#think he can go one more second without being married to shawn. so he goes home and tells shawn he wants to marry him. ‘lol i wanna marry u | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

bigskydreaming · 3 years

Note

Tom is already rehashing some things, like too many homages to the nineties run, Zucco's daughter plot point, Beatrice had ideas for societal reform he's taking that and giving it to Dick. It'll probably be half hearted, but it stings that Beatrice left just a few issues ago and she's already completely forgotten for the sake of DickBabs or a love triangle.

Like the thing about the nineties runs is I mean, as much flack as we give various elements of them, there’s so much from that time period that was good? Great, even! Just....myself and the writers seem to have very different opinions on what the most interesting elements of the nineties comics were, oh well.

And omgggggg I’m still so mad about Bea, and its literally Shawn Tsang all over again. The writers keep introducing new, interesting characters, investing just enough time and focus into them to have us interested in them and wanting to see more.....and then they toss them aside to go back to drawing from the same well as always.

And the thing is, this isn’t even about me not really being a Dick/Babs shipper, because honestly, I’m not enjoying the Dick/Kory stuff in what I’ve seen of Titans Academy either, and for the exact same reason:

When they create new characters like Shawn and Bea, they KNOW they’re starting from scratch and need to build interest in those characters from the ground up. So they’re forced to put their best foot forward. There’s no short cut there, if you want people to care about a brand new character you have to give them REASONS to care. You have to make those characters likable, you have to make people WANT to root for them, you have to hook them with intriguing backstories that don’t feel formulaic and new angles that don’t feel just derivative of older characters, and that’s how we got stuff like Shawn’s history as a former sidekick to a villain and now running a support group for rogues trying to turn their lives around, and Bea’s work in societal reform.

But then the second they stop having the patience to build the new characters up enough that the interest in them can actually start to reach the levels that lets older characters last and grants longevity....they just toss them aside and move on....except they never really move on, just backwards. Because the problem with so MANY superhero couples, far from just Dick and Babs or Dick and Kory, is just....how lazy it seems to make so many canon writers. They just fall back on rehashing the same old tropes and just updating popular moments that resonated with fans in the past, now just recreated with a slightly more modern twist but without ever really being anything new.

Even with ships that I’ve never really been sold on in the past like Dick/Babs, I’ve always said, there’s usually nothing stopping me from GAINING interest in them.....its just....the writers have to GIVE ME A REASON TO. And so many of DC’s writers just aren’t even trying. They’re just moving parts around and pushing characters together in various arrangements like everyone’s just a puzzle piece that you can mix and match however you want......and then just basically expecting readers to be interested purely because of who the characters are, or because it hinges on a nice moment that they then milk the hell out of without ever expanding that into building actual STORY around these moments but rather just squeezing each one til they get everything they possibly can out of it and moving on to the next as though its all just about chasing the next soundbite...because it is! LOL.

And honestly, this problem extends far beyond just the Nightwing title or the Batfam or Taylor’s run or writing in particular.....its a company wide issue right now. In fact I would bet just about anything that its a matter of editorial edict, that even before Taylor started his run DC said okay here’s the approach we want everyone taking with their stories right now:

And that’s like.....its all about banking on nostalgia and the comfort of the familiar right now. I think Taylor is drawing all these elements straight from the 90s Nightwing comics, like Blockbuster and Dick having been a cop, etc, because these are the elements of past Nightwing stories that are so well known. Its the same reasoning behind why they put Tim back as Robin and so many of their new characters are just new spins on old faves like Punchline and Harley Quinn, and why they’re pushing all these older ships that haven’t been together in ages and why specific team lineups are reappearing....its because nostalgia is the name of the game for DC right now, and all their writers are just pulling together threads of classic stories that have stood the test of time, figuring anything that landed particularly well with fans in the past will sell with people here and now, and weaving these threads together and brushing over them with a modern social issues veneer.

As an approach, its basically all just about repackaging previously successful story moments and elements with just enough changes or in just new enough a configuration that readers aren’t likely to complain en masse that like “hey we literally already read all this. We’ve already BOUGHT these issues. When we were kids.” Its minimizing creative risk while maximizing monetary profit. Spend as little creative capital as possible outside of anything that’s already been successful in the past and as such is a relatively proven quantity, instead of testing new material that’s an unknown and runs the risk of falling flat and thus not being profitable.

And see, I’d almost guarantee that all THAT, that whole line-wide approach to DC’s storytelling, is because the powers that be looked at the last several years of stories and how many of THEM fell flat with readers, and decided that the problem was they’d BEEN trying too much new stuff and readers just didn’t like it. Because they WERE concentrating on presenting totally new stories and building up new ideas throughout their books.....but readers have been pretty vocal for years now about being disenchanted with most of DC’s major stories. And so DC I think looked at that and came to the conclusion that okay, people just don’t want new right now, they want the familiar.

But like.....DC’s problem IMO was never that they were trying new stuff? The reason so much of their new and original storylines weren’t gaining traction or bringing in readers and kept shedding old readers had absolutely NOTHING to do with them being new and previously unseen storylines, which makes falling back on nostalgia very much a non-solution to entirely the wrong problem.

No, DC’s problem for years has been that they’ve been all about spectacle instead of story. There’s ZERO emotional pay-off to any of their biggest plot twists or character beats, and emotion is LITERALLY what people read stories for. Its all about racing to the climactic action packed finish of every storyline and then immediately resetting everyone back to square one and jumping straight into the next big story, without ever giving the events of any of their stories time or reason to MATTER to the characters.....and if they don’t matter to the characters, our proxies that we’re viewing these stories through, then why should any of it matter to us? Why should any of it linger, dig in roots, resonate with us as moments that left an impact and that we accordingly want more of?

And again, like because I’m a Dick Grayson focused blog I’ve obviously largely been focused on how much I dislike the SPECIFIC reactions or non-reactions to so many of the major beats in his stories.....but it was spread throughout their entire line.

Bruce and Selina almost got married....but why should anyone care outside of Tom King’s title when nobody else seems to, no other characters feel anything about this, and Bruce in none of his other appearances seems the same as ever without any reminder that he just almost got married but then didn’t.....and if the characters don’t ever seem to be affected by or feeling a need to revisit or reflect on recent stories, why should we bother remembering them either?

Jason was dramatically and fucked-upily (yes its a word, I totally looked it up and everything) exiled from Gotham....and then all of that is undone in a single issue with one low-stakes awkward conversation between him and Bruce. Damian quits as Robin and goes off the map and everyone in his family is like “hey don’t we have a littler brother, I feel like we did maybe” for one panel per story arc, and that’s it. Roy’s back from the dead and everybody’s like oh hey cool instead of the kind of return we used to get like when Donna came back and everyone was like oh shit, this MATTERS, because we MISSED you....just like Dick’s death never mattered to anyone but fans of his character because much like I was just saying earlier with them not really giving me a reason TO emotionally invest in Dick and Babs’ relationship if I wasn’t already, same thing with the aftermath of Forever Evil. They didn’t give anyone else reason to emotionally invest in that as something that HAPPENED to Dick and that he was AFFECTED by....because the writers didn’t bother writing him as all that affected by it and it was just like oh he’s a spy now, all that was last year’s content, we’ve moved on, keep up.

And on and on it goes. Ric Grayson was the same problem all over again. Rinse and repeat down the line with everyone from Wally to Donna and etc etc etc.

THAT’S why DC’s stories have been falling flat. It has nothing to do with people not being interested in new ideas, characters or directions, its that’s ALL they were giving us, but it was like just reading wiki summaries of events just alongside pretty art, but no real emotional weight or substance to anything we were reading....and thus, literally nothing that we couldn’t get much the same outcome from if we just...stuck to reading wiki summaries after the stories were over, with no real need to follow along with them. For years most fans have basically just been about keeping up to date with changes in the characters’ lives, but without feeling any real need to watch those changes unfold and play out.

And so honestly I worry we’re just gonna be subjected to a company wide rehashing of old and familiar storylines, directions and character beats, but repackaged and delivered in the exact same way DC was delivering us their new stories and ideas these past years....and its basically going to have the same results, because its the same problem. They didn’t actually fix anything by switching gears, they just shuffled around the actual issue.

And DC’s just gonna be like well now wtf are we doing wrong, we were so sure this would work, everyone LOVES nostalgia right? Did we pick the wrong stories and character beats to bring back?

When really its like......it honestly doesn’t matter WHICH stories and beats they rehash, because its not about them picking the ‘right ones,’ the real keepers, the stories that everyone really WAS eager to see brought back or made new again.....

Its about like, the only reason any of those stories or beats or dynamics stood the test of time and are still familiar and well-known....is because the stories AROUND those moments and ideas gave us reason to emotionally invest in them and retain them as crucial to our view of the characters and things that would resonate and stay with us for a long time.

It was never that any of those ideas or stories were just so innately brilliant that they couldn’t help BUT linger in the overall reader consciousness...it was the fact that we CARED about what happened in those moments and stories.

*Shrugs* But I mean hey, what do I know? I’m just a dude on the internet lolol.

53 notes · View notes

belovasangel · 4 years

Text

Come Back to Me

Summary: Shawn missing big events leaves to beautiful memories and Christmas miracles

Pairing: Shawn x fem!Nurse!Reader

Warnings: swearing, light angst, fluff, flashback heavy, holiday feelings

A/N: Yup. Surprise. Also flashbacks are in italics, per usual. Also I am not Canadian so I don’t know if y’all celebrate Remembrance Day. For the sake of this story, pretend that it’s the equivalent to Thanksgiving.

Shawn took your hand as you barreled down the sidewalk, laughs flying past you in the wind. Tonight had been a perfect date, something great to wrap the summer up, full of time alone with your favorite guy (and your favorite wine). He had been planning this for weeks now, and you can even remember him talking about this back in June when his tour had been announced. The pandemic put a damper on your two’s plans since March, but once the numbers started decreasing did he get calls from managers, and then... there was another world tour. You weren’t mad, music was his passion. Even though you two would be wrapped in each other’s arms after a lovely night, you could tell behind his eyes he longed to play the guitar for different cities.

That’s why tonight was so important, because he started packing and planning, then he would leave on Wednesday for Prague. And of course, your job needed you in Toronto. While Canada hasn’t experienced any significantly alarming numbers, there were still cases rolling in. You insisted that Shawn goes on tour, so much that you had to pay for his first ticket yourself (he payed you back, though. He insisted).

Shawn skidded to a stop, turning around and putting his hands on your shoulders. “Now promise me you’re gonna close your eyes, just for a few seconds.”

You huffed and shrugged your shoulders, “Shawn I’m out of breathe, you made me run in heels for about half a mile... Give me 5 minutes instead.” With a quick chuckle, he pecked your lips and turned you around. You heard his shuffling from those black boots he wears to rubble, then decided to look around. He somehow managed to find a quaint park, with a nice bubbling fountain and family’s scattered around. Dogs were running a lit in the distance, and the bustle of the city wasn’t nearly as booming as it usually is. This was nice.

“Okay, turn around.”

With a giggle, you turned around to see Shawn on one knee. Behind him was a tree strung with lights that were glowing, and underneath the tree was champagne and a radio playing your two’s song, Turning the Page (Yeah, we know it’s from Twilight, but that doesn’t stop it from being any less romantic). He was kneeled on a red and white picnic blanket, the typical one you’d see in catalogues for fall. On the blanket were rose petals scattered.

“(Y/N) (Y/L/N), you have changed my life for the better. The moment you saw me in the E.R., and had to take care of my broken hand, I knew you were just as kind and gentle as you looked. Once you let me in, and take you on that shitty first date, I got to see the real you. The you that cries during every Disney movie, the you that would bring me breakfast in bed when I had a rough day, the you that would rescue a damn pigeon off the street because it looked sad. You are the most sincere, selfless, and intelligent woman I have ever had the pleasure of knowing, and I don’t want ever want to stop or slow down. You have become my life and my rock, I’m completely lost without you. I am utterly in love with you, (Y/N). I want us to have a family, I want to make an album for you, and everything in between. Will you please marry me?”

You shuddered awake, looking quickly at your blaring alarm from the end table. Picking it up and turning it off, the time read 4:25 A.M., signaling it was time to get ready for work. You got up, and went to open the blinds to your bedroom, watching the snow fall steadily. Slipping on your socks and bathrobe, you shuffled to the kitchen to get a cup of tea brewing before you hit the shower.

Mornings like this weren’t incredibly tough anymore, once Shawn was gone on tour. He face-timed you once a week because of tour, sent you letters and packages from your favorite cities, and even had roses delivered on your birthday. And of course, he always said, “Lemme see it. I wanna see you wear that pretty ring. There it is, there she is, soon-to-be Mrs. Mendes.”

Slipping in the hot shower, you played some of his songs, some of your regular playlists, and when you were throwing on your outfit, your two’s song. You missed Shawn. He had missed your two’s favorite holiday, Halloween, where you two always did the cheesy couple costumes. He missed your birthday, but he sent his family in place. He missed Remembrance Day, because in Europe that wasn’t a thing. And tomorrow is Christmas, where he has no sign of coming home whatsoever. That’s fine, though, because you took the long shift at the hospital.

When the song came to an end, you threw on your coat and snow boots, grabbing all the food and equipment you would need for a 12-hour and began to head out. Shawn sent you his daily vlog and you watched that on the shuttle. Once that was over, you got to the hospital where you would forget about your slightly more aching heart. After work, the routine would basically go in reverse. Commute home, get back into your pajama’s, drink some tea, get dinner, and go to bed, where you would have a restless night in an empty bed.

“When do you think we should have the wedding?”

Shawn looked over, a piece of popcorn hanging onto his lip like a lifeline. His cheeks were flushed and he still looked a little sweaty from the show he just played at TD Garden. He knew you were doing the planning to keep yourself from descending into madness (well, not entirely, but you only brought it up when you really missed him). “I think we should do a summer/fall sort of wedding, like when the leaves are red but it isn’t freezing by 5, ya know?”

You hummed in agreement, a smile picking at the corners of your mouth. “I completely agree. Do you want it to be outdoors then, because of the leaves?”

Shawn took another few things of popcorn from the bag and popped them into his swollen lips, he always licked them when he was frustrated by how a show went, or just when his mind was reeling. “I think we should get married outdoors, and then have the reception indoors. Kind of like-”

“Twilight...”

You both looked at the screen and snorted, sending both of you into fits of hysteria. “Shawn, we really base our relationship off of those books, didn’t we?” He looked over, licking his lips once again. “Explain, babe. I get a little bit, but our whole relationship?”

You shuffled in the bed a little bit, “Hear me out, Shawn-y boy. We met when you were hurt and I had to save you, or more-so your career. Edward saved Bella from the car, right? Right. So, there’s that. Then that girl who you worked on the album with tried to get you on the few dates, but that was long after we were official. Boom, Jacob plot line. Then you leave me for your first tour, which I get 100%, so don’t be upset over that. But the girl you worked with saw you kind of sad and made it her mission to befriend you and then attempt to change your mind over me... And our song is the one from their wedding, and we want an outdoors-y wedding.....”

Shawn looked at the screen, then back to the popcorn leaking butter in his hands. “Damn. So you’re saying that I’m Bella?” You began to shake your head, cheeks turning red. “Maybe I meant that wrong, but-”

“No, no you’re saying I’m Bella. Does that mean I get to wear the dress? I cannot wait to get married with no emotions and then have the ugliest CGI baby in the history of cinematics. Aren’t you so excited for that, my love?”

“Absolutely thrilled.”

The alarm on your phone blared once again, pulling you from Shawn. You picked up the phone, getting a few “Merry Christmas” texts from family and friends. You assumed Shawn was out partying with his crew mates, plus it must’ve been a busy day altogether. Turning off the alarm and standing, you pulled on the slippers and followed your routine again.

Once it got to 6:07, and still no text from Shawn, you decided to call him. Immediately, you were sent to voicemail. With a sigh, you waited for voicemail.

“Hey bubs, Merry Christmas! I miss you more than ever, it’s snowing here pretty rough. I know you’d probably go outside right about now and insist to make a snowman or some angels, so that might be a mission for me after work. Um, I wanted to let you know that I love you so much, and I hope you’re having fun on tour... The apartment isn’t the same without you here, especially around this time. You’re probably having fun with your friends and I don’t wanna intrude on that, so I’ll hang up. I love you Shawn, be careful. Stay safe, come back to me soon. Bye.”

Wiping the tear that fell down your cheek, you stepped outside your apartment, hopped into the elevator and began the commute to your shift. You got to work on record time, beginning your patient rounds and vitals, then celebrating with the coworkers. Working 6:30 AM-9:30 PM would be a tough one, but whatever to keep you under that roof. Plus, double-time because of the holiday.

Once it hit 9:30, you booked it out of the hospital and onto the shuttle. Your eyes were barely open as you saw the texts from Shawn.

(Shawn) 7:59 AM: Hey babe, I’m so sorry I didn’t answer your call! I can’t wait to see your face tonight, you still up for FaceTime?

(Shawn) 9:26 AM: I bet you’re busy, but I’m gonna be in a few conferences and doing press so I won’t be able to talk for a while. Love you!

(Shawn) 3:14 PM: (Y/N) I don’t think we can FaceTime tonight, I have to do something for a fan and it’s really important. I am so sorry.

(Shawn) 8:44 PM: Are you mad at me or are you still working?

(Shawn) 9:32 PM: Something is waiting for you at home, it’s your gift. I hope this can make up for the call!

You hopped out of the shuttle, heart feeling extra heavy as you walked into the apartment. The string lights and streamers along the walls were taunting you as the elevator brought you to your floor, and you tried to compose yourself until you would get inside. Stepping up to your door, you looked for the present, to no avail.

(Y/N) 9:45 PM: Shawn I don’t see a package

(Shawn) 9:45 PM: Mom must’ve brought it inside, I’m sure it’s there.

With a huff, you shoved the key into the door, and walked inside. Chucking your purse and coat onto the hooks, while flinging off your shoes, you composed yourself enough to look for the package. If he got it express-shipped it had to be good. Checking the kitchen was no luck, and the living room looked normal.

(Shawn) 9:48 PM: Bedroom, babe

With a gasp, you quickly buzzed to the bedroom, and laid your hand on the door. You stopped, hesitant to what was behind the door. What if it isn’t him? Taking a deep breath, you dismissed the negative thought and opened.

The room was filled with lit tea lights, rose petals on the bed and the floor, and Shawn. He was standing there in that chunky-white knit sweater you loved, with flushed cheeks and watery eyes, holding a bouquet of flowers, and your favorite song playing softly in the background.

You gasped, running into his arms with a squeal and sob, him mimicking the sound. He held onto the small of your back, and one hand on the back of your neck, and you felt his tears falling onto your skin. “I missed you so much, (Y/N). You don’t even know.” He pulled back slightly pressing his lips to yours in a soft embrace.

After a minute of kissing, you pulled back. “Merry Christmas, Shawn.”

“Merry Christmas, (Y/N).”

#shawn #shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes x you #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes fanfiction #imagine #love #christmas #lumineshawn

144 notes · View notes

popculturebuffet · 3 years

Text

Star Vs: Total Eclipsa the Moon and Butterfly Trap (Tomtrsopective Interlude)

Hello you beautiful people, and welcome back to the tomtrospective... minus Tom, since as i’ve mentioned a LOT in recent parts of this tribute to eveyrone’s faviorite demon voiced by shawn from boy meets world, realized I hadn’t mentioned that in a while, I”m also covering the metora arc from the second half of season 3, as Tom plays a pretty sizeable roll in it’s climax , the season 3 two part finale Divide and Conquer, and if i’m going to cover what’s essentially an hour long episode i’m going to do it right. It’s why i’m also doing the della arc alongside the Lena arc next month, the latter of which is fully paid for: because Shadow War pays that off too. Even if it makes way more work for me, if i’m going to review something, i’m gonna do it right. So we come to this pair of episodes. First question a lot of you might be having...

To which I say.. I ? We’ll see. The second is that “Why aren’t you covering the bog beast of boggabah?”. Well.. honestly it’s for time constraints. I have a LOT of episodes to cover, my own fault I know but again if you do a job you do it right, and cutting the one that while part of the plot isn’t nearly as essential to anything and ultimately only sticks for one episode character development wise. It’s not bad, almost nothing with Alan Tudyk in it is bad. That’s a fact, that’s a Disney fact.

Point is while I like covering EVERYTHING I can, I do have to draw a line and since this retrospective is about TOM, i’d rather not pile on more episodes that don’t involve him than absolutley necessary. Bog Beast just dosen’t feel NEARLY as much of a necessary detour as these two coming up or Skooled and Tough Love down the line. So with all that out of the way, join me under the cut for a discussion of Eclipsa’s character up to these episodes and the episodes themselves.

Our detour DOES take us right into my OTHER faviorite character in the series, tied with tom and the other character that makes watching the series post battle of mewni, worthwhile: Eclipsa. We’ve mentioned her before obviously but this is the first episode she actually shows up in that i’m covered, and i’m delighted to finally tackle her head on. And the other faviorite thing isn’t an exageration: She’s equal to tom in my heart. She’s just as compelling, just as well acted, and unlike Tom actually gets a decent resolution to her character arc. In fact she’s one of the ONLY characters to get a decent resolution. It’s also at this point her character undergoes a shift. While she dosen’t change as a person that much, before this it was left purposfully vauge if Eclipsa was really.. evil, and possibly the big bad of the season. On the one hand her magic is unquestionably dark and evil even if she isn’t, and while Star wasn’t at all effected by her chapter, Marco went all

For a second before Glossaryck fixed it off screen, and using her “Darkest Spell” left both her and moon with blackened goop on their arms for the rest of their lives. Not only that but she pushed Star into morally dubious actions: Teling her Marco could be her squire simply because she said so, and being the one that encouraged her to explore her butterfly form.

But we also saw her GENUINELY bond with Star, the two relating both on seeing monsters as people, and dating them, and on being reckless, powerful and often looked down upon by Moon for unfair reasons. Something I hadn’t realized but shoudl’ve before this is, for Season 3 at least.. Eclipsa is the mentor star never properly had. Glossaryck, while he did do a decent job from time to time, is just too damn neutral to be a proper mentor, not really carring what happens to mewni or if he even lives or dies, a neglectful attitude that honestly caused a good chunk of Mewni’s problems, never remotely trying to invervene in his protege Solaria’s genocidal campaign against monsters, his children’s growing fantatical racisim, or well.. anything. He just dosen’t care. Moon TRIED to be one, and can be a good mother on occasion.. but the two are exact opposites: Moon is controlled in every aspect of her life and compartmentalizes and structures everything, while Star is pure chaos and impulse. It’s why River has an easier time parenting her, as she got a LOT more of his personality than her mothers, and thus can actually relate to her. Bog Beast shows this off well: He teaches her a lesson Moon probably has tried to a thousand times, to be patient.. but does so on her level with an old family ritual and using a metaphor, rather than trying to drill it into her head. It’s why when he did actually teach her Glossayrck used the same: Star is just not a traditional learner, moon is. And there in lies the problem.. Moon just cannot accept for most of the series that her daughter isn’t like her despite her best efforts or try to see it on her level, and Star dosen’t really try to see it from Moon’s perspective either, though being you know the Child and not the parent, it’s a bit more understandable. Moon has a real hard time seeing other people’s perspectives, and really changing.. and given Star has gone from being a proud racist to realising how horrible her attiude to monsters were in under a year, really is why the two clash so much. It’s something I sadly relate to: While my own dad is not racist, he is a staunch republican, is one of those morons who belives the “Well if trans people can use the bathroom they want then rapists will put on women’s clothing just to enter a bathroom!” bullshit fully, and while he supports gay people myself included did NOT support gay marraige and when I was a teen would often say “Wellt hat’s as valid as me marrying bob” Bob.. is my dad’s cat who hates me for understandable reasons as I was not great with cats when he got him. So yeah I get your parent being an impenetrable brick wall on important issues.

The point is Eclipsa...actually listens to star, agrees to her views and instead of trying to FORCE star to go the way she wants simply guides her, giving her advice and being gentle with her. The two are similar enough that Eclipsa’s advice, good or bad, tends to stick, and that Eclipsa actually cares what Star thinks which Moon does not. But it was hard to gage if she GENUINELY cared or was just playing star. But these episodes shred that ambiguity to pieces, showing that while eclipsa is not without faults.. she’s not evil... and the people who called her that very much ARE. So without further adeu....

Total Eclipsa The Moon:

In the previous episode, Star burst into Moon’s room giving her the revelations of the night. Moon.. did not take it well, both unaware and furious her daughter had a party at the monster temple, refusing to believe her and taking umbrage at Star’s VERY understandable accusation that she sent Rhombulus after them, since he had her royal guards with him, levitating her daughter out of the office.

But what is suprising is that, as this episode opens after brooding a bit and TRYING to get back to work.. Moon clealry can’t get the idea out of her head. You can see the wheels turning: Sure star is impulsive and did falsely accuse her.. but she’s not a liar. While Star hides stuff on occasion.. when she lost the book she came right to her parents to confess, something Moon genuinely appricated. Why would she TRANSPARENTLY make something up? While the trial is close, Star would at least, if sloppily and ucnovncingly try and fake evidence if that was her goal. And while the party isn’t something Moon is happy about it is VERY suspcious Rhombulus didn’t tell her about police action on her terriotry using her own guards involving her daughter, several monsters, and the heirs to every kingdom in the land. So she takes the Royal Lineage book and goes to see Eclipsa.. who made a guitar out of bones because she’s awesome and that’s what you do when you have a lot of itme on your hands and nothing else to do.

She’s casual with Moon, who just assumes she’ll get the answer she wants l, asks her to identify her daughter.. though Eclipsa is taken aback by this. She’s willing to.. she just hasn’t seen her face in thosands of years let alone as a grown woman and assumes she’s dead by now. It’s a very good, very small moment.. and it’s made more striking both by what we learned last episode.. and the fact she has no idea who Festivia is, and knows who her one and only Daughter was: Meteora. And while Moon does bring up that her name just could’ve been changed... Eclipsa shoots that down.. Meteora had clover cheeks and “The cutest little tail”. Moon asks how this even makes sense and Eclipsa’s response is absolutely wonderful “When a queen and a monster love each other very much...”. Before we can get to the sexy details Moon then clarifies that she’s confused how she didn’t know about this and wants answers, though she still keeps Metora still being alive a secret for now.. but it’s understndable as Moon still dosen’t trust Eclipsa, and dosen’t want to risk her trying to escape to find her right before the trial. Eclipsa tells her there is one place they could get a solid answer, the archives, which are in the commission building, though Moon apparently doesn’t have access..despite being queen. You think she would’ve questioned that by now given the name.

But Moon plans to go, and refuses to take Eclipsa along.. but is swayed when Eclipsa genuinely not only accepts it.. but sadly and without any hint of manipultion and with pure honesty asks her to tell her what happened to her daughter. And for the first time... Moon sees Eclipsa as not the boogeyman history wrote her as.. but just another mother desperatley looking for her child and finding out history covered her up and she may never know what happened to her. So we next cut to the magical high comission building, where we see Shawn, the security guard, deer man and bumbling doofus, who ends up not scanning moon when the magic detector, basicallyu a metal detctor, goes read because she terrifies him out of it. And yeah.. good point she is on the comission he really shoudn’t have to do that. Though I like the sublte hints with this and the archives that the comission have slowly creeped up in thier authority: while the queen is still granted a seat at the table.. she’s not given ALL the toys in the box despite that not really being fair given how much sway the comission has in mewni politics. But naturally Moon has snuck eclipsa in and even more naturally is nearly having a panic attack over breaking the rules. But she dosen’t have time for that and asks Eclipsa where the archives are.

She’s not tricking moon or anything though: It’s been thousands of years and the comission building has changed vastly, when she was around the archives were just a stone hut off to the side. That gives Moon an idea and they find a stone wall in the storage room, which Eclipsa activates in her own weird and endearing way. This also shows off the one trait that seperates Eclipsa from star: Star usually just does random things because. While Eclipsa isn’t IMUNE to this usually when she does something weird it’s specifically to acomplish something, she’s just using her own unique methods. LIke here she rubs her back against the stones and what not.. ut it gets the door open. Unfortuntely our heroines then run into Shawn who being a natural narc, runs off ot tattle before Moon cuts him off. Eclipsa insists they zap his memory and only hasn’t for a crucial reason: she can’t do magic without a wand. It’s an intresting and understandable reveal: like star she just relied on the wand for it and never learned how to do her spells without it as she never really needed to.. and even now she dosen’t. While her magic COULD help her escape.. she has no intrest in escaping since it’d only hurt star and even a sham trial will still make her a martyr for mosnter kind and prove Star’s point she’s not a bad person. Even if she looses she wins. So she simply had no reason to relearn it and likely figured correctly doing so might just rouse further suspicon or get her locked in chains or other nonsense and given she can, if unbenownst to moon, wander the castle freely via the secret passages.. she’s really not bothered by house arrest. Moon of course dosen’t want to.. but in a great gag ends up doing so by mockingly saying “Memory eraser gun” and making a gun gesture with her hand.. and ends up actually doing that as a result. They put the comotose magic outside. And this scene is a great character bit to me for both characters: It shows off a bit flaw for each character: For moon it’s that she lacks the ablity to improvise. She can and has created magic but is so orderly and regimented it has to be percise and she dosen’t grasp just HOW easily a spell can be created simply by imagining it. She lacks the pure raw creativity and talent of her daughter and supposed ancestor.... but makes up for it in what she calls eclipsa out on: restraint. While Moon has ENTIRELY too much, serioulsy the stick is so far up her ass she can see it when she talks, it’s not itself a bad thing, and using it recklessly and irresponsibly, as the suplmental big boook of spells shows, without thought or without proper preperation can have devistating consequences. Skywinn, one of the past queens and the first in the book, destroyed an entire dimension simply by letting loose far too much, while Rhina, Moon’s great great grandmother, acccidently kileld her abusive husband because her heartbreak spell was a bit too literal. Power is fine and all. but you have to control it. It’s why Xavier’s School Existed before he decided to take all the kids to an island because humanity suck so much: you need to learn to use your pwoer responsibly and eclipsa never did. She can contorl it perfectly as we’ll see.. but she also dosen’t think of the implications of what she does with it, she just does and to hell with the consequences. And that’s really her whole problem: She acts mostly on impulse without thinking, and it’s had bad consequences.. though ironically her fleeing with Globgor, as said book wonderfuly outlined.. was NOT a rash or impulse decision but a VERY hard one where she was stuck between keeping the crown and pleasing eveyrone.. or fleeing with her lover, being happy and taking care of a serious threat to the kingdom as a whole WITH him, but knowing it might not end well.. and sadly it did not. Eclipsa does show her skill though once agian, having made up a silly song to rmemeber where to go and since the archives haven’t been touched and are about the same, easily leads them in. Though once they reach the door they can’t open it, but Eclipsa has a solution: A rat hole. “It’s so gross in here” she says delighted. Moon isn’t happy about it but agrees to it.. but her ass gets stuck.. and that’s not me being crude or making a joke her ass literally gets stuck and Eclipsa has to go for help but takes an hour, long enough for a spider to hypnotize moon and steal her crown and for moon to question trusting her.. before Eclipsa returns. And this is what cements what I was getting at: Before there was clear ambiguity in “Is eclipsa the villian or not”. Here.. it’s gone. She has shady powers and her morals are flexable.. but she’s still a kind, loveably weird woman and it’s obvious by this point her reputation as evil was horribly exagerated, and primarily brought on by racisim. And moon’s realizing it too. They find the archives, which is a cool concept: magitek hands that record everything that happens to a royal, even showing some of what’s going on right then in the other plot. Moon quips that this actually really would’ve helped with the trial, but apologizes for it showing that she’s slowly realized what Star knew from minute one and what I just mentioned: Eclipsa is not a bad person. She’s flawed, but she’s not evil or some nightmarish destroyer of worlds.. she’s just a batty 40-50 something woman who dosne’t think through her actions.

Eclipsa does explain it probably wouldn’t of done moon good, as it’s near impossible to find anything unless you know where to look.. which makes perfect sense. The scroll records every queen’s every actoin every minute of every day. Even summarized that’s like trying to sift through footage of eveyr minute of your life. Even sped up, it’d take weeks or months or even years to find something without knowing where exactly to look. Thankfully Eclipsa does.. but finds the Scroll has been offered as the “Daughter of queen eclipsa nd king shatacan” is sewn in there as festivia.. literally.. like part of the scroll was ripped out. And as close friend, endless resource and tom expert bar none @jess-the-vampire pointed out to me when I asked for her imput on these ones, that makes no sense as the two never had a daugther and I feel they just didn’t think that through. Plot hole aside.. it’s VERY clear someone has tampred with the archives and if Moon wasn’t already questinoing if Eclipsa was really bad this clinches it: Someone ERASED one of her family from history and hid the truth even from them. And Moon’s going ot get answers.. after our heroes run from the security system, get the crown back and BARELY escape with the scroll before the comission catches them.

Back at the castle Eclipsa is disgraught over her daughter and Moon clinches their new bond by revealing she might still be alive... Moon might not KNOW if Star was telling or even knew the whole truth.. but she knwos something is going on and she’s going to find out. And whiel she may not know everything.. she has a damn good idea who did this.. .and says so just as star comes in from her adventure, having learned patience. Cue the credits. Final Thoughts: This was a fun one, with Moon and Eclipsa having a delightful odd couple dynamic, the regminted overly serious and overly stuffy moon with the wild and reckless and charmingly weird eclipsa is just a great dynamic and endlessly entertaining and I wish the show had done more with it before what’s about to happen but what we got was great and minor plot hole mentioned aside, the reveal only deepens the intrigue for what’s next.. so speaking of which...

Butterfly Trap: Here. We. Go. One of the series best episodes, if not it’s BEST. Oh me mow i’m excited.

We open with the long set up trial of Eclipsa Butterfly.. and as you’d expect by a trial by a jury of her enimies, the comission mostly sees this as a formality outside of Moon. Sean is excited though, he gets to bring out the typey thingy. Usually Rhombluus just crystalises them.

Yeahhh... the show never properly deals with Rhombulus’ tendency to imprison first ask questions never or gets any of his victims, i.e. the ones he probably had less reason to crystal up not ones who were eating universes or whatever , free. But this is the LEAST of the dropped threads from this one. Point is this isn’t a remotely fair trial.. as hammermed in by the fact Hekapoo is upset and confused that Star is here too. Moon wants her to see eclipsa got a fair trial. Also Rhomblus wants her DEAD, but the others shot him down on this. HIs reasoning , for him, is suprisingly good: crystalising her didn’t work last time and implicilty given star likes her star could just order her freed when she’s queen. But I get their reasoning: Killing her would only make her a martyr to monsterkind, and to Star who probably woudln’t listen to or respect them EVER again. And Moon still wanted that when she started the trial. So while clearly a sham this does crystalize, pun unitended, how corrupt the comissoin is. Their holding a trial with no jury, no witnesses, not that most are alive but some are, and with everyone CLEARLY thinking she’s guilty before it starts... and no one questioned it. This is even unusual as they rarely have an actual trial. And it’s about to be revealed to be a WHOLE lot worse.

So the trial begins and Moon brings out the evidence, which is oddly disorganized given how much work she was putting in before, and ismostly secondhand accounts and interviews and their going to have to just sit there and sort through it all, which NONE OF THEM, especially rhomblus are happy about “THIS SOUNDS LIKE MATH!”

But Eclipsa has a simplier, if much more risky suggestion: Trial by Box. While Moon points out this isn’t great for her as the box is merciless and will not take lies, but Eclipsa counters rightly that she has nothing to hide. ANd honestly again given the commission are clearly out for her blood.. this is the only way she gets anything resembling a fair trial. Resembling being the key word. This is the most clearly rigged trial i’ve seen since that time Batman’s villians kidnapped him and put him on trial with joker as the judge.. good episode though.. and THAT was even a more fair trial as they actually gave him a lawyer and let him go when she made a convincing enough case.

So the box is brought out, and it turns out to be the truth or punishment cube from season 2. Which Moon insists isn’t a party game.. despite the fact a bunch of teenage girls easily got one and it has a setting for that when moon grabs it. Along with, in a really great bit, settings for Bachelorette (All right ladies!) and Intervention. Know someone who could use that honestly.

So the Comission ask their questions. We start with Rhombluus who asks if she wrote the “Evil Chapter” in the book of spells. Eclipsa dosen’t deny it but ponits out THEY labeled it that, Star rightly points out none of htem have actually read it moon included, and Eclipsa.. shoves her foot in her mouth by pointing out she’s made FAR WORSE spells that didnt make the cut. “Writing is rewriting you know”. Love this woman.

So next up is Hekapoo who asks if she abandoned her husband to run off with Globgor. Well they dont’ use his name because end of season plot twist but still. Eclipsa not only firmly doesen’t deny it but fondly caressses the projection of him “Hello sweetie”. Hekapoo marks her down with evil for this which... Jeff if you would?

Thank you. Not only is this racist bs that star perfectly destroyed earlier in the season, as the comission themselves are monsters in all but category, but the spellbook makes this so much worse. As I said for once Eclipsa .. wasn’t being impulsive. She was torn between duty and love and choose love, and even then partially did so to prevent the septarians from wiping out both the rest of monster kind AND mewmans. And Shastacan, was a massive dick, who took her not being in love with him like he was with her as a sign to throw her monster child away as we’’ll see and rightfully got eaten for it. I know this is all obvious stuff but it’s hard not to yell about it. Next it Rhombluus.. who asks if she ate those babies. Again that was Bubipsa as Hekapoo understandably yells at him for but no backsies, and she sgets another evil mark on H-Poo’s good or evil tally because she’s that bitch. Finally Moon asks if she’s sorry for what she’s done.. and given the most they genuinely have are that she wrote spells that while dark and evil, were not only not the worst she could do but were clearly not used on any innocents, had an interracial marraige, and did not eat babies.. yeah, she’s not. So the comissoin prepare to cast judgement on the woman whose only “crime” is interacial dating, in a sham trial.

Thankfully.. Eclipsa turns the tables. Before they can hastily refreeze her... Eclipsa points out she has a question.. and Moon points out as a former queen of mewni she’s entitled to a comission seat and thus TECHNICALLY a member. A loose rule and one you’d think Moon wouldn’t enforce.. but she does, a large hint at something i’ll get to in a moment as the reveal’s just too good to spend already. Naturally she has but one question for them:

No, obviously it’s “What did you do with my daughter”. Even more obviously they deny it.. but as we saw last time the cube came out, even lying to YOURSELF isn’t something the cube accepts so outright lying to save your fucking hides is even worse and it begins to crush them all. And after spending most of the runtime putting up with their racist and clearly biaserd bollocks it’s SO fucking cathartic to see them desperatly scramble and fail to avoid the box, with Hekapoo screaming “We didn’t do anything!”.

Eventually Star calls them out on it pointing out they enforce the rules for everyone ELSE, and Hekapoo in paticular called Star and Moon on keeping the book being stolen a secret and Marco on Star’s butterfly form fiasco, so yeah, their glass house is in shards.. and Rhombluus FINNALLY ends this charade and confesses. Hekapoo naturally is mad at him for this.. despite the fact that if he hadn’t they’d all be dead and none of this would matter.

Also Eclipsa is just badass during the entire sequence. While Moon and Star are panicking and the comission are covering for themselves, though the former two are probably doing it more just to keep up appearances but we’ll get to that in just a moment. Eclipsa, SHe just has this expression the whole time, as I put at the top for good reason.

Just a look of pure SCORN, of a mother’s rage at having her daughter hidden from her and wiped from history, of having her husband imprisoned for rightfully getting vengance for it, for having HERSELF imiprosned and made out to be some kind of ghoul for the crime of marrying who she loved and saving her damn kingdom. She’s politely put up with this shit for as long as she had to to get to this moment.. but now as her tormentors despretly try to avoid the consequences of their actions and the truth.. she can only look on with pure, justified hatred at EVEYRTHING they’ve done and just how cowardly it is they refuse to admit it.

So with the pepretraotrs in the cover up explosed, Rhomblus explains he was tired of lying. This COULD have been a good turn for the character, showing he had some remorse and have him get a redepmption arc... any of them could’ve.. but instead thier just 2 dimensonal asssholes after this because “racists be like that’ which they do, but it dosen’t mena you couldn’t of used them as big bads for the final season instead of wasting them. But yeah back on point Rhombluus prods omni to tell them via his projection thing and he does: After Eclipsa was imprisoned, Shastacan got rid of meteora, and we of course know where she went and soon we’ll find out just what happened to her there, but more ont hat another time, and the comission covered things up by taking a pesant girl, though unlike the graphic above we later found out she was left behind by her family and taken in by the comission, who are shown to also have raised her by the book of spells. They gave her the wand, putting magic in her veins.. how ..

Look me and Jess discussed this: magic being given by the wand is terribly inconsistent and while I might go into it in a seperate article some other day, now is not the time or place for it.

It is however the time and place for the reveal as Moon’s reaction to all of this? “We suspected as much”

Yup, as our heroines explain and Shawn freaks the fuck out in one of the series best gags, and mirrors the audience’s reactions, we find out this was all a setup: and as I alluded too one cleverly set up the whole episode, pun unintended: Moon is suddenly dour and ready to to through with the trial despite last episodes revelations, she brings in evidence that’s entirely unsorted despite being a control freak who was previously working on gathering and sorting said evidence, and she backs up eclipsa despite it clearly givng her an advantage. All little hints that something wasn’t right there. Whlie Hekapoo, being again that bitch, is naturally furious, Moon is undaunted and explains why they did this.. and Star was in on it too, which shows that even if her patience lesson from bog beast dosen’t stick entirely, sigh, it does stick for this one episode as she not only waited through this sham trial.. but played her part well, arguging with moon at times to make it seem like nothing had changed. Everything was a careful and constructed plan to get the commission into a position where they COULDN’T lie. Even if Rhombulus hadn’t cracked one of them might of when theyw ere close and while it was a huge risk they all knew going in... it paid off. The truth is laid bare. If only Lekmet’s bi ass were here .. so he could aslo get raked over teh coals for htis. Also yes bi, he had the bi flag colors on the flowers on ihs portrait they left where his seat used to be.

So with the cards all on the table, the Cube passes judgment; Eclipsa is guilty.. but so are her judges minus Moon, so he tells them to think about that, which they do, while he leaves so they can sort out their issues. Star reads the assholes the riot act.. until she stumbles on realizing something: Eclipsa, her supportive, loving, and wonderful grandma whose actually like her.. isn’t her grandma. Eclipsa responds with an “I’m sorry sweetie’ making two things clear by her tone: She’s just as devistated by this reveal as star, she just has more pressing things in her head right now, and that even if their not bound by blood.. sh’es still star’s grandma and always will be. What hits harder is the realization sh’es not a princess and her life is a lie. Granted she is TECHNICALLY a princess , since her dad is still a king by blood and could take the johnason throne if he wanted, but tha’ts being pednatinc: the real point is that the legacy that put so much pressure on her all her life is a lie, and she isn’t who she thought she was. “We’re nothing mom, we’re nothing. “

So star runs off as both of her moms try and comfort her. And as we close out this episode god damn is Eden Sher good in this. Just her acting in this scene is so damn heartbreaking and powerful, going from indignant and calling out the cocmisison.. to heartbreaking, slowly and quitely falling apart as she realizes what happened. So what’s this anguish star’s going through amount to?

Oh sure the ending of season 3 wouldn’t happen without this reveal.. but Star being devistated by it goes NOWHERE. There’s no character arc of her dealing with the fact she’s no longer a princess or once she gives teh wand to eclipsa, even heir to the throne probably. No angst, no deep reflection not even an offhand joke. We find out who the commoners Festivia descended from were.. but that’s IT. Star just kinda ignores this like her confession to marco last season only that at least got a payoff. I will bitch about that payoff soon but it’s you know A PAYOFF. This is a WASTE of an utterly amazing plot twist, one that turns the show on it’s head and star’s entire rebelious princess character around. because they just didn’t care to actually let her change as a character after this season. She learns nothing from this point, dosen’t really grow, and ends in a really terrible and ghastly place. This episodes excellent and while it’s after effects would be felt.. it left SO much more on the table they never bothered to pick up and use.

Final Thoughts: As I said full of wasted potetinal.. but one of the series best episodes still. Hampered a bit by said waste of potetial but on it’s own it’s gripping, has a well set up swereve, and some great acting and animation all around.

So that does it for this review: Next Time: Star and Tom’s relationship progresses as Tom is forced to see what his privlage has insulated him from, while it then hits a massive road block as we get.. to Booth Buddies. And yes i’m doing Skooled second, Booth Buddies is TECHNICALLY seasonly approraite for valentine’s way.. just like herpes. Until then follow this blog for more reviews, my comissions are open shoot me an ask for details and until the next rainbow, it’s been a pleasure.

#star vs the forces of evil #star butterfly #eclipsa butterfly #moon butterfly #hekapoo #rhombulus #omnitraxus prime #sean #river butterfly #king shastaca #meteora butterfly #butterfly trap #total eclipsa the moon #disney #animation

22 notes · View notes

freddieslater · 3 years

Note

ALL OF THE WIP TITLES YOU POSTED LOOK. SO. GOOD. i'm going to limit myself to three - can i ask for three at once? is that chill? okay well i'm gonna ask anyway and you can choose one/two/all three! so here we go: "High School Musical: The Reunion: Glee Edition", "Prison World Trio", and "Shorpanga Wedding." <3 <3 <3

YOU'RE ALWAYS COMING IN HERE AND MAKING ME LOVE YOU. Of course you can ask for three, I'd have done the whole list just for you ♥️ zhhxhshz okay let's do this!! I'm gonna put a read more because it is Long

"High School Musical: The Reunion: Glee Edition"

It's occuring to me now just how misleading this title is even though it makes perfect sense to me 😭. So, this fic is actually a crossover between The Flash, Supergirl, and Glee! Basically, there's a reunion happening at McKinley and invites go out to both Barry and Kara as, in this universe, they were Sebastian and Marley (with a couple of tweaks). None of their friends are aware of their secret former lives as members of semi-successful high school glee clubs (Iris and Alex are the only ones because, well, they grew up with them)!

And to make it better: Barry and Kara didn't recognize each other either! So, you can imagine their great surprise when they both find out their high schools are hosting reunions on the same day. In the same town. In the same building. Drama ensues! They have some reunions with other ex glee club members, including one Music Meister (excluding one he-who-will-not-be-named for multiple reasons but one being that he was also in Supergirl and I'm not going out of my way to find a loophole in the plot that makes sense for him). Their friends find out! Songs are probably sung!

And here is your snippet:

He can't go. Barry decides it without even opening the email. Or the three Facebook messages, or the two voicemails, or the five texts. They're all from the same person, more or less. One of the messages is from Trent, and he feels a bit worse about ignoring that one than the rest, but he can't because the second he opens a single one of them, it's over.

The date for the reunion is in a week and he's managed perfectly to ignore it so far! If he just waits until the date passes, then he can reply to Trent and to Blaine with profuse apologizes, but he was busy, and he never got around to checking any of his emails or texts, but he really is so sorry to have missed it, maybe they can meet up just the three of them sometime soon?

A deep sigh is pulled from between his ribs. He slumps back in his chair and closes his eyes, letting himself spin slowly.

"You should go," Iris insists. Barry opens his eyes and catches a glimpse of her across the room, leaning against his desk. Possibly accidentally touching evidence. Totally fine, not a problem at all. "Seriously, it's been ten years! I know that it's not Dalton and technically McKinley wasn't your school, but everyone you went to Dalton with will be there."

"That's the problem," Barry emphasizes, his hands dragging through his hair to grab the top of the chair. "I just... the thought of facing any of them now? After everything, after ten years?"

He just shakes his head, pressing his lips together. His stomach is rocking and he's aware that the spinning probably isn't helping, but he's also afraid that if he stops he might throw up. So he pushes himself with his foot and goes around again, only catching a blur of Iris' exasperated expression.

"Things are different now!" she tries again. "You've seen Blaine and Trent! Look how much they've changed. Who's to say that it's not the same for everyone else? I mean, you're certainly not who you were when you went there -- you're not him anymore; Sebastian."

"Prison World Trio"

This is, unsurprisingly, a TVD fic. I decided, you know the only thing that could make Bonnie and Damon being trapped in the Prison World more interesting than it already is? If Enzo was there, too. So, essentially, he waits on the other side until Damon arrives because he's actually worried about him, but by the time Alaric has been sent through to the land of the living, the spell has been broken, leaving Damon and Enzo trapped along with Bonnie. Then bam! Prison World! Now, I don't have a clear idea of where I go from there, but I know that it involves domestic shenanigans, catching feelings + old feelings resurfacing with angst and arguments and Bonnie wanting to murder both of them! They will, of course, still meet Kai and that's a whole thing because it's Kai, but I still haven't decided an ending yet.

Stop! Snippet time!:

"Take him," Bonnie says to Damon. "Please. He's your murder buddy, not mine."

"Hold on, I still have a say in this," Enzo tries to protest. "And for the record, I am no one's murder buddy anymore. I wouldn't be here if I was, now would I?"

Damon groans, "Oh my god, let it go, we're stuck with each other now, alright? So, your little grudge isn't exactly going to do anyone any good, and if you haven't noticed, you're not exactly dead anymore, so would you shut up?"

"Oh, well I'm glad to know that my death is a mere grudge to you," Enzo quips back drily, throwing a hand up. "You sure you want me to come with you at all? By the sounds of it, you wouldn't even notice if I was gone, so how about you two go ahead and I'll just be on my merry way."

Unbelievable. Trust Enzo to kick up a tantrum at the most inconvenient of times. Damon looks to Bonnie to share in his exasperation, but she raises her eyebrows and presses her lips together in a clear display of not taking sides. Though her pointed silence and looking away feels a whole lot like tiptoeing onto a side.

"Are you -- No!" Damon waves his hands. "How is splitting up going to help us? No, either you come with me, or you go with Bonnie. Your choice, but those are your only two options."

"I'm not exactly seeing how you're going to enforce that if I decide on neither," Enzo says with a shrug, and at this point, Damon's thinking he's just doing it to piss him off. Then again, that's usually his motivation.

"I'll just..." Bonnie gives a vague motion behind ahead of her with an awkward smile and proceeds to try and edge away, "leave you two to it,"

"Wait," Enzo calls to her, staring at Damon, "I'm coming with you."

Damon stares back at him, arms spread. But Enzo just gives him one last look before walking away. Bonnie falters uncertainly and doesn't look too thrilled about this decision either but she just shrugs at Damon like she's sorry, then she goes after Enzo. Leaving Damon standing in the middle of the road on his own.

Fantastic. Just the way he likes it.

"Shorpanga Wedding"

Title says it all, really, I think. We're at Cory and Topanga's wedding (this is Boy Meets World if that wasn't clear), and Shawn is obviously a mess because the two people he is in love with are getting married, but they don't know he's in love with them, and now his chance to say anything is about to be gone! I'm going to need to rewatch that episode before I can get back to this one because I can't remember a lot of what was said, but I know it's going to be extremely angsty with a happy ending!

Teeny tiny snippet:

Don’t go in. Shawn repeats the words over and over in his head, pacing the hall of the fanciest hotel he’s ever stepped foot in. But he came this far, didn’t he? He can’t let how he’s feeling get in the way of this. It’s Cory’s wedding. And… Topanga’s. His best friends. How can he not go in?

He stops pacing and looks down at the rings in the palm of his hand. If he goes in there, these rings will be on Cory’s and Topanga’s fingers for the rest of their lives.

Groaning, he clenches his hand into a fist, feeling the rings dig into his palm. He starts pacing again until singing starts up around the corner. Oh god. What does singing mean at a wedding? That it’s over?

But it can’t be, not without the rings, right? Or did they find replacements? Did they just assume that he would let them down, that he wouldn't show up, so they just went ahead without him?

There’s only one way to find out.

Taking a deep breath, he turns the corner and walks through the hall. His heart leaps into his throat at the sight of the wedding taking place. Cory and Topanga at the altar together. Nausea sweeps over him, but he bites the inside of his cheek and ignores how disconnected his head feels from the rest of his body as he marches up the aisle towards them. He glances at the stage and notices Mrs Matthews on it, the source of the singing. Figures.

Every step forward feels heavier than the last, and like he’s a roadrunner heading straight for the exact spot where the anvil is hanging, waiting to drop and crush him. Except seeing Cory and Topanga standing there, ready to get married, has already done that.

This took me so long to answer but it has been so fun!! Thank you for asking for three at once, you're amazing and wonderful!

#trulyalpha #ask away earthlings!#wip folder meme #fanfiction stuff #works in progress #the flash #glee #the vampire diaries #boy meets world

6 notes · View notes

parkeraul · 5 years

Photo

spill your guts or fill your guts

a/n: anon suggested me but for a reason i couldn’t load this gif on the post, so it’s gonna be here lol. as the hoe that i am for james corden and this very specific part of the program, i’m unable to say no. warnings: disgusting things, cursing.

“Okay, Shawn-Shawn-Shawnie-Boy,” James calls Shawn, spinning the table filled with all the stuff he likes to call “delicacy”. She’s sitting in front of him, James standing in the middle between them both and, so far, the questions were not that hard to answer (they were but the foods and the smell of them made they both gulp and think twice). “I’m gonna give you...” The host is prolonging the tension, making Shawn turn his face away and look at the crowd, awkward smile showing up. It doesn’t matter what he’s gonna pick, Shawn might probably answer whatever it is so he won’t have to swallow down a bird’s saliva or a thousand-year-old egg — and let’s not get started on the cow’s tongue and fish eye. She’s biting on her lip, nervous for him because it’s not like she can’t suffer along with him, she’s the one who kisses his lips (maybe not for the next couple of weeks, though.) The table stops and James takes his hands off the wood, “I’m gonna give you the bull’s penis.”

Shawn sighs, putting both elbows on top of the table and facepalming with both hands, still not ready to face the weird thing standing below his face. He’s holding his breath, covering his eyes and pressing his palms even harder against his cheeks, blocking every single way so maybe the food will take the hint, create some legs and walk away. His desperation makes him consider that this idea can actually happen if he asks with all his heart. The audience is clapping and screaming like crazy, making James smile devilishly and feel internally proud of his choice. Y/N, on the other hand, waits for the noises to shut down so she can let go of her lip and breathe before saying. “You know you’re consequently dragging me down with him, right?” She points to her husband, who hasn’t moved a inch yet. “Of course!” James says, chuckling. “But after some rub-rub of tongues the taste will go out, I promise you.” She pokes her tongue out just to the thought of tasting it on Shawn’s mouth. She’d probably make him brush his teeth for the next several hours and drink all the vodka in the world to burn the flavour somehow. “There’s no fuckin’ way I’m eating this,” Shawn tilts his head up to stare at James, who’s getting a card and tapping if twice against the table. “I don’t care what you have in there, I’m not gonna put this thing in my mouth.” “Well, Shawn,” James starts, reading the question all over again and struggling to hold back the giggles. “I wouldn’t be so sure of that,” His shoulders are shrugging repeatedly from the laughing and he starts whimpering, bringing the crowd to giggle with him and at Shawn’s discomfort. “Okay,” He breathes in, laughs fading out and everyone goes silent to hear the question. Every muscle on Shawn’s body starts tensing for dear life — he doesn’t give a shit, he’ll answer whatever he needs to answer: about his career, his childhood, his secrets, the times he didn’t feel good on stage, the place he loved playing at the most... Anything that can free him from eating a bull’s penis. “Shawn Mendes...” “James Corden.” Shawn answers, legs shaking uncontrollably under the table. “You and Y/N have two lovely children, that I even met sometime ago...” James says after laughing at his instant reply, highlighting his name like it’s the most normal thing to answer after someone calls your name. “Yeah, we do...” The audience yells again and clap their hands, Shawn and Y/N smiling proudly although his heart is sinking, wondering what the hell does their children have to do with this clownery. “And you say you can’t ever favourite one of them, correct?” “I could never.” At this moment, Shawn’s heart starts beating more calmly, thinking of his babyboy and babygirl at home with Karen, probably asleep one on top of the other with the blankets they carry around the house. “But,” Corden calls out, raising his index finger in the air. “Which one of them did you have the most fun conceiving?” And as if this question alone wasn’t enough, he completes: “And where did it happen?” Both Shawn and Y/N’s mouths fall open and they’re silently hoping the kids are sleeping or playing somewhere far far away from the TV. They aren’t older than 10 years old but they’re also not stupid — and oh God they’d hear lots and lots of questions back home, as tortuous as the questions they’ve been answering during the show. “That’s fucked up, man,” Shawn takes a sip of water, wishing this sip could last forever so his mouth would be filled with something actually decent and he’d be unable to answer. “That’s... Shit!” He hisses the last word, placing his glass back to where it was before. “I... Lemme think.” “What?” She nearly screams, looking at her husband totally shocked. “Are you actually thinking of answering this question?” The people are laughing hard along with James, having the time of their lives and for a second no one — I repeat, no one, Shawn included — can imagine what his decision is gonna be and he wishes he was just joking to build up extra expectations, but the memories are rushing back inside his mind and they’re too delightful — if he’s honest — but ugh there’s fucking bull’s penis sliced in front of him and ugh his children are involved and ugh people would probably tweet about this until the end of his days. “I mean... I think I remember when Raul was—“ “Oh my God, he’s answering!” James can’t believe his ears, he thinks he’s hallucinating or whatever. “Lord Jesus Christ, Shawn,” She thinks she’s never been this religious before, not only mentioning but praying to all the names she knows that her husband is only playing around. “Do you still wanna be married after this?” James throws his head back and Shawn, who was starting to gesture his hands in the air, looks at her and laughs nervously. Little Raul was the first one and, although he wasn’t exactly planned, it was a nice story to be told. It happened 5 years ago but it was one of the best unexpected things that’s ever happened to him — in all possible meanings — and he finds himself reliving the moment here and there. “Don’t you remember, honey?” Shawn asks her, like they’re at home without five or six cameras pointed at them while they’re live for the whole world to see. He lifts his hands up so he can draw the moment better. “Like, we were at—” “Shut up?!” She kind of asks too, sounding extremely squeaky as she feels her heart missing the beats and the wedding ring on her finger getting cold along with her fingers. She thinks she might faint at any time if he doesn’t stop joking around right now. “Will you shut up, please?!” “This is so good!” They hear from James who’s nearly crying his eyes off from how much he’s been laughing at the situation, barely okay to speak like a regular person. “Babe, it’s bull’s penis,” Shawn emphasizes, widening his eyes and grabbing the little bowl and moving it next to her. She pulls her hair back and smells, quickly getting back to stay away from that horrible thing. “It’s simple: we’ll just never tell Raul about this or... Let him watch this interview.” “So Raul was the best?” James asks, his big smile swelling his cheeks up and almost hidding his blue curious eyes. Shawn goes speechless, smelling the food and putting the bowl back to its place. Fuck, it’s really disgusting. He looks at it and imagines that the texture is probably awful, and the taste has to be even worse. Knowing little Raul and concluding that he might only grow up smarter than he already is, Shawn rubs his whole face before placing both hands down on the table, tilting his head when he thinks about the other situation. “Well... Now that you asked I might say that Isabella was also very very fun to—” “No way!” Corden comes out very loud and everyone laughs, some people covering their mouths just like Y/N is doing right now. Yeah, no way. “I can’t believe this is happening...” She mutters to herself but audible enough for the mic to capture, making the crowd go wilder with her reactions as she looks down with her hand doing its best to support her forehead leaned against it so heavily. “What?” Shawn opens his arms like he’s questioning a normal thing. “She’s going to be so mad at me if I don’t bring her up! You know she’s jealous.” “I’m gonna be mad at you if you bring her or Raul up,” She says through gritted teeth, only facing him to point a finger towards his chest like she’s promising to bury a knife deep down his chest at home if he keeps on rambling. “Eat your penis.” She says and Shawn knows she’s not asking, covering his lap with the napkin they’ve offered. She’s coming off dramatically to increase the fun, but a huge part of her is being dead serious. Lord knows what the kids would say and how much they’d be teased in school. They can’t take the risk, that’s not even an option. There’s a moment of silence when Shawn rearranges himself on his chair, gulping harshly as his hand threatens to go inside that bowl, moving back and forth repetitively. In a lack of sanity, with a grimace taking over his whole face — hard enough to the skin under his hairline move so strongly that some curls fall from their place — Shawn takes three pieces between his fingers and shut his eyes close, shoving the food inside his mouth and chewing sloppily while he reaches the bucket on the floor, covering his whole face with it and spitting the food as fast as possible. “Who-hoa!” James says, laughing weakly to let his words out. “That’s Shawn Mendes, everyone!” People go back to clapping, screaming and whistling and Shawn practically swallows down his water in two large gulps. “Thank God.” She says under her breath, relaxing in her seat. “Is the marriage still up?” Eyeing her, Shawn asks raising an eyebrow and his grin is undeniably cute as his sweet puppy eyes study all her face, waiting for her response while he run his fingers through his curly hair. “It is.” “Then kiss me.” “Na-ah!”

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfics #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes blurbs #shawn mendes masterlist #mine #ficsofmine #the blurb saga**

966 notes · View notes

ocular-intercourse · 3 years

Text

okay @mangosandchili 14 OC questions instead of 16 cause ned picked the other two 🙏

actually.. let me split this character-wise so I won’t take 100 years

finn gets first draw always

🌲 What is the kindest thing your OC has ever done for someone? What is the kindest thing someone has ever done for them? On the flip side, what is the worst thing your OC has done to another person?

Hmm hm kindness seems like a weird concept to think about for Finn. Cause yeah, he is excessively, self-sacrificingly kind, but he can also turn that off pretty easily when the other end does not deserve it in his eyes. The kindest thing he has ever done, continues to do sometimes, absolutely misplaced, is caring for his father, not giving up on him. Back when they were still living together, when his dad was too drunk to function, he’d clean him up, clean up around him, sober him up, even after the beatings started, forgiving him over and over. The kindest thing someone did to him was probably his mom getting him out of that situation.

The worst thing he has done to somebody else.. what an absolute nightmare question for Finn hasdghj. Take your pick between not magically being able to keep Kitty alive, continuously cheating on Emily like the single greatest asshole in the world or leaving Shawn straight after he tried to kill himself… he’d probably be able to come up with some other things that seem to be true in his eyes but might not be quite as bad as he sees them.

🌳 What does your OC do when they see others upset or in pain? An upset friend? A stranger?

He helps. Stops what he is doing and runs to help the more he loves the person. He could be standing on the court of some major tournament and drop the bat to go and help one of his loved ones, you can call him in the middle of the night and be sure to count on his help. Nothing in his own personal life can be more important than helping a friend in distress, so he’ll almost always put himself second. And if he does not, for whatever reason, no matter how justified, he’ll feel guilty about it. The same goes for strangers, in a way, of course not quite as extreme. But if he’d see someone in need of help, he won’t walk past it. He’s the type of person, when you’re in public and something happens that makes everyone uncomfortable, makes them pointedly stare someplace else or walk off hurriedly, he’d be the one to step in with no regard to his personal safety. He’d be the guy trying to safe someone from getting hit with a car, or step in between fights, argue with the police, make sure a person gets home safe.. But he also thinks ahead about what he could do for people. I made a post a while back about him being the kind of person to bring homeless people warm drinks and shoes in winter. I’m not quite sure what drives him, I think it’s one part his personal experience, knowing how it feels when nobody helps, but also him feeling guilty, feeling like he is a burden and a bad person and he needs to counterweight somehow.

🌿 What is something true about your OC that they refuse to admit about themselves? Is there any reason to this besides embarrassment?

He will NOT. EVER. let people tell him he is/would be a good father. He is though, he’s been practically raising his little half-brother since he was three (he’s seven now) since his mother is.. uh.. not exactly full-time mom material. And the kid is so good, he’s great actually, smart as hell, already running circles around him, skipped some classes (actually I’m thinking about it more and more but what used to be a he when i came up with him might actually be a trans girl but we’ll see so I’m sticking with describing Bryant as him atm, that’d be something that develops in the story in the future). But if somebody tells him what a good job he did/does with Bryant Finn would shut that down immediately. And then go and cry about it. He gets really panicky about the thought of being a father, since fathers in his family have traditionally not been especially great at it. There are arguments between him and Shawn, who says that Finn worrying so much about being a good father would already make him a hell of a better father than he ever had.

🍃 Describe a regular day for your OC. What is their schedule (if they have one).

He’s developed a pretty good routine since he went pro, which helps a lot with his moods and all. He will get up early, 7-ish, go for a run, come home, make breakfast, a lot, cause he has to eat constantly to keep mass. Then it’s time for some “paperwork”, organizing stuff, calls with sponsors and partners and whoever wants something of him, photoshoots, interviews, collabs. Cooking, eating. Meeting with his trainer, training or training solo. Depending on the day picking up Bryant from school and hanging out with him/meeting his sister/mother/other friends. Cooking, eating. On every other day streaming, mostly some games, sometimes cooking, sometimes just hanging out with fans. Mania/depression will of course throw some wrenches in there but he’s been pretty good at keeping things together lately. If he’d be back with Shawn he’d also trim all the job stuff down a bunch, a lot of his excessive training atm is very much just to keep himself occupied.

🍁 What is your OC’s most traumatic experience? (If they don’t have just one traumatic experience either pick one or describe them all!)

Ha, laughing at the describe them all.. let’s not. The biggest is definitely losing Kitty. It has completely, both positively and negatively, marked his life. It made him develop his strict anti-drug stance and the focus on sticking things through to avoid hurting his family. Sometimes he thinks back to it, if Kitty would not have died, who he would have become. He’s mostly sure he’d be the one who had killed himself instead, without the trauma of losing her he would not have thought about what that would do to others as much. He’d most definitely be an addict in one way or another. He would not like himself very much. He also ABSOLUTELY hates that thought cause he can’t bare seeing anything positive in her death, he refuses to think about it that way. He’d bring her back in a heartbeat, regardless of what that would do to him. So instead he is much more focused on the fear of losing his loved ones, of somehow being responsible for it either directly or indirectly by not seeing it and not helping.

🍄 How would your OC react to the death of a friend/family member/loved one? Is there anyone they can confide in?

Oh boy how fitting. It was already the absolute worst thing to happen to him, knocked him out for quite a while, people had to babysit him constantly, he dropped out of school, it took him a lot of time and energy to resemble a human being again. If it would happen again I think he would just stop functioning. He wants to follow but promised himself not to, so he can’t, but that does not make him feel better. I think he would have to be hospitalized in some way or another, stay in a clinic for a while. Other than that Shawn and Raphael would be the ones he would confide in the most. His sister too, in a way, but with her he would be much more worried about putting all this negative shit on her.

🌾 What would your OC be like if they were evil. Or if they’re already evil what would they be like as the good guy?

Oh I’m excited about this question for some of the others lol. It’s really hard to picture Finn as an evil person. He sure likes to believe he’s an unlovable asshole but he’s really not, that’s at the core of his character. Evil Finn would have married Emily and been an asshole about it, cheating and not being safe about it. He’d be a drug dealer probably, that’s the worst thing regular Finn could imagine himself to be. He’d just be bitter and aggressive and living it out, enjoying dragging others into the muck with him.

💐 How would your OC react to somebody telling them that they love them? (+ bonus give another characters/OC name!)

Definitely depends on whether the intention is platonic or romantic. Emily and Raphael showing romantic interest would just make him sad? Melancholic? Guilty. Cause he wants to make them happy, but he can’t give them what they want, even if he loves them, he does not love them that way. Shawn telling him he loves him would just.. break a dam, he’d definitely cry and be absolutely overwhelmed and relieved. Also a little scared. Anybody else saying it would just prompt him to, uh, probably stop seeing them. Flight instinct. He is so not over what happened between him and Shawn he will run for the hills at any sign of a potential relationship.

🌷 What does your OC hate about themself? What lies about themself do they believe? On the flip side, What does your OC love about themself?

I love these questions, they were very much made for the way I write characters lol. Especially Finn, cause a lot of him is just being tortured by his brain and him knowing that, but still believing in it. He focuses on the bad things he has done, and there’s been a bunch, a lot of it definitely fueled by being bipolar, but he can’t accept that as a reason, he does not want to make excuses for his actions. So he just sees how he has hurt people in the past and deduces that he has to be an asshole. It is really hard to convince him otherwise. Even if he logically can understand that it is unlikely that people think this way about him, it’s still an underlying fear beneath everything and always some part of his motivation. So he’s weak, and a coward and selfish and a burden, unlovable. He definitely hates being impulsive and aggressive sometimes, there’s been a hundred times when he was in a fight, an unnecessary fight he couldn’t keep himself from starting, and saying things/doing things he did not mean to. He hates this fact, that he can lose control like that, it scares him.

On the flipside, he is somewhat narcissistic. If he does not hate himself for a second he considers himself to be pretty damn great. He prides himself on the way he takes care of other people. On how far he’s come, both mentally and professionally. He knows he’s a good musician, a good cook. He’s the kind of person that would refuse to work with others in a group project cause he knows he’s insufferable and would not be happy with other people’s work affecting his evaluation. He can’t watch other people do things he would do a different way without wanting to step in and correct them. But all of that ego is just a balloon that pops pretty quickly and he’s back to believing he’s the worst at everything.

🥀 What is something your OC blames themselves for and is it really their fault? Does it keep them up at night and is there any lingering trauma?

I like how these questions are all just building up on one another. He blames himself for not seeing how miserable Kitty had been, for having her persuade him to travel without her when he kinda knew he should probably worry about her, for not somehow having been able to, I don’t know, just know what was going to happen and act differently, or just generally for not being enough of a good force in her life for her to cling on to. That’s all just doubling down when Shawn tries to kill himself and he once again feels like it was his personal failure. Not being good enough or attentive enough, probably even being part of the reason why. There’s a whole lot of trauma there. Of course none of it is true. Kitty knew exactly how attentive Finn had been to her, it’s the reason she made sure he was away when she went through with it. The same goes for Shawn, where the reason was exactly the opposite of killing themselves because Finn was not enough, but rather because Finn was too much, too good, and they would just be bad for him if they would stay alive. Finn can’t see that angle, at all, if he did he would not accept it. It keeps him up in his worst nights. If/when he gets back together with Shawn it would be a major fear for him, Shawn having a relapse, Shawn dying of an overdose, intentional or not, Shawn getting to such a low point again without him realizing or being able to do anything about it. I imagine he would sometimes get a bit hysteric about stuff, if he does not know what Shawn is currently doing or something seems off, he is really good at working himself up into a frenzy about small stuff that feeds into his worst fears.

🌺 In what situation would your OC be pushed to commit an act of violence? Would they go as far to kill someone if they had to? How would this affect them and their relationships with others?

Well he’s certainly been in a bunch of fights, cause he’s provocative, he’s great at making people lose it, sometimes intentional sometimes not. He’s also not good at not reacting to provocation himself. Racism certainly feeds into that a lot. He’s had some manic phases where he was very much looking for fights. I think he would be able to kill someone, but only in the moment and only if it’s to protect himself or somebody else. He would not deal with it all too well, it would haunt him. He would think about that person having a life, a family, loved ones of their own. He would think about putting an end to somebody’s consciousness, that last fading moment, it’s all over, because of him, and he can’t take that back. I feel like the people around him would never be able to punish him for it as much as he would do himself. If he would have killed for Shawn’s sake, he, Shawn, would probably struggle a bit with accepting what has happened, because of him, what Finn had to do, because of him. He would be angry for a while, directed at Finn and himself. Finn would not be able to handle that very well, he can’t bare the thought of being hated be Shawn, he is so scared of being seen as bad, even though part of him has himself convinced that people see him this way anyways. He’s just scared of confirming what he already suspects.

🌸 What would your OC do if they were given god-like powers or the ability to change anything about the world for a whole day?

I think Finn would have a lot of problems with that timeframe. Cause there is not a lot of things god-like powers are worth of that would make sense for such a short amount of time. He would think about ending hunger and homelessness, discrimination, racism, the entire system, he would bring Kitty back, he would want to make everything okay.. but only for a day?? And then go back to square one? We would rather not change anything than have something great for a second only for it to be taken away again. So it would all be about creating a nice experience with the people he loves, allowing them all to do something they have wanted to do their whole lives.

🌼 Describe one of your OC’s worst nightmares.

Oh I think I mentioned them all already. Family members and close friends dying, or other terrible things happening to them. Alternatively finding out that everybody hates him and he’s hurt all the people he loves without realizing it, that they all think he and his moods are a burden and they’d all be happier without him.

🌻 What advice would your OC give to their younger self? What advice does your OC need now?

Don’t try to stick to how you think things are supposed to be as much versus doing what you actually want to do. Don’t bend and break yourself to fit some sort of premade mold that society created for you. He has done a lot of hurtful things to himself and others only cause he tried to play by the rules. He dated Emily for much longer, trying to present himself as straight, than he should have, experimenting on the side and hurting her that way. He excused his father’s behavior way too much, being the filial son he’s supposed to be, cause it’s family and family sticks together and forgives. He’s hated himself so much for his illness, trying to force it away instead of accepting that it’s there and acting accordingly to get a better grip on it. He still hasn’t outed himself to his father or the world, since he became somewhat famous, because he’s really insecure about it changing the way people will look at him. That’s probably what he could use good advice on these days. He knows, somewhere, that he should out himself, that it is a fantastic thing to do, in his position, to work towards change. He’s just not quite ready to pay the price and he feels awfully guilty about it. Someone should tell him about all the people he could be representing, but also about how much living his life without hiding anything will free him.

#mangosandchili #ocs #finn #he sounds way more unhappy than he actually is these days!!!#tho it's always kinda one harsh blow away from falling apart sooo #long post

4 notes · View notes

i-will-be-forever-yours · 4 years

Text

Trust Issues

A/N This is my first writing...that has actually been posted so it might be pretty rough. anyway... feedback is welcome! thanks for reading

Warning: Angst, some language...umm idk what else

Summary: Shawn and Y/n have been married for a year and a half and he seems to be drifting. Will trust put this marriage at risk?

Word Count: 1.8k

posted 11-18-19

Don’t know who made this gif but if u did hmu so I can give you credit

Y/n breathed a sigh of relief when she walked into their two-story condo. The paparazzi decided that they would not leave her alone since the news of her marriage to Shawn Mendes, even eighteen months after the fact. For them it was like being a kid in a candy shop.

They had dated for just over two years when she found herself in front of a kneeling Shawn, velvet box in one hand. She was happy, to say the least, and let the tears flow as she nodded, being at a loss for words. However, prior to dating they had been friends since they were both young, and they couldn’t be happier. Their wedding was a romantic day one with only close friends and family. It was a special day, filled with laughter and tears of joy shared between the couple.

However, at just a year and six months of marriage, it was already hard. Of course, the first year was pure bliss, and they were very much newlyweds. However recently Shawn had been more distant and Y/n didn’t like it. For the better part of the last five years, they had been inseparable, but he seems to be drifting. Longer nights at the studio, early morning at the gym. Even when he was home, his mind wasn’t, and a part of Y/n felt like they were falling. She wasn’t sure where they were falling. Whether it be out of love, or falling deeper into confusion, she had no idea, but she knew that something needed to change.

Shawn was getting ready to go on tour again, but that was nothing new. They had been through a couple of his tours while they were friends and even while dating. However, something seemed off with this upcoming one.

Y/n tried to brush off the uneasy feeling that settled in her stomach when she thought of her husband, but it just wouldn’t go away. To take her mind off things she decided to scroll through her twitter feed. The first thing to pop up was a picture of her husband and Camila, with the caption saying “Shawn’s new lover?”. She knew not to believe rumors and tabloids and had even grown accustomed to these stories. However, with Shawn’s recent behavior, she wasn’t so sure. Her mind told her to just stop but nevertheless, she clicked on the link that was provided.

She didn’t expect to find a picture of her husband’s face nuzzling into the neck of Camila, while she laughed and smiled. There were a handful of pictures of the two holding hands and laughing. It reminded her of when they first started dating. Young and in love, only having eyes for each other.

Pain and numbness spread throughout her chest at the thought that her husband no longer loved her. These thoughts were interrupted however by the sudden urge to throw up.

Jumping off the bed, she made a quick dash to the connected bathroom. She emptied the contents of her stomach and sat there on the bathroom floor. Her breathing was ragged and she kept dry heaving into the toilet, while trying to suppress the urge to cry.

She looked like a mess, with her hair in disarray and makeup running down her face from her shed tears. Her brain couldn’t form coherent thoughts, and she felt the sudden desire to sleep for hours. However, she picked herself off the floor to examine herself in the mirror. Wiping off the makeup and putting her hair in a messy bun she decided to get back on her phone. They had plans to go to dinner tonight, so y/n decided to call Shawn.

However, before the second ring, the call was denied. Deciding then to text him, she texted, “Hey honey, are we still on for dinner?” As she waited for his response she decided to check her calendar for her upcoming appointments and plans. While looking through it she realized something was missing. She had not had her period in two months, almost three.

She sat there on her bed in a nervous panic. What if she were pregnant? She hadn’t had sex with Shawn recently due to his busy schedule at that time, but based on the last time they had it would make sense. They were always so careful. This couldn’t be happening. Maybe it was just her body being irregular like it sometimes tended to be. The logical part of her brain denied these excuses though, because that’s what they were, excuses.

She immediately put on some shoes and a hoodie and drove to the nearest drugstore to pick up some tests. She was lucky to make the trip there and back without anyone snapping any pictures. The downside to having a famous husband was the unwanted pictures, but she loved him, so she made it work.

Once back safely inside the master bathroom, she undid all three tests and took them. She waited the time and when her phone alarm went off she froze. What if she were pregnant and Shawn didn’t love her anymore?

No time to think about that. She had to be positive, maybe this was the jumpstart her marriage needed. Taking a deep breath she grabbed the tests. They all read POSITIVE. She sat there for nearly five minutes before the waterworks started. Tears were streaming down her face, but there were so many emotions going on. She was ecstatic, scared, and angry. Ecstatic because she already felt so much love for this baby, but also scared to be a mom. However, she was angry at Shawn, angry that he didn’t reply and angry that he wasn’t here to share her joy.

She moved back to their room and hid the tests in the closet in some old shoes. As she made it back into her room she saw a message from Shawn saying, “sorry love, can I cancel tonight? I’m just really busy here at the studio.”

She let out a sigh because she was hoping to talk to Shawn over dinner. It seems she’ll just be eating alone again as she has for the past couple weeks.

Y/n is lying in bed when she hears the slam of the door. Looking at the clock she read that it’s midnight. She waits until she hears the heavy footsteps of her husband before she decides to get up. However just as she’s about to she hears his hushed voice saying “No i don’t know how i will tell her. Well, she will just have to deal with it. I know, it’s just that she is so fucking clingy sometimes, always calling or asking to go to dinner or do this and that.” ... “yeah i will, okay goodnight.”

She decides to pretend to be asleep when he walks in. Usually Shawn takes care not to make noise, but tonight he is taking no care to be quiet. She can hear him move about the room until he finally goes into the connected bathroom to shower. Not until the water turns on does she let out her emotions. Tears yet again stream down her face as she thinks about what her husband was saying about her. In her misery, she doesn’t even hear the water turn off nor does she hear as Shawn comes back into the room until she hears his soft voice.

“Y/n, what’s wrong love? Why are you crying?” he asks while reaching out for her.

She turns around to see the concerned eyes of her husband. She almost gives in until she remembers the pictures and his earlier conversation. Instead she looks away and answers “I am fine Shawn, just go to bed.”

“No, tell me what’s the matter! Why are you crying y/n?”

She looks up at him and bluntly asks, “Do you still love me?”

He is a little taken back by her question but is quick to reassure her. “Of course I do, why are you asking?”

She has to scoff at this. “What do you expect me to believe when I see pictures of you and Camila laughing and looking in love? And that conversation earlier? hmm...I think your exact words were she’s so fucking clingy!” she spit out at him.

His confusion quickly slips into anger. “What do you mean “looking in love”? I kissed her cheek, y/n! That’s is! You should know how close we are by now and yes I said you were clingy because sometimes I just need some alone time...ever think about that huh! I thought relationships were supposed to be built on trust. I guess you don’t trust me. Is that what I’m hearing?” He yells.

Y/n is now backed up to the headboard is fear and shock. Not once in their years together has he blown up on her like this. Her hands immediately reach for her stomach, even though she isn’t showing. It is almost a comfort, even just finding out. A way to protect the unborn being that rest within her, relying on her to keep them safe.

“I don’t know what to believe! You don’t talk to me anymore! I love you, Shawn, please just talk to me.” She sobs in a defeated voice.

However, his anger just seems to build. “I need to get away from you sometimes! You never give me a break, and you always want to talk or cuddle or whatever shit it is.”

She is crying now and just wants this nightmare to be over. However, it has reached its climax. “Get the fuck out of my face y/n. I cannot handle this anymore. Just go stay somewhere else.”

In a state of shock, she sits there. Until she makes eye contact with Shawn and that’s when she knows he means it. She rushes out the door with her car keys in hand. Once she is driving away she finally breaks once again. With a hand on her still flat stomach, she drives. She has nowhere to go because all her family and friends are in the states. They had moved to Canada to be close to his side of the family and his hometown.

However, being distracted while driving is not good. Especially when she’s been on the road for over an hour and emotionally exhausted. She looks down to see a message from Shawn saying “sorry love, please come back home...we can talk when you get back” As she is reading this she doesn’t see the car that ran a red light and barrels into her car, causing her car to roll multiple times before coming to a halt when it came into contact it a pole..

All she can hear is the sound of her phone ringing with the picture of Shawn filling her screen. She soon hears sirens before she slips into the comfort of darkness that is pulling her deeper into the abyss.

#shawn mendes #shawn x reader #shawn mendes x y/n #shawn mendes imagine #reader insert

70 notes · View notes

motherlifesucher-archives · 5 years

Text

love letter l Shawn Mendes imagine

summary: Shawn isn’t afraid to show the world how much he loves you, so he opens up about your relationship in an interview.

Shawn considered himself a private person.

He liked his private life to stay that way, private. but every once in a while when he felt too comfortable with an interviewer or got into deeper topics, he was an open book.

That’s how he found himself leaning on a black leather couch, smiling as the male interviewer started asking him about his love life.

“Shawn, it’s no secret that you’ve been in a relationship for almost five years now. Did you ever fear that your career would get in the way?”

“Yeah, I think we both were scared in the beginning; my girlfriend because I was away all the time, and me because I didn’t want my career to ruin it. But I think that same fear is what made me realize that she was the one, you know? We are young, but the fact that I was terrified of doing something wrong or even going on tour is what made me say ‘oh shit, this is real’,” Shawn answered honestly.

“You say that you both are young, but at the same time you mention that she’s the one. Do you think you’ll spend the rest of your life with her?”

Shawn didn’t hesitate. “Absolutely. Somehow, my career’s made us live things that other couples live in a span of maybe ten years, we did everything faster and just allowed ourselves to fall for each other, you know? I’m sure she’s the person I'll be waking up next to for the rest of my life,”

“Do you want to get married?” The interviewer asked and Shawn stopped for a second.

“Yeah, but neither of us want to rush it. We’ve been living together for almost two years now and maybe some people think why don’t we get married? I’m sure we will take that step some day, but I think that when the moment comes we’ll know, there’s no need to speed things up, we are good where we are now,”

“Are you okay if we keep taking this topic deeper? I know you try to not divulge too much about your relationship,” The interviewer asked respectfully.

“You’ve made it very comfortable to talk, man! Ask away, in the end we can say what we stays and what goes,” Shawn said smiling and the interviewer thanked him.

“Was there a moment when you feared for your relationship? Maybe a moment where hectic schedules and rumors took a toll on the relation?”

Shawn nods. “It’s such a bitter memory, man. But I think that now we are both thankful that it happened, but at that moment it was a nightmare. You want the full story?” Shawn chuckled.

“Please!” The interviewer said laughing, knowing he’d have a great story.

“We were months away from our second anniversary and everything started spiraling. I had just finished my third album, I was promoting and had to attend the MET Gala with my friend Hailey. Media just made insane stories about me and Hailey, knowing I was in a committed relationship and, in some way, my girlfriend was embarrassed because people thought I was publicly cheating on her, you know? We got through that, but just a couple of months after I was leaving for tour and that was hell. She was busy studying, I got angry that she couldn’t fly to some shows, she got angry because I couldn’t fly home and we were just crumbling down,”

“How did you work things out?”

“It took some time. I got a break from tour and just wanted to see her, we fought and cried, and she tried to break up with me like four times, but I just wouldn’t let her,” Shawn chuckled. “We realized we both had made mistakes and kept working for our relationship the same way we had for almost two years. In the end all we needed was to meet each other halfway,”

“Does touring make things harder? Simple things like anniversaries, birthdays, sex life, simple fighting?”

“Sex? Oh my God, I can already picture her cheeks all red just by reading this. But answering your question, of course it makes things harder, because maybe you aren’t there for the birthday, or to celebrate an anniversary, or something as simple as having a regular sex life, because we can go four months without seeing each other, but with time you get used to it. It’s our reality as a couple, you know? So now we don’t see it as a difficulty, but as a factor that makes our relationship different from others,”

“Was there a moment when you said to yourself, oh God, I’m in love?”

“Yes, and I remember it vividly. I was in the middle of the Illuminate Tour, I was going to play in Portugal and it was a special show for my family and I really wanted her to be there. Of course my family already knew her and I had written songs about her and all that stuff, but I remember she was really complicated because she couldn’t just miss class and it completely understood, but then I remember like two days before Andrew telling me that he had booked a flight for her and she didn’t want to tell my anything in case it didn’t work out. She arrived in the middle of the night and I was waiting for her at the airport, and when she appeared all tired and sleepy, but she had made it there for me, you know? This girl was willing to fly to another country just for a few days to be with me, and that’s when it hit me,”

“She sounds like something, huh?”

“Absolutely, she’s the most incredible human being. I love her,” Shawn replied.

“That’s almost sickeningly sweet!” The interviewer laughed. “You mentioned your family. How’s her relationship with them?”

“Incredible. My family is the most important thing in my life so naturally I was worried about what they were going to think. I mean, what if they didn't like her or things got uncomfortable? Especially with my sister Aaliyah, things could go terribly wrong or incredibly right. Then I realized that my poor girl was terrified and when we pulled over at my parents house she was literally shaking, but everything went smoothly. I think Aaliyah likes her more than she likes me,” Shawn said laughing.

“Sorry to hear that,” The interviewer chuckled.

“Nah, it makes my heart happy. The only think I don't like about their relation is that Aaliyah asks for her advice about boys and stuff, and then (Y/N) refuses to tell me. It’s annoying,” Shawn rolled his eyes playfully.

“Do you consider yourself a different person after knowing her?”

Shawn thought for a minute before he started answering, but his phone broke the silence. “Shit. I’m so sorry, I thought I had it on silence,” Shawn reached for his pocket and took his phone. He was going to simply hang up, but noticed your name on the screen. “Do you mind if I answer real quick? It’s my girlfriend,”

“Please, don’t worry,” The interviewer motioned with his hands for Shawn to pick up.

“Hey, babes. Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just hadn’t heard from you in a while and you weren’t here when I woke up,” You said through the phone, earning a chuckle from Shawn.

“I’m in the middle of an interview, actually. Remember I mentioned it last week?”

“Oh, that was today? Am I interrupting you?”

“Yes, you are,” Shawn said jokingly.

“Shawn, why did you pick up? I’ll hang up, I'm so sorry!”

“It’s okay, babe. I’ll call you when I'm on my way home. Do you want me to pick something to eat?”

“Can you bring some desert? I don't know, maybe some ice cream? I’m craving something sweet,”

“God, are you pregnant?” Shawn said funnily.

“Don’t be stupid! Go back to your interview. I love you,”

“I love you, babe.” Shawn told you and stopped the call. He placed his phone back in his pocket after silencing it, returning his attention to the interviewer. “I’m so sorry, I can’t ignore my girlfriend,” Shawn chuckled.

“I get it, don’t worry. I couldn’t help but listening, are you going to be a father?” The interviewer said and Shawn laughed loudly.

“I always tease her with that when she asks for food. There’s a story behind it, but I think that’s too personal, our parents don’t know and they’d probably kill us if they knew,” Shawn said with humor in his voice.

“Off the record. Did you have a pregnancy scare?” The interviewer asked and Shawn raised his hands.

“You got it. It’s such a terrifying situation, isn’t it?” This time Shawn asked the interviewer.

“Oh my god, yes. It’s pretty nerve wracking,”

“Can you please repeat the question before we got carried away? I forgot,” Shawn requested and the interviewer nodded.

“Do you consider yourself a different person after knowing her? Were there aspects of you that changed?”

“That’s such a complex question, man,” Shawn stopped to think. “I like to believe that I'm a better person; she’s made me a better person. There were aspects of my life where I was insecure or weak, the fact that I had someone that loved me because of who I am created a new version of me. Because, of course I had people that loved me, but they’re my family. this girl is someone that by some kind of miracle appeared on my way and let me in her life and she liked me; not Shawn the singer, but Shawn a scared and flawed person. I started finding joy in the little things, like seeing her wear my shirts or listening to her soft singing while making breakfast. I definitely am a better person because of her,” Shawn answered truthfully.

“Do you feel pressure in your relationship? Because it sounds like you two are some kind of dream couple!”

“I don’t now if pressure is the right word, because nothing feels pressured for us, and I think that’s one of the clues why we complement each other so well. It’s this thing that... You want things to be perfect so you don’t want to mess things up, but at the same time you don’t have to put too much effort on it being perfect because just having her with me makes it perfect. Yes, we fight like any other couple, we respect each other when we want to be on our own, and just love and understand each other unconditionally, I think that’s why things come so effortlessly, it’s not just a façade that we put for people to see, it truly is that way for us and we don’t feel pressured in our relationship,”

“I was going to ask if she’s supporting of your career, but I think it’d be stupid at this point!”

“Man, she’s supportive in ways you don’t even imagine. She’s been there every step of the way, and she’s my rock. There truly have been moments when I'm like, I can’t do this anymore. Concerts where I've been sick and with IVs hooked in my arm during the night so that I could recover faster, moments where my anxiety got the better of me and I just didn't want to go on stage or walk a red carpet, but she’s always there. I know that she’s always cheering for me and supporting me, whether if it is from the side of the stage or from the other side of the world. She’s my haven, and it’s the best feeling in the world,”

“Shawn, I can't thank you enough for opening up with me. I really appreciate it, and I'm sure your fans will, too,”

“Anything you want, man. Thank you for creating such a great environment for me, I felt really comfortable talking with you,”

“We are off the record.”

“Maybe we should keep the sex part out? I don’t want my grandparents reading about it...” Shawn said remembering the question.

“You got it, don’t worry about it.”

Shawn walked to his car and remembered he had to stop at the store to pick up some ice cream.

He sighed when the smell of your shared apartment hit his nostrils, smiling when he saw you on the couch, wearing pajamas.

“Hey, baby. How was the interview?” You didn’t get up from the couch, but stretched your arms so that you could touch him.

“It was great, actually. We talked about you, like, a lot,”

“What?”

“Yeah, you were the center of it, actually,” Shawn sat on the couch.

“Should I be scared?” You looked at him and Shawn smiled before quickly pecking your lips.

“I don’t think so,”

You smiled and kissed his lips, smiling when he started caressing your waist. “Did you bring the ice cream?” You muttered against his lips.

Shawn rolled his eyes, “Is that the only reason why you want me here?”

“Don’t be stupid,” You laughed. “Come on, I’m making waffles and you’re helping me,”

You got up from the couch, but Shawn grabbed your hand. “I love you”

You smiled, “And I love you very very much.”

#shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes #shawn mendes fluff #fluff

866 notes · View notes

polygamyff · 4 years

Text

45. Part 4

I am wondering where Robyn is, the party is in full swing and Robyn is not here. Terry said she is getting ready still but can she just come down now, seeing Wade raise his glass to me “you made it then, I know it was last minute but you did say you couldn’t come but here you are” Wade got his hand out to me, shaking his hand “I was just testing to see how much you cared and you text me back just saying ok, and my wife is here” Wade moved to the side “nice to see you again, looking beautiful as ever” holding her hand as I stepped forward to press kisses to her cheek “pleasure is all mines, your home is beautiful, I was saying to Wade from outside looking in it looks not so grande but inside, it’s magnificent, I am in awe and then Wade told me how much you paid, wow. It was worth every amount” I smiled at her “thank you so much, I can’t thank Wade enough. Every time I call him, even in the middle of the night he picks up, he makes sure I am ok. You must hate me at times” I laughed “well, it’s like having a second son, I said it to Wade. I said Maurice is like family to us, Wade adores you” Wade pulled a face “stop it, you talk too much woman” laughing at Wade “Maurice” looking to the side of me, Terry held out Reign to me “she will be going to bed soon” oh yeah, holding my drink to Wade “I hold drinks now” he said “Mi Amor, is it your bed time soon. Don’t you look pretty in your dress, daddy bought you this from Burberry, especially for you my daughter” pressing a kiss to her head as I held her close “I love you so so much” Reign looks so confused, I think there is many people here but she has not cried “Terry this is my lawyer and best friend Wade, and his wife Laura” I pointed at them “this is my future mother in law, soon to be. You know how it is” I chuckled “nice to meet you Terry, you looks so much like your daughter, so beautiful” Wade ain’t wrong, Terry is ever so beautiful. Looking at Reign as she rubbed her eyes “you tired, aww” feeling a hand on my shoulder “if it isn’t the man himself” looking behind me “Shawn Carter” turning around, dapping him “I just took a tour around your home, it’s amazing” I chuckled “appreciate it and Mrs Knowles” holding her hand, Reign yelped out but I proceeded to press a kiss to the side of her cheek “Mrs Carter now, come on Maurice” Jay said.

I did think Reign would cry with Jay but she didn’t, she just wanted to attack his gold chain “I told you I am good with kids, thank the lord you don’t look like him” Jay said pointing at me “you just a hater” I chuckled “tell your dad he is just being hater” Reign is legit ok with Jay, like this girl does not know this man at all but is fine to play with his gold chain. The room become a little quiet of chatter, it was odd to hear such a thing. Looking around the room “your lady is here” Jay said, looking around me and then how can I miss her “wow” I breathed out, moving my head to the side a little because someone got in my way. She was complaining about not finding a dress but she has, I am in awe. I can tell, she looks so nervous. Her nervous laugh, I can’t stop staring at her. The dress looks heavy for her but she has made people go quiet, they are looking at her. Let me go to her “you will be ok with Reign, I will just go and see Robyn” I asked Jay and he nodded his head, making my way to her. Adam is fussing around her, I don’t care for Leon I am in awe with what I see, she looks so beautiful. I feel emotional, like my bride has just arrived “hey” I breathed out, I just feel breathless “hey baby, this ballgown is a lot, don’t you think?” her warm smile, oh I just love this woman so much “no” shaking my head “it’s perfect, you look beautiful Robyn. You got everyone here looking I am lucky to have you” I smiled looking at her “ballgown” I said “it’s a ballgown?” looking up at Robyn “yes it is, thank you” Robyn said smiling wide at me “you are looking at Robyn like you just seen your bride” Adam said “I have” I would marry her now “who can perform an official marry ceremony to this woman!? I need someone official” Robyn laughed “stop it, causing a scene” Robyn shuffled over to me “don’t step on my gown” leaning over to her “and peck my lips, my lipstick” she is so demanding, pecking her lips “I love you” Robyn said “I love you more” she used her thumb to wipe my lips.

Holding Robyn’ hand to bring her to Jay, watching to not step on her dress. To see people that I know looking at Robyn, not in a hateful way just in awe and I love to see it “did she cry at all?” I asked, she is really attacking this man’s hair “I am sorry” I said to him “it’s ok, she is so cheeky. I find it cute; we friend now aren’t we? My daughter will love her so much, won’t she” Reign actually does like Jay, look at my daughter “so this is your new business partner, Robyn. Robyn. Come say hi to Shawn, I mean I differ from Shawn to Jay, you can call him what you like” looking at Robyn “my business partner now? What happened to you, nice to meet you Robyn. So you are the one to come too?” Robyn is shy, I can tell on her face “hi, it’s amazing to meet you Shawn. Like wow, I am like shaking your hand” Robyn is still so new to this “yes you, if we going to be business partners I can’t have this now” Robyn laughed nervously “sorry, I am a surgeon but Maurice wants me to erm, run the clubs. So yeah” she needs to not be so nervous “wow, surgeon. That is amazing, this is my wife” Robyn’ eyes widened “I remember you; I took a picture with you at his birthday. You look so beautiful” Robyn is fangirling right now, I can tell “this is my new daughter” Jay joked “hey, hey. I want her back now” opening my arms “come to papa, come on” Reign did come to me “she is a good girl, I like she don’t cry” checking over at Robyn, she is speaking to Beyoncé without fainting “she knows rich, she senses that you got money. Ain’t it?” Shawn laughed “we need to do a little family thing, together. My kids will love Reign, she is adorable” Shawn touched her cheek, Reign turned her head and started grabbing my neck “she is getting grumpy now” looking down at her “hey, grumpy. My beautiful” lifting her up a little so she can rest her head on my shoulder.

My daughter is turning out to be grumpy now “look who’s here, momma. Doesn’t she look beautiful” Reign lifted her head up “what is it? What you see” I asked, I then pointed at Robyn “you see mommy” Beyoncé and Robyn have been talking for a while now “Robyn! Hey!” I spat, Robyn looked over at me “Reign wants to see” Robyn cooed out “look at her little face” Beyoncé said, Robyn made her way over to us “aww mommy is here” Reign straight away went to Robyn, she wanted her “awwww my beautiful baby, you missed me” both of my ladies looking beautiful as ever, I am so very proud of them both “come on, let’s take a picture” I said “Shawn, can you take it for me?” holding my phone out to him “sure, get together. Let the billionaires rise together” Shawn said, I laughed walking around Robyn “Robyn and Bey in the middle, Maurice at the side of Bey and Jay next to Robyn. That will be perfect” Shawn thinks he is a photographer “nigga you ain’t no photographer” I said laughing “get my best side, we both Shawn’ now. You gotta do good” I placed my arms behind me, I mean it’s Beyoncé, we family friends I still wouldn’t put my arm around her. Looking over at Jay and he did the same as me “look here then” looking at Shawn smiling, I am very happy right now “done” he held my phone out to me, taking my phone from him “thanks bro, we need to catch up though. Quick, how did it go?” I asked while looking down at the picture, this picture looks so rich “we on a break, she uhm didn’t take well at all. I was hoping she was here?” shaking my head “she is also angry with, we will catch up” tapping on IG, I mean of course I am going to post this picture. Shawn did actually do a great job with this, I am impressed. Captioning the picture ‘When the Carter and Davenport get together, congratulations @R0bynWillis on being Shawn Carter’ new business partner. 40/40 club near your city soon’ pressing send on the picture, let them hate even more.

“I didn’t know Tiffany is here?” Robyn grabbed my hand saying in my ear “what do you want me to do? My family wanted to come, my dad, you know” Robyn is not happy at all “you know what, you said the rich not the poor” Robyn spat, look at her Robyn being really angry at this “cuz” Kellen is still with the little rat then “hey” I said, Tiffany just stared at Robyn “if you don’t respect my girl in our home then you can go” I straight up said, I don’t give a fuck “hi” she strained out “how are you angry at Robyn huh? Kellen” looking at him “working on it” he said “you sure that child is even yours Maurice, it’s funny how it looks awfully more like Robyn then you. Not a single feature of you” Tiffany is funny “if Beyonce didn’t invite me to her home this weekend I would lay your ass out on this floor, but I have class, I have a name for myself Tiffany and trust me. The real Reign to the company is his, that cubic zirconia child you had will never see an ounce of royalty, not with you around” Tiffany eyes bulged out “Jay!” I waved my bodyguard over “escort this one out, Kellen you can stay but she goes” Jay nodded his head “listen here, I meant what I said so yeah. Come” I grabbed Robyn’ hand, my girl is on fire. Walking away from them “cubic zirconia?” I said laughing as I shook my head, she is funny “hi dear” seeing my auntie and uncle, this is weird to see my dad’ youngest brother out and about and for her to reach to Robyn “uhm Robyn, this is my auntie. She is married to my dad’ brother, he is the youngest. Montell, well uncle Montell. This is Robyn” Robyn looks shocked that I actually introduced her to him “wow, you look just like Marquis” my uncle shook Robyn’ hand “I am much more quiet then him, and I don’t have a walking stick” he joked, I never had issues with him but he’s never stuck up for me but least he didn’t end up like Malik. None of my dad’ brothers did, they was well mannered but then again my grandfather was a strict man.

#Chrianna #Chrianna FF #Fanfic #Fanfiction

10 notes · View notes

lostinroses · 5 years

Text

When You’re Ready

A/N: this was originally supposed to be a one shot but i decided to just make it into two parts + i was slowly starting to lose motivation for it and questioned if i should even continue so feedback would be very much appreciated <3 (in-depth version of this btw)

The erased marks on the blank page had been taunting him for the past hour. His hair a mess from the constant tugging his hands had done out of frustration. He flicked the pencil across the room as the urge to break it in half had became almost overwhelming, sitting back in the chair and rubbing his hands against his face. He had hummed the tune stuck in his head for the past week, but couldn’t seem to find the right words to go along with it.

Today was originally supposed to be an off day from the studio, but Shawn couldn’t get himself to stay away. He wanted to get the tune out of him and some words before he forgot, but it seemed useless at this point; he was at a standstill.

Checking the time on his phone, he sighed quietly to himself. Regardless of the long day that awaits you in just a couple of hours, he knew you’d be awake at this time like the night owl that you were. A part of him was hesitant on calling you in case you actually decided for once in your life to go to sleep early, but that thought got a snort out of him and called you anyway, knowing damn well the chances of that were slim to none.

“Hey, what’s up?” you yawned into the phone.

“Fuck, were you sleeping already?” he asked, feeling the guilt slowly rise in his chest. A small noise escaping from your lips as you began to stretch, “On the verge of it, yeah. Everything okay?”

“Yeah, yeah, no, everything’s perfectly okay. Don’t even worry about it,” he reassured you in a rush. “Just get some sleep okay? Call me tomorrow.”

“If you even have time tomorrow,” you giggled quietly. The communication between the both of you had been minimal the past couple of weeks as Shawn was deep into the album writing and production of it all. At this point, you didn’t care that it was well past one in the morning when he called. It felt good to finally have him to yourself.

He knew there wasn’t any hurt behind your words, but the guilt grew inside him nonetheless. He didn’t mean to be pushing you to the side so much, but you knew that. You never took any of it to heart.

“Hey,” you called out softly, “you still there?” It was nothing new for him to be getting lost in his thoughts like that out of nowhere, but it only brought you worry, especially with his calling so late.

He chuckled dryly, “M’still here. Just thinking.”

You sighed, “Where’s your head at, huh? You sure you’re okay?” Your voice was soft, and it calmed him.

“I just need you to talk. That’s it,” his voice was desperate, begging almost. “Tell me something. Anything.”

You wondered if he was on the verge, or in the middle, of an anxiety attack with the way he was talking, but decided not to question him in case it only made him panic more. There was a moment of silence as you tried to think of what to say, but had suddenly forgot every single thing going on in your life right now.

“My professor lost my exam,” you huffed after what felt like hours of silence. “He’s letting me redo it for homework, but it’s still a shitload of math that I was hoping I wouldn’t have to go through again until the final.”

“The one you had stayed up all night studying for?” he asked in disbelief.

Despite your frustration, he couldn’t help, but smile as you began to ramble on about your classes, his heart warm as he began to imagine what it’d be like to go to university, too. Usually, sadness and a feeling of missing out would overcome him, but the way you described things made him feel like he had been part of it, living your uni life.

The party stories were his favorite. Although you weren’t much of a party person, it amused him to hear about all your awkward moments you seem to have at every party you attend. He longed for a time where he could go to a party with his friends without being recognized, wanting to stop having to make up a random name for himself when he’d talk to girls. A part of him was almost envious at everyone’s normalcy.

But then, he remembered the purpose of this conversation and felt a sense of gratitude, all the while trying to zone back in and catch on to what you were saying.

“I know I haven’t given him a chance, but I just really am not interested in him,” you continued to ramble, causing him to furrow his brows.

“Interested in who?” he questioned.

You sighed, “Were you even listening at all? To anything?”

Rubbing the side of his face, he let out a small groan as he apologized for his zoning out, “I swear I was at first, but I just got a little lost. Can you say that again?”

“Guy in one of my classes. Asked me to hang out sometime. Gave me his number a couple days ago. Still haven’t texted him. No interest in him whatsoever,” you shortened the last five minutes into less than ten seconds.

“I mean, the least you could do is text the guy and tell him you’re not interested,” he suggested. There was a sort of stressful tension radiating from your end of the phone that made him confused.

“But what if I accidentally pass up the opportunity at love?” you argued.

“Give the guy a chance then. Just one hangout and see how it goes.”

“Okay, but what if it’s just a waste of time, and I’m disappointed in the end?” you argued, again, seemingly more with yourself than with Shawn. He chuckled at your indecisiveness, “Stop doing that! You question yourself too much.”

“I don’t know, dude. It’s just scary,” you tried to brush off the topic, but there was a nervousness in your voice that he caught onto quickly.

“What’s scary?” he wondered before you could change the subject. The thought had been haunting your mind the past couple of weeks, but you did everything in your power to push it to the back of your mind, not expecting to be faced with the option of having to say it out loud or lie and quickly change the subject. But it’s Shawn. Even if you could avoid it now, he’d find a way to bring it up again until he got his way and got it out of you like the little shit that he was.

“I don’t know… love?” You felt silly saying it out loud and instantly regretted opening your mouth, but still, you continued, in a much softer and more distant voice, “I’m scared to be one of those people that just never finds love.”

“You know, I read an article a couple weeks ago about these people who had never found love,” you recalled, “They were well into their 50s and were still single and had never been married.”

The more you continued to talk about it, the bigger the ache in your chest grew, but it’s like your mouth was on autopilot, and your brain had completely checked out.

“They never found love, Shawn!” you shout in sudden distress. “They never found love because the universe doesn’t owe you a damn thing, including love.” The shakiness in your voice made it clear you were on the verge of tears, making his heart sink deeper than it had already.

“Then, me and you will just be together. Fuck the universe,” he lightly joked in attempt to get you out of your own head. You chuckled, and he smiled.

“I don’t think I’m ready for you and your superstar life,” you sniffled. Your nose crinkled at the thought of you ever dating Shawn. It’d be a lie to say you wouldn’t look cute together, but it was just weird to imagine.

“Well,” he breathed out, “when you’re ready, I’ll be waiting.”

You snorted, “You’ll be waiting for like ten years, so don’t hold your breath.” The way he continued with the idea started to make you question if he was still actually joking, or if he was being serious.

“Oh I’ll be around. You’ll see.” You could hear the smile in his voice, leaving you even more confused, but didn’t press on the subject. It’s probably nothing.

Leaving it at that, you proceeded to bid him goodnight, reminding him of the time and how busy of a day you have in a couple hours.

“Get some sleep, okay? Put that brain of yours to rest,” you urged him.

He scoffed, “Look who’s talking! You’re the one who just went through a love crisis. You put your brain to rest.”

You waved him off, once again wishing him goodnight and hanging up the phone. The second the call ended, he sprang to action, running across the room to where he threw his pencil and went straight back to writing.

All you did was blink, and suddenly, it’s the night of May 24th. Despite the album’s planned date of May 25th, it had came out just a couple hours earlier for you than for most people. Having your laptop open and ready for Shawn’s FaceTime call, you tried to keep yourself busy with some homework, but couldn’t bring yourself to focus, wanting so badly to listen to what your best friend had been working on for almost a year.

No matter how many times you begged him to give you just a snippet of some of the songs, he wouldn’t budge. You were offended after having found out everyone else had listened to the album except for you. Remembering that exact moment of discovery had caused you to grow irritated again, despite you already forgiving him for leaving you out, and had begun to argue with the Shawn in your head, but was interrupted by the sound you had anticipated since the moment you woke up in the morning.

Quickly answering his call, a huge smile formed on your face as he popped up on the screen of your laptop.

“Oh my god, I’m so excited!” you squealed, finger hovering over the play button for Like To Be You, having been ready and prepared since the album was released.

“Good morning to you, too,” he said with a raspy voice and a sleepy lopsided smile.

“I thought you had been awake since the album dropped,” your fingers danced over your phone. As much as you love talking to Shawn, you didn’t care to hear about anything else at the moment. The wait was killing you.

“It was a late shooting last night, and then, Rita and her crew were hanging out with us for a bit, so I didn’t really get much sleep,” he explained as you nodded at him. Your lack of response caused him to chuckle.

“Alright, press play.”

With every song passing, the more his nerves grew, and he didn’t know why. It had took everything in him to hide When You’re Ready from you, wanting to know what you thought about it, but decided to hold off until the whole album was released. But now he didn’t want you to listen to the song at all. Having been really good friends for a while, he was unsure of how you would take it. Maybe you’d get offended for using your fear as inspiration for a song? Or maybe it’d turn into a really awkward “I just don’t see you in that way” conversation despite his lack of interest in you as well? Or maybe you did see him in that way. Fuck, what if she gets hurt if I have to turn her down? he thought.

Anxiety had begun to rise up inside of him, and he wished someone would come in his room and tell him he has a last minute schedule change, but he grew hopeless of that happening as he heard the familiar sound of the piano keys of Perfectly Wrong.

“Ah fuck, I already know this is the one I’m gonna listen to when I need a good cry.” Snapping out of his thoughts, he snorted at the worry lines forming on your forehead.

“The last song better not break my heart as much as this one, you asshole,” you clutched your chest as you slouched in your seat. He swears your eyes become glossy, but doesn’t bother pointing it out.

The last note of the song caused him to feel like his heart was gonna fall out of his ass. He wouldn’t be surprised if you could hear his heart beating out of his chest.

A small smile had formed on your face as the humming began; it eased his nerves a little. A smile of his own had grown as he noticed the dazed look on your face, almost as if you had gone to your own little dream world.

He noticed the way your smile faltered in the middle of the chorus, and his heart rate picked right back up. He mentally scolded himself for not warning you about it beforehand, but it was too late. He had to let you finish the song.

Every single line beyond the chorus had become familiar to you, making your heart drop. A part of you was in denial that he could’ve possibly wrote a song about you, but everything was too spot-on. It all become too overwhelming, a million thoughts running through your mind as you tried to process this, not even completely sure if this was really about you or not.

Your facial expression was hard to read as the song came to an end.

“Damn, was it that bad?”

Your eyes widened and began to shake your head rapidly, “No, no, no, I’m sorry! It’s not bad at all!” You began to stumble on your words as you tried to reassure him how much you really liked the song, but couldn’t cover the panic in your voice.

He chuckled a bit nervously, “Yeah? I hope you do. You’re the inspiration behind it.”

You stared at him with a doe-eyed expression on your face, just waiting for him to laugh and tell you he’s joking, but he didn’t. The emotions that began to stir inside of you only confused you more, not sure why you were feeling like a nervous school girl talking to her crush.

“Remember that night you had your little love crisis and worried about never finding love?” he asked, breaking the silence. When you didn’t respond, he continued, “And I told you I’d be waiting for you, even if ten years goes by?”

You hesitantly nodded as you thought back to that night, growing fearful of where he might be going with this.

“Jesus, Y/N, you look like you just saw a ghost. Calm down,” he sent you a reassuring smile, “It’s just a song, honey. I’m not being serious.”

“What?” you breathed out in surprise.

“The song isn’t for you, but you inspired me to write it.”

Despite the tiny unknown disappointment you felt in your heart, you sighed in relief, letting out a small laugh as he continued to explain the writing process of it.

He tried convincing himself that the disappointment he could’ve swore he saw in your eyes was just a figment of his imagination, but a small part of him wanted it to be real.

Shawn was unsure if it was one-sided, feeling as though something had changed in your guys’ friendship. It’s not that you guys were rough with the way you acted towards each other before, but he was sure you had never been so soft and gentle with him than ever. And he’d be lying if he said he hadn’t been acting the same with you, too.

The pet names for each other had slowly become more and more of a frequent thing, the scheduled FaceTime calls were new, he even began to fly you out to wherever he was when he knew you had time or a break from school. It sounded like you both were in the beginning stages of a relationship, but whenever someone had asked about it, you both denied anything going on between the two of you.

There’s always a hesitation from you both whenever you’re alone with each other. The question hanging at the tip of both your tongues almost always slips out of your mouths, but never do, in fear of being rejected by the other. So you both grow comfortable in a state of wonder and confusion.

The view of Toronto had distracted you from the excited voices echoing throughout Shawn’s condo. You were still trying to shake the tiredness off from your flight earlier that day and match everyone’s energy, but it was a struggle. Shawn had jumped at the opportunity to fly you out once he found out you were on a break from school, wanting you to attend the Travis Scott concert with him and everyone else.

You felt the couch sink in beside you and a heavy arm being thrown around you, “You okay over here?”

Turning your head, you were met with a concerned-looking Shawn, making you giggle as you nodded.

“Just a little tired still from the flight, that’s all,” you shrugged, laying your head on his arm. You felt his thumb gently rub at your shoulder as he nodded with his puppy dog eyes. Closing your eyes, you rubbed your cheek against his arm, getting ready to get comfortable and curl into him, but felt the couch on the other side of you sink in.

“Oh man, I love some cuddling.” You felt Brian lean what felt like all his weight against you and curling up at your side. You opened your eyes and glanced over at the redhead beside you curled up in a ball. Giggling, you looked at Shawn to see him glaring at the boy with an irritated look on his face.

Mumbling to himself, he took his arm off of you and got up from the couch, walking over to his plugged in phone in the kitchen. Brian sat up straight upon noticing Shawn’s disappearance and laughed to himself.

“Jesus, tell your boyfriend to stop being so damn sensitive,” he shook his head as he glanced over at Shawn.

You sighed deeply, “Not this again. Not tonight, alright Bri?” You pressed your cold hands against your heated cheeks and tried to calm the craziness going on inside of you at the thought of Shawn being your actual boyfriend, missing the feeling of his warmth beside you.

“Uber’s here!” Shawn announced, making everyone cheer and gather their things.

Arriving in the VIP section near the stage, you could feel your head start to pound from the noise coming from the crowd, already feeling a headache coming. By the look on your face, Shawn could tell something was off with you, especially with how unmatched your energy was compared to everyone else’s.

He leaned down close to your ear, “You sure you’re okay?” Glancing up at him, you nodded and sent him a small smile. You could feel your cheeks heating up again once you noticed how close his face was to yours.

“I’m gonna go get a water or something. You want anything?” you asked, taking a couple steps back towards the stairs.

“I’ll go with you!” he stepped towards you, a loose grip on your elbow. The lights dimmed right then, causing the crowd to cheer. You shook off his hand and shook your head, “I don’t want you to miss the opening act. I’ll be okay.” You shake off his hand as you give him a reassuring smile. Before he could protest, you turn around and make your way up the steps.

Watching you walk up the steps, Shawn sighed to himself, wondering if he did or said something that upset you prior to you arriving in Toronto. You had been a little off since the moment you arrived, and despite your constant reassurance to him, his thoughts still ate away at him.

He stood not too far from the stairs, looking up at the top every so often. He began to grow worried after four songs had passed, and you still hadn’t returned. Just as he was about to make his way up the stairs to check up on you, he felt a sense of relief once he saw you walking back into the arena, a small smile forming on his face seeing you laughing about something.

Just as he was about to make his way up and meet you halfway, he stopped in his tracks noticing you weren’t alone. He furrowed his brows as he stared at the (male) stranger who appeared to be the one making you laugh, jealousy bubbling inside him.

She’s not yours, she’s not yours, she’s not yours, he repeated to himself. Crossing his arms, he stood beside Jon and Brian, trying to focus on the performance, but couldn’t help looking over at you and your new friend, noting the way you both seemed to be in your own little bubble.

He immediately sensed your presence beside him after another minute had passed, getting a whiff of your perfume and suddenly growing irritated. You stretched out your arm, offering him some of your water to which he shook his head without even looking at you, keeping his gaze on Trippie Redd on the stage.

He noticed the way your mood had changed, having so much energy he thought you’d be bouncing off the walls pretty soon, rapping along with everyone else. Shawn knew he must look ridiculous right now with his arms crossed and a pout painted across his face. It’s not like he wanted to feel this way. He hated being so jealous when he has no reason to be; you guys are just friends.

Bringing him out of his thoughts, he felt a hand on his shoulder, “Bro, let’s go get some drinks.” So much time had passed while he was too caught up in his own jealousy and irritation; all that was left was Travis’ set. Taking advantage of the small break, he began to follow the guys towards the stairs, looking around for you.

Before he could even think about what he was about to do, he walked straight over to where you were, once again talking to your (male) friend. Putting his hand on the small of your back, he interrupted your conversation, “Babe, we’re gonna go get some drinks. You want some more water or…?”

Your eyes snapped towards him the second the pet name left his mouth, noticing the way his lips twitched fighting back a smirk. The tension between the both of you suddenly became thick.

“I’m good, thanks,” you blinked, dullness evident in your voice. He winked before leaving you back alone with Jack, the guy you met in line while waiting to buy some water.

He chuckled awkwardly, “Didn’t know your boyfriend was that Mendes guy.”

Rolling your eyes, you shake your head, “He’s not my boyfriend. We’re just friends.”

“Kinda seems like he wants to be more than just that,” he sipped his drink. After your lack of response, he cleared his throat and continued, “I should, uh… get back to my friends.” You give him a defeated smile as you nodded, waving to him as he made his way back to his friends. Letting out a frustrated groan, you go to stand beside Jon, trying to hide your dejected mood.

For the rest of the night, you kept your distance from Shawn, knowing it’d put you even more of a bad mood if you were near him, and you didn’t want to be a downer for everyone else.

Rummaging through your suitcase as you picked out some pajamas, you heard a knock at the door. You looked up at the tall figure in the doorway leaning against the wall and stared at him, waiting for him to say something.

“So... are you gonna tell me why you haven’t said a word to me all night?” You scoffed at the stupidity of his question and looked back down at your suitcase as you took out your toothbrush, “You know why.”

“I didn’t fly you out here, so you could go and flirt with some stupid guy,” he spat instantly, irritation laced in his voice. You glared up at him, “Who the fuck are you to tell me what I can and can’t do? You’re not my boyfriend.” You push past him and make your way to the bathroom, not seeing the point in having this argument.

He grabs ahold of your arm, “Then, what the hell is this between us?! Huh?!” You stood in place and felt your nerves acting up, wanting nothing more than to disappear. As much as you were confused about the change in relationship with Shawn, you weren’t ready to have this conversation. And knowing him, you were almost positive he isn’t ready either.

“There’s nothing between us, Shawn,” your voice was small, and it caused him to scoff.

“Who are you trying to convince here, me or you?” he argued. Turning to face him, you shook your head, “Whether there’s something between us or not, it doesn’t give you the right to go into jealous boyfriend mode. What the hell was that anyway?!”

He shrugged, “He was probably an asshole anyway.” You gave him a hard stare, hands balling into a tight fist.

“Since you want to play boyfriend so badly, then why haven’t you asked me to be your girlfriend yet?”

It felt like you had knocked the wind out of him as he tried to come up with an answer. It was hard for him to get anything out with his mind racing a million miles an hour. The minute-long silence that followed after made you grow tired, making you not want to look at the dumbfounded look on his face any longer.

“Next time you want to throw some shit like that at me again, at least be ready to have the conversation.” And with that, you slammed the door.

Checking the time on your phone, your frustration grew more as you rummaged through your bathroom, trying to find your only scrunchie you had left, mentally scolding yourself for losing all the others. You wouldn’t doubt it’s in your suitcase you have yet to unpack since your trip to Toronto, but you didn’t have any more time to waste. The Uber’s about to charge a Wait Time fee if you weren’t out the door in the next ten seconds, and as a broke college kid, you needed to save as much money as you can.

Quickly grabbing your bag from your room and stopping to get a banana from the kitchen, you flew out the door with your phone and keys in hand, locking the door before you made your way towards the Uber. You greeted the driver as you got in the car and buckled your seatbelt.

Sighing, you leaned your head back and took a second to calm down after rushing all morning to get ready. You could almost hear Shawn’s laughter in the back of your mind, teasing you for always being in a rushing and having such poor time management.

The rest of the weekend you spent with him in Toronto was awkward to say the least. Although neither of you have addressed (surprise, surprise) the question you threw at him, you both tried to carry on the rest of your time there trying to be as normal as possible, even though the tension was palpable. As much as his lack of response was bothersome, you knew you weren’t completely ready to have the conversation that’s been burning inside you for the past couple of months.

The thought of being a part of his life romantically was enough to make you anxious. Just being his friend was sometimes too much for you to handle. You knew people talked and theorized about what’s going on between the both of you. There’d be times where you couldn’t help, but scroll through endless tweets of anything involving you, which always turned out to be a mistake, but that’s just who you were. You care too much about what people think, which is why you try to avoid social media as much as possible. For as long as you could remember, all your social media accounts were set to private, not liking the idea of strangers being aware of your activity.

Even thinking about it now is giving you the urge to check social media, but only out of boredom. Not like you have anything better to do in the car.

Opening the Twitter app, you read through some tweets that pop up on your timeline, giggling at some and sending them to yourself to look back at later. Just as you were about to switch to Instagram, you noticed a familiar head of hair at the bottom of your screen. Noticing Shawn had liked the tweet, you scrolled up and squinted down at the picture attached to the tweet.

Scoffing, you instantly spotted your scrunchie around Shawn’s wrist. This asshole thinks he could just wear my scrunchie.

take my scrunchie off your wrist, you look ridiculous, you typed out to him and hit send. You chewed on your bottom lip, anxiously waiting for his response.

Are you stalking my update accounts? I knew you were obsessed with me

You snorted. In the middle of your typing, he sent you a picture of himself with the tiniest “man bun,” if you will, with your scrunchie. You bit your lip trying to suppress the smile wanting to come out on your face, but failed as you let out a soft giggle.

alright fine it’s yours now. only because you look cute in it i guess

Cuter than you that’s for sure

You rolled your eyes.

Pressing the home button on your phone, you groaned quietly as the time neared three in the morning. Despite the heater being turned on, you couldn’t shake off the coldness that was spreading throughout your body, causing you to not be able to sleep. You were convinced it was the snow outside the cabin that was making the room so cold (and the fact that it was winter time), but everyone seemed to be just fine.

Pushing yourself out of bed, you wrapped your blanket tightly around yourself as you tiptoed outside the room, careful not to wake anybody up. You closed the door quietly and turned around, only to run into something hard, causing you to let out a small yelp.

“What the hell are you doing awake?”

You squinted your eyes, “I can’t sleep. It’s too cold in here,” a slight pout settled on your lips.

“What about you, huh? Why are you awake?”

“Bathroom,” Shawn yawned sleepily as he made his way past you and into the bathroom.

You shook your head as you walked to the kitchen and turned the light on. You started to look through the cabinets in hopes of finding hot chocolate, or something warm, to take the coldness away. After not finding anything, you sighed and stole one of Shawn’s teas, knowing he wouldn’t mind, but might find it a bit of a shock to see you drinking tea after professing your hatred for the nasty liquid.

In the process of preparing the tea, you felt heavy arms wrap loosely around your waist and felt his hot breath close to your ear.

Turning your head slightly, you felt your heart rate pick up at the proximity of both your lips. His eyes were shut, and by the slowness of his breathing, you were almost convinced he fell asleep.

“You should go back to bed,” you gently ran your fingers through his mess of curls.

He hummed, “Wanna stay up with you.” He nuzzled your neck, lips just barely ghosting over your skin.

“I don’t wanna keep you up,” you spoke softly as you played with his curls. His eyes fluttered open and looked at you, “Are you gonna be long?”

You glanced over at the water boiling, “Well, I-”

He shut off the boiling water before tugging on your arm and pulling you towards his room. Your eyes widened as you tried to snatch your arm from his grip.

“What are you doing?!” you shouted in a whisper.

“Going to my room, what does it look like?” he tightened his grip, rubbing his eyes sleepily with his free hand.

“Why are you taking me with you?”

He ignored your question as he opened the door to his shared room quietly and gave your arm another tug as you hesitantly walked in after him. Glancing over at the sleeping boys in the other two beds, you prayed silently they wouldn’t wake up. You knew if they were to catch you in the room with Shawn at this hour you’d never hear the end of it.

You watched him as he climbed into bed and got comfortable under the blankets before he glanced at you and motioned for you to join. Rubbing your sweaty hands against your pajama pants, you quietly climbed in next to him and awkwardly lay on your back, eyes glued to the ceiling.

“Are you still cold?”

You felt his arms wrap around you, pulling you close against his body before you had the chance to respond. With the quietness of the room and his body up against yours, there was no way he couldn’t hear your heart about to burst out your chest.

“This okay?” he whispered sleepily, picking his head up to look at you through heavy eyelids.

Staring into his sleepy eyes, you bit your lip as a small smile formed on your face and nodded, whispering a quiet ‘yes.’ Laying his head close to yours on the pillow, you felt his nose brush against your temple and felt his breathing start to even out. All the worries of getting caught faded away as you soaked in the warmth his body radiated.

You close your eyes, but continue to stay awake, cherishing the feeling of his arms around you and wished for the night to go on forever.

#shawn mendes #shawn mendes imagine #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes blurb #shawn mendes blurbs #shawn mendes one shot #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fan fic #shawn mendes fan fiction #shawn mendes x reader

397 notes · View notes

youllallriseintheink · 4 years

Text

Defining Memories, chapter 4

This one’s gonna get a little weird.

---

The next person to find the spark of light was Norman Polk. It was blue, so he silently slipped it into the pocket of his coat, hoping no one would notice. Trying to look casual, he slipped his hand over it to hide any light that might have appeared through the thick fabric. No one noticed. The scene changed anyways.

The scene changed to a prison-like facility. A man who looked like Norman Polk, but with blond hair, was being restrained by three men in some sort of uniform. Two were holding his arms. The restrained man pulled against them, and the third one took out a baton and struck him in the stomach. “Know what’s good for you and quit your struggling!” the guard yelled.

The arrested man was taken through a door, out of the group’s sight. They turned around to see a boy, maybe thirteen and with dark brown eyes and hair, watching from behind a box. He was nearly at the end of the hall, and slowly, quietly crept out.

As soon as the doors closed and locked behind him, a wave of relief washed over the boy. This was the public area of what passed for a police station this area. If he got caught here, he could get away with sneaking in, or at very least not be arrested. There were two more people in uniforms, a man and a woman, between him and the exit, talking. He casually walked passed them, trying to give the impression that he was doing nothing wrong. The woman grabbed his shoulder.

“What brings you here so late, little boy?”

“My mother sent me here to drop off a paper.” His response was immediate and he showed no signs of lying.

“Your mother is a good citizen. She wouldn’t have you disobey curfew. Now, is there something you’d like to tell us? Lying to a peace keeper is also a crime, so it’s your best interest to be honest.”

The boy forced a guilty look onto his face. “I just wanted to see what goes on here at night.”

“You're old enough to know that that's illegal. But, we’ll walk you home and have a talk with your mother. Again.” She put a hand to her forehead. “I swear to God, child, once you're too old to get away with things...”.

The scene changed. Norman and the woman from the station were outside, in what appeared to be a residential area, although it was the middle of the night, and with no lampposts or really any source of light aside from the officer’s flashlight, it was almost too dark to see anything.

Norman opened the door to the house and went to what he thought was his room, only to find a crib where his bed should have been. Just then, the baby started crying. A complete stranger turned on the lights. “What’s going on?” the stranger asked, confused.

“I swear I’m not up to no good!” Norman said with an uncharacteristic amount of fear in his voice, probably because he wasn’t lying for once. “See, I was having an officer walk me home, and I guess they just took me to the wrong place. That’s it, I swear!”

“Wait, are you Georgia’s son?”

“Yes,” Norman said. It was the truth.

“Oh, I see," the man said sympathetically. "She just switched houses with us. You know, since we’d be moving into a family unit soon anyhow. She didn’t say why she was moving. Is... everything okay at home?”

The boy nodded. “It’s fine. Thanks for understanding.” The look on his face said that was clearly a lie.

The scene changed again. The group’s new location was a residential house. “Where are we?” Susie asked in a whisper. “Whose memory was that?” Something about the room- perhaps the empty white walls, or the house’s eerie silence, or the general plainness of the place- made her feel like it would be a very bad idea to make noise. The house felt very unlived-in. There were no items decorating the walls or strewn on the table. The only furniture was a dark table with four dark chairs in what appeared to be a dining room area, two more matching dark chairs in what must have passed for a living room, and three doors made of the same dark wood. Some of the group wanted to check the doors to try and find the subject of the memory, but it seemed unwise to alter the past like that.

Suddenly, a blue toy car clattered from under the table. Wally nearly picked it up, but Shawn held him back. That same boy, now wearing night clothes, quietly crawled out from underneath the table to retrieve it. One of the doors unlocked, and the boy looked stunned a moment, before darting back underneath the table. He avoided touching any of the chairs to keep from making any noise. The door opened, and a dark-haired woman in her thirties entered. She looked around briefly, sighed, and entered the kitchen, only to return thirty seconds later with coffee.

“I’m not coming to look for you, Norman. Come out when you’re willing to talk.”

Norman suddenly appeared beside her. “You turned him in.”

The woman looked exasperated. “I had to. Your father was telling you things, and I was worried. It’s one thing for him to be poking around where he shouldn’t be, but when he’s encouraging you... And, well... it’s not like I lied, Norman. He was taken away for his own actions.”

Norman stepped away from his mother and faced the wall. No tears. He’d already accepted this the night before. No ‘how could you.’ He knew exactly how much of a sheep his mother was.

“This isn’t easy for me to tell you, but you need to pick up your personal belongings from the old house after school. We don’t need a family unit anymore since it’s just going to be the two of us now. I’m sorry.”

The woman rose and tried to comfort Norman, but he pulled away from her and disappeared into one of the rooms.

The scene faded back into mist. Henry was the first to speak. “Norman... What was that?”

Norman glanced around awkwardly, unused to having to many eyes on him. “I grew up in a cult. That’s all.”

No wonder then, Henry thought, that Norman was so strange.

“Do you want to talk about it?” asked Susie, who clearly didn’t know him.

“No.” He wanted to disappear.

“Can you at least tell us how you got out?” Jack asked.

Norman dug the light out of his pocket as it was changing to yellow. “I don’t think I’ll have to.”

The scene changed. They were in a bigger version of the room they’d been in before. This place looked much homier, however: pictures hanging on the walls, children’s toys and a nice orange rug on the floor, and people sitting at the table. Norman was there, looking to be in his mid-twenties. He was holding hands with a woman about his age. Three older adults, a man and two women, plus two teenagers and a child, were gathered around the table.

“It’s so nice of you to come out here and visit us,” said one of the older women. “I know that they don’t allow visitors too often. I was worried you’d forget about us.”

“Forget about my own sister? No...” the other woman cooed.

“Well, I know how busy it is out there. But anyhow, my Elizabeth has an announcement to make.”

The girl holding hands with Norman smiled. “We’re getting married. And they’re letting us move right into family housing because I’m so fertile.”

Her aunt made a face. “Right. Uh, congratulations,” she said, before turning back to her sister. “Would you mind if I took a walk with these two after dinner? Give them some marriage advice?”

Norman wondered why she was so bitter about marriage.

The scene changed. Norman, Elizabeth, and her aunt were on the outskirts of town. “Can they hear us here?” the aunt whispered.

“We should probably go a little further. But keep the curfew in mind. We should go into the woods.”

The trio walked through the woods for a good fifteen minutes before stopping.

“Alright, I’m cutting straight to the chase,” the older woman began, “Do you kids want to live here?”

Norman’s eyes drifted side to side. “No.”

“What?” Elizabeth asked the older woman. “You don’t mean...”

“I do. Now look, I don’t know why my sister chose to come to this crazy cult. But she was a fully-grown adult, so she deserves to have a choice. Well, so do you. I need a ‘yes’ from both of you before I say more.”

Elizabeth looked nervously into Norman’s rather blank eyes.

“Yes!” she whispered excitedly.

“Alright, here’s what’s going to happen. Tomorrow night, you need to sneak out. Two miles down the road from the outskirts of town, there’s an abandoned grain silo. Meet me there at midnight, and I’ll pick you up. Got it?”

The scene changed. Norman and Elizabeth were walking down the street, talking about the weather, trying to look as casual as possible. Elizabeth’s eyes were full of excitement, and Norman wanted to tell her to stop, to calm down, but he didn’t know how to without looking suspicious. It was already dark, and they couldn’t see anyone else on the street, but Norman wanted to take every precaution. Whether they were caught or not, it would be the last time they would have to.

After reaching the outskirts, they followed the road, going through the woods to feel less detectable. Both knew it was probably overkill. Still, they both let out a sigh of relief when they saw the grain silo.

“What time is it?” Elizabeth asked after a moment.

Norman checked his watch by the light of the moon. “9:55,” he whispered.

“We have over two hours, then. Why don’t we, y’know...” Elizabeth took off her sweater, “pick some lemons?” She did not whisper, and her voice seemed very loud and very exposed against the quiet of night.

“That’s not a good idea. If they come for us, we need to be able to get down and hide as quickly as possible.”

“Norman, we’re two miles from town. They aren’t going to check here. And you don’t have to whisper.

Norman hesitated, but saw no way to argue with his soon-to-be-wife’s logic. Slowly, he got up and put his arms around her waist, passionately kissed her lips, and then boosted her up the tree to pick the lemons.

“It’s a miracle!” she exclaimed, “a fruiting lemon tree in mid-February!

Norman nodded. “Almost like we’re in a fanfiction made by an author who wanted to convey intimacy without writing an actual sex scene!”

Two hours later, their clothes were strewn in every direction and their backpacks were filled to bursting with lemons.

“I bet the real world is great,” Elizabeth said. “You can think or say whatever you want and not get arrested, you can pick your own career, pretty much don’t hurt anyone or steal and you can do almost anything. And it would be so weird to have to be the only one out there who didn’t know how it works. I’m so glad you’re coming with me, Norman.”

Norman nodded. He’d always been strange. Showing emotion and dealing with people weren't his strong suits. This transition was probably going to be twice as hard for him as it was for most. He had no idea why Elizabeth had chosen him, but he was glad she did. “Me, too. I love you, Elizabeth.”

Just then, a car pulled up.

“Oh, shoot,” Elizabeth said, scrambling to find all her clothes. Soon, the two were in the backseat of the car together. This was real. They were going to escape.

#Bendy and the Ink Machine #my fanfiction #norman polk #defining memory au

3 notes · View notes

unicamendes · 5 years

Text

Remember

Shawn Mendes x Reader.

Summary: y/n remembers her first love and starts to reminisce.

Warnings: flashbacks, fluff, mention of death, some language, and reader hallucinating. p.s not proofread.

A/N: inspire by the song cavalier by James Vincent McMorrow and All I Want by Kodaline. I’m suppose to be writing part 2 for WR, but a bitch lied bc I was feeling annoyed with my writing and insecure about it. ha! idc anymore if its shitty or whatever, I’m just writing hah okay anyway enjoy! also this is just fictional I don’t want anything to happen to shawn or his family ! ALL FICTIONAL!

——

Shawn’s living room was crowded with family and friends, all dressed in black. you never thought this will happen to you or to his family, but that’s life, we die and well, we mourn, sometimes wondering if that loved one is in heaven, if there’s even a heaven. too many questions filled your mind, why did he have to go? why? why now? he was too young, he still had a life to live, to get married, to have kids, he talked about wanting kids with you, he always said that he was going to marry you, but that never came around, he was gone.

“y/n? can you help me with some stuff?” karen looks at you, her voice filled with sadness. you look up at her, nodding softly. you follow Karen’s steps, on the way you were being greeted with sympathetic smiles and looks, finally coming to a stop. you took notice that you were in front of his room. door closed.

“i have some boxes in there that I think you should look over, before...,” she takes a shallow breath, trying to compose herself from not crying, but failed as tears came down her cheeks. “before I send it to the storage.” she says voice breaking. you fiddled with your promise ring that he gave you on your fourth anniversary. the memory of that day still fresh on your mind.

“Shawn, where are you exactly taking me?” you giggle, his hand covering your eyes.

“patience, my girl.” he chuckles at your impatience. you never really liked surprises, and you were outside, the cold air causing you to get goosebumps. which made you more agitated.

“Shawn, im cold, can you please tell me where are we?” you shiver in between your words. shawn takes his hand away, looking down on you with a smile. a warm loving smile.

“okay open them.”

you open your eyes, and you gasp in adoration, bringing a hand to cover your mouth. it was beautiful, so fucking beautiful.

it was perfect, lights surrounded around the white tent, a table for two, rose petals scattered all over the floor, candles lit, champagne placed on the table and food set, and the sunset was beautiful, you always wanted to look at the sunset just the two of you, alone. Shawn had a huge smile and his eyes shimmer with happiness. happy that you loved it.

“you always told me you wanted to see the sunset, so.., here it is.” shawn gesture his arms out, with a chuckle leaving his mouth.

you face shawn, your eyes flooded with tears, your hand still hovering your mouth, but quickly removed it. you jumped onto him, hugging him tightly. he adjust his legs trying not to fall back, because you literally jumped yourself on him without no warning. he embraced you, arms tightly around you.

“i love you so, so, so fucking much! thank you!” your words muffled, you sure loved this man, he’s your happiness. your everything.

“anything for you my love. now let’s go eat, before the food gets cold.” he joked, letting you go down slowly.

The sunset had gone down now, leaving you guys to enjoy the stars that were glimmering on the night sky, you had also finished your food and now you guys were enjoying each other’s company. like you always do, but shawn seemed nervous, rubbing his hands on his thighs, kept glancing over at you here and then.

“everything alright, love?” you furrow your eyebrows in worried, looking over at him. Shawn stops his actions, to give his full attention to you.

“yeah, why? are you..alright?” he stammers.

“yes, but you seem nervous. like nervous, when you’re about to go on stage, nervous.” you explain, “you sure you’re alright?”

shawn mumbles something not catching onto his words, but he gets up from his chair and gets on one knee.

oh!

He was having trouble to get what he needed to get out of his pocket. clumsy and dorky shawn. he nervously chuckled. After how many minutes went by he finally took out, a velvet box, but to only drop it on the floor. you giggle at his clumsiness. he retreated back to his hand.

“ha, sorry. just fucking nervous, aha.” he apologize, taking a deep breath. “Okay. here it goes.., y/n I love you so much. you are my best friend, my love, my sunshine and my everything. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, want to grow old with you, want you to have my kids someday and want you to be my wife, this ring.,” he opens the velvet box, to show a silver diamond ring,”this ring is a promise to you, that I will always be there for you and that everything I just said is a promise. so, y/n, do you accept?” his hands shaking with nerves, keeping eye contact with you. waiting for an answer.

“yes! you silly!” your face was bright, fully blissful. Shawn takes the ring out of the box, and sliding it onto your ring finger on your left hand. Shawn gets up, cheeks rosy, blowing a breath out, makes you think he was holding it.

“for second I thought you were going to say no.” he laughs. you tilted your head confusion covering your face.

“please, for you..,anything.” you tease, wiggling your eyebrows. “but seriously, that was cute, besides you being clumsy..,” you quipped, earning a roll of eyes from shawn. “kidding my love..,I loved it. I love you.” Your tone now serious.

shawn leans, placing a sweet kiss to your lips.

you were happy. both of you.

——-

You smile softly at the memory of it. karen looks at you, placing her hand on your lower back.

“shawn would want you to keep some of his stuff, knowing how much he adored you.” she sniffles, mixed with a low chuckle. “ill give you some privacy, if you need anything, I’ll be here, your family.” you thanked Karen, before she left to attend the rest of the people.

you took a deep breath, slowly opening the door, and you were found with the smell of him and how the room didn’t change the last time you were here, which was a few days ago. he left it how you always hated it. messy, clothes scattered on his bed and his laptop still open. nothing changed. your eyes roamed around the room, and you catch a glimpse of the boxes karen was talking about, they were near the closet, hiding in the corner of the nightstand. you walked over to them picking one up and placing it to the bed. you hesitate to open it, your hand feeling the cardboard.

“just open it.” you muttered. you carefully opened it, to reveal his hoodies and some polaroid pictures of you and him and some of family and friends, all them were showing his beautiful smile, you take some the pictures looking closely at them, but one caught your eye. it was a picture of you and him laughing, cake all over his face,it was taken on his 19th birthday party, which you threw a surprise birthday party for him at his condo. you heart ache at the sudden memory.

you rush over to the door, quickly turning off the lights, hushing up everyone. “be quiet. he’s coming.” you backed away from the door once your heard keys being push to the keyhole. Finally opening the door, Shawn enter , turning on the lights.

“Surprise!!” everyone hollered with excitement. shawn jumped from the sudden outburst, hand on his chest feeling his heartbeat. “holy shit! you guys almost gave me a heart attack!” he laughs. they laughed at his remark.

“happy birthday, Shawn!” one of his friends yelled.

“who’s idea was this?” shawn ask, genuinely curious.

“your girlfriend, it was all her!” brian points at you. Shawn turns around and boy was he happy to see you after two months of not seeing each other, you had told him that you won’t be able to come and visit him due to school.

“you liar! you said you couldn’t visit me because of school.” he pretends to be mad at you for lying to him. he walks over to you, carrying you off your feet, spinning you around. he was happy, that he’s love is here with him, on his special day. you giggle, cupping his face, giving him a kiss.

“alright, we get it you’re in love. now can we start the party?” brian says in disgust, face scrunched up. shawn puts you down, a smile still plastered on his face.

“don’t hate, appreciate.” shawn’s arms wrapped around your shoulders, as you both walked. he looks over his shoulder, “don’t just stand there, let’s get this party started!” his laughter filled the condo. everyone cheered.

———

You put the picture back with the rest, closing the box, putting it a side, as you grab for the other, struggling since it was heavy. you didn’t hesitate this time and opened it and some of his awards and trophies were inside, but a small black velvet box stood out with note stick to it, you knitted your eyebrows.

Weird.

You grab the black velvet box, taking the sticky note off, reading it.

to the love of my life. -shawn

your eyes were getting watery, as you read over the note, his messy writing that you missed, you opened the box, to reveal a square blue diamond ring, you gasp in shock,, the ache in your heart grew. he was going to proposed. you let yourself break down, tears were coming down fast, chest rising and falling from the heavy breathing, clenching onto the black velvet box, sobbing uncontrollably. you took a seat on the bed, laying yourself down, positioning your knees pressed together, clinging onto yourself, his clothes hitting your face, which made you cry even more, his scent was still there.

“shawn.., why’d you leave me?” you cried out in pain. “can’t do this alone. I need you.” you breath out.

you felt a touch on your cheek, brushing off your tears. “it’s okay. im here.” you heard his voice, your breath quickened, snapping yourself up.

“Shawn?” you ask, waiting for an answer, but only met with silence.

“i love you.” shawn looks at you one last time, before closing his eyes. you were holding his hand, yelling at him to keep his eyes open. you were begging.

“Shawn, baby, please don’t.., Shawn, no, please, god, no! No! No!” you cried out. your hands were covered in blood, not yours, his. You called the ambulance, but they were taking too long. you yelled in anger and sadness. He was gone. The love of your life was gone just like that.

“I love you too, Shawn.” you whispered to his ear, kissing his cheek. “Always.”

#shawn mendes #shawn peter raul mendes #shawn mendes x yn #shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes angst #shawn mendes au #shawn mendes blurbs #shawn mendes imagines #shawn mendes memes #sm3 #boyfriend!shawn #plz read #if you want to #send me ask about it or rant to me

172 notes · View notes

harryandmolly · 6 years

Text

When the World Stops Turning - Chapter 1

Summary: A love story in two voices - cowritten with @achinglyshawn

Warnings: Language

Word count: 10k

Lydia frowns in the mirror. Her hair just ain’t bouncin’ and behavin’ tonight.

She lifts the curling iron again then puts it down. She picks it up again, swirling a thick red chunk around the wand and holding it for a few seconds. She lets it drop. The curl falls weak against her neck. She sighs and unplugs the iron, deciding to stop stalling and just do it.

She hasn’t been looking forward to this dinner party. Her week has been long – 30 hours babysitting and a full class schedule do not make for the kind of weekend that Lydia wants to be spending out schmoozing. But it’s Allison and Kristin’s third anniversary and she missed Allison’s birthday last month AND bailed on drinks with Kristin last week, both due to her schedule, so she really can’t ditch this, as badly as she wants to.

So she shows up. She’s in a short midnight blue dress and heels because of course Allison and Kristin insisted on cocktail attire now that they’ve moved into their new apartment and it’s bougie as fuck. There are even place cards at the table.

She greets the hostesses and gets herself a glass of red, wandering over to her end of the table, wishing she brought a date.

The thought runs cold in her head when she sees the man sitting in the seat next to hers. At first, all she sees is bone structure, curls and broad shoulders. Her fingers tighten on her glass. And then she sees his eyes.

He feels like a proper adult, being at a dinner party in his married friends’ brand new apartment. He brought them a bottle of champagne to christen the place with, because his mum always told him it’s the polite thing to do, bringing a gift, even if they don’t ask.

He doesn’t expect it all to be so formal, considering the parties he goes too are usually, like, drunken dance parties at clubs or friends’ condos (or his own), or hotel and festival parties on tour. He doesn’t ever think he’s seen his name on a place card that wasn’t for an award show before.

He also hates that he’s the only single person here, apparently. He didn’t think to ask about bringing someone when he first got the invite. It’s not like he has anyone to bring. Finding a date last minute isn’t exactly easy when you’re busy all day doing tour promo.

He makes his way to the dining room, and slides into his assigned seat next to his friends Margo and Chris, who are wrapped around each other because the apartment has ‘such romantic ambiance’. Shawn wants to gag, just a little.

He’s pouring himself a glass of white wine from the bottle he found on his way to the table, when he feels movement next to him, sees it out of the corner of his eye. He slides the bottle of wine away and sips at his glass.

He doesn’t want to look over just yet, partly because Chris is saying something about the guitar he’s refurbishing for Shawn, and partly because he’s worried it’s another couple he’s gonna have to pretend he’s not agitated by.

But Margo cuts Chris off when she leans towards whoever just sat next to Shawn, her eyes bright. “Lydia! Hi!”

Lydia. Not ‘hey you two!’ Or ‘Lydia and Steve!’ Just Lydia. Shawn looks over.

Lydia manages to sit next to this tall drink of water without rolling an ankle or kicking him under the table, so she considers it a success.

She beams across the table at Margo who is practically sitting in Chris’s lap. She hopes the look on her face is more smile than grimace.

“Hi, guys,” she says brightly, wiggling her fingers in a little wave. She turns to the man sitting next to her and gets a proper look.

He really is gorgeous in an almost ethereal kind of way. His hair is dark and curly and falling over his forehead just so and she can appreciate a man who can style his hair properly. He wears a suit jacket like no one she’s ever seen, including Paul, her incredibly well-dressed gay brother-in-law who could’ve been the sixth Queer Eye guy. She clears her throat, feeling like she recognizes him somehow. Maybe it’ll come to her if she keeps staring at him like she’s planning to do all night.

“Lydia Hamilton,” she murmurs, grinning at him, offering him her hand to shake, “Nice to meet you.”

He’s not staring. He’s not, really. He’s looking, observing. He’s— fucking breathless. Really. He thinks he’s been holding his breath since he caught sight of her bright red hair. Her face doesn’t help. And then she smiles and he actively has to remind himself that he needs to exhale.

He decides he loves the sound of her voice when she says hi to Chris and Margo. He was jealous of them for having each other before, but now he’s jealous of them for knowing her.

He’s about to turn his attention back to Chris so this Lydia doesn’t catch him staring, but he has a hard time looking away. He gets caught.

She turns and looks at him and just smiles brightly, the same way she did for Chris and Margo, and then she introduces herself by offering her hand. He forces himself not to be a moron.

“Shawn,” he replies, curling his large palm around her small hand and shaking gently. Then, “Ah, Mendes. Shawn Mendes. Nice to meet you, too.”

He’s not used to needing to tell people his last name, but Lydia said hers and she’s looking at him like she’s not sure who he is. And that’s different. It’s a little refreshing, actually. His smile comes a little easier.

Shawn Mendes. That’s who he is.

When her brain pinged her that she recognized his face, her assumption wasn’t celebrity. It wouldn’t be, anyway, with this crowd.

But there he is. She knows his name, he’s a musician. He’s a pop star, she’s pretty sure. He’s definitely a little younger than she is, but you wouldn’t know it looking at him. And god, is she looking at him. She tries not to bat her eyelashes like a cougar.

Lydia laces her fingers together and looks over at Margo who is observing them with interest. She looks back at Shawn.

“So how do you know Kristin and Allison?”

He doesn’t mean to eye the full curve of her lower lip, to stare at her mouth so blatantly, to study the freckles dusting her face, but he’s already doing it by the time he realizes it’s happening. It’s like forgetting to breathe when he’s nervous. He can’t help it.

Her words snap him out of it, and he really hopes she didn’t notice. He doesn’t want to creep her out, like a fucking idiot, just because he wants to learn the lines of her face. It’s a nice face. It’s not his fault.

He forces himself to look her in the eye, but that doesn’t really help with the whole remembering how to breathe thing.

“Oh, yeah— well, Kristin helped me customize my studio a couple years back. We’ve been friends ever since. What about you?”

Lydia doesn’t hear any ‘asshole rockstar’ in the way he explains his customized studio so she lets her guard down a little further.

“Oh, uhm, Allison’s in my Ph.D. child psychology program at the university,” she explains, sipping her glass so her hands have something to do other than reaching out and grabbing his. He has such big, beautiful hands.

She hopes the Ph.D. thing doesn’t make her sound like an academic asshole. She figures if she doesn’t say it with her nose in the air like her mother does when she tells people about Lydia’s career path, then she’s usually safe.

Ph.D. Well shit. He might be a little out of his depth, talking to her. She’s beautiful, obviously older, and apparently super smart. What the fuck was Kristin thinking, sitting him next to her?

“So you’re like, really smart, then?” He blurts before he can stop himself, because apparently he’s the Pinky to her Brain.

Lydia tilts her gaze down to her name card when Shawn asks if she’s smart. He does it in that cute boyish way that surprises her because he doesn’t seem entirely comfortable to be chatting with her. It’s sweet and unexpected. She would be expecting more of an arrogant Justin Bieber vibe from him and instead she’s getting boy next door. It’s refreshing.

She leans in a little closer as the noise in the room picks up. Everyone’s sitting down now and the caterers are bringing salads. Kristin and Allison really did go all out.

“I’m smart, but I’m not a freaky brainiac,” she assures him, wanting to make him comfortable around her. Some people assume her graduate education means she has a stick up her ass, but she doesn’t.

“You’re a musician,” she says dumbly, blinking at him for a moment. She readjusts when Margo giggles into Chris’s neck.

“I mean, I’ve heard your music. Margo, we’ve heard his music, right?” She raises her eyebrows across the table at her friend who looks way too amused. And who clearly knew this guy was coming and didn’t warn Lydia about sitting next to a fucking Adonis at dinner. It’s so Margo it hurts.

His ears go pink when she figures out who he is, says she’s heard his music. He chokes out a chuckle, looks down at his name card and moves his wine glass in a few small circles on the tablecloth as Lydia asks Margo about him.

“I mean, I get some radio play, so. Maybe you have.”

They’re distracted from their introductory small talk when they tune in to Margo telling a story about a time Chris drunk dialed her in college. Lydia’s giggling and feeling the wine go to her head already. She hasn’t been drinking much lately, too busy with her head in a book. Maybe she does have a stick up her ass.

She stops paying attention to him as people crowd into the room and Margo starts telling a story.

He’s disappointed, to say the least. So he doesn’t pay attention to the story, instead watches Lydia listen and focuses on the way her cheeks flush as she drinks wine and laughs. It’s a pretty laugh. The prettiest he’s heard, probably.

He barely picks at his salad as he pretends to listen to the couple next to him, more concerned with sneaking glances at the woman next to him. He feels kind of like a creep, but he’s not exactly used to flirting with 20-something Ph.D. students with red hair that reminds him of The Little Mermaid.

He has a hard time thinking of something charming to say. It’s easier with fans, anyway. They already love him. He doesn’t have to work very hard.

As people crowd around the table, she feels squished into Shawn’s side but she’s not complaining. He’s warm and he smells like expensive cologne but not too much. She kind of wants to bury her face in his shoulder.

She pushes her wine glass away for a minute.

He’s worried he’s crowding her too much, but he doesn’t have much room to move, what with 18 people at dining table meant for 16.

His elbow accidentally knocks hers as she’s pushing her wine glass away from her. It wobbles.

“Oh shit-“ he murmurs, reaching forward to steady the glass. He lets out a sigh, then glances at Lydia with an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I just—“ he laughs, “I’m worried Kristen might send me to the kid’s table if I get wine on her tablecloth.”

Lydia reaches for her tipping wine glass but Shawn grabs it and swears under his breath. She grins watching his long fingers wrap around her glass and push it to where she was going to leave it.

She busts into a girlish giggle when he cracks a joke. She worries it sounds a little overdone like she’s trying to flirt with him. She isn’t -- he’s just really fucking cute.

“Good reflexes. Did you play sports?”

He makes her laugh. He didn’t even think it was that funny, but she laughs and he feels like it’s his greatest accomplishment yet.

He blushes a little and shrugs, “Some soccer, but I spent most of my time trying to get my hands on instruments. Which, you know, requires its own sort of quick reflexes, I think.”

She tries not to think too hard about him playing soccer because he’s tall and looks to be all lean muscle and she has a thing for soccer players as it is.

“What about you? Are you all school, all the time?”

She hums and goes to answer him when Margo pipes up.

“Yes!”

Lydia looks playfully offended. “What are you talking about? I’m so fun! I went to Paint Night at that bar with you guys like… two weeks ago!”

Margo fixes her with a look. “Lyd, that was two months ago.”

Lydia sulks. “Fine. I used to be fun. I’m just busy I guess. I bet you are too.”

He figures getting a Ph.D. is like a full time job, so it makes sense that that’s all she has time for. He feels kind of bad for asking, now, just because he didn’t mean to put Lydia on the spot.

He chuckles, nodding. “Yeah, I’m pretty familiar with a full schedule. And with jerks like Margo thinking I’m lame for it.”

He ignores Margo’s little “Hey!” from beside him, preferring to keep his focus on Lydia.

He keeps cracking jokes and she keeps giggling like she’s in high school and talking to the cute quarterback. She finds herself noticing little things he does that fascinate her and she figures it’s her psychology background picking up on his body language.

She licks her lower lip and reaches for her wine again. “So are you working on music right now or?”

He tries not to let himself stare at her pink tongue when it darts out to wet her lip before she sips her wine. He’s not sure he’s successful, even though he’s trying to focus on her nose instead.

For some reason her question makes him blush. It’s not the question, really, but the person who’s asking it. He finishes chewing a bite of salad as he nods.

“Yeah, I mean I just finished my next album. So right now I’m mostly deciding on singles and doing tour promo. It’s the more boring part than like, actually writing music, but also a really exciting part.”

He can’t help but babble. Finishing an album is the best feeling in the world.

If he won’t stop blushing, she’s going to keep staring at him. And she doesn’t mind that so much especially with the way he’s looking at her all wide-eyed and hopeful. No one’s looked at her that way in a while.

She doesn’t really know anything about music production or what he means when he says it’s boring and exciting at the same time but he’s getting animated and she likes it.

“So does that mean you’re going on tour soon?”

“Beginning of June, yeah. I guess that’s pretty soon,” he says with a breath. “Shit, yeah, sooner than I remember.”

He likes that she seems genuinely interested, and not just interested because he’s famous. It’s like his celebrity status isn’t of much consequence to her, and he likes it. Usually the only girls who flirt with him are ones who want bragging rights or a photo op.

“But that’s— I mean, let’s talk about you, instead. If that’s okay.”

Lydia is a little thrown when he asks to talk about her. She’s trying to remember the last time someone, a male someone, said that to her. She’s drawing a blank.

The entrees arrive and Lydia is grateful for something to fiddle with as she pokes around with her fork, taking tiny ladylike bites like she learned at cotillion before her debutante ball. She remembers her posture and straightens her shoulders.

“Ok. Other than Ph.D. student and favorite of Margo’s to mock, what do you want to know about me?” she hums, leaning into him a little, experimentally. She lets her arm rest against his at the tightly-packed dining table.

He feels a lump form in his chest when she leans into him, her arm sliding against the length of his as they sit almost as closely as the actual couples at this table with them.

Shawn laughs. “Well, I think I’m actually Margo’s favorite person to mock, but we can argue about that later.”

He doesn’t even pretend to pick at his entree, just watches Lydia eat instead. “Are you from Toronto?”

It’s a boring question, but it’s better than asking, ‘What do you look like when you come?’ Or ‘Do you like breakfast in bed?’

She feels very well attended to. He’s not even eating he’s so interested in what she’s saying. She loves feeling so terribly fascinating. It makes her feel sexy and sophisticated, two things she’s not all too familiar with feeling.

She smiles warmly. “I’m from Baltimore, actually,” she tucks some hair behind her ear and shrugs, “My parents are still there and I have a brother in Boston. Most of my family is in New England. They’re all very ashamed of the fact that I’m a diehard Orioles fan.”

American. He doesn’t know why, but he thinks that’s sexy. But maybe he just thinks anything about her is sexy, because he’s pretty sure Baltimore isn’t a particularly sexy place.

He laughs a little and shrugs, finally lifting his fork to stab at a piece of chicken. “Well, I know next to nothing about baseball, so I’m okay with the Orioles thing, if that makes you feel any better.”

Lydia is feeling great. She bites her lower lip as she brings her glass back up to sip at it. She decides to turn it up a little.

“Well, good, because we’re definitely the only single people at this table, so I’d hate to get off on the wrong foot over something like baseball.” Her voice is light and teasing and just a little sexy if she played it right.

Her voice wraps around him like silk, and he feels his heart stuttering in his chest. Everything she says sends shivers down his spine. He watches her lips press against her wine glass and he wishes they were pressing against his lips, instead.

Christ, he’s fucking pathetic. He barely knows her. He’s sure she’s definitely not thinking about kissing him.

“Ok. Ask me something else,” she murmurs, tilting her head at him.

He has to take a sip of his own wine to wet his drying tongue.

“Okay. Why child psychology?”

He asks her her favorite question. She tries not to watch him swallow but he has a really nice neck. She sweeps a wave of curls off her own neck to show off her warm expanse of white skin above her off-the-shoulder dress.

“Because kids are the closest thing we have to magic. So if I can help them, understand them, maybe protect them, then I find that fulfilling.”

He doesn’t get what she means and he feels stupid for wanting her to explain it. But it’s also her profession of choice, so she probably doesn’t mind talking about it. He just hopes he doesn’t come off ignorant, or like a kid himself.

“I thought, like, chemistry or something was the closest we have to magic,” he says with a crooked smile. “And personally, I think it’s music.”

Shawn argues her point gently and not in that horrible mansplain-y way some guys do. He has a differing opinion and he doesn’t mind sharing it. It’s very sexy.

“Music is great. Music is amazing. But kids are the world’s whole future. Their imaginations are as vivid as they’ll ever be. Kids haven’t had the chance to fuck up yet. They haven’t hurt anyone. Kids are magic.”

She finishes the last bite of her food and tries not to look at him like he’s dessert.

He thinks, maybe, he’s in love with her. She’s articulate in a way he hopes to be, tries to be, but she’s effortless with it. Plus, she’s passionate. He still thinks music is the most magical thing they have as mere mortals, but he’s extremely close to conceding, and not just for the sake of flirting.

“Well shit,” he murmurs with a gentle laugh, then takes another sip of wine. He wets his lips after he swallows and chances a glance at her. “Maybe you have a point there.”

She’s looking at him already when he looks over at her. She almost gets distracted by him licking his lips. She smiles, satisfied.

“Oh good, my ‘kids are magic’ routine has another convert,” she jokes, uncrossing and re-crossing her legs toward him. She looks around the table and sees the couples deep in conversation. She’s quiet for a minute, observing. She reaches up to fiddle with her necklace.

He tries to busy himself with food when there’s a lull in the conversation, but then he feels her shift next to him, sees her angling herself more towards him and he’s done for. He reaches for wine instead.

“I can’t believe I’m at an age where I’m getting invited to dinner parties instead of keg parties. It’s a little disheartening, actually.”

He laughs a little when she speaks again. Something brave inside of him makes him mirror her actions, and he shifts in his seat until he’s facing her a bit more.

“I mean,” he begins as he sets his wine down, “I know about a couple of messy ragers going on tonight, if that’s really the scene you prefer.”

Lydia grins for a second when he turns closer to her. It’s like their unofficial, unspoken signal that they’re not interested in the rest of the party. They’ve found who they want to spend their evening with and they’re going to stick together.

Lydia subtly glances down at herself as plates of tiramisu are passed around. She adjusts the dipping strap of her dress and giggles. “Not in this dress, pal.”

He loves tiramisu, and he hasn’t had much of an appetite for anything else, so he decides to tackle a bit of the dessert.

He’s chewing when Lydia reaches down to tug at her dress, and he lets himself scan her body, just for a moment.

“What do you mean?” He asks when he swallows, smirking a bit before continuing, “I think you look great. I’m sure you’d be very popular.”

‘Great’ is possibly the biggest understatement of the century, but Shawn’s trying to play it cool. He doesn’t need her knowing how pathetic he is by waxing poetic about the way her dress clings to her in all the right places.

Lydia lifts and lowers her shoulders, fluffing out her hair again. She eyes him.

“I happen to agree, I really like this dress, so I won’t be wearing it to a messy rager. My messy rager uniform in college was ripped skinny jeans and a ratty band t-shirt, I don’t know if that’s what the kids are wearing these days.”

She laughs it off but she feels a little weird, having said it. She doesn’t really want to point out to Shawn that her rager days are largely behind her, even if she’s the one who brought it up.

He feels his throat go tight because yeah. Tight, ripped jeans and tattered shirt probably looks really good on her. He tries not to choke on his dessert.

“I’m sure you look just as gorgeous in jeans and a shirt, so. I don’t think it matters what everyone else is wearing.”

He hopes he sounded as cool and casual as he was going for, because the way his heart thumps in his chest feels anything but cool or casual.

His compliment burns in her cheeks. She swallows the last bite of her little cake and grins at him through the sugar rush. “Thank you,” she hums.

He’s definitely flirting with her and she doesn’t really care, for the moment, that he’s a legitimate celebrity with millions of Instagram followers. She’s totally developing a little crush. Lydia hasn’t had a crush in forever. She’s not letting go of this feeling.

“But who needs a rager when you have tiramisu?” she almost moans through a bite of cake.

He watches her lips wrap around the tines of the fork as she eats her dessert. He almost moans, like a disgusting pervert. He takes a sip of wine to cool down.

“Tiramisu and some good company,” he murmurs, glancing at her as the corner of his lips tug up into a gentle smile.

They stay at the table longer than most of the other guests, talking and drinking. He makes her laugh a few more times and he decides he never wants to stop hearing the sound.

The party starts to wrap up and she’s sorry it does. She wants to see him again. With a little wine courage in her blood, as he helps her slide into her jacket by the front door, two of the last guests to leave, she flips her hair outside the coat and steadies her gaze on his.

“So, Shawn, can I get your number?”

As they walk to the door, he’s trying to come up with a cool, charming way to maybe get her number when she beats him to it. He flushes, because he didn’t ever think she’d ask.

“You— Yeah! I mean, yeah, no problem. Can I see your phone?”

Lydia loves the little stammer in his voice when he asks for her phone. She hands it over, complete with glittery pink case and a picture of Camden Yards as her lock screen.

Lydia likes being the one to get a number rather than give hers. She’s in control that way. She doesn’t get to be in control of much, usually, but she likes being the one someone’s waiting on.

Not that she imagines she’ll make him wait long. At all.

He types in his number quickly, then presses the home button and notices the baseball diamond on her lock screen. He smirks as he hands the phone.

“You really weren’t kidding about the baseball thing,” he says after they wave goodbye to Kristin and Allison and disappear through the front door together.

“But I guess that’s how I am with hockey.”

Lydia takes the phone back and shoves it in her pocket, wishing she had something else to do with her hands. She wiggles into her leather gloves and perks up when he mentions hockey.

“Hockey? I love hockey. I really like sports in general, honestly. I didn’t really play them growing up but I love watching them.”

They chat a bit more until she’s stopped in front of her old Rav-4 and shivering a little. She leans in to kiss his cheek and decides she’s going to have to distract herself from texting him tonight.

He’s been thinking about her all day. The kiss she’d pressed to his cheek seemed to sear his skin. He catches himself brushing his fingers over the spot again and again.

Lydia’s fidgeting on the couch, trying to study. The stereo is playing Shawn’s album like it has been on repeat all day because, ok, she’s curious and she doesn’t really know many of his songs now that she’s had the chance to look him up.

He hates not having her number. He wants to text her so badly. She asked for his number, so the logical part of him knows she must be intending to text. He just doesn’t know when. The irrational, insecure part of him thinks that maybe she was just being polite, or maybe she’s just looking for a friend, or that she deleted his number the minute they parted ways.

It’s been a few minutes under 24 hours since they met at the party. She had decided she was going to text him tonight anyway but hadn’t set a time for herself. She grabs at her phone and curls her knees in, smiling like an idiot as she crafts a text.

‘Hi! It’s Lydia. How was your day?’

His phone buzzes next to him before he gives himself too much time to spiral downwards into negativity.

‘Oh, hey! Actually not too busy for once, what about you?’

‘Pretty good, a little boring with homework all day so I’m coming to you for entertainment. Can you make me laugh?’

‘Two cookies are in an oven. One cookie says, “Boy it’s hot in here,” so the other cookie says, “Ah!! A talking cookie!!”’

‘Oh my god, I’m a little ashamed at how hard that made me laugh. Is that your go to?’

‘Lol, that’s from like, middle school. I’ve been telling that for years and most people just think it’s stupid.’

‘I’m glad you liked it, though.’

‘I did. I think I’m going a little stir crazy in here. The kids I babysit are on spring break and usually they take up all my energy. I kinda miss them’

‘Isn’t it nice to kind of have a break though?’

'Yeah, it is. And I'll be wishing they were gone when they come back. Do you have siblings?'

‘How old are they?’

‘Oh and yeah, I have a little sister.’

‘Pain in my damn ass, but I love her.’

'Quinn is 4 and Ellie is 6. It's weird being with them sometimes. Everyone always thinks they're my kids.'

'Lucky! I always wanted a little sister. I have a big brother who's married now and I really like his husband so I sort of have 2 brothers.'

‘No way you’re old enough to have kids. I mean. Technically, sure. But you know what I mean!’

‘Little sisters are the best kind of annoying, to be honest.’

'I know! I get all these dirty looks walking around with these kids like people think I got knocked up at 18.'

'And I would trade you Nick for your sister any day. I used to actually put a little sister on my Christmas list for Santa until I was like, 10.'

‘Mom and dad didn’t wanna indulge in that for you?’

‘I guess after two kids, most moms are tapped out.’

'Actually, I was an accident :)'

‘Oh.’

‘Fuck, omg’

‘Well, I think Liyah might’ve been too, so you guys can commiserate.’

'Ha! Is she much younger than you?'

‘She’s 17. Thinks I’m just so lame and embarrassing.’

'Well, to be fair, if she's 17 then you probably are. Plus I bet all her friends have huge crushes on you which doesn't help.'

‘I mean, who wouldn’t have a huge crush on me?’

‘Well. Besides Liyah. Gross.’

'And so humble and charming. Makes the girls swoon.'

‘Even you?’

‘I’m getting there. Would you like that?’

‘I mean’

‘I definitely wouldn’t complain’

‘Good. Maybe if you’re around I’ll see you again soon.’

‘That seems cryptic.’

‘You sure you want to leave it up to chance?’

‘It always works in rom coms. Have you seen Serendipity?’

‘Is that the one with John Cusack?’

‘Also I usually don’t trust life to be much like a romcom’

‘Yes it is the one with John Cusack. And I guess my experience hasn’t been very rom com like either, you have a point.’

‘I guess if I put it out into the universe that I’m usually at the coffee shop on 11th Ave on Wednesdays after my 4pm lecture gets out at 6 then maybe that’ll work.’

'Hm. Yeah, that might help the universe work its shit out a bit better.'

'Have you ever tried the Himalayan place on Yonge?'

‘I have not. Is it good?’

'Oh, it's the best. Staff is super nice and they have the best chocolate croissants in the world.'

‘Oh man you’re speaking my language. I love chocolate croissants!’

‘Yeah? They’re my favorite’

'I bet they're a great study food.'

‘I can’t say I know for sure yet. Should we find out?’

'I'd recommend it. They're great fuel for writing, so I don't see why studying would be any different.'

‘Hmmm. You free this Wednesday?’

'I'm always free for coffee and croissants.'

‘Well, tea.’

‘Perfect! Meet me there at 6:15?’

‘Yeah, totally’

Lydia has a crush. She’d be lying to herself if she says didn’t realize it at the dinner party where she met him. Having coffee with him, however brief, solidified it.

He was taking up a good deal of her attention when she wasn’t either studying or babysitting so she found she didn’t have time, or want to make time, for much else. She’d rather be texting him anyway.

So when she got the invite from Kristin and Allison for sushi and karaoke one Saturday night, she weighed it against cuddling under a blanket with her phone talking to him about nothing and everything. She turned down the invite.

When Margo casually mentioned that he was going, Lydia changed her plans. She walked into that karaoke bar in a clingy black t-shirt dress and her favorite black leather booties.

She might take him home tonight.

He gets to the karaoke bar early because he's so nervous. He figured Lydia would be studying or babysitting this Saturday night, but he'd braved a text to her anyway, asking if she was going. Just in case.

He holds his phone with slightly shaking fingers when she texts back twenty minutes later that, yes, she'll be there. He spends the next hour debating what outfit to wear, even though Saturday is still three days away. He even texts pictures to his stylist for her opinion. She always knows how to make him look his best.

So he's sitting at their booth in the corner, right next to the karaoke stage, nervously chewing on some Edamame when he sees her walk in. He almost chokes. She's always making him almost choke. He needs to just... stop consuming things around her.

He wants to wave her over, but he also doesn't want to look desperate, so instead he pretends he doesn't see her and leans in for another soybean. It almost slips out of his fingers, but his musician's reflexes save his dignity.

He’s fumbling with edamame when she spots him. She tries not to grin too hard at the flush in his cheeks. But he’s so fucking cute and it’s been almost a week since coffee. She find herself feeling a little flustered too, actually.

He sees her approach their group and pass out hugs from the corner of his eye, but he keeps his focus on the food and the sake martini he's nursing. God, he wishes he were cooler. He's supposed to be really cool. He's a fucking rockstar. With fans. Who throw bras at him on stage sometimes. None of that translates, though, when he's in front of her.

She strides over and hugs everyone at the table, saving him for last so she can sit with him. She leans in and whispers “hi” into his ear, leaving a little smudge from her maroon lipstick on his cheek. She swipes it off with her thumb.

“Woops. My bad.”

Then he feels her small hand on his shoulder and her lips on his cheek and his heart stutters in his chest. She whispers in his ear and it's all he can do not to groan like a total idiot. He knows his cheeks are pink but he hopes it's too dark for her to notice.

He laughs a little when she has to wipe some lipstick from his face and finally turns to look at her. She settles next to him and he wonders if it's on purpose or out of convenience. "Hey," he says, "You made it!"

She settles in next to him and orders a cocktail because this place has a bunch of funny, crazy drinks. Hers is fluorescent blue and sporting about 30 paper umbrellas. She sips at it for courage.

The drink she orders is like, bright neon blue and he can't help but laugh at her a little while she struggles to sip around all the umbrellas. "You know, I think a sake bomb would bit lot easier to handle for the same pay off."

She angles her chin around an umbrella to reach her straw. “I know, but I hate sake and I like tiny umbrellas. So Thunderpunch is the drink for me.” She winks at him and bites her straw.

“So, who’s up first to sing?” She angles a glance at him.

She looks at him like she's expecting him to hop up on stage, and he rolls his eyes a bit.

"Don't look at me. Maybe I'm tired of performing, for once," he teases as he quirks an expecting brow and smirks.

The table debates who should sing first. Shawn turns it down which she thinks is cute. She’s not sure if he’s being humble or if he’s just not drunk enough yet. He looks at her expectantly and her eyes bug a little.

“Dude, I just got here, I need, like... 3 more of these before I get on that stage.”

Finally, it’s decided Margo will kick them off because she’s already lit and does a surprisingly good job with “Crazy in Love.”

As she sings, Lydia leans over and swipes a tuna roll off Shawn’s plate with her chopsticks. When he looks up at her, she pops it in her mouth and smirks as she chews.

Lydia gives him this teasing look that makes him feel a little like they’re on a date, and not at a group hang. He rolls his eyes at her and pretends to protect his plate, clicking his tongue at her.

He quirks a brow, says, “That’ll cost ya, you know.”

He reaches over towards her plate with his chopsticks and steals one of her pan fried gyoza. He shoves the whole thing in his mouth then grins at her with a bulging cheek.

Shawn swipes a dumpling and she has to fight the urge to plant a kiss on his cheek as he chews. The Thunderpunch must be hitting her faster than she meant it to.

He swallows the dumpling and wipes the corner of his mouth with his napkin before turning slightly, angling himself towards Lydia. “So, should we get you another Thunderpunch so you’ll get up and put on a show for me?”

She raises her eyebrows. “A show for you? It’s tempting, I’ll admit. But I should warn you I really can’t sing. And yes, I will need another Thunderpunch before I pretend to try.”

She waves down the waiter with a big, flirty smile to get what she wants. The second Thunderpunch arrives within minutes and Chris complains that Lydia’s orders always arrive first.

Lydia shrugs a shoulder and eyes Shawn, “It’s all in the art of the flirt, bro.”

She looks at him like they have a secret to share and Shawn feels his face heat up, just a bit. He wants to scoot closer to her, but he also doesn’t want to seem weird or pushy.

He smirks at her instead, tilts his head and says, “Yeah, and I’m sure the fact that you’re beautiful doesn’t hurt, either,” he glances at the waiter, “Dude’s probably hoping for a phone number.”

He doesn’t mean to like, suggest she should give the waiter her number. It’s just probably true. Like, who wouldn’t want Lydia’s number?

Shawn compliments Lydia like he’s stating a very obvious fact. I mean, she knew by the way he treats her that he’s attracted to her, but hearing him say it so simply has her a little giggly. So does the second Thunderpunch.

“He can hope. I don’t see it happening, though.” She’s looking over at the waiter until she finishes speaking, then she moves her glance meaningfully to Shawn. She sucks down the last of her Thunderpunch and hums happily.

He tries not to read into the look Lydia gives him when she says the waiter won’t be getting her number. He doesn’t want to think on it too hard, doesn’t want to let himself believe that maybe she’s not looking to hand out her number because she’s starting to like him the way he likes her.

He orders a beer when the waiter comes back and realizes he had a good deal of drinking to do to catch up with everyone else.

She’s relieved to see Shawn joining in eagerly on the heavy drinking. She can’t wait to hear him sing. She wonders what song he’ll pick.

But now that she’s heavily and thoroughly Thunderpunched, her friends are looking at her expectantly and it’s time to do the damn thing.

Lydia finishes her bright blue drink and pops up like she’s determined to kick karaoke’s ass and Shawn can’t do anything but grin and watch as she makes her way to the stage. He sits back, relaxing against the back of the booth and sipping from him beer as he waits for her song.

She tries not to think about the fact that there’s a gorgeous popstar with actual singing talent sitting at the table watching her as she ascends the stage. The opening notes to “Stronger” by Britney Spears come on and Lydia grins, starting her performance.

“Stronger” starts playing and that’s so fucking awesome, Shawn has to put down his beer so he can applaud. He whistles as she takes the mic.

It’s more of Lydia shout singing and laughing than actually trying to do Britney any justice, but Shawn loves it. He loves watching her have fun. He loves watching her smile and flush and dance around like she doesn’t give a shit who’s watching.

He really hopes she’s starting to like him the way he so totally and completely already likes her.

She’s not going to be on Broadway any time soon but if it’s a show he wanted, it’s a show he got.

She’s still panting and giggling when she returns from the table, high fiving all her friends as they cheer her on. She saves his reaction for last.

She tilts her head at him and wiggles her eyebrows. She squishes into the booth next to him and orders another Thunderpunch from the very attentive waiter who looks annoyed at how close she’s sitting to Shawn.

He’s laughing and clapping when Lydia comes back to the table, high-fiving their friends along the way. She reaches him last and he feels his heart rattle his ribcage as he smiles up at her, his cheeks aching at this point.

She squeezes in next to him and it’s the alcohol coursing through his veins and the adrenaline from watching her dance around that has him casually draping his arm across the back of the booth close to her shoulders. Nearly touching. One little shift and they’d be touching.

“Ok, Mr. Mendes, were you satisfied with your show?”

He nods eagerly at her question. The bar is loud again as another person gives it a go with an *NSYNC song, so Shawn has to lean into her as he nearly shouts, “Better than Britney, herself, Hamilton!”

She laughs heartily, buoyed by his warm arm so close to her buzzing body. She leans back a little into it.

“That’s very generous. And total bullshit.”

She thanks the waiter when he brings her drink. She crosses her legs toward Shawn and claps for the poor sap who tried to do *NSYNC.

He grins when she calls his crap, but then he shakes his head and wets his lips. He looks at her seriously as he says, “Art is subjective, Lydia. They didn’t teach you that at Brown?”

He winks at her as he sits back a little and sips his beer, realizing mid-sip that now his arm is actually resting against her back. Suddenly, he feels way too hot.

God, he’s winking and joking and teasing her and her whole body is bubbling with it. She wants to kiss him right there in front of everyone, put her hands all over his body. She’s definitely drunk now but she’d still be lusting after him if she were sober, she knows.

“Ok,” Lydia prompts, nudging him with her elbow, “You’re up, cowboy.”

He’s setting his beer down when Lydia nudges him. He shakes his head a little at first.

“I’m not much of a singer,” he says facetiously, giving her a teasing glance.

“But, you know, if you insist,” he forces himself to stand, even though he’s drunk and definitely nervous. And not because of performing, but who he’s performing for.

‘Valerie’ by Amy Winehouse begins to play as Shawn takes his place at the mic. He tries not to stare at her while he sings, and instead plays to the crowd. His heart hammers the whole time.

Lydia scooches out of his way so he can take the stage. It’s a little comical how clearly he belongs there. He doesn’t have a guitar or 30,000 screaming women but he has that fucking voice that has Lydia wet in her panties. She crosses her legs tighter each time he catches her eyes while he sings, closing his eyes when he gets into it, caressing the microphone.

She has to stifle a moan. Margo elbows her in the ribs. Lydia giggles until he sits back down to thunderous applause, not just from their table, but from the whole bar.

She claps for him, smiles wide when he ambles back over to the table as the crowd cheers for him. He squishes himself beside her once more, even though there’s another, wider spot at the other side of the table he could settle into.

“Ok, you threw down the gauntlet,” Lydia laughs, shaking her head at him.

“I mean, you were taunting me,” he says with a smirk, turning towards her and not bothering to pretend he’s not leaning into her on purpose. His arm settles confidently across the back of the booth, pressing gently into her shoulders, and it’s definitely thanks to the alcohol.

Lydia licks her lips and narrows her eyes, tucking some wilting red curls behind her ear. “Honey, if you think that was taunting, wait until you get me started.”

She flutters her eyelashes at him playfully over her glass as she sucks down the last of her third Thunderpunch.

“So are you gonna answer?” He leans in so close his nose nearly brushes her cheek. He pulls back, only slightly, so he can look her in her pretty green eyes. His stomach flips and he suddenly feels like he can’t breathe. She’s so fucking beautiful.

He’s talking so close to her ear, baiting her. She wants to turn and nip at his lower lip to teach him a lesson. Instead, she stares into those delightfully bleary honey brown eyes for a few seconds too long before she turns to the table.

“Who wants to see my party trick?” she calls. Chris’s eyes widen as the rest of the table cheers.

Lydia stands, grinning again, giving Shawn one last lingering look before she heads back to the stage.

Margo nudges Shawn’s arm, shaking her head, and laughs, “You’re gonna love this.”

The whole table cheers for Lydia, and all he can do is smile like the drunk idiot he is and stare at her as she makes her way up onto the stage. He has no fucking clue what her party trick could be.

In college, Lydia was known at parties for two things: 1. She could never remember that she hated gin until she drank it and almost spit it up 2. She could rap Eminem’s “Without Me” flawlessly from start to finish.

He nearly spits out his beer when she starts rapping. She’s not even looking at the screen. She’s playing to the crowd and looking at him and he feels his cheeks go fire red as he cheers her on. She’s doing more than justice to the song, and Shawn swears he’s never had a bigger crush on anyone in his entire life.

The liquor helped her put a flourish on it for him. She has the whole joint singing with her. She leaves the stage to raucous cheers and returns to the table. Standing in front of Shawn, she drops her nonexistent mic.

He laughs at her as she drops an imaginary mic in front of him, and it’s not even a competition anymore. He shakes his head and claps for her as she squeezes back into the seat beside him.

She felt like a rockstar coming back to the table. Is this what he feels like coming off stage every night? This is awesome.

He drapes his arm once more across the booth and her shoulders, leaning in as he shouts over the crowd, “I didn’t know you were secretly a gangster!”

He must be drunker than he thought because his free hand finds her bare knee as he speaks, and he doesn’t even realize it until his thumb’s already busy rubbing circles against her soft skin.

“I did it at parties in college. Made me very popular at frats,” she tells him, almost hissing when his hand meets her knee. He doesn’t even seem to notice he’s done it.

She’s looking between the curls falling on his forehead and his slightly parted wet lips. She swallows.

“HEY!” Margo yells at them like she’s been trying to get their attention for a minute.

Lydia looks over, annoyed. Margo smirks. “We’re doing ‘Island in the Sun.’ But by all means, you two stay here.”

Margo marches off to the stage before Lydia can react. She looks back at Shawn and strokes a hand over his wrist while he continues rubbing her leg.

He hears Margo shout at him but he can’t bring himself to look away from Lydia’s flushed cheeks and full lips. Her eyes shift to their friend, but Shawn keeps watching her. He smiles a little when she gives him her attention again and places her small hand over his wrist. He presses his thumb a little harder on her skin and tugs his lower lip into his mouth with his teeth.

Lydia’s confident smile drops a little when she watches from a close distance as he bites down on his lower lip while he’s staring at her. Like she’s the most delicious thing he’s ever seen.

“Hi,” she murmurs even though the bar has only gotten louder.

He laughs a little, but he nods his head and says hi back. He feels some of his hair fall against his forehead, that one obnoxious curl that always falls down when he’s been bopping a little too hard.

He glances down at her lips for just a moment, then finds her eyes once again. He wants to kiss her. He needs to. His throat is tight and his skin feels too hot wrapped around his muscles, but he manages to find his voice, anyway.

His brows furrow slightly, his head tilting as he asks, “Can I kiss you? Please?”

If she were sober, she’d have noticed that she actually whimpers at the way he looks at her lips. Instinctively, she licks them, getting ready. Before he even asks his question, her free hand is creeping up his shoulder to hold her steady.

Her chest shudders. She grins, feeling confident again when his unflinching politeness strikes again. She brushes her nose over his and nods, choosing not to trust her voice for this.

Her body language almost begs him to kiss her, but he still feels a sense of relief wash over him when she nods her approval, her nose brushing against his in a way that has his heart clenching. He groans a gentle sigh and nudges his face forward.

He seems to sigh in relief when she gives him permission and it may just be the most adorable thing he does all night.

His lips slide against hers and he’s pretty sure he’s forgotten how to breathe. She tastes like soy sauce and alcohol and he has to pull his hand from her knee so he can cup her jaw, steadying himself against her.

He sips at her lips while the bar raves around them, but he can’t hear it. He can only hear the way his lips move against hers and the way his heart thumps loudly against his ribcage. It makes a pretty melody, he thinks.

The kiss isn’t adorable. The kiss is fucking incredible. Maybe they’re both kinda drunk and full of karaoke adrenaline, but it’s quite a kiss. She’s definitely not ready for it to end when he starts to pull away.

So she doesn’t. She loops a hand around his neck and drags him back under, tracing the seam of his perfect lips with her tongue because she needs more, she needs to get closer.

She pulls him back in with a small yet firm hand on the back of his neck. This time he lets himself groan properly as her tongue teases his lips. He opens his mouth for her, let’s her lick at him before he sucks gentle at her wandering tongue.

When he groans into her mouth, she scratches a manicured thumbnail gently across the back of his neck.

She’d be lying if she said she didn’t initially have concerns that he might not be any good at this. At kissing or at anything else. He’s young and even though he’s hot and famous, he might not have had time to get good with a woman’s body yet. And, hell, being hot and famous gives him more of an excuse not to have to try.

But Shawn has put the work in. She can tell. He’s got a big hand in her hair and she suddenly feels very safe with him, like he wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

It takes all of his willpower not to wrap her up in his arms and pull her onto his lap. He grounds himself by pushing his hand into her hair and grazing his fingers over her scalp. He hums into her mouth, leaning forward into the kiss so she has to lean back against the booth to accommodate him.

He presses into her and she’s pinned, not aggressively, between him and the peeling fake leather booth and there’s nowhere she’d rather be.

He only breaks the kiss to pant for air. He keeps close to her though, keeps his hand in her hair and his nose pressed to hers as his eyes flutter open and his check heaves.

“So are you good at everything? Or are school, rapping, and kissing your specialities?”

She almost chases him again when he parts from her to talk but she manages to keep her cool. She takes the hand still resting on his wrist to place it on his cheek. It might be too affectionate so soon but she doesn’t care right now.

She stops herself from making a comment about definitely being good at everything, wink wink, if ya know what I mean. Instead she grins and brushes their noses together again.

“I also skateboard pretty well. Or I used to. I haven’t tried in a bit.”

She doesn’t want to get distracted by more small talk so she pulls him back in as their friends’ song ends.

She kisses him again and he takes it easily, sighing against her lip. His head buzzes but he’s not sure it’s from the alcohol anymore. People keep singing, the bar keeps cheering, and they kiss right through it. They’re in the back, basically in the corner, so it’s not out in the open enough for Shawn to be worried.

Eventually Margo makes her way back to the table and Shawn can feel her squishing into the seat next to him while she hollers at them. He pulls away from Lydia’s lips with a blush on his face and drops his forehead to her shoulder. He hides from Margo while she cackles and tells them they should get a room.

“This is a room,” he shouts over the music from his spot on Lydia’s shoulder.

He feels Margo’s elbow dig into his back as she huffs, “You know what I mean!” All he can do is laugh and keep hiding because now he is thinking about a room, alone, with Lydia, and all the things he could do to her. Or that she could do to him. Whatever she wants, really.

Lydia definitely doesn’t notice when their booth fills back up with their friends who have now caught them and fuck, they’re never gonna live this down. Lydia jumps a little when Margo runs up and starts wailing at them about PDA. She feels his forehead meet her shoulder and she can’t help but cradle the back of his head.

He stays there against her arm for a while like a shy child. Lydia plays with the collar of his shirt while half-watching another group sing We Are Family. She’s barely able to make it through the song without looking over and grinning at him like an idiot.

Lydia lets him keep his face pressed to the junction of her shoulder for the next few minutes while their friends chat, holler, and cheer for the group on stage. He likes it, being tangled up in her while her delicate fingers play with the collar of his shirt. His heart clenches.

Finally, the song ends and Lydia can’t take it anymore. She wriggles away from him and stands, addressing the table.

“It’s been fun, guys, but it’s past my bedtime. Margo, thank you for organizing. Uhm, so, bye.”

Before he can get too comfortable, however, Lydia extracts herself from him, slipping out of the booth as she stands up. He frowns, just for the briefest of moments, as he sits himself up and looks at her while she bids the group goodbye. It’s awkward and sudden and for a second he wonders what he did wrong.

Just to be safe, because he seems too sweet to catch her drift without her really throwing it at him, she fixes him with a look and even a little head jerk toward the door before she strides off.

But then she’s looking at him and jerking her head a little. It’s like, the kind of jerking nod that you give when you want someone to follow you. He kind of thinks he’s imagining it. She stalks away from them and disappears through the doors of the restaurant, leaving him to wonder if she really meant for him to follow or if he’s just desperate (re: drunk) enough to have hallucinated it.

He waits maybe 15 seconds before deciding to follow her, hallucination or not. He says a pathetically quick goodbye and practically runs out of the restaurant, scanning the sidewalk when he emerges outside.

Lydia doesn’t have to wait long for him but it is one of the longest minutes of her life. Because if he didn’t get it, she’s going to have to go in after him. Because she really, really wants to take him home.

But, thank god, he scrambles out the door looking for her. Her face bursts into an overeager smile and she gives him a little wave with one hand, Lyft app open on her phone in the other.

“Subtlety is not our strong suit, Mendes,” she teases, glancing around the sidewalk. No ones around because it’s late but she’s suspicious of camera phones anyway. She doesn’t really care but she figures he’d prefer a low profile going home with someone.

Because she’s taking him home. God, she can’t wait.

The Lyft arrives. She opens the door and climbs in, leaving it open. “Shall we?”

Taglist: @softboyshawn @marlahey @smallerinfinities @crapri @the-claire-bitch-project @stillinskislydia @abigfatmess @sippingchai @lostinshawnslight

#shawn mendes #shawn peter raul mendes #shawn mendes fanfic #shawn mendes fanfiction #shawn mendes fan fic #shawn mendes fan fiction #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes rpf #shawn mendes roleplay #shawn mendes imagine

496 notes · View notes