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bradshawssugarbaby · 3 months

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God, Your Mama and Me (Jake Seresin x Reader)

A/N: told y'all I listened to country music and it inspired me. Inspired by and quotes God, Your Mama and Me by Florida Georgia Line. I'm not religious but that song gets me all heart-eye emoji every time.

pairing: Jake Seresin x reader (I'm 99% sure I kept reader GN the whole time with no mentions of appearance)

content/warnings: reference to God via the song (the line is "no one's ever gonna love you more than God, your mama and me"), Jake being adorable and trying his best to be romantic but he's more awkward than he wants to be bc he doesn't do PDA, brief references to potential character death (I promise no one dies)

word count: 1.6k

Jake took you by the hand, running playfully through the sand. Coronado Beach was where he’d taken you for your first date. It was where you’d met, where you spent every free weekend, where you’d meet with his friends at The Hard Deck for drinks on Friday nights and where you’d sit and watch the planes taking off from North Island as you waited for him to come home, not knowing what each day would bring but hoping and praying he’d come home to you safe and sound every time.

For the last three years, Coronado was an integral part of your life. It was where you’d held Jake’s 35th birthday party, a spontaneous beach gathering complete with a cooler of chilled beers and a portable speaker belting out country tunes. Despite the groans from others, the music had a magical effect on the usually reserved Jake, prompting him to join in with spirited, off-key singing every time.

It was where you and Jake had shared your first kiss, where he’d first told you he loved you - a sentence he admitted he never thought he’d say to anyone, swearing up and down he’d lead the bachelor life until he either died or retired, whichever came first. He’d always claim it was because he just “wasn’t the settlin’ type”, but his friends always saw right through it.

“He’s just scared,” Bradley had assured you one day over a beer while Jake tossed darts effortless at the board a few feet out of earshot.

Reading the puzzled look on your face, Natasha hummed playfully as she sipped her drink before raising an eyebrow at you.

“He doesn’t want to settle down because he’s scared,” She and Bradley nodded in unison.

“Yeah, doesn’t wanna leave behind a war widow kinda thing,” Bradley shrugs, “You’d think it’d be me who feels that way considering my dad died when I was literally a toddler, but no, apparently it’s Blondie who’s got the commitment issues.”

The first time Jake referred to you as his girl, the usually chatty Bradley had been rendered speechless, mouth agape while Natasha had choked and sputtered on her beer as she looked wide eyed at Bradley and back at Jake. Jake shrugged it off as if it was nothing, but everyone, even you, knew it was uncharacteristic of him.

The following weekend after stunning his Navy buddies, he’d been called away to the first mission since you’d started dating. You weren’t expecting it, but you got a heartfelt, emotional goodbye from Jake, one that was genuine and raw, a side of him you’d never seen before. He’d hugged you tightly and kissed you slow and sweet, making it last, permanent on your mind in case he didn’t make it back. As he promised you he’d return, you could hear his normally velvety smooth Southern drawl crack as his voice caught in his throat.

When he came home a few weeks later, you’d greeted him with a warm embrace, and he held you tighter than he ever had before, his first true public display of affection towards you. Bradley and Natasha could be heard whispering, while Bob simply looked on smiling, knowing how in love Jake really was, watching as it mirrored Bob’s own relationship with his girlfriend.

“Jake, where are you taking me?”

You laughed as you snapped back to the present, raising an eyebrow at him as he continued to lead you across the sand. His cargo shorts were hugging his hips perfectly, golden-tanned skin from the California sun illuminated in the light of the setting sun. His green eyes were full of a child-like excitement, his signature grin plastered on his face, looking like it couldn’t be wiped off even if you tried.

“Just trust me, ok? You trust me, don’t ya, Sugar?”

“Alright, alright, I trust you.”

“Atta girl, c’mon, almost there.”

You shook your head and shot him a playful eyeroll as he continued to guide you along the shore. Your mind flashed back to when you and Jake had first slept together - instead of the playful arrogance, overwhelming confidence and cocky egotistical attitude he gave off around his friends, he was the opposite when it came to loving you. He was gentle, caring, passionate and considerate. He checked in with you, making sure you were comfortable and enjoying it. He was selfless in the way he loved you - making sure you were taken care of in all aspects before he was, and if for whatever reason, his climax came before yours, he made a point to bring you to yours by whatever means necessary.

When Jake asked you to move in with him, the look on your face was one of pure shock and disbelief, you were sure you were dreaming it. Your wide-eyed gaze and raised eyebrows were enough to make Jake laugh, shaking his head at you.

“Now that’s not how I thought you’d react, babe.”

“I’m sorry…I just…can you say it again?”

“Ask you again?”

“Yeah, please?”

“Ok, Sugar, you’re losin’ it, but sure, I want you to move in with me, that sound alright to ya? We both complain we don’t see each other enough, and well, I just feel like it’s time we do somethin’ ‘bout it, right?”

You nodded your head and simply threw your arms around him, letting Jake embrace you tightly as he kissed your cheek. He had his friends help you pack and by the end of that week, you were moved in with him, sharing the little house on base together. His Cowboys jersey hanging in the closet next to your Commanders one - your teams were bitter rivals, and Bradley, who had come from Virginia, your home state, was beyond shocked to see Jake allowing you to wear a Commanders jersey to their Sunday night football watch parties. Bradley, forced to wear a jersey for another team, pouted at Jake.

“How come when I wear my Commanders jersey, I get told to fuck off and stay outside?”

“You don’t look cute in Washington’s colours, Bradshaw,” Jake replied matter of factly as he kissed you on the cheek, leaving Bradley to pout once again.

Jake stopped in front of you, turning his body to face you, bringing you back to reality for another moment. His unwavering grin still on his face, smiling at you as if you were the only sight around him for miles. Your heart melted when he looked at you - it always did - the love he had for you was always evident on his face, his gaze full of admiration and affection for you.

Your eyes widened as Jake went down on one knee in front of you. The sounds of the waves crashing against the sandy coast echoing softly around you. The odd passerby gawking as they went for their stroll in the dusky glow of the beach as the sun began to set on Coronado. Jake beamed up at you from where he stood on bended knee, his eyes matching the seafoam that was pooling around you, inching closer and closer to where you stood.

“Darlin’, remember that date I took ya on, where you made me dance with ya on the beach, after I swore I never would? That song you made me dance to, the one by Florida Georgia Line?”

“I remember,” you said, gazing at him with tear soaked eyes.

“Sugar, you know I’m not good at this kinda stuff - it’s more Bradley’s thing, being all sentimental and shit, but I’m gonna try my damnest, ok? You know how that song goes, “Baby you know my love is never gonna run dry, never gonna come up empty, now until the day I die, unconditionally,”

Jake’s cheeks blushed a soft pink as he tried his best to carry the tune, serenading you by the oceanside, “then it’s like, “You know I’m always gonna be here for ya, no one’s ever gonna love you more than God, your mama and me”? Guess that’s what I’m tryin’ to say here, no one on this earth is gonna be able to love you, or anyone else more than I do. I’m sure of it. I didn’t even think it was possible for me to love you as much as I do, but Baby, do I ever love you.”

“Jake,” you started, feeling yourself becoming breathless with excitement as he spoke.

“Babygirl, will you do me the greatest honor ever, and become Mrs. Seresin? I never thought I’d ever marry anyone, but I’d be a fool to not marry you, darlin’.”

Speechless, you nodded your head quickly, unable to make any sound other than an excited squeal of delight as he slipped the ring onto your finger. As Jake stood upright, he wrapped his arms around you, enveloping you in a loving embrace, his lips crashing against yours as he kissed you passionately.

From behind you, you could hear familiar voices cheering - you broke the kiss and turned to see Reuben, Javy, Mickey, Bradley, Natasha and Bob standing there, all beaming at you. Bradley wiped a single tear from his eye in his usual dramatic fashion, while Bob gave a proud thumbs up to Jake. A congratulatory smile formed on Natasha’s features, while Javy, Mickey and Reuben all applauded you both. You were overcome with emotion as you shared this moment with Jake and your friends.

“You all knew?”

“Of course we knew, Jake can’t keep a secret to save his life,” Natasha grinned, shrugging her shoulders.

“I get to be best man, right?” Bradley grinned as he clapped his hand onto Jake’s shoulder in a congratulatory substitute for a hug.

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hoodharlow · 1 year

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The Week After

AN: i hate writing angst bc I can't do the making up justice. Thiswas rushed so it sucks 😭😭😭

Requested? No

Warnings: awkward making up, injuries (spoiler Miriam hurts her bad knee whilst performing), Neelam being a b-word and Miriam telling her off 🤭🤭🤭 and

Word Count: 5.7k words

The minute she arrived at the restaurant, Miriam felt something off. She was in Las Vegas for the Grammys. After the Oscars she flew out with Mede and baby Sebas because she had rehearsals for the performance. The cast was going to do a medley of ‘96,000’, 'Blackout', and ‘Carnaval del Barrio’ which timed out to roughly ten minutes. Doja and SZA had to drop out from performing because of SZA's injury so the organizers told the cast of the movie that they were allowed to have a long performance.

The news threw Miriam off. She had been focused on re-memorizing her solo from '96,000' and now she had to remember snippets of three different songs along with their stage cues and choreographies. On top of that Miriam felt an added pressure because Lin Manuel Miranda invited the original actor who played Vanessa to replace Stephanie Beatriz and now Miriam had to perform alongside them. She knew she couldn't fuck up.

Her friends sensed her tension and planned a girls night featuring baby Sebas. They also flew out Claudia, who was a mess because 5sos went on tour in Europe and she missed Calum. They were going to eat their weight in pizza then go back to their airbnb and have a Bring It On movie marathon. One thing though, Miriam wondered why they had to go out. They could have easily ordered delivery, but Mede convinced her that going to a pizza parlour was funner. So they agreed to meet at the pizza parlour after rehearsals, leaving Miriam even more confused because Mede and Claudia took an Uber when they could have gone with her and Beto.

“This is the place?” Miriam asked Beto when he opened the door to the pizza parlour entrance.

He nodded in response. "That's what Mede sent me."

"Okay," she nodded as they entered the restaurant.

"Hi, welcome. Just the two of you?" The hostess greeted them.

"No, my friends are already here." Miriam told them. "She called and made a reservation earlier."

"Oh you must be part of the Gutierrez and Wyatt party. They're our only reservation tonight, right this way." The hostess said, grabbing a menu.

"Gutierrez and Wyatt?" She furrowed her eyebrows in confusion.

As the hostess Miriam caught sight of two brunettes and a certain blondie in a booth hiding behind some menus, trying to be discreet. Their cover was easily blown when baby Sebas stood on the booth's bench and waved at her. She waved back and went up the steps to the private room. She looked over her shoulder and saw Beto take a seat next at the table where Jack's bodyguard was.

Miriam silently cursed. She couldn't believe she was set up by them. She wasn't ready to face Jack. She knew she'd give in instantly and forgive him for the mess that went down at the afterparty. She was too horny and would drop to her knees at the sight of him. She prayed that he didn't wear gray sweats.

"Here's your room. I'll send someone over to get your drinks started." The hostess said, holding open the door for her.

"Thanks." Miriam smiled.

They closed the door, leaving the couple alone. Jack awkwardly stood by their table. He hadn't seen or talked to Miriam in four days. Every time he’d text or call her, Mede would reply in her place with a sarcastic remark and let him know she was busy. He only knew Miriam was Vegas because she posted herself with her friends at one of Guy Fieri’s restaurants the previous night. Then earlier in the day she posted a video of herself and Anthony Ramos recreating a scene from ‘Blackout’ that was briefly a trend on Tiktok.

He commented ‘🙌🏻’ on the video but she ignored it. Which drew attention because before people found out about them they would always interact in each other's comments. People also noticed that Miriam deleted all her posts of her and Jack and started making theories that they broke up and were trying to save face at the Oscars. She tweeted ‘there’s no point of me keeping posts about my mystery bf if y’all already know who’s fucking me lol.’ That gave him hope that he and Miriam were going to be okay.

Jack knew he fucked up big time. He was so blinded by his jealousy that he didn’t see three other people in the picture. Miriam was on one end with Eugenio Derbez and their Oscars while Shawn was on the other end with Sebastian Yatra. He felt like an idiot and Miriam had every right to be upset with him. He reacted irrationally and ruined her night.

He was so focused on the fact that he was in the presence of Miriam that Jack was nearly tackled to the ground. She wrapped her arms around him and buried her face into his chest. Jack, unsure on what to do, hugged her back. He rubbed her back as she hugged him tighter and broke into soft cries.

"I shouldn't have given you that ultimatum." She said between sobs. “I’m so sorry.”

“Hi, my name is…” A server began but stopped seeing Miriam crying. “I’ll come back in a few minutes.”

Jack guided her to the booth's bench and sat her down. He pulled a chair and sat in front of her. He watched her reach for a paper napkin and blow her nose.

"Sorry," she sniffled, "I shouldn't have gone up to you like that. I know you're mad at me–"

"Miriam, you shouldn't apologize for anything.” he said, taking her hands in his. He rubbed her knuckles with his thumbs. “You were right. I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did. I called my therapist the day after and told her everything. She said I was so blinded by my own jealousy and insecurities that I made up some shit to try to justify why I felt so jealous. It was fucked up of me to project all of that on to you.”

“I guess, but I also shouldn’t have reacted the way I did with Anitta.” Miriam said. “Urban told me how she sat on you and got off before you could even react.”

“I’m sorry… for everything. I ruined your night. And–and…”

She placed her hand on his neck and brought his head down so their foreheads meet. “Can we just forget what happened last week? We can go back and forth on what we should have done better for a while. We were able to acknowledge that we both were both in the wrong and we’re working through it.”

“Yeah,” Jack agreed. “I really am sorry for what I said.”

“I know and I’m sorry for what I said.”

The couple stayed silent for a few moments. Their silence was interrupted by the server who approached them cautiously.

“Hi, are we ready to order or do we need a few minutes?” they asked.

“I think we’re ready.” Miriam said.

"We'll have the baked alfredo pasta, six plain wings, and half meat lovers with jalapeño half barbecue chicken with extra crispy onions." Jack told the server. He looked over at Miriam and saw the eyebags under her bloodshot eyes. It was obvious she hasn't been sleeping and she's overworking herself. "Actually, is it alright if we make our order to-go?"

"Of course, let me just write this on the to-go notepad." They said, scratching off what they wrote. "Follow me to the paying booth and we'll have that out in half an hour."

Jack got up and let Miriam go first so he could admire her ass in the slip dress she wore. His attention went to her legs, noticing that she wasn't walking normally. She walked with a slight limp, not putting pressure on the knee she injured when she was younger.

He leaned into her and in a hush tone he said, "I haven't fucked you and you're already limping."

"I told you I don't need you, to get fucked senseless. I can do that myself." She whispered. Jack frowned, making her giggle. "I'm kidding. We've been doing six hour rehearsals and my knee is acting up because of the dancing. But I'm okay."

"Don't work yourself too hard."

"I won't, that's your job, Jack."

***

There was a thrill about going down on Jack in a cramped broom closet ten minutes before he went on stage. Jack and Miriam couldn't make it to his dressing room and back, so they settled for a quickie in there.

"I told you I only needed five minutes." Miriam said, lifting her arms so Jack could help her up.

"I was practically coming in my pants when we got in." He said, adjusting his cock back in his boxer-briefs.

"Thanks to me." She said innocently.

Jack rolled his eyes and reached for her hands to help her up. She was sitting in a deep squat so her knees wouldn't be touching the ground because who knows who's been in there.

Miriam thanked him and washed her hands in the mop sink. She fixed her skirt and pulled up her top to cover her breasts. When she was going down on Jack, he kindly asked her if she could have them out. Her whole outfit was from Katalina.

She flew in with their grandparents earlier in the day since their parents and brother couldn't make it to the Grammys to support Miriam. Mateo was in Korea in hopes that the salsa company could start selling salsas in Asia. Isabela was in London filming and Joseph was in New York filming as well.

When Katalina saw Miriam wearing a custom dress she made her change immediately. There was nothing wrong with the dress, it just wasn't appropriate for a club. Katalina let her borrow a black mini skirt with a slit down the left thigh and black off the shoulder long sleeve bandeau top, both from Mônot. In addition to strappy heels that wrapped around her legs.

Miriam felt a bit uncomfortable with the ensemble. It wasn't her style, but she got more confident of her outfit when Jack couldn't keep his hands to himself and all he did was whisper obscenities in her ear.

Miriam walked out of the broom closet first and looked around to make sure the coast was clear. She knocked three times letting Jack he could come out.

"There you are!" Winnie called the couple. "We've been looking for you guys. We're gonna do a prayer before you go on stage, Jack."

Jack and Miriam shared a look. But before they could respond, a few others joined in and started praying with Winnie. Luckily it was a short and sweet prayer.

"I'm gonna get mic'd up. I'll see after." Jack said.

Miriam nodded and gave him a chaste kiss. "Love you."

"Love you." He said back, pulling her to another kiss.

Jack was ushered by the crew members so Miriam went back to the VIP area. She flashed her pass and went to where Mede and Katalina sat.

"I see why, Claudia volunteered to watch your baby." Miriam said, eyeing Jocy J and Anitta taking tequila shots with Neelam a few seats away.

"I know," Mede agreed. "I wonder how they became friends because they—wait where have you been?"

"I've been around." She shrugged.

"Miriam, you have something white on the corner of your mouth and your tit." Katalina said, gesturing to Miriam's face and chest.

"Shit." She cursed. Miriam forgot that with blacklights, bodily fluids can be seen.

"Girl," Mede cringed. "Now everyone knows you've been giving head."

"Shut up," Miriam mumbled, grabbing a makeup wipe from her purse to clean herself. "Ya?"

"You're good." Katalina nodded.

Miriam helped herself to some of the tequila in the bottle service that her sister was paid for.

"Did you fucking pay for that? Of course you didn't. You're some rich entitled brat that thinks everything is at your service." Neelam asked her, her breath reeking of cheap vodka.

"Neither did you or your friends, so back the fuck off." Miriam snapped at her.

She was not in the mood to deal with Neelam. She finished making her tequila and cola mix by squeezing some lime on it.

"What was that all about?" Katalina asked.

"She doesn't like me, but it's whatever." Miriam said, gulping down the drink in one swallow.

"Have you told Jack about it?"

"Kat, can we drop it? I'm here to relax and try to shake my ass."

"Girl we're gonna need a miracle for you to be able to shake your ass." She teased.

Miriam gasped. "Bitch!"

"I'm playing."

The sisters laughed and started dancing to the DJ. After a few songs Jack finally came on. Miriam cheered loud enough that he turned around and grinned at her before rapping. She fixed herself another cocktail then another.

At some point she lost track of the cocktails she had. She stumbled over to the set up and made herself a chafita version of a moscow mule. She took a generous sip and poured more vodka, but she missed her cup and spilled it on the table. Despite the loud speakers and music, she heard a few snickers and huffed laughs. Miriam looked over and it was Neelam and Anitta.

"What does Jack see in her?"Anitta said, eyeing Miriam’s outfit.

"I ask myself that everyday. Jack has such shit taste. Miriam is so fucking pathetic and ugly. It's clear money can't buy you class, but it can buy off people for you to win an Oscar for stupid ass movie." Neelam said to Anitta, loud enough for Miriam to hear. She continued. "Aw look at her, when will she realize that the only reason why give her the time of day is because she's a lesser version of her mom."

"Can you two behave? Shit talking in public is pathetic." Katalina said, having heard enough.

"Aw, you have your sister to defend you since you're so defenseless." Anitta taunted.

Katalina said something in Portuguese, immediately shutting up the Brazilian singer. "Miriam, let's sit down and have some water."

"Fine." Miriam set her drink down.

"Run along and hide behind your sister's shadow." Neelam waved her off.

Miriam pulled away from her sister's grasp and walked up to Neelam. "I hate to be the one to tell you this but the only reason why all of these people act buddy-buddy with you is because your name is attached to Jack. If it wasn't, no one would give you the time of day. So be cautious of how you act around these people because they won't hesitate to make a mess and blame it on you. You are nothing without Jack so you better learn your fucking place."

"Don't talk to me like that." Neelam snapped. "I own Jack. I have the power to keep him away from you and we all know he'll do my bidding because he's a spineless weasel willing to do whatever to make it."

"Just remember I also have power in a more damaging way than you. With a simple wave I can have you removed. With a simple tweet, I can ruin your reputation. What I say fucking matters. You're just Jack's glorified babysitter." She continued. "I hope Jack wakes up one day and realizes the leech he has controlling his life."

"Miri, déjala, let's just go." Katalina said, getting in between her sister and Neelam.

Katalina has seen her sister get scrappy and knows how heavy handed she is. When Miriam bitch slapped, her face was red for a whole week. She’s seen her spar with Beto and seen her knock his 6’5 ass down effortlessly. Jack’s manager, who was probably five feet tall on a good day, doesn’t stand a chance.

She noticed Miriam begin to shake. Her chest rose frantically as tears rolled down her cheeks. She was at the brink of a panic attack. Katalina gently nudged her back and guided her down the steps where Mede was waiting with their bags. They went through the back where Beto was waiting for them. He helped them get Miriam inside the SUV.

"I have to call Jack! He's gonna be worried that I'm not there!" Miriam said, scrambling to get her bag.

"Miriam, you're shaking." Katalina said.

"I need to tell him I didn't– I…" Miriam burst into tears. She leaned into her big sister and sobbed uncontrollably. "Why does she have to be part of Jack's team?"

An hour and a half later, Jack finished his set. He took off his equipment and followed Chris, who was at the side stage during his set along with Urban and his brother, down the hall to his green room. When they walked in, the rest of his team was all huddled around a crying Neelam.

"What's up?" Jack asked.

"Your girlfriend is a fucking entitled rich bitch, that's what's up." KY said.

"Say that shit one more time." He said walking up to him, but Urban and Clay held him back.

"Everyone take a few steps back and calm down." Chris said sternly. He walked up to Neelam and his face scrunched up. "Did someone spill a drink on you? Because you know you're not supposed to be drinking when Jack is on stage."

"I had a few drinks." Neelam said defensively. "I'm sorry."

"The only person that should be apologizing is Jack's little girlfriend." KY mumbled.

"Don't fucking talk down to Miriam." Jack warned him.

"Or what? Are you gonna go Will Smith on me?"

"Can someone explain what happened?" Chris asked.

"Miriam went off on me." Neelam said. "I don't even know why. I was with Anitta and her friend and then she got in my face. She called a glorified babysitter, a leech and she said that I should know my place."

Jack stood there, trying to process everything. Miriam was pretty friendly even when she's drunk; she tends to get emotional and cry. She's not one to go off on people unless provoked. Jack's gut was telling him that there was more to what Neelam was saying.

He heard a knock and Winnie poked her head inside. "Hey, can we talk in private?" She said, waving Jack over.

"Yeah." He said, slipping away without being seen.

Once outside he asked her, "what's up?"

"Here's the receipt from tonight, don't worry Kat paid for it, but she left early with Miriam and Mede so I saved the receipt for them." She said, handing him a long strip of paper.

"You saw Miriam leave?" He asked her.

"Yeah. I know you haven't been in the industry long. And I'm saying this because I love you like a cousin, but you gotta keep your manager and friends in check. It was so unprofessional and rude of them to keep ordering bottles to our section without consulting me. Even some of your friends were sending bottles to random tables outside of our section. I was hosting a brand deal and half of the stuff I sent my team for approval to post was scrapped because of the other stuff that was in my pictures and videos.

Speaking of videos, a few of the ones I got recorded where you can hear your manager talking mad shit about Miriam. I couldn't hear as I was recording but my team caught them when they were sorting to see what was salvageable. As you know, everyone rides for Miriam. She's literally the moment right now and people would not hesitate to come for your manager and for you."

"Thanks for letting me know." Jack simply said.

"On a lighter note, you did amazing and have fun at the Grammys tomorrow. I'll be rooting for you and Nas." Winnie said.

They said their goodbyes. Jack watched her meet up with her boyfriend and other friends. Before he went inside, he looked down at the receipt and it was over fifty grand. He rubbed the bridge of his nose. He pulled out his phone and venmoed Katalina for what she paid.

Chris poked his head out. "Who was at the door?" He asked Jack.

"Winnie, she gave me this." Jack handed him the receipt. "Miriam's sister paid for it."

"Jesus," Chris cursed, seeing the total.

"Not to mention she was telling me that she couldn't complete her contract because the guys were ordering things that they weren't supposed to and Neelam was talking shit about Miriam in the background of her videos." He sighed.

"Neelam was talking shit about Miriam? You're kidding." His manager asked. Jack shook his head. "And she was drinking on the job."

"It's not the first time she does any of those two things. Is there a way we can fire her or something?"

"Unfortunately no, she's part of Generation Now and they're in charge of everything with tour and your album. You have a five album contract with them and you're barely on your second album rollout." Chris explained. "Our hands are tied."

Jack's phone buzzed. He pulled it out, hoping it was Miriam. It wasn't. Winnie had sent him some of the videos she recorded. He watched all of them and as he predicted Neelam was the one who instigated everything.

"Let's go inside and collect your things." Chris said.

"...she's got an ass and some tits but what else does she bring to the table?" Nemo said, not realizing Jack had walked in. The guys all cleared their throats, hoping he'd get the hint, but he didn't. He kept going. "Miriam is just some rich bitch who gets off making people feel like shit."

Jack had enough of people talking shit about his girlfriend, and played one of the videos. His phone had been connected to a speaker earlier while he got ready in the green room.

"'Miriam is so fucking pathetic and ugly. It's clear money can't buy you class, but it can buy off people for you to win an Oscar for stupid ass movie.'"

"Here's another one." Jack said, playing another video.

"'Did you fucking pay for that? Of course you didn't. You're some rich entitled brat that thinks everything is at your service.'"

"I got plenty more videos." He said, keeping his gaze on Neelam. "One where you call me a spineless weasel and another where you claim that you own me. I hope you know how lucky we all are that I got the videos. The person who sent them to me could have easily sold them and we all would have been fucked."

Everyone was quiet, watching Jack grab his things. He turned to friends. "You guys owe Miriam's sister fifty grand for covering your bottle service."

With that Jack left. His bodyguard guided him to the SUV. Everyone could take the van. He had originally planned on leaving in the SUV with Miriam and spend the rest of the night fucking each other, but after tonight he wasn't even sure she wanted to see him.

He pulled his phone out and checked his messages. There were several from Miriam, mostly gibberish. She doesn't have the best grammar when she's drunk. He got one from Mede, summarizing what had happened at the club. Jack locked his phone and sighed. Of course there's a shitshow the night before the biggest night of his career.

The following day was chaotic to say the least. Jack had been up since early in the morning. He went to pick his parents up at the airport and after he met up with Lil Nas X for rehearsals. They did a run through with the other performers. Next thing he knew he was being ushered out of the red carpet back to the trailers where all the performers were going.

“Isn’t that Mriam’s trailer?” his mom asked, pointing at the trailer with ‘Dominguez, M.’ on the door.

“Yeah, it is.” Jack said.

“Let’s go say hi.” Maggie said, leading the family to the trailer.

Jack smoothed his suit jacket and knocked. He was nervous. With how hectic today was, he hadn’t had a chance to talk to Miriam. Though they waved at each other when they were doing dress rehearsals.

“Hi!” Mede’s toddler said, opening the door.

Mede came trailing behind him. “Sebas, no abras las puertas sin mi.” she placed him on her hip and smiled at Jack and his family. “Hi, come in.”

She led them to the sitting area where Miriam’s sister and their grandparents were. Mede handed Sebas to Claudia and rushed to Miriam’s dressing room.

“Biiitch,” she said.

“What?” Miriam asked, deciding on what shoes she should wear for her performance.

“Your man and his family are here.”

“Say sike.” she frowned.

“I wish I was.”

“Fuck, okay. Let me just…” she picked up a pillow and screamed into it. She tossed it to the side and smiled, her right eye twitching. “Let’s go.”

Miriam slipped on her black red bottoms and smoothed out her dress. Soni designed a black off the shoulder gown with a sequin detailing material, full sleeves, embellished, and a very low cut sweetheart neckline. It was form-fitting with a straight skirt that reached her ankles and there was a slit in the back so she could walk.

When they left the dressing room, Jack and his parents were making small talk with her grandparents. Back in January, he met Miriam’s other grandma when they were in San Jose for his California shows. Mede went to Claudia and Katalina who were watching Sebas explain his Paw Patrol toys to Clay.

“Hi!” Miriam said, hugging Jack from the side.

“Hey.” he said, leaning down to kiss her but stopped himself.

“Wait, hold the pose.” Katalina said, with her phone out. “My mom said to get lots of pictures.”

Suddenly everyone pulled out their phones and took pictures of the couple. Claudia and Mede jumped in positioning the couple into corny prom poses.

“I think y’all got enough.” Jack told his parents. He turned to Miriam and quietly asked, “ can we talk?”

“I have to change. We go after Bruno Mars and Anderson Paak and–”

“Five minutes,” he insisted.

“Okay.” she nodded.

Miriam led him to her room.

“I’m sorry about last night. I got drunk–not that it excuses my actions– but I just…”

“Miriam,” Jack held her hands in his. “I’m sorry they said all that shit to you. It was unprofessional of Neelam to be even drinking and mingling. You’ve been tense from

“All I'm saying is that she’s lucky that Kat held me back.” she mumbled, making Jack snort. “Is she in trouble for drinking?”

“Yes, but because she’s technically part of Generation Now, me and Chris can’t do much. On top of that, I can’t leave the label because I have a five album contract with them.”

“You wanted to leave GN?” Miriam asked, confused.

“Yeah, the way they handle some things…is not ideal. Don’t get me wrong, I’m grateful for everything they’ve done for me, but…you know?”

“Yeah, I get you.” she nodded.

Miriam hugged him, squeezing him a little tighter. Even in her six inch heels, she was still short, so Jack hugged her head. He pulled away and leaned down to capture her lips. She moaned into his mouth. Jack’s hands made their way down to her ass. With both hands, he kneaded her ass and then pressed her down on the growing tent of his dress pants. Miriam held his face as she leaned down to kiss his lips. They moaned into each other's mouths as Jack kept moving Miriam’s hips on him. He held them in place and pushed his hips up for a different sensation. After what felt like an eternity, he finally let them go and wrapped his arms around her waist as they continued their makeout session.

There was a knock from her dressing room. Mede popped her head in the room. “Miri, one of the producers is looking for you. You have ten minutes to meet with the rest of the cast.” she said before closing the door.

“That’s my cue.” Jack nodded. He sponged kisses all over her face and pulled away. “Break a leg, superstar.”

Corey Hawkins carried Miriam after their performance and sat her on one of the giant boxes. The cast members all saw her fall. The adrenaline wore off and all Miriam felt was pain and embarrassment.

"What's going on?" Mede said with concern. When she saw Miriam rubbing her knee, she knew it was finally time to put her degree to use. She turned to one of the backstage crew members. "Let me look at her knee. I'm an RN, I got my bachelors from UCLA."

The crew member nodded and stepped aside so Mede could look at Miriam's knee.

"Hun, what happened?" she asked. She was watching from the backstage cameras but they didn’t show anything.

"My knee gave out when I hopped off the table during ‘Blackout’. I fucked up the performance!" Miriam sobbed. "What if I tore my ACL again and I have to get surgery again? I can't have that, I start filming this week and we're behind because they're waiting for me to come back. I don't wanna drop the project!"

"Miriam, I need you to breathe. Can you do that for me?" Mede asked her. She looked over her shoulder and saw a lot of people staring at them. She motioned Beto to clear the area for her.

"Hey, is everything alright?" Jack asked when he approached them.

He was front in center while she was performing. She was doing amazing as always, and hit her note in ‘96,000’ and when the lights went out for the song, he saw her miss the chair and fall on her bad knee. The rest of the performance she sang and danced with tears streaming down her cheeks.

Lil Nas X was behind him with a pair of crutches. "We saw you eat shit, so I stole these from SZA."

“Nas," he said, nodding over to crying Miriam.

"Shit, sorry." He mumbled, hugging the crutches.

“Babe, we have to go to the ER and get x-rays. You might not have torn anything but just to make sure you didn’t sprain your knee.” Mede told Miriam.

She nodded, there was no point in fighting it. Mede has this mom voice that just makes you do things. Miriam looked up, finally seeing Jack and Lil Nas X. More tears pooled around her eyes. She made grabby arms at Jack. He knelt down and wrapped his arms around her, rubbing her back as she started crying again.

“I don’t wanna miss your lil dance.” she said, sniffling.

“It’ll be on tv.” Jack reassured her. They rested their foreheads against each other.

“Claudia is getting our things and she already told your sister and grandparents.” Mede said, reading from her phone. “Okay love birds break it up. We gotta make sure this one didn’t fuck up her knee.”

Jack pulled Miriam to a kiss. Mede and Lil Nas X watching the couple passionately make out like a couple from the 1920s when the guy is about to board a train that’s gonna take him to the war. A medic golf cart pulled up, making the couple pull apart. The medic came and checked out Miriam's knee, giving them the same response Mede gave them a few minutes ago.

The golf cart drove Miriam to another van where Mede and Beto rode with her to the hospital. Three hours later and several x-rays later, it was revealed that Miriam strained her knee. The past few weeks of hours of rehearsals really took a toll on her knee. But now she has to have her knee in a knee-brace and use crutches for two weeks. The ER doctor wrote her a doctor's note for her to give the production team explaining that she couldn’t do any running, stunts or any other strenuous movements that require her on her feet for long periods of time.

Beto drove her to the hotel where Jack was staying. Her family flew back to California after she begged them to. They wanted to go to the ER with her and see what the doctors had to say but she started crying again. They took the hint and went home.

Dressed in only his hoodie, Miriam mindlessly scrolled through twitter while she waited for Jack. She was trending, but not for what she thought she was. Apparently In the Heights won the grammy for best soundtrack, making her a grammy winner. A lot of people praised her singing. Other people pointed out she was crying so they assumed she was just being emotional until someone posted a video of her at the ER. Which grannerd more praise for her because she kept going.

She exited out of the bird app and went on Instagram. She pulled up several pictures and videos from when she was a kid and saw the Broadway production to when she was in the Oakland production of ‘In the Heights’ to when she filmed the movie to recently when she was rehearsing for the Oscars and Grammys. She wrote a long and sappy caption about how it was an honor to be a part of the musical. She also thanked Karen Olivo for being such an inspiration.

“Miriam?” Jack called her when he arrived at his suite.

After the ceremony, he went on a group dinner with his family friends and some of his team members. He was gonna ditch the dinner and go to the hospital, but Miriam made him go to the dinner.

“I’m in here.” she yelled from the bedroom.

He walked in and handed her a to-go bag. Mede texted him to make sure Miriam ate because she hadn’t eaten since lunch, so he brought her back some pasta.

“I asked them to make the meat sauce with Italian sausage.” he said, watching her look into the bag.

“I don’t want Italian sausage. I want some Kentuckian sausage.” Miriam said, reaching to undo his pants.

“Miriam, we’re not fucking.” he said, pushing her hands away.

“Why?” she began to pout.

“You’re injured.” Jack said, undressing and changing into sweats.

"I'm fine."

"We're not fucking in your condition, Miriam"

“I’m pretty tired. How about we go to bed with you inside me?” she blinked her eyes innocently at him.

“Fine but if you move, imma make you sleep on the couch.” he warned her.

Miriam gasped and touched her chest. “You’re gonna make me sleep there in my condition.”

Taglist: @cherryxcreme @heavyhitterheaux @carma-fanficaddict @youngharleezy @youngharleezyxo @babyharleezy @that-90s-girllll @alinaharlow @whywontyoulovemecami @meyocoko @harlowcomehome @nattinatalia @webinurcloset @gassyandsassy1 @jackharloww @awhoere4more @noescapricho-essentimiento

#jack harlow #jack harlow smut #jack harlow angst #jack harlow one shot #jack harlow fan fiction #jack and miriam

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winderlylandchime · 5 months

Note

1/3 And here we are folks. The finale. I apologize for how long this could be because it was A LOT: ‘Im not ready for this to end. I don’t think you understand just how scared and not ready i am’ He is a mess btw, his hair is sticking in all directions, he spilled his drink bc he knocked it over with his cast and he is probably 5 seconds away from crying so i already know this is gonna be a rollercoaster. And because he couldn’t sit still he even brought out his stress ball that he bought like a month ago. Anyway, one last episode update: the episode starts with Mikey narrating ‘ew, i forgot about that. Make it stop’ ‘AHHH BRIAN LOOKS SO FUCKING GOOD! DAMN JUSTIN LOOKS GOOD TOO! BEAUTIFUL! LOOK AT THEM!..can Michael shut up now?’ ‘Fuck you, these ads are hilarious. Does she know who the fuck she came to for hel- SEX ALWAYS SELLS!’ And we are at the stag party! ‘Thank god thats done. I didnt wanna be rude but holy fuck Tad was annoying. Ted you can do better. Okay but Brian isn’t gone, he’s just getting married? Theyre acting like he died *looks at me confused* whats going on? Why dont they just fuck the stripper together? Why is blondie looking at him like that? *snaps his fingers* ah! He wanted to fuck him together.’ And we are at Brian/Gus scene ‘this is so fucking cute! And they act like he didnt care about the kid! Oh fuck you mel’ and Mel and Brian are now alone ‘they would have all the happiness in the world if ONLY their fucking friends learned to mind their business. Aww look at Brian admiring his work’ Mel says that considering what he’s sacrificing line ‘Nah fuck this and fuck her, everyone literally makes and made it their business to make it their number 1 priority to always interfere with Brian’s life. And it is NEVER to make it better. But they NEVER say no to his money. *throws the ball at mel on tv* what? She stressed me out, its a stress ball!’ ‘That smile was the smile of a man who is so used of people hitting him below the belt. I fucking hate it here. And i fucking hate all of Brian’s friends, i will never forgive them for how they treat him’ we are at that mikey/brian scene with the flashback ‘what the fuck is this? (Mikey says he jerked off to brian) Now why the fuck would he say that to him? This whole scene felt out of place and weird’ And we are at the scene with Britin where they decide to call off the wedding ‘thats adorable. Aww he wants to cuddle. Blondie, he cuddled you after you cheated, what are you talking about? (Justin has his brian kinney speech) what..bro, what is happening? so hes mad he’s not fucking guys? See, i told you he wanted a threesome. WAIT PAUSE THE FUCKING EPISODE NOW *i pause it* HAS HE BEEN MONOGAMOUS SINCE THE PROPOSAL? I thought they were still fucking around? But also blondie wanted monogamy, what? Im confused, theyre confused, we’re all confused’ Brian asks about New York ‘hold the fuck up, why is new york being mentioned? Why would he go there over one fucking review? Brian knows he’s sacrificing his career…oh no. IM CONFUSED, can he only paint in new york? Do they not have paint brushes in Pittsburgh?’ And the sacrificing part is up ‘he did the same shit with LA. But that was different!! He had a job offer from a director! Damn it you too blondie? WHAT IS HAPPENING? What the fuck just happened? What did i just watch?’ And we are at the scene where Britin announces theyre not getting married ‘ooohhh fancy! THATS RIGHT DAPHNE! JUSTIN HAS EVERYTHING! Ahhhh look at them! THEY LOOK FINE AS FUCK! Brian has been wearing the fuck out of that stripped suit tho. (They announce it) *he’s dead silent and his arm with the cast is covering his mouth* oh thank fucking god *he sits back and lets out a deep breath while his arm is in his hair* i didnt wanna judge but that was one of thee worst ideas they’ve had. We are once again on the same page boys! Party, fuck and just enjoy life.’ And now we are at Brian’s meeting ‘that ad is the second worst idea he’s had. TELL HER BRIAN! HA! THATS RIGHT! THATS MY BABY! IM SO PROUD OF HIM!’

OH FUCK WE’RE REALLY IN IT NOW FRIENDS. HERE WE ARE.

The stag party is a cute moment but right? Why didn’t they fuck that guy together? They can be married and nonmonogamous.

They sure as fuck do love to fuck around in his life and not to make it better but are always happy to take a handout.

WHY WOULD HE GO THERE OVER ONE FUCKING REVIEW? fucking this a million times. it makes no fucking sense. Am I addressing that in my fic? I’m sure as shit trying to.

A job offer from the film director DID make LA different. Do they not have paint brushes in Pittsburgh? That’s a fucking great question Brother!

It was one of the worst ideas they have ever had but they didn’t need to send Justin to NYC to undo it (and then the final scene).

#ask winderlylandchime #dear sweet anon #queer as folk #a straight man watches qaf us 2000 in the year of our lord 2023

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renaerys · 4 years

Text

PPG One-Shot: Shook (Brick/Blossom)

Summary: When Butch and Buttercup’s fighting goes a bit too far, Blossom takes it upon herself to intervene. Reds.

xxx

Brick woke up with pinprick pain in his temples this morning, a sure indicator that today was going to be a bad day.

His headache only progressed throughout the day, and by the end of sixth period AP European History, he was fantasizing about how good Marie Antoinette and Louis XVI had it with that guillotine. Quick, painless, and blissful freedom from the squabbling peasants who would never have let them off easy anyway.

“Dude, you’re doing it again.”

Brick could feel his brother’s big, blue eyes on the back of his head as he unloaded his books at his locker. “What.”

“The resting serial killer face.”

Brick glanced at his reflection in the small mirror he had affixed to his locker door. Tired, red eyes stared back at him, mouth in a harsh, thin line, and his trademark red cap backwards over his red hair. His bangs were getting a little long.

He slammed the locker door. “Maybe take the hint.”

Boomer, unlike most of the plebeians at Townsville High School, didn’t cower in fear at his brother’s bloody glare. He smiled and threw a letter-jacket-clad arm over Brick’s shoulders. “Lighten up, man. It’s Friday! Julie’s party is tonight, remember?”

Shit, Brick had forgotten. He vaguely remembered agreeing to go to that.

“Someone say party?” Wes Goingon, a guy so pale he looked like he’d been bleached at birth, approached them hand in hand with his girlfriend, Kim Chan.

Kim smiled brightly at Brick. “Oh yeah, Julie’s! You guys are going, right?”

Boomer dragged Brick into step with their friends, and he was too tired to resist. “For sure.”

Brick sighed. “I don’t know, I’ve got a migraine. I might sit this one out.”

“No way, you gotta come!” Wes said. “It’s not a party without you.”

Kim nudged Brick affectionately. “He’s right, but if you’re not feeling well, you should stay home. I noticed you were kind of quiet today.”

“Shh, Kim, don’t give him a way out. Everybody’s gonna be there,” Boomer said. “It’s the last party before Fall Break!”

Fall Break, yes, that was an appealing prospect. A whole week off from school to do what he wanted without having to deal with all the bullshit of high school daily life. Brick didn’t hate it as much as he’d thought he would. Even with his reputation as a Rowdyruff Boy following him, there had been some brave souls who’d given him and his brothers a chance to be normal seventeen-year-old boys, something he hadn’t had back in Citiesville before transferring. Even if many were wary of him, there were a few like Wes and Kim who were so used to sharing the halls with Supers that they barely noticed the difference.

The four of them were approaching the west exit when Brick came across the last person he wanted to see. His migraine flared at the mere sight of her and the suspicion in her gaze that was as ubiquitous as her red hair ribbon whenever they unfortunately crossed paths.

“Hey Blossom!” Kim said, bounding over.

“Hi Kim,” Blossom said, bypassing her to approach Brick, but it turned out it wasn’t him she was looking for. “Boomer, I’m glad I ran into you. Have you seen my sister anywhere?”

Brick watched her talking to his brother like he wasn’t standing right there and felt his blood pressure begin to rise. No matter how much time he spent breathing the same air as this girl, he couldn’t get past his dislike of her. They were no longer arch enemies looking to grind each other into the ground, their childhood enmity mostly behind them now that they were older and more interested in living their lives in peace. But even so, Brick had never had any desire to befriend Blossom or her Super sisters, Bubbles and Buttercup.

Still, she didn’t have to ignore him so obviously. She was always doing petty crap like that. So juvenile.

Boomer, of course, had no such qualms about mingling with Townsville’s resident heroes. Brick wasn’t sure how it had happened, but somehow Boomer had befriended Bubbles, played sports with Buttercup, and was even on amicable terms with Blossom.

“Which one?” Boomer asked, running a hand through his short, blond hair like he was thinking about how it looked in front of her.

The fuck, Brick thought.

“Bubbles. She was supposed to meet me after class, but she’s not answering her phone.”

“No, sorry. I haven’t seen her since lunch.”

Blossom tugged on her long, red ponytail, something she did whenever she was troubled by something. Brick hated that he knew this about her.

“Oh, all right. Well, if you hear from her, can you let me know?”

“Sure thing.”

Her rosy gaze finally flickered to Brick, and she matched his frown. He told himself to ignore her and her unwarranted suspicion of him—it wasn’t like they were twelve anymore and he was going to rob a convenience store, for fuck’s sake—but he also was not about to look away first.

“Brick,” she said curtly, but she might as well have told him to go jump in a lake.

“Blossom,” he said just as clipped. And, just because he knew how annoyingly hyper-alert she got when they were around each other, he let his eyes flicker briefly over her figure, today clad in casual capris and a sleeveless top.

Just his luck that one of the hottest girls in school had such a frustrating personality.

Of course, she noticed him briefly checking her out and crossed her arms. Her pretty eyes narrowed, and the air around them charged. Boomer noticed her subtly spiking energy levels and shrank back instinctively. Brick held his ground, wondering if she’d tell him off. He kind of hoped she would if only to distract him from his pounding headache.

Wes and Kim, oblivious to the electrifying tension, were still talking about Blossom’s missing sister.

Or rather, sisters plural.

“Yeah, I think I saw them leave together. They were in kind of a hurry,” Wes said.

“Really? Since when are Butch and Buttercup so chummy?” Kim asked.

At the mention of his trigger-happy brother, Brick tore his gaze from Blossom. “What about Butch?”

Blossom also forgot her rising annoyance and focused on Wes. “What are you talking about? They left together?”

Wes looked between Brick and Blossom, and it was his turn to shrink. Friends or not, being on the receiving end of both Reds’ glares at the same time was enough to make a guy quail. “Uh, yeah, like I saw them both dash out after sixth period…”

“Together?” Blossom demanded.

“Kind of?” Wes put his hands up like he was trying to placate a pair of wild animals. “More like he dragged her out? I mean, not violently or something!”

Blossom paled, and Brick rolled his eyes. It didn’t take a genius to figure out what had happened. Butch couldn’t seem to go a full week without fighting the only person on the planet dumb enough to rise to his challenge every time. Mostly, Brick didn’t care what his brother did as long as it didn’t blow back on Boomer and him, and for the most part Butch behaved. But lately, he’d been hitting the gym twice a day and even pestering Brick for spars more often than usual. As if fighting Buttercup wasn’t enough of a challenge for him already.

“Oh, so they probably went to fight. Hey, maybe Bubbles is with them?” Boomer said.

Blossom was still white as a sheet. “They can’t fight right now. She’s in no condition.”

Brick was about to tell her to calm down, she was overreacting about every goddamned little thing as usual, but Blossom dashed off in a flash of pink before he could get a word in. Kim was knocked over with the force of it, and Boomer was forced to catch her when she bumped into Wes and they both almost went down.

“Jeez, what was that about?!” Kim griped.

“You okay?” Boomer asked.

Brick scowled deeply. What was she thinking using her powers in school? Of all people, Blossom would never. What had crawled up her ass today? He had half a mind to find out.

“Come on, Boomer,” he said.

“Wait, where are we going?”

But Brick dashed off in a blinding blaze of red in much the same fashion as Blossom before him, knocking all three of them down in his haste to catch up to her.

xxx

Buttercup heaved and spat blood. The Chemical X in her system was sluggish as it depleted so much faster than usual, and she felt Butch’s punches like a ton of bricks. He came in fast and hard again, and this time Buttercup dodged the brunt of his punch and sent him spinning away.

“C’mon, BC! Enough of this cat and mouse crap,” Butch taunted. “Fight me! Unless you’re too much of a pussy.”

“Fuck you,” Buttercup spat.

Trash talk had always been a part of their clashes, and normally it added to the fire she felt beneath her skin at the prospect of handing him his ass. But their last fight had been particularly brutal just a few days ago, and while Buttercup would never admit weakness, she was not fully recovered from it.

Should’ve listened to Blossom and taken that X supplement…

Buttercup silenced that traitorous thought. She didn’t need help. She was the toughest fighter for a reason. A little roughhousing didn’t merit all that coddling. Then again, she hadn’t expected Butch to be raring to go again so soon.

“Guys, really! I think you should just call it quits for today!” Bubbles said, hovering close but not close enough to get in between them. She was not suicidal.

Butch glanced at her askance. “Hey, no one asked you, Blondie. I don’t mind an audience, but this is between me ’n your sister, so be a good girl and mind your own fucking business.”

Buttercup seethed. “Don’t talk to her like that!”

“Oh, yeah? What’re you gonna do about it?”

The taunt was transparent, but Buttercup fell for it all the same. She always fell for it, her body screaming to meet his blow for blow even if her mind knew better. It had always been that way with Butch, supernatural. He’d been created to destroy her, and even now that they were older and grown out of that artificial good versus evil bullshit, sometimes she felt like he really was out to obliterate her. She lived for that challenge, that push to the limits of fear and fatality, knowing in her bones that no one could get her as close to the edge as Butch could.

And so, reckless in pursuit of that special high only he could give her, Buttercup rocketed toward him, her fists crackling green with power. Butch caught her fists in his, and their power exploded between them.

Buttercup was invincible for all of a half second, and then came the pain. She was blown back with such force that she went flying and landed hard in the parking lot of the Shankaplex movie theater, totaling two cars and ripping a crater open in the asphalt. Her body ached, and when she opened her eyes, she saw double.

“Buttercup!” Bubbles screamed.

But it wasn’t Bubbles who pulled her out of that crater. Butch’s rough hands had her by the collar of her shirt, and he lifted her like a rag doll. His arms smoked where Buttercup’s power had burned him, but his X was healing him fast, and pain had never bothered him anyway.

“Tsk tsk, taking a nap? Am I boring you that much?”

Buttercup could feel that he was about to throw her, and she made a grab for his wrists, only to find that her hands were bruised and cut, and her palms were slick with her own blood. Chemical X was barely healing her at all anymore. A brief flicker of panic petrified her, and Butch smelled it like a shark scenting blood in the water.

“Guess it’s time to finish you off,” he said, grinning.

But he never got the chance, because Bubbles swooped in and tackled him into a movie poster display at full power. Buttercup fell to her knees, coughing and shaking in pain, but her thoughts were only of Bubbles. That inkling of panic she’d felt before blossomed into full-on fear for her baby sister. Bubbles was no match for Butch, not when he was raring to go like this.

As if to prove her fears true, Bubbles went crashing into the asphalt next to Buttercup seconds later, having taken one of Butch’s punishing punches to the stomach dead on. Buttercup stared at her fallen sister and shook with rage.

“What the fuck, Butch! You leave her out of this!” Buttercup screamed at him.

Butch cracked his neck. A horrible gash on his face where Bubbles had injured him sealed before Buttercup’s eyes as the X in his system came to his aid.

“I’m okay,” Bubbles said, sitting up and clutching her stomach. “Just a little winded…”

“Hey, she threw the first punch. Don’t be jealous, BC. You know you’re my main squeeze.” He grinned salaciously at her.

Excruciatingly, Buttercup forced herself to get up. Her limbs were on fire. Logically, she knew she could not take Butch in her state. She had no idea how he had recovered faster than her—fucking teenage boy hormones—but he was in top form and she couldn’t hope to face him fairly like this. Fear faded to fury at her own shortcomings. They were supposed to be equals, but nothing she threw at him could bring him down today.

Still, Buttercup had never forfeited a fight, and she wasn’t about to start now.

“Buttercup, no! You can’t fight him like this! Let me—”

“Shut up, Bubbles,” Buttercup hissed. No way was she going to let Bubbles clean up her mess. Butch was and always would be her problem. She wasn’t going to let him near her sister.

Butch laughed. “That’s more like it. Now, where were we? Oh yeah, here!”

He shot off again, and Buttercup braced herself for a world of pain. If she could just tire him out enough to call it quits, that would be enough without having to forfeit, surely.

A blinding blast of pink energy intercepted Butch before he could ram Buttercup, and she was blown back into Bubble’s arms before she could eat concrete again. When she came to, she saw Blossom’s long ponytail fluttering past her waist, her bare arms sparking with raw, pink power and a deep crag in the concrete leading from her to where Butch now kneeled, smoking and breathing heavily.

Manic jade looked up at Blossom, and despite herself, Buttercup shuddered at the sight. He was good and pissed off now. “And then there were three, huh? I’m in high demand today.”

Blossom ignored him. “Buttercup, are you okay?”

Buttercup’s ire flared again. “I’m fine. What’re you doing here?”

Blossom shot her a glare over her shoulder. “Cleaning up your mess, as usual. What were you thinking fighting him in your state? You know you’re not recovered.”

Pride told Buttercup to defy her imperious sister, but shame and guilt knowing Blossom was right held her back. But it wasn’t like she’d had a choice! When Butch got it in his head that he wanted a fight, there was no stopping him. Before Buttercup got a chance to snap back at Blossom, they were interrupted again.

“What the fuck is this?” Brick landed next to Butch.

Butch rolled his eyes and got to his feet. “Nothing. This is between me and Buttercup.”

Brick’s creepy eyes scanned the ruined parking lot and the few civilians who had poked their heads out of the movie theater to gape at the Supers like fish out of water. “You, Buttercup, and the Mayor’s office when I have to make a case to the city not to fine us for all this property damage.”

An admiring whistle drew everyone’s attention to Boomer hovering a short ways away surveying the damage. “Damn, Butch. You got something against Frozen 2?”

Sure enough, the new kids’ movie advertisement poster was totally destroyed thanks to the explosive fight.

“Huh?” Butch said.

“Enough,” Blossom said. “Brick, take your brother home. He’s done enough damage for one day.”

Brick glared at her, and Buttercup braced herself for the spat she knew was coming.

“We’re not finished here,” Butch said before Brick could get into it with Blossom. “So why don’t you march that fine ass back to chess club or whatever the hell you do after school?”

Brick turned his glare on Butch, and Buttercup felt its departure like the cruel summer sun dipping behind the clouds.

Bubbles gasped. “No! Buttercup, you can’t fight him anymore! I told you this was a bad idea!”

Blossom somehow looked even more incensed. “You came here willingly? I rushed over here thinking Butch had forced you into a fight. Buttercup, what were you thinking?”

“I was thinking this has nothing to do with you,” Buttercup said petulantly.

“You’re bleeding.”

“I’m fine.”

“You’re not fine.” Blossom growled in frustration. “Why is it always a fight with you? You know what, I don’t care. We’ll talk about this later. Bubbles, take her home.”

Bubbles moved to do that, but one look from Buttercup stayed her hand. No way, no fucking way was Buttercup going to let her big sister swoop in and embarrass her like this. Butch would never let her live it down.

“Hey! Are you deaf? I said this is between me and Buttercup. I’m not gonna tell you again, Blossom.”

Butch bared his teeth, and Buttercup felt her skin crawl. He was seriously not done yet, and a very small part of her began to feel the fear creeping back in. She was not in any condition to fight him, she knew that, but he was in no condition to stop.

“Butch,” Brick warned.

But Butch smacked his hand away. His whole body sparked with green energy, ready to snap. Despite herself, Buttercup swallowed hard.

“Fine,” Blossom said. “You want a fight? I’ll give you the fight of your life.”

Buttercup gaped open-mouthed at her sister, not sure if she’d heard right. Blossom never fought unless all other avenues were exhausted, and she certainly never fought Butch. Even Brick looked momentarily stunned at her challenge.

Butch was quicker to recover and burst out laughing. “Good one! Now seriously, get the hell outta my way.”

Blossom didn’t budge. “No.”

All traces of humor left Butch as he regarded her, and then he glanced at Brick. “Hey, I’m not gonna tell you again. I’m not here for you, so move.”

Blossom was busy removing her pearl studs and bracelet. When she held them out, Buttercup was still too stunned to do anything but accept them without protest.

“This won’t take long,” Blossom said, tightening her ponytail.

“Brick,” Boomer said warily, landing next to his brother.

Brick bristled. “Forget this. I’ll fight you, you fucking masochist.”

“No way bro,” Butch said, stepping forward. “Ladies first. She wants me, can’t you tell?”

Blossom actually laughed, stunning Buttercup for the second time in as many minutes. “Honestly, Buttercup, how do you take this boy seriously?”

Buttercup wanted to be mad, but Butch’s reaction was so sudden and so visceral that it gave her whiplash. He began to shake as his power leaked out of him and clogged the air like noxious fumes. That little, emasculating laugh got him more worked up than any number of Buttercup’s punches had today.

“Hey.” Buttercup reached for Blossom and they locked gazes. She shivered at the cold look in her sister’s eyes. It was one she had not often seen, but one she knew better than to question. The instinct to shrink back was so overwhelming that Buttercup felt her stomach turn, and it was not even directed at her.

She remembered a fight many, many years ago when Princess Morbucks had pushed Blossom too far in her pursuit of power. It was the first time Buttercup had ever seen that remorseless look in her sister’s eyes, and she would never forget it.

Butch was no longer grinning. “I’m gonna enjoy putting you in your place.”

Blossom cocked her head. She was still smiling that eerie, cold smile. “I’m waiting.”

That did it. Before anyone could blink, Butch was coming straight for her, fists blazing.

xxx

“Oh shit!” Boomer flew up to join Bubbles, Buttercup, and Brick in the air as they watched Blossom and Butch collide in a conflagration of pink and green. Butch’s punches, delivered hard and swift enough to break the sound barrier, carried like thunder. “Should we, like, do something?!”

Brick was eerily silent next to him as he followed the fight with a calculating eye. “If he hits her, she’s done for.”

“Like hell,” Buttercup spat. “She’s strong. You should know.”

“Wait, I thought you were the one who was against this?” Boomer asked.

Buttercup grimaced, but she stubbornly refused to let on how much pain she was in. Now that Boomer got a good look at her, she really looked trashed. Jesus, had Butch really done that to her?

“Doesn’t mean I don’t know my sister. She can take him.”

“Except she can’t,” Brick said, watching as Butch fired a green energy beam at Blossom that sent her careening high into the clouds. “I know her too. She’s a glass cannon.”

Blossom’s pink streak came flying in faster than Boomer had ever seen her fly, and Butch was waiting for her with a welcome punch that connected with her ribs. But Blossom swerved with his force and rammed her elbow mercilessly against the back of his neck. Her blunt force was so great that he went cashing into the woods beyond the Shankaplex, where he landed with a monstrous crack. Blossom waited for him to reemerge, a hand pressed to her side but otherwise masking her pain.

Bubbles gasped, and Buttercup shot Brick a scathing grin. “You were saying?”

Brick’s eyes were glued to Blossom. “Butch hits like a freight train. She won’t be able to absorb his punches indefinitely.”

Buttercup laughed, but in her injured state, it came out more like a wheeze. “Dude, you don’t know this Blossom.”

Brick glanced at her askance, and Boomer wondered. What did that mean?

“That tickled!” Butch shouted as he came flying back ready to go again. “Do it again!”

Blossom was silent as she waited for him to come to her. He came in hot, but this time she didn’t let his punch connect. More elegantly than Boomer thought her capable of, Blossom avoided him entirely, grabbed his hair, and kneed him in the stomach.

Boomer gasped—gasped, because holy hell—as Butch hacked up a lung and clutched his stomach. “I think she broke some ribs!” Chemical X or no, that one really had to hurt.

Blossom put some distance between Butch and herself and took a deep breath.

“Incoming!” Bubbles dashed away with Buttercup, and Boomer shoved Brick out of the path of danger just in time to avoid getting caught up in Blossom’s powerful ice breath.

Butch didn’t even try to avoid it, and soon he was covered in a layer of thick ice. Not one to be restrained, however, his eyes glowed red and his eye beams burst through the ice. Blossom avoided the laser that wasn’t really aiming at her anyway and came in from behind to catch him unawares.

Unfortunately, Butch was not bothered by the ice and burst out of it just as Blossom came in close. He managed to grab her ponytail and reel her in like a fish. The punch he landed on her jaw sent her spinning, and she hit a billboard advertising pet food right through Talking Dog’s face.

“Ha!!! Take that!” Butch dashed after her, and Boomer watched as Blossom peeled herself off the destroyed billboard and narrowly avoided a second pummeling. Butch hit the billboard and knocked the whole structure over like a falling domino. It was only Bubbles’ timely intervention that kept it from crashing on top of a Cooper’s Market.

Pink and green sped around each other as Butch chased Blossom. He fired his eye beams and his green energy beams in the hopes of hitting her at a distance, but she was quick and extremely precise in her movements in a way Boomer knew he himself was not, and Butch was even less coordinated than him. It was like watching Brick, he realized. Brick was so in control of his body, of every single minute movement he made, that it didn’t matter that he wasn’t physically as strong as Butch or as fast as Boomer. There was no surprising him or tripping him up, and Blossom was no different.

But did Butch know that?

“Stop running! I thought you were gonna give me the fight of my life, what happened? You scared?” Butch taunted as he tried to catch Blossom.

She was stony-faced as she avoided his grabs and his eye beams alike, but made no effort to return fire or respond.

“That’s risky,” Brick muttered.

“What’s risky?” Boomer asked.

“She’s trying to tire him out, hoping he’ll burn up all his X. But Butch has more reserves than you or me. His stamina’s even better than Buttercup’s.”

“That’s not what she’s doing,” Bubbles said.

Brick shot her a withering look like he couldn’t believe she dared to contradict him. “Oh, really?” he said sarcastically.

Bubbles didn’t even flinch. “Really.”

Brick scoffed and returned his attention to the fight.

“What’s the matter, Blossom! Get over here and fight me!”

Butch threw another punch that she artfully avoided. Pissed off, he shot at her with his eye beams, but Blossom swerved and struck him with the heel of her hand under the jaw. His eye beams went awry.

“Shit!” Buttercup said.

Brick was paying closer attention than Boomer, however, and intercepted the stray eye beams before they could strike anyone. His jacket sleeve smoked and sizzled where a new hole had opened up.

“Tch,” he said.

Butch shook himself out like a wet dog. He was bleeding from his mouth and his eyes were dilated, but he was still fighting fit. If he was wearing out, he was hiding it well. Boomer glanced at Bubbles.

“So what is Blossom doing?”

Bubbles looked more concerned than grim as she watched. “She’s feeling him out.”

“She’s making him mad,” Buttercup said.

Boomer winced. That didn’t sound like a good idea facing Butch. The guy was an unstoppable force when he was mad.

“But why—”

Crack!

Boomer whipped around just in time to see that Butch had finally landed another hit on Blossom and sent her flying out of control. She clutched her side as he sped after her, no longer laughing or taunting; he just wanted to finish her off now, it seemed. Beside Boomer, Brick sucked in an audible breath as he watched.

Butch wound up a punch. Blossom wasn’t moving to avoid. Boomer lost his mind.

“Watch out!” he screamed at her, unable to help himself.

Buttercup and Brick looked at Boomer like he’d grown another head. Butch caught up to Blossom, but just as his punch connected, she grabbed his wrist, spun gracefully behind him, and unleashed her eye beams at point blank range on the back of his neck.

Even Brick winced at that one.

“Fuck yeah!!” Buttercup shouted. “How’s that taste, Butch!”

Butch staggered in the air, his hands clutching his smoking neck. They came away bloody. Boomer didn’t miss the filthy look he shot Blossom.

“Forfeit,” Blossom called to him. “You can’t win.”

“Fuck you,” Butch spat. “I was going easy on you. No more.”

With a crackle of energy, Butch’s signature shield materialized around him. And then, he was after her again.

xxx

That’s it. She’s done, Brick thought to himself.

As soon as Butch brought out his shield, there was little and less to be done about it aside from waiting him out. Even Brick had trouble against him when he donned what was essentially impenetrable armor.

It was kind of a shame, really. She’d surprised him in this fight. Brick couldn’t recall her taking hits so well when they’d clashed in the past. Granted, that was years ago, but still.

He glanced at her sisters. They were still watching the fight, but they didn’t seem particularly deterred. Brick narrowed his eyes, and he considered.

Could she really…?

“Hiding behind your shield? How predictable,” Blossom taunted him, something Brick had rarely known her to do.

“I predict you’re about to eat shit!” Butch hurtled after her, but she danced ever out of reach.

His shield was truly something. It molded roughly to the shape of him, extending with his punches and folding with his blocks. It was a drain on his X reserves, but it was his best and only real defense.

Blossom couldn’t know this, though. Blossom had never fought Butch. But then, she was fast learning him with every punch, every dodge, every overreaction to her baiting.

Despite himself, Brick’s attention was fully arrested as he watched them. Even his migraine had subsided to a dull ache as he ignored it in favor of following the fight.

Blossom got in a good punch, but Butch’s shield was truly impenetrable, and all she got for her efforts was a crackle of jade sparks and a hurt fist. She immediately pulled back.

“That shield is so strong!” Bubbles said.

Buttercup grunted. Blossom didn’t try to hit Butch again, but he did his level best to strike her.

“Hey, is this what they call playing hard to get?” Butch sneered as he lobbed another punch at Blossom.

“I’m right here, Butch. Come and get me,” she taunted again.

What the hell is she playing at?

The Blossom Brick knew was not one to joke and jab, but the more she did it, the more riled up Butch got. She couldn’t possibly be trying to make him mad. That was suicidal for anyone who wasn’t Brick himself. And that shield…

“C’mon and give us a hug!” Butch sped after her, his only goal to grab her and crush her under the force of his shield. Sloppy and uncoordinated, but if he managed to grab her, that would be the end of it.

“What the—?!” Boomer sputtered.

Brick barely had time to be shocked as Blossom stopped her flight and spread her arms as if to hug Butch like he wanted. Brick was moving before he could process it, a command on the tip of his tongue, because no matter how much he despised Blossom, he couldn’t very well let his brother literally kill her.

Butch grabbed her before Brick could reach them, and Blossom flexed as she braced herself, her pink power manifesting like a second skin as Butch wrapped his meaty arms around her smaller frame with every intention of snapping her in half. Buttercup shouted something, but Brick couldn’t hear her over the racing wind in his ears as he tore after them, and then—

“F-F-Fuck!” Butch groaned.

His shield, his whole body was engulfed in preternatural ice as Blossom hugged him tight enough to break. Her arms were covered in ice that would not shatter no mater how much Butch struggled. He tried to fire off his eye beams, but she had ducked her head under his chin, safe from his fire. Impossibly, his green shield began to collapse as the ice and Blossom herself crushed him like a soda can.

They crash landed well away from the Shankaplex and any civilians just by the edge of the forest. Brick swooped down after them, the others not far behind. When he landed, he found Butch face down eating dirt and covered in chunks of ice, his shield completely dissipated, as Blossom towered over him. She had his wrists in her hands and her boot on the back of his head, grinding him further into the ground. Ice coated her arms like armor, and there was no mercy in her eyes.

“B-Blossom, babe, c’mon,” Butch said in what was meant to be a playful tone, but came out sounding like a whimper.

Blossom leaned down over him. “Call me babe again.” She drove her heel harder into the side of his head, sinking him deeper into the earth.

Butch struggled against her. He fired green energy beams from his palms, but Blossom pulled harder on his arms and sent them harmlessly awry.

“Let me be perfectly clear, Butch. You’re going to leave my sister alone for the rest of the month while you both recover.” She peered at him over her knee until his green eye swiveled to see her. “Tell me you understand.”

He grinned, and his teeth were a red ruin. “I don’t take orders from you—ah fuck!”

Blossom yanked his left arm back and dislocated it with a severe pop. She twisted the other one behind his back and hauled him up by his hair. “You do now.”

Her eyes glowed red, her hair was a windswept mess, and she had Butch—Butch, the fiercest fighter—on his fucking knees under her absolute control, and it was single-handedly the most beautiful sight Brick had ever seen in his life. It was perfect, and she was…

For a mad moment, he imagined her pinning him on his knees, her hand fisting his hair, exerting that control he had always pursued but never from her, until this moment.

“Brick, shouldn’t you…?” Boomer said.

Realizing she and Butch had an audience, Blossom looked up and locked eyes with Brick, and he shivered.

Oh hell.

“Hey, I like you on your knees,” Buttercup said, approaching Butch and Blossom. “Definitely your best angle.”

Butch spit blood and a piece of broken tooth. Nonetheless, he managed a smirk for her. “Next time, just ask.”

Blossom shoved him back into the dirt, and he promptly shut up.

Boomer sighed and floated over. “C’mon, dude. Let’s get you home.”

“I got it,” Butch complained, but he struggled to get to his feet.

“You seriously don’t. Can you even stand? Jesus.”

“Blossom!” Bubbles hugged her sister, who winced at the pressure.

“Bubbles, not so tight! I’m a little sore.” She smiled and brushed her bangs out of her eyes.

“You were amazing!”

Blossom grinned. “I know.”

“Serves you right, moron,” Buttercup said to Butch. “You’ll be pissing sitting down for a week.”

Boomer snorted as he looped Butch’s arm over his shoulder. “You got that right.”

“Ha ha, hilarious. Fuck you both,” Butch groused. His eyes flickered to Blossom, guarded.

“Brick? You coming?” Boomer asked.

Brick rubbed his mouth. He felt woozy. Bubbles shot him a curious look that he chose not to dwell on. “Take that idiot home. Make sure he doesn’t bleed all over the place.”

“Uh, right… What’re you gonna do?”

“I’m right behind you.”

His brothers flew off—or rather, Boomer flew and Butch dangled precariously from his shoulder. Finally, Brick turned his attention to Blossom.

“Blossom,” he said, his voice tight.

She looked up at him. “Brick.”

He swallowed, the image of her dominating Butch while she looked at him burned into his mind’s eye. So that was never going away… “Butch is my problem. Next time, you leave him to me.”

She regarded him, and so slowly he may have imagined it had he not been hyper-focused on her every movement, her lips curled in little smirk. “There’s not going to be a next time.”

In that moment, Brick had never felt so bewildered and so attracted to another person in his entire life. It was over all too soon as she showed him her back and spoke to her sisters. They were heading home. Like a fucking idiot, he just stood there, mind blown.

Did that really just happen?

Oh god, she was talking to him again. He blinked and tried to focus.

“What?” he said, fucking idiot that he was.

“The repairs. Look, I know you would rather chew glass than be around me, but you know the Mayor appreciates an in-person explanation and apology for this kind of damage. Are you coming, or do I have to tell him once again that you couldn’t be bothered?”

“No, I’m coming. I’ll talk to the Mayor with you.”

She peered at him like she didn’t quite recognize him. “All right… Thanks.”

xxx

That evening, after all was said and done and Boomer was showered and ready to go to Julie’s party, he gave Brick one more chance to come along instead of languor at home with a passed out Butch. The guy was out cold and would likely remain so for the next day after the beating Blossom had dealt him.

“You sure you don’t wanna come?” he asked.

Brick was lounging on the living room sofa where he had his nose in a Kurt Vonnegut novel. “No.”

“Everyone’s gonna be there, you know.”

“Great.” Ignore.

Boomer shrugged. “Wes and Kim, Mike, Robin, Bubbles, Harry, the Floyjoydson Twins.”

Brick grunted noncommittally.

Boomer adjusted his jacket and pretended not to watch Brick like a hawk. “Blossom too.”

Pause.

Brick’s gaze flickered over the top of his book to catch Boomer’s eye. “This isn’t some themed shit like that last one, is it?”

“Nope. Just friends, drinking games, the usual. But if your migraine’s still bugging you, I’d get you wanting to go to bed early—”

“I’ll go for an hour.” Brick closed his book and got up off the sofa.

“Cool. Cool cool cool…” It took every ounce of self control Boomer had in him not to smile at his brother’s expense.

Brick when to change his shirt, and Boomer pulled out his phone and texted Bubbles.

[Boomer: I think you’re right. He’s finally seen the light.]

[Bubbles: I told you! Did you see the way he was staring at her??? Shook.]

Boomer laughed.

“What’s so funny?” Brick asked as he reemerged in a button down shirt. Had he brushed his hair? Christ, he’d actually brushed his hair.

Shooketh.

Boomer grinned. “Nothing, man. Just looking forward to a fun night.”

“Whatever.”

They headed out, and Boomer trailed his brother’s red streak.

Something told him it would be a very fun night.

#Blossick #Reds #Brick #Blossom #Butch #Buttercup #Bubbles #Boomer #Greens if you squint #Powerpuff Girls #Powerpuff Girls fanfiction #PPG #PPG fic #repost #February Fic Prompts #ppg shook

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sun-summoning · 5 years

Note

Hi! Sorry to bother you, but I was wondering what happened to the fic the grad fad? I loved it but I can't seem to find it on FF. Thank you! :)

you know what i read this and had a moment of “wtf is the grad fad” followed by “it sounds SO FAMILIAR” then i looked through stuff on my computer and found a doc with that title that was last updated in 2013 and thought “oh god that’s when i graduated university wtf was this fic about???” i assume i deleted it off ffn back in the day bc i knew i’d never finish it.

anyway here’s all that i found:

Note: This is my last year of university and I’m actually quite sad, so this is mostly for my lawlz. But I promise I will have a plot.Warning(s): AU, going by my own university’s calendar Pairings: SasuSaku, NaruInoDisclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

SEPTEMBERi need a place to live

“Can I live with you?”

Sakura needed a home.

She was luckier than most people with her parents living just an hour and a half’s commute away from Konoha University, but she would rather pay rent every month than go through the two trains and two buses and twenty minute walk she spent her entire freshman year dealing with. She spent her second and third years living with Tenten, but that recently-graduated, totally lame, Judas loser decided to take the Next Step in her Relationship and Move In with her boyfriend, hence Sakura’s problem.

Sakura was homeless. Sort of.

Karin only raised an eyebrow at her before eyeing her one-bedroom apartment. There was a solarium, yes, but those doors were see-through and offered no privacy. “Seriously?”

But Sakura would not be moved. She nodded eagerly. “Honestly, I’d be down for a closet. Please? Lend me that room?”

“Fine.”

And so that was that.

Except it wasn’t.

It worked well enough, Sakura supposed. At the beginning, that is, when Sakura was still enjoying the remaining bits of frosh week and the constant keggers going on. On the first week of class—when all that happened was syllabi-reading and maybe an introductory lab or two that Sakura didn’t need—there were Mojito Mondays and Because I Freaking Feel Like it Tuesdays to go along with the traditional Thirsty Thursdays. For the first week of class, Sakura mostly came home to her glass room at Karin’s home in a lovely state of drunk or delirious.

But then she started coming home sober.

Second week struck and so did its readings upon readings upon readings. Sakura scrambled from the KU Bookstore to the shop for cheaper used books a few blocks away from the university where all the hipsters lived. She would then go to the printing press on the other side of the city for that course pack, and then to another printing press on the other side of the city for another course pack. Then she would settle down in the library with a chai tea latte and lemon poppy seed muffin and shut off her phone and get her readings done.

(Not that anyone was texting her, of course. Ino was basically ignoring the world and Naruto still felt like it was move-in time and Sakura knew for a fact he had a keg at his house and Sasuke and her basically didn’t talk unless they were forced to.)

In her second week of September, Sakura would come home extremely late, with aching shoulders and arms full of books.

In her second week of September, all Sakura would want to come home to was a cozy bed and ugly bunny slippers and Netflix. Instead, she came home to Karin’s bra on the sneakers Sakura left by the door and the beautifully permanent sight of Karin and Shikamaru doing the deed on the couch.

Sakura just sighed. “Guys, like, I eat my breakfast on that couch!”

They barely noticed her before Karin let out a squeak and they casually moved their canoodling over to her bedroom.

“Seriously?!” Sakura yelled, dropping her book bag and mourning the sight of the beloved Lazy Boy, forever tainted by Shikamaru’s naked ass, cute as it may have been.

Sakura plopped down on the carpet, sitting right in front of the recliner.

This wasn’t going to work.

“Can I live with you?”

Sakura twitched when she got no response. Ino had been like this all summer. She was in I’m-taking-my-LSAT-therefore-nothing-exists-but-these-LSAT-notes mode and essentially drowning everyone and everything. There was no time for double fisting the red sangria and the white sangria at Red Room after a long day of class, nor was there time to listen to Sakura propose potential research paper topics. Ino had quit her job and her social life in favour of studying, studying, studying.

“Ino?”

Ino had a pretty swanky place, actually – for a studio apartment, that is. But it was surprisingly large for a kitchen-living-room-bedroom hybrid monster. It even had a balcony!

“Yo! Blondie!”

Finally, Ino looked up. “What was that, Sakura?”

Sakura pouted.

They were at the coffee shop near the Bio labs on the west end of campus. Ino had only agreed to Sakura’s invitation when Sakura offered to buy her sleepless friend some coffee. Apparently the implied “you’ll have to listen to me when I speak” part of that deal went unnoticed, however. Great.

“Can I live with you?” Sakura repeated.

Ino didn’t miss a beat. “No.”

“What?” Sakura couldn’t help it. Her jaw literally dropped. She was ready to prepare some grand speech about friendship and bonds and love and all that jazz that Naruto would have been super proud of, but Ino waved her hand – granted, she looked more like she was trying to swat away some irritating bug.

“Sakura,” she said flatly, “consider the size of my apartment.”

“It’s fun-sized,” Sakura reasoned. “Super fun-sized.”

“No.”

“But I’m homeless!”

“You live like an hour away—”

“AND A HALF.”

“—you’ll manage.”

“But I’m homeless!” Sakura repeated pathetically, hoping that if she pouted Ino might have been moved.

But that was not the case. Ino’s eyes were already back on her binder of notes for her LSAT studying. “Nope.”

“You’re a heartless, wretched beast,” Sakura said. She gathered her things and made sure to grab the caramel macchiato she spent a grand four dollars on for some traitor. She stuck her tongue out when Ino let out an indignant cry for having her coffee stolen. “Sorry, I don’t buy drinks for jerks!”

“Just commute, you lazy baby!”

“I CAN’T HEAR YOU.”

“Can I live with you?”

Naruto didn’t look even remotely surprised to see Sakura on his front porch with a bright pink gym bag full of her clothes and a backpack that looked ready to burst at the seams. And he didn’t even want to think about how heavy that other bag pulling at her left arm was, considering all the textbooks sticking out of it.

Like the good friend he was, Naruto grabbed the bag of books and the bag of clothes.

“Come on,” he said, moving to the side so she could enter the house.

“You’re the best, Naruto!”

“Yeah, yeah…”

Sakura had been to Naruto’s place many times. It was a house in the so-called “student ghetto” just off of campus with an open-concept main floor and a fair number of bedrooms. If Sakura remembered correctly, Naruto had the big room in the basement, Suigetsu called dibs on the attic, and Sasuke and Shikamaru had rooms on the second-level. But now that Neji had moved in with Tenten—

“Am I getting Neji’s old room?” Sakura asked.

Naruto nodded, guiding her up the stairs even though she already knew where to go. “Yeah, I figured you’d be here eventually.”

“What?” Sakura felt tears spring in her eyes. She couldn’t help it. She was tired and stressed and her shoulders were killing her. “You saved a room for me?” She was in awe of how sweet he was.

But Naruto just shrugged and looked away. Sakura saw the way his cheeks reddened though. “It’s not a big deal. We just didn’t bother looking for another guy. I had a feeling things wouldn’t work out at Karin’s when Shikamaru basically stopped coming home all of first week…”

Sakura still tackled him into a hug, forcing him to drop her bags. She pulled away and smiled. “You are literally the best, did you know that?”

He grinned back. “Obviously.” But a thought came to mind and his smile waned. “Um… there’s just one thing…”

“Yeah?” Sakura was too busy marvelling at the fact that her new room came with walls (and a bed and drawers and a closet and even a calendar) to notice his frown. “Don’t worry about rent. I got my job at the registrar’s office again so I’m good.”

“It’s not that.”

Sakura finally looked at him. “What is it?” She suddenly looked equally as frantic. “Oh.”

“Are you okay with living with your ex?”

“Obvously.”

“Really?”

“No.”

“I figured.”

“Meh.” Sakura shrugged. She took her bag from Naruto and opened it up to beginning the process of moving in all over again. “I’m kind of homeless, so I’ll make due. And you know how I am during school. I basically just live at campus during the year.”

Naruto laughed and ruffled her hair. “Don’t worry,” he told her, “we just have one more year of this crap, right?”

Sakura glanced at the calendar and nodded.

“Just one more year.”

OCTOBERi need reference letters

So it was October.

October came to mean a lot of things to Naruto: midterms, essays, Thanksgiving a.k.a. Turkey Day, pumpkin spice everything, breaking out the awesome orange scarf Sakura knitted for him years ago, pretty leaves, and so much more.

Now the boys didn’t usually maintain their house unless someone was coming to visit. Fine, the tiny front lawn would see a mowing every other week or so, and the backyard was only managed if there was going to be a party. And then the inside was divided that every man would take care of his own place, the kitchen would always be cleaned by whoever made whatever mess, and the bathroom would go through a weekly cycle of sorts. But things like the broom and the vacuum were only broken out for special occasions.

“Guys!”

In the living room, Sakura was sketching silly outfits on the bare bodies in her anatomy textbook in lieu of studying, while Naruto made his own efforts to procrastinate pretty obvious as he made a tower of all the novels and plays and poetry anthologies he had to read for the semester. So far, his stack was balancing at a rather noteworthy twenty-two. Shikamaru, on the other hand, was making paper balls with his notes and throwing them at Naruto’s tower.

They all looked up at Suigetsu’s frantic shout.

“What is it?” Sakura asked. She had the grace to look annoyed by the interruption to her ‘hard work.’

“Sasuke’s mom is here!”

Immediately, Naruto and Shikamaru rose, their eyes wide and their arms near flailing. Sakura raised an eyebrow when Naruto shrieked. His book tower had fallen over when he stood up so fast.

“Clean that up!” Suigetsu yelled, pointing.

Naruto anxiously did so by pushing all of the books under the couch. At the same time, Shikamaru was taking all the randomly strewn about mugs and plates and – oh god – beer bottles and hiding them in the video game drawer. Suigetsu was keeping a careful eye on the driveway from the window by the stairs.

Sakura could only frown. “What are you guys doing?”

“Sasuke’s mom is here,” Shikamaru pointed out.

Sakura looked at the boys like they were idiots and, for the most part, they returned the look. Suigetsu finally sighed. “Sakura, have you ever seen Sasuke’s mom?”

“Yes,” she said. “In fact, I—”

Naruto shushed her. “Sakura, haven’t you heard? Sasuke’s mom has got it going on!”

Sakura did not look amused, but that didn’t stop Naruto and the other boys from opening the door and yelling their hellos. They all ignored Sasuke’s knowing glare as they took his bags from him and all warmly greeted the lovely Mikoto Uchiha. They exchanged pleasantries and thanked Mikoto wholeheartedly when she graced them with a whole turkey for the house – her little Thanksgiving present to them.

“Oh, Mrs. Uchiha, you didn’t have to do that,” Suigetsu told her sweetly.

But the older woman just smiled and waved the matter off. “Oh, but you boys need to be properly fed!”

Sakura could only pray she had that kind of decency when she was older and sending her son off to live with his fellow cavemen. Sakura eyed Mikoto Uchiha’s beautiful cashmere sweater and her form fitting skirt and could actually kind of understand why her friends were all salivating like dogs. She suddenly felt incredibly insecure in her yoga pants and the sweater she ninety percent belonged to Shikamaru. God, she was such a mess, Sakura realized. At least she wasn’t wearing her UGGs…

Dammit.

“Sakura Haruno, is that you!”

Sakura blinked. “Huh?”

Finally, the boys got out of the way and Mikoto rushed over and hugged her. “Oh, darling!” Mikoto let go enough to look Sakura over and frown disapprovingly. “You’ve lost weight!” she pointed out gravely. “Why haven’t you been eating, missy? This better not be over some stupid boy, because let me tell you—”

Sakura flushed. “Nope!” she interrupted. “I just…” Sakura laughed awkwardly and took a step away from Mikoto. “I just, um, have been busy and haven’t really been sleeping properly…”

Mikoto immediately turned around to face the boys. “And why haven’t you all been making sure Sakura is eating correctly? Hm? Shikamaru? You’re the responsible one!”

Shikamaru froze for a moment with the attention on him. “Um.” He chuckled. “Well, I haven’t really been around either, Mrs. Uchiha. But I’ll definitely make sure our little Sakura eats three square meals a day.”

“Yes, you better!” Mikoto took her turkey out of Naruto’s hands and deposited it into Sakura’s despite the blond’s protests. She winked at Sakura. “Eat up, sweetie.”

Sakura smiled. “Thank you.”

Mikoto gave her son one last kiss on the cheek before saying her goodbyes to everyone. When she was finally gone, Naruto let out a low whistle and made some flattering but inappropriate comment that led to Sasuke punching him in the stomach and stomping away. Still wincing, Naruto hurriedly stole the turkey away from Sakura and brought it to the kitchen.

That was one last thing October meant to Naruto: Mikoto Uchiha sending over a whole turkey for their little house of broke students.

But the gesture of turkey-giving didn’t arouse the same happy feelings in Sakura. As Suigetsu thoughtfully took a bag of Sasuke’s on his way upstairs, Shikamaru volunteered to walk Mikoto to her car, and Naruto took the turkey for some “alone time,” Sakura went back to her anatomy textbook and suddenly felt incredibly lonely.

Sakura had spent Thanksgiving dinner with the Uchiha family once, back when she and Sasuke were still together. She got along with them all to the point that Mikoto would literally text Sakura at least every other day just to make sure she was okay or to talk. Ino thought that was weird, but Sakura justified things with that Ino had never been in a real relationship – not one that included bonding with your partner’s parent. And when Sasuke dumped Sakura, Mikoto immediately asked Sakura if she was okay. But Sakura soon began to distance herself from the woman, mostly out of propriety, and seeing her in person today made her feel horrible.

Sighing, Sakura picked up her mug of sangria and whined when she realized it was empty. She grudgingly went to the kitchen and took the bottle out of the fridge. After a moment of consideration, she decided to learn from past mistakes and drink from the bottle and skip the mug.

“Well done,” she told herself after a sip.

“Sakura, it’s ten in the morning.”

She joked and spun around. Sasuke was leaning against the counter with a cup of tea and judgemental frown.

“Um.” Sakura lowered the bottle and reconsidered her mug. “Hey.”

“Hi.”

He then took an economics textbook out of his backpack and went over to the couch, sitting beside her scrawled dresses and flower hats. She cringed, but he didn’t seem to notice her doodles. Sakura slowly made her way back to her book and sat as close to the edge as she could, at this point gulping down the sangria.

Seriously? Sakura thought. That was how he wanted to go about things? He wanted to ignore what happened three weeks ago that essentially set the shroud of awkward that hung over them whenever they saw each other in the kitchen or the hall or the living room?! What the actual fu—

Ugh.

When the silence became too much for her to concentrate in, she turned to Sasuke and found him already looking at her.

“How was your break?” she asked. Granted, KU didn’t really offer a “break” so much as one single day.

“Good.”

“What did you do?”

“Helped my mom cook,” Sasuke said.

Sakura grinned. “Since when do you cook?”

“Excuse you, but if I recall correctly, I’m not the one who set off the smoke alarm from boiling water.” Her eyes widened and he smirked.

“THAT WAS ONE TIME!” Still blushing, she kicked him, but he only grabbed her ankle to steady her. “Hmph. Well, what did you cook?”

“Mashed potatoes.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “Oh, and that’s just such a feat. Look at you Top Chef Wonder.” She giggled at her own not particularly funny joke and told herself it was way too early in the day to already be tipsy. But from what she could remember, Sasuke actually was a great cook. “Is that all you made?” she continued.

“I made a pie, too, actually,” he said. Then he pushed her leg off his lap and went back to the kitchen. The bounce of her foot on the cushion was what made her realize the Sasuke had actually been drawing nonsensical things on her calf andandand—

No. No, she told herself. This. Is not. Allowed.

Finally, he came back with a Tupperware and a fork, handing them to her.

“What is this?” she asked, drawing her legs in and sitting up straight.

“Pie.”

“Huh?”

“Pie,” he repeated. “I made pumpkin pie. It’s Itachi’s favourite and I remembered that it’s yours too so I brought a slice back for you.” Sasuke shrugged and all but buried himself in his economics textbook.

Sakura smiled at the gesture. “Thank you,” she mumbled, poking at the pie.

He glanced at her but saw her focused on the dessert. “You’re welcome,” he replied into his book.

And after finishing the slice, Sakura picked up her own book. The two sat on the couch for a few hours simply reading in a comfortable silence.

October also came to mean sucking up. October meant heading over to office hours (even the ones that started at 9AM) and making an impression and getting on your professor’s good side so that at the end of the semester, when they were determining Naruto’s participation grade, they would remember his bright hair and bright clothes at each and every lecture.

But this year, their final year, meant going to office hours would no longer just be about proposing separate essay topics or clarifying anything said in class.

This year meant reference letters.

Reference letters for grad school.

But those also meant office hours, which, with Naruto’s luck, meant 9AM with Dr. Kakashi Hatake – which actually kind of sort of meant 10AM considering the man was always late…

Still, that was early considering said hours were on a Friday.

“Let’s move, lazyass!”

“But I’m tired,” Naruto whined, lagging behind Sakura. “Can’t we just be death eaters?”

“No!”

“Or we can just be homeless,” he pointed out. They were on their way to the Humanities Building where Sakura was going solely as Naruto’s moral support while he asked for letters of recommendation. Naruto Uzumaki was going to graduate school, but… well, he was sort of too much of a wimp to approach his favourite professors alone. Likewise, Naruto may or may not have treated her to slash bribed her with a delicious lemon poppy seed muffin and chai tea latte for breakfast.

“I have worked too hard all these years to be homeless,” Sakura said between sips of her drink.

“Fine, not homeless, per se.” Nevertheless, Naruto continued along to the Humanities Building. He stopped the oblivious Sakura from walking into the doors, knowing that for whatever annoying reason, the automatic doors weren’t so automatic. He knew. He may or may not have walked into said doors before…

“Oh?”

“We can live in a box,” Naruto told her with a wink.

She rolled her eyes. “Just ask for your letters, Naruto.”

“I don’t know what to say!” But they were already in the elevator.

“You say ‘Hey, Kakashi, I really want to come back to KU for another year to do more readings and write more papers and lead more seminars yada yada yada.’ He’ll love it.” The sad thing was that Sakura wasn’t joking. She’d had Dr. Hatake in her first-year “Literature for our Time” course with Naruto and from her own visits and talks with the man, she’d come to know what he was like.

And well… Naruto looked like he was considering.

“Do you honestly think that would work?”

“I have full faith.”

She genuinely did.

Sakura herself had been going with the more formal approach of: “Dr. Whatever, would you be willing to write me a positive letter recommendation for X Med School?” Most of her professors were very familiar with her and her study habits and her amazing work, so Sakura didn’t actually need to put the operative “positive” in her requests, but it didn’t hurt to stay safe.

But with a professor like Kakashi, things would work out fine for Naruto.

They stood outside of Kakashi’s office and Sakura gave Naruto a pat on the back. “Do you have any idea what you’d want to research though?”

Naruto nodded. “Gothic literature!” he told her eagerly, looking ready to actually tell her more. “I’d like to look at the late eighteenth century and then maybe at the revival of Gothic literature in contemporary times. I mean, Gothic work is just so prevalent nowadays and—”

“Don’t tell me this stuff,” Sakura interrupted. She pointed to Kakashi’s open door. “Tell him!”

“Oh, right…” Naruto laughed awkwardly. “Okay. I can do this.”

“You can do this.”

“I can!”

“You can!”

“…I CAN’T.”

Fed up, Sakura pushed him into Kakashi’s office.

“Okay, so that went better than expected.”

Sakura rolled her eyes. “I told you.”

“Yeah, I know…” Naruto shrugged. “The entire asking-thing is just… nerve-wracking, I suppose.”

The two were at one of their favourite off campus haunts that served Sakura’s favourite sangria and made some of the greatest ramen Naruto had ever tasted. Sure, it was only noon, but it was never to early for wine and whining – at least, that was Sakura’s philosophy. And well, it had served her well for the past three years so…

Besides, it was Friday. Why not get nice and day drunk?

“So what schools are you applying to?” she asked Naruto.

“KU, of course,” Naruto listed through a grimace. “But… I don’t think I’ll get in. KU is so evil, Sakura-chan!”

She nodded. “Oh, I know.” While completing an undergraduate degree at KU was a magical feat in their humble opinions, to complete one and be accepted into the university’s graduate programs would be hard considering the CGPAs most KU students usually escaped with. While Sakura knew she wouldn’t have any problems, she did know that Naruto might. “Where else?”

“Not sure.”

Sakura raised an eyebrow. “What? Naruto, don’t just apply to one grad school if you’re set on doing your Master’s!”

“You don’t think I can get in?”

Sakura sighed. “It’s not like that,” she said, “it’s just that these are competitive programs. You should at least apply to more than one. I mean, what would you do if you didn’t get into KU?”

“…become a death eater?”

“You are so—so—” She sighed again and finished off her sangria. She poured another glass and sipped on that. “You’re like Ino.”

“What? I don’t like Ino!”

“Huh?” Sakura laughed. “No, I said you’re like her, not that you like her. That’d be weird.” In her semi-drunken state that was starting to become Sakura’s default state, she missed the red on Naruto’s cheeks.

“Well, how is Ino, anyway? I haven’t seen we had that kegger in September.” Both of them cringed, remembering their own personal awkward mistakes from that night. Naruto made a face. “Yeah. Ino.”

But Sakura snorted. “Who’s Ino? Oh! Did you mean Ino, the girl who’s apparently my bestie?” Sakura looked a little bit bitter. Maybe she was. Maybe she’s been in dire need of a girlfriend for the past two months but Ino hasn’t really been that great of a friend. “Yeah, she’s studying. She basically won’t have any human contact aside from lectures until she takes her LSATs in December.”

“I see.” Naruto noticed the sad look on Sakura’s face and wasn’t sure if she wanted a serious attempt at comfort or some kind of joke. “Well…” Naruto shrugged. “At least she has plans?”

“Yeah,” Sakura said with a nod. “I guess I just miss her.”

“What law schools will she apply to?”

“I DON’T EVEN KNOW THAT!” Sakura yelled. Her face crumpled and she took a long swig of her drink. “I miss her, Naruto. I know I’m being irrational and that my period is probably coming—”

“Thank you.”

“—but I mean it’s like she just doesn’t care about anyone right now!” Sakura refilled her glass and finished that in one go. Naruto subtly ordered another pitcher and Sakura continued: “I mean, I’m not trying to be clingy. I get it. She has stuff to do. But like, I’m living with Sasuke! HOW HAS SHE NOT EVEN ASKED ME IF THAT IS REMOTELY OKAY?!”

“Huh?” Naruto blinked. “I thought you said that you were okay with that… Sort of.”

“I am!”

“What?” God. Why were women so confusing?!

“I don’t care about Sasuke, Naruto!” Sakura looked at him like he was the one acting crazy. “What I’m saying is that Ino—my Ino—would have texted me the first night asking if I reacquainted myself with Sasuke, followed by an unnecessary amount of wink-faces! Current Ino responds to my text messages days late and never wants to hang out. Like I’m not even allowed to go to the library with her because she thinks I’ll distract her!”

“…you kind of are a huge distraction.” Which she was. As surprising as it was, Sakura was actually the one between the two of them that could be found not working (but still, unfairly enough, maintaining a 4.0 CGPA, so like what the hell).

“NOT THE POINT.”

Their next pitcher arrived and Sakura’s face lit up. “I’m just sad, I guess,” she admitted forlornly. “Or tired. A bit of both.” She sighed and suddenly looked a bit bashful. “I’m sorry. I’ve been ranting all this time. How are you and Sasuke doing?”

Naruto levelled her with a flat stare. “You make us sound like a couple.”

“Aren’t you?”

“SAKURA-CHAN!”

She giggled and Naruto let her. Mocking his “bromance” with Sasuke was always something that could make Sakura smile so he let it go. But suddenly the smile fell and she adopted a serious look. A bad serious look.

“Hey!” she yelled, grabbing his hand on the table. “Are you single?”

Naruto felt very, very uncomfortable with her hand on his. “What?”

“I have this friend,” she clarified. “She’s seen you in a lot of my photos and has probably stalked you on every possible social network. She thinks you’re really good-looking. She’s a super sweet girl and I think the two of you would hit it off really well.”

“Are you…” The words felt weird coming out of his mouth. “Are you trying to set me up?”

“No. Maybe. Yes.”

“What?” Naruto laughed at the mere idea. “What’s her name?”

“Hinata Hyuuga. Really smart, really sweet, really pretty. You’d like her.” Sakura pulled out her phone and logged into her Facebook to find the girl’s profile. She was about to show Naruto a picture but he covered the phone and placed it face-down on the table. “What?”

“I trust your judgement.”

Sakura blinked, utterly astonished. “So… you’ll go on a date with her?”

Musing over all the nothing that had been going on his life as of late, Naruto nodded. “Yeah, I’ll go on a date with her.”

NOVEMBERi need to go to sleep

November was the worst. November was when you got back your midterms or assignments, cried, rechecked said midterms or assignments, cried again, and then drowned your sorrows in your alcoholic beverage of choice.

For Naruto that was beer.

And as Naruto whined over the grade he got on the paper he wrote the morning it was due, Sakura rubbed his back with one hand and scrolled through the Recently Added section of Netflix.

“It could be worse,” Sakura said.

“How could it have been worse?” Naruto asked her, his eyes still trained on the bolded 72 at the bottom of the page.

“Naruto, a 72 by KU standards is actually pretty damn good!”

“Oh, shut up Miss 4.0. Leave me alone. Leave me to wallow in my sorrow and beer. There is nothing left for me. Alas, woe is me!”

Sasuke, on the other hand, wasn’t nearly as comforting. “Listen, dumbass. You passed. Passing is good, remember? You’re fine.”

“PASSING ISN’T ENOUGH FOR GRAD SCHOOL, SASUKE.”

He sat down beside Sakura, leaving her between the two boys. He handed her a mug of sangria and passed a brand new beer over to Naruto, letting him drink it between awkward whining noises that mimicked some sort of dying animal. Sakura looked ready to say some more words of consolation but Sasuke shook his head, signalling for her to stop. “Leave him be,” Sasuke said. “He’s always like this when he gets back a grade.”

“I know but…” Sakura glanced at Naruto. “He looks so pitiful.”

“I AM LITERALLY RIGHT BESIDE YOU, SAKURA-CHAN.” Naruto sat up straight, letting the blanket he’d wrapped himself in fall back a little. He stole the remote away from her and began to look through the files of movies and shows from Suigetsu’s hard drive that they had connected to the television. “My life is over.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes. “Your life isn’t over.”

“It is.”

“You’re being an idiot.”

“Listen, Princess,” Naruto hissed, now glaring at Sasuke. “Not all of us have names that all but grant entry into programs and internships and all those other pretty things.”

Sasuke took offence to that. “I still need to maintain a good GPA to get in, Naruto. My name isn’t everything.”

Naruto didn’t seem to have any proper response to go with that so he simply stood up, tightened his burrito of a blanket, and waddled away. He came back a few seconds later to grab his beer, but still gave Sasuke and Sakura one last look of contempt before leaving.

“Such a baby,” Sakura mumbled when he was gone.

---

ALRIGHT AND THAT IS WHERE IT ENDED. i did find this though. i assume it was supposed to be part of the november chapter, which i never finished:

“Oh,” she said, understanding his look of awkwardness. She rolled her eyes. “No, this isn’t a gift with some meaning behind it, Sasuke. I mean, you made me pie, remember? It’s not like it had some implied Sakura-you-goddess-please-take-my-unworthy-self-back between the bites, right?” When he failed to reply, Sakura only frowned before shrugging the matter off. “The point is, this is a gift for you from me, Sakura the Friend.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Friend?”

She nodded. “Well we are friends, aren’t we?” She preferred ‘friends’ to ‘two people stuck being around each other despite lingering awkwardness simply because they had way too many mutual friends.’ “Sasuke?”

“Yeah,” he eventually replied. “We’re friends.”

Sakura grinned and patted the tablet. “Then accept my gift, friend.” She winked, emphasizing the word weirdly.

“Okay, don’t ever do that again.”

and then this the outline:

December: i need to study

Go sledding at the university

Have a snowball fight on the field

Everyone goes out to celebrate after Ino’s LSAT and get unbelievably drunk

Sasuke and Sakura have gotten back together, which Naruto knows but doesn’t call them on

Goes to his house for Christmas because her parents are travelling

Ino and Naruto hang out

NYE party at the house

Ends with Sakura checking her KU email and realizing there is a problem with her potential graduation

January: i need another vacation

Sakura ends up being in a Jane Austen course with Naruto because she was told she needed a humanities credit

February: i need to fix my habits

Go on a road trip for Reading Week

Come home Sunday night and scramble

March: i just need to graduate

Naruto and Sakura discuss their Big Boy/Girl jobs and the likeliness of them

Naruto reveals that he’s seriously dating Ino

Sakura is happy for him and tells him about Sasuke

“I know. It’s not hard to tell. Why do you think rent isn’t so bad in that house? The walls are paper thin, you bitch.”

Dread paying back student loans

Sakura tells him she’s nervous because Sasuke is studying abroad next year whereas Sakura’s dream school is KU’s med school – will they break up again

Doesn’t tell him she plans to backpack for the year

“Do you realize this is like… the last time?”

April: i need to get in

Acceptance letters

May: i need my damn grades

Go on another road trip to unwind

June: i need to go back

Convocation

and i found this, which i think is meant to be in the january chapter:

“There is something very, very wrong with a situation if you are taking a class to bum notes off of Naruto.”

Sakura merely laughed as she spread out some sheets of paper and pretended to read them. She still had another two hours of work and she wasn’t particularly inclined to, well, work, and Tenten—the girl she shared the front desk with—didn’t really care whether she did anything or not.

“I know that sounded really bad,” Sakura said, “but I just need a Humanities credit.”

“Still!” Tenten urged, not even looking away from her computer screen. “Naruto.”

“He’s not as dumb as everyone thinks he is, you know.”

Tenten considered this before shrugging. “I suppose. He has been at KU for the past four years and is even graduating on time.”

“Exactly.” Sakura moved onto the mug of pens on her desk, testing each one to see which still had ink. “And he’s actually really good at Lit courses.”

“He should be,” Tenten replied with a snort. “I mean, that is what he’s specializing in.” Her chair squeaked when she leaned back and pushed away from her desk to roll over near Sakura. Their desk was L-shaped with each of them on one side. “What course is it again?” she asked. But being the fidgety person that she was, Tenten moved to put away some student files. She climbed onto the stool and alphabetizing. “It was something cheesy.”

“Austen and Her Contemporaries.” Sakura hadn’t gotten past her first word before Tenten burst out into giggles. She couldn’t help but smirk when another thought came to mind. “Want to know something even better?”

Tenten gave Sakura her full attention. “Um, obviously.”

“Sasuke’s taking it with us too.”

oh man.

thank you for asking about this fic because i had absolutely no recollection of it but as i read all these docs, i realized how trashy i was in undergrad. and how frightened i was of graduating! just reading this makes me remember how afraid of growing up i used to be -- of not being a student and having to get a job and running out of time. but man i’ve been so much happier since then. the fear of “running out of time” is always around but i also have lost the will to care about people and/or things as the years have gone by.

ok sorry that totally wasn’t your question lmao. I HOPE YOU ENJOYED THE ROLLERCOASTER OF THAT OUTLINE.

how did it end? well, everyone graduated. presumably everyone got into the post-grad programs of their dreams (although funding??). the naruto arc was totally based on me in my 4th year and his plans are NOT where my future went lmao. although to be clear, future him is definitely satisfied with where his life took him. ss and ni double dated happily ever after. maybe. probably.

#Anonymous

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jichew · 5 years

Text

college!hyunsuk au♡part one

a/n: hello!!! this is my first fic on here so please go easy on me bc it’s kind of slow and long :,) I rushed it a bit bc i wanted to get it up before the last episode airs :/// also feel free to leave requests or just drop in to talk! i would love more ygtb mutuals! (also i was going to make this a full on lovers au but it got too long so i just left it like this, but if i get enough requests, i will be more than willing to make a part 2!)

so you’re a freshman at college(✿◠‿◠)

while you’re absolutely in love with what college has to offer,,,,you’re dreading the start of classes

esp when it’s your first semester and you have no idea how to navigate the campus

and that, my friends, is how you realize it will take 15 minutes to get to a 9 AM that starts in 10 minutes (a/n this is a true story lol)

and while you could easily just skip this class and call it a day, you are A GOOD STUDENT ＼＼\\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／

so you double knot your shoelaces and run across that mf campus

thankfully, you make it right as the clock hits 9... though you didn’t realize that this was a 300 student general chem lecture

it really b like that sometimes y/n ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

so you’re left to slide into one of the rows at the very back of the hall, which is thankfully empty

...

save for the mop of blonde hair that is passed out in the seat next to you

of course, you don’t have the time to pay attention to the boy beside you because you’re prof has already started lecturing

before you know it, class is over

surprisingly enough, at 9:50 on the dot, the boy shoots his head up, ruffles his hair, grabs his backpack and briskly exits the lecture hall room, sparing you a brief nod

if you weren’t stressed enough that you have 20 minutes to grab breakfast and run back across campus for class, maybe you would have taken time to notice how cute the boy was - but you have a class to get to

so fast fwd two days,,, you’re basically a pro at this whole college thing

or so you thought

you find your self double knotting your shoelaces again and running across campus to reach your 9 AM chem lecture again

at this point,,,you’ve accepted your fate and you dejectedly slide next to the passed out boy in the back row

so now that this is your second class, you’re prof is actually lecturing (and blondie beside u is still asleep)

after a grueling hour of basic chem review, you have about three pages of notes

and it isn’t until 5 minutes before you’re dismissed that blondie finally takes the time to wake up

you resist the urge to giggle seeing his slightly frazzled state - hair puffed out, half lidded eyes and pouty lips (✿´ ꒳ ` )

and maybe you would have,,,if he didn’t hurriedly look over at you and ask if he could borrow your notes

and as much as you despise people who don’t pay attention in class and ask for other peoples’ notes ,,,,, who are you to resist those puppy dog eyes

。・°°・(＞_＜)・°°・。

so,,,, you reluctantly hand him over the notes

but not without giving him a piece of your mind ＼＼\\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／

“don’t forget to bring them back next class,,,and maybe a coffee too so you can stay awake”( ◠‿◠ )

y/n, you really are too nice

so it’s finally friday,,,,but you have that cursed 9 am yet again

and while you’re able to make it early this time around, you willingly sit in the back row

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

and much to your surprise,,, in comes blondie, fully awake, an iced coffee in each hand

he moves into his seat beside you, setting down one of the coffees on your desk

“i don’t really know what girls like, so i just decided to get you the same thing as me! as a thank you for letting me borrow your notes”

speaking of notes, he quickly sets down his coffee and his backpack and takes out your notes, setting those on your desk as well

and this whole time, you’re just like,,,,,,,,, (●´ω｀●)

and he’s staring at u with this goofy smile on his face like,,,,(๑･̑◡･̑๑)

if it were socially acceptable, you would have squished his little cheeks right then and there

but all you can manage to get out is a small smile, mumbling an “anytime” under your breath

and as much as you enjoy the company of another person in this large lecture hall,,,blondie talks a lot

but also you can’t bring yourself to mind bc he’s not all that bad at chem (and he looks cute when he talks with his lips all pouty but don’t tell him you said that(๑>◡<๑))

so it’s been about a month at college and you’re actually getting the hang of things this time

also,,,blondie has officially stopped falling asleep in class

surprisingly, you both have become quite the pair ٩( ᐛ )و

you learned that his name is hyunsuk, he’s a sophomore, and he’s part of a dance team (hence why he can’t help but fall asleep during chem lecture)

while you guys don’t interact outside of class, it’s nice to have someone to make small talk with in the morning

and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t want to boop his cute nose on several occasions (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)

so while studies are great and all,,,,it’s been a month and you have done next to nothing besides stressing over classes and sleeping

so, your friends (yes y/n, you do have friends) decided to have a little gno to celebrate surviving a month of college

shimmying into a pair of black jeans, a cute top, jean jacket and some heels, you’re ready to TAKE ON THE TOWN

and like not to brag but u look hot

you really know how to strut your stuff y/n

so when ur friends were like gno!!!! you expected something cute like going to get dinner in the city or something

you did NOT expect to find yourself in a frat party

like,,,,,you’ve never been to one of those cheap high school parties much less a college frat party

so like,you’re kind of freaking out inside bc tight areas filled with sweaty bodies and the stench of alcohol are NOT your thing

(　˙-˙　)

your friend mina is like,,,

“come on y/n, it’s part of the college experience!!!”

but you’re like,,,

“the only experience i need is sleeping past my alarm” ＼＼\٩(๑`^´๑)۶//／／

nonetheless, mina resorts to dragging you into the house

so somehow, you guys make it to the kitchen

and while you’re still against the idea of being here, at least it’s slightly more breathable in the kitchen

while u can finally breathe, you also realize mina is GONE

u quickly scan the kitchen and thankfully find her ,,,,, w some tall dinosaur looking dude??

she motions you over so you slide through some bodies to make your way over to the pair

“y/n!!! this is my friend byounggon! he owns this place!”

“hey, you can call me gon!”

the dude does a little nod and smiles at you ,,, and then u notice how close him and mina are actually standing next to each other

her hand on his arm...the little smile he gives her...

and you’re like

“OH ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)”

“you know,,,i’ll leave you guys to hang out for a bit while i go explore the place”

but not so fast,,,you have friends who care about your safety :,)

gon is all like

“no wait! mina told me this was your first party so i’ll have one of my frat brothers watch over you”

he turns his head back calling out a name that’s unintelligible over the sound of the music playing throughout the house

“y/n! this is my friend -“

“HYUNSUK???”

“Y/N!!!”

obviously you’re a bit startled to see the blonde boy in a setting that’s not the chem lecture hall

and maybe you’re even more startled by how good he looks - silk shirt, silver jewelry littering his ears and hair styled

and maybe he thinks the same with the way his eyes briefly glaze over your full body

but ,,,, mina and gon:??????

“you guys know each other?”

you’re the first to snap out of your reverie, hyunsuk’s eyes still glued to you

“uhh yeah we sit next to each other in chem lecture”

gon: ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

“ahhh...so you’re THAT y/n”

“THAT y/n”

“yeah, it means -“

“NOTHING”

(hyunsuk’s quick to interrupt when he’s about to get exposed (¬_¬))

“he means nothing lol”

anyway,,,gon’s like “yeah so we’ll leave you guys to it”

and you’re just looking back in dejection bc ur friends left u :,(((

when you turn back around hyunsuk has a bit of an apologetic look on his face

“first party?” he cocks his head to the side , puppy dog eyes waiting for an answer

“yeah,,,, i never really took you for the frat boy type”

hyunsuk does a little boyish smirk before saying

“there’s a lot things you don’t know about me babe”

and then he’s lightly grabbing your wrist and taking you to god knows where

the next thing you know, you guys are out on a balcony

and you’re like

\( ˆoˆ )/ fresh air!!!!

hyunsuk: (*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)

so you’re just like

staring at the sky

and u feel a little gaze boring into the side of your head

so you look over to see hyunsuk staring at you with his head cocked to the side

and he has this little smile on his lips

and you have no clue why he’s smiling but it makes your tummy do ~that thing~

but ALSO ,,, you’re trying to play it cool

so you cock your head back at him

and he stares at you for a little longer

and GIGGLES

THIS BOY HAS THE AUDACITY TO GIGGLE AT YOU

DOESNT HE KNOW WHAT THAT DOES TO A GIRL’S HEART

hshsbahaheiskeksoal

“why are you giggling??”

he does a little shrug and looks over at you

“you’re cute”

(((o(*ﾟ▽ﾟ*)o)))♡

lmao he really just had to take all your uwus

the moment kind of ends when you get a text from mina saying she went home w gon,,,

you both know what that means( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)

but also now you don’t have a ride back to your dorm

i mean you probably guessed what’s going to happen now

gentleman suk decides to walk you back to your dorm

despite it being chilly, it’s still a nice walk

you both walk in a comfortable silence,, heads turned to avoid the other seeing the little smile on each’s face

and you don’t say anything when you feel the tips of hyunsuk’s warm fingers entangling into your own

and he doesn’t say anything when you bid him goodnight with a kiss on the cheek

and you know that you have more than friendly feelings for the sleepy blondie in your chem class

#ygtb #yg treasure box #ygtb scenario #ygtb imagine #yg treasure box scenario #yg treasure box imagine #choi hyunsuk #hyunsuk #hyunsuk imagine

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love-killed-the-superstar · 5 years

Text

femslash february strikes again and i finally updated that one cornirma fic that ive been meaning to get back to for literally an entire year

Title: The Frying Pan Conversation Pairing: Cornelia/Irma Chapter: 2 - funny how we run around Summary: “You're awake...” “Great detective work, Sherlock, want a medal?” “It's too early in the morning for you to be sassing me,” grumbled Cornelia, half-heartedly throwing her phone onto the blankets and scooting closer to Irma. “Good thing you're way too cute for me to be sassing you with intent to kill,” Irma teased, pulling her in closer for a hug. She was overly warm from sleep and Cornelia happily melted into it. Irma's boobs made for an excellent pillow. (Cornelia and Irma spend Christmas with the Hales.)

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13743063/chapters/42144206

Cornelia loved watching Irma sleep. While she usually ran her mouth during the day, when she slept she had some sort of serenity around her, a tranquillity one wouldn't expect from someone who spent half the night tossing and turning, hogging the blankets and drooling all over her pillow. Yet, when morning came and Cornelia returned to wakefulness, Irma was at peace with herself in the land of dreams, hair framing her face like a halo. It took all restraint not to kiss her, but Cornelia had never been a fan of kissing before one had brushed their teeth.

Instead, she continued to watch. It was quiet and dim, the early morning sun casting strange light and shadows throughout the main room where they were set up. Without her family milling around, it felt peaceful. She wondered if this was how it would be all the time, if she and Irma moved in together some day. Sure, it wouldn't be some luxury cabin, but the world would be quiet like this. There would be no eyes on her. The whole room would be theirs to lie in silence and watch each other and feel cosy and secure. While Cornelia did want lavish things for herself someday, when she was older and things like throw pillows and vases mattered greatly in the grand scheme of things, it amazed her how easily she would sacrifice that just to be able to wake up next to Irma each morning and take on the day, regardless of whether they were in a plush king-sized bed or squashed together on a pull-out.

Geez. She really was picturing the rest of her life with Irma, like the hopeless romantic she was.

She rolled over to reach for her phone in the semi-dark. Too early to start messaging the group chat, but she hedged her bets with someone who did have a tendency to be up at this hour.

Will, you awake?

Not three minutes later, she received a reply.

ofc?? no rest for an athlete, corny. how did telling the parents go?

It didn't. Turns out I'm a bit of a coward.

nah it's tough. i only told my mom about being genderfluid a month ago, and i had no idea if she'd even CARE about it

Well, she cares about YOU. And from what you've told me, she's taken it well?

The speech bubble indicating a reply stayed for a while, and Cornelia repositioned herself so that she could watch Irma doze while waiting on Will to get back to her. After a few minutes, her phone finally pinged, and she hastily lowered the volume as Irma stirred slightly.

yeah, turns out dean being our teacher way back in the day finally paid off bc sheffield has diversity training or smth. he sat down w me and my mom and talked over all this stuff she was confused about. and she still doesn't totally get it, but she said she just wants me to be happy. guess that's all i really needed. stuff like if she comes to pride and w/e doesn't matter to me tbh, just knowing she's there for me is enough

Cornelia chewed her lip wistfully. If only it worked out that simply for everybody...

That's great. Really, I'm so happy it all worked out for you. I'm just worried about my parents, I guess. They're not bad people, but sometimes they can be so backwards with things. Really, I just want them to accept that this is a part of me so I can stop lying about a college guy just to keep them from overanalysing the way I am around Irma.

hey i get it! you're both just so darn cute together!

Indeed we are.

They shared some quick, casual conversation (Will, as usual, had some funny story to tell her about life as Taranee's roommate, and Cornelia caught them up on the bullshit that was her and Irma's road trip to the cabin) before Will had to leave to start their morning swim practice.

“Psst. Blondie.”

Cornelia dropped her phone in surprise, catching sight of rich green eyes watching her intently.

“You're awake...”

“Great detective work, Sherlock, want a medal?”

“It's too early in the morning for you to be sassing me,” grumbled Cornelia, half-heartedly throwing her phone onto the blankets and scooting closer to Irma.

“Good thing you're way too cute for me to be sassing you with intent to kill,” Irma teased, pulling her in closer for a hug. She was overly warm from sleep and Cornelia happily melted into it. Irma's boobs made for an excellent pillow.

“You're comfy,” she mumbled.

“Yup, cushy tits run in the family,” Irma remarked, relishing in the way Cornelia shuddered with an implosion of laughter. “You know this is the first time in months we've woken up together?”

“Feels like it too,” Cornelia sighed. “I've missed this. You should really come visit me more often, you know.”

“Oh yeah? I visited you twice last term. It's your turn to visit me just as soon as daddy dearest hands over your fucking prius.”

“Well, no offence, but your college campus is like a 30 minute drive away from Heatherfield,” pointed out Cornelia. “I'd sooner you visit me than risk bumping into Uriah of all people at a house party.”

Irma scoffed. “Thanks a lot! It may not be ivy-league or State U or anything, but there's still a ton of stuff to do! Besides, pretty sure Uriah's at Sheffield Community College, Anna works with his mom.” She paused. “Though, I did run into our dear old chum Nigel at a Halloween party this year.”

“Oh? And how did that go down?”

“How do you think? He followed me around half the night asking about Tara until I finally snapped and was like, 'you missed the boat, honey, our girl is gay as the day is long'. Haven't seen him since. Reckon he dropped out when he heard how swimmingly Taranee's life is going without him.”

“I doubt he flunked out because of a girl he was dumped by five years ago,” Cornelia deadpanned.

“Uh, hello? Our girl is a catch. He's lucky to have even walked the Earth in the same lifetime as her.”

“A bit dramatic, but I get the sentiment.”

Cornelia fell quiet, listening intently to Irma's heartbeat, her breathing.

“D'you think today's gonna be the day?” Irma asked softly.

Cornelia let out a noise, somewhere between laughter and a sigh.

“How do you always know what I'm thinking?”

“Because you have the antithesis of a poker face, darlin'. I've been reading you like a book since I was thirteen.”

She tangled her fingers up in Cornelia's hair, gently combing through, careful to avoid knots.

“I don't know if it'll be today,” sighed Cornelia. “Does it make me a hypocrite? I was so certain I wanted to do it this time.”

“Look. You need to stop putting this pressure on yourself to do everything exactly how you imagined,” Irma said firmly. “You don't have to tell them I'm your girlfriend. You don't even have to tell them you're pan if you aren't ready for it. We can call this off, you can spend the rest of Christmas break not having to worry about their reactions, and we can make out and cuddle and all that good stuff the second we set foot in my house. Would that make you feel better?”

“No?” Cornelia reached up to pull Irma into a proper hug. “I want them to know how happy you make me. I want them to know that I'm happy being myself. But the part where I actually tell them? Opening up like that, it... it's a very emotional process.”

“I know. I know it is. But I promise you, once it's out in the open... never mind their reaction, you will feel worlds better with it off your chest.”

“Ugh, why does my girlfriend have to be so wise?” Cornelia wondered aloud. Irma formed a fist and lightly knocked her on the head.

“If I'm going to be a teacher some day, I gotta be wise. I'm meant to be some sort of inspiring prophet, if your dad's stirring speech at dinner last night was anything to go by.”

“He's a passionate guy,” Cornelia shrugged.

“Sounds like someone else I know.”

A sudden creak from down the hall disrupted them, and they sprung apart, Cornelia sitting upright and reaching for her phone while Irma pretended to go back to sleep. A moment later, Harold's face poked around the door.

“Morning, darling!” he uttered in a stage-whisper, before stepping into the room clad in his robe and slippers. “Does Irma take coffee? I was thinking of brewing a pot to wake your mother up.”

“Only with six million sugars in,” Cornelia said, rolling her eyes fondly. “Don't worry, I'll take over. I know how to make it so she doesn't spit it out.”

Harold laughed, and moved over to start on breakfast as Cornelia set up the coffee maker.

“You two are as thick as thieves.”

Cornelia's hand froze.

“...Well, we're still good friends, but...”

“I drifted apart from my school friends when I went away to college, you know,” Harold mused. “I regret it now. The rift grew so big, and by the time I saw them again they were married, had families... and although we could still talk with ease about these kinds of things, the bond we shared at school – the books we liked to read, the movies we saw together, the pranks we would play on our teachers – all of that was gone. It was something we could look back upon and laugh at, but it's not the same.”

“I didn't know that.”

Harold offered her a kind smile, and reached over to crack some eggs into a bowl, dusting the mixture with pepper.

“Well, I think it's important to keep in touch with those you love. I was actually quite worried when I heard that you were going to your college alone. I know how close you are to the girls you met at Sheffield. I'm... glad that you were able to keep a close bond with them despite the distance.”

Oh, if only he knew how close.

Cornelia set out some cups on the side, hoping her face wasn't burning. If she really was as easy to read as Irma said...

“Well, they're my friends. They're important to me.” She glanced over at him. “Dad, I'm... I'm really happy with my life right now. With the person I am, and the person I'm with.”

Harold stopped whisking, and moved over to pull Cornelia into a tight hug.

“I'm so glad to hear that, darling. I really am.”

They worked in a pleasant silence after that, and when Irma next rolled over, Cornelia was nudging her, cup of overly sweetened coffee in her hand.

“Rise and shine.”

Harold was whistling away as Irma took her first sip, his back to them as he began tossing some bacon and eggs in the pan.

“Mmm. You made it just how I like it.”

“Well, you're picky. If my dad made it you'd choke it down and feel awful the rest of the day,” Cornelia teased. Irma stuck her tongue out.

“Jerk.” After another sip, she added coyly, “I heard the conversation between you two. It was sweet. Are you thinking today might be the day after all?”

“Maybe,” Cornelia said, a flame of confidence ignited in her heart. “He really wants me to be happy, so... maybe when I tell him, he'll understand.”

“Look, Harold Hale might not be leading a revolution, but he's always seemed like a chill guy to me,” Irma said quietly. “If you keep dropping hints, he might figure the rest out on his own.”

“Maybe.”

Cornelia glanced back at her father, still blissfully unaware of their conversation, and she leaned down to press a kiss to Irma's forehead.

“Now, drink up. We have a big day ahead of us.”

…

Breakfast was uneventful, with Lillian dominating the conversation with talk of some dream inspired by a zombie TV show she'd been binge-watching over Christmas break. Irma munched on French toast and bacon and watched in amusement as Harold became disgustingly sweet with Elizabeth, pressing kisses to her head whenever he went to refill drinks, even reaching down to pinch her behind when he was sure his daughters and his oldest's girlfriend weren't looking. Elizabeth swatted his hand away, pretending to be mortified at his brazen display in front of Irma, but the rouge on her cheeks and the affectionate eyeroll told another story. All the while, Cornelia quietly ate and drank, keeping a straight face while prodding Irma's foot playfully with her own under the table.

Oh, Irma could get used to mornings like these.

They took turns showering and dressing, and did the usual routine of wrestling for more mirror space as they brushed their teeth and put on make-up.

“So what's the plan for today?” Irma asked, rubbing some kind of moisturiser into her cheeks. Cornelia leaned in closer and inhaled with a happy sigh. Mango. Irma took the opportunity to turn and press a kiss to the tip of her nose, and Cornelia pulled away with a grin.

“Oh, well now we're all together, today will definitely be a decorating day. I mean, it's Christmas eve tomorrow, so it'd be a little sad if we didn't have the decorations ready by then,” she explained with a shrug, uncapping her mascara beginning to apply it to her upper lashes. “It really shouldn't take too long though. We'll have some time to get away, don't worry. And I think tonight my parents reserved dinner for us at a restaurant in town. I have to warn you, the waiter we had last time was super obnoxious...”

Irma stared at her reflection in the mirror, zoning out of Cornelia's anecdote about the wait staff at said restaurant, before glancing over at her girlfriend. In their teen years, she'd always envied how immaculate Cornelia's appearance was. She'd always seemed flawless somehow, even though Irma knew better and would never ever admit that much. Then, those feelings started to mix with something else, and attraction, jealousy and self-consciousness melted into an ugly soup of insecurity in her psyche. Even now, when she knew better than anyone that Cornelia was smitten with her, doubt crept in, especially in situations like these when they had to stand beside one another and pretend like they belonged in the same league.

“You're beautiful,” she sighed, interrupting Cornelia's spontaneous yelp review. Cornelia's hand jerked at the suddenness of Irma's statement and she hurriedly reached to blot away a clump of mascara stuck to the end of her eyelashes.

“Oh. Well, I do my best, and when it comes to make-up practice always makes perfect, you know.”

“I'm not talking about make-up, though yeah, you should consider dropping out of college and becoming a beauty guru on youtube instead.”

“Well, I think you're gorgeous too,” Cornelia replied with a smile, moving onto her lips. First a layer of balm to soften them, a waiting period of three minutes, and then the application of gloss or lipstick. It was her routine every time, and the waiting drove Irma mad in the mornings they'd spent together over the years. Cornelia's lip balm always smelled so damn good that fighting the temptation to kiss it clean off was a rare torture.

“Have you seen me?” muttered Irma, frowning at her reflection. “Eyebags for days. Messy brows. My lips are chapped to fuck and my skin has been kind of red lately...”

“Every time I see you I want to kiss you all over,” Cornelia said in the kind of factual tone that had Irma raising an eyebrow in disbelief. Still, she didn't protest as Cornelia wound her arms around her, and Irma caught a whiff of coconut lip balm. God damn it, she wanted Corny-kisses so bad. “You still get insecure, huh?”

“Hard not to when my girlfriend could pass for a fucking supermodel.”

“While I'm flattered that you hold me in such high regard, you're a far cry from the disaster you're making yourself out to be,” Cornelia laughed. “Besides, if you're really worrying about stuff, just talk to me, okay?”

“Yeah, okay,” Irma muttered. Cornelia rifled through her make-up bag for a few moments, before bringing out a small bottle.

“Come here, dope. Let me help you.”

“Why pay big bucks for a beautician when you can get one for free in the form of a generous girlfriend?” Irma deadpanned, but a smile tugged at the corner of her lips. Cornelia grinned back and started to apply the liquid to her cheeks and brow with some kind of blender sponge thing shaped like an egg.

“The trick to combating redness and dark circles is to have a good, strong base that neutralises any discolouration in your skin. In your case, green tones kind of cancel out reds, and yellows are good against dark circles, so it just leaves your skin looking healthier, see?”

She switched over quickly to one with a yellower hue, and Irma hummed in agreement, staying put as Cornelia began tending to her eyebags.

“I think I get where you're coming from. Hay Lin calls me up all the time to gush about colour theory, the importance of colour wheels is stuck in my brain for life.”

“Oh, you and Hay Lin call each other all the time? More than me?” Cornelia teased. She put down the sponge and reached back over to her make-up bag, retrieved something that Irma could only describe as the world's tiniest broom, and began to tame Irma's unruly eyebrows. “Don't tell me the two of you are having a sordid affair behind my back.”

“Our torrid love affair is about as real as yours with mystery botanist man,” Irma responded. Without breaking eye contact with Cornelia, she reached over for her own chapstick and began to apply it. Cornelia's tongue poked out slightly in concentration as she smoothed down Irma's brows.

“It's bad enough my parents keep going on about him, don't you start.”

“Well, he is my alter-ego,” Irma pointed out. “Seems a little rude to silence my opinions on him.”

“I hate when you make a good point.”

Cornelia leaned forward and pressed a kiss to Irma's brow, breathing in the smell of her mango moisturiser one more time and sighing deeply. Irma, in a similar moment of pure, unfiltered lesbianism, caught the scent of Cornelia's lip balm and damn went out of her mind. She tilted Cornelia's head down and what transpired for the next few minutes were a combination of kisses, hugs, and several attempts to escape Irma's python-like grip.

“It's lipstick time,” Cornelia complained, a playful glint in her eye as she finally pried Irma's arms off of her waist. “My lips will dry out.”

“Honey, we're both balmed up, if anything, now we have a double coating. You'll be fine.”

“Still, the sooner my make-up is done, the sooner we can get decorating out of the way, and the sooner we can chill out watching crappy holiday movies.”

“The temptation to stay in this bathroom where no one's watching and we can keep kissing forever, though...”

“Aren't we saving 'kissing forever' for the week at your place?” Cornelia asked innocently, perfectly pencilled eyebrows raised.

“No, that's 'sex forever', silly,” Irma said cheerfully, clapping her on the back.

She glanced back at her reflection. While the foundation and tiny grooming hadn't done much besides tidying her reflection up some, her eyes twinkled with something she could only describe as 'the Cornelia effect', and she found her appearance didn't really bug her so much by this point. As they stood side by side, Irma came to the realisation that she and Cornelia really did fit together, but more like a pair of odd socks that compliment each other in all their contrasting glory.

Maybe someone else would call that love.

…

Christmas with the Hales was turning out to be pretty fun.

Irma and Lillian fought bitterly over control of the spotify playlist that morning, while Elizabeth and Cornelia decorated the tree and Harold cheerfully filmed the entire ordeal. Lillian was stubbornly obsessed with the classics, while Irma kept switching them out for lesser appreciated cover versions, partly because rooting for the underdogs was how she rolled, and partly because she got immense glee out of pissing Lillian off (and for that, Cornelia saluted her for her heroism). When Karmilla's edition of 'All I Want For Christmas' came on instead of Mariah Carey, Lillian threatened to throw Irma's phone out of the window, which had Elizabeth swooping in and putting an end to their temporary rivalry.

They called a truce when the parents set out to buy icing and other edible decorations for the Christmas cookies, leaving the girls to prep them for baking. Lillian greased the baking tray while Cornelia mixed eggs and flour and sugar and cinnamon together in a big red bowl. Irma, meanwhile, sat herself on the island and, in compromise with Lillian, put on a playlist of nineties nostalgia, singing along to Re-feel-it and pretending to drum with a pair of wooden spoons against the countertop.

“Funnyyyyy, how we run around,” she belted. “And see what we got, we don't even know what it is we found...”

“And honey, take a look around,” Cornelia chimed in, using the whisk as a microphone. She spun on her heels, her eyes meeting Irma's as she lifted the whisk up to her lips. “By the time we get there we won't even know where it is we're bound!”

The two of them burst out laughing, and Lillian rolled her eyes. “Dorks.”

“Sorry, sorry,” Cornelia sighed dramatically, smirking at Irma before turning back to the mixing bowl and continuing to whisk the mixture. “I forgot we were in your divine presence, Lillian. I hope you can forgive us for entering the realm of uncool nostalgia for two seconds.”

Irma snorted.

“You know, she always gets more sarcastic when you're around, Irma,” Lillian accused.

“Yeah, I rub off on her. I'm a baaaad influence.”

“Is that any way to talk to our renowned guest?” Cornelia chastised. “What would Dad say?”

“He'd probably tell you not to sing into the whisk. You know how many germs you could be putting into the cookies by breathing on the mixture? You've built up an immunity living among students, but have some consideration for those of us who haven't stepped foot in a sweaty student union hall.”

“You're actually mad,” Irma cackled. “What kind of diseases could Cornelia have besides a bad case of the cooties? Unless... Corny, please don't tell me your parents are anti-vaxxers, or I might have to end this friendship for good.”

“Hell no, they're fine. Since when did you become such a germophobe, Lillian?” Cornelia teased.

“I play zombie games,” Lillian responded sagely. “I know how infection spreads.”

“They really don't paint as accurate a picture as you've been led to believe.”

As the mixture began to thicken into a dough, Lillian joined Irma on sitting on the island counter.

“So what's college like?”

“Classes are boring, my roommate sucks, and I'm drowning in student loans. But the parties are fun, and the people are cool when they aren't being pretentious tools.”

Lillian hummed.

“I can't wait until I go to college. Community's one of my favourite shows.”

“Heh, well, Community is an exaggeration for the sake of comedy, but...”

“Cornelia, what's your college like?”

“You saw it when you and Mom and Dad helped me move in,” Cornelia pointed out, distracted as she began to knead the dough.

“Yeah, but it's not the same! Your dorm is nice, sure, but what about the classes? The parties? The boys?”

“Hmm, I don't know about that. Boys aren't my area of expertise.”

“Well that's gay.”

Irma raised her eyebrows.

“Using 'gay' as an insult? Very 2004 of you.”

Lillian rolled her eyes. “Sorry. So you don't have a boyfriend?”

“Nope,” Irma said shortly.

Cornelia began to knead a little harder.

“I bet you know stuff about Cornelia's boyfriend though,” Lillian said to Irma, arms folded. “Why doesn't she talk about him? Is he secretly ugly?”

Irma snorted.

“Ha. I know a thing or two, but he's actually... probably the most handsome person I've ever known. Aside from your sister!” She playfully punched Lillian on the arm, who looked unimpressed by the statement. Cornelia made a strangled sound.

“Lillian, pass me the cookie cutters, please,” she choked.

Lillian raised her eyebrows and hopped off the counter top, retrieving ones shaped like pine trees and angels and bells, handing them to Cornelia.

“Here they are, weirdo. Anyway, you can't blame me for being curious! We had to pry it out of you that you were seeing anyone at all, and you're always so twitchy when we bring him up. Irma, is he a junkie or a biker or something?”

“Nope, just a loser who lies around watching cartoons all day,” Irma responded with a lazy grin.

“So you have a thing in common.”

“Lillian!” Cornelia admonished, slamming a cookie cutter into the dough with enough force to make the other shapes jump. “Also, Irma, I don't appreciate you calling my partner a loser.”

Lillian pulled a face.

“Partner? What are you, old timers?”

“Cowboys,” Irma chimed in.

“Oh, stop teasing me,” Cornelia huffed. “I'm just trying to be more inclusive. The world could do with more of that, you know.”

Lillian shrugged. “Whatever. So you're liberal now?”

“I reckon I've always been, yes.”

“And you, Irma?”

“Socialist, through and through.”

“Of course you are.”

“Just wait until college, Lillian,” Irma chided with a smile, as Cornelia began setting out the Christmas cookies on the tray. “There's a whole wide world out there.”

…

The Italian restaurant Harold took them to that night was fucking fancy, to say the least. The kind of fancy where there were lemon-scented wipes in little packets on every table and complimentary garlic dough balls and everyone was in suits and dresses. The Hales looked like they fit right in, and Irma was some vagrant they'd picked up off of the streets and were treating to dinner in a commendable act of charity.

“I don't even know what half the stuff on this menu is,” Irma hissed to Cornelia as they took their seats.

“It's good food,” Cornelia promised. “They just use posh names to scare people into thinking its worth the money they're paying. Come on, you watch enough Hell's Kitchen to know what filet mignon is.”

Irma ended up ordering something that she was pretty sure was some kind of beef thing, and Cornelia ordered the one pasta dish on the menu that used aubergines instead of pancetta. The wine was decent at least, and Irma found it easier to sneak glances at Cornelia's cleavage in the scoop neck dress she was wearing with the large flower centrepiece obscuring them from her parents. Lillian, while looking the part in a simple white turtle neck dress, was very obviously playing on her phone under the table.

The sweet onion soup starters arrived swiftly, and Irma was dragged back into a light grilling about her teaching degree from Harold, while Elizabeth began to catch Cornelia up with the latest family drama.

“Why, I just think it's so inspiring that you're choosing to act as a beacon for young people, and pave their futures-”

“-And your uncle, of course, is still coming around asking for money, as if your grandparents don't have enough to worry about-”

“-And you know, teaching qualifications open up the whole world to you! You could teach in international schools, or you could teach English in schools where it's a secondary language-”

“-It's not like their health is getting any better, you know! I keep telling him it's time to stand on his own two feet, he's certainly old enough-”

The moment that their waiter came to take the dishes away, Irma hurriedly excused herself.

In the bathroom (one of those spotless white ones with tiny shell-shaped soaps and embossed toilet paper because of course, rich people) Irma took a few moments to collect herself, staring at her reflection in dismay. She'd done her best to look presentable, but she still stuck out like a sore thumb in this kind of environment. Her dress was a little tight since the last time she'd worn it was for graduation, and her choker was crooked. Her bun was already starting to look lopsided, the redness of her cheeks was starting to show through the base Cornelia had applied that morning...

“Why am I not as perfect as the folks out there?” she muttered to herself, eyes narrowing as she glared at her reflection. She reached for one of the shell-shaped hand soaps and began to pick it with the edge of her fingernail. Absently, the faucet turned and water began to gush out, thrumming to the beat of her frustration.

After a few minutes of self-loathing and contemplation, she heard the sound of the door open behind her, and saw a flash of Irish green fabric, before Cornelia came up behind her, a vision of concern. She startled as the small army of water gushing from the faucet turned on her, almost letting out a hiss of steam, before Irma quickly called it off, allowing it to taper down the drain and out of sight.

“Irma, are you okay? My parents thought I should check on you in case the wine didn't agree with you, but...”

“Yeah, it isn't the wine,” Irma sighed. “It's this whole place. I can't fucking believe your dad called this place rustic on the way here.”

“He doesn't know the meaning of the word,” Cornelia agreed with a giggle. She wrapped her arms around Irma, leaning down to rest her chin on her shoulder. “You look amazing tonight.”

“Really?” Irma sighed. “I don't feel it. Or is this a classic 'lying to your girlfriend's face so she doesn't start crying in a stupidly fancy bathroom' tactic?”

“Well, it wouldn't be a great start to the meal.” Cornelia pressed a kiss to her jaw. “But I'm serious. You look great.”

“I'm practically bursting out of this dress. My tits are fighting for freedom. And my hair is coming undone and my stupid face is getting stupid red!”

“Of course it is, you've been drinking,” Cornelia said, rolling her eyes fondly. “And your face is the furthest thing from stupid, so don't even start.”

“I'm past the point of starting, Corny, I'm waist-fucking-deep in it. Look at this damn soap.” She gestured aggressively towards a shrivelled pebble in the basin. “That was shaped like a fucking seashell when I came in here and I picked and picked at it and now it looks like, I don't know, a really tiny golf ball?”

“Wow. Okay, let's take a step back from the soap.” Cornelia spun her around and rested her hands on her shoulders. “Irma, you look wonderful tonight. Seriously, you do, and I hate that going to this stupid dinner has made you so worked up.”

“It's not just the dinner.” Irma frowned up at her so-tall-it-was-unfair girlfriend. “Look at us. I mean, really look. We're like chalk and cheese, except, you're too pretty to be chalk. We're like – I don't know! An oil painting and cheese! I don't belong here eating food so fancy I can't pronounce it with wine I'm too weak to drink and in a dress that's too tiny for my damn good. You might fit into this magazine-spread life where everything is minimalist and perfect and velvet but I just don't. I saw it in the mirror this morning and I saw it in the mirror again just now. Are you honestly okay with that?”

“Why are you asking me this?” Cornelia asked, the smile gone from her face. “I love you. I love having you in my life. Sure, I like the nice material stuff sometimes, but if you think for one second that I'd put that stuff before you – before us – then the wine has definitely gone to your head.”

Irma huffed. After a beat, she muttered, “Rich people wine is ridiculous.”

“Agreed. Now, listen to me. We're too deep into this relationship to be hitting insecurities over stuff like this, got it? You know I come from money. You wanted to come on this trip with me. Unfortunately, that means seeing the way my family lives up close and personal. I just want you to remember that doesn't define me, or how I feel about you. I want you here. Okay?”

“I hate when you're being reasonable,” Irma groaned. She hugged Cornelia tight.

“Oof. Heh, don't tell me you're drunk already, we have the rest of a dinner to get through.”

“Are you gonna tell your parents tonight?” Irma mumbled into Cornelia's waist.

Cornelia hummed uncertainly. “Maybe. I don't know.”

“Well, remember I still love you. If you don't wanna come out here in this stupid fancy restaurant, no pressure. We'll make it happen some other time.”

“Hey, no need to comfort me, you're the one feeling insecure,” Cornelia teased. Irma lifted her head up to protest, and was met with Cornelia's lips pressing against her forehead.

“Ugh, you're too cute,” whined Irma. “If I weren't wearing heels I would go on my tiptoes and kiss you. And if you weren't wearing heels, we might actually be fucking level for once.”

“Thanks for clarifying that,” Cornelia quipped. “Not to worry, I can accommodate you.”

She leaned down and cupped Irma's cheeks, pulling her into a kiss.

The sound of the bathroom door abruptly shutting ended the sickeningly sweet moment, and they jolted apart. Lillian stood there, wide-eyed.

“Uhhh. Mom told me to come get you two, the main courses are out...” She blinked a few times. “Are you guys... lesbians?”

“Lillian,” Cornelia started, voice strained.

“I'm a lesbian,” Irma said with a shrug and an awkward chuckle.

“So you called me ignorant earlier even though you really are gay?”

“Ignorance is ignorance, sis.”

“Lillian, please don't tell Mom and Dad about this,” Cornelia pleaded. “I'm going to tell them myself, I just haven't had time to yet.”

Lillian folded her arms and huffed.

“I can't believe your mystery guy is just Irma.”

“Oh, ouch?”

Cornelia let go of Irma and approached Lillian.

“I'm serious. Can you please promise me you won't say anything?”

Lillian shrugged.

“I guess. I mean, I don't care about it. Not like they'd believe me anyway.” Seeing Cornelia's pinched expression, she sighed loudly. “All right, no. No, I won't say anything. So you can stop looking at me like that! Now come on, or Mom will be next to find us in here.”

As she pushed open the door to leave, she turned back.

“Also, Irma, you've got lipstick on your face. Hard to play dumb when the evidence is right there on your forehead.”

“When did she become such a smartass?” Irma muttered as Cornelia fished around in her clutch, bringing out a make-up wipe. “Look, don't panic. Lillian might be a pain, but she respects your business. Probably. I mean, I don't know her that well, but it's none of her business right? She knows that.”

“How did she seem to you?” Cornelia asked, chewing her lip. “Uncomfortable? Freaked out? D-Disgusted?”

“None. It was the same kind of grossed out she got when she caught you making out with Peter for the first time, I reckon. It was sibling disgust, not, y'know, her being a phobe.”

“Are you sure?” Cornelia fretted.

“Super sure. Now come on, you heard what she said. Lets go back before your mom drags us back by the ears.”

Irma reached over to squeeze her hand and didn't let go until they were out of the bathroom and in sight of the Hales. Elizabeth turned and shot them a disapproving look, motioning them back over, and Harold's face lit up with a delighted smile.

“I was starting to think the two of you had fallen in!” he joked, as they took their seats. “Is everything all right?”

“Oh, everything's fine,” Cornelia promised, a lie rolling effortlessly from her tongue as Irma stared down at the steak au poivre in front of her. “Irma just smudged her mascara and needed me to come to her rescue.”

“Ah, I see. Surely it shouldn't take that long though?” Elizabeth turned to Lillian. “Were they taking selfies?”

“Oh, they were having a gay old time in there,” Lillian deadpanned.

Cornelia froze. Irma dared to look up from her food to stare daggers at Lillan.

A moment passed, and Harold shrugged.

“Well, I'll never understand it, myself. But the youth of today are always finding beauty in everything! They can make moments last a lifetime! And I'm envious that an entire generation has learned to take pictures from an angle that certainly appear more flattering in post-production...”

As his speech continued, the tension melted away. Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at the two of them, as if to silently chastise them for sending Harold on a spiel about technological advancements, before tucking into her food.

Cornelia swiftly kicked Lillian under the table, but all she got back in response was an impish grin.

…

“Urgh, I'm full to burst.”

A now pyjama-clad Irma flopped face down on the pull-out bed, before rolling onto her side and burping softly into the back of her hand.

“I told warned you against dessert, if you recall,” Cornelia said with a grin, pulling her nightgown over her head.

“Yeah, but they had cheesecake. You know I'm weak for cheesecake, Corny.”

“That I do.” Cornelia lay down beside her. “I was a bundle of nerves the whole night.”

“Aw, come here.” Irma pulled Cornelia close, combing her fingers through her hair. “Lillian was just being a brat, that's all. She's got dirt on you, of course she's gonna poke a little fun. But she wasn't about to out you or anything.”

“I know,” Cornelia groaned. “I know. But she's on thin ice, I'm telling you now!”

“Well, the sooner you get it off your chest, the sooner she'll lose that power over you,” Irma pointed out. She yawned. “I'm pooped. Can you turn the light off? And then come spoon me?”

“Sure, your highness,” teased Cornelia, prying Irma's hands off her waist. As she wandered over to the light switch near the hallway, she caught sight of Lillian leaving the bathroom. The two stood there in silence for a few moments, before Cornelia uttered, “Hi.”

“Hi.” Lillian shifted from one foot to the other awkwardly. “Hey, Cornelia?”

“Yeah?”

“Um. I know I didn't say it at the restaurant, but... I don't like, mind or anything. About you and Irma.”

Relief washed over her.

“You don't?”

“No! And you should stop caring that somebody does, you know? Mom and Dad are whatever. I don't know if they'd care about it. But, it shouldn't matter if we mind or not, that's my point. It's about you and Irma, not about the rest of us. Although, since you're a lesbian now, I wish you had better taste in girls. I've seen her eat peanut butter out of the jar with her fingers,” Lillian pointed out, pulling a face.

Cornelia, stunned by the overload of information, leaned back against the wall.

“With her fingers?”

“Yup. It was our house peanut butter, too!”

Cornelia buried her head in her hands. “Oh my god. If I didn't love her so damn much that would for sure be a deal breaker. Also, I'm not a lesbian.”

“You're not?”

“No. I loved Peter, remember?”

Lillian pouted. “Yeah. I miss him.”

“I know you do, you remind me all the time.” Cornelia squared her shoulders. “Lillian, I'm pansexual.”

Lillian raised an eyebrow. “Pansexual?”

“Yes. Pansexual. I... fancy people regardless of whether they're a guy, a girl, or nonbinary.”

“Nonbinary?”

“The internet is a great place to learn about this stuff, since you're on the track to being an ally now.”

Lillian giggled.

“Yeah, I guess. Well, okay. So you're not gay, you're... what's the short of it? Pan?”

Cornelia nodded wordlessly.

“Okay. Cool. You're pan. And Irma's your girlfriend. And she's a lesbian?”

“Yes. You caught on fast.”

With a shrug, Lillian said simply, “It wasn't that hard to grasp. You're pan, Irma's gay, you're dating. That's that.”

Cornelia's mouth opened and closed a few times. At last, she uttered, “You made that seem really easy.”

“I'm a smart and socially aware kid,” Lillian said proudly, hands on her hips. Her smug expression softened. “And I'm happy you're happy. I was kinda thinking, cause you never mentioned your 'mystery uni boyfriend', that maybe you didn't really like him. I'm glad it's just a mix up.”

Cornelia's heart swelled, and she stepped towards Lillian, hugging her tight.

“You're a good sister.”

“And you're a clingy sister, god!”

They bid goodnight and Cornelia climbed into bed beside Irma, who had her back to her and was softly groaning. She yelped as Cornelia wriggled under the covers.

“Holy crap, Corny, your feet are colder than Mount fucking Thanos!”

“So warm me up.”

“Sorry, you got the wrong guardian for that party trick.”

Cornelia rolled her eyes fondly and reached around to spoon her.

“Geez, you ate too much. Your stomach feels like a rock.”

“Don't bully me, that was rich people food! How many times am I gonna get to eat like that again, huh?”

“If you'd just let me take you fancy places-” Cornelia pointed out.

“You know I hate fancy places!” whined Irma, punctuated by another burp. “Ugh. Just cuddle me to sleep, jerk.”

“Who are you calling a jerk, jerk?”

Cornelia obliged nonetheless, letting her body wrap around Irma's with a familiarity that had adapted over the years; from guardian sleepovers to family vacations to just the two of them drunkenly sprawled out in Cornelia's dorm. And now here they were, fitting together like jigsaw pieces, water and earth.

“Sweet dreams,” Cornelia whispered, pressing a kiss to the back of Irma's neck.

“Keep your lips to yourself, Corny,” mumbled Irma sleepily, snuggling closer all the same.

#w.i.t.c.h.#w.i.t.c.h #cornirma #irmelia #femslash february #cornelia x irma #irma x cornelia #cornelia hale #irma lair #irma/cornelia #cornelia/irma #writing

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imnotasuperhero · 5 years

Text

@mitchsentrash requested Sunday - Mitchsen, so here I am pleasing..

Since I need to get back in shape for the upcoming dedicated weeks (also bc I’m dying from reality working two jobs), feel free to

send me a word/AU and a pairing

Title: You’ll be so high (you’ll be flying)

Chapters: 1/?

Wordcount: 1038

Summary:

"Though the sea will be strong I know we'll carry on Cause if there's somebody calling me on She's the one..."

Read on Ao3

“But Beca, are you sure of this?” Beca would never get rid of the need to kiss Aubrey’s frown. Not that she would do it, though.

Stopping what she was doing, Beca faced her. “Listen, Blondie. I got back from my night’s shift less than an hour ago and I find you in your workout clothes cleaning the storm those misfit bitches did. Where’s my Sergeant Posen? You’ve got so softie in the last year.”

“Watch it, Beca,” Aubrey arched one of her sculpted eyebrows at the brunette’s words. How dare she? “It’s easier and faster than trying to wake them up and put them to clean. On a Sunday. After a party.”

“I’m pretty sure you enjoyed the party and here you are, ready to start your work out at 7 am. On a Sunday.” Beca was now leaning against the wall smirking at the goddess blonde in front of them.

“Point taken,” Aubrey had to agree with Beca’s reasoning. “But it’s on you if one of them dies from a coronary.”

Beca’s laugh was something Aubrey missed the most while she was away in NY, so she didn’t bother in hiding her crooked smile at the sound.

“Don’t you worry, Blondie. I’ll be responsible for any possible damage,” Beca winked at her and got back to the task at hand.

Aubrey couldn’t help but brace herself for the possible outcomes this plan could have. Sometimes she wondered if Beca was a genius or just a simple midget who enjoyed making people suffer. Probably both.

“Alright, it’s settled.” Beca walked to her laptop and fidgeted with something before turning to face her. “Would you do the honors?” Aubrey asked herself how could she feel mushy when Beca’s mischievous grin was plastered on her face.

“Dear Lord, please look out for us,” she whispered before starting to count backward.

Just as she reached to one, a deafening melody started playing through the Bellas’ sound system and it was a matter of seconds for noises to be heard from the second floor. “Please tell me you didn’t.”

“I did,” Beca’s grin was glorious. “It worked, didn’t it?” Beca laughed loudly as she got started on breakfast. “You know the beasts are coming back to their senses, right? Come help me.”

Before Aubrey could say something, footsteps announced their time was running.

“What the hell? I almost broke my head, you bitches.” Stacie grunted as she appeared in the kitchen.

“Don’t be so dramatic, Legs. You earned it for leaving a mess around the house before going to kill that hangover of yours,” Beca didn’t bother to look at her. Mostly because if she did so, she’d get injured.

“Ow, guys. What’s all this noise about?” Chloe plopped down in one of the stalls. “And could you please turn it down?”

“Won’t do,” Beca shock her head. “Not until you, little savages, clean the house.”

Once all the Bellas -minus Fat Amy- where up, Beca felt proud of her decision to make use of technology.

“I thought Aubrey was the top,” Stacie raised her eyebrow.

“We’re both versatile. Now go-“

“Oh my god, Beca. Stop encouraging them,” Aubrey felt herself turn red as a tomato. It wasn’t a secret they both had something going on, but they didn’t have the talk yet.

“Whatever,” Beca shrugged the topic off. “Go fix the mess or you aren’t getting waffles.”

Aubrey didn’t know she was lost staring at Beca until the brunette spoke up.

“Did I grow a second head?” It was so casual yet, Aubrey could tell something deeper was being asked.

“How are you so calm about them talking about us?”

“Because I am calm, Aubrey. I don’t care what others say and I can assure you almost half the group isn’t even straight,” Beca replied without taking her focus off the waffles she had just started. “And I know we have a lot to talk and sort out, but I told you I wouldn’t pressure you.”

Those words alone were enough to shut her up and start to –again- get lost in all the pros and cons being in a relationship with Beca had. But even if the cons outweighed the pros, she would be lying to herself if she didn’t want the tornado Beca was in her life.

She was about to speak but decided to bit her tongue and start helping with breakfast.

“We’re done. Now give us food,” Stacie took a piece of bacon off the plate. “And kill off the sexual tension once and for all, please.”

“Shut up Stacie, they’ll leave us without breakfast,” Jessica smacked her head.

“Fuck off,” Beca placed the plate of waffles on the table before getting hers and walking away. “Don’t bother me unless the house is on fire.”

“Rest well, Becs,” Chloe chirped through a mouthful.

The entire way back home was filled with Beca in her mind. Aubrey thought if being fucked up was like this. She’s never been so caught up in someone like she was about Beca. Even the biggest flaw about the brunette was enough to make her want to run back to the Bellas’ house and get herself surrounded by her presence.

“Bree, can we talk?” Chloe walked up to her as soon as she entered the house.

“I thought you’d be sleeping like the girls,”

“I tried, but I gave up,” the redhead shrugged. “So, when will you guys talk?”

“A little forward, aren’t we?” Aubrey couldn’t help but roll her eyes at the eagerness of her best friend.

“Oh, come on. We both know she’s up to try it. Why can’t you let fall?”

“What if we don’t work and we end up hating each other? God knows the fights we had to endure before we got to be civil with each other.”

“But what if you do work out? You have no idea how much Beca can care about someone.”

“You do know you guys dated already, right? I can’t-“

“Excuses,” Chloe rolled her eyes in exasperation. “Seriously, Bree. Talk to her before it’s late.” Chloe kissed her forehead. “But get a shower first. You’re smelly.”

“Come say that to my face, you bitch.” Chloe just laughed as she walked away.

#mitchsen #fic #aks #answered #aubrey posen #beca mitchell #aubrey x beca #my writing #you'll be so high (you'll be flying)

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scribblindown · 7 years

Note

I hope you don't mind, but as a lesbian, I'd like to imagine how it wpuld fit in the ffxv universe. How would each of chocobros react to their crush rejecting their offer on a date bc they're actually a lesbian? Bonus points if Aranea is on the party and they notice she has a crush for the dragoon lady :)))

I’m a bit excited and nervous to tackle this! This would be pretty redundant because all of the Chocobros are smart boys who understand that love is love, but enjoy!

Noctis:

He was really awkward when he found out that there was going to be a girl traveling with them, but he eventually grew closer to you, and started to have feelings for you.

But even though he pins after you, he would be too shy to do anything about this crush, and just spends the road trip in awkward silence. You don’t know his puppy love, but just about everyone else and their mom knows about it.

The boys would tease him relentlessly, and would continue to tell him to ask you out, but he would be stubborn and remain silent.

During camp one day, Gladio, Prompto, and Ignis would act really strange and say things like, “That one stall worker thought that you and Noct would make a cute couple,” or, “What’s your type of guy?“

Eventually you would just deadpan and say, “Guys, I’m gay."

Everyone would have the initial shock at first, but would accept it right away.

Noctis would feel very upset at first, not because he doesn’t accept you for who you are, but because his feelings wouldn’t go anywhere now. It would take longer for him to basically understand that you were lesbian, but only because he liked you romantically at one point. He’d probably avoid you for a couple of days, making you wonder what you did wrong.

He wouldn’t hold anything against you, and the more time he spends with you, his emotions towards you become more of a sibling love.

He accepts you for who you are, but he doesn’t have the strongest grip on the LGBTQ+ community, so he’s a bit clueless about it. You’d probably have to school him about your sexuality every now and then.

He would definitely be the friend that is like, "I met another lesbian today.”“…”“So I told her about you."

Prompto:

Okay, first of all, look at this boy and tell me that he’s not the slightest bit homosexual.

Don’t you see the way he smacks Noct’s royal booty?

Prompto’s crush on you definitely stems from admiration.

When he finally tells you that he likes you and he’d like to take you on a date, you’d feel so bad because the thought of hurting Prompto makes my heart ache.

"Oh, uh, I’m sorry, I really like you too, and I’d love to go on that photography drive with you, but only as a friend."

He’d immediately turn red to his ears and start apologizing to you for beng so direct.

"No! No! It’s not you! I’m just attracted to women!"

Oh.

…OH.

Prompto would feel a bit sad about you rejecting him, but that’s only because rejection hurts no matter what, but rest assured, he loves you all the same, but this time it’s just platonically. A bit of surprise would show on his face, but other than that it’s not an extravagant reaction.

It would be as if nothing has ever changed, Prompto is very open-minded, cool, and supportive with people’s sexuality.

"I understand!” he says with a smile. “I just wish you told me sooner!"

He has a good understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, both by definition and emotionally, so you are completely casual and comfortable around him. He’ll understand when you rant to him.

Prompto rarely gets angry, but he’ll get very visibly upset when homophobic people give you shit for who you are. He’ll be there to defend you right away.

If anything, coming out to Prompto only makes you two closer!

Gladio:

"It’s a beautiful day in Galdin Quay, isn’t it?" "It sure is,” you say.“Then how about we get a couple of drinks together? Just you and me—It will be a date."

It takes you a while to understand what he’s trying to say.

"Oh…Oh! Gladio, I’d still get drinks with you, but you should know that I’m a lesbian."

He’d just stare at you for a while, and it makes you a bit nervous, since he has such an intense gaze. You would worry about him accepting you in those few seconds.

Then he bursts out laughing and you get confused.

"That makes so much sense!” He would give you a slap on the back strong enough to send you bowing over.

Don’t get insulted though, he’s mostly laughing at himself for not catching on earlier.

Other than that, nothing would really change between the two of you, other than being more casual about sexual jokes around each other.

He wouldn’t feel bad about your rejection and takes it in stride, it’s not like he, and anyone else for that matter, can do much about who you like anyway.

He’s very nonchalant about it, but if someone insults you he’d get angry. Start-a-fight-right-now angry. You’d probably have to hold him back.

It would be great if you two were into the same type of girl.

“She’s pretty hot,” he’d comment about a girl walking by in the streets of Insomnia. You lean over. “She is."

The two of you compete to see who can get her phone number first.

Ignis:

"If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to take you out on a date tomorrow."

You’d pause for a while, because this is the Ignis asking you out on a date. You didn’t even know that he liked you like that.

"Oh, uh, I’m sorry, Ignis, but I can’t go on that date with you—I like girls."

He wouldn’t react much at all. He’d go silent for a couple of seconds, then fix his hair or push up his glasses.

"I…I see…I just don’t understand why you never brought this up before." "Well, it’s not like who I choose to sleep with really has anything to do with protecting the prince."

He’d be very stiff around you for a while, but eventually realizes that his actions might make you sad, but he tells you that he’s still just processing this. It isn’t everyday that Ignis asks a girl out on a date.

He takes note of your sexuality and researches more on it.

When time passes, and the occasion comes by, he’ll ask you questions about it. Like when did you realize that you were lesbian, or what are the reactions of certain people.

He’s just a very supportive mom.

But guy or girl, he’ll lecture you about safe sex and fuss over you whenever you leave for a date and come home from one .

"Sexually transmitted diseases can kill, kids."

Aranea:

This was embarrassing, degrading, and terrifying, and your knees were quaking just thinking about it. Arenea stood several meters in front of you, her back turned as she threatened talked to one of the workers posted at the edge of the now empty Nif base. “Hidden” several meters behind you were your friends, and in response to your helpless look, they sent an encouraging one back.

Gladio gave you a thumbs up while Prompto held up his camera to capture the moment you would finally confess. After you had come out to them, they noticed that you had a not-so-secret on Aranea this entire time, something that they passed off as sheer nerves from her assertive personality. They teased you relentlessly about your crush on her, but eventually told you that either you told her, or they would. Aranea wasn’t going to hang around your party for much longer anyway.

So here you were, heart beating so quickly that you were positive that you were going to die of a heart attack. You wondered if you should just bolt now, run away and change your name before you could embarrass yourself. You could face monsters without a blink of an eye, but you were having trouble breathing just looking at the dragoon lady herself. You almost wanted to cry. Sure, you knew that you liked girls, and there were girls now and then that piqued your interest, but never before had you liked someone as much as you liked Aranea.

Finally, she turned around, and raised a dainty eyebrow at your strange arrangement. With you terrified as hell and with the boys “hiding” behind a bush several meters behind you, she knew something was up.

“Uh, kid, are you alright? Maybe you should go see a doctor or something, your face is kinda red,” Aranea said as she walked closer. To your demise, she leaned in closer to your face.

“I..! Uh…I mean…” you choked. You turned back to the boys and gave them a helpless look that just screamed, “Help me!”

“Oh Aranea, my forever girl! Will you go on a date with me?!” Prompto yelled across the field in a high falsetto.

You gave him a betrayed look and mouthed, “What?!” across the field. He gave you a helpless shrug back.

“So that’s what this is about,” Aranea said, her voice smooth as silk. You were afraid to turn around. Once you did, you saw her with a hand on her hip and a smug smirk towards you. “Blondie over there is quite a wingman. Sure, you’re kinda cute. I’ll go on a date with you.”

“What?” you weren’t even sure if you were hearing her correctly.

“I’m free tomorrow night if you’re up for it.”. You weren’t even sure what was happening. You let out a small squeak as you nodded.. “Great. I’ll see you around, kid.”

Just as she left you with a smirk, she gave your bottom a light smack that made you stiffen up like a board. A loud scream escaped your lips. Over the pulsing in your ears, all of the boys yelled out in victory.

Side Quest:

Get [Name] a date with the Dragoon is now completed.

#ffxv headcanons #ffxv imagines #noctis #noctis lucis caelum #ignis #ignis scientia #gladio #gladiolus amicitia #prompto #prompto argentum #aranea highwind #final fantasy xv #final fantasy 15 #final fantasy

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