#sleepover on monday. a lot of feelings about that :') first day back at college on wednesday. seeing the big group of friends on friday

[dilf-din]

Yeehawgust Day 29: Mighty Fine Shootin’

TLOU (no outbreak)

WC: 950

Characters: Joel, Tess, Tommy

Rating: T

Warnings: language, alcohol mention

A/N: this is just a no outbreak meet cute featuring cocky hot girl we all love, Tess Servopolous. This is for the TessJoel truthers!!!

“Will you quit your bitchin’?” Tommy grinned pulling into the crowded parking lot.

“We get to go out once a month and you act like you’re gettin’ a tooth pulled every time.”

Joel rolled his eyes from the passenger seat. “I’d rather be at the dentist,” he deadpanned.

“Shut the fuck up,” Tommy snickered, “Do me a favor and try to have a good time, yeah?”

Once a month Sarah’s soccer team had a sleepover at Sadie’s house, and once a month, Tommy dragged Joel out to some bar or some movie or some mini golf place. Joel always acted like he didn’t want to go and then ended up having more fun than Tommy. It was all part of the bit. This week though, he really was tired. Work had been a bitch. He had a thousand things to do before Monday, and all he wanted to do was watch This Old House on his couch in his faded Simpsons pajama pants. But sitting at the bar two beers in staring down the most beautiful girl he had ever seen across the room, he forgot about his original plans.

He watched what appeared to be a bad first date unfolding. Her dirty blonde hair was pulled back halfway, revealing sharp cheekbones and a soft smile. She was politely laughing at the man whose back was to Joel. But when he made an ass out of himself trying to impress her with a trick pool shot, man, her real laugh lit the place up.

“You’re drooling.”

“Shut up.”

“Go talk to her.”

“She’s on a date.”

“Yeah a bad one, and if you go over there, it might turn into a good one.”

Joel hesitated. He wasn’t the type to step over a line like that, but when the man excused himself to the restroom, his feet started moving before his brain could talk him out of it. The girl was at the bar getting a refresh on her drink when Joel sauntered over slowly, stopping two seats down.

“He looks like a keeper?” he commented.

“Excuse me?” she asked with a bemused smile.

“Nothin’,” he shrugged, “Just looks like you aren’t having a very good time.”

“I’m not,” she admitted, casting her green eyes down at her boots, “But a coworker set me up, and I feel like I have to see it through.”

“Don’t waste your Friday night. I’m not sayin’ you have to spend it with me, but you don’t owe that guy anything.”

She looked him over like she was sizing him up, “I think I’d rather spend it with you.”

Joel almost choked on his whiskey, coughed to try to cover it up drawing a laugh from the girl. Right on cue, her date emerged from the bathroom.

“Hey, ace,” he said with a slightly too cocky head nod.

“Brian! This is my friend from college! We haven’t seen each other in a decade, can you believe it?” she batted her impossibly full eyelashes.

“Joel,” he smiled warmly, extending a hand.

“Oh, uh. Well if you two are gonna catch up, I think I might call it an early night,” he said awkwardly.

“Yeah, yeah. I’ll call you,” the girl said, extending one arm for a quick hug. And just like that, Brian was retreating, looking clearly relieved.

“What did you do to him?” Joel almost burst out laughing.

“Nothing!”

“Her ran out of here like he was terrified of you,” he kept laughing.

She leaned back against the barstool, shoulders draped loose and casual over the back.

“You don’t seem scared of me.”

“Oh, I’m quaking in my boots,” he grinned.

Grabbing their drinks, they stole a booth in the corner and people watched. Both of their bodies angled out towards the rest of the bar.

“You’re not from around here,” Joel commented on her lack of southern drawl.

“Detroit. Just got transferred at my job.”

Maybe it was the bourbon pricking at the apples of his cheeks, or the way the dim yellow light hung way too close to the table and you kind of had to duck under it, or maybe it was the crisp smell of her perfume dancing from her long neck to his nostrils, but he was starting to feel warmer and lighter. His head held a slight buzz, he could see Tommy across the way carryin’ on with the bartender, and he was glad he came out instead of wearing those purple pj pants alone.

“Table’s free,” her voice drew him out of his thoughts.

“Huh?”

“You play pool, Texas?”

“Only if I feel like winning, Detroit,” he shot back.

“Tess,” she smiled, “C’mon.”

“Tess,” he repeated quietly to himself as he shuffled off of the sticky vinyl seat after her.

They took opposite sides of the table and fished the balls out of the pockets. Tess racked them all then looked at Joel, “Flip a coin?”

“Ladies first.”

“If you say so.”

She perched at the far end of the table and lined up the break shot, easily pocketing the 9 ball into the far left corner.

“Guess I’m solids,” she shrugged. She floated around the table with ease sinking shot after shot until just the eight ball was left.

“This one’s for Brian,” she grinned, lining up her final shot and squinting dramatically. She sunk it easily while Joel applauded loudly.

“Mighty fine shootin’,” he nodded.

“I joined a team in college,” she shrugged, “Men always assume women don’t know how to play.

“Wait a second, were you going to hustle me?” he asked with fake indignation.

“Only if you won the coin toss,” she scoffed with a grin.

#yeehawgust #yeehawgust 2023 #might fine shootin #the last of us #the last of us hbo #the last of us Drabble #joel miller #tess servopoulos #joel x tess #tessjoel

[hoes4dylanobrien]

It’s Just A Cigarette

Pairing: Colin (Not Okay) x You, dark!Colin (idk tho, maybe he will be a baddie irl?) 

Word count: 1,900

Rated: T (M later chapters) 

A/N: Behold! Another short mini-series! (Because my impatient ass couldn’t wait for other Colin fics ...)

As the bell rang, signaling your last class of the week, you packed up your things, absently listening to the teacher call out a reminder about term papers being due Monday.

“You get that?” You asked your best friend, Chloe, whose head hadn’t lifted once from the essay she was typing out on her phone to Eric, presumably (her boyfriend). 

“Get what?” She asked as you exited the classroom and headed for your lockers. “The homework assignment. The one Mr. Windham has been mentioning for, I don’t know, weeks at this point?” 

“Mhm,” she hummed, finally looking up when you stared at her expectantly. “Oh, right. Yeah. Totally got that.” 

You huffed out a laugh, shaking your head. You didn’t believe her for a second. You shut your locker, having taken everything you needed for the long weekend. “So, you doing anything this weekend? Thought we could sleepover at my place and then go to the mall with Eric tomorrow.”

You scrunched up your face at the mention of the preppy blond-haired boy. Let’s just say he wasn’t your favorite person to be around; between his reckless, cheating ways, and his hot and cold attitude toward your best friend, he was only marginally tolerable on a good day. You kept things civil for Chloe’s sake, though, but that didn’t mean you didn’t take any and all outs to avoid the asshole. Then you remembered you were actually busy for once. Or hoping to be, anyway. “Actually, I have plans.” 

“Oh?” Chloe turned to look at you with keen interest. You? Was the unasked question on the tip of her tongue. Compared to the lively brunette, you were practically a shut in, choosing to focus more of your time on school, and family time watching movies or a good game of scrabble.

“Yeah. Hoping to catch up with Colin. I haven't seen much of him since he started college in the Fall... he sorta invited me to hang out with him and meet his friends this weekend.”

“Woah, really?” You could see her eyes glazing over at the mention of your older foster brother, who she’d been crushing on not-so-subtly since the moment she laid eyes on him a year ago when he joined your family. 

He was past the age of 18, but like a lot of older kids in foster care he still needed support, thus able to stay in the system until age 21. At first it was a little weird having a stranger living in your childhood home, having grown up an only child, and a spoiled one at that in the wealthy Northern New Jersey suburb, but your parents wanted to give back, and had always wanted a sibling for you.

Truthfully, he didn’t feel much like a sibling; having left for college early in the summer, there was little over 12 months you had actually spent time with each other in the same household, and that was when he wasn’t running out with friends to get high. In some ways you didn’t blame Chloe for feeling that way about him. You would be lying to yourself if he didn’t make your heart race a little.

“So is he picking you up, or...?” She angled.

You shook your head. “He gave up his car when he moved to the city. Mom or dad will drop me off at the station and I’ll take the train in and then subway down.” You were referring to the PATH train which runs from NJ to NYC in relatively short amount of time. Convenient. It was a wonder Colin didn’t come to visit more often. You wondered if he was embarrassed about you and your parents; he always kept to himself in the short time he lived with you, even when you tried to get him to join in games or family outings. He was never rude about it, but firm in wanting to be left out. 

“Oh, gotcha. Yeah, my step-mom uses it a lot for work. She works in fashion in mid-town. Did I ever tell you that? She has, like, the coolest job.” 

“Might’ve mentioned it once or twice...” Or a million, you sniggered to yourself. Seeing your house in the distance, hers on the next street over, you both paused, this usually where you went your separate ways. “Keep me in the loop! I can’t wait to hear what crazy things you get up to with Colin!” 

“We’re not doing anything crazy. Like I said, probably will just meet and chill with his friends. Maybe he’ll show me around campus.” 

She raised her eyebrow, starting to slowly walk backwards to cross the street. “Holdin’ my breath on that one - I’ve seen his insta. Major partier, like, every other day. Be safe!” 

You waved back to her, eyebrows furrowed as you made the last trek to your house. Your hands were itching to look at your phone, not even thinking to check if he was on social media. He always struck you as the non-conformist, and so social media seemed so out of scope for him. 

You barely remembered to greet your mom in the doorway as you climbed the staircase to your bedroom, glued to your phone. You found him immediately, his profile not being private. You scrolled through pictures, of which there were many, most starting since starting college, although the first few were from high school of him and his buddies hanging at the park or skate rink fooling around and smoking. 

Chloe may have been onto something: many of the more recent photos were of him partying. Some repeat faces, but many were different. Some group photos with other guys, presumably his new friends, others with girls wearing skimpy outfits. In many he looked out of it, whether due to alcohol or weed or something else (although you hoped nothing beyond weed, which was bad enough). In one photo his eyes were completely closed, but he was smiling, red cup raised with a girl on his arm, tits pressed to him as she tried to capture his lips in a kiss. 

“Marnie,” your mom called, voice carrying up the staircase to your open bedroom door. “Yeah?” 

“Are you ready to head to the train? I’m ready to wrap-up dinner.” Your mom was nearly as excited to cook Colin a home-cooked meal as you were at the prospect of seeing him. 

“Yeah, just give me a sec.” You packed quickly, figuring more was better than less in case you could stay overnight all three nights. Once you were finished you turned the lights out and came down the stairs where your mom was waiting. You freshened up a bit, but saved the make up for the train; you didnt need any questions about why you were suddenly making an effort with your appearance where Colin was concerned.

“You look nice,” she noted as you headed out to the car, locking up behind. Dad was working late tonight, so he wasn't able to see you out. “For the best,” your mom said, checking the rear view mirror and backing out. “He was a bundle of nerves about you spending the weekend on a college campus.” 

“I know not to drink the punch, if that’s what he’s worried about.” 

“It’s not just that,” your mom pinned you a serious look. “There’s a lot of boys that will be there, drunk ones, and you being underage... Just promise me you’ll be careful, all right?” 

“Now you’re starting to sound like Dad!” You laughed good-naturedly. Your dad was known as the ‘worry wart’ of the family. Working in insurance lended itself naturally to that personality. 

“Marnie...” 

“Yes, I’ll be careful. All right? I’ll be aware of my surroundings, won’t walk alone at night, won’t talk to strangers-

“And check in often,” Mom interrupted. “And if you have to be at a party, don’t go anywhere without Colin, OK?”

“Yes, mom.” Although the mere mental picture of being Colin’s shadow at a college rager wasn’t exactly appealing. He’d probably ditch you at the first sign of a hook up. 

“And look both ways before you enter traffic,” your mom was spewing a rambling, anxiety-ridden consciousness: “It’s not like the suburbs, hunny, they won’t stop-”

“Yes, mom. I got it. Promise. I do have common sense, you know?” 

She sighed, pulling up to the train station where a few vehicles had already started forming a line. “I know I'm sounding overbearing, but remember, you’re my baby and I want you to come home safe.”

“Any reason you didn’t have half this concern when Colin actually went away to college in the big city?” You weren’t asking maliciously, but out of curiosity. 

Your mom smiled. “Colin’s different. He’s had the unfortunate reality of living in a lot of unideal, putting it mildly, home situations. He had to grow up fast, and from what I gathered, some of his placements were in New York, so he knows what to do and not to do. You, missy - and I love you dearly - but you do not have those same street smarts. So stick to Colin, all right? And do what he says. If he gets annoyed, too bad; hopefully my special lasagna will soothe some of that teenage angst.” 

I laughed along with her, shifting my bags to pick up the lasagna. “He better, this just added another 5 pounds to my carry weight!” 

Mom waited with me until the train came by, kissing me goodbye and repeating her earlier words to stay in touch often. I waved her off, but secretly was pleased. Not everyone had as great parents as I did, even if they were annoying at times. I would always be grateful. 

I got a seat to myself in a corner, watching the passing scenery. It was late afternoon, creeping into evening; the sun shone low amongst the trees, parks, houses, whole towns going by at breakneck speed. 

I thought ahead to my reunion with Colin, wondering what he looked like now, how he’d react to me. It had been almost a year since we’d seen each other, and a lot had changed. More than anything I was hoping he didn’t see me as the nerdy, little girl that hung around past her welcome (a lot of times, it felt like I was forcing myself in his company...) 

With only another five minutes or so left, I went to re-apply make up, taking my hair out of its pony tail flipping it down and back and running a hand through it to accomplish that effortlessly messy bombshell look, spritzing some perfume through my locks and along my neck and wrists. I’d worn a sweatshirt around my hips to disguise the fact I was wearing some very short-shorts, a loose fitting tee (but deep V to show the obvious outline of my breasts ) and rounding it out with converse to walk around. 

All in all, I was going for casual (I didn’t want it to look like I was trying too hard to impress anybody) but in a way that showed off my best assets. I only hoped Colin would agree, and that he’d finally notice me in the way I’d been wanting for so long. 

#fanfic #dylanobrien #Dylan o'brien #Dylan obrien #fiction #au #colin #notokay #not okay #romance #eventual romance #slow burn #slowburn #trauma #new series #miniseries #stiles x y/n #stiles stilinski x oc #stiles stilinksi x reader #void stiles #stiles stilinksi smut #eventual smut #angst #protective #parents #spoiled #Mitch Rapp x reader #Mitch Rapp #teen wolf #american assassin

[warmthpdf]

if i don’t write down all my thoughts about surviving this summer sometime soon i think i will explode !

#'surviving' to begin with feels like such a strong word to apply to this summer but survival is SO intensely woven into how i've been living #how ive been living these past few months has been based around just surviving the next hour the next day the next week #and not being sure if i was able to do that or if doing that was worth it #for the first time in years i didnt wanna wake up. but for the first time in years i also wanted to live authentically and unabashedly #theres a lot i want to say about that? probably not all of it on tumblr. i feel like im already sharing way too much #but my point is that despite nothing life altering or world shattering or something that could be 'big trauma' this was something i survived #and i want to feel a little proud of that #and i think to be proud of that i have to put that into words and really really look at it as if this was someone else #to feel validated in my own survival i have to ?? view it as if its someone else. bc i think im the one exception to deserving to heal ig #but it helps to put things in perspective #im rly holding back a lot of feelings rn i think and i need an outlettttt #gonna journal tomorrow night i think #sleepover on monday. a lot of feelings about that :') first day back at college on wednesday. seeing the big group of friends on friday #things are happening and im trying to hold my life in my hands again and say its enough to keep living for #mine #thats all ! its 4am nini #sorry my tags are so. like this lmaooooo i forget other people might actually SEE what i post #im not a writer by any means but ppl on my uquiz have said my writing is very nice :') so thats been encouraging me to ramble more i think #okay GOODNIGHTGOODNIGHT

[sleepdeprivedheretic]

Tongue Tied

Notes: This is another Valentine’s Day fic, except it’s a bit shorter.This is for those who rather have pure, straight up fluff

Setting: I wanted childhood friends au. OOC Tai, kinda. Tried to make it short and sweet for Valentine’s Day, along with my other fic that’s more plot-y and smutty tOTALLY does revolve around yokai: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29427309

 When you first met him, you were both about eight. He was round, cheeky, and friendly, greeting you to the new neighborhood. Only being eight, and not really having any friends, you were rather shy. He grinned, holding up a bag of blue gummy sharks. Eagerly but hesitantly, you complied, and he beamed at you with a blush, seemingly to rival the sun as he introduced himself.

“-but ya can call me Tai-chan!”

Regularly, his mom and your mom became close friends, and often brought the two of you to the park. Him being the only familiar, friendly face, you followed him everywhere, like a little puppy. He would be always smiling and talking, falling in step beside you as he munched on whatever or whichever his mom had brought for him, sharing with you, and you offered your own snacks.

He grew on you, taking you everywhere, creating blanket and pillow forts, and promised that the two of you will be best friends forever. Although rather shy, you were extremely protective of him, finding your young self snapping at bullies when they’ve made fun of his weight, and making sure that he was alright. He would look at you shyly yet with a soft grin and rub the back of his head, telling you that you were amazing.

………………..

You were both ten. In two years, you’ve grown very close to him. Of course, his family and doctor worrying about his weight, had put him on a diet. He was still a little round, but had grown a few inches taller. You didn’t care, as long as he was your friend. Who you totally did not have a small crush on. Nope.  

The two of you were in his living room, resting in your own separate sleeping bags as Bambi played on the VHS. No matter how many times the two of you seen it, his eyes would always water up when a particular scene came along as he shoved popcorn in his mouth. All you could really do was pat his shoulder gently, causing him to stutter and have the same odd red tint to his cheeks as he laughed nervously. You stared at his odd behavior, but shrugged, reaching for the popcorn as the two of you talked about future dreams and other things as the sleepover crawled on.

By this time, you’ve knew him a bit more, use to hanging out at his house, and his yours. Cooking and baking with each other’s respective moms, was a common weekend thing.

……………………………..

 He’d gotten a bit more loud and rowdy, but was still sweet as ever. Of course, being twelve, the two of you were experiencing your own physical and mental changes. Voice cracking, outgrowing baby fat, the two of you were still close. He’d gotten many scrapes and bruises, however, while being rowdy and not as careful, and he’d grumble a little with a pink tint to his cheeks, as you hushed him, placing a Hello Kitty band-aid on his cut.

Although a bit more older, the two of you still drank Capri-sun, watched classics on his VCR, and he didn’t mind that you tagged along wherever he went. Imagine his surprise when you’ve gotten a little braver, not hesitating to cheer him on during sports tryouts, or started doing more things of your own without him. Of course, the both of your parents were wary of the two of you spending the entire night for some weird reason, but you still hung out for most of the day, swapping Pokemon cards and playing on the old gaming system while mindlessly talking like you’ve always done.

…………………..

  High school was somewhat different. He was an awkward fifteen year old boy, but head-strong, tall, and a bit more lanky. You were still a little quiet and shy, but the two of you stuck close to each other like glue. He’d drag you to his baseball tournaments, and you’d invite him to your archery ones. He still was rowdy and somewhat of a hyper, cute klutz, grinning from ear to ear with pink cheeks as you sighed, wrapping yet another band-aid around his cuts.

 You, being still young, had to bite down an odd feeling that came over you when he was surrounded by girls. You didn’t understand it, they were just being friendly, right? He looked rather uncomfortable, but was still red in the face as he kept making glances at you, a silent plea for help.

 It’s when the bullying had started. The whispers and rumors, all because you helped him escape from a gaggle of young teens. He, being protective as always, shot glares and scowls at those who dared even came close to you, telling you that it was alright to defend yourself, and to call on him if he needed anything. So, while there was some bullying, the budding attention from kids hitting puberty, was a bit worse.

He was agitated for some weird reason, yet kept a dopey smile for your sake when you kept receiving love letters and confessions. You didn’t miss the relief in his eyes when you turned them all down, and vice versa when he stated that he wasn’t really interested in most of the people in your school. You didn’t fail to notice that he kept looking at you for an extra two seconds, but dismissed it.

……………

Senior year wasn’t as bad as freshman year. He, with all of his practice in sports and such, grew a bit of muscle mass, but at eighteen, was round and taller, around six foot, easily dwarfing you. Although older teens, you’ve kept in touch despite the crazy amount of tests, finals, and new friends. People were murmuring in awe at how the two of you were so close, and yet weren’t a couple. It didn’t stop either of your ears burning, but neither of you had either dated, only fueling those rumors.

He was very popular, as were you, despite your shyness and liking to blend in. Two peas in a pod, yet almost opposite personalities described him and you. You liking to read, and him liking to play sports and be outside. It didn’t stop you from following him around, him chuckling and ruffling your hair as you played a few games with him, or him hanging out with you at the library.

 Of course, a lot of admirers from both sides were jealous because of the two of your closeness. You still politely refused the applicants of the love letters, and he, gaining more courage, stated that he wasn’t really interested in the gaggle of fawners who surrounded him. The two of you had constantly protected each other from unwanted bullies and too pushy one-sided interests while living your own lives.

It took longer than you’d like to admit, but you’ve gotten a part-time job as well as your license, him not wanting to be left behind, followed after. You forever had the image burned in your brain that Monday morning. He, waiting for you, sported a Letterman jacket, beat up sneakers, grinning wildly and proudly as he leaned against his new car. It was an older model, but you were proud of him, and plus, he was still doing things to your chest that you did not understand.

“Get in, Sugar, we’re goin’ fer a spin.” He smiled, holding up his new keys, and you couldn’t help but feel cicadas buzz gently within your stomach.

Prom was different. You weren’t really interested in going, and instead, the two of you spent the night at your house, baking cookies and listening to old songs on the radio. He smiled, wearing your mom’s apron as he swiveled to the music, causing you to laugh more than you should as he mimicked her, cursing about the neighborhood children and gushing about soap operas.  

The tiny desserts ended up being burnt, his hair was wild, and the two of you were a laughing mess, reflecting childhood days.

By the end of the night, he looked like he wanted to say something before he left, but instead, gave you one of his warm, gooey smiles that made your heartbeat quicken.

……………..

College had a unique spin to it. Tests weren’t as frequent, but they were a bit harder. There were online classes, more deadlines, and yet, despite it all, nicer, calmer teachers. You, being an excellent student, earned your funding through the school. Of course you broke away from living at your parent’s house, and had to support yourself further by working, but it was worth it.

The dorm rooms were roomy, and your roommate, who was blessed with common courtesy, was kind and distant. He, attached to you at the hip, followed the same pattern, almost, except he’d chosen a different career. Oddly, he wanted to become a teacher, but the more you thought about it, the more you could see it. Always friendly, warm, and generous, an inner part of you knew that he was good around children, and it’d be a perfect career choice.

You yourself, only nineteen, had liked the idea of biology, studying animals and their habits. It also put the two of you in a lot of the same classes for the next four years. Despite studying, working, and worrying, the two of you had seemed to find extra time for each other. Granted it was more to study, but a lot of places were in the cafeteria, at the local coffee shops, and sometimes in your dorm room if your roommate was out. Within the four years before graduating, you’ve discovered more about your own feelings for the blond, and had secretly accepted them. You didn’t know of his own feelings towards you other than a very close friend, but you were surprised that he turned down popular, pretty people.

To say that you were relieved, was an understatement, but you couldn’t fathom why he’d turn down so many nice admirers. You’d accepted the fact that he might be asexual, or aromantic, and cherished him as your close friend no matter what the outcome might have been.

 ……………….

 Graduation was celebrated with lots of laughter and cheer from both of you and your families. Not really having a place, the two of you, being really close, decided to rent together on a lease. Age twenty-three, the two of you had to struggle a bit to find jobs, but luckily, with his charm and endearing personality, it didn’t take him too long to land as a kindergarten teacher, and you, with your experiences and tenaciousness, landed in the science lab some miles over.

   The two of you worked perfectly together, splitting bills and chores, making meals, it was almost as if the two of you were a couple, due to your wishful thinking. Which, to be fair, you thought and wondered a lot. What was the two of your relationship, what were you waiting for, and so on. It was growing on you, and you were feeling as if you had enough. Although not blaming him, you wanted to spend as much time at work as possible, staying away from the very being who made your heart soar and yet hurt from the questioning and pining.

He, being very keen, noticed immediately of your sudden absence. Going early and coming home later, eating briefly with that odd, distant look in your eyes as you joined in on his conversations, but it was as if you were replaced by something else. It was driving him mad, because in all of his years of knowing you, it didn’t add up.

One night, you came home to an odd sight. The table, although already set neatly, had your favorite dish set out on a platter. He sat there, pouring two glasses of wine as he stared at you.

“This ain’t like ya, Chickadee.” He stated bluntly, setting your glass near the platter, and you sighed, sitting down. Of course he’d notice, and although you felt guilty, you needed to give yourself space from the accepted, yet buzzing emotions welling within you.

“Ya wanna talk about it?” Was the silent plea, and you, caught off guard by the sheer hurt in his voice, found yourself nodding.

…………..

Present. The two of you, adults, sat at the table as he stared at you intently with a look of worry and hurt. He was your friend, and you guessed that it wouldn’t hurt to let loose your feelings, so he could know, and let you down, gently. Taking a breath, you started.

His eyes were widened, but he didn’t speak as you spoke. Letting the weight of your concerns and feelings be lifted off of your shoulders as you could only briefly make eye-contact. He was stunned, to say at least, but it’s what you’ve been feeling for years. As soon as you finished, you bravely stared at him, to drink in his reactions to your inner conflict. Swallowing thickly, he set his utensil down as he gave you a warm, heated stare.

“We’re both a lil’ dense, ain’t we, Sugar?”

You couldn’t help but nod a little as he stood up, walking over towards you to stare at you. It was your turn to look surprised, letting him cup your face, and lean in. Soft and warm, just like him, you couldn’t help but think as finally, finally, the two of you shared a kiss. The soft fluttering of butterflies within your stomach melted with a warm heat within your gut, surprising you in an instant as the two of you had broken away, him staring at you with a soft smile and a hot blush to his cheeks.

“Ya know how long I’ve been wantin’ to do that?” He asked rather shyly.

“Since we were eight?”

“Right on the nose. Ya as well?” He grinned, kissing your forehead gently at your nod.

“We gotta lotta talkin’ to do, but how ‘bout we start things proper with a date?”

  You gently took his hand within yours, rubbing your thumb over the back in soft circles.

“Sounds perfect.”

………………

Short bc I had a 12k fic already done not too long ago, and this is for the crowd who just wanted fluff and cuteness.  

#Taishiro Toyomitsu #Fatgum #Fatgum x reader #Like I had permission from a sweet artist to let me write the visuals in my other fic #And they gave me permission to post it on A03 #I was unsure about Tumblr so I left a link to my fanfic account

[rowyn-writes]

Cinnamon and Sugar

Chapter One

Warnings: Small mentions of depression, language, mentions of sex.

Characters: Jo Harvelle, Dean Winchester, Chuck, Jack Kline

Pairings: Dean Winchester x Reader

Word count: 2k

You groaned as you flailed your hand around, trying to silence your annoying ass alarm clock. It was 4:30 in the morning, and to say you weren’t a morning person was an understatement.

You didn’t understand why you had to get up so early in the morning when the shop didn’t open until seven, but that was Chuck for you, always trying to ruin your peace. You didn’t mind your boss; when he stayed out of the way, that is.

You quickly got dressed, fed and watered you cat, giving him some belly rubs, before heading out the door. You didn’t live that far away from the shop, only a five minute drive, but you decided to walk there pretty much every morning. It was good exercise.

You jiggled the key in the lock before swinging the doors open. The smell of old books comforted you. It was always one of your favorite things. If you could bottle the smell and make a candle, then your life would be complete.

You began to set up for the day, grinding coffee beans, getting the display case ready, wiping down counters, the works. You knew the store didn’t get it’s rush hour until at least nine o’clock, so you had plenty of time to yourself. You connected your phone to the speakers in the store and began to play some of your favorite songs.

If you were being honest, you loved having the place to yourself. While you loved social interactions and talking to people, there was something about the tranquil environment of a coffee shop that just made you feel content.

You knew it was going to be busier than usual, since it was a Monday and everyone needed their morning coffee before going to work. Once you were finished setting up, you got out your backpack and began working on your homework. You were currently attending the University of Kansas, trying to get your Masters degree in chemistry.

You would have gone to a more prestigious if you could have afforded it. But UK was the best you were going to get. Plus, it wasn’t all that bad, as you had made some new friends there. Your best friend, Jo Harvelle, you had know since you were ten years old. She worked along side you in the coffee shop, and she should have been here ten minutes ago.

“Jesus Jo.” You muttered under your breath, looking at your phone. “Why is she always so damn late.” You went ahead and clocked in for her, because if Chuck saw that she was half an hour late, he was going to fire her. Again.

“I’m here! I’m here!” She exclaimed, rushing through the doors. “Sorry I’m late. I overslept.”

“Yeah, yeah. Just put on your apron and get to work. These coffee’s aren’t going to make themselves."

Jo gave you a mock salute and got to work. Like you thought, the line was pretty long. You and Jo rushed to get out orders and clean up as you went. Around 12, it finally died down.

"Thank god it won't be that busy tomorrow. Tuesday's one of our slower days." Jo huffed as she leaned against the counter.

"Okay, you never told me. . . Why in the hell were you so late today?!" You cuffed Jo, who glared at you.

"Well, if you must know, Y/n, I was having a sleepover." She winked.

"With who this time?" You rolled your eyes.

"I don't actually remember." She admitted. "But he was hot." You snorted at her comment. Since there was hardly anyone there, you decided to sit down on one of the plush arm chairs and start your homework. You had midterms in two weeks, and you were stressing majorly.

"Jeez, Y/n. You're no fun." Jo complained.

"I'll be more fun once midterms are over. Until then, you get Grumpy Y/n." You flipped to the next page of your textbook.

A bell sounded through the store, signaling that someone had just entered. "Oh my god." Jo whispered.

"What?" You asked, furrowing your eyebrows.

"That's the hot guy I slept with last night. And I kinda just left without telling him this morning." You felt your jaw drop. 

“You’re kidding!” You hissed. “Jo, you told him where you work?”

“No!” She defended herself. “No, I didn’t. Look, he’s nice and all, but I really don’t wanna talk to him. I kinda just wanted last night to be a one time thing and never see him again.”

“Fine. Go into the back and start cleaning up while I take his order.” Jo threw you a grateful look as she quickly fled into the kitchen.

You stood up and made your way over to the counter, and boy, was Jo right. The man was very handsome. The first thing you noticed was his emerald green eyes. It was one of his most beautiful features. Although he was gorgeous all around.

“Hi! Welcome to Chuck’s, what can I get for you today?” You gave him a friendly smile.

“Uh, just a large Americano, please.”

You narrowed your eyes at him slightly. “Let me guess, you’re used to crappy diner coffee, right?”

The man chuckled, scratching the side of his face. “Yeah. How’d you guess?”

“You seemed kind of hesitant in ordering, plus, Americano’s are disgusting.” You scrunched up your nose.

“Alright, what do you suggest then?”

“Hmm. . .” You looked the man up and down, trying to see what type of coffee would best suit him. “An Irish coffee. You seem like the type to drink whiskey, am I right?”

“Yeah.” He seemed skeptical. 

“Alright. One large Irish coffee, coming right up. What’s the name for that?”

“Dean.” You nodded as you wrote down his name on the cup. As you were brewing the coffee, you heard a loud crash coming from the kitchen. You quickly set aside what you were doing and ran to the back. 

“Jo?” You called. Your best friend looked at you sheepishly as there were scattered cups on the floor. “Jesus Christ woman, you almost gave me a heart attack.”

“Is everything okay back here?” Dean asked, rushing into see the two women. “I heard a crash and wanted to make sure everything was okay.”  His eyes widened in surprised as he looked at Jo. “Jo, hey.” He cleared his throat awkwardly.

“Oh, hey, uh-” Jo stumbled.

“Dean.” You whispered.

“Dean. Right, I knew that.”

“No, you didn’t.” Jo glared at you as she hit the back of your head.

“I’m just gonna go and wait for my coffee.” As soon as he was out of ear shot, you bursted out laughing. 

“Oh shut up!” 

You continued laughing as you went back to the counter. “I’m sorry for laughing.” You apologized in between breaths. “It’s just. . . Jo’s my best friend and she always looks for a chance to embarrass me, so whenever I get the chance to embarrass her, I take it.”

Dean cracked a smile. “Yeah, I’m like that with my brother.”

“I have a brother too.” You said, continuing to brew Dean’s coffee. “He’s five years older than me. Treats me like I’m a child.”

“It’s an older brother thing.” He grinned, leaning on the counter. “I act like I know more than him just because I’m older. It’s a complex.”

“Alright, here’s your Irish coffee.” You smiled, handing him the drink.

He took a small sip of the coffee, fully prepared to be hit with bitterness. He was pleasantly surprised to find that he liked the taste. It wasn’t too bitter or sweet, and the Irish Whiskey was a great bonus. “Wow, this is great.”

“Thanks, I’ve been trying out some new blends. I hope to convince my boss to add some new stuff to the board. But he’s a pain in my ass.” Dean chuckled.

“Well, I’ll definitely be back. This is much better than that crappy diner coffee.” Once Dean was gone, you called out to Jo, telling her that it was safe to come out.

“Well, that was awkward.” As Jo went to hit you again, you grabbed her wrist. “I love you, but I swear, the next time you hit me, I’ll hit you back.” Jo held her hands up in surrender, knowing full well that you would keep your promise.

Around three o’clock, you clocked out, finally going home for the day. You were exhausted and just wanted to get home to your cat, Storm. The days were getting shorter and the nights were getting cooler. It was becoming fall, the leaves were changing to a beautiful orange-red color, and every store you went inside smelled like pine cones. 

You unlocked the door to your apartment, setting down your keys and bag on the small table by the door. You clicked your tongue, calling out to your cat. He came instantly, wrapping his body around your ankle. “Hey, Storm. Did you have a good day?” Storm purred loudly as he continued to weave back and forth in between your legs.

You refilled Storms food bowl before going to sit down on the couch. You will still crunching for midterms, and it was awful, to say the least. You were hardly retaining anything that you were reading. Nothing seemed to be sticking.

You sighed as you threw your textbook aside. Instead of studying like you should have been, you decided to call your friend, Jack. You, Jack and Jo had been friends since you were kids, all going to the same elementary school. Granted, your parents had forced you to spend time together, but you grew to be close friends.

“Hey, Y/n!” Jack’s face popped up on the screen. “I’ve missed you.”

“I’ve missed you too.” You smiled. “I feel like we haven’t talked in ages. Ever since you decided to go to college in North Carolina. Duke sucks, by the way.”

Jack laughed, his honey blond hair falling in his eyes. “Duke does not suck, I’ll have you know. It’s one of the most prestigious schools in the south.”

“Oh yeah, because the south is soooo great.” You teased.

“It is great, Y/n. Once you get past the bipolar weather, it’s nice. The food and drinks are amazing too.”

“Well, you better be getting your ass over here for Christmas. I haven’t seen you in months. Jo and I miss you a lot.”

“Speaking of Jo, how’s she doing? Does she still arrive ‘fashionably late’ to everything?”

“Duh.” You snorted. “Have you met Joanna Beth Harvelle?”

“Sadly.” He muttered. 

“Don’t act like you don’t love her. She may be an annoying bitch, but she’s our annoying bitch.” You both laughed, genuine smiles on your faces. It had been so long since you actually smiled. For months now, it felt like you had been drowning in the ocean, trying to break the surface, but never quite reaching it. You could hear other people around you talking, laughing, out living your life while you just stayed stuck.

You had so desperately wanted your senior year of college to be normal, to return to normal, at least. You wanted to enjoy everything that the last year of college had to offer. You wanted to get wasted at parties, hook up with hot guys, or girls, you didn’t really care. You just wanted to be happy, but things were so much more complicated than that.

“Okay, I really hate to leave so soon, but I have a date tonight.” Jack seemed proud of himself. He was awkward when it came to the female species, aside from you and Jo, he never really talked to other girls. He could never seem to say the right things to them, and it always turned out weird.

You pouted, sticking out your lip. “Aww, okay. Well, as soon as it’s over, call me. I want to know how it went.”

“Will do. Bye, Y/n. Love you.”

“Love you too.” And just like that, you were left alone with your thoughts again.

-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Tag List:

@akshi8278​ @laycblack  @lovememisha

If anyone else would liked to be tagged when the next chapter comes out, let me know!

#dean winchester x reader #dean winchester x yn #dean winchester x y/n #dean winchester x you #dean winchester #supernatural au #supernatural imagine #supernatural x reader #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester au #coffee shop au #jo harvelle #chuck shurley #sam winchester #castiel #jack kline

[baconspice]

I’ve been really thinking about childhood-bffs-mutual-pining au lately and finally word dumped in the discords I’m in, so now it’s y’all’s turn.

So like, Neil and Billy’s mom make the move to Hawkins when Billy is really young as a last ditch attempt to save their marriage.  It very much does not work, and drains them of funds, but they try.

Billy is a little annoyed, cuz he’s like 10, but he’s also excited to move.  How cool.  So while his parents try and fail to make their marriage work, Billy goes to school.  And things are fine.  His teachers like him, he’s just as energetic and into school as he was in Cali, but the midwest kinda sucks.  The kids are more annoying, they’re a little meaner, like they have nothing better to do than make fun of the kid with long curls who always wants to be line leader.  Billy mostly ignores them at this point, but then one day this kid, this older kid who’s the king of the playground, starts shoving him around.

Makes mean jokes about Billy’s hair, about his clothes that fit a little too small cuz they can’t afford new ones, about how his mom looks like a whore (new word this kid learned and is ready to use).  And Billy doesn’t really know what that means.  Just knows that his father sometimes says it to his mom and Billy sees fucking red.  Just fucking shoves this kid down and pins him, getting a few good smacks in while the kid is shocked.

Then there’s someone pulling him off, telling him to run, there’s a teacher coming, and Billy doesn’t think, doesn’t look, just listens and then finds himself panting behind the gym looking at another kid, this one tall and lanky.  The kid smiles at him and is all,

“Donald is a jerk and he had that coming.  You okay?” And Billy nods, not trusting this kid yet.  “I’m Steve,” he says, and holds out his hand.  From then on they are inseparable.  They do everything together.  And Steve introduces Billy to Tommy, who took Steve in, and Tommy takes Billy in too.  So they’re the 3 amigos, but Billy is still a bit closer to Steve.  Doesn’t know why he’s so drawn to him, not yet.

Then it’s middle school.  7th grade.  And Billy’s mom finally leaves.  At this point, Steve and Tommy are definitely aware something isn’t right at Billy’s house, but Steve also doesn’t really know cuz things aren’t right at his house either.  And once she leaves Neil is angry.  He’s so angry.  He moved his life here.  Left and lost everything to have her leave him.  So he gets bad.

Billy is heartbroken.  He misses his mom so much.  And he finds himself hiding in his room a lot.  Trying not to get on his dad’s nerves.  But it’s like breathing does that.  So he hides out at Steve or Tommy’s all the time.  They end up at Steve’s most often because his parents are rarely home now that he’s 13 (Billy and Tommy are 12 I imagine Steve started late), and one night, it’s just Steve and Billy, and they end up talking.  Like, really talking.  And Steve mentions that he feels sad and alone, and Billy feels sad and angry all the time.

And then Steve looks at Billy and smiles and just, “I never feel sad or alone when I’m with you.”

And Billy is so happy, but also so scared, because his heart does flip flops and his stomach has butterflies, and Tommy said that’s what happened when he held Carol’s hand.  And Billy just knows that this isn’t good.  But he’s selfish.  He lost his mom, he lost his comfort, and without Steve, he’s got naught.  So he pushes those feelings down, pushes them away.

Steve, now, Steve doesn’t know what he’s feeling.  Cuz he does think Nancy a grade down is cute.  Thinks Tina’s hair would be fun to wind around his finger.  But he also thinks that about Billy.  Also kinda wants to hold his hand.  Which is weird, cuz he’s known Tommy longer and doesn’t wanna hold his hand.  But maybe it’s cuz he and Billy both have absent family.  Maybe cuz Tommy gets it but doesn’t get it.

But then (circa 8th grade) Tommy falls asleep first at a sleepover.  Snoring and passed out on the couch, and Steve and Billy talk about girls.  Talk about crushes.  And both of them talk about how they haven’t kissed anyone.  Not really.  And Tommy’s asleep, dead to the world, and Steve is so pretty in the soft moonlight as they whisper, and Billy’s eyes are so bright even in the dark, and they share a first kiss.  Maybe a few more.

But then morning comes.  And both of them don’t talk about it, too scared to bring it up.  Cuz Steve realized that, oh wow that was really great and he really wants to do it again, how will he tell Billy?  And Billy’s like Neil will know, so they don’t talk.  Billy says his dad keeps him in for the rest of the weekend, but he doesn’t.  Billy’s just hiding.

But Steve thinks he maybe messed up and needs to prove it was nothing (even tho it was something), and come Monday he asks out Nancy.  And she says yes.  And it fucking breaks Billy’s heart.

Shoot forward, Billy’s a womanizer (mostly by rumor), and Steve and Nancy have been going steady for a few years now.  Because they do care for each other, and they think it’s love, which it is, but not the way they think.  And Billy is going crazy because Steve always looks at him like he’s something precious and will touch his shoulder, or his elbow, and maybe sometimes just take his hand.  And Billy plays it off, keeps macho, because if he doesn’t he might just break.

And Steve doesn’t know why Nancy doesn’t make his heart swell the way Billy does.  He knows he loves her, but he also knows he loves Billy more.  But Billy is Billy.  He’s got a new girl each week.  So Steve just keeps hurting himself and trying to move on when he can’t.  Because Billy is always there, he’s always helping and joking and rough housing and yeah, Billy and Nancy don’t get along, they never have, but Steve can’t make the choice.  Because he already knows the answer and that’d ruin everything.

Cue Jonathan Byers.  And Nancy kinda realizing that she doesn’t yearn this way for Steve.  Loves him, yeah, but she doesn’t consume his thoughts.  And so she breaks it off and Steve is...he’s hurt, but not as much as he thought.  Still, he goes to Billy, invites him over for beer and weed and ends up crying to him.  And Billy holds him, cradles him, and tells him that he deserves so much better.

“You deserve someone who sees you right, Stevie.  Someone who knows your moods and who doesn’t care when you’re quiet, doesn’t care when you need some help with stuff.  You deserve the entire fucking world,” he says, choked up.  And Steve looks up at him, and Billy looks back, and--

And Billy gets scared.  So he tries to leave, tries to backtrack, but Steve saw it.  He saw the way Billy looked at him, and maybe there’s a reason he doesn’t date the girls he sees, a reason it doesn’t last, and Steve jumps,

“Would you give me the world?” He asks.  And Billy stops.  Cause he would.

“I’d give you anything,” he whispers.  And that’s it.  They can’t stay away.  The crash into each other, like planets merging to create something new, something beautiful.

Then more drama yadda yadda blah blah, hiding cuz Neil, and then after graduation Billy finds his mom and he and Steve go to a college near her so she and Billy can repair their relationship (also it’s in a city where them being roommates won’t be scrutinized so much).

#harringrove #long post #childhood bffs au #steve harrington #billy hargrove

[artificialqueens]

Tree House Kisses, Chapter 41 (Adorney) - Scorpio and Veronica

A/N: Hi everyone! Okay so, in this chapter, they begin working on a new musical, and I URGE you to check it out if you haven’t: The Scarlet Pimpernel. Also! I made a playlist with every song we’ve used as chapter titles, including the upcoming ones pretty much through the end of the story. Click here for previous chapters or here if you’d rather read on AO3. And thank you SO MUCH to wonderful betas: @saiphl, @sillylittlecandycane!!! XOXOXO

Chapter Summary: New semester, new school musical: and Courtney’s star is finally on the rise.

Chapter 41: You Are My Home

It was weird having Roy back home for the holidays, Adore thought, watching him tell a story to Bob, Jamin, and Thorgy, commanding all the attention as usual, sipping from a solo cup and gesturing wildly. It was even weirder to see him getting sloppy-drunk as the night wore on--Adore supposed that college was a bigger challenge than he’d planned for, and maybe he needed to blow off some steam. Still, seeing him grope Courtney as he bent her over Thorgy’s pool table was certainly...something different.

It was over a month since the night of her break-up with Tati, that near miss where she’d come so scarily close to a confession. Once in a while, late at night, she’d have a brief twinge of regret for not being honest. Most of the time though, she felt like she’d absolutely made the right call--their friendship was stronger than it had ever been. So Roy’s dumbass horndog behavior tonight was actually making her laugh.

Maybe it was Courtney’s eye rolls as he rubbed against her, but Adore didn’t find Roy nearly as annoying as she used to. He was no longer a looming, oppressive reminder of her hopeless crush. He was just a guy who came back from college to awkwardly hang out with his high school friends over winter break. A guy who was currently grinding pathetically against his girlfriend, trying (and failing) to get some affection.

“I thought you were gonna teach me Vanessa’s tricks,” Courtney said, pushing him away gently as she lined up her cue.

“I’m trying, but I need to get close,” Roy said, pulling her ass back against him. He leaned forward and murmured something into her hair, something which made her burst out laughing.

“Ummm...no offense, babe, but I don’t really feel like you’d be on your A game tonight,” Courtney said, still giggling.

“Rude,” he pouted.

Courtney looked up, catching Adore’s eye and sending her another exaggerated eye roll. Adore smiled back at her, shaking her head.

“Do you want to sleep over tonight?” Courtney asked.

“Yes,” Roy said, moving her hair aside to kiss her neck.

“Not you!” Courtney said, swatting him on the shoulder before giving Adore an exasperated look. “I meant Dory.”

Adore knew that it was petty, but she couldn’t help the slight thrill that Courtney was choosing her over Roy. It didn’t mean anything--they’d gotten back into their old habit of Adore staying with her every time Bonnie worked a night shift, and she knew that’s all it was. And anyway, it probably wasn’t going to happen, given the way Roy was now pouting and whining.

“Why her? She gets to see you all the time!” Roy argued, indignant. When Courtney didn’t immediately cave, he tried a softer tactic. “Please, baby, I miss you so much…”

“Fine. You can have the floor,” Courtney said, taking Adore by such surprise that she didn’t have time to cover her mouth before a loud cackle of laughter escaped.

“You are the meanest girlfriend in the entire world,” Roy said.

“I know.” Courtney leaned forward and kissed him gently on the cheek.

-

PEARL: How was your sleepover?

ADORE: So weird

PEARL: Did all three of you pile into Courtney’s bed?

ADORE: Ew, not that weird. No, Roy slept on the floor in a sleeping bag and Courtney and I slept in her bed. So like...just awkward as fuck.

PEARL: What’s wrong, you don’t like spooning her while her boyfriend is 2 feet away?

ADORE: Ugh

PEARL: Wanna come over today? Trin’s gonna be here in like an hour

ADORE: I can’t. I told Court I’d go ice skating with her and Roy.

PEARL: Well well well, how cosy

ADORE: Shut up

PEARL: The three musketeers

ADORE: SHUT UP

Adore sighed. She supposed it was probably strange that she’d been spending her whole break hanging out with Courtney and Roy, but it wasn’t her fault. Courtney invited her everywhere and Roy was just...always there. Besides, when it really came down to it, she liked Roy. And she liked how happy Courtney was when all three of them were together. And to her relief, they’d chilled out a lot on the PDA, now more like an old married couple who teased each other constantly and bickered playfully, using Adore to settle every disagreement.

So, if they had to be the Three Musketeers for another week, Adore was actually fine with that.

-

The musical for their senior year was The Scarlet Pimpernel, and Courtney was absolutely beside herself with glee when she landed the lead. All weekend, she listened to the soundtrack on repeat, falling in love with the music and story and her character, a French actress named Marguerite who was embroiled in a complicated love triangle with her British aristocrat husband and her French revolutionary ex-lover. She sang the songs over and over until she knew them by heart, and drove everyone in the household bonkers with her attempt at a French accent.

They had their first cast reading on a Monday evening in mid-January, and as usual, Mrs. Maguire had them sing through their songs as best they could. Courtney was especially excited when it came time to sing her duet with Adore, who was cast as her brother. It was a gorgeous, sappy ballad and one of her favorites in the show, always making her tear up.

Adore began a bit tentatively, since she hadn’t spent nearly as much time listening to the soundtrack as Courtney, but after a few bars, she got into it too, the drama of clinging to her “sister” as they waited in jail, facing the guillotine together.

“You are my home You make me strong And in this world of strangers, I belong to someone You are all I have You’re all I have; I need you so…”

Courtney, of course, had already memorized every word, and she sang directly into Adore’s eyes, arms wrapped around her neck.

Later, in her office, Mrs. Maguire was sitting pensively, brow furrowed in concern when Thorgy came in to let her know that the crew was finished cleaning up.

“Thor...let me ask you a question. I need a...second opinion.”

“Sure.”

“Do you think it was a mistake casting Courtney and Adore as siblings?”

“How so?” he asked carefully.

She cleared her throat. “Well...do you think they have too much of a...how should I put this...romantic vibe?”

Thorgy burst out laughing.

“Mrs. Maguire...girl…you don’t know the half of it.”

“So, I didn’t imagine that?”

“No. They’ve always been like that,” he told her.

“I mean, I knew they were close friends, but...isn’t Courtney still dating Roy?”

“Yeah...yeah. But…well, you saw it.” Thorgy chuckled again.

“Oy.” Mrs. Maguire picked up a cast list. “I may need to change some things around.”

The next day, a solution fell into her lap when Willam came to see her during the fourth period, looking more distraught than she’d ever seen him. Apparently, he was committed to the show choir for the Spring, and there were a bunch of scheduling conflicts with rehearsals, making it damn near impossible for him to play the title role he’d gotten. It was unsettling to see a kid who was normally as cool as a cucumber so upset.

“I don’t want to quit, I love doing the plays so much,” he said tearfully, and she jumped up to give him a hug.

“Of course you don’t want to quit. Listen, honey, it’s your senior year. We can definitely figure out a way for you to do both, okay? I might have to shuffle some casting, but it’ll all work out. I promise.” She hugged him again, patting him on the back.

“If you tell anyone I cried, I’ll key your car,” came his muffled voice, and she laughed, promising to keep his shameful secret.

Once he left, she sat back down, a relieved sigh leaving her. This could work out perfectly.

She spoke to all the kids individually about their new casting. Bob was over the moon when he found out he’d be taking over Willam’s title role: the wealthy aristocratic Percy, Courtney’s new husband, who uses his foppish clothing obsession as a cover in order to go into France and rescue his friends from the guillotine. And Willam was thrilled that not only did he still have a part, but a good one--taking over Adore’s role as Courtney’s brother, Armand. Adore was also delighted--she now had Bob’s role, a radical and sexy French revolutionary and compelling villain. After reading the script closely a few times, she asked Mrs. Maguire if it was necessary to play her new character, Chauvelin, as a man.

“Can’t I be a radical leftist woman instead?” she asked, during that first week of rehearsals.

“I don’t see why not,” Mrs. Maguire answered, tossing out a casual, “Courtney, Chauvelin is now your ex-girlfriend, not your ex-boyfriend.”

Courtney looked up with wide eyes before smiling and nodding, giving Adore a sassy wink. This show was certainly going to be interesting.

-

As a gentle knock sounded, Courtney rolled over slightly, whimpering. She was achy and feverish and felt absolutely awful. And to make matters worse, she’d missed two whole days of rehearsal with no telling when she’d feel better. At this rate, Mrs. Maguire would probably be giving her part away to her understudy, a freshman who’d never even been in a play before.

“Come in,” she said weakly, tears collecting in her eyes as she thought about how unfair it all was. She’d worked so hard, taken ensemble roles and been an understudy herself and helped with ticket sales and sold ads for every program and never complained, and now she was probably going to lose her one chance to be the lead in a musical.

Adore pushed the door open, offering a sympathetic, “Hey, babe, how ya doin’?”

Courtney tried to lift her head, even that small movement making her wince in pain, hot tears trickling down her cheeks.

“Don’t get up!” Adore rushed to her side, placing a few books on her nightstand. “I just came by to bring your homework.”

“Thanks,” Courtney said, sniffling.

“What’s the matter?” Adore pressed a cool hand to her cheek, lips turned down in a frown as a tear slipped down Courtney’s face.

“I’m just worried that Mrs. Maguire’s gonna give my part away,” Courtney admitted.

“Don’t worry about that. It took all of today’s rehearsal to get through half of ‘The Creation of Man.’ We have plenty of shit to work on without you. Besides, no one but you could do that part justice, anyway.”

Courtney blinked back her tears, gazing up at Adore with a grateful expression.

“Really?”

“Yeah, I promise!” Adore laughed, climbing into her bed to sit beside her. “Stop worrying, okay?”

“Aren’t you afraid you’ll get sick too?” Courtney said, pulling her blankets tighter around her shoulders.

“Nahh. You know Bonnie makes me do that dumb FluMist vaccine every year. I’m invincible.”

“I don’t think that’s actually true,” Courtney said, covering her mouth with her elbow to cough.

“Well, whatever. It’s worth it to hang out with my best friend.” Adore smiled down at her, and Courtney felt like she might cry all over again.

“Thanks, baby,” she murmured softly.

“Omigod, also...the craziest shit happened today at lunch, I have to tell you about it.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah, okay so first of all...did you know that Violet applied to Columbia early-decision and got in?”

“Wow.”

“Wow is right!” Adore exclaimed. “I mean, I know she’s smart, but she doesn’t give a shit about school. But apparently she got like, practically a perfect score on her SATs. And then everyone else started talking about what school they want to go to and they have all these plans and backup plans and I just...I had no idea our friends were like...so school motivated. It’s fucking weird.”

It surprised Courtney too...maybe not as much as Adore, because she’d figured that Trinity would have ambitious school plans, and Fame as well. And Pearl, well Pearl wasn’t very scholarly, but she assumed that she’d want to go to an art school or something.

“And I guess you’re probably planning to go to UCLA and move in with Roy or something,” Adore mumbled.

Courtney let out a rueful laugh, shaking her head. “I don’t have the grades for that.”

“What?” Adore looked confused. “Your grades are fine.”

“They’re okay. I could probably get into a Cal State. But Ms. Patterson told me in the fall that any UC is a pipe dream. So I’m probably gonna just do two years at a community college and then transfer.”

“Wait, seriously?”

“Yeah,” Courtney said, a deep sigh leaving her. “It’s for the best. We’ll save a bunch of money. My dad said he’d pay for my room and board, so I can still move out, thank god.”

“Move out where? Are you staying in the area?”

“No...but I dunno exactly. People say that Santa Barbara City College is good. Or Santa Monica college. It would be so great to be by the beach.”

“Ugh, I’d love to live near the beach. What I really want is to just move to LA, get some shitty retail job or whatever, and work on my music. I’m like, so close to convincing Bonnie what a good idea it is.”

“Adore! Omigod!” Suddenly, the aching in Courtney’s exhausted body didn’t matter, as she hoisted herself into a seated position to look directly into Adore’s hazel eyes. “We should be roommates!”

“Really?”

“Yeah! It would be perfect! Don’t you think?!” A smile lit up Courtney’s eyes, so big she thought it might split her face in two.

“Well...yeah, maybe...that could be cool.”

“I know, right?! Omigod, we’d have so much fun, and we could totally save money!” Courtney exclaimed, reaching forward to pull Adore in for a hug, her ecstatic joy pushing aside any thoughts of giving the flu to her friend.

Adore hugged her back, a light giggle slipping from her lips as she said, “I guess now we have a plan, too.”

-

Courtney was bone-tired. By the time she got over the flu, she’d missed a full week. Between catching up on her classes, the extra rehearsals, and struggling to memorize her lines, not to mention playing referee to Karen and Muriel’s latest argument over whether it was appropriate for Karen to have overnight guests, she felt like she could sleep for a week.

But she’d already agreed to this Saturday rehearsal, and she knew she needed it anyway, so she dragged herself out of bed and showed up at the theatre with an extra-large frappuccino that didn’t seem to help her exhaustion, but did make her jittery and off-balance.

That’s probably why she missed her cue, while working on her scene with Adore. At least, that’s what she would claim if anyone asked.

It was the scene in Act One where Adore’s character, Chauvelin, was trying to convince her to leave England and come back with her to Paris. She’d been zoning out a bit while Mrs. Maguire talked to Adore about the scene, explaining that her character needed to be angrier. Courtney really wasn’t paying attention like she should, but it was something about how Adore was supposed to be extra angry because not only did Marguerite abandon the French Revolution to marry a British aristocrat, but she’d also abandoned her.

Anyway, she wasn’t prepared when they started up the scene again, for the intensity with which Adore spoke her next line: “You do not belong in this cold land, with no one to understand you...to touch you.”

Adore let her fingers graze Courtney’s cheek before grabbing her waist and pulling her in roughly. A small gasp left Courtney’s lips, staring into Adore’s burning hazel eyes.

“The girl I knew could not bear this another moment,” Adore said, in a hoarse stage whisper.

As Adore inched closer, mouth softly parted, Courtney’s heart raced, fingers digging into Adore’s shoulders, eyes wide...

“Uh, Courtney?”

Courtney’s head snapped up, towards Mrs. Maguire’s voice. “Yes?”

“You’re supposed to push her away.”

“I know,” Courtney said, cheeks burning. “I was just trying to, um...act conflicted about it.”

“Wow, good work. We really believed you,” Mrs. Maguire said, and Courtney shoved Adore backwards, making her stumble slightly, nearly tripping over her feet.

“Oh god, are you okay?” Courtney reached for her hand to steady her.

“Yeah, sorry, I, uh…”

“Why don’t we take this section again, from Marguerite’s line ‘What do you know of it?’” Mrs. Maguire said, disguising her amused chuckle as a cough.

“Yeah, sure, okay.” Courtney brushed off her hands, hoping that the burning in her cheeks wasn’t obvious to everyone watching.

-

“So, Karen’s into Palm Reading now, huh?”

“Uh huh,” Courtney laughed. They were sitting around the tree in their usual lunch spot, Courtney sharing her mother’s latest passion by attempting to read Adore’s palm.

“So is that shitty broken one my lifeline?”

“No, this one is your lifeline…” Courtney said, finger trailing across Adore’s palm, making her giggle.

“And? What do you think?”

“You’re gonna live a long time.” Courtney grinned at her, eyes shining.

“Fuck,” Adore pouted. “You sure? Can I change that?”

Willam let out a braying laugh.

“Yeah, I know what you mean, lesbian. Personally I want to die young and beautiful.”

“One out of two isn’t bad,” Violet shrugged, earning a punch on the shoulder. “Ow!”

“Good one,” Trinity giggled.

“Watch it, cuz. I could punch you, too,” warned Willam.

“You just fucking try it. I dare you.”

“Guys, please calm down,” Fame interjected. As always, the voice of reason.

Still holding Adore’s hand, Courtney touched her palm again, shivers traveling up her arm.

“Stop it,” Adore said, biting her lip, but making no move to pull her hand away.

“A long, long life…” Courtney continued, flashing her winning smile.

Adore smiled back, but then off Violet’s intentionally loud scoff, she cleared her throat and finally snatched her hand back, just as Bob approached the group.

“Hey, uh...I need to speak to my wife,” Bob said, and Courtney laughed, getting up and following him a little ways away from the group.

“Is everything okay? Do you need-”

“What’s going on with you and Adore?” he asked quickly, head tilted down at her, brow slightly furrowed.

“What do you mean?” Courtney’s thoughts started racing, her heart beating quickly.

“Don’t play dumb with me, I’ve known you since we were 4.”

“I’m not playing!” Courtney said. “Maybe I’m just dumb?”

Bob put his hands on his hips, glaring at her. After a moment, he narrowed his eyes and said, “He really loves you--”

Courtney sighed. “I know, Bob. Okay? You don’t think I know that? And I love him-”

“--More than you deserve.”

Courtney looked at him for a long moment, a sarcastic comeback on the tip of her tongue, which she swallowed down, defeated, shifting her gaze to the ground.

“I know.” Her voice broke on the last word, a lump rising in her throat.

Bob’s voice seemed to soften a little, saying, “Look...I’m just trying to-”

“I know, you’re looking out for your friend,” Courtney said tiredly, still avoiding his knowing brown eyes. Tears stung in her own eyes. “I get it.”

“No. I’m looking out for my friends.”

At that, Courtney looked up at him, surprised.

“You’re my friend too,” he continued. “And Adore’s my friend. And I just don’t want anyone to get hurt.”

Courtney bit her lip, nodding. “Me neither,” she managed to whisper, before a single tear began to burn its way down her cheek. Bob pulled her in for a hug.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to-”

“I know.” Courtney sniffled against his shoulder. “You’re a good husband.”

“Oh yeah? Then why aren’t you in the kitchen making me some pie?”

Courtney laughed, parting from him with a good-natured shove.

“You okay?”

She nodded. “I really do love him, you know.”

“Yeah. Okay.” He smiled ruefully. “Things can’t ever be easy, huh?”

“No, I guess not.”

He pressed one last fatherly kiss to her forehead before leaving to join his own lunch group. Courtney took a moment more to collect herself, then walked back to the tree.

“What was that all about?” Pearl asked. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah, just some stuff about the play.”

“I’m so excited to see this play, it’s all you guys talk about,” Tati said.

“Yeah, better live up to the hype,” Trinity warned.

“Oh, it will,” Adore promised her with a charming grin. “We’re fucking amazing.”

“Damn right it will. Although, let’s be honest, I would have been a much better Percy than Bob,” said Willam.

“Ehhh…” Courtney grimaced.

“Fuck you, cheerleader!” Willam exclaimed, chucking an orange slice at her face.

“No I mean, you’d have been great in the campy parts, but the sincere romantic stuff? Not so much.”

“Yeah, remember last year? You two were the least believable teen romance ever,” Adore laughed, and Courtney joined in, nodding.

“Exactly.”

“Are you saying I can’t play it straight?” Willam looked deeply offended.

“Yeah, that’s exactly what we’re saying,” Adore told him.

“Oh yeah? Well, watch this…Come here, Virginia.” He grabbed Tati, who immediately squirmed away.

“Don’t touch me,” she said, pushing him onto the grass.

“Sorry.”

“See? A straight guy wouldn’t have listened,” Violet commented drily, making all of them crack up.

#rpdr fanfiction #tree house kisses #scorpio #veronica #adorney #adore delano #courtney act #bianca del rio #bitney #pearl liaison #willam belli #bob the drag queen #lesbian au #high school au #m/f au #angst #fluff

[buckyscopyofthehobbit]

A Series of Events (Chapter 1)

Pairing: It’s a secret! 

Genre: Little bit of everything, TBH

Warnings: mention of death and medical infusions

This is the beginning of what I expect to be a long running series. The series is a reader insert that will be told through a combination of story and journal entries in a journal read by the therapist. 

Important notes;

Jan is Y/N’s therapist. 

Y/B/F/N is your best friends name

-----------------------------------------------------------------

I’m never quite sure how I got here, and by here I mean the third highest floor of Stark Tower. Everything was perfectly normal one day and then the next Tony offers me a job and a place to live. Jan (Hi Jan!) suggested a timeline of events to read when I start to feel this way (that things aren’t real) so here I am. She said start at the beginning, so I guess that means childhood? 

I always remember having a fantastic childhood, it was hectic, but I always got to see my friends and honestly I enjoyed always having something to do. Growing up in the City seems to me like it should be every kids dream, it was mine. Every ounce of free time my friends and I would spend exploring the city we all called home and taking advantage of everything it had to offer. I was homeschooled, my parents said it was because the schools couldn’t keep up with me...but how could that be in somewhere like New York? I know that I did schoolwork all year, even though my friends got months off, but I never got a satisfying answer when I tried to ask why.

As far back as I remember my childhood weeks looked like this with a schedule on the fridge and my bedroom mirror (I had a rigidly scheduled life all through college as well, just one of my own making)

monday/wednesday/friday 

5a — swimming

7 — gymnastics

9 — breakfast, free time

10 — schoolwork and lunch while working

5p — judo

6:30 — dinner and free time

7:30 — stretching and schoolwork 

8:30 — wind down and sleep

tuesday/thursday/saturday

5a — competitions **or** extra foreign language tutoring (TUE)/various communications tutoring (THUR)/free time (SAT). 

7 — competitions **or** extra STEM tutoring

9— breakfast, free time

10— schoolwork and lunch while working

5p — combat training with dad

630 — dinner and free time

730 — stretching and schoolwork 

830 — wind down and sleep

and I truly believed I loved it. I liked the structure, I enjoyed all of the activities I did, and those activities were where I got to see my friends and family. I want to say I started everything around 5 years old, so 5 to 15 was spent mostly mapped out for me, but that’s not to say boring. Most of my free time was spent with my friends, or the few partners I had and I still had all those silly school traditions, and a graduation. The problem with this is when you’re 14 at prom, and 15 at graduation it just doesn’t feel the same, it always just felt like a waste of time. 

Competing brought a lot of success but my parents cared more for that than I did, making a near shrine in the basement. All I knew was that competitions were my excuse for a break in the repetition and it got me scholarships. 

For college I still lived at home and went to Columbia. Double majored in biophysics and chemistry, and my parents let me slow my schedule down to maintenance instead of building. College was great! In between school, assistantships, and practices I was free for the first time. Friday’s were “(Y/B/F/N) sleepovers” meaning that we went to parties and got hammered and then slept in their dorm, we just never told anyone my age. Graduated at 19, then it was on to medical school. 

Medical school was a nightmare, and one that I never honestly wanted to do in the first place, it was just a means to an end. Did dermatology and plastic surgery residencies and worked myself to the bone to finish by 27, I guess it helps to have parental connections too...well, but now that I think about it...why did they let me do that? Add that to the list of things to look into I guess. All through medical school I was expected to still maintain the gymnastics and judo, and had to prove it to my dad regularly. Then my mom would test me to make sure I was still practicing my languages, which was never very hard, it was my favorite thing I was forced to study. 

After that it was a PhD in biochemistry and molecular biophysics at Columbia. 2 years later and I never wanted to attend classes again. My PhD project was a healing spray that could be used to close deep wounds until the person could get somewhere safe, and I got it to work! It was an early prototype but it was miraculous enough that it got me the PhD, and a job. The day after my presentation Tony offered me a job and a place to stay, and I immediately accepted. 

Oh shit, should I explain that? It is part of the timeline so I guess? Jan, just tell me if I’m wrong...wait are you going to annotate this like an essay because that might be helpful. 

I met Tony when I was 11 through a series of events that are all part of what I’m not convinced is real. 

My parents said that I was born with a condition that affected my blood (I’ve never been told the name, seems suspicious) so once a month I get infusions to prevent recurrence. The first place I was going was this small office strip in Long Island, that i remember having the doctor, a coffee shop, and a travel agent (this seems so odd, surely I’m just not remembering correctly). At 7 we started just going to this mansion something like an hour outside of the city and got them from this doctor that insisted I call him Hank (what even is this memory). I remember thinking how odd it was that in this huge mansion I only ever saw Hank. At 10 I started going to this mansion on fifth avenue and again the doctor giving the infusions insisted a first name basis, Bruce (a mansion to get infusions?????). A year later he was introducing me to Tony, and both of them are still very close dear family friends. They both came to every competition, science show, graduation, project proposal, and demonstration they were able to. When Stark Tower went up my infusions were moved, and I officially got my own Stark Tower badge to hide. 

As I was saying, the day after my project demonstration Tony offered me a job and an apartment suite in the Tower. Of course I accepted, and he let me start designing my suite right away. After a month of renovations my suite was ready, so I went to get the keys. Hung out with Tony for maybe an hour, then went home. 

When I got home, my parents were dead in the living room floor. 

There you go Jan, is that what you wanted? That pretty much catches us up to when I started seeing you. 

#marvel #marvel fanfiction #marvel fic #fanfic #fan fiction #reader insert #tony stark #bruce banner #hank mccoy #avengers #the avengers #avengers fanfiction #xaviers school for gifted youngsters #xmen #x-men #x-men fanfiction #fanfiction #what it takes to heal

[datingintampafails]

Chapter 24 Jake* Part Two

First Date and Another Week

Finally, he arrived at my place to pick me up for our first date, what normally was a five minute drive became twenty five minutes due to traffic. I hop in his car and I’m excited. While we are driving, I look at his center console and see a book regarding Emmanuel Kant, a philosopher. We talk briefly about philosophers, this one in my opinion tells me a lot about him, though he says he doesn’t think Kant’s ideals are sustainable and rather just interesting to think about. Jake* did not have high degrees from college, but is intelligent and well read, there’s more to this book than just the cover.

I had made reservations for my favorite restaurant, Maggiano’s. At the restaurant, it feels like we’ve been together forever, I’m discussing with the waitress that he’s allergic to cheese and making sure that certain items on the menu are okay for him. I order my food and get a glass of wine. Dinner is the opposite of awkward, we are engaged in conversation without a dull moment and happy to be together. 

My best friend got word that we were going to our favorite place, so I ask him if it’s okay if we bring her some leftovers of cheesy garlic bread. He’s completely cool about it, so on the way, we stop by my friend’s apartment to give her the food. She meets us outside and meets him briefly. He is a little quiet but otherwise friendly and we chat for a couple minutes before driving off to my place, a few minutes down the street.

We get back to my place to continue hanging out. My dog goes crazy for him, but after a bit, she relaxed so we could focus on each other. I couldn’t tell you what we were watching, we were just cuddling. We kissed not that much, as his beard’s length scratched my face and I told him it was uncomfortable on my face, but that I definitely wanted to kiss him. I at one point brought my dog outside, and upon returning inside I said I didn’t feel good. My Apple Watch said my heart rate was at 160 bpm, insanely high for me, and I laid back down on the couch. Again, a caring man to the rescue. He tells me to relax there and he will get anything I need and not get up. He gets my dog and brings her back inside, he brings me a drink, I’m waited on hand and foot. I feel better with him around. We spoke about a lot that night of course, but I remember him telling me about him having deleted Hinge and I was the only one he was talking to. Although things so far had felt pretty deep, I was still super surprised he had dropped everything, seemingly, to be with me. I of course had done the same, but for my own reasons. I had talked about Jake* to my best friend and in talking with her I made a deal that if things with him didn’t work out, I would cease dating around until a vaccine comes out/COVID is more or less over.

Meanwhile, outside of my head, he touches my leg and I admit that I have become rather *excited* by being with him in person, our chemistry is just as good in person. He starts to finger me, I tell him to be careful because I wouldn’t want my heart rate to increase again. Strangely, I let him continue and my heart rate goes down. Upon taking a break, this man takes his hand and puts his fingers in his mouth, tasting it. I laugh at him and call him a freak but he laughs too. He too is turned on and he asks me if I want to touch him. I say that I am afraid his claims of being a shrimp are true. Curiosity gets the best of me and over his pants, I touch him and say “oh okay.” I know enough that he is not small. Besides that, nothing happens, as due to my heart issues, I have told him that I want to wait until I’ve seen a cardiologist and make sure it is safe for me to be participating in “cardio.” I ask him if he wants to sleep over, because I want to spend time with him now that I can, and because sexually I am tempted and almost want to just see what happens. He says no. We stop fooling around and just hang out together for another bit of time before he starts to get a headache and becomes really tired. It is then time to leave and agree that we will both have to masturbate later tonight due to our forbidden sex. 

The next day, I am off to test drive a potential new car. We text during my experience there while I’m waiting and I share my news of the new car and the not so great experience at another dealership trying to take care of my old car. He talks about how he felt off due to his headache/tiredness and is seeing a doctor Monday:

We talk about what happened too with the lack of a sleepover: 

I remind him of the activities we DID do, and that obviously I definitely was feeling it. It’s bizarre to me that he still holds uncertainty for my growing feelings of him. 

He is talking about me to his family, I know because he mentions his mother “keeps asking” about me, “will I get to meet this one?” He jokes about telling her I’m 10 years older than him. I say “yeah we just had our first date last night so I should meet your mom tomorrow.” “Exactly.” He now claims he is bored, I ask if he’s bored or if he just wishes I was there. Again, an “exactly.” I get real again.

He decides to take a nap before watching football with his family. He says he is coming back after dinner and asks to come over. I say absolutely and he sends an emoji surrounded by hearts. More or less, he appears at my door maybe 45 minutes later. I did not notice at first, but he had shaved so that his beard was more like stubble. He called me out for not noticing, but upon kissing him and touching his face I told him it was a lot better and I could actually kiss him now without hurting myself.

I do not really remember much about that night or what we did as much as our first date, besides what I am about to describe. Again, he played with me, I touched him, and it got to a point where I finally said, “ok let’s have sex now,” caught by surprise he said “what?” I reiterated I wanted to have sex with him and go to my bedroom. He said he didn’t have condoms, I told him I did. That was that. Shrimp definitely was NOT a shrimp, when we were actually at the point of penetration, it felt a lot bigger. I did not climax but enjoyed myself, and he was attentive, gentle, and communicative. As a joke, he said “good girl” to me, referencing my story to him regarding Dan*. I laughed and playfully nudged him. Similar to Ethan*, compatible sex can only grow feelings. We cuddle, re-clothe, and return to the couch for a while. When he leaves I verify he’s reached home safely before passing out.

In the morning we text each other our good mornings and I tell him I’m glad we didn’t wait. He mentions how great it was and that he’s turned on by thinking about it. I tell him the options of masturbation, bringing “that dick over here,” or a cold shower. Jokingly he says the latter before sending a follow up “just kidding.” He is taking a shower before coming over. I too am going to take a shower, so I let him know the door is unlocked. I hear the front door opening as I am finishing up my shower. I yell out to him that I’m in the shower and he comes to my room. More or less since I’m already naked, we go straight to business. He ate me out, as that is something that he really enjoys doing before having sex. We spend more time together before I more or less kick him out since a plumber is supposed to come by and I am getting my hair done.

Later on, we have a conversation about condoms, he expresses it’s difficult to stay erect with them and I let him know that later down the line we don’t have to use it because of my IUD. He says “Look we’ll stop using them when YOU want to.” I describe to him I am not a fan of them necessarily but the pros and cons. We have more sex talk then immediately segue to sports. I joke that he had better luck with his sports bets before we started having sex. He claims no sex until the end of football season, with another quick “jk.” I am told I wouldn’t make it, I respond that he wouldn’t make it. At this point, we have seen each other three days in a row. I express to him again that I like him.

Monday comes along and both of our appointments go well more or less. They’ve found an abscess in his tooth and he was about to get a root canal to clean it out that day. He mentions he’s driving by my work. For some reason he didn’t think I was there, so missed the opportunity for him to have stopped by. Later that day, I finally feel confident enough to start showing off his Instagram to my co-workers and show them this guy I’ve been talking to. Upon showing one coworker his photo, she says “wait…. I know him!” Turns out she went to middle school and high school with him; they were friends in middle school before he started being a bad boy in high school. My other coworker keeps yelling as a joke that she and I are Eskimo sisters.

We make a plan Tuesday for him to help me swap out my cars, a very nice gesture I appreciate. Consistently he let me know his head is bothering him, an ailment that plagues him constantly. At this point, I don’t have his address, despite him having had mine for a while. I pick him up and we take care of the swap. After the swap, we go back to my place and I flip flop about what we are gonna eat for dinner. Finally, decide on Outback Steakhouse. I insist on paying to thank him for helping me today, something he has never had a girl do for him.

Not much in between, we spend Wednesday night together again and have a sleepover scheduled for Thursday. Wednesday he says something about seeing me in 11 business days, which for whatever reason rubs me kind of the wrong way. When Thursday comes, he, unfortunately, bails since he isn’t feeling good. Friday I made a joke about seeing him for 11 business days. I had promised to give him Hulu logins and a profile, I just needed to get to his place. I mention I am watching the new episode of The Boys on Amazon Prime, we have inside jokes about it, quoting lines like “lazer my tits” and later, “Fuck Fresca.” He gets “upset” that I watched it without him (I did not know we were supposed to watch things together). I asked “was I supposed to wait for you lol,” he says he thought that we would watch it together while eating lunch together. Also didn’t know we were getting lunch together. I came over, watched the episode again, and then we went to McAllister’s for lunch. When we are at his place, we get into sexcapades, with sex brain logic, I decide now is good enough to no longer use condoms. Not to be sketchy at all, and he mentions he feels bad shooing me away after sex, but he has to pack and get ready to stay at his parents’ for the weekend. He plans on Sunday that he is gonna come back after a 1pm football game, and wants to make me dinner at my place. He used to be a sous chef and is quite a talent at that, so out of everything and anything that I could want or have from a real chef, all I want is sloppy joes. We go back and forth on different real dishes he could make, risotto, chicken marsala with pasta, but in the end, I end with sloppy joes. I don’t expect really to hear much of him since he is hanging out with his family for the weekend before Sunday. But I am wrong.

#dating #relationship #stpete #tampa #tampabay #clearwater #datinginflorida #hinge #bumble #tinder

[gallymagines]

A Fork In The Road - Steve x Reader x Alexei (Part 1)

Summary: Steve Harrington has been your best friend since childhood. Although others thought he was kind of a jerk you’ve always known him as sweet and caring. He’s been there through every step of your path in life and recently you started to imagine him continuing to be with you on that path. Dr. Alexei is your physics professor at your local community college whose kind and happy demeanor have led you to take quite a liking to him on more than just a professional level. With emotions raging and the fact that someone will be left heartbroken, you must make the ultimate decision and choose which road to travel down.

A/N: Not what I usually post but I’ve been on a Stranger Things binge and got inspired. In this story, Alexei did not get shot at the fair and is living near Hawkins. Also, I used google translate.

Word Count: 4.1K

Warnings: None

___________________

September 7th, 1985

The cool breeze swept through your hair and the sunbeams warmed your skin as you walked down the main street of your town towards the entrance of the local video store. This had become a common routine for you on days you weren’t attending your classes at Hawkins Community College. You’d get up, get ready, take the 15-minute walk from your house and arrive at the video store almost an hour after it opened. Why? Well to hang out with your childhood bestie, Steve Harrington, of course! 

After you guys graduated from Hawkins High School and all of the crazy paranormal stuff that had been occurring in the town subsided, Steve decided he wanted to make some money before heading off to college. He previously worked at Scoops Ahoy, an ice cream shop in the Starcourt Mall. Of course, that was before it was destroyed by Russians and the Mindflayer. Working at the video store Steve would explain to others that he wanted to give himself a “financial headstart”. You, on the other hand, knew the truth. After his breakup with Nancy, losing his ‘King Steve” status and every crazy, improbable thing that has happened in this town, he really lost track of where his life was going and what he wanted to do. He didn’t lose passion, just purpose. It made you sad to think about your best friend being so lost. It hurt even more because you knew he saw you making strides during this first semester at Hawkins CC. I mean you were practically top of all of your classes. Well, except for physics. Steve’s always been so caring and supportive of your major and life goals, but there is just something sad behind his eyes whenever you bring up school. You like to think it’s only because he doesn’t know what he’s doing about college, but deep in your gut, you get a strong feeling that it’s something else. When you see the video store you decide to push the thought out of your head and the feeling out of your gut. Pulling the door open you hear the jingle of the bell above you, as it rings to let the workers know someone is here. When you enter you see Robin at the front desk organizing the rental returns so that they can be put back on the shelves. She looks up from her work and says,

“Hey Y/N.”

She glances at the clock before turning her attention back to you.

“3 minutes earlier than your average arrival time.” She jokes

You and Robin had shared a drama class in high school. You didn’t get to know her on a personal level then but you knew she was smart, honest and very persuasive from her interactions with other students. Now though, you guys were close friends and got along really well. It was nice to have someone other than Steve to hang around. It was even better when you guys would tag team to mess with Steve.

“So where’s Captain Hair?” You ask

“In the back of store restocking shelves. Why? You want to see your boyfri-”

You threw your hand over her mouth while glaring at her. Robin pulled your hand off and started to laugh.

“Oh my god, you have it so bad for him.” She teases between laughter

“I do not!” You try to protest, a blush rising to your cheeks

“I don’t know why you don’t make a move. He likes you too!” Robin mentions

She had said this on many occasions. You wanted to believe her, you really did, but you just couldn’t bring yourself to agree. Steve was your childhood best friend. He still is your best friend. But that’s all he’d probably be to you. A friend. As you and Steve grew up, you were always together, and the older you got the more you realized you had a strong affinity for him. He was sweet, funny, caring, not to mention really cute. You had expressed these feelings to Robin but never to Steve.

“You know I can’t do that,” You start to reply “If I-”

You’re cut off by Robin saying,

“Yeah yeah, if you tell him how you feel and he doesn’t feel the same way it’ll ruin your friendship. You’ve said it at least 20 times.”

She looks down at her notepad and makes a tally mark.

“26 times to be exact.” she finishes

“I just can’t-”

You’re cut off again but this time it’s because a pair of arms wrap around your waist and spin you around. You know who the arms belong to and start to laugh.

“Y/N! You’re here!” Steve exclaims

“Of course I’m here, it’s Saturday.” You joke

Steve smiles before asking “Sorry I cut you off, what were you saying to Robin? You just can’t what?”

You shoot a warning glance to Robin before turning your eyes back to Steve. He waits in anticipation of your answer and you reply,

“I just can’t...uh do good in physics. I’m having a lot of trouble in that class.”

“Well, I could help you study again tonight if you want,” Steve suggests

“You’ve helped me study since the first day of class. It helps a little but I can’t fully grasp the concepts.” You complain

“Well, why don’t you go and talk to your teacher? I’m sure they’d be willing to help you.” Steve suggests

You nod your head.

“Yeah, that probably is a good idea. I’ll do it on Monday, as for today though I’m here to be with you.” You reply

Steve smiles and you can’t help but feel your stomach flutter a bit. The way he looks at you with so much happiness just fills your heart to the brim. If only you could tell him that though. You’re pulled from your thoughts when he grabs your hand and pulls you towards the back where he was working. Once you showed up at the video store you guys would play the same game over and over again. Back and forth you guys would hold up a movie with the title facing forward and the description on the back, and whoever had the title facing towards them needed to guess what the plot was just by the title and movie image. Sometimes you guys were close, but a lot of times you were way off base and that’s what made the game fun.

Hours passed, customers came and went and before you knew it, it was time to close. Robin and Steve had to lock up the store so you told them you’d wait outside. As you walked out Steve watched your every move, taking in every detail, from the way your hair moved with every step to the fact that your left shoelace was coming untied. Once you exited though Robin spoke up and said,

“So when are you gonna say something dingus?”

Steve fell out of his trance and asked,

“What do you mean?”

“You like her. And don’t give me that ‘of course I do she’s my best friend’ bs again. You like her.” Robin retorts

“So what if I do? It’s not like she likes me like that.” Steve complains

Robin looks down at the desk drawing something.

“What are you doing?” Steve asks

“Finally giving you a ‘you rule’ tally for admitting your feelings but also adding a ‘you suck’ tally for admitting it to the wrong person.” Robin states

“Thanks.” Steve replies monotonously

“Just take a chance, you’ll never know if you never try!” Robin mentions

Steve rolls his eyes but nods his head. He knows she’s right. He’s just...nervous. How could he ever find the right words to express how he feels for you. How he’s always felt for you. Nancy, all the girls he talked to in high school, all the girls at Scoops Ahoy, all of it was to just push away his strong feelings for you. Did it work? A bit. When he was with Nancy he almost convinced himself that everything between you two was strictly platonic. But every time he looked into those eyes of yours it was always undeniable. He really REALLY liked you.

“I’ll finish locking up, go be with your girl friend, not girlfriend.” Robin remarks

Steve waves goodbye to his co-worker and friend before heading out. When he exits you look up at him and ask,

“Is Robin coming?”

“Nah she’s got some stuff to do. Want to sleepover my place tonight?” Steve questions

“Sure.” You answer

You had been sleeping over at Steve’s for almost as long as you’d been friends. At this point, it was just a tradition and your parents assumed if you weren’t home that night, you were probably there. Heading up the stairs you made your way towards his bedroom and opened the door. His house was your house. Literally. You had as much of your stuff here as you did at your own home. Your own toothbrush, hairbrush, shampoo, space in the fridge, chair at the dining room table and even a couple of drawers full of clothes in Steve’s room. You grabbed a T-shirt and a pair of pajama shorts and walked to the bathroom to put them on. When you came back to the room Steve was already in his bed in a plain white undershirt and probably his boxers. It's always what he slept in so you assumed it was that again. You didn’t mind though, it was just normal to you. Lifting the blankets you got on the other side of his bed. As children, you would share his when sleeping over so it just became routine. When you guys got older though you questioned if it was still okay, especially after your crazy middle school sex ed teacher claimed that if boys and girls looked at each other near a bed they would both get STDs and die. You guys agreed that if you sleep back to back it would still be okay to share, and so you both continued to do that even though you knew her claim was wrong now. Sometimes you wondered what would happen if you faced him. You wished you didn’t sleep back to back, you wanted to face him and look in his eyes as he wrapped his arms around you. It wouldn’t happen though...so you took what you could get and laid with your back facing him. As you turned the lamp off on your side of the bed you quietly said to Steve,

“Good night.”

You fell asleep soon after. Steve, on the other hand, was lying awake. With his back facing you, he glanced over his shoulder, but all he saw was your back. This was normal for him. Every time you slept over he would look to see if this time you were facing him and every time you weren’t. He wished you did though. Steve’s mind raced with the thoughts of what Robin had said. If he didn’t make a move he would never know. And god, did he want to know badly if you felt the same way about him that he did about you. With Robin’s words repeating over and over in his head, Steve took a deep breath and whispered to himself.

“I’m going to do it.”

He slowly tried to work out a plan about how to tell you how he felt. He needed to do it, but if he was going to do it, he was going to do it right. He continued to think but as time passed Steve grew more and more tired. His back still facing yours, he fell asleep.

September 9th, 1985

The alarm of your clock wakes you up as you groggily look at the time. The clock reads 9:03. 

“Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.” you yell jumping out of bed

You slept through your alarm. It wasn’t the first time but this was the latest it ever happened. If you were going to get to the 9:20 shuttle bus to the community college then you had to move fast, otherwise, you would be late. You quickly ran around your room searching for half-decent clothes to wear. Throwing on a white tank top, you tucked it into a black mid-thigh skater skirt. You then threw on a pair of black keds and a red and blue plaid button up that was “borrowed” from Steve. Grabbing your backpack you raced out of your room, quickly brushed your teeth, spritzed some of your mom’s cherry body spray and rushed out the door. There was literally no time to do anything else. No time to shower, no time to eat what mom cooked, no time for anything. You needed to catch that bus. Usually, you would walk but today you had to run as if your life depended on it so you could get to the shuttle stop. When you got there you were out of breath and a bit sweaty but you hopped on the bus just in time. Catching your breath in the bus seat, you noticed the growling of your stomach and the headache you had from exerting so much energy. Ignoring the problem you arrived at Hawkins CC and made your way to class. Today you had physics, your worst class. The professor, Dr. Alexei, was very kind to all his students and very knowledgeable about the subject. He had come from Russia a little over a year ago and only knew so much English. Enough to talk and teach but he still stumbled on his words here and there. As you walked into the door to your classroom you greeted,

“Good Morning Professor.”

Dr. Alexei nodded towards you with a smile and replied,

“Good morning Y/N.”

You went and sat at your desk as you waited for others to arrive. As for right now, it was only you and Dr. Alexei in the room. You watched as he worked on some papers intently at his desk. For someone around 10 years older than you, he was quite handsome. His rolled-up sleeves on his dress shirt, his naturally messy hair, and the way his glasses fell on his nose were quite attractive to some of the girls in the class, including you. On top of it, he had a positive personality that was intoxicating. In a trance, you looked at your professor biting your bottom lip. When he looked up though you looked away at your notebook. As you looked down at your notes and forced those thoughts out of your head, your stomach growled louder and your head started to bother you more. At 10:15 when class started you felt sick but you decided to push through it. The clock went slowly and everything started to feel like mush. You forced yourself to focus on the board and take notes but your head was spinning and you started to get lightheaded. The person next to you asked,

“Are you okay?”

It was too late for that though, you had already passed out and fallen from your seat. Dr. Alexei stopped his lecture and went over to you. He was distressed at the sight of you passed out on the floor. He looked towards the class of concerned students and said,

“Rest of the class canceled. I will take her for help.”

The students shuffled out as Alexei picked you up and carried you to his office. He placed you on the couch before calling a professor from the nursing program to come check on you. When the nursing instructor arrived she immediately heard the sound of growling from your stomach. Putting a cold compress on your head she turned to Alexei and said,

“Don’t worry it’s nothing bad. Your student most likely passed out from not eating, since her stomach is growling so loud. Let her rest and give her some food when she wakes up. Call my office again when too so I can do a checkup and a concussion test since her head hit the floor.”

Alexei nods yes and the instructor leaves. He closes the door and goes to sit at his desk to do some grading but mainly keep an eye on you. After about 30 minutes you slowly start to regain consciousness. As you do, your body starts to move and your head falls off its position on the couch. Alexei makes his way over to you and gently places your head back on the armrest. He smells the cherry fragrance on you. He always enjoyed when you wore that scent and sometimes he wondered what made you choose that specific one. Did you know he liked cherry? Did you wear it for him? He knew he shouldn’t think like that. Professor-student relationships were forbidden to occur. He could lose his job if anything happened, and without a job, he’d lose his work visa and be sent home. He’d be labeled a traitor. He could be tortured or even worse killed. He already had an attempt on his life once. For all these reasons, it was quite risky for him to have feelings like this for you, but the way he saw you looking at him in the class made him wonder if it would be worth it. He started to talk to himself as you continued to stir. Awakening enough to hear again, you listen as he muses to himself. You can only kind of make out one word that he mumbles,

“прекрасный,” He says

You have no clue what it means though since you don’t know Russian. As your eyes flutter open you look around and notice that this isn’t the classroom. This is an office. Dr. Alexei hands you some food in a container and says,

“пельмень. Pelmeni good food, have some.”

“Oh no, I couldn’t take your food!” You say as your stomach yells at you.

“You are hungry, please eat.” Dr. Alexei asks gesturing to your growling stomach

You nod your head and start to eat but then question,

“But what will you eat now?”

Dr. Alexei smiles and grabs one of the dumpling-like foods from the container before sitting down at his desk seat.

“I eat one, happy?” He jokes

You smile at his joke and nod your head yes.

“Uh, professor?” you ask in a curious tone between bites

He turns his attention to you as you continue,

“Well, how did I get here?”

“I carry you from the classroom to the couch. You fell from the desk.” He responds

“Oh okay.” You say before continuing to eat the food he gave you

Dr. Alexei turns to his office phone and dials in a number.

“She is awake,” He says to the person on the other line before hanging up.

A couple minutes go by and a woman in scrubs shows up. She explains that she’s a teacher from the nursing program and just wanted to check that you were okay before going on your way. She looked at your eyes, ears, mouth, took blood pressure, asked some questions about the year, who is the president, and some other general stuff.

“Well, it looks like you didn’t hit your head too hard! You should be okay but if there’s any drastic pain or memory loss I’d suggest heading straight to the hospital.” She says “You’re free to leave if you feel well enough to.”

The nursing instructor then walked out the door. Before you left you had to ask your professor for help with the concepts you were learning. Ugh, this was so embarrassing though. What if another student heard. You looked at the open door and carefully walked over to it. Shutting it gently, you turned your attention to your professor. He looked at you with wide eyes. You were confused but nevertheless continued.

“Professor, I need to talk to you about something...I feel a bit embarrassed about it but I really think it’s important and that it needs to be addressed.”

As Dr. Alexei looked at you he felt a sense of worry and anticipation build in his gut. Were you going to tell him that you felt something between you two? What would he do if you did? He honestly didn’t know. You looked at him and continued,

“I know I’m doing poorly in class and was wondering if you could give me some extra tutoring?”

“Oh.” is all that came out of his mouth.

You started to backtrack, thinking he didn’t want to do that.

“If that’s not okay it’s fine but I just wanted to ask and all-”

“No, no. It is okay. I can help. Monday after class next week we start.” Dr. Alexei interjected

“Oh good. Well, I’ll be heading out then.” You replied

“Will you be okay to walk?” He asked

“I think so,” you answered

“I will come with you to be safe.” He stated

Grabbing your backpack you walked out of Dr. Alexei’s office and towards the front of the building. It was an awkwardly silent walk but you got the front of the building you saw a car you recognized. A Ferrari 250 GT California. The car that Steve’s dad kept in the garage and never used. And who was there leaning on top of the car? Why the man himself, Steve. He approached you and Dr. Alexei asking,

“So you ready to go?”

“What are you doing here?” you questioned him

“I was at the desk when I saw you run past the video store this morning. Though you might need a ride.” He jokes

You hit him on the arm and playfully yelled,

“Jerk!”

“Wait. Is that my shirt?” Steve asks

“What?? No.....” you said exaggerated

“You thief. You stole that from my closet. I thought I lost it.” Steve says in a fake-angry tone

When you turn to look away from Steve you see your professor looking back and forth between you and him, visibly confused.

‘Oh! How rude of me. Steve this is my physics professor Dr. Alexei. Dr. Alexei this is a longtime friend of mine, Steve.” you introduce

Steve extends his hand and Dr. Alexei takes it. They shake and then Steve puts an arm around your shoulders. He looks at Dr. Alexei and comments,

“I’m sorry she’s doing so poorly in your class. I’ve been trying to help her study, but she’s just not that good at science. Never has been.”

“Hey!” you say to Steve “Just so you know I took your advice and I will be getting some tutoring starting Monday next week. Correct?”

Dr. Alexei turns his attention to you and answers,

“Correct. Monday after class is our date.”

“Date?” Steve asks you with confusion

“He means like an appointment, I told you he’s still getting the hang of English. It’s a very complicated language.” You answer 

“Oh woo. That’s good.” He says while wiping his forehead with the back of his hand “I thought you got a boyfriend and didn’t tell your best pal Steve.”

“Oh my.” you laugh

You look at your professor and say,

“Well, I guess I’ll be going. See you on Wednesday for lab professor.”

Dr. Alexei nods his head but does not say anything. As you and Steve start to leave, his arm still around your shoulders, he comments to your professor,

“Nice to meet you.”

Alexei watches as you two walk to the bright red car. He sees how Steve opens the door for you and the cocky way he slides across the hood. He notices how you laugh at his actions and how your eyes focus on him. He lets out a deep breath and promptly turns around to return to his office. To everyone else, you might be just one of his students but to him, you were much more. He had no clue what to do but he knew he had to do something.

Tags: @hazeofeleven​

#alexei #alexei smirnoff #alexei x reader #alexei stranger things #stranger things alexei #alexei smirnoff x reader #alexei x reader imagine #alexei imagine #alexei smirnoff x reader imagine #alexei smirnoff imagine #steve #steve harrington #steve stranger things #steve harrington stranger things #steve x reader #steve harrington x reader #steve harrington x y/n #steve imagine #steve harrington imagine #stranger things #stranger things x reader #stranger things x you #stranger things imagine

[nazariolahela]

Best Beloved: Chapter 5

A/N: Hey y'all! This is a PM AU I’ve been working on. It’s a bit different than my previous fic series and I’m really excited to try something new. I hope y’all enjoy it. This story is told in dual first-person narrative, from Kaia (F!MC) and Damien’s POV. The first half of this story takes place during Kaia’s freshman year and Damien’s senior year of college. The second half is two years after Kaia graduates. There will be sprinklings of canon in this fic, but we’ll try to step out of the box for the most part. Thanks for reading, and please leave feedback, and/or if you would like to be tagged.

Catch up here

Series Tags: @burnsoslow @lady-calypso @irishwhiskys-blog @loveellamae​

Synopsis: What happens when you find yourself crushing on your best friend? For years, Damien and Kaia have been friends, while secretly harboring feelings for one another. Everything changes one night after a little too much alcohol and years of pent up feelings. Can they control their emotions and salvage their friendship, or will the feelings they hold for one another destroy everything they have?

All characters are the property of Pixelberry Studios. Thanks for allowing me to borrow them.

Chapter Summary: Damien and Kaia meet for a study group, but the assignment isn’t the only thing they’re struggling with.

Kaia

“You’re late,” I said, my feet propped up on the table, as Damien shuffled across the library to where I was sitting. It was our weekly study session and we were supposed to start 20 minutes ago, but I was the only one in our group who had grasped the concept of time management.

“Yeah, sorry. This internship is kicking my ass. I had to stay late because we were setting up some new security clearance protocols. Don’t tell anyone though. That information is classified,” he replied as he slid the backpack off his shoulder. He took a seat at the table and shot me a panty-dropping grin. My body instantly reacted. Bastard. How did he keep doing that?

“Yeah, well Brad and Allison aren’t here yet either, so I guess I can’t be too mad at you.”

“You couldn’t be mad at me if you wanted to. You love me.”

I paused. Did he really just say that?  He always knew how to push my buttons. Even when we were kids. It’s like he lived to get a reaction out of me. I cleared my throat awkwardly. “Anyway. We need to get the rest of this project done. It’s due on Monday. Did you finish your part?” 

“Of course I did. What do you take me for?” he grinned, pulling his laptop from his backpack. I watched him from the corner of my eye as he set it on the table and opened it up, powering up the device. “I’m emailing it to you right now so you can add it to the final document.”

I had the unfortunate task of presenting the project to the class, so everyone sent their parts to me. It was my job to outline the project, then organize each part into our PowerPoint.  

“Not gonna lie, this is not how I wanted to spend my Saturday afternoon. I have a very pissed off girlfriend right now,” he said.

I hid my smirk behind my laptop. I know, I know. It wasn’t very nice of me, but I got a little thrill hearing that Damien and Alana were having problems. It wasn’t that I wanted my friend to be miserable, but if he suddenly became single, it wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world. I had nothing against Alana personally, but the few times we interacted, she was very cold towards me.

“Hmm...that sucks. So, I have Allison’s part. She emailed it to me last night, but I’m still waiting on Brad’s part. I put your part on slides 5 and 6 to transition from Allison’s slide, then we’ll put Brad’s part on slides 9 and 10 after my part. Then, we should be good to go.” I checked the time on my phone. Brad and Allison were over half an hour late. I sent both of them a text asking when they planned on showing up, then went back to laying out the presentation.

Damien and I worked in silence for several minutes. Occasionally, I would look up from my computer and sneak peeks of him. I couldn’t help but stare at his features. Even after all these years, my attraction for him never waned. He looked up and caught me staring; his lips turned up in a wide grin.

“Do I have something on my face?”

“Um...uh...nope. Y-you’re all good!” I replied a little too enthusiastically.

“Then why are you staring at me like that?” he smirked.

I felt my cheeks turn beet red. I quickly looked away and tried to focus on what I was working on, but I could still feel his eyes on me. My phone pinged, breaking the silence — and thank the gods — the tension. I grabbed it and saw a message from Allison. She mentioned that she wasn’t feeling well and would not be able to make our study group tonight, but that she would see us next week. There was still no word from Brad, which I was not surprised by.

I rolled my eyes and placed my phone on the table. “Well, Allison’s not coming. I don’t know about Brad, but I’m guessing if he was going to show up, he’d be here by now.”

Damien shrugged. “No biggie. That kid is a major tool anyway. Not having him here is a blessing.”

I giggled. “True, but we can’t finish without his contribution, so we’re stuck with him until we turn this stupid ass project in.”

“Yippie,” he said in a monotone voice. I rolled my eyes and went back to finishing up our presentation.

We worked for about ten more minutes until my eyes started to blur from staring at the screen. “Well, I guess this is a good stopping point for now. Until we get Brad’s part, this is as far as we can work,”

I stuffed my things in my backpack and slung it over my shoulder when Damien stopped me.

“Hey, you busy right now? Wanna go get a bite to eat?”

I cocked my head in confusion. Was he really asking me to hang out? I had offered to meet him for lunch or coffee outside of our study group several times, but he always had plans with Alana. “Uh…I guess. If that’s okay with you.”

“Obviously it is because I just asked you,” he smirked.

“Yeah, sure. You wanna go now?”

“Nah, I was thinking sometime next month. Of course, I want to go now. When else would we go?” His voice dripped with sarcasm.

I looked down at the yoga pants and hoodie I was wearing. “Well, I was hoping to shower and change before I go out in public.”

“You look fine. No one’s going to give a shit what you’re wearing. Besides, you’re technically already out in public, so it’s a little late for that,” he laughed.

I huffed. “Fine. Where are we going?” 

“There’s a little bistro off-campus that has really good burgers.” He slung an arm around my shoulder, pulling me to his body. The feeling of him pressed up against me sent chills down my spine. I shuddered as he grabbed my backpack and handed it to me, then led me out of the library.  

When we reached his car in the campus parking lot, he unlocked the doors and tossed his backpack in the back seat. I stopped in my tracks. He still had the same car from high school. All the memories of us riding around in this thing on Friday nights came flooding back. He moved to the driver’s side door, stopping to wait for me. “Are you going to get in the car, or are you just going to stand there all day staring into space?” He extended his arm and tapped his index finger to his wrist. “Time’s a-wastin', Park.”

Snap out of it, Kaia. It’s just Damien. But it wasn’t ‘just Damien.’ It was the boy I had been in love with for as long as I could remember. I moved slowly to the car and opened the passenger’s side door, sliding in. He smirked and started the ignition. We drove in silence, the only sounds coming from the radio. A song from our childhood started playing and we looked at each other with goofy grins on our faces.

“Remember the first time we heard this song? You wouldn’t stop singing it for weeks,” he said with a laugh.

“What? It’s a good song,” I replied, singing along and dancing in my seat.

I smiled at the memory that song brought back. It was the summer of 2009. Damien and I were in his backyard, hanging out in the treehouse he and his dad built a few summers before. Two of his younger sisters, Isabela and Carina, were having a sleepover, so he was hiding out. His sister Carina was my age and we were in a couple of classes together, so I was friendly with her, but I spent more time with Damien. The sun had finally set over the horizon so we decided to start up a fire in the fire pit and make S’mores. We climbed down the ladder and he pulled a lighter from his pocket.

“Why do you have that?” I gasped.

His eyes met mine and a smirk spread across his face. “I was smoking a J behind the school gym this morning, so I needed it.” He stared at me for a few seconds, watching my reaction, then burst out laughing. “I found it in the junk drawer in the kitchen, you dork. You know I don’t smoke.”

I leaned over and smacked his arm. “Not funny, Dames.”

“I disagree. I thought it was hilarious.”

“Whatever. Just light the stupid fire. I’ll run inside and grab the stuff to make S’mores.”

“Watch out for the slumber party,” he called back as I walked into the house. I made it to the kitchen and started rummaging through the cabinets, looking for the ingredients we needed. I found the graham crackers and chocolate bars but had no luck locating the marshmallows. I was about to go back outside and asked Damien when I turned and bumped into Isabela.

“Hey, Kaia. Whatcha doing?” she asked, holding several bags of chips in her arms.

“Dames and I are making S’mores. Where are your marshmallows?”

She set the bags of chips down and rummaged around the pantry before locating and tossing me the bag. “So, what’s going on with you and my brother?”

My cheeks instantly flushed. “Wh-what do you mean?”

She smirked. “You know what I mean. You two spend an awful lot of time together. Are you two a thing?”

“No. It’s not like that. We’re just friends,” I lied. Her cocked eyebrow said she didn’t buy my bullshit, but she nodded her head. I grabbed the bag of marshmallows from her hand and hightailed it back outside. "I Gotta Feeling" by Black Eyed Peas blasted through the portable speakers in the yard. I approached Damien sitting in front of the firepit, poking one of the logs with a stick. He was shirtless and the moonlight bounced off the muscles of his toned back. The sight made my mouth water. That was the first time I realized I was in love with him.

I was thrust back into the present by the sound of Damien killing the engine. I looked up and noticed we had arrived at the bistro. We exited the car and made our way inside, snagging a table toward the back of the restaurant. The waitress dropped off the menus and took our drink orders, before leaving us to decide what to eat. I pretended to peruse the menu, but my mind was on the guy sitting in the booth across from me.

“Order whatever you want. My treat,” he said.

“Huh?”

I looked up and he was watching me. He nodded toward the menu in my hand. “Don’t worry about paying. I’ve got it this time.”

“You don’t have to do that, you know.”

“I know,” he said softly, riling up the butterflies in my stomach. Our waitress returned a few minutes later and took our orders. Damien ordered the Maple Bacon Burger while I ordered the Mac ‘N Cheese Burger. The waitress left to put our orders in, leaving us alone again.

“So, now that we’re a month into the school year, how are your classes going?” he asked.

I shrugged, swirling my straw in my glass. “Classes are going well. I’m not ready to drop any of them, so that’s a plus. Dorm life is pretty fun, too. I got really lucky with my roomie. Her schedule is different from mine, so we don’t see much of each other, but one night a week, we hang out.” I tapped my finger against my chin. “It’s crazy to think that we’re already a quarter of the way through the semester, so that means I’m 1/32nd of the way through my college career.”

He laughed. “I guess that’s one way of looking at it. What else is going on? Any interesting guys catch your attention lately?”

My eyes shot up to meet his. Why was he asking me that? I went back to staring at my drink. “Uh...not really. There is this guy in my algebra class who asked me out, but I turned him down.” I peeked at him from under my lashes, unable to make out his expression.

***

Damien

I wasn’t sure how I felt about that. On one hand, I wanted her to find someone who would make her happy if I couldn’t. On the other hand, knowing that she wasn’t involved with anyone gave me a tiny sliver of hope. I know she wouldn’t wait for me forever, but I still liked that there wasn’t another guy capturing her attention. Jesus, I was such an asshole.

“So, what happened?” the words left my mouth before I could stop them.

She shrugged. “I don’t know. He’s super nice and really cute, but I just couldn’t bring myself to say yes. Which is weird, because there’s definitely an attraction between us. My whole goal for this semester was to step out of my comfort zone.”

She looked up at me, those big, beautiful brown eyes staring into my soul. No matter how hard I tried to fight it, everything about this girl did things to me. Her laugh was like the most beautiful music to my ears. Her sense of humor was aligned with mine. Even her looks were enough to make other girls jealous. When she complained earlier about how she was dressed, I internally rolled my eyes. Even when she didn’t try, she still looked mouth-watering. She was wearing a pair of black yoga pants and a light pink hooded sweatshirt with the words “Rosé and Shine” written in gold cursive letters across the chest. Yes, I looked at her chest. If she busted me, I would’ve just said I was trying to read her shirt.

I awkwardly cleared my throat. “You should give him a chance. Who knows? He might turn out to be a great guy. We all know those are in short supply lately.” Gods, what was I doing? I knew it was the right thing to do, but saying those words hurt.

She nodded. “Yeah, I guess. Maybe he is great and we’ll be really happy together. I just don’t know if I’m ready to start dating yet. I think… I just...I’m not over...” she trailed off.

“You’re not over what?”

“Nevermind,” she shook her head and took a long sip of her drink.

The wheels started turning. Was she talking about me? I know she dated in high school, but Nadia told me those relationships never lasted longer than a few months. She suspected I was the reason for that. Yeah, I know it sounded a tad creepy, but I was able to keep tabs on her, thanks to her cousin’s need to gossip.

One particular moment was that first Christmas after I left for college. I received a text from Nadia asking if I was coming home. She then asked that I keep my distance from Kaia. When I asked her “why,” she told me that she was still upset about what happened after graduation. 

But I didn’t care. I wanted to see my best friend. I dropped by her house to say hi to her parents. They always treated me like the son they never had. Her dad asked how college was going. I told them about my classes and the friends I had made so far. Her mom was filling me in about the neighborhood gossip when I caught a glimpse of Kaia hovering in the hallway. She looked like she wanted to talk to me, but I could tell she was embarrassed to see me.

We locked eyes briefly before she turned around and retreated to her bedroom. I waited a few moments then excused myself to use the bathroom. I stood outside her door, listening for any signs of movement, before lightly tapping on the door. I heard the springs of her mattress squeak under her weight, then the door swung open. She looked adorable in her red and white Reindeer pajama pants and white thermal top. My eyes briefly traveled down and I noticed she wasn’t wearing a bra.

“So, you weren’t even going to come to say hi to me?” I asked.

She shifted on her feet. “I don’t know. I figured you didn’t want to talk to me after what happened last time.” I watched as her eyes traveled up and down my body. It took everything in me to keep from pushing her into her room and kissing her. As much as I wanted to, I couldn’t. Not only were her parents in the other room, I knew the whole age difference was frowned upon. And what if we did get together and it didn’t work out? I’d lose my best friend forever.

“You’re my best friend, Kaia. No matter what happened in the past, that will never change,” I replied.

“Even when I get drunk and act like a lovesick idiot?” She played with the drawstring of her pants, avoiding my eyes.

I gripped her chin with my thumb and forefinger, tilting her face up towards mine. “There’s nothing you could do that would ever make me want to stop being your best friend. And hey, I don’t hold what happened back then against you. Sometimes we do dumb things when we’re drunk.”

Her face dropped and it told me I had said the wrong thing. I brought my hand up and cupped her cheek and she leaned into my touch. The moment was interrupted when her mom called from the kitchen to ask me if I wanted some hot cocoa. I dropped my hand and gave her a weak smile, then backed away slowly as I made my way down the hall back to the living room. I looked over at my shoulder to see her still standing in her bedroom doorway, watching me go.

I was pulled back into the present when the waitress arrived at our table and delivered our food. The two of us ate in awkward silence, occasionally looking up at each other. After our plates were cleared, the waitress reappeared and I ordered a slice of cherry pie for us to share. When the pie arrived, we each took a fork and dug in.

“So, tell me more about this mystery guy?” I asked, trying to lighten the mood.

She chewed for a few moments, hesitant to talk about it, then finally spoke. “Well, his name is Hayden. He’s a freshman and a photography major. He’s from Upstate New York and has a Border Collie named Dipper. He also has a twin brother named Harley, but I guess they don’t get along. Nadia loves him and she’s been bugging me to go out with him for the last few days.”

I didn’t know this kid from Adam, but I instantly didn’t like him. Was it jealousy? Probably. Was I going to do anything about it? Nope. “It’s obvious that you like him, so why not go out with him. You’re overthinking this, Kaia.”

“Yeah, maybe,” she sighed and took another bite of pie. At that moment, Alana’s friends Rowan and Cecile walked by. They waved, then stopped short when they noticed it wasn’t my girlfriend sitting in the booth across from me. Cecile gave me a skeptical glance while Rowan looked on in shock. 

“Hey, Damien. What are you up to?” He asked, looking between Kaia and me. 

“Hey, guys! Just capping off a little study session. This is Kaia. She’s an old friend.”

He nodded. “Cool, cool. You guys going to Homecoming next week? Cecile is a candidate for court, so we were going to have a little get-together after the crowning ceremony. You and Alana should come. It’s gonna be fun.”

“Yeah, that sounds good, man. I’ll talk to her about it this weekend.”

Cecile cocked an eyebrow as if to call me out on my bullshit, but didn’t say anything. She narrowed her eyes at Kaia, then turned back to me. “Well, we gotta go. Tell your girlfriend, Alana, hi for us.” She grabbed Rowan’s hand and they walked out. I sighed. I was sure I was going to get a phone call about that by the end of the night.

“Well, that was weird,” she said. “Speaking of, what’s going on with you and Alana?”

Shit, where do I start? “It’s complicated right now. We’re taking a break.”

Her eyes widened. “You guys broke up?”

“Eh...Not exactly. We’ve been fighting a lot, so we’re taking a few days to calm down and re-evaluate the relationship. It’s not how I would have handled things, but she thinks it will give us time to,” I held up my index and middle fingers, making air quotes, “figure things out. She thinks I’ve been neglecting her, which I kind of have been. But she also thinks I’m cheating on her.”

“Wow...I genuinely don’t know how to respond to that,” she replied.

“Yeah, me neither.”

Kaia nodded silently, setting her fork down on the plate. She rested her elbows on the table and folded her hands in front of her face. “Can I be honest with you? This whole relationship seems really unhealthy. There’s a huge lack of trust on both sides. That’s something a break isn’t going to fix. If she doesn’t trust you to be faithful, your relationship is doomed to fail. So, it’s up to you to figure out how you want to proceed. If you think the relationship is worth saving, you need to prove that you’re a reliable partner, and she needs to work through her insecurities. If not, you’re better off ending it now. Especially before you two decide to get engaged or something.”

“I kind of already proposed to her though,” I said, rubbing the back of my neck.

“Oh,” she replied. “Well, you should think about doing some sort of premarital counseling before you get married.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that’s going to happen anytime soon.”

“And why’s that?”

“Because she said no,” I deadpanned.

Kaia went quiet. I waited for her to say something else, but before she could speak, the waitress reappeared to drop our check off and ask if we needed anything else. Neither of us spoke as I paid the bill and we made our way out to the car. I debated asking her what she was thinking but decided against it. We rode in silence back to the dorms. When I pulled up in the parking lot, she grabbed the handle to exit the car, then stopped.

“For what it’s worth, Dames, I am sorry about you and Alana. I might not like her, but you’re my best friend. And if she makes you happy, then I’m happy for you. If you ever want to talk about it, you know where to find me. I’ve been told I’m a good listener.”

I nodded. “Thanks. I appreciate that. And hey, let me know how things go with Hayden.”

She frowned slightly, then quickly covered it up with a smile. “Will do. I’ll see you in class on Monday. Have a good weekend.” She got out of the car and took off running towards her dorm.

I dragged my hand down my face. Get it together, Dames. She was my best friend. And I had a girlfriend. I got out of the car and headed toward my dorm. When I reached my floor, I swung open the door to my room and was met by the cold stare of my girlfriend, sitting on my bed, her hands folded in her lap.

“Alana? What are you doing here?” I asked as I moved into the room. She rose from the bed and made her way towards me.

“Cecile texted me.”

Shit. I knew this was coming. “Babe, it’s not what you think.”

Her eyes gave away nothing as she took a deep breath. “It’s not important. What matters is you and me.”

Confused, I grabbed her hand and sat down on the bed. “You know I love you, babe. And I know I’ve been a shitty boyfriend these last few weeks, but I want to make this work and I’m willing to do whatever it takes.”

She nodded, but her face told me she didn’t believe me. I sighed and pressed a kiss to her temple. It was going to be a long night.

#best beloved #pm au #college au #friends to lovers #perfect match #choices fanfic #damien nazario #kaia park #damien x mc #nazariolahela fanfic

[frankieshq]

[ itzy vc ] hey, hey, hey, it’s your girl summer coming at you with her twenty years of mediocre existence to present miss FRANKIE KWON. meet my self-conscious, awkward babie who uses sarcasm as a defense mechanism. you can find info about her under the cut !! i might have written a long ass bio that i didn’t bother to finish on a google docs but will be linking that one soon.

BACKGROUND

[tl;dr: young girl grows up in a matriarchal household that is heavy with regret and blame. dad comes and makes her childhood a bit happier, only to leave and break her heart because he’s an asshole. grows up thinking her smarts is gonna save her, but it’s actually her humor that does]

to truly understand frankie kwon, one must go way back--back to when her grandparents first immigrated to michigan. landing in detroit, sunhwa kwon and her husband didn’t have it easy. she had a two-year-old hanging by her neck and a brilliant but unambitious husband. she had to struggle with odd jobs for years while taking care of her family and helping her husband learn english, so he can use his engineering degree in america. she became a severe woman, never softened by affection but hardened by grit and hard work. eventually, the her husband was able to land a stable job and the family relocated to chelsea. 

sunhwa made sure to train and hone her daughter jina’s natural intellect, but her methods were severe and lacking in affection. jina looked for the affection she didn’t find at home elsewhere. she fell in love with the first boy that called her beautiful, and at eighteen, gave birth to francesca areum kwon. 

and so it goes that frankie was born in a household  heavy with guilt, blame, and regret. there was love there somewhere, but it was constantly shadowed by feelings that existed way before she did. the emotional scars her mother and grandmother inflicted on each other were too deep-seated that their love for each other hid behind a cover of blame and snark. at a young age, frankie learned how to read a room, learned what to say or do so as to not aggravate the precarious balance of their household. she learned how to figure out whether her mother was too tired from work or whether her grandmother was in a snappy mood. it was a tightrope dance she learned how to perfect, growing up faster than she should have. 

all her grandmother’s lost hope for her mother transferred to frankie, and her grandma supervised her education with the same vigor. although, this time, she was a tad bit more affectionate to her granddaughter (i mean all grandmas can’t resist their grandchildren, let’s be real). her mom wanted to protest, but aside from the guilt, she was always busy. being a single mom was hard enough, but she also had to take care of her aging mother.

frankie is a shy kid by nature, but her household just intensified this predisposition. she had few friends because she was scared about approaching kids first. she spends her time watching cartoons, studying, and writing in her journal.

enter: frankie’s dad, andrew grant. he left chelsea and his pregnant ex-gf bc he’s an asshole. but he comes back nine years later because he failed at whatever version of the american dream he was following at that time.

he taught frankie to have fun !! she’d spend afternoons at his car shop bantering with him and telling jokes. eventually, she relayed these jokes to people at school and was shocked when people actually laughed. she became more well-liked, developed a sense humor, and had more friends. the ages 9-12 were probably her happiest. 

at 12 years old, she got invited to a middle school sleepover for the weekend. but she had a big test on monday, and her grandma doesn’t allow her to go to stuff if she has tests the next schoolday. with the help of her mom, she was able to go to it by pretending it was a school event. had so much fun and forgot to study. she didn’t get a grade high enough for her grandmother to be happy, though. once her grandma found out what she did and her mom’s involvement, she was livid !! that was the biggest fight her grandma and mom got into and frankie was grounded for a month. the worst part was, throughout the fight, frankie felt like she was a burden to the two women she loved the most. she felt like she was the reason her mother was always tired, constantly nagged on by her grandmother about wasted potential.

to make matters worst, her dad left town again. fell in love with some other venture. he told her he would come back but never did. 

since that day, frankie dedicated herself full force to her studies. she felt like she needed to make it up to her mom and grandma for all their sacrifices. she built a wall around herself because it’s easier that way. she had few friends, but it was better for her.

her grandmother died during her senior year of high school. she loved her grandma, but she felt as if a weight lifted from her chest. her mom encouraged her to go to school as far as she liked. 

she got a scholarship to columbia and studied statistics like the big nerd that she is !!

she met roman and lucy here, finally felt that she had friends that she felt she can really open to. 

after college, she worked for a firm. she finally felt secure, like she payed some sort of unsaid debt to her grandma but she wasn’t happy, folks :(((

she first did stand-up as a dare on an open mic and she was so shocked that people laughed. she was tipsy then, and kept made self-deprecating jokes of her childhood trauma. love that for her.

the more stand-up she did, though, the more nervous she got because she gets really worried if she’s doing things right. instead of improving, she got worse because her nerves always get to her. don’t get me wrong the jokes are great, it’s just that her execution doesn’t always land.

comedy was just a vERY beloved side hobby for her until a small production company based on youtube offered her a writer position. she would get to  write their skits and stuff, but she it payed wAY less than her present job. she was like fuck it, and took the offer. she wanted to make people laugh.

that leads us to here, a girl who is still unsure whether leaving a secure job was the way to go, secretly hoping to be a famous comedian.

PERSONALITY

frankie is like a spring roll you guys. outside, she masks her awkwardness and shyness with some cRunCHy self-deprecating jokes and sarcasm. so, she has an intimidating exterior because she tries to be tougher than she actually is. inside, she’s just a soft and sad girl. she doesn’t talk much if she isn’t comfortable with you, but once she is, she talks a loT. but it does take a while for her to warm up to people. can be extremely judgmental (a trait inherited from her grandma), but her mind can be changed. isn’t stubborn, though, and is actually a doormat. the type of person to say something and obsess over it because she’s scared that it might have offended someone. 

HEADCANONS

lots of repressed femininity because there was a lot of internal misogyny in her household growing up !! it was only until college with the help of lucy, that she was able to access her girlier side. 

is a lesbian, but has a lot of internal homophobia as well. her grandma was a very traditional woman, so frankie feels very guilty about liking girls, and is very hesitant about going on dates and actively looking for relationships even though she’s really lonely.

likes writing a lot !! used to keep journals since she was 8 because it honestly made her feel less lonely growing up. 

nOBODY CALL HER FRANCESCA. she hates that name, but likes her second name a lot. only her grandma called her areum tho.

spends a lot of time at  mon’s deli, and mon could also be counted as her bff. she and the old man gossip and chitchat about the bennington street residents for hours. is this also because she is in dire need of a father figure?? maybe, yes, absolutely

used to have really low alcohol tolerance, but sort of grew out of it?? if she doesnt drink for a month or two tho, her tolerance goes back to zero like dont ask me, i dont make the rules

still a big fan of cartoons and kid humor !! loves amazing world of gumball and steven universe

makes her own kimchi because her grandma and mom have a special family recipe, will happily share if she likes you

i imagine the level of closeness she has in the group varies, like she’s closer to some people than others and acts differently around them

would really like to do stand-up again but still has stage fright

want her to either end up working on something as big as snl or writing movies or overcoming her stage fright and becoming a successful stand-up comedienne !!

#laughtrackintro #hello hello im late for everything #did not put a connections part bc i will be dm-ing all you

[honey-harper-official]

Second Generation Renegades

Nodrian

Three daughters

Valerie, Lacey, and Eva born in that order

They all look alike but not enough that they're inseperable

Lacey was the only one actually planned and caused the most problems being born

Which is why Eva was the surprise bc they weren't expecting to have another baby but the doctor said that Nova should be okay

So here Eva is

Valerie was sorta planned. They had talked about kids and then like a month later they found out Nova was pregnant so......

They all tend to act a lot like their mom and are really blunt and straight forward. That's however the only aspect of their mom they all share

All of them have a really strong moral code though each is wildly different

Adrian and Nova aren't necessarily strict but they aren't really laid back to the point where it's dangerous. They'd let their kids go to a party depending on the circumstances but they still have curfew

All daughters are prodigies but they're waiting for Lacey's powers to show bc they know she's a prodigy bc everyone is but they start to assume that maybe things are going back to before in the sense that you have to have some form of trauma so they get way more over protective of her even though they want her to get her powers

They try really hard to be supportive of their daughters

One of them is always going to get the short end of the stick though bc they still have to work and there's always going to be an overlap of events

School work comes first

Let their kids do their own thing so they don't invade their space but still check in on them

Hate that the media swarms their daughters and they try to keep them away from it

Halloween also isn't a largely celebrated holiday bc all of their daughter's find it weird that people dress up like their parents

But when they were little Danna and Narcissa would take them out to trick or treat bc Nova just can't stomach it and Adrian has to make sure she doesn't lose it bc someone has to hand out candy to these poor children and it shouldn't be his very uncomfortable wife

Also all their daughters know how to fight and kick ass. They know it might come back and bite them later but just in case any of them wanted to be a Renegade they have the training

Valerie Georgia McLain

Her first and middle name is her grandma's name but reversed

Her birthday is September 21st year 2021 and that's the same day as her grandma's name hence why she was named after her (headcannoning Lady Indomitable's bday as that day)

Oldest

Is a great engineer and inventor like her mother

She's a genius and going to college for engineering

Born with her prodigy abilities

She can manipulate plants. Any plant to a large extent

She uses it for good and when her youngest sister was born would sneak vines into the nursery to hand her stuffed toys

Also uses vines to pick up her siblings and give them boosts to get things though mostly her youngest

Used her powers to sneak cookies all the time as a little kid

Gets along great with Eva but not so great with Lacey. She loves them both though

She wants the best for her younger sisters and can be kinda critical and judgemental bc she wants to give them constructive criticism but she lacks the constructive part a lot

Blunt like her mom

Likes to build things with her mom all the time

Would spend hours drawing with Adrian when she was little and he still has the pictures framed and hung up around the house

She's more like her mom but her dad's favorite (though Adrian would never say it or admit it)

She does everything by the book

Valerie refuses to get herself into any mess her parents did which deterred her away from anything that could even be related to Renegades

Always polite and is a sweetheart with the media

Everyone loves her

Lacey fucking loves hates her

She's the perfect child and always the example

Never causes any problems and always listens to her parents and does the right thing

Well not always but enough to the point where the few times don't really count in the book

More like Adrian but as said before she tries to be constructive but totally misses the nail each time and it comes off as more passive aggressive then anything

Lacey Jude McLain

Born April 16th 2103

There was Raven and a crow sitting on the window sill when she was born and Nova has been waiting for the haunted and freaky shit to begin since

Only sibling with a non family related name but everyone tells her how much she looks like Georgia and she HATES IT

Her favorite family member is her dog Harley and then her aunt Evie and uncle Max and then Grandpa Simon

Valerie is last and is closely tied with their youngest sister Eva

The gay sibling though she's not out yet. Everyone knows it but they won't pressure her and also don't believe stereotypes

She wears button ups and boots all the time and listens to a bunch of gay artists so what is she really hiding especially since Hugh and Simon gave her a bunch of button ups the second they realized she was gay (which was when she was born tbh)

Sorta has a secret relationship with Ellie (Tucker Silva daughter). Ellie isn't out yet and is much better at hiding that she's gay but Nova suspects that they're together but she won't say anything bc she doesn't want to embarrass them. Danna and Narcissa know that Ellie and Lacey are both lesbians and together. They knew it well before they caught them kissing and decided to help them keep it a secret

It's a secret bc Ellie and Lacey don't want to not be able to have sleepovers anymore

So smart but an absolute dumbass

Her whole family thinks she's very serious but all her friends know that she is the funniest person alive and has an absurd sense if humor

Disappointment child TM

Her parents want her to be a Renegade or go into a science career

Accept she wants to be a musician (always has wanted that) and goes to school for that (and she's incredibly talented at it too)

Her parents also don't know she has powers though she didn't know either for a while. Used her powers unconsciously for years until she realized that not everyone sees probabilities constantly and can change them

She can manipulate probability and essentially do anything she wants but uses it for small things and incredibly wisely bc for years she thought everyone could do it bc everyone told her she didn't have powers since only she would be able to know so she though there were all these unsaid rules she couldn't break

She could go into a science career bc she's good at it but she hates science

Not the best in normal school work and is an average student

Her parents try to be supportive but they don't really get the music career and she just gave up telling them about things bc they never seemed interested and she takes it as them not caring

Likes to break as many rules as possible and sneaks out a lot

Also gets high a lot and is on drugs half the time bc she stopped caring a while ago

No one ever knows about all the messes she gets into bc she's incredibly street smart and ties up any loose ends. Doesn't need her powers to do it bc she can and will kick your ass and verbally destroy you

MAJOR Middle Child Syndrome

Honestly is a big sweetheart and would love to be nice to people if she didn't have a bunch of defense mechanisms internalized and held grudges like you've never seen

She's a good mix of both her parents bc she acts a lot like Nova but looks more like Adrian and also has his big heart. She's very oblivious like both of her parents though

She's way more into art now that she's older but also now that she's older she never has the time to learn anything about art from her dad and it fuels her Middle Child Syndrome more

Is the favorite of literally every extended family member bc she's the life of the party and knows exactly how to appeal to their humor bc she's the funniest sibling but no one knows it

No filter whatsoever and she hates the media and makes it known

A sad gay disaster child tbh who needs some therapy

There's a lot to go on about her bc her emotional problems fuel her personality and vice versa so it's just a rage cycle

Eva Tala McLain

Like Valerie, her name is her grandma's name but flipped.

Born November 30th 2105 and has the same birthday as her grandma Tala hence the name. Everyone finds it weird that two out of three of the Nodrian kids have their birthday on their dead grandma's birthday

14 and an asshole bc she's a middle schooler

Can and will tell you to shut up and fuck off

Id polite with the media bc like both her sister she knows being mean to the tabloids will cause problems and she doesn't feel like hearing her parents get criticized for their parenting skills every Monday morning

Same approach as Valerie to the media

Be nice and they will leave your family alone

Opposite of Lacey's approach which is that they're not entitled to any part of her life and that they can fuck right off bc her behavior says nothing about her parents and more about how invasive and annoying the reporters are

Lacey makes her paper cranes and sneaks them in her lunch box and she acts like she hates it but she loves it

Again... Acts like a jerk but is actually a sweetheart and big baby.

She's Nova's favorite though Nova won't admit it

Eva knows this and uses it to her advantage occasionally

Has a favorite sibling weekly but it's almost always Valerie

Also very into engineering but also art

Her room has gears and electronics everywhere

And her parents are so proud of her for it

She's pretty good in school though not as good as Valerie. She's also great in sports

Her parents try to go to as many games as possible

She also has fire manipulation

And Adrian had to give himself a tattoo in order to keep her from causing damage

Now that she's older she has way better control and can even use her flames without actually causing harm to anyone or anything

She starts to use flames to just grab or hold things for her or sometimes to even move around

She's the baby of the family

100% she's a prankster.

It's always little harmless things

But she doesn't dare prank Lacey bc after she does she always gets hit back and worse though it couldn't possibly be from her bc the time and place don't make sense

Either way she leaves Lacey alone bc she knows some weird shit will happen to her and she's not risking it

She looks nearly exactly like Nova but it's her hair, eyes, and skin that are the differences. But they have the exact same nose and jawline and facial structure

Likes to go into her sister's room and take their things which is really easy bc Valerie leaves for college and Lacey is rarely around (she's off with her friends or getting high) but she always gets caught

Never stops her though

She usually listens to her parents but if she gets bored enough or really wants it she'll disregard anything they say to do it

Never works out for her and how she hasn't learned that lesson is probably bc she's watched Lacey do everything her parents said not to with no problems

She honestly doesn't mean to hurt people she just wants to have fun

But the lengths she will do for it sometimes are way too much

Queen of pushing her luck bc Valerie never pushes her luck and Lacey has pushed it to the point where luck isn't even an option anymore

#nova artino #adrian everhart #nodrian #renegades trilogy #renegades #archenemies #supernova

[anninhiliation]

Hurt part 4

A/N: So here we are with a part four! I am taking a summer course and its a lot of work so please be patient with me I am almost a college graduate! I also am facing some personal issues that need to be taken care of so if I am spotty with my writing I am so sorry! I also own nothing this is purely fictional! 

Masterlist (Requests are always open!) 

Part 1 Part 3 Part 5

Warnings: A lot of self-hatred, (Please be kind to yourselves you guys are so lovely and perfect!) there's also a kiss and a light mention of having sex. Cursing. 

Tears streamed down your soft face as you thought about your past with Jughead. But the tears became harder and harder as the memories replayed in your head like sets of broken records. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~FlashBack~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Hey Jug!” You giggled plopping down next to him in the Blue and Gold.

“Hey Y/N.” He sighed holding onto his cup of coffee staring blankly at it.

“What's wrong Jug?” You questioned studying his features.

A from was placed upon his plump lips, he looked drained as if he had not slept well. His body language told you he was more upset than usual.

“It’s nothing I’m fine,” Jughead responded coldly still not looking at you.

You placed your hand on his forearm and the two of you locked eyes.

“Well, I am here for you.” You whispered quickly looking at his lips and back into his eyes. 

Moments after that his lips met yours. At first, you were taken off guard, but his soft lips fit right into yours as if God himself made the two of you for each other. The kiss turned heated, and things escalated faster than anyone was expecting. This was the first time you had been intimate with anyone to the extent you were with Jughead. He held a special place in your heart, as he was your first love. 

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

You silently sobbed into your knees as you thought more and more about that night. All the times the two of you shared kisses, and sweet nothings began to flood your mind.

I'm so fucking stupid to believe I meant anything to him. 

I'm so fucking ugly

Too fat

Not pretty 

I am such a problem

I am a fucking burden

The negative thoughts kept pouring in and the next was worse than the last. You sat there holding onto your legs, feeling the tears stream down your face and quietly hit the water from the tub. The tears flooded your eyes so hard that breathing became difficult, your sobs caused a runny nose and everything began to hurt. You were disrupted from your thoughts by the sound of your ring tone. You pondered who was calling and what time it was. The distraction had made the tears finally stop, and your breathing became a bit easier to do. The bathtub was no longer warm, and the mirrors had begun to clear up from the steam. Looking at your hands you noticed the pads from your fingers had turned pruney and you then realized you were cold. 

I should probably see who that was

You slowly stood up and grabbed your towel from the sinks counter and wrapped it around your body. You drained the tub and quietly walked back into your room. You beelined to your phone checking who the missed call was from. It was Cheryl and you noticed she left a voicemail. 

“Hey Y/N!” Cheryl squealed loudly making you flinch at the sudden loud noise screaming in your ear. “Come over as soon as you get this we are going to have a girls night in! You, me, TT, and Josie obvi. You’ve been the talk of the town since yesterday and I need to make sure you're okay and ready to face school on Monday. Plus I have not hosted a sleepover in forever. Okay bye!”

You quickly shot Cheryl a quick text:

12:49 PM Hey, are you sure you want me to come over right now? Isn't it a bit early for a girls night?

Cheryl:

12:49 PM Y/N! Get over here now! 

You:

12:50 PM Okay! Okay! Coming! Be there in 20

You placed your phone down and lazily put on sweat pants and a sweatshirt, throwing your towel on your chair not really caring how it landed. You slid your flip flops on and grabbed a duffle bag from the floor of your closet, throwing it on the bed. You piled clothes from around your room into the duffle, your toothbrush, and a hairbrush. Before leaving your room you grabbed your favorite sunglasses and put them on. You were in no mood to face the world with your puffy face. This time you made sure to not look in the mirror fully knowing whatever stared back at you would not make you happy or make you feel better.

“I'm going to Cheryl’s! See you guys tomorrow!” You announced as you headed out the door grabbing your car keys from the table in the foyer. 

“Wait a minute!” Your mother shouted making you stop dead in your tracks. 

You waited for her to approach as you just stared at the front door, looking out the tiny glass window in the door frame. The sound of her heels pounding on the hardwood floor became louder and louder.

“Honey your father and I are worried about you.” Your mother began as she placed her hand on your shoulder.

“Mom I just had a really bad day yesterday. I need to be with my friends.” You cut her off.

“Well, when you come back from Cheryls you better have an improved attitude young lady.” Your mother snapped. 

“Sorry.” You mumbled as you walked out the front door and darted towards your car.

You threw the duffle bag in the back seat and plopped down in the driver's seat. Sighing you turned the ignition and speeded your way to Cheryls. You rang Cheryl’s gate at Thornhill and the gates slowly opened. It seemed to have taken forever this time making a small groan escape your mouth.

“Y/N! I heard that!” Cheryl screamed in the intercom. 

“Sorry, Cheryl! My life’s been a piece of shit lately!” You shouted back.

You parked your car in the driveway and opened the door. You grabbed your duffle bag from the back seat and walked towards the front door. Cheryl swung the front door open before you even reached the front step. 

“Y/N! Thank God you're here. Holy Shit you look like a mess!” Cheryl announced from the front door. 

Tags: @trumpettay

#hurt #hurt part 4 #jughead #jughead jones #toni topaz #cheryl blossom #riverdale #josie mccoy #riverdale imagine #riverdale fanfic #riverdale x y/n #riverdale x reader #riverdale x you #choni #jughead x reader #jughead x you #jughead fanfic #jughead imagine #jughead x y/n #riverdale cheryl #cheryl x reader #cheryl x toni #cheryl x y/n #cheryl x you #cheryl blossom x you #cheryl blossom x reader #cheryl blossom x y/n #cheryl blossom imagine #sad riverdale

[mikexfaisty]

My first IT fic and it’s finally reddie! Terrible pun but please go review! I’m going to be posting more IT related stuff on my AOA account. I have a couple ideas in mind. Send me prompts! I’ll write about any of the losers! 

 https://archiveofourown.org/users/amanderrpanderr

Title: Forever

Summary:  Eddie reveals to Richie he's leaving Derry. Takes place after IT Chapter 1.

"My mom's selling the house".

It had came rather abruptly and for once, the loudmouth Richie Tozier was too stunned to speak. He turned to look over at Eddie, who was looking away from him. Maybe he had misheard his best friend. Eddie had his scarf so tightly round his neck, it was covering his mouth. He looked like the little brother from A Christmas Story. Perhaps Richie had just misheard him.

"I'm sorry did I hear you correctly? Your mother is selling your house?" Richie asked when he was finally able to find his voice. Eddie nodded, refusing to look at him.

Richie should have known something was up since earlier that morning. Eddie had been oddly quiet, not quite himself. It was the first week back since winter break. February had been a harsh winter for Derry. This past weekend had brought a lot of snow. It was Thursday and the pair were doing what they had always done, walked home from school together. Usually, they would have taken their bikes but that was hard to do in the winter. It was easier, and safer, to walk in the snow. Lucky for them, the sidewalks were neatly paved. Though it hadn't been that way on Monday. Derry high school didn't close for shit and Richie had spent the whole walk listening to Eddie freak out about how they were going to get frostbite. Though he had played off being annoyed, he secretly liked Eddie's little rants. God, for once he wished it was still Monday.

"Fuck," Richie muttered, before getting louder, "Fucking christ this sucks the rot Eds! First Bev, now you" He kicked angrily at a rock that was in their pathway, watching as it sunk into the snow, "Maybe no one will take it," he added quickly. His mind coming up with a million reasons on why and how this move was not going to happen, "I mean, who in their right mind would move to this shit-hole anyway".

At first, Eddie didn't say anything. He didn't even object to his hated nickname. But then Eddie had stopped walking, which in turn caused Richie too as well. Eddie looked nervous, his eyes darting everywhere except at Richie, "She already sold it," he mumbled softly, twiddling with the zipper on his jacket, "We leave for New York right after school ends..."

Richie was dumbfounded, "Are you fucking serious?! That's only like...four months from now". This was all happening way to fast. He had been to Eddie's house nearly everyday the past few months. Not once did he see a for sale sign or any other indication that Sonia had been trying to sell, "I guess property value goes up when the child eating clown gets killed! Who the fuck knew!" It had been several months since the defeat of Pennywise and nearly as long since they lost Beverly to Portland. The once seven members would soon be down to five.

Eddie had always knew his future laid outside Derry. After all the shit he had been through in Derry, he knew he couldn't stay here for the rest of his life. It was being separated from his friends that was going to be the hard part. He thought he had three years till they would all go off to college. Now he would have to start high school all over again at a new school... with no friends. Eddie shook his head, "She sold it pretty quickly. I didn't know until she had already done it".

"I can't believe we had to spend our last summer together nearly getting eaten by that shape shifting fuckface," Richie said angrily, "What's so great about New York anyway?"

The smaller boy was looking a little green, "My mom's sister lives there. She's got cancer and mom wants to be closer to her. We're the only family she's got," Eddie sighed, "Plus what had happened this summer".

Sonia Kaspbrak had always disliked his friends, that was abundantly clear. After his arm accident on Neibolt, she had sworn that he would never be allowed around them. Hell, if she had had it her way, he probably would have never left the house unless it was to pick up his medicine. Oddly enough it had been Gretta who had freed him from his mother's lies. After he confronted his mother about his medication, it had been a whirlwind. The night he had returned after the defeat of Pennywise had been particularly rough. Unsurprisingly, she had freaked out when he had come home covered in filth and shit. After he had taken a shower and convinced his mother he was physically alright, they had continued their talk from earlier that day. She had once again denied making up his illnesses and was quick to blame his friends for his problems. Eddie had been firm. It took a lot of convincing, and mild threats that he'd never speak to her again, for her to back down. Their relationship was far from perfect, but he had hoped this would set them in the right direction. Although, there was no convincing his mother to at least hold out till he graduated. The house was sold. There was no going back now.

"And the others? Do they know?"

Eddie shook his head, "No. I-I want to but..." he was shaking a little now. His left hand was deep in his coat pocket, digging, "I was thinking maybe tomorrow bu-but,"

Richie stared at the inhaler which Eddie had removed from his pocket. He frowned, "I thought you got rid of that thing," Richie grabbed it, much to Eddie's protest. He shook it and sprayed, holding it out of Eddie's reach, "Gazebos remember?"

"Yeah I know just..." and Eddie continued in his attempt to grab the inhaler, "Stop you're wasting it!"

"You don't need this stuff," Richie said firmly. He had stopped spraying but still help it above Eddie's head, "Not anymore,"

The inhaler had sat on the nightstand in his room since the day they defeated Pennywise. Eddie hadn't thought he would ever need to use it, not since the confrontation with his mother. The day she had revealed they would be moving, he had felt drawn to use it. He had lasted about a week, before he had slipped it on his coat early this morning. It had sat there all day. As soon as he had announced the move, he could feel it weighing down in his pocket. Eddie knew Richie was right. He didn't need it. But there was still a part of him missed the comfort the inhaler once gave him. He stopped reaching, "Fine I wont use it,". Richie didn't look to convinced, "I wont", he insisted again, "Just give it back. Please". At first, Eddie wasn't sure Richie would. But after a beat, Richie had capped it and placed it in Eddie's open hand.

"Fine," Richie said shortly. He watched as Eddie hesitated, before it was slipped back in his coat.

They continued to walk for another two blocks. Neither of them spoke until they had reached Eddie's house. There was no car in the driveway indicating Sonia was still at work. The two stood in silence, as if waiting for the other to speak first. The person ended up being Eddie. He was shifting back and forth in his spot, his bottom lip quivering, "Remember what Stan asked in the club house awhile back?" he began, once again refusing to meet Richie's eyes, "He asked if we'd all remain friends....if we'd still remember each other"

"No way I could forget that ugly mug of yours".

Eddie's eye twitched, but he once again ignored the jest, "We'll still be friends right?"

Forget the losers? Forget Eddie? Richie wasn't sure it was possible to forget them. They weren't just his friends, they were family. The thought of losing touch with any of them was scary to Richie. And he could tell Eddie had similar feelings. But after all they had been through, they were worth fighting for. Richie had to believe their friendship could withstand distance.

"Forever," Richie said, trying to sound as confident as he could. Eddie nodded but the worried look on his face stayed the same. Richie gripped Eddie's arm, "I mean it Eddie. Derry, New York, wherever. You'll never be able to get rid of me," he said teasingly. He let go of Eddie's arm before adding, "No way I'm letting any of you guys go," and for a moment, Richie could feel a twinge of pain on his hand where Bill had sliced it.

"Forever," Eddie echoed back.

Richie could see Eddie was relaxing a bit. He nodded "We'll make sure to do everything," he promised. As he gazed at Eddie's house, he felt a bit uneasy. The thought that by this time next year, some other people would be living there crossed his mind. He pushed those thoughts away, putting on his best smile, "We'll see ever movie the Aladdin has to offer, the arcade, sleepovers with the other guys, panty raids, finally getting someone to touch your dick beside your right ha-"

"Bee-beep, asshole," Eddie interrupted, shoving Richie lightly. He tried to sound annoyed but Richie could tell he was trying not to smile.

"I'm serious spaghetti man! Make me a list of all the stuff you wanna do and we'll do it," Richie was already coming up with a million other ideas, "And...and I can visit New York,". Fuck his parents better let him. Even if he had to do extra chores all year. Hell, he'd hitchhike to New York if he'd have to. Although, he'd probably have more of a problem convincing Eddie's mom.

For the first time of the afternoon, Eddie smiled, "Thanks Richie,". He then made to turn towards the path that led to his house. But suddenly, Eddie stopped himself. He turned back, slamming his body into Richie's and wrapping his arms tightly around him. The hug had took him by surprise, though definitely not unwanted, causing Richie to fumble back a few steps. Then sudden warmth had brought a tint of red to his cheeks and caused his glasses to began to fog up. When he got his bearings, Richie returned the hug. After what seemed like forever, Eddie finally pulled away and headed up to the house.

Before Eddie made it inside, Richie called out to him, "Give your mom a kiss for me!"

He watched as his friend paused at the door. Not bothering to turn around, Eddie slipped Richie the finger. Richie laughed and watched as Eddie went inside.

No way I'm letting you go...

#reddie #richie tozier #eddie kaspbrak #it movie #stephen king's it #amanda's writings

[robinskey]

So,i really like someone but there are a lot of girls who are trying to date him and we dont talk that much but i really admire him and his personality,and i think that we'd be a great couple but I dont have the courage to talk to him and my friend said to him that they have to talk on monday (she is going to ask if he likes someone)... what should i do? And also,i am not feel confident about myself like,he dated people who are waaay prettier thank me :(

Full disclosure before I answer any more dating questions: I have had one boyfriend in my entire life, so I might not be the best person to ask for love advice. However, through my own experiences and those of my friends’, I think I’ve gathered a fair amount of knowledge on the subject? I am, by no means, an expert, but I will sure as heck try to help you.

I HAD TO ADD A CUT BC I RAMBLED SO FREAKIN MUCH IM SORRY

Okay, so. First of all, as annoying as this is probably going to sound, try not to freak out. I know, I know-easier said than done, right? But really. Stay as calm about the situation as you can. I know you probably really want this guy to like you back (and maybe he does), but it’s not the end of the world if he doesn’t-I promise. It kind of sounds like you’re in high school (or secondary school, if you’re not from the US); sorry if I’m misinterpreting that. 

This sounds kind of bad, but I didn’t realize how limited my options were in high school until after I graduated. There are so many cool people in college/university and so many more out in the workforce. It just takes time and patience to find the right person. (Also, yes, I am aware of how much of a hypocrite I am, considering I literally made a post the other day complaining about how it is week three of college, and I have yet to be asked on a date. That post, however, was mostly satire. You know…mostly.)

Second, I’m going to go all Mom on you, because I’ve adopted you. I don’t care whether you’re younger, older, or my age. I am your mother now. And as your mother, I would like you to know that you, my dear, are beautiful. I’ve never seen your face, but I just know you are (call it a mother’s intuition-or just call me a freak tbh, since both are pretty accurate).

I spent so many years of my life comparing myself to other girls, thinking that no guy would ever want to date me when there were so many better options. But you know what? Beauty is completely subjective. Sure, there are ways to test your facial symmetry or whatever and see, scientifically, how conventionally attractive you are. But “how conventionally attractive you are” won’t matter to the right person, and it sure as heck shouldn’t matter to you. For me, personally, I typically find that the more appealing a person’s personality is, the more I’ll find them attractive. (There are absolutely exceptions to this rule because, for some reason, God sometimes puts really awful people in really beautiful bodies.)

My point here is that pretty isn’t actually pretty. Clever is pretty. Understanding is pretty. Kind is pretty. And I know it’s really freaking hard to believe sometimes, but if you’re a good person (and I get the feeling that you are), you are pretty. If that boy has any sense in his brain, he’ll see you as the most beautiful girl in every room you walk into. And if he doesn’t, you take your fabulous self and walk right out of his life.

So, basically, everything I just said in this long, long response can be summed up into two points: 1) Stay calm and 2) Stay confident. I know it takes time and practice to build up both of those. Honestly, I still struggle with calmness and confidence every single day. (That’s what happens when you’re an anxious, insecure little bean.) But I’m trying! And you’re trying! And if we mess up, that’s okay!

Anon, I think there might be an answer to your question buried somewhere in this post. I didn’t know I could get more rambly or incoherent after the last ask I answered. Yet, here we are, five long paragraphs and one atrociously inspirational speech written by an incredibly exhausted young woman who is in no way qualified to deliver it. However, I set out to give you advice, and I have indeed done so. Is it good advice? Maybe. I hope so. But was it well-delivered? Heck no.

Please don’t unfollow me for this post.

Let’s have a sleepover!

#anon #anons welcome #thank u anon!! #im sorry i did this to u #but like #maybe i helped??? #maybe u will find this inspirational?? #or maybe you'll just b like #wow i really followed this dumb bench #and asked her for advice #wow #sleepover