#then thought hey where did that leather jacket go i used to always wear it

[mclennonlgbt]

Paris in John and Paul’s life

30th September 1961:

“John and I went on a trip for his twenty-first birthday. John was from a very middle-class family, which really impressed me because everyone else was from working-class families. To us John was upper class. His relatives were teachers, dentists, even someone up in Edinburgh in the BBC. It’s ironic, he was always very ‘fuck you!’ and he wrote the song ‘Working Class Hero’ – in fact, he wasn’t at all working class. Anyway, one of John’s relatives gave him £100 for his birthday. A hundred smackers in your hand! That was a real windfall. None of us could believe it. To this day if you gave me £100 I would be impressed. And I was his mate, enough said? ‘Let’s go on holiday.’ – ‘You mean me too? With the hundred quid? Great! I’m part of this windfall.’” - Paul McCartney, Anthology

“We planned to hitchhike to Spain. I had done a spot of hitchhiking with George and we knew you had to have a gimmick; we had been turned down so often and we’d seen that guys that had a gimmick (like a Union Jack round them) had always got the lifts. So I said to John, ‘Let’s get a couple of bowler hats.’ It was showbiz creeping in. We still had our leather jackets and drainpipes – we were too proud of them not to wear them, in case we met a girl; and if we did meet a girl, off would come the bowlers. But for lifts we would put the bowlers on. Two guys in bowler hats – a lorry would stop! Sense of Humour. This, and the train, is how we got to Paris. - Paul McCartney, Anthology

“And Paul and I also did the same thing, once. We just cancelled. We’d made it, in Liverpool. We were making good money, for those days. I can’t remember what it was – maybe a couple of hundred dollars a week – but enough that you’d have a little extra. You’d have it in your back pocket. And Paul and I just— A relative of mine gave me a hundred pounds, for my birthday, which I’d never seen that much money in me life. Paul and I just canceled all the engagements, and left for Paris… And George was furious, because he needed the money – to work, you know. But that was another time when the group was in debate as whether it would exist or not.”  - John Lennon, 1976, an interview with Elliot Mintz

“Last night I heard that John and Paul have gone to Paris to play together – in other words, the band has broken up! It sounds mad to me, I don’t believe it…” - Stuart Sutcliffe, Anthology

“We’d never been there before. We were a bit tired so we checked into a little hotel for the night, intending to go off hitchhiking the next morning. Of course, it was too nice a bed after having hitched so we said, ‘We’ll stay a little longer,’ then we thought, ‘God, Spain is a long way, and we’d have to work to get down there.’ We ended up staying the week in Paris – John was funding it all with his hundred quid.

We would walk miles from our hotel; you do in Paris. We’d go to a place near the Avenue des Anglais and we’d sit in the bars, looking good. I still have some classic photos from there. Linda loves one where I am sitting in a gendarme’s mac as a cape and John has got his glasses on askew and his trousers down revealing a bit of Y-front. The photographs are so beautiful, we’re really hamming it up. We’re looking at the camera like, ‘Hey, we are artsy guys, in a café: this is us in Paris,’ and we felt like that.

We went up to Montmartre because of all the artists, and the Folies Bergères, and we saw guys walking around in short leather jackets and very wide pantaloons. Talk about fashion! This was going to kill them when we got back. This was totally happening. They were tight to the knee and then they flared out; they must have been about fifty inches around the bottom and our drainpipe trousers were something like fifteen or sixteen inches. We saw these trousers and said, ‘Excusez-moi, Monsieur, où did you get them?’ It was a cheap little rack down the street so we bought a pair each, went back to the hotel, put them on, went out on the street – and we couldn’t handle it: ‘Do your feet feel like they are flapping? Feel more comfortable in me drainies, don’t you?’ So it was back to the hotel at a run, needle and cotton out and we took them in to a nice sixteen with which we were quite happy. And then we met Jürgen Vollmer on the street. He was still taking pictures." - Paul McCartney, Anthology

“Jürgen had a flattened-down hairstyle with a fringe in the front, which we rather took to. We went over to his place and there and then he cut – hacked would be a better word – our hair into the same style.” - John Lennon, 1963

Interviewer: I heard you took a trip to Spain before once, didn’t you? On Holiday? Paul: I didn’t go to Spain, no. I tried once to make Spain but… and John and I were gonna hitchhike. We hitchhiked down from Liverpool… We didn’t hitchhike. No, we got the train down from Liverpool ‘cause we thought we won’t hitchhike down the first bit. And we got the boat over to Paris. Then we got the train into Paris ‘cause we thought: “Well, it’ll be too hard to get a hitch here”. And we just stayed in Paris all week. And eventually… I mean, all the time trying to get out of Paris and make Spain! We never made it, we just flew home at the end. What a lazy hitchhiking Holiday!

“The thing was all the kissing and holding that was going on in Paris. And it was so romantic just to be there and see them even though I was 21 and sort of not romantic. But I really loved it, the way the people would just stand under a tree kissing. And they weren’t not mauling at each other, they were just kissing.” - John Lennon

As was written in this post: That last picture is one Paul took of John sleeping in Paris. From what I remember of a performance he did of ‘Here Today’, and earlier comments, this picture hangs framed on a wall in Paul’s house.

Unconfirmed quote (may or may not be true): 

"He must have been fond of me to spend that money. He let me have all the banana milkshakes I wanted.”  - Paul McCartney

In January 1964, only a few scant weeks before the Beatles took America by storm, the band mates settled in for an extended stay in Paris. For the group, the Parisian visit proved to be a magical experience, with the Beatles playing 18 shows at the Olympia Theatre between Jan. 16 and Feb. 4 (source).

The photo Paul took of John (in the "Eyes Of The Storm" book):

1969:

Hoping to get married in France, John Lennon and Yoko Ono flew to Paris on this day [16th March].

The couple had decided to marry on 14 March 1969, two days after the wedding of Paul McCartney to Linda Eastman; whether it was in response to this event on some level is open to conjecture.

On McCartney’s wedding day Lennon and Ono were travelling to Poole in Dorset, where he introduced her to his Aunt Mimi. During the journey he asked his chauffeur Les Anthony to go to Southampton to enquire about the possibility of the wedding being held at sea, on the cross-channel ferry to France.

(source)

“On March 12, Paul married Linda Eastman at Marylebone Register Office in London, amid scenes of hysterical grief from his female fans. None of the other Beatles was present. The news reached John as he and Yoko were driving down to visit Aunt Mimi in Poole. Yoko’s divorce decree had become final a few weeks earlier, and, in a resurgence of Beatle copycat, John told her they, too, must get married as soon as possible” - Philip Norman, John Lennon: The Life (2008)

"We chose Gibraltar because it is quiet, British and friendly. We tried everywhere else first. I set out to get married on the car ferry and we would have arrived in France married, but they wouldn’t do it. We were no more successful with cruise ships. We tried embassies, but three weeks’ residence in Germany or two weeks’ in France were required." - John Lennon

1974:

“After a late lunch, Linda launched into a long paean to the joys of living in England. When she was finished, she turned to John and said, “Don’t you miss England?”

“Frankly,” John replied, “I miss Paris.””

— May Pang, Loving John (1983)

1978:

Wings album "London Town" is released. It includes the song "Cafe on the Left Bank", the lyrics of which clearly refer to John and Paul's trip to Paris.

Late 1970s: John is singing to Paul about Paris in a home recording.

1994 - Paul inducting John to Rock and Roll Hall of Fame:

“And then on your 21st birthday you got £100 off one of your rich relatives up in Edinburgh, so we decided we’d go to Spain. So we hitch-hiked out of Liverpool. And we got as far as Paris, and decided to stop there for a week. And eventually got our haircut, by a fellow named Jürgen, and that ended up being the ‘Beatle haircut’.”

I also remember watching an interview with Paul about his album "Memory Almost Full" (2007). Interviewer: There is a very beautiful song called "The End Of The End", the way you talk about your whole ending, and the lyric goes: "It's a start of a journey to a much better place." You mean, better than England? Paul: It's basically a start of a journey to France. Or Spain through France. Yeah, that's what it is. It's a much better place, Paris. (unfortunately, I don't have a link)

Also worth mentoning:

"All You Need Is Love" begins with La Marseillaise.

"Picasso's Last Words (Drink To Me)" contains French-language speech by BBC broadcaster Pierre Le Sève.

#mclennon #mclennon is real #mclennon anthology #paris #frankly i miss paris #may pang #yoko ono #linda eastman #the beatles #gay #bisexual #france #insane #compilation #master post

[savannahsdeath]

Hiii, so I wanna request an ellie x reader where they are like fake dating but then one night they're out at a bar and some guys are messing with/bothering (basically harrasing) reader and Ellie BEATS them up. Like bad lol. Then reader gets mad at Ellie, insisting she could've "handled it herself" but then ellie ends up accidentally saying she's in love with reader hence why she got so protective

i cant stop thinking about this omg.

ELLIE WILLIAMS X READER

mdni please<3

warnings: 18+!! mention of alcohol, catcalling, sa and just creepy guys overall, blood, fighting

writers note: writing this took my blood sweat n tears and im not sure wether it was worth it or not

while you and ellie had been close and even affectionate with one another, the nature of your relationship had always been that of simple friends. holding hands, sitting on her lap, or other romantic gestures seemed natural and casual between the two of you without any thought to anything more. however, you were both acutely aware that everyone believed you were romantically involved and you knew that was one reason you were still single.

when you were in ellie's room you began to notice little things. she had framed pictures of the two of you together, notes and sketches she had made about you, and a diary full of your name. dina and jesse kept teasing you about it, but 'isn't it what friends do?'

and, god, how oblivious you were.

one day, you took her out to a local bar, feeling the need to just drink and forget about everything for one night.

as you walked into the pub, you couldn't help but notice all the heads that turned to watch as you passed. it was like something in the air compelled you to turn to look at her. a familiar feeling of warmth ran through you and you instinctively reached out to take her hand. ellie giggled at your gesture, but didn't let go and you continued through the crowd which got already bored with your appearance.

it was just a normal night, the drinks making you a little tipsy and loosening your tongue, but everything was going just fine.

you saw a group of boys your age suspiciously eyeing you and ellie, their gaze mostly focused on you and your clothes.

well, that's true, you didn't put your everyday clothes on, but you had a good humour and felt like dressing up... actually, who am i trying to lie to? you wanted to look good for your friend.

she didn't notice the boys, but you did. your eyes met with the one in the leather jacket, and he looked away quickly. his group turned back to their beers, but you couldn't stop thinking about the way he glanced over at you.

the situation made you a little uncomfortable, but you played it cool and ignored the boys, turning your attention back to ellie. she was in her element, chatting away in a loud and lively fashion, her hands flying to emphasize whatever story she was telling. you couldn't help but let out a laugh as you took in the scene.

things were going just fine until one of the boys approached you. "hey, gorgeous." he said, in a voice that was trying just a little too hard to sound casual. "can we buy you a drink?"

ellie frowned, her gaze flickering between you and him. "she's not alone."

the boy tried again, undeterred. "i wasn't talking to you." he scoffed, his voice dripping with condescension as he turned to ellie, pointing you with his chin. "who wears a dress like that if they're not looking for a good time?"

ellie looked shocked for a moment, then her eyes narrowed. she leaned towards the boy, keeping her voice low. "this dress looks like it's worth more than you make in a month. now, leave us alone."

the boy laughed, turning his attention back to you, seemingly oblivious to the warning. "why don't you take off the dress and let us see what's underneath?"

you watched ellie open her mouth to answer for you again but you cut her off with a shake of your head and quiet 'let it go'. she looked at you, her mouth half open, as if she was waiting for your permission before starting her response. she rolled her eyes at you, but said nothing.

the boy seemed frustrated that his insult was met with no reaction. he jabbed his finger at you. "or maybe you're just a dyke?"

at that, ellie's eyes flew open. "the fuck did you just say?" she hissed, clenching her fists to the point her nails were digging into her palm.

you gripped her wrist, trying to pull her away. "ellie, come on–"

as things were just starting to escalate, a bartender rushed over, looking agitated. "hey, hey! none of that in here!" he pointed at him. "you, out now!"

the boy scoffed, as did his friends, but obediently left. you could hear him muttering complaints under his breath, but his voice faded away into the background din of the bar.

you kept close to ellie as the boys were led out.

ellie was still fuming, taking a few deep breaths. she looked up at you with daggers in her eyes. "why did you stop me? he deserved more than that." after a little pause she added; "no one will disrespect you like that. and no one can disrespect you when they're unconscious."

you weren't sure whether to be amused or horrified at her comment. "and how exactly were you planning on achieving that?" you asked, raising an eyebrow.

ellie smirked, taking your hand in hers. "you don't need to know. just know that i was prepared if things had gotten out of hand."

that answer did little to ease your skepticism. "you know you can't go around knocking people out like a character in a movie, right?"

ellie raised her eyebrows, staring at you with a challenging expression. "sure i can," she grinned, "if the situation calls for it.

"ellie," you said, "be serious." but ellie's confidence was charming, and you couldn't help but crack a little smile. "alright," you added. "just... try to keep your cool next time, alright?"

she nodded, squeezing your hand. "promise. no knocking heads unless i absolutely have to."

you decided to leave the bar shortly after, not in the mood to socialise anymore. she told you to wait outside as she, obviously, paid for the both of you.

the atmosphere outside wasn't so cozy - not only because it was cold and windy, but you also saw those boys there, smoking and laughing. you thought about going back inside but they didn't seem to notice you - well, not at first.

one of the boys spotted you and instantly smiled. he nudged his friend and said something you couldn't quite make out. the two of them laughed and started approaching you. "hey," the first one said, "is your little girlfriend taking too long in there? we could take you home and warm you up."

the thought of people thinking ellie is your girlfriend seemed funny but not new to you, so you ignored it.

you rolled your eyes at their comment, but kept your expression neutral. "no, thanks, but you might want to work on your pickup lines. 'warm you up?' really?"

the two boys exchanged a look and laughed. their friend said "oh, she's feisty. we like that."

you felt your stomach drop. ellie was still inside the bar and you had no clue how long she might be. not too long, you hoped. i mean, how long can paying for a few drinks take?

as if on cue, ellie opened the door and came out. she stopped dead in her tracks as she noticed the two boys who'd just been hitting on you.

she took a moment to take in the situation, then rolled her eyes and scoffed. you were relieved to see she was wearing a smirk that told you she was ready for whatever was coming.

the two boys stared at ellie, eyes darting from her to you and back again.

"oh, hey ellie." you exhaled, putting on your best fake smile. "good timing. we were just about to–"

ellie didn't give you the chance to finish. "sorry i took so long." her tone was friendly, but it was obvious she was trying to claim you as her territory. all three boys watched her in silence.

"can i help you, boys?" ellie said sweetly, her voice dripping with sarcasm. she put her arms around your waist, which only amplified her already mocking tone.

the boys watched her with leering eyes. the tall blonde one put his hand on his friend's shoulder. "we were just saying how pretty your friend is." he paused, raising an eyebrow. "she sure looks... hm, how do i describe it? slutty?"

at that, ellie's demeanor changed, and her previous smile faded. her look was cold as ice, and she clenched her fists again.

'this is getting out of hand'

"hey," the tall blonde said, "i bet there's something better under that dress." he pointed at you.

"yeah, there's a fucking gun." you hissed.

he didn't seem to take you seriously, as he should - you were in fact completely unarmed. the only weapon you had was... well, ellie. "we'd like to personally test that theory."

ellie's knuckles turned white. "i'm here with her."

"look, you can watch from a distance." the blonde laughed. "but me and my friends here are going to have a good time with a girl like this, whether she wants it or not."

you felt yourself flush with embarrassment. "oh, uh, no. we're just leaving." you said, grabbing ellie's wrist and trying to pull her away.

ellie wasn't having any of it. "go to the car and wait for me there." she whispered, tossing the keys to you.

"you're crazy." you whispered under your breath.

"just do it," ellie hissed. "i can handle them, and i don't want you getting involved."

'like i'm not involved already.'

it was impossible to argue against that last point, and you reluctantly followed her instructions.

you were surprised they didn't try to stop you but you realised they probably know what's going to happen.

as you opened the car door and got in, you watched the situation from the safety of the passenger's seat. the boys had surrounded ellie, one with his hand on her arm and the others laughing and pointing at you. you couldn't hear them but you guessed what they talked about. they were just little shadows in your eyes now, you barely could tell which one's ellie.

from your vantage point, you watched ellie and the three boys facing off. she spoke in a quiet, measured voice that you weren't sure you wanted to hear the contents of.

suddenly, you saw the blonde reach towards her. that was enough for her.

she slapped his hand away, and in a swift motion, kicked him in the groin. he let out a, silent for you, cry of pain and sank to the ground, while the others were still recovering from the surprise. ellie turned to them and and soon they were all on the ground. the blow knocked the last boy out cold. ellie quickly turned to the blonde, who was now sitting up and holding his injured part. without a word, ellie approached him and kneed between his legs just as he was about to stand up.

the boy groaned, dropping back to the ground. ellie reached down and grabbed him by the shirt. she hauled him back up, and raised her fist again. you turned away, not wanting to look at the scene and uncomfortably shifted in the passenger seat, hoping it'll be over soon.

she took her time. you didn't know what could they possibly say to piss her off that much but you didn't want to.

she approached the car and got in, not saying a word to you.

you didn't say a word either, you just watched her cautiously driving. your anger started to grow - at the boys, at the whole situation, even at ellie. what she did was just reckless, one of them could be armed... or have really good skills. plus, they barely touched you and the comments didn't really get to you anyway.

you let out a frustrated sigh and turned to her. "why did you have to make such a big deal out of nothing? i could have handled it just fine on my own."

ellie didn't look at you or even acknowledge your words. she kept driving, her attention focused on the road.

you weren't sure what to think, but it frustrated you that she was acting like this. 'why can't she just drop the tough girl act and admit she overreacted?'

you tried again. "ellie, come on, i know you were just trying to help, but–" you sighed. "just ignore me, i guess."

you turned to look out the window in annoyance, but then ellie spoke suddenly, her tone deadly serious. "you know i was right to do what i did."

you whipped your head around to look at her in surprise. "what do you mean?"

ellie looked straight ahead as she kept driving. "those guys would have taken advantage of you," she said quietly, "like it or not."

her words hit you like a ton of bricks. you sat in silence for a moment, trying to process what she said.

"but that's ridiculous," you frowned, "i wouldn't have let anything happen."

ellie shot you a look. "you really think you're the one in control of the situation? sweetheart, you have no idea. as soon as you let them talk to you, it was out of your hands."

you mockingly laughed. "oh, so i can't handle them but you can? what am i, a deer surrounded by lions?"

ellie sighed, shaking her head. "god, you're infuriating," she said, keeping her eyes on the road. "yeah, actually, you are like a deer surrounded by lions – completely oblivious to how predatory these men are."

she cast a sharp and serious glance at you, making you flinch.

"i can handle myself." you repeated, with growing annoyance. after a moment, you added; "why the fuck would you do that? you should mind your own business."

"i make it my business to look after my friends." ellie answered, still not looking at you.

you felt your blood boil, but you forced yourself to remain calm. "i don't want you to look after me, ellie. you are my friend, not my babysitter."

"oh, i'm sorry!" she shrugged, her voice dripping with sarcasm. "i thought friends protect each other!"

you scoffed at her last comment. "how exactly was i in danger?" you asked. "they barely even touched me!"

she sighed again, this time with irritation. "jesus, you were really lucky, alright? i get that you feel like your ego's been hurt by all this, and i'm sorry. but if i hadn't stepped in, you could have been hurt. maybe the situation wouldn't have escalated to violence, but i wasn't taking any chances." she looked at you, her expression softened and she seemed truly concerned. "do you understand?"

you huffed but your tone calmed down a little. "that was my problem, not yours."

"fine, it was your problem," ellie rolled her eyes. "just don't get mad at me for looking out for you."

"i'm not mad." you said, your tone turning defensive. "i'm annoyed you think i'm incapable of looking after myself."

her eyes fixed on you, cold and sharp. "you're lucky i was there."

she parked the car in front of your house, where she was supposed to sleep this night. at least, you planned it like that. now you'd prefer to be alone. you let her in anyway, hoping to talk about what happened in better circumstances.

as soon as you came in, you took some ice bags and went back to ellie. her knuckles were bloody red and swollen, even though she didn't seem to be hurt. she looked up and took the bag from your hand, but her expression was still stern.

"thanks." she said in a raspy monotone, holding it to her hands.

you cleared your throat awkwardly, hoping that the ice would help ease the situation. "ellie, i just want to say i appreciate what you did, but–"

she sighed and shook her head. "don't start."

"well, i was going to." you said, unable to hide your irritation. "you overreacted. i don't need your help. it was my problem to deal with."

ellie stayed silent for a moment, as if contemplating what you just said. "i might have overreacted," she admitted, "but i still don't regret what i did."

you sighed and threw your hands up in frustration. "we're just going around in circles here. why can't you understand that i can handle myself? i don't need you. i didn't ask for your help. i don't understand why you just have to get all protective over me."

ellie sighed, dropping the ice bag to her side. her voice was still calm, but with a hint of anger. "i was trying to look out for you. i was trying to do something nice, and you just keep yelling at me for it."

you felt your confusion growing even more. "but- why?"

she shook her head in disbelief. "because i love you."

the air seemed to suck out of your lungs when she said that. her words were unexpected, and you wanted to know if you heard her right. "what did you say?"

ellie chuckled and nodded, her expression almost teasing but still nervous and even a little aggresive. "i said i love you, of course."

you couldn't reply, too stunned to speak. you just stared at her, feeling the familiar heat on your cheeks rise.

she clicked her tongue at your obliviousness. "that's why i'm so protective. that's why i couldn't just ignore how they talked to you."

you just blinked, still unable to process what she said.

ellie must have sensed your confusion, because she continued. "i'm not your babysitter, alright? you're a big girl. you can take care of yourself– but that's not what i meant." she took your hand in hers. "i'm worried about you because i love you."

the realization of what she'd said suddenly hit you like a train, and you felt your heart race. for what felt like an eternity, you just stared at her, still not believing what you were hearing.

ellie just smiled, a little bit embarrassed, as if she hadn't just made one of the most profound declarations of love imaginable.

"so," she said quietly, "can you forgive me now?"

her tone was so innocent, so sincere, that it seemed almost cruel to keep arguing with her. it seemed cruel that you ever did.

in the end, you nodded. "yeah, i can."

that was all it took for ellie's expression to light up.

#ellie williams x reader #ellie williams #ellie williams x y/n #ellie williams x you #ellie x reader #ellie x y/n #ellie tlou #reqs open #ellie the last of us #protective!ellie

[normansnt]

A book by its cover (Usopp x male!punk!reader)

This picture inspired me BIG time. Also I love that people are finally realizing how nice punks are🦦🧡 It may be a bit long but like not that long its aight I hope you like it

There are no warnings its just fluff🐥

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

Black leather jacket with spikes, badges and whatnot. Spiky h/c hair piercings and tattoos all this with black ripped jeans with again different badges and other things on it and black combat boots. Usopp thought this looked quite scary. He looked quite scary. Well ok it looked badass not to mention the guy was handsome... but anyhow he looked like he was from a dark world which Usopp had no intention of entering

The strawhats docked on an island for supplies maybe a little rest and to reset the log pose they had about 1 maybe 1 and a half days. Robin, Nami and Sanji went shopping the girls for clothes Sanji to carry their bags and to buy food. Zoro went to drink beer and take a nap and Luffy went with him claiming he wants to eat (as always). Brook and Jinbe just wanted to look around town. That left Franky, Usopp and Chopper who wanted to go look for supplies for the ship or Usopps bombs and other things.

Thats where they saw him. The guy who sold every kind of parts for ships, to painting supplies, gases and more. He was a tall dude around 6'6 with h/l, h/c hair which was in spikes (or not you decide if it wasn't just ignore it), he had kind e/c eyes and greeted them with a friendly smile. Franky smiled back and got to business right away.

"Hey guys what can I help you with?" Asked the guy in a friendly tone. "We need some supplies for a ship" said Franky cautiously not to mention that they are pirates. "Oh you guys are the Pirates that just docked, ok what kind of parts do you need?" Said the s/c male. Franky, Usopp and Chopper stood there a bit baffled. Even after the guy knew they were pirates the kind smile didn't leave the strangers face.

While Franky was discussing the parts needed Usopp was quiet the whole time something was off with this guy, he looked scary (and handsome but Usopp did not admit that even to himself) but acted very kind and understanding. Not to mention based on what he heard from the conversation he knew what he was talking about. "HAHAHA" Frankies booming laugh got him out of his trance. The guy must have said something awfully funny since he was smiling as well a big smile, a very attractive smile. What? Usopp was very confused at this point. "I could really use someone like you on the ship to help with repairs wouldn't you say Usopp, Chopper?" Asked Franky smiling, the two were just standing there silently. "Sorry how rude of me" said the guy still smiling "I didn't even introduce myself Im Y/N". "Im Franky these two are Usopp and Chopper" smiled Franky while pointing at the two. Usopp and Chopper still didn't say anything. Teddy got down on one knee looked at chopper and reached in his pocket. The too scaredy cats were watching his every move when suddenly he pulled out candy from his pocket. "Do you want one little reindeer?" Asked Y/N with a smile Chopper immediately forgot his fear. Not only because the stranger had candy but because someone finally saw him as a reindeer at the first meeting and not a raccoon. He walked over to Y/N and took some candy. Y/N patted his head. Chopper looked up at him and a bit shyly but asked him: "what are those pointy things on your jacket?". The e/c eyed male laughed and answered: "They are spikes I wear them cuz I think it looks cool" smiled the man than put his tongue out in a rocker way to make the little reindeer laugh. Chopper did laugh and then asked: "Can I touch them?" Y/N smiled and motioned for him to come closer. Chopper liked his spikes very much he thought they are dangerous at first that they hurt, but they didn't. This way Chopper ended up sitting on Y/Ns shoulder. Usopp watched this whole scene with interest. You were THIS nice. Now he feels stupid for thinking you are mean or anything but the way you are dressed deceived him. Usopp was staring at you red faced. It was not only that you were really good looking you had the kindest personality as well and he really couldn't deny it any longer even to himself he liked you, a lot. Y/N looked at him next. "So you're Usopp?" He asked smiling maybe a bit red in the face...? Nah Usopps eyes were lying to him he surely just saw what he wanted to.

"I...uh...YES, I am the great captain Usopp indeed" he said while sweating trying to play it off full of pride. He was kind of embarrassed after a short silence and he was about to apologize when he heard the most pleasant laughter he had ever heard. Y/N laughed at his antics he thought it was hilarious. "Wow alright mighty and powerful captain Usopp" he said whit a mock bow, then they both started laughing Chopper didn't really get it he just sat on Y/Ns shoulder eating the Candy he got while Franky just looked at them with a knowing smile.

After they bought everything they needed (which took nearly the whole day since they had such a great time with Y/N) they had to go back to the ship. Usopp was not happy nor was Chopper and to be fair Franky also took a liking to Y/N so its safe to say none of them wanted to leave him on the island. Y/N was not happy either to see them go he had a great time and enjoyed Usopps funny antics to no end. How ever to recruit a new crew mate was not their job not to mention they had no idea if Y/N was any good in battle.

Usopp was sulking the whole way back. And on the ship as well. They planned to stay on the port of the island for the night then set sail in the morning.

Zoro was on night watch and all of a sudden he saw someone approaching the ship. He stood up to see if the person was actually coming to the ship, but there was no misunderstanding the person was coming to the ship with something on their shoulder and a small bag in their hand. Zoro reacted the moment he saw that that something on the strangers shoulders was an ax.

He jumped off the ship right on the stranger. However, to Zoros utter disbelief, they dodged it. Now that the street light helped him see he saw that it was a guy, wearing a leather jacket with spikes badges and what not. This did not interest him however the thing that bothered him was the ax on his shoulder and the fastness he dodged his attack with it was almost inhuman like.

"What do you want with this ship?" Asked Zoro accusingly. "Listen this is a misunderstanding-" but the stranger did not get to finish their sentence because Zoro attacked. To Zoros disappointed the stranger blocked all of his blows and dodged them with excellence and grace very much like he saw Mihawk do it. The only difference between this guy and Mihawk was that he didn't attack back he just kept defending and of course he used an axe. The rest of the strawhats woke up to this commission outside and watched the fight with shock. Someone holding their own against Zoro with one hand and a small axe without breaking a sweat or attacking back? This was crazy. The moment Usopp stepped on the front of the ship to see whats going on his eyes widened and he looked at Franky. "Isnt that-" "Yes he is" "shouldn't we-" "Yes we should" the two looked at each other then forward at the battle and started yelling "STOP STOP" very loudly Franky jumped off the ship to stop Zoro while Usopp ran over to Y/N to stop him as well.

"Huh?" Asked Zoro after Franky stood in front of him. "Why are you standing in the way?" He asked kind of upset, Franky didn't answer just looked at Y/N and asked "What are you doing here Y/N?".

"Im sorry to disturb your night but after I was going to close the shop I found Usopps bag, and I wanted to return it, so after I left the shop I tried to find your ship based on how you guys described it and well I got kinda lost thats why I only got here this late" explained the s/c male panting lightly due to dodging Zoros attacks. Usopp got red in the face, very red, he left his bag there and didn't even notice since he was busy thinking about Y/N all night. "Thanks Y/N so much somehow I didn't even notice" "Wait you know this punk?" Asked Zoro.

"Wow you're quick" laughed Y/N lightly this made others chuckle a bit as well. "We bought ship supplies from him he was the shop keeper we were telling you about during dinner" yelled Chopper excitedly while running to Y/N to sit on his shoulders. "I don't care what shop you own how did you dodge my attacks this effortlessly?" Asked Zoro still a bit pissed. "Oh thats all thanks to my dad he trained me all my childhood" answered Y/N truthfully. "Your dad? Who is your dad if I may ask the way you move reminds me of someone" asked Sanji. He took a liking to the punk the moment he made fun of Zoro. "Mihawk, Dracule Mihawk" Everyones jaw dropped with their eyes bulging out of their sockets. "MIHAWK HAS A KID???" Yelled Zoro shocked. "Yeah Im kind of used to these reactions however y'all are a bit extreme Im guessing you know him" said Y/N in a usual tone not very phased by their reactions."Join my crew" said Luffy all of a sudden. Nami screamed when she notice Luffy was standing next to her because when everyone came out he was still sleeping. "You look strong and I saw you fight then I heard you are Mihawks son you are joining my crew" said Luffy smiling big. "Oh... eh I really didn't plan on becoming a pirate..." started off Y/N. Then he looked at Usopp who was looking at him with hopeful eyes and then at Chopper who was looking with puppy eyes Franky also tried doing Puppy eyes but it looked rather creepy from a big man like him. It was still hard though Y/N liked this town not to mention his shop. "But you are joining" said Luffy still smiling then headed back to his bed like the discussion was ower "uh..." Y/N stood there confused, then Usopp started laughing, "Yeah Im afraid it isn't your decision " Usopp continued laughing then started to walk towards the ship. With everyone else "Come on Y/N you are our nakama now" smiled Usopp while grabbing his hand and walking to the Thousand sunny. Never judge a book by its cover I guess you could say that for any member of the Straw hat crew Y/N will fit right in.

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

WELP

My second fanfic🥳

I wrote this for an embarrassingly long time even I don't know why lol💀

Anyway I LOVE Usopp he is so goofy and no mf in the world will tell me he isn't gay not yo mention Im a HUGE believer of trans Usopp so😗

SO I hope you liked this fic I will write more with time but I have things to do

Ladies, gentlemen and others I hope you enjoyed your reading, good afternoon good evening and goodnight🧡🦖

#one piece imagine #one piece x y/n #one piece x reader #one piece x male reader #straw hat usopp #usopponepiece #usopp x reader #usopp x y/n #usopp x you #straw hats x reader #male reader

[ells-18]

- the one where she surprised him while filming -

SWIPE RIGHT, baby - Calfreezy

“Babe!” Callum shouts, walking into the living room to find my sitting on the couch cuddled up into a blanket watching some tv.

I turn my head to face him walking into our shared living room, leaning on me elbows. “Yeah?”

“Where’s the car keys?” He asks, looking at me from a few feet away. He’s ready to go out filming with the boys- but usual Cal loses the car keys.

I sigh, shaking my head. “Did you check your jacket pocket?” I ask.

He frowns, his hand leaning into his stripes/square jacket pocket. Automatically I hear a jingle sound.

I laugh. “There they are”

He shakes his head, grinning. He walks over to me and kneels down beside me.

“Are you alright?” He asks, tucking loose strands of hair behind my ear gently.

“Yeah I’m good, gonna miss you though. The guys always keep you for so longggg” I groan and he chuckles.

“I’ll be back as soon as I can, love. Do you want me to bring you anything in?” He asks, caressing my left cheek.

I shake my head lending against his hand “just you” i smile, pushing his glasses further up his face.

He smiles back, and pulls his jiggers at his knees so he can stand up comfortably. “I’ll be back soon..” he makes his way to the front door. “Love you!” He shouts. He won’t close the door until he gets a response.

“Love you, cal” I say, smiling even though he can’t see. I then hear the front door close, meaning he has gone.

Callum and I are 22 and 24 now- we got together at a very young age and haven’t looked back since. We met when he lived in Scotland, then I eventually moved to London. We are still young, but I genuinely can see us together forever.

What a boring day ahead. I’m off work, cal and I were originally going to be going away for the weekend but Josh needed him for the video. So unfortunately, our weekend away has turned into me staying at home myself.

I felt my phone buzz beneath my arm, I sigh and try to find it. I was so comfortable!

I unlocked my phone to reveal a text from Josh.

- hey, y/n. You busy? I’m sorry for the short notice but one of the girls has pulled out of the Tinder IRL and I really need someone to help out. I thought you’d be a suitable option. You up for it? Was planning not to tell the boys and callum- a nice surprise for them.😀

I think for a second. This could be fun..

- hey Josh. Of course I’d love to help out. Is it far? Because cal took the car.

- it takes about 20 minutes- not to worry I’ll pick you up. Gonna bring Freya too she was complaining how she missed you. Is 15 minutes okay?

- see yous then. Xx

I hurry up and get up off the comfy couch. I was so unsure on what to wear.. though I don’t have a lot of time I decide on a pair of baggy jeans and a cute low cut crop. I threw a baggy leather jacket on over it and chucked on white converse with red hearts on them- to match the same ones cal is wearing today.

I brushed out my already curled balayaged hair, quickly putting on some blush, concealer and mascara with a bit of lip gloss.

I grab my bag and house keys, ready to leave as Josh has just text me that he is downstairs.

~~~

“You ready, y/n?” Randy asks, standing beside me as I’m due to ‘meet’ the boys.

“I don’t know why I’m nervous, Rand”

“Hey don’t be nervous” he pays my shoulder. “They love you. It’ll be such a laugh”

I chuckle. “Yeah it’ll be good. When am I on?”

He looks at his watch. “Right.. now” he gently urges me into the studio. “Good luck” he whispers.

I walk in and see all the boys lined up, callum was near the back. Harry was at the front and gasped like a child when he saw me. This caught the attention of JJ.

“No way!” Harry points. Callum is still clueless.

Ethan covers his face, and lays flat on the floor pretending to faint.

I stand infront of Harry and can’t stop laughing at their reactions.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Cal asks Ethan.

“Yo cal. Are you not seeing this?!” JJ asks.

“Yooooo what!” Callux laughs, covering his mouth in shock.

“Hi I’m y/n, I’m 22 and I’m from Scotland”

“Huh?” Cal says, poking his head around the boys to see me.

“I’ll explain later..” Josh pats his back. “..Now hurry up!”

Harry composed himself and looks at me, and then looks down to the book in his hands. “Hello, I’m Harry. And-“ he drops the book. I look at him confused.

He bends down to pick it up. “I think I dropped something” he stands back up. “My jaw” he says, with his mouth wide open.

The boys burst into laughter at his silliness.

I laugh, shaking my head. “Oh, go on then Bog” I swipe to the right earning cheers from the boys.

Stephen approaches. “Hi. We’re a perfect match. Cos I like being pegged and you’ve been fucking an arsehole for a few years”

Everyone gasps and laughs.

I sigh, and swipe left. “On you go Stephen”

“What!!” He groans like a child, huffing away to the left corner.

JJ is next, Josh is behind them and then it’s my Cal.

JJ smirks as he approaches me. “Hi. I’m JJ I’m 26. Chicken is my second favourite thing to eat in bed.. wanna know my first?”

“Sure” I engage.

“Your pussy” he points at me.

The boys all gasp- Cal looks pissed off though he knows it’s just jokes.

“JJ you know that’s another man’s job” I fire back, and swipe left.

“Ayyyyy!” All the boys jump around Cal. He laughs along with them.

“Hi. I’m Josh. Did it hurt when you fell from the vending machine?”

I look at him. Trying not to laugh.

“Because you’re a snack”

…..

“Freya.. how do you put up with him!” I swipe left.

“Hi I’m Callux. Your tits are fake but our love would be so real”

“They’re not even fake, Lux” I roll my eyes. Swiping left.

“Are they real mate?” Ethan asks.

“Mate.. so real” cal says as he approaches me.

I couldn’t hide my smile.

He smiles and winks at me before speaking. “Hi, I’m Cal. Rock paper scissors- I win I shag you..”

“Cal!” JJ gasps, laughing as the other boys gasp.

“You win you swipe left. Up for it?”

“Go for it”

“3,2,1”

Cal has paper. I have rock.

He places his hand over mine and holds it there for a sec. “Swipe right, baby” he smirks.

“Go on then” I gently push him to the right.

“You’ve got an exciting night ahead with those fake tits” Lux laughs.

“Lux I swear to god!”

“I’d like a try on those” Stephen smirks to Lux.

I approach Harry, standing beside my boyfriend.

“Harry, can I borrow this book?”

“Yeah sure” he hands me it, a bit confused.

I make my way over to Stephen and Lux and hit them on the head with the book.

Everyone laughs at their reaction.

“Ouch, y/n” Stephen rubs his head.

Lux laughs. “You’re jokes, y/n”

“Who invited you here?” Cal jokes, wrapping his arms around my waist holding me closer to him.

“Josh- very last minute” I chuckle.

“Glad he did” he kissed my head, holding my head in his hands.

“Can we go home?” I ask, looking up at him.

“Of course. Wanna stop off for food on the way home?” He asks, tucking hair behind my ears.

“You read my mind” I smile, grabbing his hand as we exit the studio. Saying our goodbyes as we leave.

[vnmpior]

TATTOO ARTIST ☆ DATE

MICHAEL ☆ AFTON 

x reader (gender neutral)

summary: you decided to call the number, which was definitely his by the way, on the pamphlet. now you were here eating dinner with your tattoo artist.

here's a very unnecessary part two

I also cannot see michael in my au wearing anything else but jeans and a wifebeater and a leather jacket.

I'll stop writing about michael OVER MY DEAD BODY even at my funeral I expect a michael cutout

fun fact: I wrote all this offline on my gmail drafts

part one ## part two

it's only been around a day since you had left the shop and noticed the hastily scribbled number on what was supposed to help you care for your new tattoo.

it was quiet in your room, you staring at your phone. 

"if he wasn't interested, why would he give me his number?" you told yourself, and you picked the phone up, dialing in his number.

it rang for a few seconds.

maybe he wasn't even home yet.

then you heard a "hello?"

your eyebrows shot up in surprise. you did not think that it would get this far.

"is this michael?" you asked,  beginning to twiddle the cord on the phone in nervousness. 

"it'd suck if it wasn't," he replied. "yeah, it's me. I thought I wrote the wrong number for a bit."

you laughed.  "I'd be really disappointed if you did."

you heard some shuffling coming from the other side. 

"hey, I'm really busy right now love, but how about this? you meet me at the tattoo shop around 5?" 

is he asking you out on a date?

"yeah! yeah, I'm down," you said quickly.

"you're excited," he teased. "I'll see you there." 

the other line went silent.

you put your phone up and jumped on the bed, squealing into the pillow. after a few minutes of letting the fact you now have a date with your hot tattoo artist, you realized that you didn't even know where he was going to take you.

"what if it's somewhere fancy and I wear something regular?" you panicked. you couldn't call him back, because he was busy enough to cut your conversation short.

there's no way he was going to take you to a fancy place as a first date anyways.

☆

you made it to the parlor as michael was closing up, waving goodbye to jack and locking the door.

he saw you walking towards him and grinned.

"just on time, love. not even a minute late?" he pocketed the key and leaned against the door.

"didn't want to keep you waiting," you replied. you let an internal sigh of relief. he wasn't dressed formally.

"sorry I didn't tell you where I was gonna take you," he apologized. "and I also hope you're fine with riding a motorcycle."

you raised an eyebrow in question. "yeah, a friend used to drive me around on a motorcycle."

"cool, cool. let's go," he led you back to the parking lot.

"you gonna tell me where we're going?" he offered you one of the two helmets sitting on his bike.

"if I tell you, it'd ruin the surprise. not that it's much of a surprise anyways. just be patient, love." he slipped a pair of leather gloves on and you hesitantly wrapped your arms around him.

"you're gonna have to hold me tighter than that if you don't wanna slip off," the corner of his mouth upturned. he should just put his visor down already so you don't have to look at his handsome face.

"weird way of asking me to hug you closer." you hummed, but you did follow his directions.

he let out a breathy chuckle and flipped his helmet visor down. "payback for what I said yesterday?" he asked as he guided the bike out the lot.

☆

it was in fact payback.

it wasn't really successful though, since michael always had a statement to one up you.

"you were practically drooling when I was talking to you about keeping your tat safe," he reminded you at a red light.

"I genuinely don't remember that." 

"I do. it was so obvious even jack talked to me about it. and jack is as dense as a rock."

"how about you pay attention to the road?"

"when such a hot babe is touching me? I can't resist, love."

michael seemed to take pride in your unresponsive self. it hadn't even been 10 minutes and you swear that michael was going to be the end of you.

you could not let this slide.

☆

the two of you pulled up to a little cute diner, its neon sign already glowing brightly in the darkening sky.

"it's not much, but it's my favorite place to go to. plus, it's my dad's." he explained as you both made you way to the entrance. "don't worry, he won't even be here. and thankfully, neither will my siblings."

"siblings?" you asked as a waiter immediately led you to a booth.

"yeah. I have two. evan and elizabeth. they're both little twerps, especially elizabeth." he scoffed. "as soon as she got into middle school, all she could talk about was boys."

"sounds like the usual 80's girl," you nodded. 

he let out a little noise in agreement and picked up the menu.

"anything you want? I already know what I want." he handed it to you.

you scanned the menu before finding what you wanted.

"I'll just get this," you pointed.

he called the waitress over and she took your orders. as soon as she left, michael leaned in, holding his face up with his hands.

"so, what do you like to do?" he inquired.

you thought about it for a moment. "I don't know, flirt with hot men?"

he looked shocked. "so you've done this to multiple people and not me?"

"I- I uh," you began. "wait, would you be jealous?"

he raised an eyebrow. "guess."

you groaned. 

he was obviously amused.

"what about you?" you changed the subject to him.

"hmmm," he thought. "I'll show you."

he whipped a pen out of his jacket pocket and grabbed a napkin.

you watched in confusion as he doodled on it, and after 5 minutes of silence later he folded the napkin into a heart and slid it across the table to you.

you gasped when you opened it. it was a sketch of you, and it was as detailed as a 5 minute sketch done by a professional artist could be.

"I love it!" you pulled both his hands into yours, beaming up at him.

he let out a grin of his own, pink dusting his cheeks. 

"that's good. I mean, if I couldn't draw good as a tattoo artist that'd be pretty weird."

you looked at the drawing a bit more before you asked him, "could you fold it back into a heart for me again? please?"

"of course, love."

☆

by the time you and michael had finished eating, it was pitch black outside and you had learned a lot about michael.

he ,apparently, was the token bad boy of middle school until he got his brother evan into an accident that could've been fatal, but thankfully survived through it.

he was also going to be a mechanic, until he decided he wanted a job that'd make him really happy and opened his own tattoo shop.

he also smells sweet because of the amount of perfume elizabeth spreads around the house. he also uses her shampoo and conditioner.

"how else would I have this gorgeous mullet?" he explained.

after michael had tipped the waitress that was serving the two of you, you told him you had something you wanted to do with him.

"follow me. I saw something out here that I really want to do." 

you had stopped in front of a little photo booth on the side of the store.

"a photo booth?" 

"yeah. this is my first date and I just wanted to commemorate it, you know?"

"this is your first date?" michael asked in disbelief as you pushed him into the little room and squished up against him.

"yeah, believe it or not."

"I don't believe it."

you raised your eyebrow as you inserted the money and got ready for the first picture.

"you better now, because it's about to take a picture."

you threw up a little peace sign and michael pouted. "what am I supposed to d-"

he was cut off by the flash of the camera.

you laughed as he grumbled.

he draped his arm around your shoulder, giving the camera wide smirk. you looked at him in surprise and the camera went off again.

"we're both getting caught off guard," you shook your head in mock disappointment.

"maybe this time we won't," michael locked eyes with you, inching closer. you closed your eyes, and then-

flash!

that wasn't the camera in the booth.

you heard giggling come from behind the curtain, and when you opened it, you found a boy and a girl holding a little disposable camera.

"mikey was gonna kiss a girl!" the girl cheered.

"and you ruined it!" michael leaned over you to snatch the camera when the actual photo booth camera went off.

and man, did the strip of pictures make some memories.

#fnaf #michael afton #michael #michael afton imagine #michael afton smut #michael afton x reader #fnaf michael afton #I LOVE HIM SM #fnaf imagines #fnaf x reader

[darkhymns-fic]

Pilgrimage

Lloyd had never seen Colette's grandmother, who she goes to visit everyday and bring food. It is only when the wolf decides to follow the girl, dressed always in her red riding hood down a long and winding path in the woods, that he finally realizes… [Werewolf AU]

Fandom: Tales of Symphonia Characters/Pairing: Colette Brunel/Lloyd Irving, Phaidra Brunel Rating: T Word Count: 5599 Mirror: AO3 Notes: A special treat for Halloween, where I decide to visit this AU once again! Visit AO3 for previous chapters of this story. May or may not have some spooks.

--

It's autumn again, when Colette comes to see him.

For the past few months, Lloyd found himself needing to keep moving through the forest, no longer keeping to one cave or a small glade. He was being tracked—even when he wasn't entirely sure by whom. Sometimes he thinks it's that same huntsman, who had held a gun over his knees, finger over the trigger, watching him with caution. He'll hear a familiar step over the dead leaves before he rushes away, hoping to evade another encounter.

Even if the man’s eyes no longer seemed distant or cold. But Lloyd didn’t feel like speaking with him yet. Some other time, he would think, rushing off to somewhere else so he could be alone.

Sometimes, usually at night, he thinks he’s being tracked by the bear named Mithos. He hasn't heard sounds, anything at all. But at certain moments, when the moon is full, or the night was unnaturally quiet, he would feel something. A shadow, a cold shiver in his spine, one that makes him run even faster until his lungs hurt. Those are the days he couldn’t really stand still, or even really sleep. He would prowl among the brush, searching and waiting, searching and waiting.

And then, the hollow, empty feeling would leave. But such nights happened too often now.

It was different with Colette. With her footsteps, which always landed over the fallen leaves carefully, as if afraid she would crush them too harshly, Lloyd would catch a scent. Sometimes it was of the food she was carrying, other times it was of the lavender in her hair.

He couldn't run away from that. He'd just run towards it instead.

Lloyd found Colette leaning against a tree, tracing the intertwined roots beneath with her left shoe. A thought briefly lit up in his head, one to surprise her with a tiny growl and his hands reaching for her own. His tail thumped against the ground as he waited behind her, but before he could do anything, Colette leapt from her spot and jumped right into the brush. Her hands found the sleeves of the jacket he wore, fingers tracing upward.

"Ha! Caught you!"

Lloyd blinked before he gave a little snicker, revealing sharp teeth. "Hey, no fair! I was about to get you first!"

"You're getting sloppy then." Colette smiled as she tugged at something around his neck, a little chiming sound echoing around them. "I know the sound your collar makes. I’m surprised you’re still wearing it.”

Sometimes Lloyd forgot he was still wearing the small gift from her. It was of red leather, clasped around his throat when she brought him home one day, In case you get lost! He had never really understood the logic, but he wanted to keep her happy and wore it with no complaints. He looked down, watching Colette press the shiny tag with her thumb. 

“Guess I’ve gotten used to it,” Lloyd said with a shrug. Then he leaned down to kiss her, as he always did when she came to see him. A gentle brush against her lips, no longer as worrying or shy as before. The lavender scent was even stronger the closer he was to her, his hand reaching up to cradle her cheek.

She kissed him back, feeling her fingertips at his neck—but it ended too quickly. She pulled back, looking towards her right briefly before she smiled again. “Sorry. I didn’t bring any extra food with me this time. I only have enough for my grandmother when I go see her later. Father was around the house today so I couldn’t sneak in another helping.”

“Oh, uh, that’s fine. I already feel full from the last meal you gave me.” Lloyd raised an eyebrow. “Is…everything alright?”

“Yep!” Colette had said that way too quickly, but already she was taking his hand, further past the trees into the glade. The sun’s rays couldn’t push through the boughs overhead, the leaves still hanging on despite their gold and orange colors. It was dim, with the occasional spider web blocking their path, but Colette would simply avoid those, pointing at an orbweaver or two, fascinated by their patterns.

On their walk, she avoided his eyes, and her grip on his hand was tight.

“Here seems nice,” Colette said, taking a seat on the grass. Her red cloak spread among the leaves behind her, like a shimmering crimson lake. She also put down her basket to her left, but it was as she said. She had brought no food, and though Lloyd was a little disappointed, it’s not like he was starving. 

She patted the leaf pile next to her. “Sit!”

Lloyd tilted his head at her. “You’re doing that thing again. Where you think I’m a dog.” But he obeyed, quickly sitting himself next to her, his tail brushing aside the leaves.

“Oh, whoops,” Colette said, pushing aside a lock of her hair over her ear. “It must be because of the collar.”

Still, he noticed she wouldn’t look at him—not unless she needed to. Her hands fidgeted with each other, and her eyes kept shifting to the trees. Was she nervous about him? Or about this part of the forest?

He knew something that could help.

Lloyd moved a little closer, and then put his head right into her lap. “Whoops. Maybe I’m a dog after all…” His tail wagged rapidly. “I want some pets!”

If this had been a few months ago, he would have been embarrassed. Well, he still kinda was, but he had to admit that Colette was way too good at petting…

He got the expected reaction from her. Now she was all smiles, laughing cutely as she began stroking his ear and rubbing his furry pointed ears. “Aw, Lloyd! You’re so cute when you’re like this! Of course I’ll pet you.”

Success! But, her pets also made him a little sleepy. With a great yawn, he made himself a bit more comfortable over her knees, feeling her relaxing strokes. “Mmhmm….”

The glade was dim, but he felt what few rays of the sun continued to shine down. Bits of warmth against the chill breeze. The occasional pockets of birdsong around them. The scent of Colette’s hair.

She continued to pet him, to play with his hair, her fingers sometimes reaching to caress his cheek. She had never been afraid of him, of his claws that he dug a little against the grass, or his fangs that she must have felt in their kiss.

Her petting slowed. He could hear a soft stutter in her throat. She was still worried about something.

"Will you always be here?" Colette asked him, fingers running through his hair. "In the forest?"

Lloyd tried to keep himself awake, but her pets were always so soothing. His eyelids came dangerously close to lowering. "Huh… Y-yeah. It's just easier for me being here." Maybe she was going to ask him to stay in town again, but she should know it was still a bit impossible for him…

"Um, that's not exactly what I mean." Colette traced patterns across his scalp; the shapes of stars, of spirals, of little animal faces. "Just…will you be here five years from now? Ten? Or….will you have to leave someday?"

Lloyd blinked, suddenly more wide awake. He looked up at Colette's face, and even from the awkward angle, he could see her worried expression. In the way her lips pressed firm, in the way her eyes seemed so far away.

"Colette, what are you talking about?"

Cruel of him to ask, when he half-suspected, he realized.

She paused before speaking again. "You've been wandering more and more lately. I've noticed." Her fingers rubbed against his ear. "And going farther… like you're running from something."

Lloyd waited. How had she noticed? Then he remembered that Colette was one of the few people who knew these woods more than most. She had found him so easily, after all. How she came upon a scared shaking thing in the forest, so happy to offer him food.

"If it's Mr. Kratos, I can talk with him. I can tell him it's okay. I think…I think he's just worried about you, that's all."

His hand reached to find hers, interlacing their fingers. "It's not just him."

Colette may have seen the bear that night, but she had no idea how much it wanted to tear at her throat.

How much it pushed Lloyd to do the same.

“Lloyd?” The hood of her red cloak bundled up around her neck. Maybe it was the dim lighting, or the way his mind was still fuzzy from her touch, but, if he let his mind play tricks…

It would have almost looked like blood on her skin.

“There’s things out there that you don’t know about,” he whispered. “I’m just…watching out for them.”

And leading them away, if he needed to.

“I’m not going anywhere though, I promise.” He tried to give her an easy-going smile, brushing his tail against her knees as he looked up at her. Still, he saw the small worry lines at the corner of her eyes, even in the dimness. Her hands stilled within his hair, no longer stroking or petting.

“You can tell me anything, you know,” she said, her voice softer. “If you’re afraid of something, I want to help you. Won’t you let me?”

Lloyd had to do all he could to not deny it outright. He couldn’t let Colette be in danger again.

He couldn’t let Mithos find her again. The bear was slow. It always lumbered through the woods, even with no sound, leaving no tracks behind. But on most nights, Lloyd could feel that creature near.

He reached up to take the hand that has been petting it, clasping it tight. “I know. But, it’s okay. Like I said, I’m not going anywhere.”

And when Colette finally smiled back, maybe, he realized, he was getting better at lying now. Because he knew couldn’t keep throwing off the bear forever. He knew that one day, it was going to find him again. And anyone that happened to be too close to him.

I’ll protect Colette, he thought to himself. Even if it means leaving her.

—

However, Lloyd couldn’t follow his own advice sometimes.

When Colette finally left the glade, waving to him goodbye and going down the same forest path she always took every day, Lloyd decided to see where she went. He had never really done so before, too anxious and skittish in those earlier days, of both her and the huntsman that would occasionally appear by Colette’s side.

And the only other instance had been on that night, when he felt the bear so close, when it had been hunting Colette down.

Maybe, if he followed her now, he could still protect her from anything that got too close. That was his excuse as he moved through the brush, astounded at the steep slopes that Colette walked on, and through dark thickets. He had to be careful, aware of Colette’s good hearing, so he didn’t crinkle any fallen leaves or step on any twigs. It’s what he learned after all these years when hunting, to stalk and slink through the brush until he was ready.

Though, if someone were to see him now, they would think he was hunting Colette…

Soon, she arrived at her destination—a small, lone church made from stone. It was perched on the top of a hill, embedded against the cliffside. Lloyd had never seen it before, which was surprising. He had lived in these woods for as long as he could remember, yet had never stumbled upon this place. 

But why was there a church that was so far from town? Lloyd couldn’t imagine most people would walk this far just to pray.

Who would they even pray to? he also had to wonder. He felt he should know but couldn’t remember…

The hillside had another path to climb on, one that Colette went to with little hesitance despite how easy it looked to trip over. Lloyd watched nervously as she occasionally stumbled, gripping the tree he was hiding behind with his claws. She was getting farther away, and there was barely anything to hide behind on the hill besides the occasional bush. 

But what if she fell and hurt herself? He had to get closer! He held his breath, following along that same steep path. So light that he barely made tracks, so quiet that even the nearby crickets didn’t scurry away from him.

Somewhere on the hill was a small stump, its ends all ragged and the roots half-rising from the soil so that it created a little enclave beneath. Maybe a storm had destroyed it, though there was no sign of a log anywhere. Still, Lloyd made sure to hide within its opening, settling in the dirt but keeping his eye on Colette who finally made it to the top.

Lloyd watched her give a little sigh once she did, gripping the basket she carried more firmly in her right hand. He could also see more of the church, moss crawling along its sides, a banner flying from the breeze, with a symbol he couldn’t recognize. Again, it was such an odd place for a church, being in the middle of nowhere.

Twin doors fashioned by oak opened then, as if knowing Colette was here. She waved, rushing up to the front. “Good afternoon, grandmother! I brought some lunch!” 

Lloyd stared. Wait, her grandmother lived in a church? He always thought she lived inside some tiny cottage!

The woman that walked out was quite old and very much looked like a grandmother in Lloyd’s opinion. She had a bit of a hunch, bent over a wooden cane she gripped in her left hand, tapping it against the dirt. Her hair was a similar shade to Colette’s, arranged in a bun, but in a style that let her forelocks frame her face, wrapped in ribbons. An old-fashioned hairstyle that Lloyd could somehow recall, vaguely.

“Colette, it’s so good to see you.” She lifted her head, the wrinkles around her cheeks and mouth so deep and pronounced. Despite her soft tone, Lloyd could pick up her voice, his wolf ears catching even the faintest breath. “And just in time for the tea to be ready.”

There was something sharp about her eyes, he thought. At first, he had wondered why an old lady would be living by herself so far from town. But clearly, there was something more to her.

Through the open doors, the grandmother led Colette by the hand, both of them careful in their steps. The wind blew somewhat strong, lifting up her red cloak, its color catching Lloyd’s sight. It was the last thing he saw before the doors shut, the sound of it so loud within the woods, and oddly final.

Lloyd peeked out his head a bit more from beneath the stump, sniffing the air. He could still catch the scent of food that Colette brought—of honey-glazed ham, crisp apples, and some freshly-baked bread—on the breeze, but little else. And what he could catch from the church itself was strange; of something old and musty. Such a place must have been built decades ago, the walls crumbling, with only the stained glass windows on the side well taken-care of.

He stared at the building, his tail occasionally thumping the ground in thoughtfulness. Lunch didn’t usually take too long, so he could just wait until Colette was done and make sure she got back home safe! He nodded at the idea, satisfied. Maybe she’ll still have some leftovers?

Lloyd yawned wide, enough to crack his jaw, then scratched at his fur. The sun was pretty warm, and this space beneath the stump was warm and cozy. It’d been a while since Lloyd had napped at a new place…

—

It's too dark.

Ever since Lloyd became this, shadows are no longer an obstacle. His eyes can pierce through the dark nearly as well as his nose can, catching scents of a fleeing rabbit, or a skittish bird. Prey.

Foliage is outlined to him in all its details. He can see the eyes of other creatures stare back at him, confused at his existence. He can see the dips in the ground, careful to not slip, or the ridges of roots ahead.

But now he can't see anything.

Lloyd half-got up, his claws scrabbling at the ground. It feels different, no longer as loose as soil. It’s hard like stone, but he can’t understand why. 

This no longer feels like the forest. 

Something is breathing. Near him. On him.

Lloyd tries to move away, but there is a wall in front of him, one that he can’t see. He tries to move left, and meets another wall. To his right. Another. Even up top, something blocks his way. Trapped. Closing in. Suffocating.

The thing behind him breathes, and speaks, and reaches for him. What it says is unintelligible in every way. It blocks the exit. Or maybe there is none at all. Maybe Lloyd is stuck inside. Forever. In this place where he can’t sense anything, where he can’t feel the earth anymore, where he can’t hear anything except someone’s breathing.

But he catches a scent. It’s sudden and overwhelming. It stinks of rot and decay.

Like he’s trapped inside with a corpse.

Lloyd tries again, tries again to leave, his claws digging deep into the stone. It’s not enough. The thing behind him speaks again, opening its jaws to make it even more unbearable.

“You’ll be just like me.”

The air leaves him with nothing left to breathe in. Lloyd scratches at the wall.

“Everyone will see you as the monster you really are. Even her.”

A great weight crushes him to the ground. Suffocating him. Devouring him. He tries to scream, but no sound leaves him. He feels he’s gone deaf except for the voice that’s all around him.

“Why else do you stalk her through the woods if not to hunt her down?”

—

When Lloyd woke up, it was to the sound of his own shouts.

“Let…let me go!”

It clutched at his ribs, made him feel as if thorns were sprouting all around his throat. Breathing, once something he sought after desperately, was painful. Terrifying. His arms scrambled against walls again, and faintly recognized the feeling of bark against his claws. There was dirt on his knees, clinging to his fur. The earth again. Not encased in stone.

Lloyd had to calm himself to breathe normally again.

It’s not here, he tried to tell himself. It’s not here it’s not here.

But he still felt trapped.

With a shake of his head, Lloyd controlled himself well enough to finally squeeze himself out of the hollow beneath the stump. Fresh air hit him, ruffled his fur, his hands gripping the grass and feeling every soft blade against his palms. He breathed in and out. In and out. He clenched his sharp teeth, his fur standing on end.

It was sunset. The shadow of the church fell over him, and the stained glass windows reflected the sunlight in varying hues of orange and pink. Lloyd rubbed at his eyes, hoping for the images of the nightmare to finally disperse in the light.

It was dim, but not pitch black. He could still see the church and its crumbling walls, its strange spherical rooftop, and its moss-covered columns. He took in the sight, in the details that transformed from blurs to sharpness, until he realized there was something else there.

A person. One who stood before a nearby well that was placed by the side of the church and near the tree stump. The old woman clutched at a pail in one hand as she faced Lloyd, her body framed by the watercolored sky.

Lloyd was in the open now. He remembered then how he had just burst out from beneath the ground, shouting and breathing roughly. How he must look to her, with his ragged tail and sharp claws, and his eyes still shining bright from his nightmare.

Too late to run away and hide. He faced her, but slowly tried to back away. 

“S-sorry,” he stuttered out, not meaning to. The words had just come, leaving his throat in all its coarseness. He winced at the sound of them, the half-growls escaping with those words.

“Now, hold on,” spoke the old woman. She set the water pail down the path, placing both hands on the top of her cane. “Have you come for salvation then?”

The question was unexpected. Lloyd blinked, unsure how to answer the woman who didn’t seem bothered by his appearance—or at least, it wasn’t obvious she was. “I… I was just…sleeping before..”

The woman clucked her tongue. “Dangerous to sleep out in these woods. Many things hunt at this hour, you know. We have beds for those seeking help, or those who may have lost their way.” She gestured to the church with her cane. “You must have been guided by Martel Herself to us.”

The name sparked something in Lloyd’s head, but only slightly so. Like an electric shock against his fingertips that left him warm and a little in pain. He knew about Martel…A friend? A name said in passing?

“No…It was Colette,” he said, rubbing his head. “She said she was going to visit…”

He didn’t realize the old lady had hobbled closer. She was gazing at his great ears, and then at his tail that brushed away the dead leaves on the ground. “You’ve gone through so much trouble, haven’t you?”

Lloyd paused, watching as this old woman looked at him with a strange curiosity that was so familiar to him. He didn’t know how to react, instead eyeing her hands that were wrinkled with bones jutting against the skin.

He couldn’t help but ask, “Why aren’t you afraid of me?”

The woman smiled, the wind shifting her golden hair. Though in her age, it had lost much of its shine. “I’ve known many like you. A curse like yours has existed for as long as I can remember.”

She shifted towards the church, gesturing to him to follow along. “We don’t turn the afflicted away. Come inside. I still have some food leftover from when my granddaughter visited.”

Such words prodded again at Lloyd’s memory, making him shake his head from the sleep that still clung to him. “Wait, about… Is Colette your granddaughter? Where is she?” Did he ask too roughly? He could still hear his own growls in his voice, at how unkempt his fur was now, which stood up more in the cold night that was coming.

“Oh, Colette? She’s already long gone, dear.” The old lady walked up to the side of the church, with Lloyd trailing after her quickly. She then entered through a small kitchen door, one that Lloyd had missed earlier. It blended in with the stone, its wood painted in the same color. “No matter how much I ask her, she never stays here until the morning. But she’s strong. I believe she will be safe.”

How had he already missed her? “I need to find her. I—” He winced, feeling himself shake. “Agh…”

“Have you eaten today? It wouldn’t be wise to go anywhere on an empty stomach.” The old woman reached for a woven basket on a nearby table, the dim sunlight streaming in through the door to highlight the iron pots that hung on racks, and a fireplace where some tea was still brewing in a hanging kettle.

“Th-thanks, grams,” Lloyd said, already reaching into the basket to munch on the first thing he grabbed: a few slices of the honey-glazed ham. The delicious taste of it brought a little more warmth to his limbs.

The old woman smiled, somehow not put off at all by his ravenous hunger, or how his sharp teeth must have been obvious by now. Then, as if propelled by a memory he couldn’t even remember, he swallowed his bite before speaking again.

“Sorry, I didn’t even give you my name. I'm Lloyd… Um, just Lloyd.”

She chuckled at his sudden politeness, and only turned away so she could grab the tea kettle with a well-used dish rag. “My name is Phaidra Brunel. I’m the priestess of this church, the last left.” She raised blue eyes to meet his own. “We don’t get many visitors here.”

“Yeah, I…can see that.” Lloyd stilled as he realized what he said and how rude it must have been. “Uh! I mean it’s so far away from town, and I barely see anyone else on the roads.”

Phaidra nodded, pouring the tea into a pair of porcelain cups, etched with blue whorls all around their surfaces. Lloyd noticed an extra cup off to the side, one with a small picture of a dog on its side. Had that been Colette's?

"Many would once make the pilgrimage here to the temple of Martel, but now it is mostly Colette who does so regularly. And she only does so to visit me instead of pray." She smiled softly and with sadness, gripping her own teacup with gnarled knuckles. "Very few remember the goddess nowadays."

Lloyd sipped at the cup she gave him, the flavor of it reminding him of Colette's home. This place sounded so lonely—maybe that was why Colette visited all the time. Especially if such an old lady lived here by herself, taking care of such a grand, if old, church.

"But, you know of the goddess, don't you?" Phaidra asked. "You know her name."

He stared, still holding the cup. "I do," he said. "But, I can't remember from where…"

She nodded. "Then please stay here. Maybe, with time, you'll remember her."

—

At Colette's home, she had also made him tea.

"It's a specialty from my grandmother," she had told him then. The cup she gave him had been worn with use, the paint on its side chipping away. But he had felt the tea's warmth through the porcelain, its dark color reminding him of the earth.

"Oh, is it too hot?" And as she leaned close, her hair brushed against his. He watched her blow the drink, making ripples along the surface. "There!"

"I'm okay with it being hot," he had said, but when he sipped, it was nice that the tea wasn't scalding. It let him taste the honey she had mixed in more easily.

"Then next time, I'll make it hotter," she had teased. And by her side was the same woven basket he always saw her carry. Because, once again, she was off to see her grandmother who lived deep in the woods…

—

It wasn’t a dream Lloyd was recalling as he walked down the hallways, night already settling in. Yet the memory played out in his head as if it happened right in front of him, brought on by the tea Phaidra had made, by the familiar symbols etched into a tablecloth, similar to what he had seen at Colette’s home.

He wished she was here still. He hoped she was safe. 

The hour was getting late when Lloyd went to see the main chapel, placed within the front of the church. Phaidra had said she needed to check on the rest of the church, such as the food storage and her own herb gardens. "You can see the others who made the pilgrimage here," she told him. “The goddess calls to those who are lost like you.”

He still didn’t really understand who this goddess was, but, if such a goddess made Phaidra accept him despite how he looked, maybe she wasn’t bad. Could such a goddess have an answer to what was going on with him?

Could…such a goddess heal him of what he was? He looked down at his hands, at the claws painted black, sharp enough to rend through most things. Maybe I really was supposed to come here…

Lloyd entered the great room from the side, and the first thing he saw was the statue of a woman. Placed in the far back, she seemed to tower over everything. Her right hand held a staff, its top framed with wings, while the other was turned palm-up, facing the heavens. The expression chiseled on her face was beautiful and calm, and her long hair flowing from her like some winding river, circling her form. On her dress, he saw the same familiar symbol as the church displayed on its tattered banner outside.

In the daylight, she must have looked amazing once the sun streamed in through the stained glass windows. But tonight, there was not even a full moon—thankfully, as it left him feeling less feral. She was only highlighted by the circle of candles placed around the statue’s base, elongating shadows down her face and across the carpeted floor.

And she was facing a roomful of empty pews, each row crumbling and empty.

Lloyd blinked, looking around the room, confused. “No one’s here?” he said aloud. “Phaidra said there were others…”

He felt awful for thinking it, but he began to suspect that Phaidra wasn’t exactly…all there in the head. It would explain why she didn’t seem to show any fear to his looks. She probably just thinks I’m having a bad hair day or something. He sighed. Maybe it was for the best that no one saw him now. Especially when it was so late at night.

Lloyd walked up to the statue, looking at her more, trying to pinpoint her to a place, to a person—to anything. It was there, sleeping in the back of his mind. But why did looking at her bring some other feeling to him? Something that loomed behind him like some hulking shadow. He felt his heart beat a little faster. He gripped a hand against his chest, clutching the shirt, his fur standing on end.

Something was wrong.

Movement shifted to his right. Someone was here, sitting at the pews. Someone was here. And he hadn’t seen them.

There was a boy sitting in the front row, but he didn’t kneel in supplication. He only sat there, looking up at the statue. The candles highlighted his pale face, his light blonde hair, and a white overcoat that cut through the dark. He continued staring, as if unaware Lloyd was even there.

Lloyd held his breath. He tried to edge away, a soft and soundless step on the carpet.

The boy turned.

The eyes of the bear stared back at him—along with a white-toothed smile. “So, you’ve come,” said Mithos.

Lloyd couldn’t move. 

The boy walked towards him gracefully and quickly, as if all in one motion. It wasn’t lumbering, and didn’t stink of rot, and maggots weren’t digging through his skull.

But even so, Lloyd felt some great shadow fall over him, rooting him in place. Or was that the shadow of the statue?

“Martel always accepted those who were different,” spoke the voice that had been a constant in his nightmares. It was soft and slithering, writhing through his chest like debilitating poison. “Because she was different too. She was tortured for it. She was killed for it.” Mithos faced Lloyd, hands clasped before him, near the hem of his coat. He smiled, but the smile was lifeless and cold. “I make sure that her suffering is never forgotten.”

Lloyd couldn’t make much sense of what Mithos was even saying—every word was pain in his ears. Every sentence made him want to wretch onto the carpet, made him want to tear and destroy everything and rip this entire church to the ground.

He must have fallen at some point. Because Mithos was soon kneeling over him, his eyes as dead as a corpse’s. “She shouldn’t be the only one to suffer. That just wouldn’t be fair, or just. And you, you’re all about justice, aren’t you?”

“I…I don’t…” Lloyd shook. His claws clutched at the carpet, ripping through the fabric.

A hand reached out, gripping him by the collar Colette had given him. 

“But you made it into some twisted little game with her.”

Lloyd couldn’t breathe. Just like before. Just like when he had clutched so desperately at his swords, but they had slipped from his hands as a great paw pinned him to the dirt. He had tried to fight back. He had tried so much. But the sight of great teeth took everything from him, until he was lost to the sound of his bones breaking apart, of his own skin being torn through again and again and again and again—

Furious barking echoed throughout the chapel.

Lloyd could suddenly breathe again, and he could move, so he swiped at Mithos before he could even think. Claws caught onto fabric, and in Mithos’ face, he saw rage twisted beyond anything else. It grew fur and fangs, and a skull was reflected in the candlelight, that of the bear that had haunted him ever since. There was barking again, sharp and angry. 

And then Mithos was no longer there.

Lloyd breathed hard, falling back to the floor. Soft footsteps padded up to him, a wet snout ruffling his hair. He opened his eyes, barely, to see green fur and big ears above him—and black eyes that had always been so anxious.

“...Noishe?” he whispered, unbelieving. But then darkness took him again, last seeing an old friend, standing before the statue of a stranger.

#tales of symphonia #halloween #lloyd irving #colette brunel #phaidra brunel #fanfiction #multichapter

[professortennant]

hey yo my friend, long time no see, how you doing? i can ask for 19 and/or 20 for the writing warm up prompts please? 💜

hi friend! doing okay and glad to be dipping toes back into fandom waters <3 #20. wearing their lover’s clothes! (also, “can I get my shirt back? ’'no.”)

Samantha Carter, it turns out, is a no-good, dirty rotten thief. He suspected her when he'd returned to the commissary to find his plate of fries a few handfuls short and his second-in-command looking suspiciously like the cat got the canary, greasy fingers and lips and all.

It escalates from there.

On their return from their stint in 1969, smelling like pot and incense and sweat , he'd returned to the locker room with wet hair and a towel around his waist to find most of his 60s-era clothing gone. He hadn't thought anything of it at the time, figured the eggheads collected it as part of mission artifacts and they were folded and labeled in a storage vault somewhere.

Except when he gets topside and walks towards his truck, ready for a cold beer to ease the ache of time travel, he sees Captain Carter astride a rumbling beast of a motorcycle clad in a suspiciously familiar leather jacket. Where it had been snug on him in the 60s, it swamps her form. Something low in his gut twists at the sight of seeing her wearing his clothes--however brief a time they were his. And the sight of her now--leather jacket and long legs and looking entirely too tempting and dangerous--is enough to make him question every fraternization reg in the book.

He slid his sunglasses up the bridge of his nose and twirled his keys around his finger, aiming for nonchalant as he made his way towards her, raising his voice over the rumble of her engine. "Nice jacket you got there, Carter."

There was only a flash of chagrin on her face before she shrugged, fingers plucking at the soft, worn leather. "Vintage is in these days, sir. And, well, it doesn't get more vintage than this."

"Hey," he said sharply. "Easy with the vintage. Some of us were around when that jacket was new."

She ducked her head, biting back a smile. "Yes, sir."

(He should report her for removal of property of the Stargate program, but he's always been a pretty firm believer that rules are generally meant to be broken and she really, really does look good in that jacket. He steps back and watches her go, revving her engine and disappearing around the corner with a backwards glance at her stunned CO.)

On P3X-229, he finds the front pocket of his pack suspiciously light and Major Carter covered in his favorite brand of sunscreen--the kind that smelled just a little bit like coconuts and bananas that the Air Force refused to spring the extra couple bucks for. When he stepped into her personal space and gave a dramatic sniff, she had the gumption to raise an eyebrow at him, chin jutting defiantly as if daring him to say something.

(He made sure to pack an extra tube in his pack for her next time. It was more protective than the standard issue crap and maybe it did a little something to him to know that he was doing this for her--his fair-skinned Major who started burning exactly sixty-one minutes in the sun. The fact that she smelled like summers at the cabin didn't hurt either.)

On her first real trip to the cabin--after Pete and Kerry and all the things they left unsaid finally said--she sits beside him on the dock of his cabin, cold beer in her hand and smelling of his own personal brand of sunscreen (this time given freely and applied in messy swipes of his hands over her shoulders and neck). She stretches out leisurely and presses her bare thigh against his, the contact of skin sticky in the heat. He squeezes her knee and leans over to brush his lips over her rapidly freckling shoulder.

"You should go inside, Carter. You're mottling like a banana."

She gave him an unimpressed smile. "A banana? Real nice." Another brush of his lips against her skin had her relenting, melting against his side. "A few more minutes and then we'll both go in."

"This is not a negotiation, Sam," he argued, voice dropping the teasing tone and instead replacing it with concern. Old habits die hard. "You're going to burn and you'll be miserable and then--"

But Sam is two steps ahead--when isn't she?--and curls her fingers against his jaw and lifts his mouth to hers, kissing him softly, hungrily. She tastes of sun and salt and all thoughts of going inside disappear with each brush of her tongue against his, each soft searching press of her lips. No matter how many galaxies he travels to or planets he explores, each kiss and touch from Samantha Carter is the only adrenaline rush he needs.

As he presses forward, shifts in his chair to get closer, his fishing rod clattering to the dock so he can get his hand between her legs and the other in her hair, he feels a sudden pull and then she's gone from his arms.

He blinks stupidly for a minute until his lust-filled gaze clears and he sees Samantha Carter sitting in front of him looking deliciously self-satisfied and his favorite olive green cap--the one he was wearing until about five seconds ago--perched atop her head, her blonde hair curling beneath the brim.

She beams at him. "Ten more minutes," she counters, her tongue peeking out from behind her teeth in a too-wide, mischievous smile.

He huffs, faux-annoyance coloring his tone as he reaches for his favorite hat on his favorite person. "Give that back, you kleptomaniac."

But she dodges out of reach, laughing and pulling the bill of his hat--now her hat--further down on her head. "No," she argues.

He could argue, he thinks, reach over and scoop her up and throw her in the empty lake or carry her back to the cabin and strip her of every piece of clothing she has except for his baseball cap (and actually, yeah, he'll put a pin in that). Instead, he leans back in his chair and watches her and realizes he's forgotten one last count of theft against her:

She stole his heart.

#and the award for cheesiest dumbest ending goes toooooooooooo #sg1fic #sam x jack #sg1 fic #stargate sg1 #samantha carter #jack o'neill

[starr-finn]

Picnic date with Bain, Dating Bain PT 2

Author's note: Uhhhh reader comes across as a baker, because like baking so yay lol, this one is wayyy longer so i put in the keep reading thing, first time so i hope it works

Bain was getting finished getting ready for a second date, he was still very happy that he got a second date with you. The first date went off perfectly and he's never been happier to have someone as amazing as you agree to go out with him, and he actually managed to score a second date with you. Bain actually seemed confidant enough to wear something he felt more comfortable in, his usual black leather jacket, a white tee shirt, and a pair of light blue jeans, with his black boots. He had, once again, taken the longest shower of his life, used a bit more cologne than usual, and actually pulled his hair back into a bun. He grabbed his keys and walked out, he was excited, this was only his second date with you, he had almost no clue how dated worked, so he was just gonna let you lead things.

He sighs, he was just sitting in the car before starting it, just, thinking about how this was going to go, he was anxious, how was this going to go? Was he gonna make a fool of himself? What if he did something that upset you? He sighs again and starts the car, driving to the park where you both decided to have the date at, it was a small park on the outside of the city, it was beautiful from the pictures Bain had seen, and you always brought up how pretty you thought the park was. Bain smiles at the thought of you, he spent the whole drive thinking about how long he had liked you, how long he'd been wanting to ask you out, everything honestly. Bain looked around as he pulled into the park, and there you where, holding a basket. He smiles and gets out of the car, and walks over and smiles.

You look up at him and smile "Hey! good to see you again."

Bain smiles and nods before you grab his hand "So I decided to do something a bit different today. I know of a really nice clearing in the woods"

He chuckles and follows you to where ever you were dragging him, he was thinking more on the fact that you're holding his hand. Eventually, you stop and smile back at him

"Here we are!" you said setting the basket down and pulling out a soft, red and black flannel blanket and laying it out before sitting down smiling "Alright, sit down"

Bain nods and sits down across from you, watching as you pull out a few drinks, a few different foods, and a box of store bought cookies "I was gonna bake cookies myself, but I didn't have the time"

Bain smiles softly "Don't worry about it! you have a lot more chances to bake me cookies"  He jokes which makes you laugh, it felt nice for him to have someone he felt so close with, or someone he could somewhat trust. He knew there was still a long LONG way to go before he fully trusts you, but hey, being out and about with you was a huge start to the typically reclusive and anxious Bain. He spends most of the day just talking to you, he let you get so much closer than he let anyone else get. Hell, he let you braid his hair (to which he has never felt more fabulous lol) but, for some reason, around you he only really seemed to be happy, he knew that you were in no way perfect, but, why did he feel like he couldn't view you as anything but? Why did you always seem to be followed around by nothing but pure love and light? Why did he feel this way about you? It was completely foreign to him, and yet, he didn't hate the feeling, in fact, he loved it. Unfortunately it started to rain after a few hours, forcing you and Bain to cut thing short, and man, he was upset, but he wouldn't let that show.

you sigh softly and look up at the man "Hey, uhh do you think y0u could...give me a ride home? I walked here because it was supposed to be a nice day"

Bain smiles softly "Oh yeah! of course" he says, grabbing your hand and walking back to his car, which, unlike what you expected, was a Black 4-door chevy impala, you would have to guess from around 1969-1973.

he looks down at you smiling "What? never seen a car this pretty before? he said laughing softly

You smile up at him "I've seen them, I mean, T.V shows love these kinda cars, but I've never seen one up close" you say

He chuckles and unlocks the car, opening the passenger side door to let you in smiling, you giggle and climb into the car. He shuts the door and walks around to the other side, getting into the car on the driver side and starting the car. You both spend the whole car ride talking and joking around, it was so...nice. The car ride lasted a lot longer than he expected, but he was very happy it did last so long, however instead of him just walking you up to your house and parting ways, you asked him to come inside so you both can finish the box of cookies, and he reluctantly agreed. You giggle softly and step aside, letting him in, he smiles and steps inside before you close the door, locking it behind you. He walks into the kitchen and sits down at the table looking around

"Nice place" He says looking around

You smile softly "Thank you" you replied, pushing the box onto the kitchen table and sitting across from him

You both sat there talking and joking around. Bain seemed to be smiling a lot more than he normally would be, minutes became hours. Suddenly the sky seemed to darken and lightning could be seen through the blinds, you sighed softly before you smiled up at him

"alright, you can stay over if you need too, I don't really like the idea of you driving home in this storm" you say, rubbing the back of your neck

Bain stares at you in shock, blushing "A-are you sure? I don't wanna be intrusive or anything" he says looking down

You smile softly "Don't worry, it's just me here anyways, you're free to stay as long as you'd like too!" you say, standing up from where you were sitting and going into the kitchen to get a glass of water

You both stayed up late watching movies, talking about work, and eventually, you both fell asleep in the living room, you on one of your sofas, Bain on the other.

All and all, Bain would have to admit, this was possibly the best second date he could ever imagine

holy shit this got long, 1148 words long specifically! sorry for the abrupt end I ran out of ideas, hope you all enjoyed this one too!

I'm very proud of myself!

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#payday the heist #PAYDAY 2 #payday 2 x reader #payday x reader #Payday Bain x reader #this is my first longer fic #i'm so proud #hell yes

[fishnets-fingers]

Six Months - Part Twenty Two

Summary - Layla desperately needs a vacation and her Aunt and Uncle come to her rescue. So, at twenty two, she packs her bag and jets off to America. Harry took a break from education and is now a full fledged content creator on OnlyFans. At twenty, he makes more money than almost all of his friends. What ensues when these two meet and realise the windows in their rooms face each other? How will paper airplanes bring them closer together?

PAIRING - camboy!harry x indian!oc

a/n - i’d like to apologise for the impromptu two month break. work was hectic and my bosses are grade a pricks. things are slowly starting to wind down. this part took a long time to write with all the angst but i hope it’s readable. as always, like and reblog. feed back is not only appreciated but much welcome.  happy reading!

Word Count - 11.5 k

Warnings - angst cental, fluff, allusions to smut.

Masterpost (find previous parts here)

Layla does not know how long she can go on like this. She is  currently behind Earl’s stall at the farmer’s market, where he’s selling his produce and flowers. The slanting rays of the afternoon light, permeate through the thin petals of the dahlias, making the pointed edges seem luminous. It was unusually busy, the marketplace, almost all of Earl’s produce were sold out. Her eyes were fixed on the task at hand - wrapping a sheet of newspaper around a bouquet of aster and dahlias. But her body is hyper aware of the boy standing at the other end of the stall, longing for him to glance her way but he was busy counting money to give to the man for whom she was putting the flowers together. 

“Here you go,” Layla smiles, handing him the bouquet.

The man thanks her and heads on and she shoots a quick glance in Harry’s direction. She’s met with the broad expanse of his back clad in a black t-shirt, hair tousled with a pair of glasses tucked behind his ear, and black skinny jeans. He’s talking to Earl, pointing to something on his phone. She sighs, tucking her hair behind her ears, grateful for her Aunt who insisted on getting her a pair of fleece lined tights. The crisp autumn air does not make her quiver, like it used to. She’s still getting used to layering for the cold, but she thought she did a great job with her outfit. Much better than the one she sleepily pulled together this morning for golf, an outfit that made her uncle howl at the green.

She was even looking forward to the compliment when she walked out the door. She was wearing her white tennis skirt, with the fleece lined tights, doc marten loafers, her thrifted jumper and a faux leather jacket that she flicked from Abi’s closet. But Harry had stepped out with a surly look in his eyes, doing nothing but giving her a curt nod and he’d remained like that till now. She chalked it up to a bad day. Everyone had those days, even if he was chipper that morning. Hoping to lighten his mood Layla jabbered about what happened in golf and the nosey question a student asked about the two of them; she received nothing but apathetic nods and muted hums. 

That’s how it started then it snowballed into completely pretending like she doesn’t exist until now. He didn’t meet her eyes and went out of his way to put space between the two of them. Gone was the warm touchy, kissy boyfriend and in his place stood this lanky frigid boy - who looked like he didn’t want anything to do with her. It was someone pressed a button that bought a sledgehammer that shattered Harry’s lavender haze. 

Maybe he realised loving you way too much of a burden, she shakes her head, trying to dispel her thoughts.

“Hey,um, I’m gonna go pick up some stuff and head over to yours to get a head start on dinner,” Layla informs the two who were transfixed at something on Harry’s phone, hiking her bag up her shoulder. THe gang was congregating at Earl’s for dinner today.

“You’re sure? We’ll be done in a few more hours,” Earl tells, looking at her through the rim of his glasses; she was picking away at a fray thread on her tote bag.

“Positive.” She smiles at him. 

“Here, take this then,” Earl hands over the keys to his car. “I don’t want you lugging over that cast iron all the way home.”

“Thanks,” she mutters, putting the key in her pocket, shuffling over to the other side. It doesn't go unnoticed that Harry immediately steps away from her when she brushes past the two, making her frown. Since when does he pass up the opportunity?

////

Layla had managed to make quite a spread. A creole potato salad, sweet chilli halloumi with cashew slaw, and Ribollita . Her Uncle and Aunty were setting up the dining room, Anne and Earl were somewhere in the house and Harry was busy fiddling with Earl’s record player in the living room. Layla’s slumped behind the kitchen island waiting for the stuffed butternut squash to finish in the oven, while lazily flicking through Earl’s wife’s recipe book. There were so many pages that were blank towards the end. She wonders what she would have filled them with had she had more time. 

The ding of the oven, pulls her attention and not before long, she’s slipping on some mitts to take out the pan, to pull out the butternut squash she picked out in the farmer’s market. She notices Harry’s wallet peeking out from his tote - abandoned on the kitchen island - as she sets the hot utensil down. 

Maybe if I put the tickets in there? Maybe the surprise would make him perk up and stop being surly, she ponders. She looks up at him, sitting on the floor hunched over the turntable with his hair pushed back with the red silk bandana she got him from New Orleans. He was fixated on the red light that was on the side of the circular spinning table, as he was tuning something to help adjust the pitch. She takes it as an opportunity to  quickly pull out the black Gucci wallet and flip it open.

The image in his photo pocket makes her want to run over and tackle him in a giant hug. He’d put a picture of her in his wallet. He went out of his way to print a wallet sized picture and slotted it in there. Important enough for his wallet, it makes her smile. It was the picture he took on the day of Abi’s flower braiding ceremony - the two of them on her bed smiling into the kiss, dimples on display, her hands cupped around his face, lips pouring affection into each other. She runs her fingers on the laminate that protected the image inside, almost like she was checking to see if it would disintegrate, like she needed to make sure that the boy who was currently icy towards her all day was the same one who did this. She notices him move from the corner of her eye, making her swiftly dig into the pocket of her black faux leather jacket, slot the two fall carnival tickets she bought at the market behind his dollar bills and discretely slip it inside the tote.

She pretends to look for something in the cabinets as he stalks towards the kitchen, as he swings open the door of the refrigerator. 

“Harry,” she turns to face him, fighting the urge to control the simper that stretches across her face. “I made ribollita.”

The corners of her mouth droops when he barely looks at her, staring pointedly at the glass as he pours in the pineapple watermelon  big boy soda Earl has stocked up.

Despite not being acknowledged, she continues, “I remember you telling me about your final night in Tuscany where you, Mitch, and Sarah were so drunk and how you all stumbled into this dodgy looking place run by an elderly couple at midnight. And how that ribollita was the best you’ve ever had.” He even told her that if he ever got a chance to take her anywhere in the world, he’d fly her out to Anghiari and trudge up the steps of the town, wine drunk with interlinked hands under the starry Italian skies. “I found this recipe on YouTube by some nonna. Took a while to make it; hope it tastes -”

“Whatever,” he says quietly, shrugging his shoulders, walking over to the dining room with the glass of green liquid on one hand and the squash on the other with the dish towel.

“Prick,” she mutters, shooting daggers on his back.

////

Hushed voices float from the end of the hall, it had to be Anne and Earl. Layla walks quietly towards the partially closed door.

“I would not recommend it, Earl,” Anne says, looking at a report.

“You’re being overly cautious,” he chuckles, adjusting the rim of his glasses, so they sit higher up the bridge of his nose.

Layla tiptoes, hoping the wood of the floor does not creak, closer to the door. Angling herself so most of her body is hidden behind the white door.

“Everyone has headaches,” he says, popping an ibuprofen in his mouth.

“Not everyone had a stent placed on their heart three years ago. You’re feeling faint often, yeah?”

“It happened a couple of times,” Earl answers.

“Any fevers? Chills? Body pain?” Anne enquires.

Earl shakes his head. “I think you’re being overly cautious, Anne.”

“I still want you to come into the hospital. I think it’s best to do a cardiac cath, and run some bloodwork. I think Dr. Siegelbaum would also agree,” she states firmly.

Layla knocks - in hopes that she could join in her conversation so she can convince him to visit the hospital. Slowly creaking the door open, popping her head in, “Hey, dinner’s all set. Just waiting for you two,” she tells them in her best chirpy voice. 

“Give us a minute, sweetheart,” Anne says, putting back the papers in a folder.

 “We can talk later.” Earl tells her. “I have something very special planned for dinner,” he smiles, opening a drawer from his bedside table, pulling out a manila envelope.

Layla sits next to her Uncle, putting as much distance as she could with Harry. Earl walks in and sits next to her, handing her the envelope.

“What’s this?” She asks, eyebrow arched, as she takes a sip of water. 

“Open it,” he smiles.

She pries the tab open to find red coloured rectangular papers inside, she shuffles them out and five ticket stubs fall out. There’s a picture of Mickey and right underneath it it says ‘THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH.’ The other end of the tick stub is perforated, and it says ‘ADMIT ONE.’ “No fucking way!” She squeals. “You got tickets to Disney World!”

Earl gleefully cackles. “Yes. I did. All five of you are hopping on a plane for a four day trip to Orlando,” he announces. 

The table chuckles at Layla. “Wait, you were all in on this?” She asks.

Anne nods. “He coordinated with us for dates.”

“We’re going during the Thanksgiving break. It will be crowded but we all didn’t have similar holiday windows, so we settled for this,” Abi says.

“And before you protest. You have to accept it. We’ve been planning this for over two months now.”

“But it’s so expensive - “

“Hush,” Earl shuts Layla down. “You and Harry have worked in my shop and helped me with so many orders. Think of this as your wage.”

“Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!” She tells him, kissing him on the cheek as she throws her arms around his shoulders.

“You’re very welcome,” he says, giving her a warm squeeze. 

“ Why aren’t you coming with us, Earl?” Vasanth asks.

“I’ve been there multiple times with my grandkids. Plus, I’m heading to Florida in the new year to stay with my son for a few weeks.”

“Did you make these tickets yourself?” Layla asks, passing them around. 

“All the tickets are emailed. I’ve already forwarded them to everyone. It’s a shame that you kids don’t have ticket stubs anymore for keepsakes. Harry made this on Photoshop. He even got it printed, so you all can have a tactile reminder.”

“Thank you,” Layla smiles at Hary who’s scooping up the Ribollita.

He doesn’t say anything, but gives her a tightlipped smile in return as she spoons some salad on her plate.

////

“You’ve been driving?!?” Vasanth screams, looking at Layla who’s burrowing behind Anne on the couch. He quickly walks away from where he was in conversation with Earl to his niece, who he believes Shiva put on his Earth to turn every hair on his head grey. “I see you!” He steps in front of her, arms folded up, stance upright.

“What?” She muffles over a mouthful of leftover creole salad. Earl had specially requested Layla to make it and she spent over an hour trying to meticulously follow his wife’s recipes hoping the elimination of thick cut bacon won’t affect the taste as much.

“Answer the question, kutti.”

“I don’t know what you are talking about.”

“I’m talking about what Earl told me just now. Like you, manoeuvring his Prius from where it was parallel parked.”

“So it seems,” she shrugs.

“உன்னை அடிக்க வைக்காதே(don’t make me whack you), Layla. I’m being deadly serious. You could end up in trouble with the cops.”

“Hey! I’m not that bad of a driver.”

“I know that. Your Indian licence is valid in this state for only three months. You came here in August, meaning, you are not legally allowed to drive now. Don’t - Do you not care about how that infraction would look when you’re applying for a student visa?!?”

“Calm down, சித்தப்பா! Look,” she shuffles through her tote and whips out her licence from her wallet. 

He examines it closely. “When did you-”

“தாத்தா ஒரு நாள் என்னை அழைத்துச் சென்றார் (Grandad, took me one day).” She winks.”You’re crazy to think I would do anything that would jeopardise my shot at a PhD.”

“If you have an international driver’s licence, then why do you insist on me driving you to the Indian store?”

“Because,” she blushes, knowing Anne’s right there. “I don’t get to spend much time with you,” she says quietly. “Aunty works remote on certain days but you always go out the door at nine and get back home after six. Then you have things around the house to take care of and I know this is really selfish of me to say this but I don’t know how to share you with someone as needy as me.”

“Are you talking about the -”

She nods. “I’m just selfishly trying to bank on Layla Vasanth time before you run out of that because you have an infant to cater to. And I know that’s how it it should be but -”

“நீ என் பயிற்சி சக்கரங்களாக இருந்தீர்கள். அப்பாவாக இருப்பதில். (You are my training wheels. For being a dad.)” He sniffles, pinching her cheek. “Besides we both know the minute you’re gonna start studying here, you’re gonna be my pain in the ass full time.” 

She laughs. “Shut up!”

“How about we go golfing every weekend and head to Dominos for lunch? Just the two of us.”

“No golf. It’s really cold. I much prefer playing back home where it’s sweaty.”

“Bowling then? I can teach you how to,” Vasanth proposes. “We can even go see a movie while we’re there.”

“It’s a date.” Layla smiles.

////

Layla raps against the cherry wood door, before poking her head into the master bedroom. She finds her Aunt propped up against the headboard, legs outstretched on the fluffy olive green duvet, bump in the way - giving an ample distance between Abi and the Macbook bolstered on the wooden bed desk. One of the many advantages of working from home was getting to be the most comfortable - with a rapidly growing five month bump -  while working a humdrum nine to five. That and being in your sleep clothes; Abi’s is in one of her tattered wrap around skirts, and a tank top. 

“Hi, kutti,” she smiles at her niece, who makes her way meekly to the cushioned bench at the end of the bed.

“Am I interrupting?” She asks, nodding towards the laptop.

“I’ve got a couple of minutes. What’s up?”

“Just wanted to talk,” she plays with the end of the tie of her kimono style robe. 

“I’d love to talk but I have a hop into Zoom for a meeting in ten,” she informs, reaching out to take a sip of coconut water. “But we can talk after.”

“Okay. I’ll get out of your hair then. Have a pleasant meeting.”

“Can you get my blazer on your way out please?” Abi requests.

Layla heads into the walk-in closet to pull out a latte coloured blazer and she hands it to her Aunt, who is now sat straight up on the bed. 

“நன்றி (thanks), kutti.” She shrugs on the coat, and pulls out the banana clip that was holding her hair from her face. Her shiny raven locks cascade down her shoulders and curl at the ends, where it sat atop of her belly. Unfair, Layla thinks as she watches Abi muss up the hair at the scalp to give it that oompf. Layla would kill to look that effortlessly gorgeous. 

“I’m gonna go for a walk,” Layla informs. “Do you want the door open or shut?”

“Open, please. Harry’s coming with?”

“He’s not exactly speaking to me at the moment. Don’t know why but nevermind, you finish your meeting.”

“Don’t forget to take your phone with you then,” Abi tells her.

“It’s already in my pocket!”” 

With that Layla heads to her room to throw on her Panic! At The Disco t-shirt and throws Abi’s faux leather jacket over her shoulder. The black paper bag from Fink’s catches her eye. She sighs, as she pockets the long black box with the gold foil lettering. It's one of the things she loves about her high waisted blue denim boyfriend jeans she’d picked up at a factory outlet sale back home. The jeans did not flatter her pear shaped body the least bit, it was loose around her waist - she’d often need a belt to stop it from riding down, tight around the tops of her thighs, digging into her guts whenever she sat down, but the redeeming factor were the pockets. They were as deep as the mines in Moria; Layla was akin to greedy dwarves throwing it into the shopping cart, when the pocket swallowed half her forearm. 

She locks the door, punches the button to arm the security device but instead of heading over to the house next door, she crosses the road and bimbles her way to the playground in the park and settles herself in an unoccupied swing. Best thing about coming to the playground at three in the afternoon was that there were no snot filled cretins running around wreaking havoc. She pushes her heel on the grimy green and orange chequered rubber foam floor, making herself oscillate to and fro. It’s funny that she’s going to her Aunty for advice when ten years ago, her mother and grandmother swore that she will end up miserable when Vasanth gets married. And as much as she believed that it would happen - it was only logical to her - with stories multiple relatives told her about absolutely losing her shit as a child when her Uncle would pick up another kid to endlessly fixating on some potential ‘fault’ with the other with the marriage proposals that came their way; disliking Abi was one thing that never happened. 

Layla didn’t even get to meet Abi in person until the engagement and wedding dates were fixed. Her grandparents came across her profile and breathed a sigh of relief when they found out that she was tall; it was a right pain to find someone for Vasanths’s towering six foot two. Their families got along well, and much to everyone’s delight Abi and Vasanth got along well over FaceTimes, calls and texts. It didn’t take very long before both the families went to the nearest temple and to fix up wedding dates. Layla had only got a chance to meet Abi’s parents and siblings before the dates were fixed. In hindsight, she suspects it was her mum and her grandmum’s doing to keep her away until she had no option but to be a cavalier. The day she met Abi was one filled with a constant stream of advice from her mum and grandmum since this was someone her Uncle fancied - she was told to be kind, respectful, welcoming, and most importantly to not run her smart mouth. Her grandad had taken her to the shops to get some sweets, and had told Layla that she should get something for her future Aunt. So, she used up some emergency snack money she’d set aside in her wallet and got her a set of these dragonfly pearl earrings and a matching pendant. It wasn’t made of real pearls or gold, it wasn’t the fanciest choice either, she’d bought it in a small fancy store - a small shop that often sold bangles, bindis, kaajal, and some cheap imitation jewellery - but Abi’s reaction indicated that it was the most precious thing that she’d ever received. Layla’s heart warmed when she caught sight of the tarnished, worn out dragonfly pearl necklace in Abi’s jewellery drawer yesterday, when she raided Abi’s closet for the faux leather jacket.

Things only blossomed to fruition after that initial reaction, she can’t recall what they talked about but the conversation flowed. Layla was surprised about how much Abi already knew about her; she was privy to some hilarious antics she’d been up to with Vasanth. Layla had managed to convince Abi to try pineapple on pizza and even told her loads of things that would fetch her brownie points with her Uncle. And by the time her granddad came to pick Layla up several hours later, they’d already planned another meetup but this time at a beach.

Layla's phone buzzes with and a picture of her father fills the screen. It was a picture from Vasanth and Abi’s wedding reception, his phone in hand staring to the side trying to flag off one of the venue managers. One where her father refused to buy a suit and bought a suede jacket, paired it with a sky blue button up and some dark wash jeans - he’d insisted to her and her mum that it was something that James Bond wore in a movie, making the two crack up in response.

“Aren’t you up late?” Layla speaks.

“Amma and I came back from a movie half an hour ago,” he answers.

“What movie?”

“Ponniyin Selvan. Did you all watch it?”

“No. How was it?”

“It’s certainly a spectacle but Amma understood it a lot better than me. I think I need to watch it one more time.”

“Book படித்தது உதவியாக இருக்கும் (reading those novel would have helped).”

“Yes. How did your classes go? Are you finding it easy with the time zone and all?”

“நன்றாக சென்றது (they went really well)! Time zones aren’t bad actually, but it’s only been two days. So I can’t say for sure.”

“Good. பேராசிரியர் உங்களுக்கு கருத்து தெரிவித்தாரா (did the professor give you any feedback)?” Her dad inquires.

“இதுவரை இல்லை (not yet). அநேகமாக professor வார இறுதியில் feedback கொடுப்பார் (she’ll probably will at the end of the week).”

“You do exactly what she says, okay? Incorporate whatever she says. That’s how you show her that you’re a good hire. Kutti, listen, do you remember my friend’s house we went to in Bangalore?”

“Yes. The house with two dobermans,” Layla recalls.

“இன்று அவனிடம் பேசினேன். ஒரு ஐபாட் வாங்க முடியுமா என்று கேட்டார் - (I talked to him today and he asked if you could get him an iPad -)”

“Appa! Do I look like an Apple mule to you all?”

“It’s cheaper there, kutti. And there’s nothing wrong in helping.”

“I’m already carrying five apple products with me. One homepod thing for you, iPad mini for Amma, AirPods for அத்தை (Aunty), and the new phone for my cousin.”

“That’s only four, Layla.”

“You do realise I have to bring my own phone too, right?”

“Oh. Then what’s one more product going to do?”

“Fine, I’ll get your friend the iPad. But if I get detained by the TSA for looking too suspicious with this many Apple products in my carry on. You’re gonna pay.”

Her dad guffaws on the other end. “உன் முகம் கடத்தல்காரன் மாதிரி இல்லை (Your face doesn’t scream smuggler).”

“To you maybe, நான் எப்படி மற்றவைகள் இருக்கிறேன் என்று யாருக்குத் தெரியும் (who knows what I look like to others)?” She laughs.

“சாப்பிட்டாயா (have you eaten)?” He asks.

“Yes. Had gobi fried rice  from the microwave. சித்தப்பா made it before he left for work.” 

“You are helping them out around the house, right? Remember that they are both busy with jobs. I know that they’ll never say this but you make sure to not burden them, especially now with a baby on the way.”

“I am helping. Reorganised the garage and all yesterday. I make sure to cook at least a meal everyday. Clean the house.” She exhales. “That’s more than what I do back home.”

Her dad lets out a laugh. “Now, Amma will hold you to the same standard when you get back. Listen, பாட்டி (grandmum) wants me to remind you to buy Ziplock-”

“Already bought three boxes of her precious ziplock bags.”

“Good. Okay, kutti. I’m gonna head to bed. You take care okay?”

“Will do. Tell Amma I said hi. Bye.”

She hangs up the call, and jumps off the swing; slowly making her way to Harry’s. The pit of the stomach seemed to bubble with nervousness. Hopefully his pisssy mood had lightened since dinner at Earl’s yesterday. She could punch in the security code but the boulder in her stomach only weighs heavier. Decking not to somehow piss him off by walking in, she rings the doorbell. Her feet tap against the white porch, waiting for him, mind racing. Usually he would have opened the door by now. She steps aside to peer into the window and spots no one. No signs of a tall lanky boy making it across the foyer. She presses the doorbell again and holds it down for a few extra seconds for good measure, craning her head to see if his Range Rover is parked in the driveway. The door swings open as she makes a fist to try knocking on it and there he was - clad in one of his muscle tank top that had darkened patchily with sweat, blue shorts, hair pushed back with the blue bandana she’d got, lips  and eyebrows pursed in a grimace.

“Oh god, are you okay?!?” Layla exclaims, zeroing in on the frozen bag of peas he had pressed up against the slope of his shoulder. 

“What do you want?” He grits his teeth, as he looks down at her - a result of the trapezius bundle protesting.

“I just stopped by to - did you hurt yourself working out?” 

“I’m fine,” he winces.

“You clearly are not, earth boy. Let me help,” she states, taking a step forward into the house but finds her boy fixed in place, blocking her. “Harry,” she says firmly, looking into his forest green orbs.

“Did mum ask you to drop something off?” He asks.

“Well no,” she takes in a huge breath, she slides her hand into her pocket, fingers curling around the box. “I’m actually here to see you.”

“I don’t want anyone’s company.”

“Well -” the door shuts on her face, and she feels her heart drop. “I’m not anyone,” she mumbles dejectedly at the wooden door, tears prick the corner of her eyes and she makes her way back to her room. Tossing the gift box on her bedside table. Tearing off a page from her notebook, she scrawls with tears beading her waterline. 

I don’t know what’s happened

Just tell me what’s wrong. Did I do something?

She blinks back the film blurring the words on the page, wiping away the tears that landed on the paper. She uses the back of her hand to wipe her cheeks, breathing out slowly. She wipes her nose on the sleeve of her t-shirt.

I understand needing space. But the door slam to my face hurt

That’s all she manages to jot down before her mother’s voice echoes in her head, “சில நேரங்களில் உன்னை விரும்புவது கடினம் (It’s hard to love you sometimes).”

She crushes the paper with the note she was trying to write. It can’t be. Harry himself said the opposite. She abandons the crumpled ball, as she trudges her way up to the home theatre to fire up her PlayStation. All she needs for the next few hours is to mindlessly kill some Valkyries in God of War. She’d finished playing the game’s story days ago and the open world game gave her the opportunity to kill all eight of the valkyries. But she’d soon found out that  killing them was tricky business. What other perfect way is there to channel gamer rage other than using the bubbling anger directed at her boyfriend to kill the remaining two warrior women with wings.

////

“Wait, you actually wanted to get married?” Layla asks, sitting up straighter, tilting her head from side to side until an audible crack is heard.

“Hmm…” Abi smiles at the huff her niece lets out. She had trailed upstairs - after her meeting - to the sounds of Layla shouting ‘சாவு, பன்றி, சாவு (die, pig, die)’ at the projector screen armed with one of her video game controllers.

“You were the perfect daughter weren’t you, Aunty?”

Abi laughs. “But that doesn’t mean I didn’t have to negotiate.”

��Go on,” Layla motions with her hand, as she reaches for her water bottle.

“My relatives zeroed in on my parents the minute I graduated from engineering. They initially didn’t give it much thought but then matches actually came home through Aunties and Uncles we knew. They sat me down and asked me if I was seeing someone -”

“Wait! Your parents were okay with a love match?”

“Yup. As long as the boy was Hindu and from our caste,” Abi answers.

“Of course. It came with terms and conditions,” Layla giggles. “As long as they were from the same caste. Could you imagine going around and asking people what caste they belong to when you’re out on a date.”

“I know right! Hella awkward.” She joins in with Layla, giggling away feeling her baby move in accordance. “But I guess it really didn’t matter because I wasn’t opposed to the idea of an arranged marriage. I told them I wasn’t in love with anyone but I also asked them to give me three years to get some work experience. I knew I wanted to do an MBA in the US. My parents weren’t on board with my moving abroad alone. They wanted me to have ‘protection’” she explains, making air quotes for the last work.

“Ech,” Layla reacts. “Why are all parents the same? When Vasanth told everyone that he’s gonna prep for his GRE and move to the US for his Masters my grandparents were over the moon. I bet they never even considered his ‘protection.’ Fucking double standards.”

“It enraged me too but I realised it was that or not doing my MBA in the States. I pulled up some of the prerequisites and my parents got to know that the degree needed students to have work experience. After many fights, they finally relented and gave me three years and started looking for matches while I was working.”

“Didn’t that throw you off? Knowing that time was ticking?”

“It did. It made me feel guilty, knowing I needed to have all of these experiences before I got tied down but it melted away when my friends and coworkers started settling down and starting families. They still had the experiences just married and sometimes having those experiences with their significant other; life didn’t stop. It took four years of searching before Vasanth.”

“Four years?!?”

“Yeah,” Abi chuckles. “I didn’t make it easy for my parents either. I had given them a zillion expectations that they needed to meet. I rejected many. Plus, they had to find someone taller than me.”

Layla laughs. “It’s the same thing that happened with Uncle. Finding someone tall enough for him, தாத்தா பாட்டி (grandad and grandmum) almost pulled out their hairs trying to find someone tall.”

Abi laughs. “My dad made so much fun of me on the days leading up to our engagement, because I was running around trying to find heels to try and match his height. I only owned flats prior to your Uncle.”

“How did you know சித்தப்பா (uncle) was the one?”

“There was no one moment. We got along well. He seemed genuinely interested in knowing what I envision my future to look like. Others I talked to often talked about the future in terms of their goals or a collective familial goal. Your uncle asked me what I wanted, rather than ask me what I want as one half of a couple. He was supportive with my MBA plans and work goals too. Seemed open to moving closer to whatever college I got in. That’s how we moved to North Carolina from San Francisco; I got into Kenan-Flagler. I haven’t told him this but when he readily put his notice in and moved to Charlotte with me - before he found himself a job here - he just became so much hotter.” Abi uses one of her hands and fans herself.

“Eww,” Layla grimaces. “Don’t call him hot.”

“Is it a crime to find my husband hot?” She laughs.

“When the husband is my Uncle, yes.” She shivers in disgust. 

“Oh- லேலா உன் கையை கொடு (Layla, give me your hand),” she says urgently, grabbing her palm and pressing it to the side of her ever growing tummy. The baby rewards the two with a jerky roll. “Never gets old,” Abi whispers with a smile blooming. “I initially thought the kick would be like a ping but it’s like a jelly rolling around with her. Getting more active by the day this one.”

“Even Laya agrees with me,” Layla says. Bending down to the active baby, “Don’t worry. I find it weird that she thinks he’s hot too.” She whispers, making Abi laugh at their private conversation.

“You two are gonna team up and make fun of us, aren’t you?” She manages to get out in between fits of laughter.

“Obviously.” Layla’s eyes flicks up to her Aunt’s with the most earnest expression on her face. She settles back into the recliner and lets out an audible sigh. “So is that all it is… I can’t possibly get out of this arranged marriage thing and the best I can do is negotiate.”

“I never said you can’t get out of it, kutti. It will just be an arduous journey to get there but knowing your mum and knowing you're the only girl child - I think the best course of action is to negotiate like I did. If you say no marriage and stand your ground now, what’s to say your mum won’t also resist and force you with that intensity of your refusal. So, don’t say anything, stay out of it. This way your PhD won’t be affected by it.”

“What do you mean PhD not being affected?” Layla sits up, tucking her feet under her thighs.

“I mean, your அம்மா (mum) might just put her foot down and refuse to send you to school -”

“But she can’t do that,’ Layla shakes her head. “I’m an adult and it’s not like I will be financially dependent on them. The colleges that I’ve shortlisted are the ones that are the most likely to give me financial aid.”

“That’s all true,” Abi agrees, taking Layla’s hand. “You were also an adult and financially independent for the Singapore trip, weren’t you? Look what happened. You ended up coming here.”

“So you’re asking me to let things be?” Layla says quietly.

“I’m asking you to consider playing it smart. Don’t worry about all this marriage nonsense. You have your eye on your goal - PhD, don’t get distracted. The time to fight this battle is not now. It took me four years to find a match. Who knows how long it’ll take for you? Maybe you can get your doctorate by that time. If not, don’t worry; one of the perks of an arranged marriage is that it’s democratic. Everyone - or at least most of them -  in the family should agree. Vasanth and I are on your team no matter what. And as for அப்பா, பாட்டி, and  தாத்தா (dad, grandmum and grandad), you can always convince them to join your side. We will not let you discontinue your studies, kutti. I promise. You have no idea how proud we all are that you’re so bloody smart.”

“I’m not that smart and all,” Layla mumbles.

“Hush,” Abi shushes her. “Plus, if you do change your mind on marriage, we all be here to make sure that you are on board with the match. We will not force you to marry someone you do not like. For now let it go. They won’t bother you much until they have matches shortlisted and that itself could take a long while. And we will cross that bridge when we get to it, for now you worry about your PhD applications. ”

“Okay. What you’re saying makes sense. Besides, the application deadlines are on the first of December; it’s not very smart of me to keep fighting this and get distracted. Need to have my eyes on the bigger picture.”

“Are you applying for Chapel-Hill?”

“It’s on the maybe list. Why?”

“Vasanth has been wanting to sit down with you this weekend, to look at the places before you start applying. Get your safety and reach colleges and all in order. He’s been secretly hoping you have UNC at the top of the list, so you can live with us while you study.”

Layla chuckles. “Do you reckon he’s gonna convince me to move Chapel-Hill from the maybe list to the yes list?”

“I’m sure, he’ll try bribing you with all sorts of things,” Abi answers, warmly squeezing Layla’s freezing fingers. “Kutti?”

“Hmm?”

“I’m just saying because I think it’ll be best for you to figure out what you want in terms of a relationship. Especially now that you have Harry to consider too. I heard you tell him the other day that you’re gonna marry him when you were eating the focaccia he baked. And I know it’s not my place to say this but I get that you meant it as a term of expression but sometimes it necessarily might mean the same for him. Have a talk with each other. The sooner the better. I know he means the world to you and I know you mean the same to him.”

“I didn’t think of it that way… I never thought that I’d feel all these things for him. I just thought it’ll be a fun hookup but I guess you’re right. I think he knows that I don’t mean it like that. Whenever we talk about things we know our priorities - colleges. We always talk about the future like it’s distant. I think the hardest thing about January rolling around soon is him. I don’t want to leave,” Layla bites down on her wobbly lower lip. It only makes the angry flames in her chest spark up again because Harry’s being an utter asshole to her. All she wants to do is cosy up to him and drum her fingers down his back as he presses wet kisses on her pulse. 

“Maybe I’m overstepping my bounds but do you ever see yourself getting married or are you just saying no because of what happened between your mum and dad?”

“Oh um,” Layla worries her bottom lip, trying to think things through and lets out a long sigh.

“Bit of both, I think. As much as I respect the sanctity of marriage, I’ve seen it go right and wrong. Sometimes I think I’ll end up just like அம்மா (mum) - you know how everyone says we often butt heads because we have similar personalities - and that means I’d have to go through the same things she did. As much as I do and villanise her sometimes, I honestly don’t think I have an ounce of the strength and determination she does. We lived alone for almost a year and she single handedly took care of all of the finances and even now, she works and does so much work at home too. அப்பா (dad) is not like Uncle, he never does things around the house, except groceries; and on most of the days, I don’t either. But I don’t think I need to get married either, as long as I’m in a long term relationship with someone I trust. It’s just a piece of paper, right? I don’t see it happening for a long long time.”

“Marriage is more than a piece of paper, Layla.”

“Easy for you to say, you and சித்தப்பா (uncle) have the breeziest of marriages,” Layla comments.

“That’s not true, kutti. We hit a rough patch during my final year of my MBA. We even talked about separating,” Abi explains.

“What?” Layla can’t help but gape at her. They were the perfect love birds in her eyes. 

“I don’t know what it’s like universally but with arranged marriages, it’s more companionate, the relationship. You go into it with a stranger, you become friends and then start loving the other. Yes there is passion in there too but it’s more so a companion type thing. We went months leading our own lives, devoid of the other in it. Vasanth was busy working two jobs, and I would be busy with schoolwork and friends. All of the little free time we had went to chores. We went weeks without talking to each other, and didn't even acknowledge each other. It was like two strangers living in a hotel. Every time we’d open our mouths, we’d snap at each other and both thought that things weren't working out because we’d grown apart.”

“Wait, is that when your parents and தாத்தா, பாட்டி (granddad, grandmum) all flew over and stayed in shifts with the two of you for like three months?”

Abi nods. “We’d told our parents that we didn’t see a point in being married and they’d all immediately created an intervention of sorts. They asked us to give it one last try - wholeheartedly - and that they’d take care of things around the house. We signed up for marriage counselling and went to multiple sessions. Since we had our parents taking care of everything else - the minute we came back home after work and school - we would spend time with each other; getting to know each other again from scratch. Marriage is not easy. They don’t just work. You make it work. It’s very easy, at least, with arranged marriages to drift off to your separate paths - be strangers - and it takes work to meet in the middle again. And it needs to be done because you’re growing as your own individual too. That’s how we make it work - we’re not the same Vasanth and Abi who’d agreed to marry each other. We set aside time for ourselves. We talk. Go out on dates. Take holidays. We make each other a priority. It’s work. We are at this point because we put in the work to get here and we will need to put in the work after the baby too.”

“Isn’t it exhausting though? Sounds like a lot of work.”

“Everything in life requires work, Layla. But it's not exhausting with Vasanth. It’s easy to put in the work with him. Because it doesn’t feel like work with him,” she smiles.

“I guess it makes sense. This was a great talk. I should come to you often,” Layla tells her.

“Oh yeah? Finally realised that Abi is like that tortoise from Kung Fu Panda,” her Aunty jokes around.

“Yeah. An old tortoise,” Layla snickers.

“Are you calling me old?” Abi pinches her cheek.

“I wouldn’t dare,” Layla tries to say it earnestly but her giggles give her away. She shuffles closer to her, throwing her hands around her shoulders, slotting her body to the side, mindful of Laya’s residence. “By the way, you didn’t overstep your bounds at all. I’m glad it took you four years to find Uncle because there’s no one else I’d rather have as my Aunty.” 

////

Harry can hear Layla’s voice faintly drifting from the floor above - wrapping up her class - as he makes his way up the stairs to her room. It’s twenty past one in the morning and every time Harry shut his eyes, he couldn’t help but shake the image of her walking back home dejectedly when he slammed the door. When he silently creeks open her bedroom door, he’s hit with a mixture of baby soap and Charlie Red that makes his shoulders slump in relief. Her room is neat - like it always is; there was freshly washed load of laundry that she hadn’t gotten around to folding stacked in an opened suitcase pushed to the corner of her room. What catches his eye was the crumpled ball of paper lying limply at the foot of the bed.

He grinds his teeth at the pain shooting from his shoulder, bending down to pick it up, and his heart falls to his stomach when he reads what she’s scrawled in cursive. Fuck, he shakes his head, plopping down on the mattress.

Layla walks into her room rubbing her eyes, clad in her embroidered Winnie the Pooh t-shirt dress and the kimono robe loosely tied around her waist. “ஹம்மாடி (whew),” she exhales out, looking forward to cosying up in her duvet. Harry can’t help the way the corners of his mouth tug upward - she always grunts out that word when she’s finished with whatever exhausting activity she was engaged in. “Oh,” she mumbles, stopping in her tracks at the sight of him holding on to the letter she wrote.

“Layla, I-” Harry starts.

“No!” She says, voice louder than either of them anticipated, stalking further into the room. “Leave,” she seethes, chest heaving as she rapidly takes in shallow breaths, clicking the door close to not wake Vasanth and Abi. “I don’t care. Just go.”

Harry gets up. “Baby, please listen to me.”

Layla steps back - out of his reach - shooting him a warning glare that told him to not get closer to her. “I don’t know what’s up, but you’ve done nothing but be an asshole to me -”

“I’m sorry that I’ve hurt yo-”

Layla chuckles. “The hurt ship has sailed. I’m fucking livid!” She blinks back the angry tears that begin to prick her eyes. “Please just leave! I’ve had a long day and I’d like to go to bed.”

Harry’s eyes blur as a thin film beads at his waterline, and he’s quick to blink them away before they have the chance to trickle down. The last thing he wants to do is upset her further, so he sighs and mutters, “Okay. I’ll go.” He makes his way to the door with his head hung dejectedly.

“Wait,” Layla calls out, quickly rummaging through her bedside table to find the long black box. “This is why I came over in the afternoon before you so kindly slammed the door on my face,” she says, voice dropping an octave lower. “Take it and fucking go,” she throws the suede box in his direction. 

Harry’s hands lift up to catch it in reflex but the second the box lands on his palm, he lets out a loud grunt, face twisting in pain from the muscles of his shoulder. “Christ,” he bites, as the other hand - one that’s not holding the box - cups over the spot of affliction.

Layla’s eyes soften, instinctively stepping closer to him. “Shit. Your shoulder still hurts?” She enquires, eyebrows furrowing in concern as he gives her a weak nod. “Go wait downstairs in the kitchen… I’ll be right behind you,” she exhales.

“But…” he trails off, not knowing what exactly to say when she’d just asked him to leave a few seconds ago. When he blinks his eyes open to examine her face, she’s already stalked off to the bathroom when he can hear her meddling with her stuff. He takes a deep breath in, hoping it quells the pain, and calls out to her. “Okay.”

He sits on the bar stools, gently placing the black box on the kitchen island, as she walks in. He watches her beeline towards the microwave, taking a small bowl from the cabinet, Harry examines the two glass containers she’d placed on the island. A hexagonal glass jar with a copper lid that reads Tiger Balm and a green cylindrical container that reads  Monison’s. 

“Can you take off your hoodie for me?” Layla asks, as she spoons some of the brown and green balm into the bowl.

Harry slowly slips off his grey hoodie, watching her punch in thirty seconds on the panel and shuts the door. Layla steps over to the pantry, coming out with a tiny blue chequered cotton kitchen towel. She takes the melted mixture from the microwave when it beeps, using the spoon to stir it together. She dips her pinky in to check if the liquid is not scalding, and proceeds to sink her fingers in the murky looking concoction. 

The room is filled with scents of herbs, camphor and eucalyptus as she slowly lets the liquid drip down from her fingertips onto his defined shoulder blade. “Sorry about the smell,” she tells him quietly as she kneads his muscles in circles - easing the taunt muscles under. 

Harry’s speechless as she works her way down his shoulder and back, letting the warm liquid trickle down and later gently rubbing it all over. He doesn’t deserve this from her, especially with the way he’s treated her the past two days. But here she is carefully working the knots in his shoulder, even after asking him to leave her sight. He feels his heart weigh heavy in his throat, and he closes his eyes to succumb to the emotions his girlfriend’s tender act stirs up in his chest.

“Once in basketball practice, these huge fifth graders tripped and two of them managed to fall right on my arm. I was in so much pain that I thought it was fractured but it wasn’t. And Amma (mum) did this for me and I swear the pain subsided the next day, which I know is not possible but I barely felt it after. I mean it’s just pain gate theory, right?” She waffles on hoping to distract him from the pain she might be causing him as she massages the last of the liquid on the expanse of his shoulder. When she’s done she quickly washes her hands before she takes the clean towel and presses the button on the sink tap for hot water. Once it’s dripping wet she wrings the excess liquid out; opening it up and flapping it twice for good measure, when she’s satisfied she drapes the toasty damp towel over his clavicle and smooths it down his shoulders. “Sometimes I think I’ll perish if I don’t have a jar of Tiger Ba-” she stops where she hears a sniffle, followed by a shaky inhale and feels his frame tremble under her palm.

“Harry? Shit.” Layla rounds the corner to stand in front of him. “Hey,” she coos, gently tilting his chin up using her thumb and pointer finger. Moss green eyes gleam up at her under the buttery overhead lamp, a broken shudder follows as tears trickle down his face, and Layla realises that he’s hurting. He’s been hurting the past two days and that he wasn’t apathetic and detached. 

“Oh honey,” Layla says soothingly, thumbs coming to wipe away the hot tears that stream down his cheeks. 

“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to - Sorry,” he blubbers, pulling her close to him, burying his face in her midsection as his arms hold her in place.

Layla wraps her arms around his head, one hand caressing his scalp and the other tracing circle on his cheek, “Shh. Har, you’re okay.” She presses a gentle kiss to the top of his head.

“Sorry. Sorry. I’m -,” he hiccups, a fresh wave of tears halting him and all he could do was nuzzle into her warmth as he bawls.

“We’re okay. You’re okay. Let it out. I’m sorry too, babe,” she whispers, mollifying him as she rocks him to and fro, letting him cry it out.

Harry pulls back, with broken shudders, sniffling, blinking at the dark patch on her t-shirt dress from his tears. “I - I uh - came -,” he breathes out between empty sobs. “I saw the tickets for the carnival,” he says with a weak smile.

“Yeah? You wanna go?” She asks, sitting down on the stool next to him, slotting her knees between his and scooting closer to the edge to weave their hands together.

He nods, looking up at her shyly through wet lashes. “I’m sorry.” He says, rapidly blinking down another fresh set of tears.

“I’m sorry too,” she says, hand coming to caress his cheek.

“Why?” He chuckles. “I’m the one in the wrong.”

“It wasn’t very nice of me to ask you to leave and throw that at you,” she points to the forgotten black box on the counter.

“You were angry.” He shrugs. “When did you manage to slip the tickets in my wallet?”

“When you were busy fiddling with the record player at Earl’s.” Layla worries her bottom lip, not knowing how to phrase her next question. “Why were you so cold to me?”

The question only makes Harry tilt his head to the side, as he tries to weigh the answer in his mind. “I uh - I was jealous,” he replies, cheeks reddening in response.

Layla snorts out a laugh at the ridiculousness of the words that had stumbled out of the messy beheaded boy’s slightly pouty mouth. She slaps down on his wrist as she guffaws, driving her emphasis further. “Harry,” she gets out. “Be seriou- oh!” She stops in her tracks when she’s met with his earnest gaze. “Jealous of what though?”  

“Ashwin,” he admits, feeling the blood rush to the tips of his ears as he hangs his head.

“Why would you be jealous of Ashwin?” She asks.

“It’s just - It’s like - Like you getting into his car this morning and just driving away,” he explains.

“You make it sound weird. You know we were meeting up with the others at the golf course.” She swallows. “Do you not trust me?”

It doesn’t escape Harry that she’s now leaning away from him, and the hands that were holding him, now were crossed protectively over her chest. “I do! It’s a me thing. Don’t take it personally.”

“I don’t understand. How am I not supposed to take it personally?” She barks offensively, eyebrows arching. “Harry, I’ve met the girl you were hooking up with! Do you see me getting jealous and throwing a fit whenever you take me to the lookout point in Chapel Hill? No, because it was before us and I trust you. Ashwin is literally an acquaintance and you throw a hissy fit for days because I hitched a ride to him to the golf course. That’s fucking stupid!”

“Hissy fit,” Harry chuckles, and it only makes Layla shoot daggers as she glances up at him. 

“I cannot believe it. Fucking jealous,” she continues and she isn’t sure if the last past was directed at herself. “Your mum told me that you tend to latch on to people but I didn’t expect you to be possessive. I don’t know if I’m okay with that.” She shakes her head, hand coming to frustratedly rub at her forehead. “How are we gonna work through this? What are you gonna say next? ‘Let me mark my territory when you hang out with others, like how a dog would do?!?’” She shuts her eyes, forcing herself to take a few deep breaths through her nose so she would raise her voice and wake her Aunty and Uncle. She knows she’s spiralling and spewing out ridiculous things but she can’t help but feel hurt by his admission. 

“Have I -” she says softly looking up at him, “did I do something to make you feel that way?” 

“No, baby. No. It’s not you!” He sits up cupping her face cursing himself for making her doubt herself. “It’s just,” his voice breaks as the tears well up in his jade irises, “every time I see you two hanging out, it makes me insecure and I didn’t like feeling like the second best again.”

“Again?”

“It’s stupid,” he sniffles.

“It’s clearly not stupid if it’s hurting you,” she reminds him.

“I’m just scared that you’ll realise he’ll give you something I can’t.” He confesses. “Like you don’t need to check if a Tamil movie has subtitles at the cinema to watch with him, he gets all the references you make, you don’t have to translate things in your head or explain why you’re doing certain things - like the other day when you accidentally stepped on my book and you’d stopped talking to bend down to touch it and bring your fingers to your eyes and you’d spent the next twenty minutes explaining why for me. And it’s scary to think that one day you’ll realise that I’m not worth it and leave.”

“Babe,” Layla frowns. “I don’t think that at all. If anything, all those instances only makes me endeared that you’re curious about where I come from, plus, you actively participate in them. It works both ways too. You taught me so much about your home too. I didn’t know what a chip butty was before I met you,” she jokes weakly. Harry doesn’t laugh - or even smile - instead he looks crestfallen, Layla leans over and stamps a soft kiss on his pink lips and his splotchy cheeks. “I’ll never not think you’re not worth it. Ever. You mean the world to me. You make me feel safe and you make me feel loved. And that is something I will not take very lightly. Ever. I have nothing like that with Ashwin. I hitched a ride with him the other day because everyone else was gonna shower at the country club and head straight for work. Ashwin had a day off and obliged to drive me to Raleigh to pick something up for you,” she tells him, nodding towards the black box. “Besides, he acts like he’s from the hood sometimes - I guess most brown boys do that when they come here; pretend to be an African American rapper. It just does not get my motor running like you in a pair of fishnets.”

There’s a lingering undercurrent of teasing in her voice towards the end that makes Harry smile - the ones where he flashes his teeth and it makes the dimples carve out in his cheeks. “I shouldn’t have been cold to you. That was wrong of me. I should have come and talked it out with you. I cannot apologise enough for that,” he resolutely tells her.

“It was,” Layla agrees. “I did not deserve to be treated that way. I thought you were mad at me or that you needed space which is very unlike you. Because I’m the one that pushes you away-”

“Not in the way that I did. You always told me that you need some time to yourself before you share but I just pushed you away.”

“True,” Layla sighs. “Would inviting you along help whenever I go out with that gang? I’m not gonna stop hanging out with them because I feel like I’m hanging out with my cousins. And I’m trying to make the best out of that because they’re gonna fly out as soon as the wedding is over.”

“That’ll be nice. I sorta felt left out when you went to watch that movie without telling me because I’m really used to being your number one go-to person for everything,” he admits.

“I understand that you felt left out but I didn’t invite you because the movie didn’t have subtitles and I didn’t want you to be bored because of me. It would have helped if you told me earlier. We could have gone to the cinema - just us - and made a date night out of it.”

“I didn’t want to seem clingy I guess.” 

“Can I ask you something?” Layla questions and Harry nods. “You said earlier about not wanting to feel second best again. Has it got something to do with your dad? I mean you don’t talk about it and I’m just theorising but feel free to tell me to back off if I’m crossing a line.”

“Yeah. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like if he chose us. He was a good dad, Layla. He was everything I wanted to be when I grew up. But I guess, I was not enough for him with anything I did,” his lower lip wobbles. “He’d had another family and I guess in the end my step-siblings - god,  it’s so weird to call them that - had something that I didn’t and when he figured it out he’d just left mum and me.”

“Harry,” Layla whispers, arms wrapping around his torso to pull him into an embrace. Harry nuzzles his face into the crook of her shoulder, chest shuddering as he takes in his favourite scent. It made sense to Layla now - his icy behaviour was not to attack her but to protect him, his inner child. She had the power to make him feel the things he once felt, and the second Harry realised that she held the power; when he felt ‘not enough,’ he’d cut her off so she wouldn’t put him through that - like a hedgehog balling themselves up and straightening out it’s quills when it senses his predators were nearby. “Babe, I’m so sorry you went through that. Those choices were your fathers - an adult. You in no way played a role in the shitty choices he made. You were a child, babe, and it’s not your job to make yourself the best option for your parents. Remember when you told me love is not a burden?” She can feel him nod against her neck. “Love shouldn’t be earned either. It’s not conditional - especially from a parent.”

“Thank you,” he breathes out, crying again, but this time it’s tears of relief. “You know,” he chuckles, pulling back to wipe his eyes. “Earl said something along the same lines.”

“He’s a wise man,” Layla says. “How’s your shoulder? Is the warm towel and தைலம் (pain balm) helping?”

“It is. Thank you.”

“No need for thank yous. I’d take care of you anytime,” she shrugs.

“So you made Ashwin drive to Raleigh to get me something?” He questions, stretching out to grab the black velvet box.

“Uh huh.” She smiles. “I got a commission from this woman. She wants three still life oil portraits of her favourite food for her kitchen. She’s paying me three fifty dollars for each. So, I’d figured I’d treat you with something.” She nods to the box. “Open it.”

Harry’s fingers trace the gold foiled lettering - Fink’s -  against the soft material. He flips the box open to find a dainty gold chain and a thin cross pendant hanging from it of the same metal. It looked identical to the silver one he’d have around his neck - he’d go on a limb and say this one looked even more beautiful. He immediately looks into her homey raven eyes, bottom lip trapped with her teeth, as she looks at him expectantly.

“I know I ripped it off your neck that day,” her face flushes with heat thinking back to their lecherous activity upstairs in the swing room in front of his giant ornate mirror. “I’ve been feeling bad since. I’ve never ever seen you take it off and when I got the deposit money for the commissions, it was the first thing I thought of. I wanted to get you an exact replica but I just couldn’t bring myself to get it in silver, so I called Fink’s and had them make it gold. You kept complaining that the clasp on the old one was too tiny, so I asked them to use a circular clasp, so it’s easier for you.” She rambles. “They said they couldn’t make the chain dainty in 22 karats, something about them not able to get the metal to bend, so it’s only 18 kara-”

Harry cuts her off with a passionate kiss, hands clutching her cheeks holding her close, as he pours his devotion. His tongue melds with hers and it makes her breathe out a quiet moan, as she sinks his fingernails into his bicep. He breaks apart, pressing his forehead to hers as they both catch their breath from the dizzying ordeal. “I love it! Put it on for me?” He asks her, thumb caressing her bottom lip, making her smile.

////

Bright blue powdery skies can be deceiving, especially in North Carolina. While Layla usually dressed up in her lightest cotton clothes with skies like this, today she’s tugging the drawstring around the hood of Harry’s hoodie to protect herself from the nippy breeze that blows through. Once she’s done securing the hood in place by knotting it under her chin, so the frigid air caused by a hurricane in Florida won’t freeze her ears off.

She kicks up the basketball that was at her feet, dribbling it up the driveway towards the garage door where her Uncle had screwed in a hoop. She jogs to it, gasping for a breath of air as she spins, tossing the ball above her head towards the net when she faces the street. She turns around expectantly to watch the ball kiss the rim as it tumbles into the basket but huffs when it bounces off the ring towards the hydrangea bushes.

“Ugh,” she groans, trudging behind it and when she’s picking it up she feels a sharp swat to her ass. “Hey! Not nice!” She squeals at Harry, turning around to face him.

“Not so nice when someone spanks you now, is it?” He laughs, clutching a pair of headphones in his hands. He’s dressed in his workout gear - brown trousers with a spatter of gold paint he’d managed to get when he helped her paint the ornate frame of his mirror. It cuts off at his knees, exposing his si no and oui and non tattoos. It baffles her that he’s not freezing while she’s been having goosebumps wearing sweatpants. He’s in one of his full arm length muscle hugging athletic t-shirts, with a hoodie tied around his waist.

“I don’t do it hard,” she replies.

“Well my stinging ass cheek would beg to differ.”

Layla rolls her eyes at his dramatic flair. “What are you doing up so early? I thought you were not gonna work out until your shoulder is better.”

“My better is better but I’m not gonna work out for the rest of the week and fuck up my muscles. Just going out on a walk. What are you doing up at seven in the morning?” He asks.

“Had a review meeting with my department head at four about my first week. Couldn’t go back to sleep after,” she shrugs. “I was scrolling on Instagram and I came across this trick shot on this basketball page where people run up to the net, do a spin and throw it in. Been trying to do that for an hour now and I’m nowhere close to nailing it,” she frowns, nodding to the ball she’s stationed against her hip.

“I could just lift you up and spin you around,” he suggests.

Layla laughs. “Cute that you think you can lift- aaah!” She shrieks as Harry quickly squats down, to grab the junction where her bum and thighs meet, hoisting her up.

“You were saying?” He arches his eyebrow up at her.

“Put me down,” she demands as he makes his way to the hoop.

“Nope. Make this backwards basket and come on a walk with me around the pond.”

He positions her right in front of the hoop and she’s hoisted up high up that the end of the net touches the top of her head. “I’m not supposed to face the net, you idiot,” she giggles.

“Alright then,” he turns them both around towards the street and marches down to the end of their driveway. Layla spots Nandhini Aunty right away, standing right in front of her open garage door, staring at the two with a cardboard box in her hand.

Layla tosses the ball and Harry turns them around to watch it perfectly go into the net, making him hoot and spin her around in celebration. They both laugh as Harry loosens his arms around her thighs making Layla slide down his torso. She doesn’t stop giggling as she wraps her around his neck, fingers massaging the baby curls at the nape of his neck, as she rubs her nose against his - feet still dangling above the ground as he holds her in place. “I like this trick shot so much better,” she whispers.

“Nandhini’s watching,” he mumbles, reminding her of her PDA rule around brown aunties, as she angles her head.

“Fuck her,” whispers with a smirk as her eyelids flutter close and she closes the distance between their lips.

  LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK SO FAR!    

#harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles fic #harry styles series #harry styles one shot #harry styles x oc #harry styles x y/n #harry styles x reader #camboy!harry #onlyfans!harry #harry styles fluff #harry styles angst #harry styles smut #indian!oc #six months #part twenty two #fishnets-fingers #COME SAY HI #one direction #please leave tags if you reblog

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Forced To Believe Chapter 16- Frustration

Chapter Summary: Morgan attends Summerslam, Melanie starts to get a push as creative wants her to become the outspoken diva, Morgan continues to have issues with Eva Marie and expresses her concern to her old friend Randy Orton about his actions at Summerslam

Words: 8,000+

-----

Today was the day of SummerSlam Axxess as Melanie had on casual wear consisting of jeans, a WWE shirt that says 'Believe in Morgan', and some sandals. She put her hair in a high ponytail and walked to where she was supposed to sit with her teammates for a meet and greet. She ended up bumping into Saraya (Paige).

"Hey! Happy birthday!" Melanie grinned and hugged her.

"Aw, thank you!" Saraya smiled and hugged back

"I gotta go but I'll catch up with you later. Kick some ass today!"

Saraya chuckled. "I will."

Making it to her destination, she sits next to Joe, taking the seat at the end, "Sorry I'm late."

"Nah, you're fine," Jon said as he is wearing a yellow shirt with a leather jacket and sunglasses.

"About time you got here." Colby joked.

"That reminds me, when are you going to make your move on the pranking? It's been a while." Melanie recalled.

"I'm still working on that." Colby scratched the back of his head

"Haha, someone ran out of ideas."

"Did not..." 

Melanie sees the fans forming a line. "Let's see how long it takes for my hand to cramp."

"Hi, Morgan!" 3 girls in their teens greet.

"Damn, you really are popular these days, Mel. These girls just kicked us to the curb..." Colby teased as the girls quickly apologized which amused the wrestlers. 

"You are like our favorite diva! You are so cool!" The first girl expressed her admiration.

"Aw, I'm glad." Melanie started to sign autographs and took some cute photos with them.

An interviewer walks up to The Shield. "Hello Morgan, you mind us interviewing you?" The male interviewer asked.

"I love interviews. Ask away, man," Melanie encouraged.

"You know people are starting to call you and Dean a power couple?"

Melanie and Jon glance at each other with smiles. "Really? Wow, I didn't know that. When was this?" She asked

"Ever since Money in the Bank."

"Wow, I've been out of the loop." she laughed.

"She's always out of the loop. I knew about it. And listened to the reception the crowd gives us." Jon spoke up with a smirk.

Melanie turned to him. "What!? And you didn't tell me?"

Joe chuckled at the sight and signed a fan's picture. 

"Sorry, baby." Jon shrugged

"You two have gone through a lot, how are you two?" The interviewer asked

"Going strong." Melanie proudly said with a smile.

"Glad to hear, keep representing."

"We will." 

After 30 minutes of meeting and signing fans' items, Larry King and his sons walk up to The Shield as security blocks the line. They get out of their seats so they can be interviewed. Joe, wearing a Shield shirt and jeans, Jon, Melanie, and Colby, wearing a gray shirt, a cap and sunglasses, stand before Larry King and his sons, Chance and Cannon, and one of their friends.

"We are with The Shield. How is it like being evil?" Larry asked as a camera started rolling on them.

"It's awesome! Oh my gosh, it is so cool to act like a crazy person in the ring." Melanie exclaimed as everyone laughed.

"It feels great, every day when I get up in the morning," Jon replied.

"We get booed here and there." Joe added.

"We're the champions of the world." Colby said.

"You guys win, I thought it was the opposite, I thought the bad guys are supposed to lose." Larry said.

"Sometimes the bad guys do win." Jon replied.

"Oh~"

"What's the best part about being the bad guy?" One of Larry's sons asked.

"The angry face, and like what Melanie said, act crazy." Joe replied.

"What's your major move?" Larry asked Melanie.

"The backfire and the breakdown." Melanie said with a smile.

"Wow, that sounds really intense. What is the backfire?"

"You see, it's like a DDT but you kick out your leg as you pull the person down on their head. And the breakdown is a painful submission I do on the women. I sit on their back and wrap their arms around their neck like a straightjacket and hold their wrist. While I do that, I pull back, causing pressure."

"Sounds painful. You divas are tough. But you are such a sweetheart when you're not in the ring."

"I try, man, I try."

Chance and Cannon start staring at Melanie in admiration.

Larry looks at his sons. "I'm sorry, my sons have a huge crush on you."

"Oh wow, do they?" Melanie giggled as she looked at Chance and Cannon smiling at her.

"Can't help it, she's so pretty." Cannon grinned.

"You're about to make me blush. You two are so handsome."

"You mind giving us a kiss on the cheek?" Chance asked, feeling hopeful.

"I guess you can steal a kiss on the cheek from me." Melanie kissed Larry's sons on the cheek and also kissed their friend on the cheek as well as The teen boys sighed in happiness. 

"Watch out, Dean, they might steal your girl." Colby joked at Jon as they all laughed.

"The Shield guys. Go get somebody!" Larry exclaimed as he shook their hands.

After Larry and his sons leave, Melanie looks at the fans as they chant 'Injustice.' She realizes that the fans were upset with Larry busting in line but then an idea pops in her head. 

"Hey! Everyone, how about I offer you guys hugs? Will that calm you down?" The crowd quickly agreed and she looked relieved. Security unblocks the line and the fans proceed. Melanie sees a female with long black hair and in her early 30s wearing a shirt that says 'Kill The Queen'  

"Oh wow, that brings back so many memories." Melanie began to think about her TNA days.

"I know it's a WWE event but I couldn't help but wear this to meet you." The woman said happily.

"Fucking A! I love fans that represent the places I worked hard from, besides WWE. You just made my day, girl."

"I'm so happy. Been a fan since TNA. I loved how you betrayed Madison. It was awesome! And then you would always wear black and scare Madison like you were actually going to kill her. Awesome gimmick.

Mind if I take a photo with you?"

"Of course." she stood up for the picture and gave her a big hug,

During Axxess, Melanie was shocked at how much love she got from her fans. From kids running to her with big smiles on their faces and giving her a big hug, to her fanboys. 

"It's Morgan!" A group of guys, in their early 20s exclaim.

"Hi guys." she waved

"Oh my gosh, you are like the hottest diva ever!" The first guy said.

"No, she is not, she's cute!" The second guy added. "Such a cutie."

"On fire!" The third guy declared.

"Beautiful!" The fourth exclaimed.

"Nah, she's sexy!" The fifth one said

"Shut up guys! Dean is right there! You want him to triple powerbomb us!?" The sixth guy warned as the Hounds of Justice were amused.

"It's cool, no worries." she laughed. 

Melanie even met older women who complimented her on her ringwork and mic skills. She was loving SummerSlam Axxess. After the meet and greet was over, she walked around and was stopped by another interviewer.

"Hey Morgan, how are things in the diva's locker room?" A female interviewer asked.

"Everyone wants to wrestle me," Melanie answered

"Oh no, jealousy?"

"Completely the opposite"

"How so?"

"You see, the reason why the divas love to face me is because of how they can get praised for the match too and not just me or the winner of the match. A lot of these matches happen mostly on NXT thought. But usually, when I have a match, I try to let them take control of me in the ring and let them show off their good moves instead of it being a squash match. That's why me and Alicia had such a great match at WrestleMania. Even though there are sometimes I have to do a squash match on live TV, NXT is mostly where I can have a real one on one match with the diva so they can show off their moves. Like Aksana for example. She has potential."

"Wow, I did not know that. That is really something."

"Yeah. Sometimes I put myself in a diva's shoes who really isn't winning matches and is always losing to a top diva. I don't want that." As Melanie talks, Celeste snuck up behind her with a grin. "That's why I want them to bring it their all. Also, that is why I put my body on the line for money in the bank. So, I took it like a woman and took all those spears Kaitlyn gave me during our match in my hometown."

"You definitely took some hits there." 

"Haha, a lot of hits. I don't know if I'll be able to have kids but I wanted that match to rock and hopefully go down into one of the best diva matches." As Melanie finished her sentence, Celeste put her in a headlock as she laughed

"Hey, you said for me to give it my all. Half those spears weren't even for you." Celeste teased.

"I know, I know." Melanie chuckled as she got released by the hybrid diva.

"So you two are best friends?" The interviewer asked

"She's my little tomboy when she isn't on cloud nine." Celeste teased.

"What?!" Melanie exclaimed.

"Cloud nine?" Interviewer inquired.

"Oh you know, her and Dean. They are all lovely dovely. The locker room thinks they're cute. Oh did you see her and him wrestle in the ring hours before Payback?" Celeste nudged Melanie's side as she grinned. "I think it's so romantic how he saved her from the Big Show. SO cute even though he got punched. Oh, and I caught them-" Celeste began but Melanie grabbed her mouth.

"Quiet you!" Melanie warned.

"We heard on the E! website, that there was a poll on which couple was the most popular and it's tied between Nikki and Cena and you and Jon." the interviewer brought up.

"My votes for Morgan." Celeste grinned.

"That's what's up." Melanie gives her a low five.

"How do you like the fans?" The interviewer asked.

"I love how a lot of my fans remember me from the development areas and TNA. It's really cool that I have longer term fans like that. Such an honor." 

"You girls have a good rest of the day."

Melanie walks around again and sees some fans and waves at them. She catches up to Randy. "Dude! Great news! My hand doesn't hurt from singing autographs!"

Randy laughed. "Awesome."

"I know right! I'll catch you later." she waves at him and catches up with Jon as an interviewer confronts them.

"You mind us asking you a question?" The interviewer asked.

"Not at all." Melanie gestured for them to continue.

"How does it feel being a heel?"

"Hm...I do miss my face moments."

"Oh no, you're blowing me off?" Jon asked as she laughed

"Haha, no. I like being a heel. It's interesting to portray such a weird, loud, wild crazy character who is vicious and shows no mercy whatsoever but sometimes I do miss those face days ya know? But you never know, maybe Morgan will be back in the light someday."

'30 Years of WrestleMania Roster Reveal'

Damien, Ric Flair, J.R and King were already in the ring. "But we need a diva to help us out don't we?" King asked as the crowd cheered. "Ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome, Morgan Lopez!"

Morgan comes out with a grin but is still slightly in character minus the mean attitude.

"What's up people!?" she asked on the mic as soon as she got inside the ring and the crowd cheered in response.

"SILENCE!" Damien shouted.

"I'm sorry, who are you again?" Morgan asked

"I am the uncrowned world heavyweight champion."

"Really~?" Ric Flair asked.

"Haha, you funny." Morgan replied.

"My briefcase says it all right here. I can cash it in anytime I want." Damien said.

"That is not a world championship belt, that is a wannabe like you are." Ric replied as the crowd 'Ohs'

"Burn..." Morgan chuckled.

"And for you to mention my name in the same sentence as yours is the most ridiculous thing in the history of this sport. Let me see. Ric Flair's 16 time world champion...and uh...what's his first name?" Ric asked.

"Damien," King answered.

"Damien Sandow...wow...that uh, haha, that's almost hilarious..."

"We interrupt this speech with a breaking news flash. Your opinion does not count. These people would much rather hear me speak, listen to every word I say than to see you and you!" Damien pointed at Ric and Morgan.

"Woo!" Ric shouted

"Silence!"

"Woo!"

"Silence!"

"Woo,woo!"

"Silence, silence!"

"Woo,woo!"

"Silence!"

"Woo!"

"Silence!"

"Woo!"

"Silence!"

"Woo!"

"Silence!"

"Woo!"

"Silence!"

"Woo!"

"Silence!" Ric starts doing his walk around the ring as Morgan laughs and the crowd cheers. "Woo!"

"You like this!? You're entertained by this!?" Damien cried as Morgan kept laughing.

"Yes, yes I am." Morgan nodded as the crowd chants 'Yes'

"Before things get even more out of hand, we have one more person to show for the 30 years of WrestleMania." King said.

"Finally. I'm coming up, I'm coming up." Damien said with hope but then it showed Morgan's model in the game as the crowd cheered happily.

Morgan widened her eyes in awe. "Wow..."

"What!? You let this woman in the game but not me?! Your savior!?"

"Snooze you lose buddy." she smirked.

"How dare you?!"

"How dare you?"

"You!"

"You."

"SILENCE!"

"Silence!" Morgan continued to mock.

"SILENCE!"

"Silence!"

"Rugh! I'm done with this!" Damien angrily said and got out of the ring.

"Bye! No one will miss ya!" Morgan waved

After the segment, Melanie walks around and Jon meets up with her another interviewer walks up to them. 

"Are you ready to face either Natalya or Brie for your title?" The interviewer asked

"Totally ready." Melanie nodded

"Have a strategy?"

"Hm...cheat."

"That's my girl." Jon praised

Melanie laughed. "I'm joking! Joking! Get out of here." she pushed Jon away as he chuckled

"So what is your real strategy?" The interviewer asked.

"I've been watching Natalya and Brie's recent matches and also I've been remembering all the moves Natalya has done to me. Since I'm familiar with Natalya's wrestling style, I should be able to avoid her sharpshooter and her other deadly moves. Brie on the other hand...I'll snap her body like a twig along with that twin sister of hers." she said in character.

"Did you watch Natalya's tag match with Maria Menounos against Eva Marie and Brie?"

"Yes. I gotta stay away from those roll up pins."

"What do you think of Eva Marie's first match?"

"She did all right. I just really want to face her in a one on one match."

"Not a tag match?"

"Nah, one on one seems more better. I want to see what she's made of. She really loves to talk, so how about you take it to the ring. Eva Marie, I want to challenge you to a match. You up for it?" Melanie asked, looking at the camera.

The interviewer went to find Eva Marie as she signed her Maxim magazine to her fans. "Hi, Eva." The interviewer greeted.

Eva Marie smiled. "Hey."

"So moments ago, Morgan has issued a challenge against you. What do you say about that?"

Eva Marie smirked and nodded. "Game on. But it'll be game over for her once she steps in the ring with me."

"Those sound like fighting words. Can't wait to see these two go at it one day."

"I might give her a preview during SummerSlam, just watch out."

'Back to Melanie, she is with another interviewer'

"How does it feel being one of the first divas on WWE2K14 30 years of WrestleMania? There was a secret poll on the WWE app about it and the WWE Universe chose your match."

"I feel honored. I was not expecting that. I know that I've been in the scoops but I didn't know they put me and Alicia on there. That's awesome. I can't wait to play the game." Melanie answered proudly. The interviewer thanked her for her time and walked away. Minutes later, the same interviewer who interviewed Eva comes back. "Back so soon?"

"Yep. We are back with Morgan. Eva Marie has told us 'Game on, but it'll be game on for her once she steps in the ring with me.' What do you say about that?"

"Wow...if you really are feeling this confident, then I can't wait to see if what you say is true. I'll be waiting for you in the ring. Hope you're ready for a backfire sweetie." she blew a kiss at the camera.

The interviewer chuckled. "Another question, may we ask why you are so loyal to The Shield? You've been DDTed by your old friend Randy Orton and got hit by the world's largest slam by Mark Henry. How are you still able to stand here and take the pain? You have taken a lot of hits for them."

"Man...they saved my ass so many times...it's time I return the favor. It's what teams should do. We have each other's backs. We sacrifice everything for each other."

"Last question, who are you rooting for the WWE championship match?"

"Honestly, I believe Daniel Bryan is going to win. He has a lot of momentum and he has such heart in wrestling. I see him winning the title. Cena had a good run, but he met his match. Daniel is going to win the title, I know it."

-----

'SummerSlam'

During RVD's match against Ambrose in the kick off show, RVD was on the turnbuckle about the do the five star splash but hears:

'Sierra'

'Hotel'

'India'

'Echo'

'Lima'

'Delta'

'Shield'

Ambrose rolls out the ring as Roman, Morgan and Seth walk down the steps. Morgan jumps off the barricade and walks to Dean to help him. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Dean held his stomach. 

The fans explode in cheers when Mark Henry's theme comes on as they look at the stage. Morgan and Dean glanced at each other as Roman and Seth were not expecting RVD to have help. The Big Show comes out as Seth starts to throw a fit.

"Unbelievable..." Morgan grumbled. 

Near the end of the match, RVD gives Dean the rolling thunder and gets on the top rope. He gives him the five star frog splash but then gets speared by Reigns. 

"Yes!" She shouted as Ambrose rolled out the ring and hugged him.

"Winner by disqualification...Rob Van Dam!" Justin announced as Ambrose high fived Roman.

"Couldn't get it done Rob! You couldn't get it done!" Dean shouted as he held his title.

'Later on the PPV'

'I've had enough I'm taking you down'

"Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome, the divas champion, Morgan!" Lilian announced as she came out with a smirk on her face. 

She has the title up in the air and twirls around with it three times and then rests the championship on her shoulder.

"Morgan will be watching this diva's match tonight and will face the diva who wins the match with her title on the line. Let's see if Morgan can retain the championship." Cole looked on.

"Yes, the lovely Philadelphian is ready to go," King said as she taunted the crowd in the ring and leaned on the turnbuckle.

After Natalya comes out with Cameron and Naomi, the Bellas walk out with Eva Marie as Morgan held her throat and gagged once she saw their outfits. 

"Looks like Morgan is disgusted by their outfits." Cole laughed

Morgan gets out of the ring and stands at ringside to watch Brie's match against Natalya. During the match, Natalya is out of the ring and Eva and Nikki are about to attack but Morgan gets in front of them.

"Back it up. Back it up." She threatened in a dark tone as they quickly backed up.

"Looks like they don't want any part of Morgan." King said.

As soon as she turns around, Eva Marie grabs her by the hair as Morgan tries to get her off.

"An attack from behind!" Cole yelled as Eva pulled her down. 

Morgan holds her head and looks at her angrily. The crowd boos Eva as she blows her a kiss.

"Are you kidding me!?" Morgan yelled and got up to start chasing her.

"How can Eva run in those heels?" Cole asked in surprise. Eva runs backstage as Morgan runs after her. In the ring, Brie takes control of Natalya. Minutes later, Morgan drags Eva down the ramp as the crowd cheers. "Oh boy!" 

Morgan releases her and grabs a chair under the ring but Cameron and Naomi quickly stop her.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Morgan calm down!" Naomi exclaimed.

"You're crazy!" Eva Marie yelled as Nikki helped her up.

"I'll show you crazy!" Morgan snapped but gets grabbed by Cameron and Naomi. "You want to attack me from behind?"

"This rivalry has really escalated to a whole new level," King said as Eva and Morgan got separated.

Fans tweets:

'Morgan better destroy Eva one of these days! #SummerSlam #MorgansBringingTheHeat'

'An attack from behind? Morgan isn't going to forget about this. #SummerSlam'

After Natalya wins, Morgan gets in the ring. "Make the best woman win," Morgan said as Natalya nodded

'Ding Ding Ding'

Morgan and Natalya lock up but Natalya flips her on the mat and continues giving her pressure on her head. Morgan breaks free and as they stand up, they start to have a fast paced match as Morgan keeps doing high flying moves on her and with a lot of near falls. She hits the backfire on Natalya and quickly pins her. 

"It's over!" JBL exclaimed

"1!"

"2!"

"Oh!" The fans exclaim as Natalya kicks out. 

She hits the discuss clothesline on Morgan which almost knocks her out. Natalya pins her but gets a 2 count as the fans get hyped. Later on in the match, Natalya hits her with a suplex off the turnbuckle as the crowd claps for them. She crawls over to pin her but Morgan kicks out at 2.

Near the end of the match, Morgan ducks Natalya's discuss clothesline and hits her with a quick backfire to win the match

"Here is your winner! And still the Diva's Champion, Morgan!" Lilian announced.

The ref raises up her hand and gives her the title. She smirks and takes a bow with the championship. 

"Someone is acting cocky tonight." Cole said with amusement.

"Why not? She won." JBL supported her as she got out of the ring

"This is what The Shield's girl is all about." She boasted.

Morgan tweets '#SayYourPrayers because I'm #ComingForYouEva'

'WWE Exclusive Video'

After Randy wins the WWE championship in a screwy way thanks to Triple H's assistance, Morgan gets interviewed by Renee backstage.

"What are your thoughts on what just happened during the Main Event of SummerSlam?" Renee asked

"Honestly? This is not cool at all. I think it's unfair to Daniel Bryan as well. Like come on, Daniel fought a hard and long match against Cena. He won that title fair and square. Even though Randy is a friend of mine, I just don't know why he would even go through with the match after Triple H attacked Bryan. I just want answers. Why would you be such an asshole and do this crap? All I can say is...they are both sellouts. Plain and simple."

Morgan tweets 'Triple H was #WEAK. Getting involved and screwing Bryan...what #WhatBS...'

'After The Show'

Melanie sneaks into Colby's locker room and sees him taking a nap. She grabs some pink nail polish and starts painting his nails. 

Jon walked in. "Oh my God..." 

Melanie held her mouth to stop herself from laughing. "He deserves it, he's taking too long to make a move."

An hour later, Melanie was eating grapes backstage.

"Melanie!" Colby yelled as Melanie turned around. She sees Colby's face red and glaring at her.

"Hey, how ya doing? Oh my gosh! Nice nails!" she grinned.

"Very funny. No more Mister nice guy."

"Ooh, I'm so scared." Melanie teased

"You should be." Colby declared and walked away.

'Monday morning'

In the hotel room she shared with Trinity, Melanie wakes up and sees a tattoo on her arm. "Ahh! What is on my arm!?"

Trinity quickly ran out of the bathroom with a toothbrush in her hands to see what the fuss was about. "Oh my gosh, when did you get that?"

"Colby is so dead if this doesn't wash off before RAW." She gets up and looks in the mirror in the bathroom. The tattoo was a heart and around it said 'Colby Rulez!' and then she turned to look at Trinity who kept laughing. "Okay, I know you know something about this, spill it."

"Colby had help from Celeste," Trinity confessed with a giggle

"Whose side is she on!?" She exclaimed before laughing with her.

"I think she's helping both of you guys out." she mentioned as Melanie started washing off the tattoo.

"Oh my gosh, it won't wash off!" Melanie panicked.

"Relax! It'll come off before Raw starts."

"Who told you that?"

"Colby did."

"He's lying...I'll be back, I'm going to hurt him." she grabbed a bucket and left the hotel room as Trinity followed her.

"I'm tuning in for this."

Making it to The Shield's shared hotel room, Melanie knocked on the door and Joe opened it. 

"Hi, good morning, Believe In The Shield, cookies and cream, I love grapes, Colby's gonna die today, yeah, all that good stuff." Melanie said as she walked in with the bucket. 

Trinity and Joe chuckle at her rambling while Melanie sees Colby snoring on the bed. She walks to the bathroom and fills the bucket with cold water. After she fills it, she walks out of the bathroom and walks up to the two toned male.

"Wakey wakey eggs and bakey!" She shouted, throwing the cold water all over Colby as he jerked up with a yell.

Trinity has a hand over her mouth in disbelief and starts laughing as Colby falls off the bed. 

"What the hell!? What the hell was that for?!" He yelled and snapped his head to Melanie. She then ended up hitting him with the bucket. "Ow!"

She grabbed a pillow and started hitting him with it several times. "You asshole!"

"What did I do!?"

"You're the one who gave me a tattoo! When does this go away?!"

"I don't know!"

She put him in a headlock. "When!?"

"I don't know!"

"When!?"

"All right! All right! In a week!" Colby yelled and he got released.

"A week!?" She screamed. "What am I supposed to do with a 'Colby Rulez' tattoo for a week!? A week!"

Colby stood up and shivered. Melanie kept hitting him with the pillow as he scrambled to the bathroom and locked it. 

"I'm gonna kill you, you motherfudger!" She banged on the door.

Joe rubbed the back of his neck as he watched the scene. "This is intense."

------

'Raw'

After Morgan watches Ziggler find out he has a match against The Shield, she tweets: 

'So you wanna give out matches with The Shield if you don't agree with HHH? I don't agree with him. So am I gonna get a match against my team?'

She also tweets 'Oh my gosh...I am surrounded by sellouts and followers...What has become of us? I mean, best for business? #YouFunny'

Morgan watches The Shield's match backstage and after their match against Dolph, She tweets 'That's my boys. Give him justice! #BelieveInTheShield'

'Backstage'

Morgan was walking and bumped into Maddox. "Morgan! Just the lady I was looking for." Brad grinned

"Oh boy...what do you want...?"

"So I heard your little interview about Triple H and read all of your tweets. Seems like you don't agree with what he's doing."

"Why wouldn't I? I'm not a follower like you are." she snapped as the crowd cheered for her. Brad chuckled and ignored her last sentence.

"You see here's the thing...I've decided to put you in a match..." 

"Okay...? Are you done wasting my time?"

"Well, before you go, I should tell you the type of match you're in. You will be in a handicap match. Eva Marie, Layla and Brie Bella against...you." The crowd booed while Morgan looked at him in disbelief.

"Are you kidding me?"

"Good luck." Maddox said and walked away.

"3 on 1?" Morgan exclaimed as the segment ended.

Morgan tweets 'Everyone doesn't have to agree with the boss. Speak up and say your opinion. #SpeakUpNoMatterWhat #TakeWhateverIsThrownAtYou'

'Later on'

Melanie was on her phone when Stephanie approached her to give her a heads up that she would be needed for a last minute segment that had just been thought of recently. 

"All you have to do is tell me off about the whole situation and then I slap you and tell you that your match will be coming up soon and then you walk away angry. Oh, another thing, show a lot of aggression in your match and also anger. The Shield will be involved too. I know this is all last minute but I know you can do it. There is no script for this one. You need to think quickly on your feet this time. Say what you want." she was told by Stephanie.

Shit, this is abrupt. Melanie didn't know what creative had planned but she was excited. She's been getting a lot of help thinking on her feet and her improvising lately. Things should be fine.

'Later'

Onscreen, Stephanie is on the phone but hears the door slam open. She watched as Morgan stormed up to her as she got off her phone. 

"What can I do for you?" She asked with a smirk.

"You and your husband make me sick!" Morgan shouted. The crowd cheers as Stephanie's eyes widen.

"I agree with Daniel. I'm also thinking of a word that starts with a B and it rhymes with witch. You are a witch you know that? You and your stupid plans to screw Bryan was uncalled for and wrong. And now you're going to make your little puppet, Maddox, force me into a 3 on 1 match? What kind of crap is that? Who are you to force me into a match like that?" she rambled on angrily.

Stephanie chuckled slightly. "Do you know who you're talking to?"

"I'm standing right before you aren't I?" She snapped

"Do you know who I am?"

"In fact, I do. I'm talking to a woman whose husband is a sell out-­" 

Stephanie gives her a stinging slap in the face as the crowd erupts in 'Ohs'.

"How dare you talk to me like that, I can have the Divas Championship stripped from you. Your match is coming up. Get ready before I make it a 4 on 1 match." Stephanie glared at her.

Morgan rubbed the side of her face. "Unbelievable..."

"Unbelievable? You are unbelievable. To have the audacity to come up in here and say your opinion on what my husband is doing which is very good for business? How dare you?"

"And what are you going to do about it?"

"This is exactly like you Morgan. You always want to be the tough girl but you're not. Face it, Morgan. You're worthless and you are nothing but a failure. You won that title by a fluke. I was this close to stripping you from it. I just hope this beating tonight shows you to shut your mouth and mind your business. Not get out of my office."

Morgan rolled her eyes and left the room.

Morgan tweets 'Looks like somebody forgot the 1st amendment. #FreedomOfSpeech #BeOutspoken'

After the segment, she was praised for thinking quickly on her feet and was told to keep practicing for the upcoming storyline she'd be a part of. Stephanie even teased and told her to work on her freedom of speech for the new gimmick they were planning to work with soon. 

-----

'Backstage'

Morgan is walking with a worried look. "Well, coming up next, Morgan is in a handicap match against Eva Marie, Layla and Brie Bella. This is going to be interesting." Cole said. 

"I really wonder if she stands a chance against 3 divas. This should be interesting but is her head in the right place?" JBL asked.

Morgan gets stopped by Eva Marie as the crowd boos her. 

"I can't wait for our match tonight so I can finally prove to you how I'm a better wrestler than you. And you're going to be all alone. No one, not even your little boyfriend can help you. Maybe after I win, he'll see what a great woman I am instead." Eva boasted while Morgan glared at her. "Dean Ambrose right? He is pretty cute. Not to mention hot. I wonder what he sees in you. You're so wild and crazy. You're also violent. Guys like classy girls. Not trashy. So, once I beat you tonight, Dean will be all over me. I can't wait. Once he comes to me, he won't even be thinking about you at all." 

"Uh oh. This isn't good." Cole said as Morgan exhaled with her eyes tearing up.

"If I were Eva, I would leave," King warned

"Ha! Are you about to cry? Wow...you're not tough at all. You got soft. It seems that if I get under your skin, you'll break."

"Yes, I am breaking. I'm going through my breaking point because I am about to cry tears of anger if you don't get out my face." Morgan growled.

"You see? This is why Dean needs a real woman. And I can be that for him. And in fact...I might just pay him a visit after our little match. I'd kill to see him shirtless. And maybe sneak a kiss. But I guess I have to wait. See you in the ring." Eva smirked and walked away as Morgan gave her an icy glare as the segment ended.

Morgan tweets 'I'm done being nice. #TurnUp'

'Later'

Morgan is getting ready for her match and Kaitlyn walks up to her as she gets a nice reception. "Hey, Kaitlyn..."

"Hey. I just saw what happened between you and Eva. What is going on?"

"Nothing..."

"What is going on with you Morgan?"

"Look I'm just...going through stuff..."

"Going through stuff? You're letting these people get inside your head. Morgan, don't tell me you are going to change just because someone says you're wild and crazy. So what? Who cares? That is who you are. I mean, are you really going to let Eva say all that stuff? Especially about your boyfriend?"

"No..."

"Then give her the ass beating she deserves. Don't let her words bring you down. You are so much stronger than this. Stop doubting."

"I'm not."

"Yes, you are because you let Eva get to your head. Do you honestly think Dean is going to choose her over you? He loves you. Now go out there and please bring all that emotion out of you. I see the frustration on your face. You want to hurt someone. How about you take those emotions and take it out on the divas like you usually do?"

Morgan sighed and nodded. "Okay."

"I'll be watching. Please punch her for me."

Morgan tweets 'Okay, no mercy tonight. Eva is going to regret everything #TheTwirlingPrincess will overcome this handicap match.'

Kaitlyn replies, 'Yeah! #TurlsUnite WWEMorgan101'

'At The Gorilla'

Before Melanie's match, she starts stretching and has a frown on her face. 

"Aye, it's the wild diva," Joe said with a warm smile as he walked up to her with Jon and Colby.

"What?" Melanie snapped in a dark tone.

"Whoa, whoa, what did we do wrong?" Colby asked with surprise.

She cleared her throat. "Sorry, I'm getting into character. I have to make sure I'm in a pissed off mood. Sorry, hehe,"

"Well, you're doing it right that's for sure,"

"Ready for the upcoming storyline?" Jon asked.

"I'm nervous. I mean, I hope the fans don't think of me badly. I still want to be a child's favorite diva." Melanie shrugged

"They will. Don't worry," he reassured

'In The Ring'

Layla, Eva Marie and Brie were already in the ring. 

"In the ring are the divas who are facing Morgan in a handicap match. This match is so unfair, I don't think Morgan can take on three divas at once." King sighed.

"The self proclaimed Twirling Princess needs to think of a game plan, that's for sure," JBL said. 

Morgan walks out to her theme with a frown as the crowd gives her a loud reception. She stares down the three divas while they taunt her.

"Oh man...she's not grinning or twirling tonight," King said with disappointment.

"Not in the mood she's in tonight. She's ready to decimate these divas." Cole mentioned.

"Loser!" Brie said and put an 'L' on her head. Layla starts to do the same and so does Eva.

"How's Dean?" Eva Marie asked with a smirk.

After that question, Morgan snapped and ran to the ring as the crowd cheered with anticipation. 

"Here we go!" King yelled as Morgan speared the first person she could get her hands on. Thankfully, it was Eva Marie. As soon as she spears her, she starts unloading on her.

"The match didn't even start yet!" Cole exclaimed as Eva started screaming for dear life. 

Layla and Brie try to grab her off of her. Moments later they do as the ref grabs Morgan to the corner while Brie and Layla hold Eva.

"Are you serious!?" Eva cried with her hair all over the place.

"Well, the crowd is in Morgan's corner tonight," Cole said.

"Get off of me! Get off of me!" Morgan yelled as the ref released her. 

She puts her hair in a neat ponytail, showing everyone that she is not playing around and is ready for business.

"Someone's getting serious!" JBL exclaimed

"You want to taunt me? You wanted to do this right? Well, let's go. I want you in this ring right now." she points to Eva.

"Nope, not a chance." Eva gets on the apron as the crowd boos her and Layla starts off the match.

The Philly Diva nodded, "You know what? Fine." 

'Ding Ding Ding.'

"And here we-Oh!" Cole exclaimed as Morgan hit Layla with a quick backfire and went for the pin as she looked at Brie and Eva. 

She puts her fingers up as the fans chant "1! 2! 3!" and Layla is eliminated as Eva and Brie look surprised.

"She's not playing around." JBL looked in awe.

"Was that even 10 seconds?" King started chuckling. Morgan throws Layla out of the ring and turns her concentration to Brie and Eva. "Is it me or does Morgan look hot when she's mad?"

"It's always you and the beauty king..." Cole said.

"You get in the ring," Brie said to Eva.

Eva quickly shakes her head. "No way."

Brie gets off the apron. 

"Get in the ring Eva." The ref ordered. 

Eva looks concerned for her safety as she gets in the ring.

"I think Eva lost her confidence," Cole pointed out 

"Okay, look, I was just kidding about all the things I said. Let's just forget about it." Eva said with a fake smile.

"Oh, okay, sure, we can." Morgan gave her a fake grin.

"So nice for you to finally agree with me."

But then Morgan punches her in the face making her stumble on the mat. 

"That's gotta hurt." JBL winced.

Morgan grabs her by the hair, throwing her to a corner. She starts giving her hard chops to the chest as the crowd 'Woos' in response. She then throws Eva out of the ring and follows her as Eva clutches her chest.

"You want to try to intimidate me!? Huh!?" Morgan yelled and threw her to the barricade and to the ring back in and forth several times.

"We all knew this was going to happen. Morgan will never back down from anything." JBL said as she threw Eva back in the ring before throwing her around like a ragdoll.

"I know Eva regrets everything she said," Cole chuckled as Morgan hit her with a sinister kick in the face.

"Wait Morgan, wait." The ref said as he checked on Eva. "Do you want to continue?"

"No, I don't." Eva huffed as she got out of the ring. 

She did not want any part of Morgan's beating. All she wanted was to get out of the ring and escape from her fate. She finally learned her lesson to never mess with Morgan. Morgan gets out of the ring and grabs her by the hair.

"Don't think you're getting away easy!" she yelled and threw her back in the ring. 

Morgan hits the backfire on her and is about to pin her but stops. The crowd starts to cheer when she puts Eva in the breakdown as she starts tapping. 

"Morgan get off her! She's eliminated!" the ref yelled as she began to lean back in more, keeping the hold.

"Morgan is going to end up breaking something!" King exclaimed

"Morgan let go! Let go now!" The ref ordered. 

Morgan lets go and then throws Eva Marie out of the ring, angrily.

"Wanna mess with me again!? And stay away from my boys!" she yelled while Eva was still hurt from the beating. 

She gets help from another ref to go backstage while Morgan smirks at what she has done. Turning around slowly, she looks at Brie.

"No thank you," Brie muttered and got off the apron. She does the 'Loser' sign and starts walking through the crowd.

'Sierra'

'Hotel'

'India'

'Echo'

'Lima'

'Delta'

'Shield'

Brie quickly looks around but then sees Rollins walking through the crowd. 

"Oh no." Cole said.

"Oh yes!" JBL cheered

"Brie better get out of there." King warned.

Brie starts to run through the crowd but sees Roman walking her way. Morgan has her arms crossed and watches Brie scramble through the crowd in fear, smirking in amusement. Brie gets to ringside and starts running up the ramp. 

"No way, Morgan!" Brie exclaimed but then Ambrose blocked her way and glared at her.

She starts to back away from him but gets picked up over his shoulder as she screams. She gets thrown back into the ring as Morgan grabs her by the hair and hits the backfire on her which makes a big impact on the mat.

"Brie might be out cold. Did you hear and see that impact?" King cringed as Morgan pinned her for the win.

Fans tweet:

'I love aggressive Morgan.'

'When The Shield came out, I got so hype! #BelieveInMorgan'

Morgan tweets '#RuthlessMorgan returned tonight. It was worth it.'

'Later'

Dean, Roman and Seth are in the ring with Big Show as Morgan looks on. 

"Well, Morgan looks calm after the beating she gave those women. I'm just glad she is okay and won the match." King said

"Are you kidding? She didn't break a sweat." JBL praised

'Ding Ding Ding'

Big Show quickly goes after Roman and pushes him out of the ring. Dean and Seth try to gang up on him but Show pushes them away. He throws Dean on the turnbuckle and throws Seth into him. Morgan winces as the Big Show hits Seth with a big body splash. He throws Ambrose out of the ring and turns his attention back to Rollins.

"Poor Seth." She said with a worried look before she went to check on Ambrose.

When Big Show throws him out of the ring, Seth holds his knee in pain since he tweaked it with his match against Ziggler earlier. As Roman slides back in the ring, he gets speared by Show. 

"What a spear!" Cole exclaimed

"If he keeps this up he will be victorious," King guaranteed.

The crowd claps for the Big Show while Morgan and Dean grab Roman by the legs to pull him out of the ring. 

"Guess it's time for The Shield to regroup." Cole said as 'Big Show' chants surround the arena. "Reigns is still floored by that spear."

Morgan checks on Roman outside the ring while Ambrose tries to put Show in a headlock but gets thrown off his back. 

"Roman, you all right?" she asked with concern as Roman held his stomach and gritted his teeth.

"Yeah...I'll be fine." he managed to say.

"All right." she turned her attention back to the ring. As The Big Show takes control, he steps on Seth's back as Seth yells out in pain. "Hey! Get off of him! Do your job, ref!" 

"450 pounds!" Cole exclaimed as the ref tried to stop Big Show.

"Show is decimating The Shield." JBL said. 

Once Show throws Seth out of the ring, he starts to take control of Ambrose. He goes to give him a chokeslam but Morgan gets on the ropes.

"No! Don't do it!" she yelled. 

The ref tries to get Morgan off the apron, but as Big Show and the ref are distracted by her, Seth comes up from behind and hits Show's leg as he releases Ambrose.

"Again and again she always saves her team," Cole exclaimed while Morgan smirked in satisfaction.

"So? She's doing what she wants to do. It's smart. Big Show needs to remember not to pay her any attention next time." JBL shrugged. 

Rollins gives Big Show a big knee on the head from the top rope as

Ambrose gets a 2 count. They try to suplex him but Big Show counters and suplexes them. When The Big Show turns around, he gets speared by Reigns. 

"There are bodies everywhere, good grief." JBL chuckled

"Everybody's down." King watched.

"We got to put him down. We got to put him down." Seth repeated as The Shield recovered and stood up.

Roman roared and The Shield hit him with the triple powerbomb. Roman, Seth and Dean, still feeling the effects of Big Show's moves, crawl over to Show and pin him to win.

'Later'

The Shield guard the ring while Vince and Stephanie are in the ring. The rest of the roster is on the stage. Morgan shakes her head slightly as Triple H walks down the ramp while Stephanie claps for him. 

"Give it up for the game!" Vince announced.

"I guess The Shield are running security," Cole said.

Triple H gets in the ring. "I had my doubts but in the end, you did the right thing," Vince said and hugged him.

Triple H grabs the mic. 'You sold out' chants erupt in the crowd as Morgan mentally agrees. 

"So I guess this is where I'm supposed to explain myself to all of you right? As you would put it, why I would throw away the future and why I would screw Daniel Bryan. It always makes me laugh, how short sighted all of you are. I did what I did last night to ensure the future of the WWE. I did what I did last night, for all of you." Triple H explained

"Wow..." Morgan grumbled as she rolled her eyes.

"I did it for you, I did it for all of your children, I did it for their children, I did it for all of you." Triple H pointed to the roster. "...standing up on top of that ramp."

Morgan sees Teddy Long and Brad Maddox clapping for him. 

"Asskissers..." She mumbled as she stood next to Ambrose, Roman and Seth.

"I did this for my wife, and our children so that this can exist in their future. I did this for each and every one of you in the WWE Universe. So that this can exist in all of your futures. You think I wanted to do that to Daniel Bryan? Hell, I like Daniel Bryan. I consider him as a friend. I'm a big fan. He deserved to win but let's be honest. WWE champion? Face of the WWE?" Triple H asked as the fans chanted 'Yes' all over the arena.

"No. No. You, you deserve better than that. You deserve the complete package. You deserve A plus. Not B. Don't ever settle for less. I gave you A plus. And Daniel Bryan comes out here and says he has a personal problem with that? That's a sacrifice I'm willing to make. You think he has personal problems? What about my personal problems? Let's put this on me for a second, forget Daniel Bryan. How did I feel about this personally? You think I wanted to do this to Daniel? 15 years of blood sweat and tears? No, it hurt me. It hurt me personally to do that to Daniel Bryan. And let's look at the guy I did it with. You think I liked doing that with him?" Triple H continued

"Hell no. I took away all that bitter feeling to do what was right for all of you. I don't really care about Daniel's personal problems. To say you have personal problems with it is just selfish Daniel. This is not all about you. You need to check your ego at the door pal. Just like I do mine. It's not about me, it's not about what I do, it's about the WWE Universe. You put your personal feelings aside and you do what is right for business." He added.

"You have got to be kidding me..." Morgan mumbled as 'Daniel Bryan' chants surround the arena. 

"And right now, I am gonna do what needs to be done and I'm gonna put aside my personal feelings one more time and I am gonna bring the future, your future, the face of the WWE. The coal that has become the diamond. I give you the new WWE champion, the Viper, Randy Orton!" Triple H announced.

'I hear voices in my head'

Orton walks out slowly with his title. 

"Here is the man who cashed in his money in the bank to Daniel Bryan to win the title," Cole announced. 

As Orton is at the end of the ramp, Morgan steps up to him and he stops in front of her. She gave him a disappointed look, trying to comprehend what was going on.

"Why? I don't understand why you would do this." She weakly said as Randy responded by giving her a cold stare.

"Looks like Morgan is disappointed and upset at her friend for what he did at SummerSlam." Cole looked on.

"That's surprising," King said as JBL agreed

Orton smirks and walks past her as she looks down and turns around to look at him. Orton shakes Vince's hand and then Triple H's hand. Orton and Stephanie look at each other and she hugs him. 

"After all the things he has done to that woman?" Cole asked.

Orton grabbed a mic. "I told you so. I told you that when I cashed in, you would not see it coming. And here I stand before you, for the 10th time, the Apex Predator of the WWE. Now I'm not used to saying thank you. But after what you did last night for me Triple H, I owe all of this to you." Orton shakes his hand and gives him a bro hug. "As a matter of fact, everyone in this arena should stand on their feet and show this man the respect he deserves." 

Stephanie and Vince applaud them while Orton gives the mic back to Triple H.

"Now, since we own the place, we have eyes and ears everywhere and I know that Daniel Bryan is in this building. So here's the thing, I know you have a personal issue, so I'm offering you to come in this ring and get it all off your chest. So Daniel, come on out. You know what? Hold on, Shield guys, Ambrose, Lopez, Reigns, Rollins, can you do me a favor? You guys are a little intimidating and he's probably scared. You mind moving to the side?" Triple H asked as The Shield move to the side. "I don't want anyone touching Daniel Bryan. Anyone that touches Daniel Bryan, there is going to be problems. That includes you 4 as well. Daniel come on out."

"There he is!" Triple H said as Daniel walked out with his jeans and his T-Shirt. As soon as he tries to get in the ring, Ambrose, Rollins and Reigns start to attack him.

"Come on!" Cole exclaimed but then Daniel fought back. He throws Reigns to the steel steps and tries to get in the ring but Ambrose holds him off and they start fighting up on the ramp until Seth hits him from behind. Morgan starts to look conflicted. "What is Morgan doing? Is she going to help her team?"

"She looks confused." JBL pointed out as she stood there and didn't know what to do. 

Daniel kicks Seth's tweaked knee and kicks him in the face. Ambrose runs towards Daniel but he flips him over as Dean's back hits the ramp.

"Look at Bryan go!" Cole shouted

Daniel turns to Morgan and starts walking up to her but she shakes her head. 

"I'm not going to do anything," She admitted and kept her distance from him.

After taking a good look at her body language and conflicted expression, he could tell she was telling the truth and backed off. He turns his attention to the ring, instead. Triple H ignores the fact that Morgan did not try to attack Daniel and begins to speak again.

"Let's talk about this. Get your feelings out." Triple H said as Daniel walked to the ring. He gets speared by Reigns as Ambrose, Reigns and Rollins beat on him and are about to do the powerbomb. "Whoa no no no no no no no, hold on. Put him down, stop, put him down. That's not what I want. Daniel Bryan has something to say, Daniel, let him come in the ring and say it." 

Bryan recovers and slowly gets back in the ring.

"Come on, show some guts. That's it. You got it." Triple H cheered as he made it to the ring but got RKOed by Randy.

Morgan looks at him in disbelief. 

"Just as Daniel was getting in the ring?" King exclaimed as Vince, Triple H, Stephanie and Orton raise up their hands.

"Our new WWE champion. The face of the WWE. Randy Orton." JBL declared.

"This is a black day for WWE." 

Morgan tweets 'Everything is just so screwed up. #Conflicted #WhyRandyWhy'

'WWE Exclusive Video'

"I-­I don't understand why you would do this. You couldn't wait for another time? I mean, right after Triple H pedigreed Bryan? Why?" Morgan asked as she looked up at Randy, backstage.

"Aren't you proud of me? You're supposed to be a so-called friend of mine," he recalled

"I am your friend but this was not cool. What you did was wrong."

"Morgan, you should know me by now."

"I thought I did but right now, you aren't the Randy I know."

"Well, this is the real me. Get used to it." He coldly stated and walked away.

"Don't have a choice..." She sighed with a disappointed look.

------

Favorite Hashtag?

#FreedomOfSpeech

#BeOutspoken

#SpeakUpNoMatterWhat

#TakeWhateverIsThrownAtYou

#TurnUp

#WhatBS

#BelieveInTheShield

#YouFunny

#MorgansBringingTheHeat

#SayYourPrayers

#ComingForYouEva

#WEAK

#TheTwirlingPrincess

#TurlsUnite

#Conflicted

#WhyRandyWhy

#the shield #the shield 4th member #dean ambrose x oc #dean ambrose #jon moxley x oc #jon moxley #wwe fanfiction #wwe oc #wwe imagine #wwe #seth rollins #roman reigns #forced to believe

[joshscurlyhair]

☽ 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 - 𝕛𝕠𝕤𝕙 ☽ 𝕡𝕥. 𝟚

Summary: Y/N has been dreaming of an unknown man for a while now making her wonder who he is. After doing some research she finds out he’s a musician for a band. One day she walks around her town to get some air when suddenly she bumps into the man who’s from her dreams. Has he been dreaming of her too?

Word count: 2.1k

{ A/N: Y'all just a heads up requests are always open! Just send me a text and I'll be back with you as soon as I can! } Check out Pt. 1 if you haven't already! : ☽ 𝕕𝕣𝕖𝕒𝕞𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕠𝕗 𝕪𝕠𝕦 - 𝕛𝕠𝕤𝕙 ☽ ☾Join the Taglist!☽

everything feels so much better when I am with you

you make me feel like the world is spinning around us

your eyes are pools of honey

your touch is gentle as a dove

〰〰〰〰〰〰

The Next Day:

BEEP BEEP BEEP

I look up from my phone and poured my coffee into my fall-themed mug filling it with hot coffee that made the kitchen instantly smell like pumpkin spice.

DING DING

I heard my phone buzz, as I looked at the top corner of the screen I saw an unknown number text me:

Guess whooo?

" Ow shit, " I said to myself accidentally splashing myself with coffee again.

Why does that always happen to me?

I wipe my hand with the kitchen towel and grabbed my phone staring at the text

Well, it would have to be Josh right?

I texted back:

Me: Josh?

I then set my phone down on the counter and sat down at the kitchen table sipping on my hot pumpkin spice coffee.

DING DING

Dang, that was fast

Josh: Ding ding correct! How are you on this crisp fall morning? Did you dream of me again?

Me: Surprisingly no actually. Did you?

Josh: Same. Probably the universe wanted us to keep dreaming about each other until we officially met

Me: Josh you're so cheesy 🤣

Josh: Heyyy it may sound cheesy but you never know. Especially in our crazy situation

I chuckle at Josh's texts responses, then started to think, well everything happens for a reason.

DING DING

I look at my phone again and see Josh text again:

Josh: Hey, would you like to attend our concert tonight? When you arrive just head backstage and tell security your name they'll let you in

I look up from my phone and think for a bit

I'm an introvert at heart so I hardly go out and especially in places where it's crowded

I look at my phone and looked at the text

Everything happens for a reason

Me: Sure :)

Josh: Sweet!! It starts at 8 tonight, see you there!

I look up from my phone and softly smiled at the thought of seeing Josh again.

" Shit, then I need to start planning my outfit, " I say out loud fumbling. I immediately opened the app Pinterest and looked up some ideas on what to wear.

" Ah! Perfect " I say out loud knowing an idea of what to wear for tonight. I stood up and went into my room quickly and fumbled in my closet throwing pieces of clothing here and there to find the perfect pieces.

After some digging, I found the exact pieces I wanted which were, a pair of black skinny jeans, a black leather jacket, my favorite pair of doc martens, and the perfect black fitted top that outlined my curves and topped off with a belt. I gathered the pieces together and placed them on my bed for when the time came.

I looked at my phone,

12:00 PM

Could make some lunch and surf on some more Pinterest to make the time fly

〰〰〰〰〰〰

I unlocked my phone again and saw it read,

6:00 PM

" Alright, let's get ready right now.. Shit, I need to text him for the directions there. Hopefully, it's not that far, " I said as I pick up the clothes that lay on my bed and changed into them. I pull the fabric over my head out of breath and took a look in the mirror, " Oh hell yes I look hot " I say flashing a smile at myself in the mirror. " Time for makeup now, " I say sitting down at my makeup desk and setting out the makeup products I was thinking of using. " A very tedious process," I say as I pulled up a makeup inspiration picture for reference.

After a very steady makeup process, I stood up looking at myself once more in the mirror. " Damn, this look really pulled off, " I say chuckling being surprised at how good this outfit turned out. I pulled out my phone and texted Josh:

Me: Could you send me the directions pls? Heading there in 10! :)

I then headed downstairs and got my car keys. Before leaving I took once last look in the mirror and smiled of satisfaction.

DING DING

I look at my phone turning it revealing Josh’s text sending me the address. I opened the address and went on Google Maps.

Nice it’s only 10 minutes away

My eyes then switched to the time on the top left of my phone screen and saw the time which read,

7:40 PM

Shit better start driving now

I headed out the door and hopped into my car starting the engine immediately as I opened Google Maps and driving my way to the destination.

After some time driving my way to the destination I glanced at my Google Maps

1 Minute Away

I immediately felt the butterflies filling my stomach. I let out a slow breath trying to calm my nerves.

“ Take a left turn and you’ve arrived at your destination, “ The female robotic voice said coming through my phone. I took a left turn into what looked like a huge arena. “ Holy shit this is huge- “ I started to say but was cut off by a man wearing a yellow vest, he was probably guiding the traffic. “ Hi there, are you here for the show tonight? “ He says holding a clipboard and a pen in his other hand.

“ Hi, um I didn’t know if I needed to be parked differently but I’m here alongside with the band. “

“ What’s your name? “ The man says flipping some pages of the papers that sat on his clipboard. “ Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N. “ I say looking at the man and his clipboard hoping he finds me on the list. “ Ah, yes I found ya, “ “- You can park at the back of the arena you’ll see parking where it says ‘ VIP ‘ “

“ Okay, thank you “ I say nodding to the man then pushing the gas pedal and started to drive around the back of the arena to park at the ‘ VIP ‘ section. “ VIP VIP where is it-ah here it is! “ I say finding the parking spots then backing up into a spot. I glanced at my car clock on my stereo and widen my eyes,

7:53 PM

“ Shit shit “ I curse getting out my car quickly and looking around trying to find where the hell to go

So much people

So much to look at

I look directly in front of me to where a door said,

BACKSTAGE ENTRANCE

I let out a slow exhale calming my nerves as I started to adjust my hair. I started to walk my way over to the backstage entrance and turned the knob. The knob wasn’t budging. “ Shit, I must need like a card key “ I say recognizing the key detector on the side of the door. “ Dammit! “ I curse as I look at my phone clock which read,

7: 55 PM

“ Fuck it “ I say running around the main entrance where probably hundreds of fans were surrounding the building and were in sections of lines that lead into the doors. “ Gosh, I’m gonna feel so bad “ I say to myself thinking of an only way plan into my head in order to be backstage on time.

“ Sorry sorry, excuse me “ I say politely trying to make my way through the crowded space. “ Sorry excuse me, right behind ya “ I say making my way through one of the line sections. Fans were giving me dirty and confused looks.

“ Hey you can’t cut! “

“ Hey! “

“ Hey, we’ve been waiting for hours out here you can’t cut! “

I heard a couple of people say to me in the distance as I started to run now finally making my way through the long sections lines of people

Holy shit the adrenaline

“ Security get her! “ I heard someone say. I turned my head around still running as I saw two big security guards spotting me and chasing after me now. “ Fuck, I promise this isn’t what it looks like “ I say as if anyone could hear me.

“ Stop right there! “ One of the security guards said. I quickly analyze my eyes around the crowed areas to try to find where fuck backstage was.

“ Finally, here it is-fuck, more security guards blocking that area too! “

Everyone’s eyes were on me now, couple of phones were to be seen recording me at the show I was practically making now. I began to run fast towards backstage which I was so close to now.

“ Quit resisting! “ One of the guards said in front of me trying to chase me as I dodge his every move trying to enter backstage praying Josh would see me so he would tell the guards I was on the list.

I continue to run for what seemed like forever now as my legs start to get sore. “ Maybe taking cross country payed off after all. “

My clumsy ass then tripped on my untied lace making me fall face first. “ Ma’am you are going to have a talk with the police. “ One of the guards says to me immediately holding both of my hands behind my back as I was still on the ground on my stomach

Fuck

“ Hey!! She’s with us! “ I heard a familiar voice in the distance. I look up and see Josh in a gold jumpsuit running forward. “ But Mr. Kiszka- “ “- She’s with us I said “ Josh says giving the guard a stern look. The guard slowly releases his grip from my wrists as I then tied my shoe quickly then stood up seeing Josh again

Wow, this man gets more beautiful every time I see him

“ Are you okay? “ He says giving me warm eyes. I nod and gave a chuckle. He nods back giving a warm smile and rests his hand on my back showing me backstage

“ I’m glad you came! “ “- and wow you look beautiful. And apparently you’re badass too “ Josh says giving a chuckle at the end. “ Haha yeah um, backstage entrance was locked “ I say feeling heat spread across my face. “ Shit, thats my bad I should’ve had someone guide you unlocking the door “ Josh says with a frown. “ Don’t worry about it, I’m here now, “ “ Well please make yourself at home! Snacks and drinks are on the side here- “ Josh says as his hand motions to the side which showed a whole table that presented snacks and a variety of drinks that looked delicious.

You could then hear a loud guitar riff through the speakers and screaming that came straight after it.

“ Enjoy the show! And please stay after so we can catch up on some more of you’d like! “ He says holding both of your hands together excitingly. You chuckle at his cute actions and nod with a smile.

“ Score! “ Josh said raising his fist above him in a cheering manner as he made his way up stage where the fans screamed even louder seeing Josh hop onto stage. I chuckle at his dorkiness.

“ How we feeling today?! “ Josh said loudly into the mic as the fans cheered back loudly in response. “ Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em! “ Josh said that made everyone chuckle. A guitar was then heard loudly booming through the speakers that were placed everywhere. You bob your head along with the riffs getting into the music.

“ Did you know there was a tower? Where they look out to the land to see the people quickly passing by. This is for their own desire. As they spit down to the earth to feel the power pouring in their veins. Woh ho ho ho ho yeah, yeah. Woh ho ho ho ho yeah, yeahhh. And the black smoke rises! From the fires we’ve been told! “

I stare at Josh completely entranced by his voice, beauty and movements

How his hair bounced along with his movements

How his hands gripped onto the microphone

How he would flash a smile to the crowd after taking a breath

And how he would tilt his head back closing his eyes and opening his mouth a bit exhaling which made thoughts wander in your head that you couldn’t help but have

“ It’s the new age crisis! And we will stand up in the cold, stand up in the cold… “ Josh sang into the mic then moving it away from his lips as he now turned his head towards you and looking into your eyes and you looked into his immediately getting butterflies.

He makes everything seem so possible

#greta van fic #daniel wagner #gvf fanfiction #greta van fleet fan fiction #josh gvf #jake kiszka #sammy kiszka #sam gvf #sam kiszka #danny gvf #jake kiszka x reader #josh kiszka #joshua kiszka #romance #romance fanfiction #fanfic #fandom #peaceful army #danny wagner #greta van fleet #jacob thomas kiszka

[aliahm]

Summary: Jessica helps you get through an overwhelming few weeks by going with you to Manhattan Bridge. (Fluff)

Warnings: Mentions of exhaustion, sadness, being overwhelmed, crying, heights (Manhattan Bridge).

If I left out any content warnings or made any mistakes writing for a gender neutral reader, please let me know, so I can correct them.

(The moodboard was made by me, using images found on Tumblr and Google. I found the divider here on Tumblr as well. Full credit goes to the owners of these images).

Things just seemed to keep going wrong for weeks. Your work, your sleep, your mind, your body, it all seemed to be working against you. You were exhausted, physically, mentally and emotionally, and now you were standing at the kitchen counter in Jessica’s apartment, staring at the cabinets in front of you, yet barely seeing them. All you were really aware of was the fact that there were tears in your eyes and, for some reason, you couldn’t, you wouldn’t, let them leave your eyes.

“Hey”

You jumped, startled out of your jumble of thoughts by Jessica, who was now standing behind you, still wearing her leather jacket and scarf that she had left the apartment in earlier that day.

“Hey, how’s the case going?” You asked, attempting to keep your voice even and mentally swearing when you realized that you couldn’t. “Slow” she replied, “What’s the matter?”

“Nothing, I’m fine.” you said, knowing she was completely unconvinced.

“You’re having a staring contest with the counter. What’s going on?”

She had moved to stand next to you and she dipped her head a bit to meet your eyes. You looked up from the counter and when she noticed the tears in your eyes, she frowned. Her eyes narrowed slightly as concern took over her features. “Are you hurt?” she asked, immediately looking you over for injuries.

You could feel how protective she became in that moment. She wanted to help you and make sure you were okay, but you didn’t feel okay at all. Having her attention on you somehow intensified everything you were feeling. The tears finally dripped down your face and you could’ve sworn you couldn’t breathe.

You tried to answer her question anyway: “I’m not hurt. It’s- I don’t know Jess. It’s not a big deal.”

“You’re crying.” she replied, “You don’t have to talk about whatever it is, but I know there’s something.”

“There’s more than one thing, I mean, these past few weeks have just been- I’m sorry- I-“.

At that point, the rest of your words got buried under sobs. Your shoulders shook and your face burned from tears and frustration.

Jessica wrapped her arms around you without hesitation and you leaned against her, wrapping your arms around her waist. She didn’t ask you to say anything, she just held you and let you cry.

“I’ve got you, alright? I’ve got you”. She mumbled, rubbing her hand up and down your back. When you stopped crying, you took deep breaths to try and calm yourself down. Jessica didn’t pull away until you were ready and when she did, she said, “You don’t have to apologize babe.”

You smiled sadly at her, tired and a bit embarrassed, but she smiled back at you encouragingly. You looked at her for a moment and out of nowhere, a quiet laugh slipped out of your lips. She had this way of helping you feel safe just by being around you.

“You wanna stay here for the rest of the day?” she asked softly, waiting patiently for you to answer.

“I thought I did, but now I’m not sure.”

Jess thought for a moment, then she said, “If you want, we can go somewhere I think you’ll like, especially the view”.

You remembered then that she would always notice you admiring the city whenever you went anywhere together. Your smile grew as you realized you already had an idea of where she was talking about.

“Okay, yeah, let’s go”.

You made your way through New York with Jessica’s hand in yours and you soon knew that you were right about the place the two of you were going. As you stood on Manhattan Bridge together, you turned to Jess and asked, “Have you been to the top? I mean, the very top?”

She grinned and said, “Yeah, but trust me, this is high enough.”

You just laughed in response.

The clouds seemed to be melting into the pale, greyish-blue of the sky, and something about the way the buildings seemed to go on and on helped you feel at peace. It was gorgeous.

Looking at the city from the bridge felt like a reminder: You were alive, you were in the world, and you would be okay. Sometimes you didn’t feel that way, and you knew there would be times in the future that you would once again feel the way you’d felt in the kitchen, but it wouldn’t last. Once you were honest about your feelings and you gave yourself time, you would be able to look at New York with the woman you love, and you would be okay.

You felt Jessica wrap her arms around you and rest her chin on your shoulder as she stood behind you. That, the view and the fact that there was nobody else standing on the bridge at that time, made you feel like you were in a corner of the world that was meant just for you.

“I never wanna be anywhere else.” you said, leaning against Jessica and trying to make sure you saw every detail of the city.

“Well, it would probably make more sense to stay somewhere that has food, but it’s fine here too”. Jess said. You could feel a smirk on her face as she pressed a kiss to the side of your neck.

You rolled your eyes and grinned, turning your head to face her as your lips met.

“I love it here.” you said, hearing a smile in your voice as you spoke.

“I thought you might.” she replied, grateful that you let her help you through a difficult moment. She reminded herself then that she would always try her best to help you whenever you let her, because she loved you, and you loved her, and you would protect each other however you could.

#jessica jones x reader #jessica jones fic #jessica jones fanfiction #jessica jones x gender neutral reader

[itjazzbicch]

No Sweet Dream

Pairing:  Kujo Ginjo x Fem Reader 

First time writing for Ginjo, so I hope I did well! 

Summary: Not helping with Ichigo's fullbring training, the reader is challenged by her close friend Ginjo, despite never seeing her fullbring, Sweet Dream. Getting to see for himself by taking a different direction, Ginjo learns that it's different from what it seems...

Warnings:  SMUT! (18+ ONLY! MINORS & AGELESS BLOGS DNI! YOU WILL BE BLOCKED!) swearing, lingerie, Unprotected sex, bondage, toys, daddy kink, pet names (foxy & baby) Powers (the reader basically controls a dream world)

Word Count: 1.6k

"Come on, Giriko! I've only had one!"

"I'm cleaning up the bar for the night. That's your last one," Giriko stuck to, leaving after washing his hands, leaving Ginjo disappointed:

"You're a real buzz kill, you know that?"

Finishing my drink and watching Giriko leave, I used the quickness that came with my fullbring, snatching a bottle for us to share as I could use another drink too, whispering:

"Keep it hidden, alright?"

"Way to go, foxy," He winked, chuckling while pouring some into his cup under the bar.

Not responding, I took it next and got some for myself.

"So, you going to help Ichigo during his next training session? You're the only one who hasn't." Trying to make small talk, I laughed at his question, mumbling:

"You think that kid would stand a chance? No way, Ginjo."

"Hey, tough challenges will make him stronger," He insisted, trying to persuade me, "And your fullbring will surely make him stronger."

"How would you know? You've never even been inside of Sweet Dream," My fullbring was called Sweet Dream, but it was nothing sweet, meeting his eyes with seriousness, "It's far from a sweet dream. Just know that. Ichigo can't handle it."

"You're right, I haven't seen Sweet Dream," Chugging down his drink and leaning over, he was confidently smirking, "That can always change, you know?"

"I'm not in the mood," I groaned, still sipping my drink, side-eyeing him as he began to challenge me:

"Afraid your sweet little dreams will get crushed if I step in?"

"Don't make me laugh," Rolling my eyes; I was becoming tempted, warming from his arm wrapping around my hip, whispering into my ear:

"If you don't wanna face me, how about we make it live up to its name, huh?"

"You don't know what you're getting yourself into," Leaning closer and delivering back the same vibe, whispering sexily, "Because I'm no sweet dream, but I am one hell of a night. I doubt you can handle it."

"I can handle anything you throw at me, foxy," Noses nuzzling; he didn't even realize what was happening, stumbling off his stool as everything changed around him. Confused, he looked around to see that we weren't in our hideout anymore. Not a clue as to where we were, but in a bedroom that was lit by candles, back facing a silk-covered bed, jumping slightly when my hands found his shoulders:

"What's the matter, big daddy?"

His head quickly turned to find me, eyes widening with lust as I was now in a black lingerie set, a garter belt, and stockings to match, letting me slide his jacket off his shoulders, rubbing and preparing him for a twist:

"Like what you see, huh?"

"How'd you-" Wondering how things were changing so quickly, he instead swallowed his words, eyes scanning me up and down, giving into his thoughts, "Looking really foxy, baby."

Turning around and pulling me close, his lips were inching towards mine, but he was struck with more confusion, suddenly on the bed, wearing nothing but his boxers and pendant, watching me crawl towards him.

"In this little world, we do things my way," I addressed, needing to make another change as he grew antsy, using his hips to fling me up closer to him.

"What the-?" Looking up, his hands bound to the metal bed frame with leather straps, quickly looking back at me when I threw some attitude:

"Do I have to repeat myself?"

His shock and confusion started to settle down while a grin formed on his face, "Didn't know you were so kinky."

"You could learn a lot if you weren't so impatient," I teased, straddled and grinding against his growing erection, feeling his length, "There's nothing wrong with taking our time."

"Suppose you're not wrong," Shifting his legs, I could tell that he wanted more of what I was doing, humming at the kisses that I started placing along his neck, hands running across his broad chest and warning:

"I'm taking my sweet time. You're in for it since you didn't even let me explain the rules."

"The rules? Ngh-" Caught off guard again, he hissed at the sudden vibrating between our sensitive areas, keeping it right against his shaft, feeling his leg cramp while I was pleasing myself with my small toy.

"Shh, I'm feeling myself right now," I cooed, continuing to please myself against the vibrator, making sure his cock felt it, too, still grinding softly and letting him hear my soft moans.

"C'mon, Y/N," Murmured out from his trapped lip, his hands struggling above his head. Showing some mercy, I slowed down:

"Gonna let me say what I have to say? It is important, after all."

"Yeah, go ahead," Still biting his lips, he met my gaze and listened to my explanation:

"Whatever comes to my mind becomes a reality in here. That's why I'm a tough opponent. You can't get out unless I let you or if I'm unconscious, but you have an advantage if you use it right."

"That right?"

Making the toy disappear, I sat up straight, holding up three fingers and informing, "You get three wishes. That's why I call it Sweet Dream. It can be a sweet dream in this world if you use them wisely. So, tell me what you wish for, honey."

"I only need two in this situation," He smirked, questioning his logic but following along:

"Two for you then."

"First, untie me," His smirk kept growing as I snapped my fingers, and his arms were freed, looking with a cocked eyebrow for his second wish, "And second, you can't tie me up anymore."

"Your wishes are set," Massaging away the tension from his shoulders, I was ready to take things to the next level, "Now, let's have some fun."

His speed and strength were impressive when he took me by the hips, slamming me on my back, some of his hunger fed with our lips smacking together, hands tearing my panties and stockings.

"You said earlier that you were one hell of a night," With an intense tone, he was now naked, hand between our thighs, showing just how strong he was when he took my wrists with one hand, keeping me pinned without even being able to wiggle, "You better live up to that."

"Damn," I was already whining at how far I was being stretched as he pushed his cock into me, taking it slow but feeding me every inch till our hips met, "Damn!"

"You can take it, baby," Rolling our hips together, his tip was surely nudging my cervix, not even bothering to distract myself from the pleasure that quickly began to feel immense.

"Calling you big daddy was fitting, huh?" I joked, giggling till a monstrous thrust about smacked my soul out of my body, moaning filthily at it.

"I'm gonna be your daddy after this," He growled into my ear, groaning with his thrusts, tearing off my bra and biting my breasts, the coldness of his hanging pendant against my skin making me whine more since I was burning up.

"Make me cum then, Daddy," Grabbing his chain and pulling him into a kiss, the bubble of pleasure was ready to pop, and I still had more in store for him, just needed this high first.

Keeping those powerful thrusts, the wind from it blew out some candles near us, truly having me screaming when that bubble rippled, exploding and drenching his thighs, making me cry out:

"Fuck, Ginjo!"

"Good girl," He purred, chuckling just to gasp from my sudden disappearance. On his back again, he hissed at the feeling of my walls swallowing him in again, looking to see my back facing him, but riding his cock, "Almost forgot you can do this crazy shit."

"Crazy?" I hummed, sitting down on his cock, looking back, and his pupils focused on how my eyes sparkled, noticing the trigger for when things in my world changed, "What do you think about this?"

For me? I moaning so loudly, bouncing on his cock with all the speed I could forge, still soaked from my first orgasm and getting us messier.

But for him? Everything was nearly slow motion, moans sweet and angelic echos, seeing every inch absorbed into me, watching agonizingly slow, but still feeling the pleasure from it at the actual speed I was moving, the look in his eyes showing how much it was testing his patience.

"You like that, Daddy?" Looking back again, he was too focused on how my ass bounced off his hips, biting his lip hard while finding the strength to cup my ass, jaw dropping when he even spanked me, the jolt making my walls spasm then clench hard, instantly making his cock throb.

"So lucky I like it, ngh-" Taking the trims of my stockings, they were tearing at every seam from him pulling me back onto his cock.

I was impressed by the fact that he could do that with the way his world was moving; sure he forgot about how hard it would hit him now that I was moving even quicker, my chest falling to the bed with a sharp arch of my back, smiling but moaning as I heard one from him, creaming and soaking his cock again with a second, more intense orgasm.

"Oh my god," Huffing with my words, the feeling of his cock thbing inside of me was too good, "You're too fucking good. I don't wanna stop."

"You don't have to," He chuckled out, panting, "Like I'm gonna complain about you on my dic-; Fuck!"

His head fell back into the pillows, but his eyes still fixated on me, his cock slipping out while carefully beginning to milk him, seed shooting all over my ass, slicking downward while I flashed a worn-out smile at him.

"You bad, bad girl," There was a fire in his eyes, like he wanted more, growing as I giggled:

"I thought you knew that I was far from innocent." 

2023 © itjazzbicch — do not repost or translate my work. Likes, reblogs, and comments are always welcome. 

#bleach #bleach x reader #bleach x y/n #bleach imagine #bleach fanfic #bleach fanfiction #bleach fic #bleach smut #bleach oneshot #ginjo kugo #ginjo kugo x reader #ginjo kugo x y/n #ginjo kugo imagine #ginjo kugo fanfic #ginjo kugo fanfiction #ginjo kugo fic #ginjo kugo smut #ginjo kugo oneshot #read and enjoy

[helloblobbyblobfish]

Sasquatch and candies

It was supposed to be a simple mission. A bunch of artifacts had been stolen from a rich mogul's collection. Some of them were supernatural in nature, according to the men of letters' sources.

So Sam and Dean went on the trail the thieves left on their wake in Texas. There, money was stolen from inside the vault with no traces of breaking or entering. An old mask amongst the stolen loot was used to enter women's rooms by a serial killer in the 1960's.

Interrogating witnesses, they learned a man and his two female companions were so beautiful they did everything they asked. Venus's perfume, though lost since the days of Giacomo Casanova.

A man was shot by a guy wearing a cowboy hat, and burst into flames? Allowing his weaver to shoot spells was only one of the many rumored abilities of the sundance kid's hat.

Sam was getting suspicious. "Okay, so. They know what the artifacts are able to do, but they broke the glass protections to access them and shot the guards with normal bullets? Even centuries-old organizations weren't sure of the nature of some of those! And we found nothing about the mundane jewels. Oh, and"

"Sam! I'm driving!"

"And Venus' perfume is supposed to make you irrésistible, not look like the person most desired. Texts explicitly say it changes what the smelling person's tastes are! And why do we still have no images 5 towns in! And it's very suspicious that most of those lost artifacts were found and/or bought by a guy we have no pictures of either in less than a year! Dean, I think it's a trap."

"And knowing is winning half the battle! Look, they use an EMT bomb each time they are near cameras."

"Except the exact time where a hat would cover the guy's face!" Still, he seemed familiar, but the brother had met too many people for him to be certain. Still, Sam was feeling worried.

Unaware of his brother's inner thoughts, Dean patted his knee to calm him. "Don't worry. Probably words-of-mouth written down and passed as facts. And yes, they wanted to show off that cowboy time. So we should prepare for a trap. But I think they're getting cocky. So, no problemo."

At the next town, Sam went to buy a motel room for the night, while Dean went to check the hospital, hit by a wave of miraculous healings. The staff of Asclepius, probably. It also means bad things happening soon to the doctors.

As he drops their bags in the cheap room, Sam hears the door lock behind him. Then, a voice comes from the bed.

"Hey, sweetheart. Fooled you with the female illusions? I'm getting really good at those."

"Tricks- Gabriel? You?" The archangel snaps his fingers, and Sam is suddenly unable to move his lips. The trickster rises up from the bed. He was wearing very tight dark jeans, a light green shirt under a brown leather jacket and his hair was slicked back.

Castiel's asshole uncle smirks. "Don't worry about Dean, darling." The TV set in the room turns on. It shows Dean on a hospital bed, spanked by "I have some interesting material on Deanny's kinks. Think I should tell them to his angel?"

Sam can suddenly speak. "I don't want to think about my brother's fantasies about Dr. Sexy, you" And back to the closed lips. "Hon, don't be like this. See, I planned all of this to get you all alone so I could woo you. You always were more fun than your brother. And then, you took care of me after Asmodeus, and, well." His smug demeanor notably falters as he scratches his head and looks away.

Sam gives him the most unimpressed stare he can muster. Gabriel is annoyed. "Yeah, yeah. And I guess unlike your brother, you don't swing both ways''. Sam notices a necklace with a blue hexagon stone surrounded by colorful circles. It reminds him of something. Another of the artifacts. Something about another stone? He isn't in the best position to think.

He realizes he can speak again and his captor looks at him, expecting an answer. Sam tries to turn on the charm. "Sorry, Gab." The dark look he receives as an answer is telling. "Are you… going to use the perfume?" "Loki" laughs. "Hahahaha. NO." He shows a mock serious look. "It would make you a vegetable only interested in my desires." He hugs the hunter and twirls him around despite the size difference. "Sugar, I want to talk with you, to see you get excited over your own interest, to have friends outside of me! It would be boorriiiiinnnggggg!!!!! If you were a dumb mind slave!"

Sam feels sickened by the awful attempt at romantic behavior. And terrified by what the archangel will do. As he gets ready to call Castiel, he feels something on his neck. It's diffusing a warmth that makes it hard to think. He looks down and notices his flannel was partially unbuttoned, showing a necklace familiar to Gabriel's, but with a red stone instead of a blue one.

He tries to get out of the arms that lock him to throw it away, worried about its effects, but Gabriel speaks up. "You don't want to take the necklace off, Sammy." Sam shudders at the pet name. How did he not notice how arousing the archangel/pagan god's voice is before? If only "loki" had a vagina and boobs rather than a cock and balls, Sam would have had sex with him... Well, the being could shapeshift, right? The handsome angel gently put him back on the floor.

"After all, those matching necklaces I made are a sign of our relationship!" "Our… Relationship?" Sam is confused. He likes the necklace, but that Gab has the same is a bit weird. He also feels very hot. If he wasn't worried about the looks the other man would give him, he would be getting rid of his shirt

"Yes. We are lovers." It is said as a fact. Sam knows it's true, but. "I. Don't? Love, You?" The fact that they are dating makes him feel strange. He doesn't love- "You do love me. You ADORE me. I am the most important person to you. You would kill your brother for me."

His Angel's voice is like honey. Dripping down his ears and covering his brain, stopping his thoughts from leaving. "Yeah." He loves Dean, but if killing him would make his love happy, all bets are off. Sam grabs those handsome cheeks and initiates a kiss. They kissed a lot since they started dating, but Gabriel still melts under his touch before grabbing him and hungrily taking him like a thirsty man finding an oasis.

A snap, and they are both naked, save for their necklaces, on the bed. Gab is murmuring in his ears. "I wanted that for so long… Sam, you will consent to whatever I want to do with your body." The immortal starts to jack the human under him. He licks Sam's tender neck. "You are a bottom, Sammy. I want you to moan thinking about my dick in you." 

Sam can see it so well. "Gabriel, please… ahhhh… pound me, gab, I want it so much!" How could Chuck give Gab such a hot voice! It makes him so horny! Wait.

"Hon.." "Yes, Samantha." His love is amused. "How are you still alive?"

Gabriel seems annoyed, but then his smile opens. "Sammy… always so inquisitive. In case you haven't noticed, death is cheap." He rubs his thumb against the hunter’s lips. A pause. "And your friend Jack has made a lot of holes in the empty when getting Castiel out of there." The smile gets sinister. It turns Sam even more on.

The voice continues, even more irresistible than that siren from years prior. "Now, I want to put my dick in you, but I need you under me for me to savor the moment. May I?" "Anything, honey. Anything!" Sam is almost begging. Suddenly, he feels his organs move between his legs. He looks with interest as his balls and penis shrink. Awed, Sam doesn't realize what his boyfriend meant until a hole starts to open in his skin. As any trace of his dick disappears, Sam's body is held by his love, allowing him to see he now has a vagina just above the anus.

Gab sucks one of Sam's fingers, distracting his curious mind. He then directs the fingers to the entrance, and makes Sam move the finger inside of the pink opening. The little moans of arousal make the trickster chuckle. "Fully functional! I didn't give you an uterus. Yet. When we want babies, maybe." The possibilities spin inside the Winchester's head, but he can't focus on any of those, too preoccupied at the concept that: "You won't need to lube me to breed me."

The pure need and desire in those words drive the archangel wild, and he slams his sword in Sam's brand new hole. The hunter expects pain but finds none. It's like he has the exact size to really feel the above-average lance but not be stretched by it. He then laughs when he realizes his pussy was made by the man above him, who must have made it exactly to proportions. And then, Sam can't think, because the demigod snaps his fingers, and it's like the penis is penetrating his vulva but also his ass and masterfully hitting his prostate on both sides.

"Oh! FUCK! Gabriel!!! HOT fucker!"  Tears are running down Sam's cheek as he devolves into screaming, moaning flesh. His archangel creates an apple he shoves into Sam's mouth. "Please, this isn't a love motel, Sam. Do you want me to call you a whore?" Sam chokes, before being distracted by another thrust of the angelic being's penis.

A snap, and the apple is now a ball gag. Sam slaps the torso above him repeatedly. "No gag?" A nod. A snap. Sam kisses the mouth above him to hide his moans.

As Sam lets their months separate to breathe, Gabriel takes the opportunity to bite his neck and start sucking.

The hunter scratches his angel to keep control. "How… will I explain… it.. to Dean?" "You don't want to talk about me?" Gabby pouts and twists his nipples. Sam feels like an idiot. "Oh, right. And if he doesn't accept you, the Winchesters are going solo." He can see his certainty shocks the archangel a little, even if it's well-hidden.

The archangel growls, and takes on Dean's look. It's only an illusion, as Sam feels Gabriel's host underneath, but Sam slaps him. "No incest play! Becky would have too much fun if she ever heard!" His boyfriend chuckles, but accepts to back off and dispels the glamor. "My apologies." Suddenly, there is the feeling of a third penis. "You're… oh, oh god, forgiven… but, please, nooo… can't hold it!"

Sam orgasm. "Already?" The archangel gently pouts. "Do you want me to make you horny again or do I cum?" Sam laughs. "You angels cum on command?" Realizing it's a dare, the son of god grins. "Of course." As he says it, Sam can fill the warm "divine" sperms entering his hole.

The archangel speaks up, suddenly grave. "Do you love me?" "More than anything." The archangel seems pensive. He looks at the TV screen. Dean is now sleeping on the bed. "Do you care about your brother?" "Kind of. But you're the only one I need."

Looking guilty, Sam's love makes a long silence. Sam's vagina is magically cleaned and he is poking at the growing dick. It's bigger and thicker than before. Trying to lighten the mood, the hunter states: "You know? I just could have wrapped my legs around you while you fucked me. I would have stayed below you."

He is stopped by a deep kiss that makes him turn to jelly. Weirdly enough, he feels like he can think again clearly for an instant, and the next, the necklace around his neck is diffusing a sense of sleepiness inside of him. Unable to think, Sam let his master rub his thumb against his cheeks. The master snaps his fingers, and they are both clothed once more.

"Sam, I want you to scale down your love for me. I am the love of your life, but you won't remember what we did together today. You are going to go back to the same codependent tendencies you and your brother share. You just found that pendant and found it cool. Now, go to sleep."

-

Sam wakes up when Dean opens the door. He must have been tired by the case, if he went to sleep fully clothed.

He notices stains of something on his pants as he rises up. Damn it. Gabriel's dead. Why can't he forget him?

He feels the cord of the necklace he bought yesterday brushing against his neck. For some reason, it reminded him of Him.

Dean looks terrible, the younger Winchester realizes. "What happened?" His brother blushes. "Nothing, Sammy. Nothing." Sam is about to push for more infos, but he suddenly feels an urge to drop it. He feels warmth coming from that odd stone. He looks at it. Maybe it's worth investigating later, but he doesn't feel the need to take it off. 

They go to sleep. Having already slept, Sam takes some time to go under and has to listen to Dean having a dream about Dr. Sexy. He sighs. Dean should just ask Castiel to put on a lab coat and get done with it.

As sleep comes to him, he smells a strange odor of candies. It reminds me of his lost love, so he slumbers with a smile on his face.

#my writing #hypnosis #male hypnosis #gay hypnosis #mind control #supernatural #sabriel #sam winchester #gabriel supernatural #dean winchester

[garciaasfluffypen]

bestie can you do an eddie munson x grungey reader? like someone with that classic 80's/90's grungey look and like eddie matching band tees with them?

to run into your arms (pt. 1)

pairing: eddie munson x fem!reader wc: 1.6k warnings: bullying (j*son and andy are dicks), pot mentions, perhaps a gl*e mention, softie!eddie (he lets you borrow one of his shirts), eddie calls reader “sweetheart”, also calls the reader “lady” 

this is def gonna be split into two parts, it got long lol

it wasn’t every day that eddie munson found himself staring at one particular girl. but that had been his life for the past few months as he realized that y/n was probably the coolest girl around. scratch that. she was the coolest girl around. since moving to hawkins, he had been branded the “freak”. it was probably because he didn’t want to get stuck in the conformities that society had put forward, and it could also be because he was a metal head. or maybe it was because he sold drugs. who really knew? not him. he didn’t give a flying fuck. 

that was, until y/n stepped foot into school. 

he had no clue there was going to be a new student coming in this year. not at all. obviously the new batch of freshmen were coming in but a new senior? now this was next level. and ozzy above, she had absolutely gorgeous eyes. and surprisingly enough, she dressed a lot like him. jeans with rips that showed the fishnets she was wearing under them, usually with a band t-shirt tucked under what looked to be a very worn down leather jacket with- was that a dio patch on it? eddie was absolutely captivated by this girl, and he needed to be her best friend, approximately ten minutes ago. 

“hey, watch where you’re goin’ freak!”

 eddie snapped out of his trance as he saw y/n fall to the ground to pick up the books that had fallen from her arms as andy stood over her. of fucking course the jocks had gotten to her before he did. just his fucking luck.

“speak up princess, i can’t hear you over that bullshit you have playing on your walkman. what are you even playing?” jason stepped up to her and ripped the walkman off her jeans, aggressively pulling the tape out and throwing it to the ground. “oops. doesn’t matter now.”

eddie could tell from a mile away that y/n was about to cry, and it took all his will power not to step in and do anything. all he could see was red, and he had to get out of there and fast. so he did what he did best.

he ran.

                                                        ------

lunch time was supposed to be peaceful, you had thought. that was, until jason and his band of idiots decided to ruin your brand new metallica cassette. you had spent the extra pocket money that you had gotten from chores and babysitting the week before you moved to buy it, and it was one of the last fun and happy memories you had of that stupid old town in stupid old wyoming.  but that was then, and this was now, and you were currently sitting on top of a picnic table just past the football fields, using a pencil to try and wind the tape back to the beginning. 

a twig snapped somewhere around you and you shot up, pencil falling from your grip as you got ready to run. it was what you did best. running. always running from all your problems- which was probably why you simply let jason and his idiots walk all over you since you started here in hawkins. what were you going to do, fight back? he was a basketball player and you were simply a nobody in the school. the new girl at most. he’d simply laugh in your face and shove you into a locker before he moved onto his next prawn. 

“oh, sorry.” you looked up to see a boy, dressed a lot like you, sheepishly standing at the entrance to the clearing. “i didn’ see you there.”

“oh no worries, i was just trying to fix my cassette. i needed some time to calm down.” you met his eyes, and oh gods they were beautiful. “hawkins can be a lot.” 

“you’re tellin’ me.” the boy came to sit at the table with you. “ ‘ve been here three years an’ it doesn’t get any better, sadly.” 

“damn, i was really hoping it would.” you chuckled. “but i mean i met you so that has to be good.” 

you couldn’t help but notice him blush.

“i’m y/n by the way.”

“eddie. munson. eddie munson.”

“oh yeah, i think we have history together. with mr. stein.”

eddie nodded, rolling his eyes. “i feel like i need to be high to get through his lectures sometimes. he’s just so boring.”

“you smoke?”

“yeah, you?”

“sometimes. mainly socially.” you shrug. “i used to go back to a lot of parties in wyoming but that was because my plug would always throw them.” 

“oh believe me, you don’t want to go to a party here. they’re thrown by steve the hair harrington and good ozzy are they boring.” 

“did.. did you just say ozzy instead of god?” you spoke through your laugh, trying to hide your amusement. 

“maybe i did. what about it?”

it was cute. “not much. just curious as to why you say ozzy instead of god.” 

eddie scoffed playfully. “because ozzy is god.” 

“and bon jovi isn’t?” you rose an eyebrow. 

“come on y/n, we both know that ozzy is the true god of metal.”

before you could answer, the end of lunch bell rang, signaling to both of you that you had to leave your little hideout. you let out a big sigh, grabbing your bag and your still messed up cassette. 

“guess i can count this as a goner.” 

“lemme take a stab at it.” eddie held out his hand. “i might be able to fix it.”

“you sure? jason fucked it up pretty bad.”

“i’m a magician with my fingers, sweetheart. i’m sure i can fix it.”

and if he couldn’t, he would run around this whole stupid town looking for a new one, but he wasn’t going to tell you that. 

“if you insist, kind sir.” you dramatically placed the cassette in his hands. “i’ll see you later?”

“i’ll see you later.”  

                                                         ------

eddie didn’t usually go to 7-11, but he figured it would be nice to treat himself to a slushie after finally mustering up the courage to talk to you. he practically skipped down the aisle as he made his way to the machine, deciding last minute to duck behind the snack area when he saw an all too familiar letterman jacket. maybe he’d grab some pretzels to enjoy tonight too. or maybe some corn nuts. maybe he’d go wild and get not one, but two twinkies. the door bell jingled and he automatically knew without looking that you happened to walk in, simply by the way the leather arms of the jacket swished against the sides. 

you walked right past him, not even noticing he was there, going straight for the slushie machine. considering how hard today had been for you, since you had lost your comfort cassette, you figured a slushie couldn’t hurt. what you didn’t notice at all was how jason and his friends were plotting in the corner. but eddie noticed. before he could say anything, the sound of slushie coming out of a cup and landing on a person’s chest could be heard as jason’s groupie laughed their asses off as they ran outside of the store. he rushed around the aisle to see you standing there, covered in red slushie. 

“y/n-”

“eddie, i-”

“i got an extra shirt in my car, come on. i got ‘cha.”

eddie slapped a ten dollar bill on the counter on the way out, quickly explaining to the poor sophomore what had happened. you met him outside as he led you to his van, opening the back door and rummaging through the blankets before he found one of his extra shirts he always kept in the back. 

“it should hopefully fit you. you can change in the back, there should be a plastic bag somewhere we-you can put your shirt.”  

you smiled. “thanks, eddie.” 

you waited until eddie shut the door to the back of the van before you pulled off the slushie covered shirt, setting it down on what seemed to be an empty piece of carpet before pulling eddie’s shirt over your head. it smelled exactly like him- a mix of cigarettes, pot and the woods. which you decided were now your favorite smells in the whole world. for no particular reason, of course. even if that reason was cute. his shirt was perfectly oversized, sitting on your frame a little skewed but enough to look nice. the metallica logo looked back up at you as you brushed a few crumbs off of the front, pushing the van door open and grabbing your bag from eddie, making sure to reach back in and grab your stained shirt. 

“thanks again, i’ll wash your shirt tonight and bring it back.”

“you can keep it, if you want. i mean, until you can get your shirt cleaned ‘cus who knows how long that’s gonna take.” 

you chuckled. “you like seeing me in your shirt, munson?” 

“i- i mean, i-” he stuttered. “it does look good on you.” 

you took a few steps away. “see you tomorrow?”

“wh-where are you going?”

“home? i thought that was obvious.” you raised an eyebrow, smirking. “you tryin’ to stalk me now?”

“i was gonna ask if you needed a ride home.” 

“oh. i mean, if you wanna.” you shrugged. “i don’t live that far away, it wouldn’t be that bad of a walk.”

“oh, but i insist. only the best for lady y/n.” 

it was your turn to blush now. 

“well in that case, lead the way, sir munson.” 

#eddie munson x reader #eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson imagine #an i (queue) of 187

[meadowmines]

WIP: The Bit, chapter 3

[in which the "to lovers" part of "idiots to lovers" finally happens]

The dance club isn’t packed, it usually isn’t on a weeknight, but it’s busy enough for the DJ to justify cranking it nice and loud. Majima doesn’t mind loud. On a bad day, it drowns out whatever he’s hearing inside his head. On a good day it gets his blood pumping. It makes Kiryu a little uncomfortable at first, like a swimming pool that’s a little too cold. Then he gets used to it, and he’s fine.

He’s a good dancer. Did Majima mention that? A little stiff at first. A little unsure of himself. But a little gentle encouragement and a little bit of alcohol go a long way towards loosening him up. And he always enjoys it. They both do, don’t they? Even though this is just a bit, this part of it is fun. Even when they were bitching and snapping at each other all day, this part of it was always fun.

It hits Majima then, that this might be the last time they do this. 

This is it.

This is their last date.

The day after tomorrow, assuming they’re not both dead, Majima is going to get his own place and Kiryu is going to explain everything to Nishikiyama and it’s all going to be over.

It hits harder than he ever expected it to.

“Hey.” A gentle nudge in the ribs shakes Majima out of his woolgathering. “Okay?”

“Yeah.” Majima tosses his drink back. “Just... thinkin’.”

“I thought we were out tonight so we wouldn’t do that,” Kiryu says. Is that a little bit of a smile?

Does he... look like he might be thinking the same shit?

Nah.

Maybe. 

Who knows. Who cares.

“Thinkin’ I wanna dance,” Majima says, not quite quickly enough for the save, but Kiryu doesn’t call him on it. He shrugs out of his jacket. “Hold this.”

“Uh--”

Before Kiryu can say or do anything about it, Majima pulls his shirt off, tosses it ...somewhere, he doesn’t really care where, whisks his jacket back out of Kiryu’s hands, and puts it back on. “There. That’s better.”

“You said you’d wear a shirt tonight,” Kiryu scolds, without any real teeth in it.

“Yeah, and I wore one. Never promised I’d keep it on all night.”

He expects Kiryu to give him attitude about that. No attitude happens. Kiryu just downs his drink and puts out his cigarette and slides out of their booth. “Can I lead this time?”

He usually doesn’t. He usually just lets Majima do whatever and follows along with it. So the question catches Majima a little off guard. But hey. Last date, and all that. Why not.

“Anything you want, honey.” 

He doesn’t mean it to sound like that. Like he means it.

He lets Kiryu take his hand and lead him out to the dance floor. Kiryu, as always, takes a little gentle coaching to get into it. But when he does--and he always does, sooner or later, at least when it’s Majima he’s dancing with--can they blame anyone for falling for their stupid bit?

They don’t touch. Not at first. There’s a good two feet of daylight for the Holy Spirit between them, but... there’s that thing again. That thing between them, that thing he felt after the bathhouse. Like Kiryu is serious. He’s not. Majima knows that. It’s just a bit and they’ve just gotten that good at selling it, is all. Still, the way Kiryu watches him while they dance, the weight and heat of that gaze, could fool damn near anyone. Including Majima himself.

It makes it real damn hard not to do the same right back, doesn’t it?

Kiryu reaches out to try and catch him and he slips just out of reach, again and again, each time letting Kiryu’s fingertips come just a little closer to snagging his sleeve or his hand, each time spinning away in a whirl of snakeskin and leather, each time savoring the frustration in the clench of Kiryu’s jaw or the furrow of his brow until, just to see what happens...

He lets Kiryu reel him in.

He expects it to be a dog-chasing-a-car situation, where the car stops and the dog just kind of sits there going well shit, I didn’t expect to catch it, now what? 

It’s nothing like that. 

Kiryu, Majima realizes far too late to do anything about it, has been planning this. He knows exactly what to do with what he’s caught, and what he does is...

Oh, fuck.

The next thing Majima knows, he’s wrapped up in Kiryu’s arms, his back pressed tight against that chest his hands keep wandering to when they smooch for Nishikiyama, his head leaned back against one of those broad shoulders, his head abuzz with visions of what, exactly, his ass is bare inches away from.

It’s just a bit, he tells himself, even as he shuts his eye and lets out a groan he knows Kiryu can feel if not hear over the music and tries like hell to relax into this. He doesn’t mean this. It’s just a bit and you know how convincing he can be when he’s really feeling it, like the bathhouse, like that fight. It’s not real. 

But they’ve never danced like this, have they? Never this close. Never this hot. 

Kiryu’s giant gorilla hands slide down his arms, down his sides, down to his hips, and the inside of his head goes completely silent for once. For once, he stops thinking about the job and the bit and what comes after and what could go wrong and how it’ll all be his fault when it does, and he loses himself in the music and the heat and the feel of another warm body pressed up against his and he lets himself, just for once, enjoy this for as long as it lasts.

The song they’re dancing to ends and something else replaces it. Something slower and croonier. Normally they don’t slow dance. It’s always felt like that’s a line they couldn’t really cross.

Until now. Until Majima turns around and wraps his arms around Kiryu’s shoulders, and feels Kiryu’s arms slide around his waist, and right away he knows he shouldn’t have done that. Shouldn’t have crossed that line, shouldn’t have let it go this far tonight, shouldn’t have...

Fuck.

“Ya did good, Kaz.” Majima snuggles his forehead into the side of Kiryu’s neck. “Even got me fooled right now.” He feels Kiryu’s hands splay out across his back, one between his shoulder blades, one lower. “Just one more night. That’s it.” He picks his head up, maybe meaning to put a little distance between them, at least that’s what he thinks he meant to do later. But his hands betray him and clutch at the back of Kiryu’s jacket and Kiryu’s cheek is warm against his and he can’t do anything about it but stand here gently swaying with the music. “One more night and you won’t ever have to do this again.”

“Nii-san...”

“It’s okay.” He should pull back. He should stop this, all of this, right now. They should go home, and go to bed, and never speak of this again. “You’re gonna make someone real happy someday, you know that?” He knows they’ve crossed a line they can’t come back from and he knows he only ever catches feelings for two kinds of people and he knows too damn well which one Kiryu is. He can’t do this. Not again. Not to him. “I--I could give ya Yamada-kun’s number, he’d be good for--”

That’s all he gets out before Kiryu shuts him up in the most direct way he possibly can. And he realizes, all at once, exactly how Kiryu managed to sell his own bro on the bit.

[the two kinds of people Majima has a history of catching feelings for are, according to the lil Sagawa devil on his shoulder who miiiiight be echoing something the real Sagawa said: a) people who are bad for him or b) people he's bad for. He knows Kiryu would be the best thing that ever happened to him, so that leaves... yeah anyway dude's got issues]

#yakuza #kazumaji #wip