didn't even know Sev has any siblings whatsoever. So basically reader visits Severus in Hogwarts (he's already a professor) She hasn't seen him in a couple of years due to her profession or something. Reader still sees Sev as her baby brother she used to take care of.

Finally gotten to this one! I was actually dying to do this it’s so cute!

Severus snape x big sister reader

Sevy

Everyone knew not to cross their professors at hogwarts, especially the intimidating potions master, severus snape, the most feared professor in the school.

Even the older professors had a great deal of respect for the young professor.

"Honestly I can’t believe he didn’t even give me one chance to correct myself!?" One hufflepuff groaned to his friend, no one was safe from severus on a bad day, even his brightest students.

"Drop it mate, you can make up for it in the next pop test-"

"Hey boys, do you know where Professor snape office is?" The two teenagers stopped in their tracked and looked at the woman speaking to them.

You smiled in a friendly manner at them and repeated your question, one of them pointed at the end of the hall. The dungeons, that figures.

"Thank you boys" The two stared at you as you walked away.

"Who is she and why is she looking for snape?"

"Who knows, but I pity her regardless…"

Meanwhile after some walking you ended up finding the office, you looked at the time table hung on the wall, his office hours were still open.

You grinned to yourself and walked.

Albus and minerva waited and waited, it was unlike severus to miss their daily meeting after lunch but here they were alone with each other’s company for the past thirty minutes.

"You don’t think something came up, don’t you albus?"

"I’m not quite sure dear Minerva but we ought to go check on him"

The two older professors took a long and silent walk down to the dungeons, where they knew he spent most of his time and knocked on his door but no answer.

"Could he have went to do some errands?"

"In the middle of a school day? That’s very unlike him…"

"The greenhouse perhaps?" The wise witch suggested. The headmaster hummed before leading the way up to the greenhouse.

They had expected a lot but what they witnessed wasn’t what they had anticipated for.

"I swear to god sevy you need to learn how to grow your own stuff, you’re a potion master" you sighed plucking one of the plants in the very back of the greenhouse with severus kneeling down near an empty plant pot.

"You know i can’t do it right! See they keep dying on me" Severus whined gesturing to the broken pots in the corner of the place.

The headmaster and vise duty stared in disbelief, severus snape was pouting, he was whining and acting unlike his stock self.

"I’ve taught you a million times, the soil have to be the right kind, you can’t expect your big sissy to be here to help you all the time"

"I know I know, I’m not a baby anymore" he got up and dusted himself off then cringed childishly when you started wiping the dirt stuck on his face "Stop!"

"No! Hold still, just because you got taller doesn’t mean you can go around looking like we still live in rags"

Albus coughed in his fist catching the attention of both adults.

"Oh hi! Sorry to intrude, I was just helping sevy here learn how to plant a practical plant for his potion making"

"And you are?" Asked the older witch.

Severus cleared his throat spoke "This is my older sister headmaster, Minerva" the two professors looked dumbfounded by the news, severus never mentioned having a sibling and a witch at that!

"But wait…why haven’t you attended hogwarts with severus?" Albus was curious to say the least.

"Well, to make short I asked mother to go to another school because my passion for herbology couldn’t be fulfilled in hogwarts you see, so I went to Uagadou"

Severus looked down at you with settle pride, you have achieved so much throughout the years and he looked up to you, you’ve become a great scientist and made some big discoveries across the globe, many may not know your face but your stage name was to be hold.

"Anyways I came to visit sevy, it’s been so long since I saw this big baby" you laughed, he huffed pretending to be offended and pushed your arm to knock you off balance.

"Hey! Don’t test me boy! I used to change your diapers!" You pointed a finger at him.

He crossed his arms and pulled out his tongue at you.

Albus felt amused seeing the two siblings bicker but minerva chuckled, severus for once didn’t seem so uptight and proper, but rather…dare she say relaxed?

"I think you should join us to tea, I’ll love to hear your side of things, my dear son severus doesn’t speak much of his life back home"

You smirked "Oh do I have stories for you, and I think you’ll especially would enjoy the river one"

Severus’s cheeks flushed red before he ground covering his face in embarrassment "I beg you, stop making life harder!"

You didn’t care what he say and that afternoon was spent with everyone having tea and listening to your embarrassing stories about the eventful childhood in spinner’s end.

"Do you just enjoy humiliating me?"

"Oh sevy, relax you I do it because I care"

"I doubt it"

"You’re welcome"

#imagine #severus x reader #pro severus #pro severus snape #severus snape headcanon #severus snape #severus snape fanfiction #severus snape x y/n #platonic severus snape x reader #harry potter requests #severussnape #severus snape fluff #severus snape x you #severus snape x reader

[229zmi]

AU REVOIR

PAIRING: Kuroo Tetsurō/Reader

CONTENT: embarrassing moments, you and kuroo are #strangers, kuroo is late to a job interview, phonecall with kenma

WORD COUNT: 1.9k

“Hey, uh. Can I help you?”

Oh, god. Kuroo Tetsurō has never been more embarrassed.

Not even when he was suffering from a particularly bad case of borborygmus in a completely silent lecture hall, or when he accidentally liked someone’s post from 176 weeks ago. Nor was he this embarrassed the time his umbrella turned inside out and cartwheeled out of his hand into a ditch in front of several cars stopped at a traffic light. And who knows how many embarrassing moments he’s had throughout all his years of volleyball— but this moment right here. It still takes the cake.

Pause, rewind, play: this morning, ten minutes ago. The sky was blue, the birds were chirping, and Kuroo Tetsurō? Ten minutes ago, he was suddenly woken up by a loud sound, although it wasn’t the sound of an alarm, no, for there was no alarm to wake up to. What woke him up was actually a call from Kenma, who almost never called him, so he figured it had to be important.

“Hello? Everything okay?”

“Are you on your way to your interview?”

Of course. How typical of Kenma, always straight to the point, no pleasantries or—

Wait.

“Wh—“ Kuroo blinks a couple times to wake himself up, groggily rubbing his eyes. He lets out a yawn loud enough to shift earth’s tectonics before continuing his sentence, “What’d you say?”

“Your job interview,” Kenma repeats from his phone, “it starts at eight-thirty, doesn’t it?”

Silence fills the conversation for a while. Kuroo’s eyes begin to flutter shut, lulled by the faint sound of static emitted by the call. It isn’t until his phone slips out of his hand and hits the sheets with soft thud! that Kenma speaks up, impeding the drowsy man’s short-lived slumber.

“Hello?”

“Hm,” Kuroo hums.

“You are ready, right?” His best friend’s starting to sound concerned. “Like, all dressed up and halfway out the door ready. Right?”

“Mm… hm.”

Kenma restrains himself from somehow reaching his hands through the phone and violently shaking Kuroo by the shoulders. “That does not sound convincing. Please don’t tell me you’re still in bed.”

Still clueless, Kuroo yawns again, rolling over onto his other side. “And if I am? I set an alarm last night, you didn’t need to call me. I can handle it myself.”

“Kuro,” Kenma says. Now he sounds dead serious, like he’s about to be the deliverer of either some grave news or an overdue love confession. Unfortunately for Kuroo, it’s the former; Kenma drops the bomb without hesitation: “You have twenty minutes before your interview starts.”

“I didn’t realise you were so punctual, Kenma. Twenty minutes, that’s plenty of t—“

Oh.

Oh.

(Pause, rewind, play: the night before. Kuroo turned off all the lights. Hopped under the covers. Went straight to sleep. He did not set his alarm.)

Shit.

“I swear I set my alarm last night,” Kuroo speaks into the phone, running a hand through his hair out of frustration. In the past seven minutes, he’s managed to brush his teeth, get dressed, and exit his apartment without any major troubles. Sure, his hair’s a little… controversial in the back, and there’s some noticeable creases in his button-up shirt, but clearly, a bigger issue lies at hand — and no, it’s not the judging stares that the other pedestrians are giving him as he power-walks through the city. “You don’t think they’ll mind if I’m a few minutes late, do ya?”

Kenma audibly sighs.

“I don’t know what that means, so I’m taking that as you telling me they’ll one hundred-percent hire me on the spot.”

This time, Kenma doesn’t make a sound, though Kuroo senses he may have rolled his eyes. Either that, or he made a face akin to someone tasting a lemon.

“I’m hanging up,” his friend finally says, deciding he’s done enough to help today. Even this is something he considers charitable in their friendship; usually, Kenma prefers to treat calls with his friends like another app on his phone and close out of the call without warning, so maybe Kuroo should be grateful on this glorious day, he thinks.

“What? No, you can’t do that. That’s.”

“…That’s what?”

“Treason,” Kuroo finishes. “I still need your moral support. So—“

There’s a dull beep coming from the other end. Betrayed, Kuroo pulls his phone away from his ear only to be met with the image on his lockscreen — a photo of an outing with his friends some weeks ago — and the ever-daunting time, which currently reads: 08:19. A second later, the screen turns black and he catches sight of his reflection, including his unfortunately dishevelled hair and his wrinkled shirt and—

He winces.

His tie needs serious fixing.

The building where his interview will be at is only a few blocks away. After only a moment’s contemplation, he decides it won’t hurt to spend a minute or two trying to fix whatever fucked up knot he made while he was still dealing with the effects of being just woken up several minutes ago, veering away from his line of travel toward a car parked along the side of the street. Using the tinted window as a mirror, he tugs at the fabric in an attempt to undo it, although to no avail.

Then, the window rolls down.

“Hey, uh.” Concerned eyes lock with his. Kuroo short-circuits, his face turning a sickly colour as his mouth drops in horror, giving the illusion of a fish out of water. “Can I help you?”

Tapping along the rim of your steering wheel, you wait for a response. It isn’t that you’re annoyed or mad or anything along those lines; rather, you were almost flattered at first by the sight of a handsome yet serious-looking man speed-walking past your car before doubling back and staring at you through your window with what you misunderstood as passion in his eyes. But after watching him fidget with his tie for a solid minute, the realisation crashed onto you like tidal waves: he was in fact not nervously blown away by your copious amount of beauty, and now you’re more disappointed than anything.

“I’m so sorry,” Kuroo says with an apologetic smile, straightening from his previously hunched position over your window after realising how creepily close he is. A voice in the back of his mind tells him you have pretty eyes — and pretty hands, he notes a moment later as he steps back to put more distance between the two of you — but he pushes back both thoughts. “Really, I didn’t know you were there.”

“Were you planning to steal my car or something if I wasn’t inside?” You intend for this to be a light-hearted joke, but maybe your tone comes off too bland for him to get it, and now that enough time has passed for you to think about it, you’re not sure what you were trying to do with this ‘joke’ either. Nonetheless, you find amusement in the way his expression swiftly switches from aghast to frantic and even more in the transition of his face to a deeper shade of pink.

However, there’s a part of you that feels bad, so you eventually reassure him, “I’m joking. Would you like some help with your tie?”

Out of the benevolence of your heart, you decide to leave out the part where you mention how it looks like a three year old trying to tie their shoes for the very first time.

Kuroo looks grateful, relieved almost. “Yes, please. Thank you.”

“C’mere, then.”

You motion for him to come closer and reach your hands out the window. Kuroo takes a tentative step forth, though that’s not near close enough for you, so you extend your arm and gently tug on the tie, pulling him forward until your elbows are barely past the window. To make things a little easier, Kuroo spreads his knees slightly, creating a wide triangle with the ground and lowering himself so that he’s level with you. For a brief moment, your eyes drift to meet each other’s before immediately looking away. You focus on fixing his tie, and Kuroo acts interested in a crack in the ground all of sudden.

Even if he does look a bit odd standing like this, he supposes it’s worth the judgmental stares from passers-by once again because in only a matter of a minute, you somehow manage to untie the hideous knot. As you begin retying it, you make an attempt to start up conversation.

“Got something important today?”

“Just a job interview.”

You hum, mildly intrigued. “Where?”

He tells you the company and building, and you beam in recognition of the name.

“I work there! Today’s my day off,” you tell him. Once you’re done, you tug at the tie one last time before, without thinking, moving to brush the dust off his suit jacket with your hands. You freeze up as soon as you realise. (Whatever deity of embarrassment that exists up there must be having a field day with the two of you today.)

“Sorry. That was. Force of habit. I mean, I’ve never done that before— sorry, again. I really don’t know why I did that,” you say honestly. Maybe it’s a thing you’ve seen married couples do on television and subconsciously kept inside your brain like some kind of secret weapon to only be unleashed when you want to woo someone, but you think it’ll be more humiliating if you admit that.

Kuroo laughs. It’s a unique sound, and you find yourself liking it a lot, unable to keep yourself from returning a small smile at him. “It’s fine. We all have our moments.”

“What time’s your interview at?” you ask out of curiosity, leaning an arm out the window.

“Eight-thirty.”

The both of you stare at each other in silence for a couple of seconds.

You purse your lips. “Isn’t that…”

“Yeah.” He glances down the street, then back at you, and it looks like he doesn’t really want to leave yet. Even though he really should. Pulling out his phone from his pocket, he reads the time: 08:26. “I probably should get going.”

“Well, it was nice talking to you. Good luck with your interview,” you say, trying your best to not sound dismayed. Right before he leaves, however, something — perhaps the prospect of him not getting the job and you never getting to see him again — urges you to call out to him, “Wait.”

He turns back.

“I, um. Parked here ‘cause I was searching up directions to this café that opened up recently. If you’d like, after your interview, we could go get coffee together. You can tell me all about it if it goes well… or complain if it doesn’t.”

“Of course,” he says immediately. He can’t help but feel giddy inside, internally wanting to kick his feet, twirl his hair, and giggle and squeal like a pig all at once. If he was inside a building or a room, maybe he’d also be comically bouncing off the walls like in cartoons. Regardless of these overwhelming compulsions, he retains his composure, cooly adding, “I’d love that.”

“I’ll wait for you here, then,” you affirm with a smile. “See ya later…” Oh, right. You’ve yet to exchange names, but you suppose that can wait for now. “…stranger.”

Amused, he returns, “Later, stranger.”

As he walks away, a voice in the back of his mind makes note yet again of the fact that you have pretty eyes, pretty hands, and, just now, a pretty smile. Maybe, he thinks, he’ll tell you after the interview.

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu x gender neutral reader #haikyuu fluff #haikyuu x you #kuroo x reader #kuroo x you #kuroo x y/n #kuroo tetsuro x reader #229ZMI

[chocolatechubby]

Maybe it was the glass of heavy cream and dozen gingerbread men I ate just before bedtime. Or maybe it was the fact that it was Christmas Eve, and the residue of waiting up for Santa Claus hadn’t diminished in the 23 years since I was six years old. Maybe it was the hard on that wouldn’t go away if I thought about growing fat and round. Whatever it was, I couldn’t sleep. I reluctantly pulled my bloated body from my warm bed to take a piss and a crap in the bathroom. On the way to the john, I passed the Christmas tree in the living room. The shiny packages underneath danced with the reflections of twinkling lights. I’d made quite a haul this year. I was pretty sure the small neatly wrapped package in the front was an Ipod from my mom. And I was pretty sure that the envelope from my ex-partner was a membership to a gym. My gaining sixty pounds had a lot to do with our break-up. It was nice that we were still friends. “Funny…” I thought. “The thing I REALLY want Santa to bring me won’t fit under a tree.”

When I had finished in the bathroom, I took a long look at myself in the mirror. The 160lb gym rat was gone. There in front of me was a 220lb jock-gone-soft. Since I had continued to go to the gym, I was thick and solid. The roundness of my face was beginning to cut away my cheek definition. The beginnings of a double chin made my cock jump. The definition in my arms was beginning to fade: I loved putting on sleeveless shirts and seeing the thick round guns that were once defined biceps and triceps stretching through. My legs were growing huge. The size 38 pants were straining to keep my thighs in. And I had a real belly. Not the beginning gut I was so proud of in college, but a thick waist protruding over my jeans and a noticeable round mound that jutted out from my plump tits and curved forward six inches. It had gotten a number of rubs and stares from my co-workers over the past few weeks. I thought my pecker was going to fall off from all the jerking off I did in the office restrooms after each “Woah! When’s the baby due?” or “You’d better lay off the holiday food Chris!” But it wasn’t enough. I wanted more. I wanted to look like all of those fellas that I admired online. I wanted people to move out of the way when I walked down the street. I wanted to look in the mirror and be awed by my girth. I reached down in my shorts and began massaging my cock. I imagined what it would be like to have to work pass mounds of belly fat just to touch it. I could feel my hard on growing, and my dick was responding to both my touch and my fantasy. It wouldn’t be long now—at least not for the explosion from my balls. The weight gain would take more time.

As I was going for climax, I heard a sound. Not from me but coming from the living room. At first faint, it grew louder—a slow and steady rise and fall. A snore? It sounded like someone snoring. Maybe somehow the air conditioner had turned itself on. I listened a little more intently. No, this was a HUMAN sound. Someone had broken into my apartment! I pulled up my shorts, looked around for a blunt object, grabbed the toilet brush, and headed towards the sound. As I rounded the corner, I was not prepared for what I saw. There in my leather armchair next to the Christmas tree, snoring to high heaven was Santa Claus.

Only it wasn’t Santa Claus. I mean he was dressed in a beautiful red suit—far superior to all those costumed Santas that you see in department stores. This suit looked like it had been tailored for him: luxurious and warm—trimmed in ermine and leather. It fit his big round frame to a “t.” He had to weigh 350, if a pound, and his thick beard was close-cropped, neatly trimmed, and a deep auburn like the wavy hair that curled from under his fur cap. This guy couldn’t have been more than thirty-five years old. And he was gorgeous. During my whole relationship with my ex, Zach, I had never cheated. But I will admit—especially towards the end when he started nagging more about the weight—I had serious fantasies about dudes like the one asleep in my easy chair, but they never included being robbed by them.

Next to him on the floor was a big, empty red velvet sack. I had to admit: this guy had class. I’d read stories in the newspaper about thieves breaking into houses dressed as Santa Claus and taking people’s presents. I never thought it would happen to me. Pictures of the Grinch stuffing Cindy Lou Who’s Christmas tree in his sack crowded my brain. Well this sucker wasn’t getting MY Ipod without a fight!

I tiptoed over to where the hot thief was snoring, and I kicked his engineer boot and stepped back—toilet bowl brush held high. “Hey you!” I shouted. The guy stirred. I gave him my best grimace and said: “What the hell do you think you’re doing in my place?!” He opened one eye and peered up at my brush and me. He grinned (and of course he had a killer smile) and said, “What are you going to do? Tidy Bowl me to death?”

I wasn’t quite ready for such a laid-back attitude. It took me aback for a moment. “No, smart ass…” I answered finally. “… I’m going to call the police and have you hauled off to spend Christmas in jail—that’s what I’m going to do!!!” I bellowed triumphantly. “Oh, and for future reference: Santa has a WHITE beard—not red! You are NO Kris Kringle.”

“Actually, his beard isn’t white. It’s silver. And you’re right…I’m not Kris Kringle. He’s my dad. I’m KARL Kringle—his youngest son.”

Of all the responses in all the scenarios that I could imagine, not one of them included that particular statement. I stood in shock with my mouth open. He fumbled around for a bit and spoke: “This is what I get for breaking the first rule of Christmas Delivery: Don’t Fall Asleep. It’s just that it’s been a long night and seeing as this is my Last Stop and all, I couldn’t help myself.” He yawned and started hauling his big belly out of my chair “Look, don’t set off your loaded brush—I’m just looking for my wallet.” He was even more appealing standing. He was a fireplug: about my height (which made him somewhat short), he reminded me of Sean Astin as Samwise Gamgee in “The Lord of the Rings”: much bigger, but as cute as he could be. He patted himself down, searching around his big gut and barrel chest for a bulge. “Ahh, here it is!” He pulled out a simple leather wallet and flipped it open. “See.” He said.

I slowly inched forward and took the wallet out of his chubby hand. There he was, smiling with rosy cheeks. NORTH POLE DMV: Driver’s Permit was printed in white at the top of a red and green card. “May operate cars, trucks, motorcycles, snow skis and High-Capacity Sleighs” was prominently placed in the lower right hand corner.

“Real cute” I smirked. “So you’re a clever bandit. I’m sure your cell mate will get a real kick out of your sense of humor.”

“Man, some things don’t change, do they?” He smiled. “You’re still a closet believer posing as a skeptic aren’t you? I remember when you were six years old and wanted ‘Dream Date Ken’. You said to yourself, ‘I’ll believe in Santa if he brings me Ken.’ When you didn’t see it under the tree that Christmas morning, you were really sad, but you said, ‘I knew he wasn’t real.’ Boy were you surprised when you found it…”

“Hidden in your stocking!”

“Hidden in my stocking!”

We said it at the exact same time. My mouth was agape. “How did you know that?” I uttered. “Because I asked Dad if I could put it there.” Karl said. “I was twelve. Dad had been training me to take a route of my own. I had been coming with him since you were a baby—watching you grow up. I wanted you to work harder to trust your beliefs.”

I stumbled to my couch and sat down. This was incredible! So it was true: Santa really DID exist. “Yup.” Karl said, as if he’d read my mind. “Only the doubters have got part of the story right: he DOESN’T circle the world and deliver toys in one night. He hasn’t done that in a few hundred years. He has help from his sons.”

“Sons” I gasped, with emphasis on the “s.” “You mean there’s more of you?”

“Oh yeah” said Karl. “It's the family business. There’s Kris Jr., Kevin, Kurt, Klaus, Kyle, Keith, and Kwame.”

“Kwame?” I asked.

“Yeah, a little incident with dad and an African Queen a few years back…we don’t talk about that.” He whispered.

“So we divide up the earth and each take a chunk. Dad spends most of his time these days with the kids that need him most. He took India and New Orleans this year.”

“I see…” I said. “And you got my area.”

“Well, not so much GOT, as CHOSE your area. I told you. I’ve been watching you for many years. I’ve been waiting for that jerk of a boyfriend of yours to exit the picture. I’ve been crushing on you for a while now. I happen to be gay.”

“Oh.” My dick was jumping at regular intervals now. “Are all of you uh…?”

“Gay?” He said. “I doubt it. Nobody’s talking so we don’t really know. I’m pretty sure Kwame is. He keeps picking San Francisco as one of his stops. Listen, do you mind if I make myself comfortable?” he asked. “Uh…no.” I stammered, still trying to make sense of the fact that I had a big, bearded Santa Claus in my living room that was hot for me. “Great” he said and proceeded to undo his belt and buttons. His velvet coat fell to the floor, revealing the magnificent fat physique bulging from his white undershirt. His big, gorgeous arms were covered with a layer of soft red fur, and I could see tendrils of the same curling from under the neckline of his t. He began playing with his nipples as he slowly moved his ball belly towards me. “Listen,” he said again. “…do you mind if I make YOU more comfortable?”

“Uh…no.” was my startled reply.

We stood face to face. The heat between us was more intense than anything I’d ever felt before. He smelled of smoldering fires and apples and cinnamon. He leaned in, and I felt his cock. “So THAT’S what’s meant by Christmas Sausage! “I thought. He pulled me into him and whispered, “I’ve been waiting 29 years for this” and moved his tongue over my lips and into my mouth. He tasted like warm cocoa. His belly met mine and I moaned at the solid thickness of his girth. Our tongues swirled together in a hot dance that left me weak and energized at the same time. I could have stayed like that forever.

Karl ran his thick hands over my nipples, slightly squeezing them between his fingers. He slowly traveled down to my belly and began massaging it with both hands. I was in heaven. “Such a beautiful starter belly. I was so hot for you when you started putting on weight that I had to stop working in the toyshop—couldn’t concentrate. Kept making Barbie dolls with penises!”

“Oh.” I mumbled—trying to get his tongue back in my mouth.

“And now I’m with you” he said, caressing my cheek. “And we’ve got all night. He leaned over and kissed my gut. “I’m going to give you that present that won’t fit under the tree.”

For a moment I was stirred from my reverie. Had he really the power to know what my deepest desires were? I tested him. “Oh yes? “I whispered in his ear. “What might that be.”

“Don’t be coy Chris” he smiled. “You know exactly what I’m talking about. By dawn, you will be fed, fucked, and fat as a house. Are you ready to get started?”

TO BE CONTINUED

#ccstories

[aturinfortheworse]

A few years back I stumbled across intuitive eating/no food rules stuff on Instagram and had a startling moment of "this actually seems legit? this is a non-insane approach to food?" which means a lot to me as someone who needs instruction on how to not be insane.

So I heard the theory that if you want to stop bingeing on a food every time you have access to it, you should just... let yourself have as much as you want. Obviously this only works for certain things, and a more careful approach to this would be more helpful for many people. But I like to live dangerously so I just started buying chips whenever I wanted chips.

(You would not believe how much I like a potato chip. It is a notable feature of my personality.)

I let myself eat the whole bag of chips. I could open a second bag if I wanted to, though I don't think I ever got more than three chips into the second bag before going urgh. The only restriction on how many chips I could have was my willingness to acquire chips.

Slowly the bag of chips went from lasting thirty minutes, to lasting the day, to lasting two days. Now I have a (clipped-shut) bag of chips on my desk that I opened on NYE and I don't really want any. I know they taste incredible but every I eat one I go "blerh."

The best part of this whole thing is that I can just keep chips in the cupboard now. When I actually want chips, I can simply go to the cupboard and get them, because past-Ruin did not eat them immediately. When I'm nauseous and nothing else sounds edible, there are chips in the cupboard waiting for me!!

#ruin rambles #intuitive eating #fuck diet culture #IDK WHAT TO TELL U GUYS ITS GREAT #ruin can have little a chips as a treat #100

[shapeshiftersvt]

M'Mothm'n.

Here's the thing about the Mothman. Even though he scared the ever-living shit out of the people who saw him, the speculation around him has become, over the years, actually very kind. What if he's only here to help? What if he's trying to warn us about impending disaster? What if that horrible feeling you got that something wasn't right, what if that was the Mothman telling you to look out, be careful, danger is coming, doom is nigh?

It's one thing to be a harbinger of doom; there are apparitions of ghostly black dogs all over the world that will give you that, red eyes and all. It's another to have one who actually means well.

I'm going to be an Old Queer for a minute, now, and talk about gay politics in the USA as I watched it over the past thirty years. My experience is my own; my history is shared, but not universal. Sound off in a reblog if you saw it happen differently. I want your story, too.

There’s a certain line the right wing in this country likes to use against The Gays, one I’ve heard since I was a small child. It goes: queer people are threatening our way of life. Queer people are the pebbles that start the avalanche of apocalypse, the collapse of civilization as we know it. If marriage becomes something other than Man + Woman, or if Man and Woman become something other than we think they are, then we will lose everything we know and love.

The rise of the Respectable Gay in the 1990s was a pushback against this. “See,” cried Degeneres and Savage and all the rest, “see how we’re so very normal? We want to get married and buy a house and have 2.1 kids and a white picket fence. Our marriage doesn’t threaten yours. How could it? We’re just normal, ordinary, white, moderately wealthy, people. We're like you."

This move shifted the narrative across the 90s and 00s. Homosexuality was officially decriminalized in '03, and we got gay marriage in 2015, and every year in between there was another Influential Gay Person saying "I just want to get married, that's all." There were even commercials about it, remember? “Gay marriage is just like yours. Only gayer.”

But... in the mid-2010s this was already wearing thin. Transgender people, gender non-conforming people, gays who didn’t go in for two-person marriage, everyone in the greater LGBTQ+ umbrella who had thrown their support behind gay marriage and waited our turn to get our rights; we'd all been mobilizing, too. We'd been putting together our own coalitions, under the aegis of the greater umbrella or not. And, here's the crux: we were, in fact, threatening the right-wing Christian ways of life. Just by existing in public, by talking and writing and performing and living our lives during the Transgender Tipping Point, trans and non-binary people like me were challenging the foundational definitions of Man and Woman as exclusive, all-encompassing categories of humanity.

It wasn't just the right, either. Straight liberals who were totally on board with gay marriage would look at us and say, "um, wait, really? Really, like that? Do you have to?" The discomfort was palpable. This was my experience with my own family; they were fine with me dating and getting married, but a new set of pronouns was forcing something on them. It was hurting something intrinsic to their identities. It was, in a very real way, threatening them.

I'm happy and grateful to say that most of them learned to discard the parts of their own foundations that excluded me from existence. This is rarely easy for anyone. I'm honestly proud of those members of my family who have learned to look the Mothman in the eyes, so to speak, and think, "He's just here to help."

("Pop your hood up," I told this model, "and look at them. They should see their impending death in your eyes."

Layton is an incredible model, a great human, and they know and love the Mothman. They knew exactly what I meant.)

It can be awful, sometimes. When I'm unapologetically myself in public, I can walk past a line of protesters at Planned Parenthood and see the hostility rise up, the anger and revulsion and fear. And I do think it is fear, at the core of it. I think something in them knows that I'm just one of 2.6 million transgender people out here, living my life, casually being a harbinger of their doom.

Next time they come to Brattleboro, I ought to greet them with red glasses and a twelve-foot wingspan.

#mothman #cryptids #queer cryptids #the cryptid collection #the trans experience

[starandcloud]

And They Were Roomates

Civilian!Y/N x Simon Riley

Tw: Alcohol, older male friends

Word Count: 815

Y/N and Simon have been living together as roommates for almost three years at this point. Y/N had grown used to Simon's absence, you weren't aware of where he worked. But he paid his half of the rent, so you really didn't care. You weren't expecting to come home to Simon sitting on the couch, decked out in his hoodie, sweatpants, and hello kitty socks. All of which you had bought for him for Christmas.

"Business trip end early?"

You asked as you set your messenger bag down on the ground, and started to take your shoes off. Your skirt brushed over the floor as you took a step towards the kitchen.

"Yeah, something like that Sunshine"

Playfully you rolled your eyes and opened the fridge.

bread, left over mac-n'-cheese, samich stuff... none of this looks good for dinner...

"Do you want take out Simon?"

You asked as you leaned over the back of the couch, reading whatever documents he was working on over his shoulder.

"Sure, whatcha thinkin'? Chinese?" "You read my mind~"

You said as you gently patted both of his shoulders then picked up your phone.

"Anything special?" "Noodles. The good ones. And that chicken you got that one time."

You couldn't help but laugh at Simon's terrible memory.

"Alright, alright. Are you going to have anyone over?" "Johnny?" "Yeah, him."

Simon had to think about that for a moment, looking at his phone for a minute.

"Would you mind?" "Of course not! I love Johnny!"

You said, making Simon smile gently and pick up his phone.

"I'll get him some noodles and chicken too, I think he'd like them."

You said as you watched Simon call Johnny, you had liked his friend since you first met him. Johnny matched your chaotic energy and often endorsed in your stupid ideas but, more importantly? He made Simon happy, and that's all you cared about.

Hours passed, it was about twelve AM now. The three of you were all intoxicated and... Y/N had never really noticed how nice it was to hear Simon laugh like he was. So carefree and happy, it was adorable.

"Shouldn't the kid get to bed?" "Hey! Fuck you! I'm twenty-five!"

Y/N yelled, defending themself before Johnny threw a couch pillow at them.

"Yeah, and I'm thirty-two. You're a kid!"

You scoffed and let yourself flop back against the floor. Your skirt had been swapped out for a pair of sweats and the turtle-neck had been switched for one of Simon's hoodies.

"Isn't that hoodie Simon's?"

Johnny asked before a loud, skin-on-skin, slap filled the room followed by a groan.

"Yeah, but Simon is nice enough to share his clothes with me."

You said, twirling your hand through the air. Watching how the light disappeared and reappeared as you shifted your fingers in front of the light, then away.

"Sunshine?"

You heard Simon's voice and you pushed yourself up.

"Yeah Si? What's up?" "Head to bed, it's late and you have classes tomorrow."

You nodded in agreement and stood up, grabbing your dirty dishes and alcohol you took a step towards the kitchen. A strong hand grabbed your arm and another took the plate from your hand.

"Give me these, go to bed. Johnny and I will pick up, you need the sleep."

Simon said, his chest rumbling as it pressed against your back. Gently leaning your head back, you hummed before softly saying.

"I can pick up after myself Mr. Riley~"

You said as you took back the dirtied dishes and disappeared into the kitchen, you heard hushed talking before laughter from Johnny as you put the porcelain in the sink and started to dump the alcohol down the sink before pausing.

It couldn't hurt if I drank what was left

You thought as you lifted the bottle to your lips. Chugging the chilled liquid, you felt it burn down your chest as you tried to finish it. Pulling the glass bottle away you quietly gasped for air, you listened to the talking just outside of the kitchen before dumping the rest out. Stumbling into the living room you expectantly stood by your door and waited for Simon. It didn't take long for him to notice you standing there. A quiet chuckle left his lips as he stood up and walked towards you. Wrapping his arms around you he gently rocked you.

"Sleep well Kid, I'm right next door if you need me."

Simon promised before sending you off to bed. Laying under your comforters you quietly smiled and started to drift off to sleep. Simon had been such a positive influence on you, and your life had been much easier since he moved in. The neighbors left you alone now and less people cat-called you when they saw Simon walking behind you. Maybe... Maybe you could fall for him..?

. .. ...

Nah, that's the alcohol talking.

#simon riley x y/n #simon riley x you #simon riley x reader #ghost mw2 #cod ghost #cod mw2 #ghost cod #ghost call of duty #Simon Riley #Domestic Simon Riley #Domestic Simon x Y/N #Domestic Simon x You #Domestic Simon x Reader #faeriesberries

[bloodyknucklesforme]

Base of Operations | Kyle x F!Reader

AN: My almost late submission for Gaz fest. I will hopefully get my other WIP out today. S/O to @glitterypirateduck for organizing this 💞

You're gravely injured (on your period) so the brave Sgt. Garrick (your boyfriend) sets up a base of operations (a pillow fort in the living room) in order to nurse you back to health (give you a massage)

You watched from your curled up position in bed as Kyle walked around collecting every blanket, pillow and plush in the apartment.

"What are you doing?" You frowned as he took the spare comforter out of the bedroom closet.

"What do you mean?" He asked, leaning against the door frame.

"Taking all the bed stuff." You groaned. It was the worst day of your period, when all you wanted to do was sleep to try and forget about the pain in your abdomen. You were already upset that you'd have to cancel your and Kyle's lunch date.

"You'll see." He grinned before disappearing again. You laid back down in bed, too tired to even think up ideas for his mysterious plan.

"Hey beautiful, how are you feeling?" You'd fallen asleep again, Kyle was was waking you up with gentle cheek strokes. "I have something to show ya. Come here."

He wrapped your arms around his neck and scooped you out of bed. Sleep still pulled on your eyes as you yawned against his chest. He was the most doting partner you'd ever had. Despite the long gaps of time you spent apart the two of you were always able to pick up right where you stopped. He always arrived back home with flowers for you, you always had his favorite take out waiting for him. You spent the first day in bed, cuddling, watching movies and on occasion doing more strenuous activities. You kept waiting for the end of the so called "honeymoon phase" but it never came. After almost two years you and Kyle were just as obsessed with each other and in love as ever.

"Kyle..." You found yourself speechless as you saw his completed project. He'd made an extravagant blanket fort in the living room, complete with fairy lights, heat pad and snacks.

"We can still have our romantic date if you want." He said, lips pressed against your forehead. "It looks like a pretty romantic spot if you ask me."

"Are you asking me out?" You looked up at him with a cheeky smile.

"Only if you're saying yes. Don't want to embarrass myself."

"I would love to go on a date with you, Kyle."

"Brilliant." With you still in his arms, he knelt down and helped you into the fort. You laid on your stomach with the heat pad against your abdomen. His laptop was in there, open up to the beginning of a movie along with a tray filled with an array of your favorite snacks. Everything from candy to crisps to biscuits and fruit.

It tugged at your smile as you thought about your previous partners who never seemed to take your pain seriously. The people who got annoyed when you said you didn't feel like going out or encouraged you to take ibuprofen and 'toughen up'. As Kyle straddled your legs and began rubbing your lower back you felt tears start to roll down your cheeks. He always made you feel cared for. Just seeing his smile made your heart feel lighter.

"Iloveyou." You said wetly.

"Hey, what's wrong?" He moved to lay his head next to yours and wipe your face. "Didn't hurt ya, did I?"

"No. I just..I just love you." You wrapped your arms and legs around him, burying your face in his neck. His favorite cologne had become an instant relaxant for you. It's what home smelled like. It's what your bed smelled like, your favorite sweater, your car, the couch.

"We're a team. I'll always take care of you." He kissed your forehead and wrapped his arms around you, using his palm to rub the small of your back. "I love you so much."

He kissed the tip of your nose.

"Let's just relax, yeah? You and me." He pulled a blanket over the two of you. "Whatever movie you want to watch and..." he checked his watch. "our dinner should be arriving in about thirty minutes."

"You're too good to me," You smiled.

"I don't think that's possible." He pressed his forehead against yours. "You're the most important thing in my life. Just don't tell my mum that."

You both laughed and he finished wiping away any stray tears. You decided on Paddington for the first movie of the evening. Kyle keeping a close watch as you teared up during certain scenes. He waited on you, hand and foot, for the rest of the evening. Making sure your heating pad was always warm, you had enough water and painkillers, rubbing your back and hips.

You fell asleep in the fort, your head on his chest. His normal nightmares always slipped away whenever you were near. None of the outside world's problems could touch the two of you. Surrounded by fleece and down you two were practically in Eden.

AN: Hope ya'll enjoyed that. it's been a minute since I wrote x reader stuff. I also have a First Date fic in the works but idk if I'll get that out today or not.

#gazfest #call of duty gaz #gaz mw2 #gaz cod #gaz call of duty #kyle gaz garrick x you #kyle gaz garrick x reader #kyle gaz garrick #kyle garrick x reader #kyle garrick #call of duty #cod mwf2 #cod #cod modern warfare #cod mw2 #cod fanfic #cod fanfiction #cod fandom #my stuff #kyle #Gaz

[steveyockey]

In 2009, I was sentenced to life in prison. Early one morning, I boarded a bus in shackles and a disposable jumpsuit, and rode to Calipatria State Prison, a cement fortress on the southern fringes of California. Triple-digit temperatures, cracked orange soil, and pungent whiffs of the nearby Salton Sea made me feel as though I’d been exiled to Mars. After six years in the chaos of the county jail, however, I could finally own small luxuries, like a television. The thick walls of Calipat, as we called the place, stifled our radio reception, but an institutional antenna delivered shows like “Access Hollywood,” “Entertainment Tonight,” and “TMZ.” I was irritated by the celebrity gossip, but it was a connection to the outside world, and it introduced me to snippets of Swift’s performances for the first time. Here and there, I’d catch her on “The Ellen DeGeneres Show” or “Fallon,” and was surprised by how intently she discussed her songwriting. I didn’t tell anyone that I thought she was talented.

In 2013, when my security level was lowered owing to good behavior, I requested a transfer to Solano state prison, the facility with a Level 3 yard which was closest to my family in the Bay Area. I got the transfer, but my property—a TV, CD player, soap, toothpaste, lotion, food—was lost in transit. I shared a cell with someone in the same situation, so, for months, we relied on the kindness of our neighbors to get by. Our only source of music was a borrowed pocket radio, hooked up to earbuds that cost three dollars at the commissary. At night, we’d crank up the volume and lay the earbuds on the desk in our cell. Those tiny speakers radiated crickety renditions of Top Forty hits.

During that time, I heard tracks from “Red,” Swift’s fourth studio album, virtually every hour. I was starting to enjoy them. Laying on the top bunk, I would listen to my cellmate’s snores and wait for “We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together” to come around again. When it did, I would think about the woman I had lived with for seven years, before prison. I remembered bittersweet times when my sweetheart had visited me in county jail. We’d look at each other through security glass that was reinforced by wire. It didn’t seem fair to expect her to wait for me, and I told her that she deserved a partner who could be with her. But we didn’t use the word “never,” and deep down I always hoped that we’d get back together. When I heard “Everything Has Changed,” I had to fight back tears of exaltation and grief. Swift sings, “All I knew this morning when I woke / Is I know something now / Know something now I didn’t before.” I thought back to our first date, and how we had talked and laughed late into the night. We had to force ourselves to get a few hours of sleep before sunrise.

For the past two decades, sleep has not come easily to me. Often, when I get into bed, I think about the day I was arrested at the scene of my crime. Some neighbors called 911 and reported gunshots. I can still see the grieving family members of the man I killed, staring at me in the courtroom at my trial. I’m guilty of more than murder. I abandoned my parents and my sweetheart, too. There’s no way to fix this stuff.

Taylor Swift is currently the same age, thirty-three, that I was when I was arrested. I wonder whether her music would have resonated with me when I was her age. I wonder whether I would have reacted to the words “I’m the problem, it’s me.” Hers must be champagne problems compared with mine, but I still see myself in them. “I’ll stare directly at the sun, but never in the mirror,” Swift sings, and I think of the three-by-five-inch plastic mirrors that are available inside. For years out there, I viewed myself as the antihero in my own warped self-narrative. Do I want to see myself clearly?

In “Karma,” Swift sings, “Ask me what I learned from all those years / Ask me what I earned from all those tears.” A few months from now, California’s Board of Parole Hearings will ask me questions like that. What have I learned? What do I have to show for my twenty years of incarceration? In the months ahead, when these questions keep me up at night, I will listen to “Midnights.” The woman I love says she’s ready to meet me on the other side of the prison wall, on the day that I walk into the daylight. Recently, she asked me, “If you could go anywhere, do anything, that first day out, what would you want us to go do?” That question keeps me up at night, too.

#I don’t give a fuck what you think about Taylor swift this is a beautiful piece #reading

[bangchanbabygurl]

11: Her Body pt1. { In The Eyes Of Love }

Genre: Dark Romance/Smut/Angsty/Thriller/Enemies to lovers

Warnings: Explicit language/mention of domestic violence/mention of violence/alcohol abuse/mention of death/stalker/mentions of blood/drug abuse/smut scenes/dark mature themes/triggering scenes/traumatic experiences

Word count: 745 count

╚» Now playing —» Her Body by Nasty Cherry

I finish brushing my teeth and take a deep breath before walking out of the bathroom. I chose to wear the black dress Seungcheol had given a liking to. The black strap knitted drape dress, it‘s more decent than the other ones. I fix the bow as I walk into the living where Jane had set everything up, Jane is a woman in her early thirties who’s been doing this work of field for seven years.

I sit down on the stool as Jane starts with makeup, “So, how long have you and Mr. Choi been dating?” Jane asked, working her way with my brows and eyes. “Oh…we’ve been together for two months now.” I lie as Jane finishes with foundation and contour, “That's surprising; Mr. Choi isn't usually the dating type. From what I’ve seen and heard, Mr. Choi only spends money on the women he finds sexually attractive till he gets bored.” Jane said lightly patting the setting powder. I felt myself become anxious, I let out a small laugh.

Jane moves to my hair as she begins to style it, “You’re very gorgeous; I'm surprised Mr. Choi has even pulled you into his lifestyle. You’re too sweet for him.” Jane cooed. I laughed nervously, “Thank you, I supposed.” I said. Jane finished with my hair, “All done love,” She said. I clip the necklace back on, “Thank you, I love it.” I said. A smile formed on my tinted dark-red lips, and the front door burst open.

“ Y/N! We—oh wow…Y/N.” I turned around to see Jihoon, Minghao, and Mingyu standing there with mouths open in shock. “What are you guys doing here?” I asked; Jane packed her things. “Have fun, darling. Be sure to snap some selfies,” Jane said, sending a flying kiss before leaving.

I look at them sternly, “What are you guys doing here?” I asked as I get my purse ready for tonight’s event. Minghao tilts his head in confusion, “Where are you off to? Suzy and Nayeon mentioned that you wouldn’t be able to attend tonight's BBQ, but you seem to be all dolled up…wait-” Minghao pauses as his eyes widen. Jihoon stood there with a brooding look, “Are you going out on a date?” He asked. Joshua rolled his eyes and crossed his arms, “I bet it's Choi Seungcheol; she canceled her plans with us for him. Unbelievable.” Joshua sulks. Mingyu laughs and points at my dress, “Yah! Are you really going out with Seungcheol!?? No fucking way, Y/N…wait are you his new sugar baby? Daebak!” Mingyu seems to find this very amusing, and I find myself getting annoyed with them.

“Yah! You little shits! Yes, I'm off to meet with Choi Seungcheol, but it's not what it looks like! If anything, this is Bang Chan’s fault for blabbering me to Mrs. Choi!!” I raised my voice, feeling annoyed and pissed, and they all quieted down. I huffed and grabbed my purse and phone, “Besides, it's not like I'm gonna enjoy this; I'm dreading it.” I stated as I slipped into the matching black heels with red bottoms.

A sigh escapes my lips as I stood up straight, “Now, can you please all leave? Seungcheol’s driver is waiting for me,” I said, pushing them out the door. I grab the keys from my purse and lock the door, “Wait, are you sure?” Minghao asked. I look at him, confused, “Am I sure of what?” I asked. I walk to the elevator, “Are you sure you're comfortable doing this? I mean, you know you don't have to, right?” Minghao asked. Jihoon and Joshua looked at me, waiting for an answer, “Of course I know, but it is a favor I owe.” I said, stepping inside the elevator. Mingyu lets out a long sigh, “A favor? Let me guess, it's the Choi’s 20th business anniversary am I correct?” He asked. I look at him with a raised brow, “Did you know?” I asked.

Mingyu smirks, “I attended last year’s anniversary, I hope this year isn't messy.” he said. I walk off the elevator upon reaching the lobby, “Have a fun time at the bar,” I said. Waving at them as I turned to see a black SUV waiting outside with a man dressed in a black tux, I took a deep breath in before stepping out into the cold air. This event better be worth the dreadful shopping, the makeup, and the hairstyle.

#seventeen vernon #seventeen smut #seventeen seungkwan #seventeen jun #seventeen imagines #seventeen joshua #seventeen wonwoo #seventeen seungcheol #seventeen fanfic #seventeen mingyu #seventeen #svt jihoon #svt jeonghan #svt dk #svt fanfic #svt scoups #svt imagines #svt smut #svt wonwoo #seventeen the8 #choi seungcheol #seungcheol #svt seungcheol #bangchan

[originalfatfiction]

Big Oak

I was in homeroom when Mrs. Drummond introduced Aidan Ashford. I’d never forget the first time I saw his face. He was so attractive it was almost unreal—short, slender, a sexy mouth. This dude was God-like, with immaculate skin, the same color as toasted almonds, and dark curly hair. He reminded me of Chad from High School Musical. I’d always had a thing for Corbin Bleu. His eyes were brown and somewhat sad. He looked at his feet nervously, and it made me feel for him. It must’ve sucked to transfer schools two months into senior year, as we were already in the middle of October. His pain was my gain though. It was about time I got some new eye candy to look at, and he was downright delectable. I was working myself up thinking about him, my mind already running a million different scenarios involving our non-existent relationship. I felt my neck go hot and I shifted in my desk.

I hated school, and not because I was dumb or anything. It was the building itself, not built for guys of my stature. In every class the desks were the same. Small. Cramped. Uncomfortable. (I liked the classrooms that used tables instead of traditional desks). For people my size, they were like torture devices. I was 6'6” and 365—okay, 375 pounds. My size was good for football, but other than that I hated it. Desks were never going to get more comfortable, grocery bills were never going to get any lower, and I was never going to get a date. I didn’t look like what gay men wanted. I was too big and too not white.

Everyone waited for him to say something—anything—but he didn’t. He saw the empty desk next to me and sat down. He sat very properly, his spine straight and pressed against the back of the desk chair. I turned to him to say hello.

“Hi, my name is Oakley,” I said. He looked at me nervously, eyes pained. He seemed a bit off, and it was a little worrisome. Maybe he’d had a rough morning. It was his first day after all.

“Do you need help with anything?” I asked. He shook his head no. “Like where your classes are, or how your schedule works?” He shook his head no again. He didn't like me. I thought I’d finally found another gay black guy; my current options were abysmal, few and far between. When I turned eighteen at the start of September, I immediately downloaded all the gay apps, and it did nothing for my self-esteem. I came to realize I was going to be nothing more than a fetish. I was a one-time hook-up that people didn’t want to tell their friends and family about. I never got very far with any of the guys that talked to me online. And now there was Aidan. In the thirty seconds we’d spent sitting next to one another I’d managed to plan out our entire lives together only to have my glorious future ripped from under me.  

I knew he likely wasn’t into me because I was so fat. It wasn’t like I was squishy fat or anything, just really solid, with a big belly and thick limbs. And okay, maybe I was a little squishy, but I hoped he could like me for my sparkling personality, and not what I looked like. I sighed and turned towards the front of the classroom. Who was I kidding? My personality wasn’t sparkling enough to get a guy like Aidan to be interested in me. I was deluding myself from the start thinking he’d want to date a beast.

I thought I could get the new boy out of my mind, but he ended up being in all of my classes. All of them. Every. Single. One. I was even paired with him in AP Bio. How could we work together when he didn’t even want to talk to me? When the teacher told him that we’d be working together I saw him wince. Whether it was disgust or just regular old disappointment I was unsure, but it didn’t make me feel good. I could have died.

“Big Oak!” Ah, Big Oak, my nickname since elementary school. I’d grown to hate it with a passion. I didn't like being identified as the big guy. I wanted to be the hot guy, the handsome guy. But I was the big guy, and Handsome Oak just didn’t have the same ring to it. “Hurry up! Come on!” The football team waved me over to our table, where we’d act obnoxiously, drawing the attention of the cafeteria for the duration of the lunch period. I had a tray loaded with food and spotted Aidan sitting by the garbage cans, alone. I knew he didn't like me, even as a potential friend, but I shook my head no at the team and made my way over to his table.

“Aidan, come sit with me and the team,” I offered. I thought it was a nice gesture, considering it was basically an instant pass to the in-crowd. I didn’t particularly care about popularity, but it was nice being cool with a lot of people. He shook his head no. That was shocking. Did he really not care about fitting in and making friends at a new school? This guy was so interesting, never doing what I expected of him, and it did nothing but make me all the more intrigued. “Well, I'll sit with you.” I sat down, feeling my gut hit the table. I sighed silently.

He was just watching me eat and I felt really embarrassed, considering I hadn't planned on sitting with him. The team saw how much I ate, but I guess it must have shocked Aidan. He was eating like a regular sized human being. All he had on his lunch tray was a grilled cheese, yogurt, a fruit salad, and a granola bar. God, I wished I could eat like that. Rabbit food, my dad would call it.

“Do you like it here?” I asked, the silence killing me. He stopped eating, pushing his tray forward towards the middle of the table. He shrugged his shoulders, looking at me cautiously.

“It’s a pretty good school,” I said, trying to make conversation. “Did you go to one of the other high schools in the area or did your family just move here?” He didn’t answer me. I let the silence fill the space between us once again. I bit into one of my meatball subs, marinara dripping out onto the top of my gut, staining my shirt. “Ah, shit,” I mumbled. He smirked at me and it was terrible. I was the sloppy fat guy now. “You think that’s funny?” I asked, trying to sound flirtatious.

He stopped smiling, averting his eyes from me. He shook his head no. Did he think I was mad at him or something?

“Happens more often than I’d like to admit,” I said. “A lot of people laugh at me when I’m eating. It kinda makes me feel bad. Not that I’m mad at you for laughing at me. Fuck, I’m talking way too much.” I laughed nervously. Having to carry a conversation all alone was really hard, especially when I considered the fact he probably didn’t want to be conversing with me in the first place.

“Am—am I bothering you?” I asked, regretting it almost immediately. To be completely honest, I didn’t want a negative response. I already felt like I was bothering him. That was my answer. I shouldn’t have wasted my breath asking. He looked down at his hands, but other than that he didn't move. “Man, I'm sorry. I didn't want to bother you.” He looked up at me, biting his lip nervously, and shook his head no.

No? I smiled at him, feeling good. He said I wasn’t bothering him! He got up and dumped his tray in the garbage cans about five feet from where we sat. He turned towards me and with slight trepidation waved goodbye. We still had like forty minutes left in the lunch period, so I went to sit with the guys on the team.

After that I was on cloud nine. I didn’t care about my sauce stain and happily demolished the rest of my lunch. I kept my distance for the rest of the day though, not wanting to push my luck so immediately after a success. However, the more I thought about it, the more I came to the realization that I wouldn’t get anywhere if I weren’t persistent. I decided I would talk to him a lot more—well, kind of talk to him a lot more. It wouldn’t be much of a conversation if all he did was nod his head.

“Yo Aidan,” I called. It was the next morning, before homeroom. He stiffened up straight as I said his name. Maybe I had been wrong about that head nod. Maybe I was bothering him.

No.

I had to consider the possibility that maybe I was just being too self-conscious. I had to be confident or things would never go my way in the romance department. Though it wasn’t easy to feign confidence when talking to Aidan because he made my knees weak and my palms extra sweaty. I could feel my tongue turning into mush whenever I tried to speak. Just being around him got me flustered. I had goosebumps for crying out loud.

It was hard to believe someone so small could make me want to run and hide. He was maybe 5’7” on a good day and 150 pounds soaking wet, and something about that was really turning me on. Just standing so close to him, my shadow slightly eclipsed him. From an outside perspective I probably looked like the Big Bad Wolf about to chow down on Little Red.

“Are you not able to talk?” I asked, hoping this wasn’t some sort of faux pas. He shook his head yes. That meant he knew sign language, right? I could learn. I would learn!

“Okay, that’s fine. Yes or no questions for now,” I said, making sure to sound encouraging. “Do you want to sit with me and the team at lunch today?” His eyes widened—in fear? I thought he’d be excited. He closed his locker and hurried off to homeroom. He looked back at me over his shoulder, like he wanted to make sure I wasn’t chasing him or something. Was I coming on too strong?

I went to sit with him again at lunch, but he didn't show. It made me so irrationally angry. It wasn’t that I was upset with him, but with myself. All I could think about was how I could just make Aidan do what I wanted; I was bigger than him. What could he do to stop me? I could walk up to him and say, “Aidan, you’re my boyfriend now, got it?” I hated thinking like that. It was creepy as fuck. What if he wasn’t even gay?

What. If. He. Wasn’t. Even. Gay.

I’d been working under an assumption. I could be barking up the wrong tree coming off as a total basket case. Getting confirmation of that should’ve been step one. I made up my mind that the next chance I got, I’d ask him.

“Can I ask you something?” He nodded yes tentatively. The class after lunch had just ended, and we were on our way to our next period. I was definitely thirsty, trying to form any sort of connection I could with Aidan so that maybe I could win him over.

Suddenly I realized that I didn’t know what I was doing. I couldn’t just ask him if he was gay. I was really new to the whole dating thing. I didn’t know how other gay people could find partners. What if he preferred to be discreet? What if he wasn’t out yet? We were in the middle of the hallway surrounded by other people. I had jumped the gun and now I was awkwardly walking next to him taking far too long to ask him my question. My mouth turned to mush again, and I started sweating. Fuck, I didn’t have a Plan B.

“Are you gay?” I blurted out in what I hoped was a whisper, trying to keep this conversation as private as I could in the crowded hallway.

He looked over at me seriously, like he was trying to see what I was thinking. My mom would say he was reading my aura. I grossed him out. I just knew I did. He wasn’t nodding or anything. This huge fat guy was coming on to him, so I guess this reaction was to be expected. He did a complete 180, running through the jam-packed corridor away from me and in the opposite direction of our next class. Fuck. I couldn't catch up to him. I could if I just knocked everyone over, like on the football field, but that would get me in trouble. Besides, that was just an idiotic plan overall. I guess that was my answer.

He didn't show up the next day, and when he did resurface, it was Friday. I saw him in homeroom, and he was obviously trying to avoid me. He wouldn’t even look in my direction. I didn't even get a head nod when I asked if he had been sick.

At lunch I found myself compelled to seek him out again. I needed him to know I wasn’t going to be weird and gay anymore. I had to put an end to this awkwardness, let him know we could still be friends, and move on with my loveless existence. I saw he had bought some fries and a soda. He was leaving the cafeteria, so I followed him. I called his name and he bolted, but I was ready for him. I caught up just in time and grabbed his arm. He dropped his soda, spilling its lemon-lime goodness on the linoleum; his fries were scattered across the hallway tiles. “Shit, I—I’ll get you some more fries,” I said as he tried yanking his arm free. I pulled him into the nearest bathroom so we could talk, but I had to grab awfully hard so I could pull him in.

I could see his eyes getting all watery and I was confused. This wasn’t something to cry over. I was the one getting his heart broken, not him. I saw his forearm was bruised and I felt sick to my stomach. I didn’t think I grabbed him that hard, but I must’ve. I wasn’t thinking. I was just a giant, marinara-stained, homosexual monster. “I—I just wanted to talk to you,” I said like a fucking dumb puppy or some shit. He was holding his arm into his body as he sat on the floor, tears finally falling over onto his cheeks. “Please, stop crying.”

“Ah,” he whimpered as he exhaled slowly.

“Please Aidan, I’m sorry.” He had been panicking. I had this guy in a panic. “I didn't mean to. Let me help you up.” I went to grab his hand to help him off the floor. He crawled towards the door and I grabbed his leg and dragged him back in. I should have just let him go. I didn't know what I was thinking. He started thrashing his legs around and I pinned them down, along with his arms. “I just wanted to talk to you,” I reiterated like it mattered in the current state of things. Taking a moment to assess the situation, I realized it looked like I was about to do something awful to him.

“Pl—please don't beat me up,” he sobbed, pleaded really. It wasn't like he was calling for help. He just really wanted me to let him go.

Wait, had he just talked? I was so shocked that I released him from my grasp. He thought I was going to beat him up? He scurried over to the exit and ran out of the bathroom. I wanted to follow him, but I remained on the other side of the door.

He didn’t show up for the rest of our classes. I freaked him out so bad I had my doubts he’d ever come to school again.

Practice that afternoon dragged on and on and I was pretty hungry afterwards. We had a game scheduled for tomorrow afternoon, a Saturday. I usually performed my best at these pre-game practices, but I totally sucked today. I could only think about Aidan. He’d never talk to me again, or for the first time for that matter. I guess I could count him yelling for me not to beat him up as our first conversation where he used words instead of head nods. Why had he lied about being mute? The mystery of this guy was consuming me.

A couple of guys on the team invited me out to the mall. Even though I wasn’t really in the mood, I said I’d go. Being the fat fuck that I was, all it took was a “Big Oak, you know we’re gonna hit up the food court.”

I met up with them between the Sbarro and the Panda Express. I wouldn’t be expected home until later. I hadn’t eaten much at lunch after the whole Aidan-Bathroom debacle, so I was prepared to eat my feelings. We all ate a lot, but I ate the most every time, hands down. I had a couple slices of pizza, some fries, a double cheeseburger, an orange chicken meal, and a milkshake.

I was eating so much that the rest of the guys had already finished their food. They sat talking to one another as I stuffed my face. I’d normally be embarrassed, but I just kept at it. I ate whatever leftovers they had, and I still wanted more. The food was making me feel a little bit better. “I’m getting some Taco Bell,” I said, standing.

“You sure, Big Oak?” Kevin, our quarterback, asked me. His eyes traveled from my face to my gut. I looked down as well. My sweatshirt had ridden up, exposing the lower half of my stomach and my belly button. I tugged at it, covering the exposed flesh.

“Yeah,” I said. “I’m sure. You guys can just meet me back here when you’re done if you want.”

“We’ll wait,” he said. “Wouldn’t want to miss the show, right guys?” They all laughed, and it made me feel pretty lousy. I was a gross joke to be laughed at. As good as the food had made me feel, I was now feeling worse than before.

“Hurry up, Pig Oak,” Mike, one of the wide receivers, added, still laughing. This just made everyone else laugh even harder. I wanted to go home. This wasn’t how I wanted to be treated, but it felt like I deserved it. I was a pig. Thinking about all the stuff I just ate was proof of that.

I started to laugh along with them, not wanting them to know they’d hurt my feelings. “Shut your mouth, Mike,” I said, doing my best to keep my voice level. “I may be a pig, but at least I don’t have a pencil dick.” That did it. The focus of attention had shifted from me to Pencil Dick Mike. Everyone had seen those nudes that got sent around last year. They all howled with laughter and I walked off towards the Taco Bell. I ordered six Doritos Locos Tacos, supreme.

The guys ignored me while I ate and then it was time to mall walk. In our suburb this was just how teenagers spent their time. There wasn’t much else to do in a big group. We walked around and I spent a good hour watching them get phone numbers. I was beyond bored and ready to go home, especially when they made us go into the arcade. We hadn’t been in this place since ninth grade. I sucked at arcade games back then, so I knew I was probably going to suck even worse now. I couldn’t even play the fun racing games considering I was the size of a house.

“Oak, isn't that the freak who can't talk?” Kevin asked.

“I think he can talk,” I said, looking at Aidan. “He just chooses not to.” He hadn’t noticed us yet, as he was busy restocking some of the prizes. He worked here at Game Explosion. I had to remember that. His hair was pulled back in a big halo of dark curls. He had on a bright neon, teal employee t-shirt. The color of the shirt just highlighted his beautiful bronze skin. He looked like some sort of God. He emptied fun size packages of candy into a larger bin. He was making me want to eat candy off of his body. Even my sexual fantasies involved food.

“Wanna make him talk?” Mike asked, smiling wickedly. Some of the other guys laughed at this, affirming they thought it’d be fun to fuck with him.

“No, let’s leave him alone,” I said. “He’s working and we don’t want to get him fired or something.”

“You must hate pussy so much because you are one,” Mike goaded. They all knew I was gay, and they’d make the occasional joke. I didn't care all that much, not really. It was just like earlier with the fat jokes. It was just how the guys on the team interacted with one another. I didn’t think there was anything truly malicious about it. It was just how we were supposed to show our friendship.

“We all know why you hate pussy, Pencil Dick,” I shot back, my heart not a hundred percent in it. They ignored my response and continued to push the whole Aidan thing.

“Make him talk,” Kevin continued to instigate. “We’ve seen you talking to him before.”

 “Why? There’s legit no reason to.” I didn't want to bother Aidan anymore. I’d done enough to him already.

“You’re being a real fag about this,” Mike added. This gave Peter and Carter enough to start in on me as well. Before long, the four of them had peer pressured me enough to go over to him. I was trying to tell myself this was to help Aidan. If I were leading the group, I could control the situation to produce the least painful outcome.

“Fine, whatever,” I agreed. I walked up to the counter that had all the arcade prizes. I never had enough tickets to win anything cool. He looked up from his work at me, his eyes getting that deer-in-the-headlights look. There was no better comparison. He was a deer, so fragile and delicate and beautiful. And I was a fucking grizzly bear with a bunch of other grizzly bears surrounding him. Aidan could see the rest of the guys behind me; he took a few steps back, bumping into the shelves with the stuffed animals. A few of them rained down around him, but he paid them no mind. “Hey Aidan,” I said as nonthreateningly as possible. He stepped closer to the counter again, placing his hands on the top of it, like he was trying to keep himself at his post.

He looked at me and forced a smile. He was waiting for me to asked him something about the arcade. He was trying to do his job even though he was terrified of us. His eyes traveled down towards my gut, and I realized my sweatshirt had ridden up again. It was layered under my open letterman jacket. I’d gotten the jacket this school year, but the sweatshirt was from sophomore year, explaining why it was doing such a shit job of preventing me from flashing everyone my fat stomach. I tugged at it again, trying to stifle the feeling of embarrassment. “You, uh, work here?”

He nodded, still trying to hold his composure.

“He’s fucking talking to you,” Mike spat in an over-aggressive manner. Aidan’s body tensed up.

“I—I’m sorry,” he said, still smiling like everything was okay. “Can I help you guys with anything?” He had a really deep voice. It was sexy as hell.

“So you can talk,” Kevin remarked.

“Yeah,” he managed to get out, his voice barely above a whisper. He started writing again, like before we walked up to the counter, but had to stop because he was shaking so bad.

“We just wanted to say hello is all,” I said, trying to make up for the others. Those fucking idiots had scared him so bad, I doubted he’d come back to school ever again. “Let's go guys.”

They followed as I left the arcade. They were all laughing and mocking his voice. Adding a lisp that wasn’t even there. I was so pissed. They ruined everything! This was all their fault.

No. This was—this was—this was my fault too. I was just as guilty, even if I wanted to act like I had pure intentions. I didn’t try to stop them at all, not in a way that mattered.

I got in around nine, much earlier than my parents thought I would. My brother was on his computer and I said goodnight as I passed. I started doing push-ups on the floor of my bedroom. I couldn’t go into the garage to lift because it was so late, and my dad couldn't spot me. I took a shower, trying to calm myself down.

I couldn’t believe that even after everything that happened, I was turned on thinking about Aidan. His hair was so sexy pulled back like that. I pictured his face before we walked up to him, his eyes cast down at the notepad, his lips slightly parted. I reached under my gut and grabbed my dick. I could picture him beneath me in the shower, his hand on my gut to keep it out of his way while he worked my cock with those fleshy lips. I stroked myself off for another few minutes before I came all over the shower wall. I rinsed it away before getting out.

I looked at myself in the mirror and I kind of liked the way I looked. I liked my belly, which was still bloated from the food court, and I touched it. I turned to the side and took in how far it stuck out in front of me, surprised that my ass was actually sticking out almost as far in comparison. I couldn’t believe I was this big. Maybe I should diet or something and then there would be a chance for me to be happier. My hair was still wet, causing water to drip down my neck. I gave my stomach one last squeeze before I started to dry off my hair.

I had to make things up to Aidan, but I didn't know how.

I couldn’t talk to him. He’d just run away, and I definitely was not going to try and grab him again. Touching was off limits, because if I hurt him again—no. That was not going to happen. I walked into my room and sat gently on the bed. I remembered in eighth grade when I first needed a new one, and then last year when we had to upgrade it again. There was nothing more mortifying than explaining to my parents that it just broke. I had just been laying down and the wood snapped. This new king-sized bed frame was made from metal, but I was still overly cautious when I sat on it. With all the stuff on my mind, I didn’t remember dozing off, but I slept for like ten hours, only getting out of bed because my stomach forced me to.

I spent the rest of the weekend thinking about Aidan and how we were starting swimming in Phys Ed. Now I had two things to make me anxious. Anyone could guess I wasn’t going to be participating. I hated taking my clothes off in public. Always had. I’d been the big t-shirt kid for all of middle school, and a big t-shirt could no longer do anything to disguise how colossal I was.

On Monday, Aidan still avoided me as much as possible. I was trying to build up the nerve to talk to him again, but shockingly, he spoke to me after AP Bio, the class right before lunch. “Can—can I talk to you?” I had to look around to make sure he was talking to me.

“Of course,” I said, still in disbelief. We walked in the opposite direction of the cafeteria. It was a section of the school that didn’t have a lot of foot traffic, especially during lunch periods. We found a single-occupant bathroom and went inside. He didn’t say anything for what felt like too long of a time to be standing together in a tiny bathroom. This might have been very spacious if I was a regular sized man, but my gut was just inches from him, and my back was as close against a wall as my butt would allow. “So, what did you want to talk about?” I asked, feeling like I was going to barf. If he was about to tell me off or insult me, I’d let him. I deserved it.

“Why did you ask me if I was gay?” he asked, holding my gaze even though I knew it must have been really hard for him. “Do you have friends at Jefferson?” That was our rival school in the suburb adjacent to this one. So he was from a school in the area.

“Fuck Jefferson,” I said, trying to lighten the mood. He was still staring daggers at me, so I assumed my joke had not landed. “I asked if you were gay because I thought you were cute. I was just hoping you were gay like me. And I know that it’s ridiculous that I would even think you’d be interested in a guy like me even if you are gay, because, well, look at me.”

“Please stop.” He finally looked away from me. “Just stop it. I don’t know who put you up to this, but I don’t like it. I won’t look at you or talk to you, so you can just fuck with somebody else. I just want to graduate and get out of here.”

“Nobody has put me up to anything. Who would do that?” I asked seriously. I was really trying to be as honest as possible. I had no reason to pull a practical joke on him.

“You’re not gay,” he said definitively. He moved closer to the door, not realizing that he wouldn’t be able to open it with me in the way. “I’m not going to let you play a trick on me. I know you and your friends thought it was hilarious to fuck with me the other night.”

“I’m not fucking with you, Aidan,” I said, trying to think of how I could explain things to him. “I didn't want them to mess with you. I—I tried to stop them.”

“Yeah right,” he said, trying to reach for the door handle. “You were going to beat me up last week.”

“No—no, I wasn't.” I didn’t know how to get out of this. The evidence was stacked against me, and even though this was all a misunderstanding, it didn’t seem like he wanted to hear it.

Aidan was trembling so bad it made me feel like a monster. I reached out my arm; I was going to try and give him a comforting pat on the shoulder, but he looked at my arm coming towards him with a panicked expression. I dropped my arm to my side.

“Are you going to let me out of here?” he asked uneasily. “I won’t mention we were in here to anybody. I swear.”

“I’m not holding you captive,” I said. “But please believe me when I say I’m not joking. I am gay. Ask anybody.” He looked at me again, trying to discern if I was being honest. I shifted my eyes even though I wasn’t lying. I just felt so bad about the whole situation. “Seriously.”

“How did you know I was gay?” he asked, his arms straight against his sides. He pulled at the sleeves of his long sleeve. It was really fucking cute, but then I remembered he thought I was about to kill him or something.

“I was just hoping, I guess,” I said, only telling a half-truth. “And, well, you move differently than most guys. And you smell like, a little girly—not that there’s anything wrong with that!” In truth he just didn’t smell like most of the guys I hung around with. The locker room always smelled like sweat and Axe body spray. He smelled like coconuts and other tropical fruits. It was really nice.

“If you just want sex or something, we can do that,” he said, looking down again. “It’s fine if you want to experiment with me. Just—just promise to ignore me. Act like I’m invisible. I won’t tell anyone about what we do together, so you don’t have to worry about anyone finding out.”

“I wouldn’t just use you like that,” I said. “I was hoping you might want to go on a date or something.”

“Why?” he asked, perplexed.

“I like you and I want to get to know you.” He stood silent, like he was running a polygraph on what I’d just said. I couldn’t let this go on any longer. It was now or never.

I filled the small amount of space that still remained between us. My gut pushed into him slightly, but I didn’t let that stop me. I couldn’t let it stop me. I had to make sure he knew I was for real. I leaned down so that my face was right in front of his. I kissed him, and he didn’t pull away. Our lips parted and met again and again, and then I felt his tongue in my mouth. His hands were on my stomach and it felt good. I could feel his palms and his warm fingers pressing gently into my middle. I wanted him to touch me all over. I could stay kissing him in this tiny bathroom for the rest of my life.

“I—I believe you,” he said looking at me, and for the first time ever, it felt like he wasn’t afraid of me. “You seem like a nice guy.”

“Does this mean you’ll go out with me?”

“Yeah, sure,” he replied. “I’d, uh, really like that.”

“When?” I asked excitedly. I knew I sounded thirsty, but this was the best thing that had ever happened to me. He laughed softly.

“Whenever you’re free.”

“How’s Saturday for you?”

“Fine with me,” he said, looking down, but smiling. One day he’d feel comfortable enough to smile directly at me. I couldn’t wait for that day. “But I work at the arcade until three.”

“Okay, cool, I'll pick you up. What's your address? Wait, text it to me. Oh man, now we can start texting each other.” He laughed again, handing me his phone so I could give him my number. I held his tiny phone in my hands, slightly embarrassed that I was having such a hard time putting in the digits. My thick fingers were hitting multiple numbers at the same time. I finally got everything in order and handed his phone back to him. My phone chimed and I looked down at the message that I just received: Hey, It’s Aidan Ashford.

It was so formal, like I knew a million Aidan’s and needed to make sure to differentiate between him and all the others. My phone chimed again, and this time it was his address. “Is seven good for you?” I asked aloud.

“Yes,” he said, still smiling. This was nice. He usually had the same blank expression on his face, well, that or terror. I much preferred his smile.

“Uh, can you stand behind me,” I said, my face getting hot. “It’s the only way I can open the door with the both of us in here. I’m sorry.” He nodded and shimmied by me. Feeling him rub against my body was enough to have me fully erect. I hated feeling like a horndog, but I couldn’t control how he made me feel. I’d gladly replace in my memory the previous bathroom encounter with this one.

We spent the rest of the week texting. He still didn’t talk much during classes, and he continued to avoid the lunchroom, but I didn’t want to push him out of his comfort zone too quickly. I was just glad we were getting closer. I spent the entire week in an amazing mood. At practice my mind was clear, and we won our game on Friday night. That did nothing but good things for my confidence on Saturday night.

I went and got a haircut that morning, my standard fade. I took my truck to the carwash. I lifted with my dad and brother in the garage for about an hour. I was pretty pumped afterwards, my arms and shoulders slightly sore. Fuck, I loved that feeling. I wondered if Aidan liked that I was so muscular. Maybe that’d cancel out the fact that I was also fat as fuck.

I tried on at least twenty different outfits, slightly panicked because I couldn’t wear sweats. I decided on a pair of jeans that had seen better days, but they were my roomiest pair. I threw on a 4-XL t-shirt and layered my letterman jacket over it. I wore some white Nikes, size sixteen. Before I left, I put on some diamond stud earrings and a simple chain necklace. I didn’t look half bad. Hell, I’d even venture to say I looked good.

I told my parents I’d be out late and drove to his place. I didn’t know if I should go in to meet his parents or not. I figured I should. I got out and went up to the door. I texted Aidan and then rang the doorbell. A very pretty girl answered. She looked to be about the same age as me and Aidan. She actually looked a lot like Aidan. They had to be siblings.

“Uh, hi,” I said, a big goofy smile on my face. I was way too excited, but I couldn’t help it. “My name is Oakley Rivers. I’m here to pick up Aidan.” She stared at me for a moment, looking kind of angry. I began to feel uncomfortable. Maybe I had the wrong house.

“Yeah, sure. He’ll be down in a minute.” She didn’t invite me inside; instead, she came out onto the porch and closed the door. Her voice was the opposite of Aidan’s. From that intimidating stare down, I didn’t expect the voice of a Powerpuff Girl.

“So, are you Aidan’s sister?” I asked, looking down at her. She also had big, curly hair like Aidan. If Aidan was a deer, she was also a deer—an angry, intimidating deer that could slice a grizzly bear in half.

“Twin sister, actually.” He hadn’t mentioned any siblings this week while we were texting. I’d have to ask him more about his family tonight. “My name is Autumn.” She was shorter than Aidan by an inch or two, but oddly felt much larger.

“It's nice to meet you,” I said. “Do you still go to Jefferson?”

“I do not,” she said, coming closer. “I graduated last year, like Aidan should have.” She poked a perfectly manicured nail into my chest. “If you're fucking with him, I will kill you.” Her nail dug into my skin. “Got it?”

“Yeah, I got it. I—I’m not messing with him. I swear.” The door opened and there Aidan stood, looking incredible. His hair was pulled back again, and I think he might have been wearing a little bit of makeup, like some eyeliner and a little bit of glitter on his eyelids. He looked like he was a cast member on Euphoria or something. I couldn’t believe someone so cool had agreed to go out with me.

He had on some of those chunky platform sneakers and baggy jeans. He wore an oversized denim jacket with a slightly cropped anime t-shirt underneath. It looked like one of the shows I had seen my brother watching before. This outfit was nothing like the sort of stuff that I’d seen him wear at school. This was intimidating. I looked like shit compared to him.

“Hi Oakley,” he said in his smooth, deep voice. “You look great.”

“Hey, um, thanks,” I responded, my voice cracking slightly. “You look really awesome.”

“Autumn, what are you doing?” he asked, closing the door and joining us on the porch.

“We were just getting to know each other.” She smiled at me and I smiled back. I got the feeling that if I didn’t, she’d stab me or something.

“Oh, okay, that’s good,” he said, giving her a quick hug. “Are you ready?” he asked me.

“Should I say hello to your parents?”

“No, let’s just go.”

“Okay, sure.”

“Bye Autumn,” he called as we left.

“See you later Aidan,” she called cheerily. I turned and gave a slight wave. “Bye Oakley,” she added dryly. She hated me.

We walked out to my truck and sat there for a moment. I was really happy. I was on a date with Aidan. “So, it’s a pretty nice night for the end of October. It’ll probably get colder soon, so I was thinking we could pick up some food and eat it in the bed of the truck.” He nodded, and it made me feel like this was a lame idea. I wish he’d talk more. It’d make me less anxious. “That’s probably a dumb idea. You’re wearing such a nice outfit. I got a carwash today, so I thought it’d be clean enough. I brought a blanket too. I’m sorry, it’s dumb. What—what do you wanna do?” I asked finally, realizing I’d rambled for far too long.

“No, I'm okay with that,” he said. He laughed a bit. “I really appreciate you taking the time to plan all of this. This is my first date, so I'm a bit nervous.”

“This is my first date too,” I said.

“With a guy?” he asked.

“No, with anybody.”

“Whoa, really?” he asked in surprise. “You’re so popular, I just assumed you’ve gone out on a ton of dates.”

“Have you seen me?” I asked. “Nobody is trying to go out with me. I don’t even know why you’re here to be honest. I’m kind of scared I forced you into this.”

He turned in his seat to look at me. It felt really intense, like he had something he really wanted to emphasize to me. He reached across the middle armrest and placed his hand on mine. “I want to be here,” he said. “Don’t think that I don’t want to be.” I felt like I was in a movie. Guys like me weren’t the lead in rom-coms, but he was making me believe that maybe I could be.

“Okay,” I said, grabbing his hand in mine. We sat like that for a few minutes, and it was really nice. I couldn’t believe how special he made me feel. He said he was here because he wanted to be, and I had to push away the negative thoughts that said that was a lie. I was going to enjoy this night.

“Now let’s go get some food,” he said finally, shifting in his seat and putting on his seatbelt.

I drove to one of those fast-food places that had like fifty different menu items. I wasn’t too sure what he liked, so I wanted to make sure he had options. I loved this place, so hopefully he enjoyed it too. “We can get the food and then drive somewhere private to eat,” I said. He agreed and we went inside. He perused the menu and I waited already knowing what I wanted. My stomach growled at the thought of devouring a gyro and cheese fries.

“Would it be lame if I ordered chicken tenders?” he asked.

“Definitely not lame,” I replied. “That’s what my brother always gets. They’re pretty good.”

I walked up to the counter and placed our order. I got his chicken tender meal and a gyro platter for myself (no onions) with a large cheese fry. I also ordered extra fries and two milkshakes. I didn’t know what kind he liked so I got one chocolate and one vanilla. I met him off towards the side so we could wait for the food together.

“How much was it?” he asked. “We can split it fifty-fifty.” He reached into his back pocket and pulled out his wallet. He looked up at me expectantly.

“You can pay when we do non food related stuff,” I said, scratching at my chin. “It’s not fair to make you pay when you barely eat anything.” He lowered his wallet, putting it back in his pocket. We didn’t say much as we waited, but it was nice just being out with him. I didn’t mind the silence this time.

Some guys came in and he turned his body towards me, so his face was slightly obscured. “You okay?” I asked.

“Yeah, I’m all good,” he said, turning even further, so his back was almost completely facing the door and those guys who had just come in. They had called ahead so their food was already prepared. They grabbed it and were gone within two minutes.

“Those guys are gone,” I said.

“Sorry about that,” he said, smiling. “Just some people I didn’t want to see.”

“Order six-fifty,” the cashier called. I went to the counter to grab our food and we were back out at my truck. He was even more silent than before. I was kind of pissed those guys showed up. I was finally getting him to be more comfortable and now he was on edge again. We rode in silence to a forest preserve a few miles from where the restaurant was.

“Wait here,” I said, hopping out and getting the blanket set up. “Okay, come on!”

Next thing I knew, I was sitting in the bed of my truck eating takeout with Aidan Ashford. It was kind of dark, but I knew that’d be the case, so I brought along a couple of candles. It was definitely romantic. We talked and there were barely any awkward pauses. He chose the vanilla milkshake. I realized he was pretty smart, and it made him even more intimidating. He liked a lot of nerdy stuff and gay stuff I’d never heard of. I wanted to write down some of the things he was talking about so I could research it on my own. He let me talk about football, even though I didn’t think he was all that interested in sports. I wanted to ask him about that day in the bathroom, the one when I first heard him talk. I wanted to ask him about those guys at the restaurant. The conversation turned towards Phys Ed.

“I notice you never swim,” he said.

“No,” I said, eating a chicken tender he had pushed in my direction. I got him a six piece and he’d only eaten three of them. He probably thought I was a glutton. “You don’t either,” I pointed out.

“Yeah, I don’t, but—but I’d do it if you did.” He took a sip from his milkshake. I’d already finished mine. I got us both extra larges, and I didn’t think he was anywhere near finished with his.

“I can’t.” You didn’t really swim laps or anything. You just had to get in the water to receive credit. Everyone just horsed around. They separated the gym classes between boys and girls.

“I just hate that we’re losing points,” he said. “I really need to get an A in Phys Ed.”

“I’m sure you could do it without me.” He shouldn't have body image problems. He looked amazing. Could he really be that poor of a swimmer that he thought he’d drown in a pool full of people?

“Not by myself,” he protested weakly.

“Why not?” I asked.

“It’s just something that happened at my old school. It’s really dumb.”

“Tell me about it?” I asked. He handed me the rest of his milkshake.

“If you finish this for me.”

“You’ve got a deal.”

That was when he told me about his old school, the one Autumn graduated from. He was a year older than I was, which was definitely a surprise. He had to repeat his senior year because he missed so much school. Kids had always picked on him for being gay, but it started getting more serious at the end of his junior year. He thought things would cool down over the summer, but it only got worse. The main culprits were big, football playing guys.

Example? Guys like me.

He’d been on the swim team. One day after practice they cornered him in the locker room showers. They wrapped him in duct tape and tossed him into the deep end. They almost drowned him. I couldn’t believe it. Of course he’d been terrified of me. Some of those guys that came into the restaurant earlier had been in his class. I felt sick to my stomach. I had been seven feet away from the people who almost killed him. I wish he had told me. I’d have killed those fuckers. He said he wouldn’t feel safe unless I was there. I couldn’t deny his request to swim with him now that I knew what he’d been through. We were connecting. He was trusting me.

“I’ll do it,” I said. “We can swim together on Monday.”

“You’re like a superhero,” he said, and it didn’t sound sarcastic.

“Shut up,” I said, laughing. “You’re just fucking with me.”

“I’m not!” he exclaimed. “I really thought you were this awful guy who hated me, but you’re one of the nicest people I’ve ever met.”

“I’m glad I exceeded your expectations.”

“Can I hug you?” he asked.

“You don’t gotta ask,” I said. He crawled towards me and wrapped his arms around my neck. He was on his knees and I had easy access to his waist. It didn’t take any effort to get my arms all the way around him. He smelled fantastic, kind of citrusy. He let go of my neck, but I didn’t let go of his waist. “You fucked up,” I said. “I’m never letting you go.”

“What if I don’t want you to?”

His face was so close to mine, I could see the glitter sparkling in the candlelight. He leaned in and kissed me. The next thing I knew he was straddling me in the back of my pickup, and we were over-the-clothes grinding. My hand was on his ass, and I was surprised by how much was there underneath his baggy jeans. I had finished all my food, and I knew what I wanted to eat next.

He rocked his hips slightly, and I could feel his dick pressing against my gut through the denim. I knew he could feel my dick, the way he moved his body he was rubbing me just right through my own jeans. He bit at my neck gently, covering it in kisses. “You taste good,” he said breathlessly.

He was going to make me cum in my pants and that’d be so fucking lame, but I didn’t want him to stop. “You—you’ve gotta slow down,” I said, grabbing his waist. Fuck, just feeling how little he was in my hands was sending me into a different headspace. I just wanted to take control of his body. I wanted to make him do what I wanted.

“I don’t want to,” he whispered. He stopped moving his hips, slinking in between my legs. He was like a cat. He’d become some sort of deer-cat hybrid. His hands fumbled under my gut looking for the button on my jeans. It was too tight. He wouldn’t be able to get them open.

“Let me,” I said, sucking in slightly and popping the button open. It had only been holding my gut back a little, but with the added freedom my fat stomach surged forward. “It’s—I’m sorry, you don’t have to. It’s gross.”

“It’s not,” he said, looking up at me from the base of my gut. He started kissing it slowly, licking it softly in some spots. I could feel the warmth of his breath on my fatpad. I hated that he was looking at it, knowing he probably hated it. But then he kissed that as well. My whole body tingled from just a couple of kisses. I couldn’t believe he’d gotten me this excited and he hadn’t even touched my dick yet.

He held my stomach with one hand as he covered the head of my cock with his mouth. I could feel it pulsating as his tongue played with the tip. “Fuck,” I said, not wanting this to ever end. “It feels so good, Aidan.”

I could tell he wouldn’t be able to fit the whole thing in his mouth, but he got the majority of it in there, taking some into his throat. He started making noises like in porn videos I’d seen, and it sent me over the edge. How could one guy be this fucking sexy? I wanted to warn him, but it happened almost instantaneously. I felt spurt after spurt of ejaculate erupt from the head of my dick. He managed to collect most of it, but some of it fell from his mouth onto the blanket.

He shielded his face, though I caught a glimpse of him covered in my cum. That was one of the sexiest images I’d ever seen, and I knew I’d be using the memory later on tonight for round two. He cleaned himself up and I readjusted my pants. Then he got all quiet again.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“I hope that doesn’t ruin things,” he replied.

“Ruin things?” Did he believe I would think he was a slut or something? I’d never think that about him. I’d never experienced anything like that in my entire life. He’d never be able to get rid of me now.

“I know it’s dumb, but I’m kind of scared you won’t text me anymore.”

“I’m not like that,” I said. “You don’t have to worry about something like that with me. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Thanks Oakley.”

I took him home after that and I made sure to give him a kiss goodbye. It was the perfect end to a perfect date. I saw Autumn glaring through the curtains when I pulled off. I hoped she’d like me eventually.

When I got home, I was buzzing. The endorphins were never ending. I had so much serotonin I’d never be depressed again. I took out my phone and sent Aidan a text. It said: I had a great time tonight. Can’t wait to see you again.

He sent back a bunch of emojis. It was really cute. He also said: Thanks for the best night ever!!!

Bridget Jones needed to move over because there was a new queen of rom-coms and his name was Oakley Rivers!

The morning after my first date with Aidan I remembered I needed some swimming trunks. It was Sunday, which meant I still had time to mentally prepare for my public humiliation. I promised Aidan I’d get in the pool, so I was going to get in the pool. I rummaged through my dresser drawers looking for my swimming trunks. I found them. I had bought them last year when this time of year came around, but I never wore them.

I pulled them up over my thighs and felt my neck go hot. My ass was too big. I couldn't fit into these stupid swim trunks. I pulled harder and they ripped. I couldn't believe it; I thought they were huge. I looked in the mirror and there it was, my big brown backside hanging out of some too little pineapple print swim shorts.

I felt slightly excited about this, but that was wrong. I shouldn’t have liked being fat. I felt my gut in my hands, the heft of it was stimulating. I flexed my arms and turned to the side. It really did stick out a lot. Was it wrong to like the way that I looked when I wasn’t what was considered normal? It felt good to be powerful, sure, but was I getting bigger? I couldn’t be, although I ate a bit more, but that shouldn't have made me this much bigger.

I went to the bathroom and stepped on the scale. I didn’t even have a regular scale because I had to get one that went above 300 pounds. I had weighed 374 pounds three months ago at the start of the football season. I couldn't have gone up more than five pounds.

I couldn't see the fucking number.

I couldn't get in the pool now. I couldn't—but that would let Aidan down, and that was something I couldn't do. I managed to maneuver my bulk so I could see the number. I weighed 402 pounds. 402 pounds.

I went back into my room and sat on the bed. The swim trunks ripped even more. I was suddenly very aware of how big I was. I was massive—gigantic—enormous. Whatever you wanted to call it. I had never worried much about my weight. I’d always been a really big guy, and yeah, I kind of hated it, but I hadn’t ever needed to worry about how fat I was. I was just fat. But now, Aidan wasn’t going to want to stay with me. Why would he?

Even though I knew things between Aidan and I would end as soon as he saw me in swim trunks, I made a promise to him and I had to keep it. I got dressed, hopped in my truck, and headed to the mall. Even my truck seemed too small. I went into a store for bigger guys and looked at the swimsuits. I picked up a pair of blue and red trunks. They were two sizes bigger than the other pair. I went to try them on.

They fit. I was kind of in shock that a pair of trunks that were two sizes bigger than the ones I’d just bought last year fit so perfectly, but there was nothing I could do about it now. I was glad I didn’t have to try on anything else, because having a mirror show off my body at every angle didn’t help with my self-esteem. Fuck, my ass was really ridiculous. My thighs were probably double the size of Aidan’s waist. No wonder I only ever wore sweatpants. I had a lot of muscle under my meaty chest and large powerful arms, but they were still covered in a layer of fat. I took in my belly again. It was so round. I hated it. I hated that I kind of liked it. I bought the suit and made my way home.

I had never been so anxious to go to school before. I knew this probably paled in comparison to how Aidan felt about going to school after what happened to him, but I was still terrified. We’d barely started getting to know one another and now it was all going to be over.

“Hey Oakley,” Aidan said. “Good morning.” He seemed to be in a good mood. We were in homeroom, which was first period. Phys Ed would be the last period of the day. I wasn’t planning on eating lunch.

“Hey.” He looked at me, like he saw something.

“Are you okay?” he asked. “What’s wrong?”

“I’m fine.”

“Oh, okay,” he replied. I could tell he wasn’t buying that I was okay, but he wasn’t the pushy type. He probably thought I just needed time to open up about whatever was eating at me.

“I’m fine. Really, I am.”

“Well, if something’s wrong, you can tell me.”

“If there was something wrong, I would,” I said. “I promise.”

I was definitely uncharacteristically silent the rest of the day. I just wanted to savor the rest of the time Aidan and I had together before he ended things. I skipped out on lunch, spending the period in the library. I had a slight headache when it was time to swim.

I was one of the last people to get changed, and when the locker room was nearly empty, I got dressed as quickly as possible. I felt like everyone was just waiting to make fun of me. I was the biggest guy in the class, and not by like twenty pounds. I probably weighed the most by over a hundred. I absolutely hated it. Aidan would see me. He’d know what I looked like. But, I mean, I guess everyone already knew what I looked like. I was basically a walking brick wall.

I walked out of the locker room and into the pool area. Aidan was near a corner. I was afraid to go meet him. I started walking over to him, and I noticed nobody else was looking at me. I smiled a bit, mostly to myself. He met me halfway.

He was gorgeous. He had abs. Abs. He was so little. I wanted nothing more than to grab him by the waist and pull him into my body. I wanted to feel his arms trying to wrap around me. I was afraid I’d get an erection. “You look good,” he said. He wasn’t looking at me and his face was flushed. He probably felt embarrassed for me. I wondered if he’d end things in person or through text message.

“You do too,” I said honestly.

“Thanks for doing this.”

“I’m happy to.” He smiled. Coach yelled for everyone to get into the water. God, it was freezing. I could feel my nipples getting hard. Aidan stuck close by me, especially when they started playing a dunking game. I was surprised Coach didn’t try and stop it. We just floated off to the side and I made sure nobody came near us. Before long, it was over. I had survived it, and nobody cared. I was sure they thought I was fat, but they didn’t say anything. Aidan was safe and I made sure of it. It felt good to protect him.

“Do you want to come over tonight and study?” Aidan asked after we were dressed. His hair was slightly wet in some areas. He had put it up, and he never went underwater, but it still managed to get a little damp.

“Sure,” I replied, surprised he wasn’t breaking up with me.

“What time is practice over?”

“I'll skip.” I didn't feel much like practicing. I was starving. Skipping lunch completely drained me. “But can we get something to eat?”

“My treat!” he exclaimed.

We stopped at a McDonald’s that was on the way to his house. Smelling the scent of fries in the air made my stomach growl more loudly than the radio. He fished his wallet out of his jacket pocket, turned and smiled at me, and said, “I got paid on Friday, so please, get however much you want!”

It didn’t feel like he was making a joke or anything. I wasn’t used to not being made fun of for eating too much. Even at home there was the occasional jab at me about my weight. He still smiled at me, and it made my heart melt. I had wanted nothing more in the entire world than him looking at me like he liked me. Looking at me like he was happy to be alone with me, just us and the lady about to take our order at the drive-thru intercom.

“You’re not going to get anything?” I asked, a little embarrassed we had to make this stop because of me.

“Nah,” he said. “I had a big lunch, and I promised Autumn I’d treat her to Chipotle for dinner.”

“That sounds good too,” I said offhandedly, thinking about the last time I got to eat a burrito.

“You could come with us if you want,” he said. “I’m sorry. I’m being weird. We’ve been around each other all day and now I’m trying to take up even more of your time.”

“I’d like to go with you guys,” I said honestly. “If the offer still stands.”

“Yeah, of course.”

It was then our turn at the intercom and even though I wanted to eat my weight in hamburgers, I kept it simple. The cashier gave the spiel welcoming me to McDonald’s and then I was able to place my order. “Can I get a number one meal with a Coke,” I requested.

“Would you like to make that a large meal for one more dollar?” she asked. I normally would have said yes.

“Nah, that’s okay.”

“Does that complete your order?” I didn’t think I could skip lunch again. I was so hungry.

“Yeah, that’s it.”

“—Actually,” Aidan called towards the intercom, leaning in my direction. “Can we make that the large meal?”

“Yeah, anything else?”

“And can we have two McDoubles, a ten-piece nugget, and—and an Oreo McFlurry!”

“That’ll be $24.87,” she said. “Please drive forward.”

I followed her directions and pulled the car towards the next window. He handed me his debit card. “I thought you weren’t hungry,” I said, taking the card from him.

“I’m not,” he said proudly. “I knew you’d do that, be all shy and order next to nothing. I told you to get however much you wanted.”

“That was enough food for me,” I lied, feeling really bad that even he thought of me as some greedy pig. We paid for the food and headed to his place. When we got there, it seemed like nobody was home. I could hear a television in one of the rooms, but nobody was moving around or anything. Where were his other family members? I knew we’d see Autumn later at dinner, but what about everybody else?

“My dad is in his room,” he said. “We just need to make sure we aren’t too loud.”

“Yeah, no problem.” We walked towards the rear of the house through the living room and kitchen. There was a small door off to the side. He opened it and ushered me inside. It wasn’t very spacious at all. He had a twin sized bed and a desk setup. There were also some shelves with small figures and books on them.

“You can sit at the desk,” he said, closing a textbook and pushing some miscellaneous knickknacks to the side. I couldn’t sit at his desk. I didn’t know how to tell him that I physically could not sit at his desk. His office chair looked comfortable enough, but it had armrests, and it didn’t look like the one my parents specially ordered for my room. “I can quiz you on Bio terms while you eat.”

“I won’t—I won’t be able to fit,” I said, my head falling. If I was just tall, yeah, it wouldn’t have been an issue. But I wasn’t just tall. I was big. I was wide. I was fat. He looked at me and then at the chair, and then back at me.

“Oh, that’s fine,” he said. “I didn’t realize. You can sit on the bed!”

“I should just go,” I said. It might not have seemed like a big deal, but I was mortified. What did he think of me? Why was he acting like everything was okay when I knew it couldn’t be?

He walked over to me, grabbing the drink caddy from my hand and placing it on the desk. I still held the bag with the food in it. He took that from me next and set it on his bed. “What’s going on?” he asked, looking up at me.

I didn’t want to talk about it. If we started this conversation, it wasn’t like we could pretend that it didn’t happen. He looked at me expectantly. Everything was going to end, and it had barely even begun.

“I think you’re a really nice guy,” I said. “I think you’re so nice that you don’t want to hurt my feelings.”

“Oakley, what’re you talking about?”

“You could be on TV,” I started. “You’re the type of guy I’d see in some magazine and need to find your Instagram so I could obsess over you. I—I can’t let you be with me just because you’re nice and willing to settle for less than you deserve. I can feel myself constantly waiting for the moment when you can’t force yourself to be nice anymore. When you get real about how you feel.”

He looked up at me and his face was kind of angry. I couldn’t tell what he was thinking at all. Maybe this was all it took for him to end things. I opened the floor for this discussion and now he didn’t have to pretend anymore. It was better this happened now rather than when I was absolutely in love with him. “Do you remember the first time you sat with me at lunch?” he asked.

The marinara stain never came out of that shirt. I’d always remember the moment he realized I was a fat slob. “Yeah,” I said, waiting for him to let me know how I wasn’t what he really wanted.

“I had never seen someone look so happy to be eating cafeteria food,” he said. I looked down, no longer able to keep his gaze. I was basically a giant, and the thought of breaking down in tears was humiliating. “Look at me,” he said. “Oakley.”

I looked up at him gingerly. “Yeah.”

“It made me happy looking at you enjoy your food. It was so adorable, and it felt like I was getting to see a side of you other people probably didn’t notice. You’re this big, intimidating guy, but you looked so—so fucking cute.” He hadn’t been making fun of me that day? I assumed he had been laughing at me like everybody else.

“I will say this however many times you need to hear it,” he continued. “I’m attracted to you. I want to continue getting to know you. I want nothing more than for this to turn into a relationship.”

“I’m sorry,” I said. “Being insecure like this is so not sexy.”

“But you know what is sexy?” he asked. “Eating the food I bought you and enjoying it. You’re still finishing that McFlurry, even if it’s melted.” He led me over to his bed so I could sit and eat. I was really glad he ordered that extra stuff because I was starving. I destroyed all of that food in less than fifteen minutes. He sat, pretending to scroll through his phone, looking up at me from the floor. I knew he was trying to give me my space, but if he liked watching me eat, I wasn’t going to complain.

After all that we managed to study for about an hour and a half. He mentioned that he was supposed to meet Autumn at the Chipotle. She went to a community college in the area and worked a part-time job at a store that sold candles and other smell-goods. My mom would love to use her employee discount. Maybe if I got Autumn to like me, she’d help me shop for my mom.

“I don’t want to study anymore,” he said, stretching out on the floor. He was wearing his plain-Aidan clothes, just a t-shirt and jeans. He rolled over onto his stomach and got on his knees. He kneeled forward and stretched his back, his ass pointed in my direction. His jeans were pulled tight against his bubble butt. He got to his feet and sat next to me on his bed.

“I usually just cram right before a test,” I said. “You got me studying just for the hell of it.”

“You don’t study?” he asked, surprised. “Cramming would just give me too much anxiety.”

“If I get to study with you, I’ll study every day.”

“We’ll become the best studying duo in the country!” he exclaimed. “Tests and quizzes will quake in fear as we approach them. Our number two pencils will be our weapons.”

“What?”

“Oh, uh, I was just joking around,” he said. He scratched at the nape of his neck. “It’s dumb.”

“That’s no way to speak as the leader of the—the uh, Intelligence Collective. As your loyal sidekick and bodyguard, I must encourage you to—believe in yourself?” He laughed loudly, falling back onto his bed. “Sorry, was that not good?”

“It was perfect!” he said, sitting up. “You’re perfect.”

He moved closer to me, which wasn’t a long way to move on his tiny bed, and placed his hand on my thigh. I could smell his hair. That’s where the coconut smell was coming from. I wanted to smell it more deeply, so I leaned over and took a good whiff of it.

His hand traveled up my thigh, finding its way to my stomach. I immediately tried to suck in as much as I could on instinct. “Stop,” he said. I exhaled slowly, and I could feel my gut pushing forward. His hand rested there for a moment, and I’ll admit that it felt nice to be touched like that.

Like before, in the back of my truck, he stealthily moved in between my legs. He was on his knees before me, looking up at me from his bedroom floor. He grabbed at the hem of my t-shirt and pushed it up so that it rested on the top of my gut. He brought his face close to it and slowly kissed from one side to the other. His hand grabbed at one of my love handles and he squeezed it gently. I never thought having a guy focus so much attention on my stomach could make me feel anything other than embarrassment, but I was really enjoying how Aidan was touching me.

“C’mere,” I said, grabbing his hand and pulling him to his feet. I pulled my sweats and underwear down so my cock was out. I grabbed it, stroking it a few times. He wrapped his arms around my neck, and with my free hand I popped open the button on his jeans. I was finally able to grab one of those cheeks. “Damn, this ass is fat.”

His lips met mine and we kissed for a few moments. I was still stroking my dick when he slipped out of my grasp. Back on his knees, his mouth wrapped around the head of my dick. I wasn’t paying much attention to what was going on outside of this moment. I was completely lost in Aidan and how he was making me feel.

“Aidan,” called the voice of an older guy. Aidan jumped to his feet, shooting me a nervous glance. I put my dick back in my pants and pulled down my shirt. I felt my heart beating out of my chest. This could’ve turned into a very awkward situation. Before long, the man was at the door of his bedroom. This guy was maybe about twenty-five and a smidge taller than Aidan.

“What do you need, Ryan?” Aidan asked.

“Who’s that?” he asked, gesturing towards me. He didn’t seem to be in a good mood.

“This is Oakley,” Aidan answered, pulling at his t-shirt, trying to cover his front. He hadn’t buttoned his jeans. Ryan looked Aidan up and down, obviously noticing our mistake. “He’s a really good friend of mine,” he added. I stood up, adjusting my own shirt. He looked up at me.

“Friend?” Ryan asked suspiciously.

“Yes,” Aidan replied, his voice shaking slightly. Something didn’t seem right. “Oakley, this is my older brother Ryan.”

“Are you gay too?” Ryan asked, skipping the pleasantries. I was getting a weird vibe from him. He seemed kind of like an asshole.

“Yeah, I am,” I said in an authoritative tone. I wasn’t going to let this guy make me feel bad about who I was. Ryan looked at me for a moment, really taking me in, and then he brought his attention back to Aidan. He walked out of the room.

“We should go meet Autumn,” he said, buttoning his jeans.

“Yo, what was your brother’s problem?” I asked. “I didn’t like that shit.”

“I probably shouldn't have invited you over,” Aidan said worriedly. “I thought he’d be at work until later tonight. Fuck.”

“You didn’t want me to meet him?” I asked, looking down at him. “Are—are you embarrassed of me?”

“Of course not!”

I thought about all the things he said that day in the bathroom when I first kissed him. He mentioned not having a problem with a secret arrangement. I never considered that he might want to keep me a secret. “Listen, I can understand if you don’t want to go out with me. I guess we can just have sex or whatever if that’s what you want.” He was packing away my things much neater than I ever would have. He handed me my jacket and backpack. He pulled on a hoodie and grabbed my free hand. He led me to the front door and then we walked out to my truck.

“I really like you,” he said. “But things with my brother are hard to explain. I just—I can’t talk about it.” I wouldn’t push him. I would let him talk to me when he was ready. I probably should have been more observant in the moment. Obviously, Ryan was weird about gay shit. Aidan probably wasn’t supposed to bring guys back home. I felt like I might have created a bigger problem for Aidan.

Autumn was not enthused to see me walking into the Chipotle with Aidan. I think it was mostly an act though. I offered to treat them, and like the weird twin deer-people that they were, they split a burrito bowl. I got a bowl with lots of extras and two tortillas on the side. I figured it looked better than buying two burritos. Aidan said he liked watching me eat, but I wasn’t going to eat like I normally would in front of Autumn.

I could tell once we finished eating that Aidan didn’t want to go home. I didn’t know what was going on or how I could help, and it made me really angry. When we pulled up to their house I watched in frustration as they went inside.

The day after meeting Aidan’s brother I asked him if everything was okay. I had texted him the night before, but he never responded. He told me that he was all good, but he thought he was coming down with a cold. He didn’t sound like he had a stuffy nose or anything. When I saw he wasn’t getting dressed to swim I asked him if he felt like his cold was getting worse. He was sitting off to the side against a concrete wall, his knees tucked into is body.

“I probably shouldn’t risk it,” he said. “I’ll probably beat this thing by next week. That’s what I get for not drying my hair properly yesterday.” He laughed, but it sounded strained. Maybe he actually was coming down with something.

“I'll go change back then.” I was perfectly okay with having my clothes on.

“You’re already dressed. You can actually have some fun without me.” He smiled. “And I like looking at you in your swim trunks.” I felt my neck go hot. It was going to take some getting used to, having somebody talk to me the way he did.

“If you’re sure,” I said, not wanting to leave him alone.

“I’m positive.”

I ended up getting in the pool. I wanted to see Aidan in his swimsuit again. The class period wasn’t all that fun, but I did get to dunk Pencil Dick Mike.

Aidan didn’t swim again for over a week, but he eventually felt well enough to participate again. The swimming unit was almost over, thankfully. It would only last until Thanksgiving break, which was about two weeks away. Aidan and I had been dating for about three weeks and I had never been happier. I wondered when I’d be able to ask him to be my boyfriend. Hopefully soon I could do something special for him and then I’d be able to ask him.

I had not gone back to his house since that day where Ryan walked in on us. Aidan didn’t ask me to, and I wasn’t going to invite myself over, especially since it seemed to have caused problems for him. My mother on the other hand felt compelled to invite Aidan over for dinner. I had mentioned that I was talking to someone and she insisted he come over for a pre-Thanksgiving feast. I told her that Aidan did not feast, but that did nothing to deter her from imposing her will on me.

“My mom wanted to know if you’d come over for dinner this Saturday, after the game.” Whenever we had Saturday games they were in the afternoon. We’d be done by five and my mom will have prepared enough food for ten meals.

“Do you want me to come to dinner?” he asked, walking with me towards the football field. He had to get to work.

“I want my family to meet you, yeah,” I said, feeling kind of bashful. I didn’t want to be taking this relationship more seriously than he was. That’d just be sad. I didn’t want to be moving too fast either. “It’s cool if you think it’s too soon though. No pressure.”

“Saturday would be perfect,” he said. “I’ll do my best not to embarrass you.”

“Shut up,” I said, pushing him playfully. He laughed, trying to return the shove but finding himself stumbling back instead. “Leave the shoving to me.”

Saturday came much faster than I anticipated. The game went great, and I performed well. I had told Aidan to be here at seven, and the time I spent waiting for him to arrive was agonizing. I was definitely overanalyzing every detail of this meal. What if he hated the food? What if my parents said something stupid? What if my brother was rude? What if, even if everything went perfectly, Aidan didn’t like my family?

My mom had cooked even more than I had predicted, which is no easy feat considering the amount of food we consumed in my house. Of course I was the one that ate the most, but the others weren’t meek eaters. My mother was very tall, as was my father, but I was the tallest. My brother was fourteen, four years younger than I was, and pretty big too, about 6’1” and 250 pounds. That was a good five inches and a hundred pounds on Aidan.

At five minutes to seven the doorbell rang. I told them not to embarrass me and ran quickly to let Aidan inside. “Hey Oakley,” he said, going in to give me a hug. I embraced him, surprised he felt comfortable enough to hug me in front of my family.

Once we stopped hugging, I was able to take in his appearance. He didn’t have on any makeup today. I guess he was trying to keep it simpler for a family dinner. He wore khaki slacks and a denim button-up. He had a large braid on each side of his head that ended in a ponytail. I loved his perfectly styled corkscrew coils. They were so shiny and bouncy.

“Everyone, this is Aidan.” My mother swooped in, hugging him and guiding him to the dining room. We were all at the table in seconds. We just had to get through this initial awkward encounter and then hopefully everyone would be more at ease.

“So, Aidan,” my mother began the dinner conversation. “Do you have any siblings?”

“I have two older brothers and a twin sister,” he said, grabbing a gigantic bowl of mashed potatoes from my father. It was almost comical to see him with such a large bowl of food. He placed a modest half spoonful on his plate before passing me the bowl.

“Oh twins,” my mother exclaimed. “If I were to have had twins, I would have named them after gemstones. Opal and Jade if they were girls, Jasper and Mica if they were boys.”

“Those are really unique names,” Aidan replied, trying his best to sound enthusiastic and doing a damn good job. He was trying so hard and it was too cute. My mom was smitten. “Oakley and Orrick are unique names too.”

Aidan had no idea what he had just unearthed. She loved talking about names and meanings and the universe. My mother was the youngest daughter of a pair of hippies. I wasn’t sure how she and my father had stayed together so long, considering my dad was an ex-collegiate athlete and construction worker. She was white and he was black. He grew up wealthy in the city and she grew up in the country eating homegrown produce.

“You see, when I was a girl,” she started. “There was a forest of oak trees right outside my back door. I spent years exploring the woods and aligning myself with the universe. And you will never believe this, but the first time I met Oakley’s father was in a little diner in our college town called, and I kid you not, the Oak Wood Diner.”

“That really is a major coincidence,” Aidan replied, obviously engrossed in her story. He hadn’t heard this a million times, so I guess he was genuinely interested.

“But wait,” I said with a tinge of sarcasm in my voice. “There’s more!” Orrick and my father both laughed, but Aidan looked at my mother and smiled.

“Please, continue,” he said, making my mother blush. This guy was the mother-whisperer. The rest of the food had continued to be passed around, and my plate couldn’t be more opposite of Aidan’s. He had his meager helping of mashed potatoes, one roasted chicken thigh, a few green beans, and a dinner roll. He didn’t even take any of the mac and cheese or the beef brisket. Me, my dad, and Orrick loaded our plates up like there’d be no chance for seconds. We ate heartily as my mom and Aidan kept talking.   

“So we came across one another at that diner often, to the point it felt like the universe wanted us to meet, so I went up to him and said—hon, do you remember what I said?” she asked, addressing my father.

Through a mouth that was half-full, he replied, “‘I need you to know that the universe wants us to know one another.’” My dad finished chewing and swallowed the food. “It was like she was an actress in a movie. This tall, beautiful woman walked up to me with a line like that and I knew I had to get to know her.”

“And the hospital where Oakley was born,” she said enthusiastically. “The floors were named after trees and we were on floor six—oak.”

“So you named him after something really important in your life,” Aidan surmised.

“Exactly,” she said, smiling. “Oakley means ‘meadow of oak trees’ and Orrick means ‘old oak tree.’ I think these names are probably why my sons are giants.”

“Or the fact you’re almost six feet tall and dad’s big as hell,” Orrick interjected.

“Well that too,” she added, laughing.

We ate a bit longer and then mom brought out the dessert. It was a cake from one of the best bakeries in the area. They called it a lemonade cake, and it tasted really citrusy and sweet. My mom cut huge slices for all of us guys, completely ignoring the fact Aidan wouldn’t be able to eat it all. We continued to eat and talk.

“Aidan, play any sports?” my father asked.

“No, not currently. I was on the swim team at my old school.”

“Why’d you stop? The season is just starting for swimmers. You could join the team at Jackson.”

“He doesn’t want to, Dad,” I interjected hastily, kind of killing the flow of conversation. We finished eating dessert in a bit of an awkward silence.

For the most part, my brother Orrick had been disinterested in the conversation. My mother told him to start clearing the dishes. Orrick and I looked pretty similar. He and I had the same sandy brown hair and brown eyes. I was a little darker than he was though, and obviously bigger, but the family resemblance was definitely there. I wondered what the rest of Aidan’s family looked like. I knew his sister looked like him, and even Ryan was obviously his brother, but what about his other brother and his parents?

Once we finished dessert, we went up to my room. He had eaten about a third of his slice of cake before sliding it discreetly in my direction, and I happily ate it for him. He sat nervously on my bed, and it was surreal having him in my house. Orrick came in and spoke much more freely than he had at dinner.

“Hey Aidan, how old are you anyway?” he asked.

“I’m eighteen,” Aidan replied. “But I’ll be nineteen in April.”

“Whoa, really?” Orrick came and sat on the bed next to Aidan. “So you’re older than Oakley? I’d never have thought that.”

“Yes, I suppose so,” Aidan said seriously, almost as if he were in an interview. Orrick was pretty outgoing and could be very in your face at times, but I didn’t think he did it on purpose. His personality tended to engulf a person if he was comfortable around them.

“So am I better looking than my brother?” he asked, smiling. “Cuz Oakley got hit with the ugly stick on the way out of the womb.”

“Fuck you,” I spat, walking over to him and punching him in the shoulder. “I should kick your ass, bitch boy.” I grabbed Orrick and put him in a headlock, flexing my arm to really make it uncomfortable. Orrick groaned theatrically, trying to get out of my grasp. Aidan tensed up considerably, his eyes wide and his lips pressed together anxiously. It was so obvious that even Orrick noticed. It was like he was scared or something.

“Aidan, are you okay?” Orrick asked. “I wasn’t really hurt. We were just playing around.”

“Orr, give us a minute.”

“Yeah, sure. See you later Aidan,” he said, giving me a worried look before he left my room, closing the door as he exited.

“Your family is very nice,” Aidan said.

“They’re alright.” He smiled and I sat next to him on the bed. I didn’t think it was possible for him to be anymore stiff, but he sat up even straighter. “You don’t have to act like this around me. I’m not going to hurt you.”

“I know that,” he said. “It just made me think about—nothing, I’m sorry.”

“What are you apologizing for?”

“I didn’t mean to upset you and now Orrick probably thinks there’s something wrong with me.”

“You’re fine,” I said. “You didn’t do anything.”

“I really did have a nice time,” he said.

“I did too, thanks for coming over.” He looked over at me. How could someone’s gaze feel so intimate? I felt my heart beating in my chest and my palms get slightly sweaty. I couldn’t stop myself from kissing him. I had to.

I leaned over into him, my body pressing against his. I held back most of my bulk so I wouldn’t squish him. He kissed me back, his hands on my chest. I wondered if he could feel my heart beating through my meaty pecs. We made out for at least thirty minutes and it had me feeling pent up, but I took him home before it got too late.

“I hope I can meet your family one day,” I said. We sat outside of his house and he had ten minutes before his brother-mandated curfew.

“You’ve met Autumn and she’s the only one who matters to me.” That made me kind of sad. What about his mom and dad? I knew Ryan sucked, but didn’t he have another brother? “I’m not trying to ruin the mood.”

“You’re not,” I said. “I want to know everything about you.”

“Do you and Orrick always fight like that?” he asked.

“Yeah, but we’re only fucking around,” I said. “It made you feel a type of way, didn’t it?”

“It used to be like that, sometimes,” he said. “But that was when Autumn and I were really young. When Ryan and my other brother Kyle were teenagers, that’s when the play fighting stopped being just pretend.”

“Are you saying your brother hits you?” I asked, my blood boiling. I was usually a very level-headed person, but sometimes I could just feel a rage inside of myself that wanted to be released. He didn’t say anything for a long time, and it seemed like he was confirming my assumption.

“No,” he said finally. “He doesn’t.” I didn’t believe that, and it didn’t feel like Aidan did either.

“I don’t want you to ever feel afraid to tell me anything,” I said. I was still fuming, so I had to wrap my hands around the steering wheel to center myself. I could see myself marching up to Aidan’s front door and confronting Ryan myself. But I realized the situation wasn’t as black and white as I wanted it to be. I sucked at understanding the gray area of things.

He sighed and looked out the window towards his house. “My dad doesn’t really talk to us anymore,” he said. “He goes to work, comes home, gets drunk, and falls asleep in front of the TV. I don’t mind it though. He was awful when we were growing up. So hateful. Everything that came out of his mouth was so mean.” He looked over at me, his eyes sad just like the first day I saw him in homeroom. “That’s where Ryan gets it from. That’s why my other brother doesn’t come home from college. It’s why my mom left.”

“I’m sorry,” I said, not knowing what else to say.

“My biggest goal in life is to find somewhere safe, where I don’t feel so on edge all the time.”

“I want you to feel as safe as I do with you,” I said. “I really like you, Aidan, and I want to be there for you through anything. I’ll protect you myself. I promise.”

“I told you that you were a superhero,” he said, sniffling. I hadn’t meant for this to make him cry. I was just being honest.

“I know it might be a little soon,” I started. “But I really want to know if I can call you my boyfriend.”

“I would love to be your boyfriend.” He smiled, looking over at me, his eyes still watery. “You have no idea what you mean to me.”

That was when an alarm on his phone went off and he told me he had to go inside. He kissed me goodbye and once again I watched in frustration as he entered his front door.

Once Aidan and I decided that we were ready to be in a committed relationship, there was no stopping the flood of affection I felt for him. Everything was going so well that even my lingering suspicion of his brother had subsided. After Football ended in early December, I found myself with a lot of free time. Aidan still worked four days a week at Game Explosion, and it meant I hung around the mall a lot more often. I’d spend my time grazing at the food court, studying for classes to pass the time. I just had to maintain a strong GPA and I’d be attending the state school next fall on a partial football scholarship. It wasn’t anything to scoff at either; I’d only have to pay two grand out of pocket. We fell into a routine that I valued, able to see him much more frequently than when I had football to worry about. Christmas came and went, as did the new year and Valentine’s Day. In March, Aidan spent the entire spring break working, so we didn’t really get to do much together.

Next thing I knew we were in April. It happened sooner than I could have imagined. In less than two months we’d be graduating. I drove to the mall on a Saturday afternoon excited to see Aidan. It was his nineteenth birthday. He hadn’t really mentioned wanting to do anything for it, but I still wanted to make it special for him. Aidan wouldn’t be off for another hour or so. I wandered the food court before going to Game Explosion. I ordered a couple of cinnamon buns and a milk to hold me over until then.

With fifteen minutes left in his shift, I made my way to the arcade. It was pretty empty, and I wondered if arcades were going to become a thing of the past. They were already riding the wave of nostalgia, and I didn’t think the novelty of them could last forever. Then again, I sucked at arcade games so I could have been viewing Game Explosion from a place of bitterness. I didn’t see Aidan manning the prize counter, so I wandered the aisles in search of him. There was some burnt out looking sophomore playing one of those racing games that I was too tall and too fat for, but no Aidan.

I continued my search, thinking about how I was going to wow Aidan tonight. I had planned a romantic evening that would definitely make this birthday one to remember. We never got to be alone at my place, and we still had not hung out at his house after the Ryan-incident. I’d been saving my money for the past couple of weeks to make sure I could rent us a hotel room. We’d order room service and watch movies and be together without the fear that anyone would interrupt us. I was radiating happiness and I knew I needed to chill out so I could present the plan to him at the right time.

I finally found him, and he was playing a game called Dance Dance Revolution. It was the hardest thing I ever saw, and I wondered who would play something like this for fun. His legs were hitting every note, or I guess they would be steps. I noticed it was on expert.

He finished the song with an A. “Dang,” he mumbled. “I got too many greats.”

“Whoa, you're really good at this game.” He turned around to face me and smiled.

“You saw me playing?” He looked at the screen. “I should've gotten a Double A.” He wasn’t even sweating or out of breath. It was truly amazing.

“Yeah?” I looked at the score on the screen. “But an A is more than I'd ever be able to get.”

“Oakley, this is so embarrassing,” he said, laughing. “I only play when there’s nobody in here. I prefer to keep this a hidden talent.” He was crazy. If I could play this game without tripping over my feet and falling on my face, I’d tell everybody. He picked up his cardigan off the guardrail. “I'm off in ten minutes.”

“Cool, I’ll give you a ride and there’s something I’ve got to ask you.” I glanced over at the game again. “And maybe you can teach me a thing or two.”

“Yeah, of course.” He set his cardigan down and turned his employee key in both key slots so the two pads would work. I removed my letterman jacket. We both stepped on and I already regretted my decision.

We finally left Game Explosion after an hour session of Dance Dance Revolution. The ten-minute teaching session ran long because Aidan was determined to help me get at least a D on beginner. I was really bad at that game; I couldn’t believe he was so good at it. I was really exhausted and sweaty afterwards.

“I think I’ll leave the dancing to you,” I said, walking through the mall parking lot towards my truck. I took off my letterman jacket and placed it on Aidan's shoulders. He put his arms into the sleeves, which were too long for him. I really wanted to see what he looked like in it, in my jacket. He was so cute. I felt my face go hot.

“This is really warm,” he said. “And it smells just like you.”

“Yeah?” I wanted to ask if that was a good or bad thing, but I just looked at the ground as we continued walking. “You look really good in that.”

“I think it looks better on you.” He grabbed my hand and we walked slowly in the darkening evening light. It felt like a big bowl of ice cream on a hot summer night. It felt like warm cookies at Christmastime. Being with Aidan was the best feeling in the world and I was thankful every single day that he chose me to share his beautiful aura with. I was starting to sound like my mom.

Once we were inside my truck, he kissed me. His lips were soft and warm, and I loved the way they felt on my own lips. I grabbed the back of his head, holding his face close to mine, kissing him again. We must have been sitting there for ten minutes, just kissing.

“I know you have your curfew and everything, but we’re both over eighteen, so I got us a hotel room for the night.” He looked away for a moment, then back at me. “It’s fine if it’s too much. I just know today’s your birthday and I wanted to celebrate with you.”

He probably wanted to celebrate with Autumn considering it would also be her birthday. It’d probably cause problems if he broke his curfew. I shouldn’t have tried to surprise him. It was probably too much. Now I just felt embarrassed for the both of us.

“I guess I have to go pack a bag for the night,” he said excitedly.

I had that big, goofy grin on my face again as I put the truck in drive. We drove to his house and I sat waiting as he went inside. He was still wearing my jacket and it was making me hard. Maybe I was a little possessive or something. I’d have to keep that quality in check.

He came bursting out of the front door, a bookbag in his hand. He sprinted over to my truck and got in quickly. He was laughing as he closed the door. I hadn’t seen him so carefree before and it made me happy that I was playing a role in that. “Autumn had already packed a bag for me,” he said. “I texted her while we were on our way here.”

I pulled off from the curb and made my way to the hotel. It was about twenty minutes away. “You make it seem like we’re pulling some sort of heist.”

“We’d be unstoppable with you leading the operation,” he said, laughing again, his smile shining bright in the dark night. “You could take out all the guys coming after us and I’d—I’d probably only get in your way.” His smile slowly began to fade. No! I wanted him to smile the entire night. I wanted him to smile so much tonight that he’d wake up tomorrow morning with sore cheeks.

“You can play that song you like,” I said. “It’s your birthday, so you’re DJ.” He connected his phone to the truck’s speakers, and we listened to SZA for the rest of the ride. I sang along with him, only knowing the hooks. I think it was cheering him up, taking his mind off of whatever had him feeling down. When we arrived at the hotel I went in and got everything situated.

Back at the truck I grabbed my overnight bag and the bag with all the stuff I needed for his celebration. He carried his own backpack, and we went up to our room. It wasn’t the biggest or nicest hotel, but there were eight floors and even a swimming pool, though I was pretty sure we’d had enough of swimming pools.

“I can’t believe you went through all of this trouble for me,” he said as we rode in the elevator to the seventh floor.

“You deserve it,” I replied, feeling bold knowing we were alone with no possible distractions. “You do so much for me, it’s only right I show you that you’re appreciated.” I shifted the bag in my right hand to my left, so I’d have a free hand. I reached over and grabbed him by the waist, pulling him closer to me. My hand traveled down, resting at the top of his ass.

“I’ll have to make sure I plan something extra special for your birthday,” he replied, leaning into me. We arrived on our floor and made our way to the room.

There was one large bed in the room along with the other standard hotel room amenities. We set our bags on the bed and he rummaged through his slowly, grabbing items for a shower. That’d give me enough time to get things together for his surprise. “I won’t take long,” he said. “Could you play some music or something?”

“Yep, I got you.”

I turned on the TV and flipped to a random pop radio channel. I watched as he went into the bathroom and closed the door. I’d have about twenty minutes to get everything together. I had stopped at a party store earlier in the week to gather things for tonight. I had picked up his present as soon as the store called and let me know it was ready. The hotel room had a small table near the window, and I covered it in an iridescent tablecloth. I placed a small lemonade cake I bought in the middle and surrounded it with fun-size packages of candy. I’d also brought lots of other snacks for when we watched movies, but I didn’t feel the need to take them out yet.

I hung a happy birthday string banner along the curtain rods. I took a step back to look at the table area and I suddenly started feeling a little self-conscious. This was kind of lame, wasn’t it? He was turning nineteen, not nine. Why would he be impressed by any of this?

With not enough time for me to make any changes, he emerged from the bathroom in a pair of Calvin Klein briefs. His hair was pulled back in a poofy ponytail. He froze, looking at me next to my birthday display. “Surprise!” I shouted weakly.

He wasn’t saying anything, probably because he didn’t want to hurt my feelings. “Oakley, this—this is the nicest thing anybody has ever done for me,” he said, bringing his hands to his eyes to wipe away some stray tears.

I broke out into that big, goofy grin I got whenever I was around him. I was also getting hard looking at him in his little black briefs. I’d seen him in his swimsuit, but this was a million times better. “Do you want me to sing happy birthday now or after you get dressed?” I asked.

“How about you sing happy birthday to me in your birthday suit?”

“I don’t know about all of that,” I said laughing. He didn’t say anything. He just smiled and walked towards me. He was standing right in front of me and I couldn’t believe someone so beautiful could be this close to me. We’d rarely had opportunities for alone time like this. After that time at his house, he’d given me head a few times and that wasn’t very often. It was only when we could plan out times when nobody would be at my house. I’d never even gotten completely naked in front of him before.

He grabbed the hem of my t-shirt with both hands and lifted it to the top of my gut. “You’re too tall for me to pull it all the way off,” he said. “Will you take it off for me?”

I pulled my shirt off and stood in front of him in a pair of gray sweats. I stepped out of my sneakers next. He brought his hands to my waist, feeling my love handles. His touch was very gentle and as flustered as he was making me feel, I was still incredibly aroused. He slid his hands into my underwear and pulled them down along with the sweatpants. I could feel the fabric resisting his effort around my meaty ass, but with a bit more force he was able to get me undressed. I stepped out of the fabric that was piled at my feet and stood naked in front of him.

I had always had a hard time reading him, but he seemed to be turned on which was a good sign. He looked at me with a focused stare. It was really intense. “Oakley, you are huge,” he said finally.

“I—I’m sorry,” I said, thinking about how much I’d been eating since the football season ended. When I weighed myself this morning, I was pushing 450 pounds.

“Don’t be sorry for giving me everything I want for my birthday—although I’d like to do this more often.” He placed his hands on my arms and I flexed them slightly, smiling timidly. I could see his dick jump in his briefs. “Fuck Oakley, you’re so damn sexy.” The next thing I knew he was trying to get his arms around me, grabbing my butt. My dick pressed against him, and I could feel pre-cum slicking against his smooth skin.

I could see us in the mirror attached to the door of the room. I knew I was bigger than him, obviously, but seeing us in the nude was surreal. I was wide, at least twice as wide as he was. It wasn’t like he was ridiculously small either, but I liked that I dwarfed him. He sunk into me, like I was a memory foam mattress. His skin was a little darker than mine and I ran my hands down his back. Looking at myself. Looking at him. I felt good. We looked good together in this moment.

“Take these off,” I said, grabbing at the waistband of his briefs and snapping them gently against his butt. He shimmied out of them and his dick stood at attention.

“What are you going to do to me?” he asked, looking up at me.

“I’m gonna fuck you,” I said. This was one of the most erotic experiences of my life. I felt so present in the moment. I never wanted this to end, this sexual tension, this lust. “C’mere.”

I pulled him into my body, lifting him up. I walked him over to the bed and tossed him down gently. I looked down at him, my dick aching. “I’ve got—lube in my bag,” he said breathlessly.

I rummaged through his bag on the side of the bed and grabbed the lube. I prepped my dick and his hole. I couldn’t believe I was about to fuck him. I was going to fuck someone I was undeniably in love with.

Aidan flipped over onto his stomach before perching himself on all fours. His ass was immaculate. He had such a pert, bubble butt and I inserted myself slowly. “Is this okay?” I asked, easing my tip into him.

“Yeah,” he breathed, “It feels good Oakley.”

I didn’t have a small dick and I didn’t want to hurt him, but he said he was doing okay. I pushed a little more, only about halfway inside him. As good as it felt, I still worried if he was doing okay or not. “You can—you can push it in Oakley,” he said, his voice a little higher than he normally spoke. I was a little over nine inches, and his ass took the whole thing. I didn’t move at all, not wanting to do something wrong. Aidan moved his hips slowly, building momentum. He pounded himself against me, making my gut shake. I slapped his cheeks before grabbing at his waist. Looking down at my hands holding him, enveloping his body, was an image I’d have ingrained in my mind forever. The TV was still playing pop music, so I hoped it blocked out how loud we were. Aidan moaned my name over and over and it was sending me to a higher level of existence.

This boy was mine. All mine. He took my dick and moaned my name. Fuck.

I pulled out as I was about to cum and ejaculated all over his ass and lower back. I had sweat on my forehead and I could hear myself breathing. I was out of the moment but feeling less insecure than I thought I would. “Shit, you just showered,” I said, chuckling nervously.

“I can always shower again,” he said, climbing off of the bed. “But you need to get your energy up for round two. Time for cake.”

The rest of the night went amazingly after that. Aidan wouldn’t let me put my clothes back on, one of his birthday declarations, and his hands were all over me the entire night. I was convinced something was wrong with him because he actually seemed to like my body the way it was. I couldn’t have been any more fortunate, and maybe if Aidan liked how I looked, I could start to like it too. I kind of already did, and he was giving me the support to admit that.

I sang to him and we ate cake. We ordered pizza. We watched movies. We ate snacks. We laughed. We cuddled. We fucked again. We talked. We fucked some more.

“I got you a gift,” I said between sex sessions. It was one of those gold necklaces that said a person’s name. He opened a jewelry box with two necklaces. One that said Aidan and one that said Oakley.

“I’ll wear the one that says Aidan,” I said, grabbing the necklace with the longer, thicker chain. “I was hoping you’d wear the one that says Oakley.”

He put it on immediately, climbing on top of me and kissing me deeply. Of course this started things back up in a new position. I got to watch his face as he rode my dick, my name around his neck.

I knew then for sure that I loved him.

At some point we fell asleep. The next morning we straightened things up a bit in the room and checked out. I slipped my jacket onto his shoulders again, wanting to let the world know who he belonged to. I didn’t want to say goodbye to him, but he had to get home to get ready for work.  

I wanted to spend every single minute with Aidan. It wasn’t fair we had to live in separate places. I couldn’t wait for college next year. Aidan had applied to the same school once I told him about my scholarship. We’d get to pick our housing next month, and hopefully we’d end up in the same dorm room. Just the thought of living with him was making me overly excited.

“Thanks again for everything,” he said. “That was the best night of my life.”

“Mine too,” I agreed.

We sat for a moment. He turned towards me and I knew he was trying to kiss me. I leaned over as well, and our lips met. I couldn’t believe this was getting me so hard considering how many times I came last night, but I wasn’t complaining. “I love you,” he said.

We hadn’t said that to one another yet. I had been wanting to say it for months. He had my mouth turning to mush again.

“I love you too Aidan,” I managed to get out, feeling emotional. He smiled, and it made me feel warm on the inside.

“I guess I should get going.”

“Are you sure you don’t want me to take you?” I asked.

“We barely got any sleep last night,” he said, laughing. “You go home and rest. I’ll text you later.”

“Can I at least pick you up?” I begged, sticking out my lower lip.

“How can I say no to a face like that?” He laughed. “You don’t play fair.”

He got out of my truck and closed the door gently. He waved goodbye as he walked towards his front door. I looked at him in my jacket and grinned like a total dweeb. I had the cutest boyfriend in the whole world. He went inside, and I was going to make my way home, but I noticed Aidan’s phone in the passenger’s seat. The screen was going off like he was receiving notifications, but it wasn’t ringing on vibrating. I guess he had set it to silent last night.

I picked it up, killed the truck’s engine, and got out to take it to him. It was a pleasant April morning, not too cold, but slightly breezy. I looked down at his phone and his home screen displayed 30 missed calls and a bunch of unread texts from his brother. That was definitely weird.

I got a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, like something bad was going to happen. The wind blew and I realized Aidan was still wearing my letterman jacket.

I could hear Ryan yelling as I made my way up to the door. “You’re wearing his fucking shit now too!?” he yelled angrily. “You gonna walk around proud to be his bitch!?”

“Ryan, just leave me alone,” Aidan responded, his voice shaking. The door was still slightly ajar. Ryan hadn’t even closed the door before he started going ballistic.

“Don’t you touch him!” Autumn screamed in her shrill voice. Glass broke.

“Autumn, you bitch. If I fucking cut myself, you’re next.” I waited by the door. I wanted to go in, but I didn’t. What if this made things worse for Aidan? What if he didn’t want me to do anything? “Give me the jacket.”

“No,” Aidan said firmly. “Fuck you.”

“Give me the fucking jacket.”

“It’s not mine to give,” Aidan retorted. “It’s my boyfriend’s.” I heard a thump, like someone getting pushed against a wall.

“Stop it!” Autumn hollered. I didn’t stop. I couldn’t stop. I opened the door and stood there taking in the scene. I saw Ryan pressing Aidan against a wall, grabbing at my letterman jacket. There was a broken picture frame on the ground near Ryan’s feet.

“That’s my jacket,” I barked. “I gave it to Aidan, not you.”

“Get out of here you big faggot,” Ryan spat at me. I didn’t care he insulted me. But he still held Aidan against the wall, pushing even harder now that I was there. He shifted so that his forearm was against Aidan’s throat. It caused his necklace to become untucked from underneath his shirt.

“Oakley,” Aidan choked out. “It’ll be okay. You can go.” He looked so scared there was no way I could just go. Autumn looked over at me, her eyes frantic. She shook her head no, letting me know she didn’t think I should leave. Ryan noticed the Oakley necklace and ripped it from Aidan’s neck, banging him against the wall again in anger.

I strode over to where they stood and pulled Ryan off of Aidan, who scrambled to pick up his broken necklace from the pile of shattered glass. I had lost control. Everything was tinged in red I was so enraged. I punched Ryan in the face, and he stumbled back. I caught him by his shirt and punched him again, this time in the stomach. I could feel my whole body on fire. I had to stop but I couldn’t. Not after seeing firsthand how he treated Aidan. I lifted him up off of the ground and pressed his body against the same wall he’d just had Aidan pinned against. I brought him close to me before banging his weak, worthless body against the wall again, denting the drywall. This guy was scrawny; he couldn’t have weighed much more than Aidan. “Don’t touch him ever again,” I roared. His eyes were wide. I didn’t think he was used to being a victim. I tossed him onto the glass, coming back to my senses.

I turned to look at Aidan and Autumn. They stared at me with wide eyes, the deer-in-the-headlights twins. I must’ve looked scary. I handed Aidan his phone from my back pocket and walked out of the house. What had I just done? I’d probably ruined things with Aidan. I’d probably get arrested. My scholarship would be taken away. I’d never get to live in a dorm room with Aidan.

Aidan followed me out of the door first, followed by Autumn who stopped to kick Ryan in his side.

“I—I’m sorry,” I said once we were standing near my truck. I tugged at my t-shirt, noticing that it had ridden up during the altercation.

“For what!?” Aidan and Autumn said in unison, perfectly in sync.

“I just wanted to help, and I lost control,” I said, breathing deeply. “I probably fucked everything up.”

“You saved me,” Aidan said. “And I’m glad you did.”

“Shit, me too,” Autumn added. “I didn’t know what he was going to do to Aidan. He hasn’t been this mad ever.” I gave a sigh of relief and Aidan came to embrace me. He held onto me tightly, and I squeezed him just as hard.

We spent the rest of that morning cleaning up their foyer and waiting for Ryan’s retaliation. About two hours after everything went down, he came and told Aidan that he wasn’t to ever speak to him again. And from what I’ve heard he hasn’t said a word to Aidan since.

Apparently, I broke his nose, and I wanted to feel bad, but he deserved that and so much more. Aidan finally told me the whole story about how Ryan had never approved of his “lifestyle” and had spent every moment since he’d come out as an opportunity to harass him about it. He’d suggested different therapies and programs to help Aidan live his life differently. It was total bullshit.

Autumn had plans to transfer to a school on the west coast in the fall, feeling that if Aidan were taken care of, she could have peace of mind. Aidan accepted his admission to the school I’d be playing football for and we’d be filling out housing applications next week. Prom was less than a month away and graduation was fast approaching.

I started hitting the gym hard again to prepare for the summer training camps, but my relationship weight wasn’t really going anywhere. I’d probably be a little bit bigger by the time the season started. I liked to think the extra weight made me better at looking out for Aidan.

I had reached the end of my rom-com, but thankfully this wasn’t a movie. This was my life. And it was only the beginning for me and Aidan. Our relationship still had so many more amazing moments that wouldn’t make it into the film. There was still room for sequel after sequel, and just like me, they’d just keep getting bigger and better.  

The End!

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