#But yeah I've changed a lot these past 4 years | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

dollfaced-erin · 10 months

Text

𝔻𝕣𝕒𝕘𝕠𝕟'𝕤 ℂ𝕣𝕒𝕕𝕝𝕖 (Blade x F!Reader x Jing Yuan)

PART 6

PART 1 , PART 2 , PART 3 , PART 4 , PART 5

taglist :

@rebeccawinters , @nayukiyukihira , @pix-stuff , @fluffy-koalala , @swivy123 , @starxao , @kaoyamamegami , @kimura-uzuri , @rsvye , @seikouryuu

P/s : to those who req to be on the taglist but didn't get their notifications, please check your privacy settings !! i cant seem to find youu :((

A/n :

there was a little more i wanted to put into this chapter for a sweet ending, but was a little too long. So i'll make the next chapter extra romantic hehe !! And i should be preparing a special chapter soon for all the support ! So, shall i write a modern AU themed with this fanfic ??

"So, was that the girl of your dreams ? Looks pretty young to me." a magenta haired woman laughed as her colleague returned to reunite with her at their rendezvous.

"Is she another one of those...Vidyadharas ? The long-lived Xianzhou natives ? My, its rare to see them with horns." Kafka said, leaning against an empty container.

"She's special." her companion answered shortly, looking down at his cracked sword in hand. A sword that was once wield by a master of ice arts, speed and strength so accurate, said friend could cut through time itself.

"Yeah, I bet she means a lot to you. You keep on dreaming about her. Dan Jia, was it ?" Kafka asked, and Blade shook his head.

"No. She goes by the name (Y/n) now." Blade answered simply yet once again.

(Y/n)...he didn't remember much of who that woman was in the past. But he could recall some significant details that calmed his nightmares as he slumbered.

Every time he had nightmares, nights Kafka was too far away to quell, he would recall a certain woman in his dreams. How she would dance her heart away. How her steps were as light as a feather.

She would dance, her clothes rippling along as she danced beneath the moonlight elegantly, a simple glass fan in her hands that shone beneath the gaze of the moon. She would sing and hum, her sweet and melodious voice forever guiding him back to light when days were dark.

He wondered what happened to all the fans he had created for her...? The last one he remembered was the crystal fan in her hands which she had kept on her person the most.

He remembered forging and learning glass art and crystals just to see those (e/c) eyes of hers light up in delight. The days and nights he sacrificed and burned his hands. The hours that passed as he learned day by day how to shape it nicely, how to add details, how to blow glass.

(Y/n) had always been fond of the moon. She loved glassy and clear items, hence why he had created so many small accessories for her in hopes of them being insignificant enough to the eye to escape her brother's protective gaze.

All to see those little accessories on his beloved.

The change of name...from Dan Jia to (Y/n) wasn't much of a shock to him. Nor did he try to deny that it was her name. No, it wasn't because she was the same person.

That woman named Dan Jia...had died. Long...long ago. But was so vivid in his memories.

On the battlefield years ago. Her limp and bloodied body strewn across the ground, her heart missing from her chest.

For some reason, that name (Y/n), with that same face, didn't bother him as much as another person's change in identity did. He wondered why.

He snapped out of it and looked at his colleague. "Let's go, Kafka."

"After you, Bladie. Don't worry, you'll see her again. It's all part of the script."

"I'd rather her not witness the monster I've become."

"Hm...just in case if you want to go see her again, you can go tomorrow night, just to check if she's there." Kafka shrugged, walking off with her colleague trailing behind her.

And the heart in his chest...felt like it was burning alive. It felt as if...dragon claws were being dug into it, in a comforting way. As if to show reassurance. As if...it had met its true owner.

After Blade had left, (Y/n) fell to the ground, wiping away her tears. Her heart hurt. No, her chest felt empty. As if it were missing something...

She didn't remember anything and she felt so lost...so helpless.

But that man...he was warm. He was kind. Contrasting the fact that he was a wanted criminal, contrasting the fact that he had fled from Jing Yuan's grasp, accidental or not.

But those unfamiliar red eyes of his...brought her some memories. brought her some sense of familiarity. Though she didn't recognize him, or he was someone from her distant memory or past self, he was indeed someone dear to her.

But as she was about to continue wallowing in her thoughts and losing herself in her empty memories, the device she had received earlier buzzed in her pocket.

She took out the device, as it shone brightly, blinding her for a moment. She let out a small string of curses, like, why the hell was this...THING (??) so damn bright ?!

But it was a message from Jing Yuan. So she tapped on the white banner, as it automatically led her to the chatting app Jingyan had showed her to use earlier.

"Princess, I hope you're safe. Do you want to come back now ? It's getting late." the message read.

(Y/n) felt her cheeks heating up a little. This flirty General of the Xianzhou Luofu really likes to play his cards and call her princess, huh...?

"I am in no way a princess. But yes, I would like to return now." (Y/n) quickly tapped, finding herself adapting to the new knowledge pretty quickly.

"You are always a princess, (Y/n). Pretty like one too. just take it as a compliment, alright ? This General doesn't hand out compliments as much as you might like." she received back.

She groaned a little in embarrassment. And shook her head with a little smile playing by her lips. She got up from the ground and began to exit the dark alley, where she had an encounter with the Xianzhou's (or rather the IPC) most wanted criminal.

"Yanqing told me he had you sent to the Exalting Sanctum for some fresh air and a change of scenery. From there, you can head north onto a bridge. Then, walk left until you see a Starskiff jetty on your right. You can request a ride to the Seat of Divine Foresight. I shall be waiting for you here." Jing Yuan instructed and (Y/n) nodded, even though he wasn't there to witness it.

"If you're too late, I might come pick you up myself~" he replied once more, and (Y/n) groaned again, turning off the device.

And so she walked off, away from the alley she was in. She didn't mind the stares anymore. She was her own person. She didn't need to hide, since her horns were part of her. And they were of great significance once in the past.

(Y/n) was close to the stairs that would lead her to the bridge Jing Yuan mentioned.

Until someone stopped her.

(Y/n) was stopped with a violent thud of something colliding with the ground behind her. She turned around to see a figure in heavy uniform behind her. A Cloud Knight, she recalled, as Jing Yuan once told her. She couldn't see his facial expression for it was blocked with the metal mask that obscured their face.

"Excuse me, miss. This may sound rude, but are those horns on your head real ?" the knight asked her, skeptically eyeing her from head to toe (or so she thought).

"Yes, the horns on my head are very much real. I suggest to you to not touch them, for they are very sensitive. Like when you bite into ice cream ? Yeah, it feels like that." (Y/n) said, raising a hand subconsciously to protect the horns on her head.

She was feeling very...self-conscious about them now, but she knew the reason behind the horns on her head. The others began to look at the commotion, but rather than looking sorry for her or helping out, they looked at the knight fearfully.

"Miss, you must come with me. I must confirm your identity. No one but the High Elders are supposed to have horns on their head, unless...but you...don't look like..." the knight trailed off, looking at the woman before him.

"You must come with me, quickly." he said, and took (Y/n)'s arm forcefully to a more secluded area.

"Wh-what...? Where are you taking me ?!" (Y/n) exclaimed, snapping her arm away from the knight, growling in instinct.

"No. You must come with me."

"Hands off of the Lady." A suave voice called out from the side.

"General !" the knight saluted, standing up straight as he released the woman from his grasp.

Jing Yuan looked quite angry, pushing (Y/n) slightly behind him, giving her an apologetic look for a moment. "Sorry I'm late, princess. Are you hurt ? My apologies. He's just confused just as many of the others are."

"I thought I had dispatched the news to the Cloud Knights earlier this morning to tell the other Luofu residents. I suppose some of you weren't notified through the headlines. That was...to not confront the horned woman."

"General ! She's...she has horns on her head. This cannot be but an imposter !" the knight tried to clarify, to which Jing Yuan stiffened a little at the word 'imposter'. He glared at the knight before him.

"Imposter...do you know what accusations you are making without base ? This lady before me...is the reincarnation of the Star-Crossed Dragon's Cradle." Jing Yuan revealed, shocking everyone, including (Y/n) herself.

Star-Crossed Dragon's Cradle...? Dan Jia was that...? Just what the hell happened in her past...life or incarnation or timeline or whatever ?

"Lady (Y/n)...is the past High Elder, Imbibator Lunae's sister. The Fallen One during the Sedition of Imbibator Lunae." Jing Yuan said before he looked at (Y/n).

"I'm sorry you had to find out this way, (Y/n). When you're so unprepared. I was sure to make sure most of the residents of the Luofu to remain silent if you passed. I suppose the news slipped minds of some." Jing Yuan said, giving her an apologetic look.

After the commotion was neutralized, Jing Yuan brought her to his estate. Being the ever-gentleman he was, he had provided for her a room in advance. But (Y/n) refused to rest just yet, wanting to hear answers from Jing Yuan himself. And so...

So there they were, sitting down in one of his leisure rooms, where a board of starchess was placed between them. He looked heavy to tell her what exactly transpired, but he knew she had a right to the truth.

He took in a deep breath.

"Princess...before I tell you anything, just know that I did everything for your safety. And most things that transpired in the past, shall not affect you now." he said, and (Y/n) nodded.

"I had shared the information of your awakening to the Cloud Knights to tell to the general public. You were free to roam the Luofu as you desired without interrogation, as you were under my supervision." Jing Yuan said with a heavy sigh, and a smile as he chuckled. he bowed his head, his bangs concealing his eyes further before he rose again.

"Now, like I said, you and the previous High Elder are siblings. Both of you were candidates to inherit the Dragon Heart due to numerous factors, but only one shall be chosen as the High Elder and inherit the said heart." Jing Yuan began, looking straight into (Y/n)'s (e/c) eyes that looked at him curiously.

"But surprisingly, both of you succeeded the Transmutation Arcanum, after passing the dragon transmutation. And between the two of you, Dan Feng was chosen to lead the army due to his immense power and potential, and you were chosen to stay in the back lines due to your healing abilities."

"You, (Y/n), rebirthed from Dan Jia, possessed that heart, and Dan Feng became the High Elder for he was more dominant on field, serving as a more...prominent leader as some would call it. But due to his destructive nature on the battlefield, the heart was transferred to you, where you would be Dan Feng's source of power. And it would always be safe in the back lines."

"So this...Dragon Heart..." (Y/n) started.

"It is a source of power. So as long as it lives, Dan Feng's power remains undisrupted. You are the vessel, and Dan Feng is the output." Jing Yuan tried to explain.

"You used to be the holder of the Heart. Hence the title, the Dragon's Cradle. You held the heart close in your chest, protecting it from everyone and everything. That is...until it was ripped from you."

Her blurry memories from before she awoke began to flash in her mind. The bone marrow. The pain. The guilt. The screams. The ripping...

The pain wasn't only from her back. It was also from her heart.

The heart that was ripped away from her...

But why...?

Her thoughts began to scramble in her mind, not being able to comprehend anything else Jing Yuan was saying. Her vision began to blur as she was beginning to feel overwhelmed.

But she was pulled back to reality was the warm and large hand that was placed on her head. Worried golden eyes melted her heart as they gazed with concern and oozed with warmth.

"That should be enough for today. I apologize, my princess. I suppose that this information may have overwhelmed you." Jing Yuan said, a tender smile on his lips as he caressed her silky strands of (h/c) hair.

"It's late. You should rest up. Come, I shall lead you there..." Jing Yuan said, standing up and offered a hand to her.

(Y/n) took his hand as he led her through the spacious walls of his mansion on the Luofu. Being a general for as long as him and as significant, his riches knew no bounds. But he had nothing to spend it all on...

The last time he made a big spending, was to build the resting house for his dear friend, who lay resting, unknowing when she was to wake up. But now that she was awake, perhaps he wouldn't be as lonely as he used to.

The two walked in silence, Jing Yuan pondering in his own sorrows, and (Y/n) trying to remember the details and admired the traditional interior of Jing Yuan's manor. Then, Jing Yuan stopped and looked at (Y/n). "This is your room. Use it for as long as you'd like."

"In the closet is a few clothes if you'd like to wear them. I've had the servants prepare everything for you. Don't worry, I didn't peek." Jing Yuan said warmly, caressing her hair.

"My room is just next door if you need me. If you think you cant reach me, you can call me. I'll be awake if you need anything, okay ?" Jing Yuan asked and (Y/n) nodded her head.

She was much too baffled by today's revelation, that she had some trouble processing most of what was currently taking place. But Jing Yuan was kind to her, as he had always been since the moment she opened her eyes.

"Okay...thank you...Jing Yuan..." (Y/n) said, looking at him with her glassy (e/c) eyes. Jing Yuan smiled and took her hand, kissing it softly before letting go of her hand for the night.

The general smiled as he watched (Y/n)'s face lit up with a tender and shy blush on her cheeks, finding it amusing and strangely addicting. He lifted his finger to her cheek, lowering his voice to a soft whisper.

"Good night, (Y/n)..." Jing Yuan whispered before he left her, walking towards his own room.

Internally, he was screaming and congratulating himself, tempted to give himself a pat on the back. But that was a party meant for himself in his room. He closed the door, making sure that he was alone as he gazed up at the moon. he smiled longingly, his honey-colored eyes glazed with nostalgia.

"How I wished you'd dance once more, sister of the Imbibator Lunae. The Saltator Lunae, Dancer of the Moon..." he whispered.

#honkai star rail #honkai star rail x reader #honkai star rail x you #hsr blade x reader #hsr blade #hsr blade x you #hsr x you #hsr jing yuan #hsr jing yuan x reader #hsr jing yuan x you #blade x reader #jing yuan x reader #blade x you #jing yuan x you

321 notes · View notes

rhoorl · 9 months

Text

Delta Landscaping |

Chapter 4: The Pool Party

Series Summary: In this AU, the boys of Delta Force start a new business post-Colombia.

Series Masterlist

Rating: Explicit (18+) - This is here as a blanket rating

Word Count: 8.8k

Chapter Summary: It’s pool party time. Once we get to the party we are going to be bouncing around to a lot of little scenes amongst various characters. Some stuff from the party hit the cutting room floor.

Chapter Warning: Allusions to cheating, co-dependent relationship. Some military/veteran talk. If something else should be added here please let me know! Also, I don’t have a beta for this, so any mistakes are all me.

A/N: At the beginning of this chapter, I provide some background on another one of the neighbors – the most in-depth I think I've gone since Lucille. I’m not trying to pass a moral judgment on this character one way or another, but I think it’s important to lay out some of her past.

Also, shoutout to @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain whose comment from Chapter 3 about Benny’s choice in swim trunks took me down a rabbit hole. Another shoutout to @trulybetty for bouncing ideas about one of the storylines with me!

“So…that Santiago sure was giving you the fuck me eyes wasn’t he?” David chuckled as he, Ty, and Melissa made their way back to their respective houses after the watch party at Lucille’s.

“Yeah, Mel, the guy couldn’t take his eyes off you."

“Oh it's fine, just some harmless flirting,” she waved them off. “Doesn’t hurt that he’s also gorgeous and probably a really good kis-” she cut herself off as they side-eyed her.

“Ten cuidado con eso,” Ty cautioned her. “It's harmless flirting to you, but he may not see it that way…"

"Yea, girl…don't write checks your ass can't cash."

Melissa rolled her eyes as the trio stopped in front of David and Ty's house.

"Anyway," Ty cleared his throat. "With the party tomorrow, I guess we have to cancel our appointment with the event planner at the golf course. That's the third venue in a row we've canceled. You getting cold feet or somethin?”

“No, of course not,” she shook her head, nervously laughing. "We can always reschedule, right? Everyone seemed so excited to do it tomorrow so why wait…sorry for the short notice, I didn't leave you with enough time to come up with a theme.” She wanted to change the subject and change it fast.

_______________

Melissa was no stranger to turning heads. She was one of the younger women who lived in Torrey Hills. She was fit, attractive, and had an infectious laugh and quickly bonded with David and Ty over RuPaul's Drag Race after they saw Melissa wearing an Alyssa Edwards shirt one day. The three alternated locations for their weekly watch parties, even going back and watching old seasons in between the new ones.

They also bonded over wedding planning. David and Ty were some of the most sought-after wedding planners in the greater Tampa Bay area. And when Danny confided in them that he thought Melissa was overwhelmed with wedding planning, trying to do it all herself, they knew they had to step in and help…free of charge.

The idea of a wedding and impending marriage loomed over Melissa like a dark cloud. She loved Danny, they were high school sweethearts, but more and more she felt like her life was planned for her and not by her. For the last 12 years, all they knew was each other. They were each other's firsts and last in so many respects. First relationship. Last kiss. And when it came to sex, they had been each other's first and last in almost every respect.

In high school, Danny was the star quarterback and Melissa was the head cheerleader, so of course they were bound to get together. When Danny suffered a torn ACL in the last game of his senior season, all hopes of a college scholarship were dashed. Devastated, he had to rethink his plans since the hopes of a prospective NFL career were no more. He reluctantly decided to follow in his father's footsteps and attend Embry-Riddle and start on the path toward being a commercial airline pilot.

Melissa was a fantastic athlete in her own right and received a cheerleading scholarship to attend the University of Florida. Despite the distance, she and Danny wanted to make it work; everyone told them since they were high school sweethearts, and clearly soulmates, this was just the next logical step for their relationship.

They alternated making the two-hour drive on weekends to see each other. Although it was tough for Danny to attend the football games, wishing it was him on the field, he absolutely beamed seeing Melissa on the sidelines getting tossed in the air and leading the crowd in cheers.

When it came to her college experience, Melissa had a much different one than her sorority sisters. She didn't go out with the girls as much because she was either visiting Danny or he was there seeing her. It was hard for her to turn down social events. One of the reasons she decided to go to a big school like UF was to live the ultimate college experience. But, she loved Danny and the distance was hard, so she relished any opportunity to see him even if it meant they wouldn’t leave their rooms the whole time.

Fast forward a few years, and a couple of changes in majors, and Melissa graduated with a degree in health education with a minor in Spanish. After he graduated, Danny benefitted from the pilot shortage and quickly made the jump from a regional to a major airline. Moving in together after college was the next milestone on their trajectory – their families assumed marriage and babies wouldn’t be too far behind.

The next few years they moved wherever Danny's job took them, before ultimately landing in the Tampa Bay area. Danny knew he wanted to marry Melissa from the moment she agreed to go on a date with him. She was it for him. He proposed during a romantic beachside dinner in Clearwater Beach 10 years to the day he asked her out for the first time. He even organized it so their families were there as a surprise. Everyone was absolutely over the moon as the next milestone got checked off the list.

Danny was all in on wedding planning, suggesting they attend a local wedding expo so they could start to meet with vendors. Melissa, on the other hand, was not as gung ho to get started. Most of her sorority sisters either were married already or in the midst of wedding planning, so she was no stranger to the machine that was the wedding industry.

Everyone had questions. Were they having an engagement party? Where were the bachelorette and bachelor parties going to be? Did they want a local wedding or a destination wedding? Were kids going to be invited? What colors for the bridesmaids' dresses?

Melissa's head was spinning with all of these decisions she needed to make. Everyone meant well, encouraging her to do whatever she wanted because it was her day, yet she came to the realization that this - a wedding, marriage, kids - wasn’t what she wanted.

This epiphany tore her up inside and she hated herself for it. Danny was a good man and deserved to be with someone who worshiped him the way he worshiped her. But, at the same time, she didn’t know how to navigate life without him. He was her best friend and had been by her side through her highest highs and lowest lows.

She couldn't bring herself to call things off, she couldn’t bear to break Danny's heart. She rationalized her hesitation saying it was a phase or something she needed to work through. So, she tried to find some distraction to help put off wedding planning just a bit longer – and buying a house seemed like the perfect distraction. Their focus would be on stalking Zillow, going to open houses, and driving around looking at neighborhoods.

When they drove through Torrey Hills with their realtor, Melissa immediately fell in love with 305 Mulefall Court, a house newly on the market. She was awed by its spacious, inviting interiors and massive backyard. She could envision a life with Danny here. Things moved quickly from that point on from making an offer to closing, and before they knew it, the two of them were homeowners.

Once they moved in, her focus immediately went to making her home perfect. She had a list of projects, which included lots of additions, including a pool, and Danny was receptive to it all. He hadn't seen her this focused and excited in a long time.

"Whatever makes you happy babe," he'd say whenever she came to him with an idea.

Every so often Danny would broach the subject of wedding planning and Melissa would find some convenient excuse as to why she couldn't focus on it. She was changing jobs, she didn't want to compete with another friend's wedding, or her sister-in-law was pregnant. She latched onto anything that could delay wedding planning more.

When construction started on their pool, the last of the big home improvement projects, Danny upped the pressure for a date. Melissa, David, and Ty went to see nearly every possible wedding venue in Tampa Bay, St. Petersburg, and Clearwater and even drove to Orlando to check out what a Disney wedding would entail. Making matters worse, their respective parents were also starting to run out of patience, blaming it on their desires to spoil their future grandchildren.

Melissa knew she was destined for a crossroads and she felt the walls closing in on her. She was turning 30 in a few months and had lost track of who she was. Danny was the only boyfriend she had ever had. He was the only sexual partner she'd ever had. And for the past 12 years, they navigated life together, their whole adulthood wrapped up in each other.

_______________

"Hey…Fish and I are at the store, what do you need us to pick up again?" Santiago stared at the wall of beers as Frankie checked out the whiskey selection.

"You know the beers we all like, but maybe add in some…uh…I don't know…hard seltzers or something." Will tried to be sly with that inclusion. The other day coming home from his run he noticed Katie had an Instacart delivery which included hard seltzers.

"Hard seltzers? The fuck? You watching your figure?"

"Shut up. I’m just thinking we should bring…a variety. We don't know what everyone likes to drink."

"A variety…ok man. Lemme add some Sunny D and juice boxes while I'm at it." Santiago countered sarcastically.

"Fuck off, we'll see you and what I imagine is your obnoxious as-hell swimsuit soon."

Will hung up the phone as he walked into the kitchen, shaking his head. Benny was at the kitchen table doodling in his notebook.

"Are they on their way?" He asked without looking up, concentrating on his drawing.

"Yeah, they’re wrapping up at the store. What are you working on?"

"Oh, nothing…just had an idea I couldn't get out of my head," Benny looked up and gave a half smile. He heard his phone ding and saw it was Connor.

Connor: Guess what I did?

Benny: ?

Connor: I asked Aria if she and her parents were coming to the party.

Connor: I had Mom ask Ms. Melissa if that was cool, but turns out they were invited already lol

Benny: FUCK YEA

Benny: I mean hell yeah!

Benny: You excited?

Connor: Haha. Yea. And nervous.

Benny: I get it. I'll give ya a pep talk when you get there 😉

"What are you smiling at?"

"Oh, it's Connor," Benny waved his phone. "That girl he likes is coming to the party."

"He's a good kid. You're not trying to replace me are ya?"

Benny rolled his eyes and laughed. "Nah, man. Wherever you go, I go, you know that."

___________________

"Wait, I thought we were supposed to go look at a venue today. I leave tomorrow for a couple of weeks, Lis, what're we doing hosting a party?"

Danny was the planner. Meticulous and always wanting to have things in order. And, for the most part, Melissa was the same way. Except in recent months, he noticed she was getting more spontaneous, erratic even, randomly deciding to go off and do things with a moment's notice…including hosting the entire neighborhood at their house for a pool party.

"I know, but I was talking with D and we just don't think that place is our vibe, so like why waste everyone's time."

"Well, what is our vibe? Jesus Lis, you've seen like, what 20 places…you don't like any of them? Budget isn’t a hurdle, you know. I want you to have your dream wedding."

"I know, baby,” she walked to him, putting her arms around his waist. “I want it to be someplace special. I'll know it when I see it. I just haven't had that..feeling yet when I've gone places. But we're close, I know we are." She kissed Danny, trying to reassure him although she could practically see his patience wearing thin.

He wrapped his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face into the crook of her neck. "At this point, why don't we just go to the courthouse?"

"The what?" She pulled back to look up at him.

"Yea. It's just a piece of paper anyway. Then we can go on a trip or something…whatever you want - Lord knows I have miles for it. Take the pressure off of planning a big party," he rubbed his hands up and down her arms.

"You know both of our moms would not go for that. Heck, I'm my dad's only daughter so he will be heartbroken if he can't walk me down the aisle," she chuckled. "We'll figure it out, baby. Now, can you help and put the tables out back?"

___________

"Lulu, need help?" Megan opened the door to Lucille’s. She had Connor bring their wagon, knowing that Lucille was going to have several different platters to haul down the street.

"Sí, por favor!" She called from the kitchen. It was no surprise that she had made a ton of food, including a flan, another one of Connor’s favorites.

The three of them got everything loaded up and started walking toward Melissa and Danny’s house, stopping abruptly when they heard a loud whistle from behind them. Turning, they saw Benny giving them a big wave with his free hand as he hauled a case of beer on his other shoulder.

He was decked out in what, on a normal person, would look like the most obnoxious pair of swim trunks, but somehow he made look cool. They hung low on his hips and were all black, with a retro flame design in various shades of orange, red, and yellow extending up from his knees towards his crotch. His shirt choice was much more understated, a red cut-off shirt paired with a white Houston Astros baseball cap which he wore backward, of course.

Will followed, donning a pair of mostly red swim trunks with alternating stripes of white and navy blue near the waistband, and a plain gray T-shirt. Behind him was Frankie who had on solid black swim shorts with a light gray, button-down short-sleeve shirt with what looked like a crane pattern on it. He left the top several buttons of his shirt unbuttoned exposing his tanned chest. His signature baseball cap was affixed to his head and his aviators were tucked into the pocket of his shirt.

Santiago trailed behind with the shortest trunks of the bunch, showing off several inches of thigh. They were navy blue with white and baby blue tie-dyed roosters scattered across them. He paired the shorts with a baby blue tank top. Not wanting to mess up his hair, he went sans hat but did have on his Oakley sunglasses.

All the men carried various cases of alcoholic beverages. Frankie knew they should have just driven it all over, but the other three insisted on walking.

"Wait up!" Benny called after Megan, Connor, and Lucille.

"Hey, where's the party?" David shouted from his porch across the street as Ty wheeled their wagon full of goodies down the driveway. "You boys actually planning on going into the water?"

"Well…yea…I mean, it's a pool party right?" Benny was confused at the lack of swim attire and towels from David and Ty.

"David never goes into the water, he prefers to sit on a lounger and get the chisme from Lucille. Those two know everything," Ty laughed.

David and Ty bickered about their pool party behavior as they all made the relatively short trek to Melissa and Danny's.

"So, Megan…is uh…Melissa's fiancé cool?" Santiago asked as they reached the driveway.

"Oh, Danny? Yeah, he's a sweetheart, really nice guy."

"Awesome…great," Santiago said flatly, trying to avoid the confused look he could feel Frankie giving him.

"Party's here!!" David announced as the crew made their way into the backyard.

The backyard was almost as big as Will and Benny’s. It was a little sparse, with just a few palm trees, but it had lush green grass and a large sparkling pool. The lanai was expansive with a full outdoor kitchen and a table that could easily seat eight comfortably. Loungers and chairs were scattered throughout for seating.

Danny was just finishing setting up the last of the foldout tables as Melissa walked outside with a plastic tablecloth to cover it.

"Oh hey! Welcome!" She gave a dazzling smile to everyone, pleased that the four new additions to the neighborhood all came with their swim trunks on.

She had a black, sheer cover-up on over her blue and white tie-dyed bikini, a more revealing swimsuit than her usual pool party attire.

“Ok hot momma, I see you!” David whistled as he saw her, bringing her in for a big bear hug.

When David finally put her down, her eyes immediately connected with Santiago, who tilted his head down to peer from over his sunglasses. He didn’t hide the up and down he gave Melissa, leaving her a bit flustered at the attention. She walked over to Lucille who was helping Connor and Frankie unload the contents of her wagon onto one of the tables.

"Lulu, esto es demasiado…you didn't have to make all of this!"

"¡Ay, basta! You know I can't help myself when there’s a party," she winked.

"Oh babe, here meet the guys," Melissa called Danny over. "This is Will and Benny, they moved into 319. And these are their friends Frankie and Santiago."

"Hey guys, nice to meet you," he shook all of their hands. "You guys are fixing that house up really nicely, it looks awesome."

"Well, it couldn't look any worse," Will joked.

Once they started talking, Danny and Frankie immediately hit it off once they realized their aviation connection.

"Do…do you need help with anything?" Santiago asked Melissa as Frankie and Danny started to nerd out about engines on their walk over to the grill.

"Uh…yeah. Actually, I have a cooler I need to bring around from the garage."

"Lead the way," he opened his arms for her to pass, trying to discreetly check her out as she walked by him.

Frankie quickly side-eyed where his best friend was going, trying to not make it too apparent as Danny continued on his rant about the impending pilot strike.

Melissa could practically feel Santiago’s eyes on her as she walked toward the front of her house. She put a little extra sway in her hips, not hating the attention but knowing she was playing with fire.

Danny loved Melissa and tried to show her as often as he could, but his work schedule had definitely put a damper on their sex life. Gone were the days of ripping each other's clothes off at a moment's notice and having passionate sex everywhere and anywhere they could. With Danny away for work as often as he was, they'd had more phone sex than actual sex over the last couple of months and she was going a little stir-crazy. A handsome stranger certainly didn't help things either.

"Here it is, think you can handle it?" She turned to face Santiago. She resolved that she wouldn’t do anything other than flirt with him.

"Oh, I think I'd be able to manage just fine." He winked.

For his part, Santiago was conflicted too. He was never one to shy away from a beautiful woman flirting with him, but he drew the line if they were taken. He had been there, done that, and didn’t want to go down that painful road again. But he also couldn’t deny that there was something there when he looked at Melissa.

He didn’t want to say anything to the guys, especially Frankie, because he knew what their reactions would be. They’d tell him that he was just attracted to her because she was the young, hot thing on the block and remind him that she was very much unavailable.

"That's uh…a nice suit you have there," he nodded towards her. "Looks like we both like tie-dye," he chuckled.

The two stayed with their eyes locked on each other, trying to read the other’s face for what felt like minutes before they heard someone clear their throat.

"Oh hey, sorry we're late!"

They turned to see Olivia, with Diana on one hip and a baby bag slung on the other shoulder. Her husband, Chris, and their sons CJ and Max were right behind followed by Katie who was helping the family with their bags.

"It feels like we have to pack the whole house even when we just come down the street," Olivia laughed, oblivious to the awkward tension between Santiago and Melissa.

"Aw don't even worry, everyone just got here! Come, they're out back!" Melissa waved toward the backyard.

Santiago introduced himself to Chris, who helped him bring the cooler along with a couple more fold-out chairs to the back.

Frankie spotted Santiago as he came back with a man carrying a cooler and some more chairs. Seeing Olivia and her kids, he figured it was her husband. He also clocked how Santiago's eyes lingered on Melissa, who was walking in front of him.

"Hey babe, where are the burgers?" Danny yelled out to Melissa.

"They're inside, here I'll help you."

"I'll be right back," he told Frankie.

As Danny and Melissa headed inside, Santiago stopped to get a beer before walking over towards Frankie. He could feel the side eye Frankie was giving him.

"Don't."

Frankie lifted his hands up in protest. "I haven't even said anything."

"Yeah, but you're giving me that look."

"She's engaged, hermano. Besides, isn't she a little young, even for you? Ow-"

Santiago slapped Frankie in his chest. "I'm not that much older. And besides, I'm just…flirting with her. Nothing else."

"Ha, yea ok, Pope," Frankie took a swig of his beer, shaking his head.

Frankie knew his friend had a knack for fixating on the most unavailable women. He never understood why Santiago did this, he was arguably the biggest flirt of the bunch and a good-looking guy, so he could, and did, get any woman he wanted. But yet, it was as if he thrived on the drama, on the secrecy of it all.

“Don’t act all high and mighty, you were right there with me too.” Santiago snapped back.

“Yeah, but I wasn’t the one who caught feelings…that was you, remember?”

Santiago rolled his eyes and walked over to Lucille, who was arranging a plate of food for herself.

____________

After more neighbors trickled in, the party really started getting going. David and Ty were in charge of the playlist, rolling their eyes whenever Olivia glared at them for playing a song that wasn't child-appropriate.

"There's literally a summer barbecue playlist on Spotify, just pick that one!" She went over to them in a huff.

"Ok, momma bear. No more Cardi B noted!" David teased.

"Boys no running!" Olivia called after her sons as she dipped a carrot in some ranch.

"Are they twins?"

She heard a low voice, turning to see it was Frankie next to her.

"Yes, unfortunately," she sighed and then smiled. "They're great, just a lot of fucking energy."

"Ha, I can see that. And how old are you?" He bent down smiling at Diana, who was still attached to her mom's hip.

"Oh, this is Diana, she's nine months, 10 months in two weeks!"

"Well, she's beautiful," he rubbed the little girl's cheek with his thumb, which elicited a small smile, barely visible from behind her pacifier. Her eyes were fixated on Frankie.

"Ooo she likes you, she doesn't smile for just anyone."

Frankie smiled, but it didn't quite reach his eyes.

"Do you have any kids?"

"Ah, n-no. My sister has two, so uncle mode is where I'm at these days," he chuckled.

“Ah, well maybe someday…”

“Maybe…I’m getting a little old…” he rubbed the back of his neck. “But, I like kids, so I dunno, we’ll see.”

“I mean, I can give you one of mine if you want,” she teased, trying to lighten the mood after she unintentionally struck a nerve.

_________________________

"Havin' fun?" Benny walked up to Megan, as she loitered around the coolers, observing her son who was pacing near the back of the yard by some bushes.

"Huh, oh yeah," she looked over at Benny, giving him a smile. "Hey, do you know what's bothering him? He's seemed on edge since we got here."

"Uh…yea…at least I think so. I think he's waiting for a girl to show up."

"Aw, is it Aria?" She looked over to Benny who nodded. "Ah, I knew it! I swear that boy has had a crush on her since middle school…has he…told you anything? Does he like her?"

"Yeah he likes her, he's just too scared to ask her out."

"My sweet baby, of course, he is…did he…talk to you about it? I've tried but I'm mom you know…"

"He mentioned it, I just listened. Tried to give some advice. I was a teenage boy at one point, ya know," he chuckled.

"Well, you have one on me there. I can't believe I'm at this stage now, where he likes girls," she shook her head.

"Want me to go talk with him? I told him I'd give him a pep talk if he wanted."

Megan's heart was about to burst at how sweet Benny was being toward her son. She felt a pang in her chest that Jacob wasn't here to see how much their son had grown up.

"I'd like that," she smiled.

Benny squeezed her shoulder, before bending down to the cooler to grab a soda and a beer and head toward Connor.

"Where's your girl?" He asked as he offered the boy the can and cracked open his beer.

"She's not my girl…and I don't know…" He tried but couldn't cover his disappointment, wondering why she hadn't shown up yet.

Benny put his arm around his shoulder, "She'll show up, the party just started man. Maybe she wants to make an entrance,” he winked. “ C'mon, let’s go kick Will’s ass in cornhole," he smirked.

Megan wiped away a tear as she observed her son and Benny, thankful for the little family she had created and fostered in this neighborhood.

______________

"Ooo hard seltzers, yes!" Katie pumped her fist as she opened the cooler to see her drink of choice nestled right on top.

"Which flavor’s your favorite?" Will appeared behind her with a smirk, pleased with himself that his plan to surprise Katie with her favorite beverage worked.

"Oh, hey…um, black cherry," she held the can up to show him. "Ty hates that flavor so we usually end up doing a swap whenever one of us buys a case since I'm not a huge fan of the grapefruit one. It works out for both of us," she chuckled. "You, ah, gonna go swim?" She motioned over to the pool, whose only inhabitants so far were Olivia’s twins and her husband. As Will turned to look, Katie gave him a quick up and down, trying not to salivate at the thought of him shirtless.

“Yeah, it’s so hot out, I’ll probably go in. How about you? Did you bring your suit?” He was thankful his sunglasses were able to hide his eyes as he checked her out.

“Sure did!” She lifted up her tank top just enough to show off her one-piece, which had cutouts along her hips.

The glimpse of her suit, and bare skin, caused Will to choke a bit on his beer. “N-nice, well, we’ll have to get in soon.” He smiled, annoyed at himself for being so awkward.

Katie was amused that a guy who looked like a male model would be nervous talking to a woman, and with her no less. It definitely was a bit of an ego boost and gave her the courage to continue the conversation to try and learn a little bit about Will. After all, the only thing she really knew was that he was a hot, seemingly nice guy with equally attractive friends.

"So, tell me about yourself, Will."

"Well, what d'you wanna know?" He asked as he leaned onto a table, getting a little bit closer.

“So, you casually build fences with your friends and know how to do a bunch of other house stuff. You work in construction or something?"

“Ha, well, when it comes to the house stuff, Benny and I would be kicked out of the family if we weren't handy," he laughed. "Our grandfather was a contractor…had his own business. When he passed, our uncle took over since he and his family already lived in Austin. When I was in high school, I spent my summers there working for him, with my cousins. When Benny was old enough he came too."

"Ooo a family business, then?"

"Yeah, my cousin actually took it over a couple of years ago. He's been helping me with questions I've had for the house, so I can't claim to have done it all myself," he smirked.

"Well, you're still the one who did the work. It looks great…so, what do you do? When you're not calling your cousin for construction advice?"

"Ha. Well, I used to be in the military. Actually me and the guys. It was like…damn, almost 20 years…felt like a lifetime,” a quick wave of sadness flashed across his face. His mind was flooded with memories of all of the horrific things he had seen and done over the years, the most recent memory being the death of their leader Tom. “But…we all got out and retired. We…uh…saved well and have taken some time to just live as civilians,” he rubbed the back of his neck.

“So, were you guys some like badass G.I. Joe’s?”

“Ha, something like that,” he tried to play it off. “We were part of a special unit called Delta Force.”

“What kind of stuff do you do as part of this special unit…if you don’t mind me asking?”

“It’s not that I don’t mind, it’s just I can’t really tell you a lot … it’s … uh …classified,” he scratched his head, bringing one arm to rest on the back of his neck. “We traveled all over, did a bunch of different things...”

Will and the boys had long since agreed that they would never talk about any of the details around their missions to anyone…especially Colombia. Tom’s wife and daughters didn’t even know the true reason why he was in South America. He knew Katie meant well and was just trying to make conversation, but this was a prime example of why he didn’t like talking about himself.

Katie sensed his unease, chastising herself that she made him uncomfortable. She should have known better than to start asking a bunch of questions without knowing him. Her own brothers never really wanted to talk about their time in the service. She hoped she didn't just trigger some bad memories for him.

“So uh, what do you do now then?”

“I try to do stuff for veterans. There's some speaking engagements I do from time to time, but I mostly volunteer at the VA. We have this uh…service, where we basically are like their Uber to doctor’s appointments. But I don’t just do that, I’ll drive them wherever they need to go, even if it's to the CVS to get some M&Ms,” he chuckled.

“That’s nice, I bet you meet some interesting people,” she gave an encouraging smile.

“Yea. I mean, some of them don’t really like to talk much, which is fine. But for those who do, I’m there to listen. A lot of times they don’t have anyone who can relate to them as veterans or gives a shit or wants to hear what they have to say, especially the older ones. So I am just an unbiased ear for them…I’ve met some cool people. Some of the old timers have some crazy stories.”

Katie was a bit thrown off by this thoughtful and considerate side to Will, it was so unexpected. He seemed like this quiet, hard ass, but there was a depth to him that piqued her curiosity.

“So, you’re patient and a good listener, quite the winning combo,” she teased, moving to sit against the edge of the table inches from Will.

“I’ve been told I listen and follow directions quite well,” his eyebrow twitched as he looked her up and down, now a bit more obviously, before clearing his throat. “So, now it’s my turn to uh…listen. Tell me about you.”

“Me? Oh, it’s not a very interesting story.”

“I’m sure that’s not the case.” He moved even closer as both of them sat perched at the edge of the table, their arms slightly touching.

“Well, let's see…I'm originally from Chicago. I moved here a few months ago. I work from home which has been pretty sweet. I get to rock sweatpants most days,” she laughed.

“What made you move to Florida?”

Katie hesitated but ultimately gave her rote answer whenever anyone asked what brought her down to Florida from the Midwest. “Well…I…I moved down here for the weather, couldn’t take another blizzard, ya know” She kept her gaze forward as she took another swig from her drink.

"You move down here alone?"

"Uh, yeah."

"For the weather?" He furrowed his brows, knowing there was more to the story.

Katie turned her face slightly to face Will, trying to put on a poker face.

"The weather was a reason."

"But not the only one?"

"Were you an interrogator in this military unit?" She countered.

"Shit, sorry. I didn't mean to pry…" He shook his head, annoyed at himself for pushing.

"It's ok. I don't like to just dump my whole life story on someone. The weather thing’s usually enough…most people who ask that question don't really care, it's just for conversation."

"Well, I'm not most people."

Katie gulped down another sip of her drink, the can almost empty.

"I'm divorced." She blurted out.

Will continued looking at her, waiting for her to elaborate, but it seemed she was waiting to gauge his reaction.

"Oh okay."

"That's it?" She furrowed her brows.

"Whaddya mean?"

"You don't want the sad backstory with all the gory details?"

"Not if you don't feel comfortable sharing it."

They sat in silence for a little bit. Will didn't mind awkward silences, hell there were some veterans he drove who had only spoken five words to him in months. But Katie, on the other hand, was not the same. She always felt the need to ramble and fill any silence.

"My husband…ex-husband…he left me. Just up and left one day.” Her nose wrinkled.

"That's shitty, I'm sorry."

"Yea…It was for his ex,” she huffed. “I shoulda known, honestly. He was never really over her. She was always kind of like a dark cloud over our relationship…'The one that got away,'” she made air quotes. “Honestly, from her perspective, it was probably the most romantic shit…the love of her life coming to his senses and getting her back. Problem is nobody ever sees it from the other side of the story.” She emptied the can and reached into the cooler for another one.

Will stayed silent, unsure how to react – he wanted to give her the space to share whatever she felt comfortable sharing.

“Shit, I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to unload that all on you,” she shook her head, bringing her hand to her forehead.

“Hey, hey…it’s ok,” Will put his hand on her back, lightly rubbing circles with his thumb. “I’m a good listener, remember?” He winked.

The corners of Katie’s mouth curled up. Will was a good listener. Megan was the only person who knew the details of her divorce, all of the red flags ignored, and the scars left behind.

“Well, thank you. And to answer your question from earlier, no the weather wasn’t the only reason. He kept the house, which is a joke if you ask me, I was the one who actually gave a shit about that house…” she took a swig of her beer.

“How so?”

“Our house was my little project, I had a Pinterest board for pretty much every room and every occasion,” she laughed. “And Seb, my ex, he thought I was being too much, too extra about it. But it was a lot of fun for me, the creative stuff you know.” She looked over at Will who nodded.

“Is that what you’re trying to do with your house now?”

“Ha yea…”

“I was serious when I said I, er, we would be happy to help you … not saying you can’t do it yourself or anything. Just let me know. I can come over sometime to see what you have in mind, you can show me a Pinterest board or two,” he bumped his arm against hers, which elicited a small smile from Katie. “That way I can tell you if it’s somethin’ we could take care of. May be able to help you save some money too so you don’t have to hire someone,” he chuckled.

“Really? Yeah, that would be awesome. So…Mondays tend to be a little lighter for me, so would you want to come tomorrow? Is that too soon? You're probably doing your VA stuf-”

“Sure!” he interrupted. “I mean, yeah, tomorrow’s great. What time?”

“Really? Uh…I usually take lunch around noon…would that work?”

“Yea. I…uh…I can bring over lunch. If you want.”

“Hold on a second. You’re coming over to help me and you’re bringing food? I feel like that’s too good to be true,” she winked.

“Well, let’s see what kind of uh, projects you have in mind first,” he laughed. "Here, gimme your number so I can give you a heads up when I'm on my way," he handed her his phone.

Katie smiled to herself and she typed in her number.

"Nice, here let me text you so you have my number…it's a…plan, it's a plan," he smiled.

“Hey! I was looking for you,” Benny bounded over with Connor on his tail. “Hey, Katie! I was going to ask Will if he wanted to take Connor and me on in some cornhole, but do you want to join too? It’s probably more fair for it to be two on two anyway,” he chuckled.

“You mean bags? Uh…sure, let’s do it. Sorry in advance Will, you may have been better off alone,” she laughed as she walked towards the cornhole set.

“I doubt that…” Will whispered to himself.

_____________________

"Oye jefa," David squeezed Lucille's shoulder as he sat down and brought her a rum and Coke. "Extra limes, just how you like it."

"Thanks, mijito. Are you having fun?"

"Yeah, although I will be having even more when the boys decide to go into the pool," he winked as Lucille rolled her eyes and laughed at him. "So, have any good chisme for me?"

"I saw Ethan at Publix earlier today and he told me that another house is going up for sale on the block."

"Ooo, which one?" David scooted his chair closer. He didn't know how she did it, but Lucille always had the best gossip on the block.

"Melissa's neighbors, 306."

"Oh, aren't those the snowbirds?"

"Yes, apparently their son and his wife are having triplets, can you believe that? So they are going to stay up in New York to help with all of the babies."

"Woof, three babies?" David shuddered. "Ugh, I hope that we don't have some rental company come in and scoop up that house."

"I said the same thing to Ethan. He figured someone would want to scoop up that house pretty fast once it goes on the market, not like Benny and Will's house," she laughed.

"D'you think he'll give you a heads up on who the buyers may end up being…when we get to that point?"

"Oh yes, as long as I make him some empanadas I think we can find out whatever," she giggled.

"Speaking of, I need another one. Quieres algo?"

"No, mijito, I'm good."

________________

"Ari!" CJ and Max said in unison, jumping out of the pool and running over to give Aria a hug once she, her little, sister, and parents made their way into the backyard.

"Boys! I said no running! Also, give Ari some space ok? She's here to have fun, not watch you two," Olivia winked.

She hired Aria last summer to help her watch the boys once she got too pregnant to do much of anything. The boys loved her and she had been a big help over the last year as Olivia transitioned to life with three kids.

Benny and Connor had their backs to the party, so they didn't see Aria and her family walk in. But once he heard the commotion of the twins, Connor tensed up.

"Showtime, bud!" Benny slapped the back of his shoulder. "Hey, Katie, Will, I think Connor and I are gonna take you both out of your misery. Let's get some refills on drinks?"

As they turned around, Connor saw Aria taking off her coverup. The twins were begging her to get in the pool to play with them.

"C'mon, Ari let's play sharks and minnows!" CJ jumped up and down.

"Yea, c'mon let's gooooo," Max whined.

"I'm coming, gimme a sec. Do you two have sunscreen on?"

"We don't need sunscreen, a kid at school said we have more melly men so we don't need it," CJ said confidently.

"It's melanin, and that's not true. We need to wear sunscreen too, c'mere." She grabbed the spray bottle of sunscreen from her bag and doused the boys and her little sister with it before using it on herself.

She spotted Connor and gave him a nervous wave. She recognized the guy with him in the hat, he was the same guy who complimented her dog. The two were making their way across the yard toward the pool.

"Hi Mr. and Mrs. Davis," Connor smiled and waved at Aria's parents. "Have you all met Benny, he lives in 319?"

"Oh, so you're the one making that house look beautiful," Mrs. Davis winked.

"Yes ma'am, well it's my brother Will and I. We moved in not too long ago."

Benny stayed talking to Mr. and Mrs. Davis as Connor made his way to the pool, which brought a little smirk to Benny's face.

"Hey, Aria!"

"Hey, Connor!" She went in for a sideways hug, which caught Connor off guard. He could feel his face getting hot and his mouth went dry.

"Connor, are you going to play with us?" One of the twins said, he honestly wasn't sure which one because his brain was short-circuiting.

"Yea, wanna play? I'm going to need help trying to chase these two," Aria giggled.

Connor couldn't find words, but as if he telepathically knew, Benny was there to save him.

"What're we playing?" He said with the biggest smile on his face, wrapping his arm around Connor.

"Mr. Benny, d'you wanna play sharks and minnows with us?" Max asked, tugging on Benny's shirt.

"Hmmm…let me think about that," he bent down to get on Max and CJ's level. "We gotta set some ground rules if I'm gonna play, ok?" The boys eagerly nodded. "Ok cool. So I'm gonna be a shark and you two are minnows. Aria, you're a shark. Connor you're a minnow. And see that guy over there in the red shorts?" He pointed towards Will whose head was thrown back in laughter as he talked with Katie and Megan. "We're gonna all need to work together to get him, ok? He's a special kind of shark."

The twins were already halfway to the pool before Benny could finish.

"Will, c'mon we gotta catch some minnows, and I'm not talking about you Fish!" Benny laughed as he took off his shirt, flip-flops, and hat, and threw them down on a lounger.

He saw Connor hesitate, knowing the boy was self-conscious to take his shirt off. It didn't help he was standing next to all six foot three of Benny who had a toned stomach and a defined upper body.

"C'mon kid, she's into you, I can tell."

Once Connor got his shirt off, Benny lifted him up and threw him in the pool. He followed by doing a cannonball, which made all of the kids laugh.

By this point, the rest of the party was focused on the pool. Will and Katie headed over, getting down to their swimsuits and getting in. Will was immediately tackled by CJ and Max.

"Hey! What'd I do?" He laughed as he hoisted each of the boys out of the water to throw them, which elicited lots of laughs from both.

"Mr. Benny said you're a special kind of shark, so we had to work together to get you!" Max panted as he caught his breath from all of the excitement.

"Did he now? Well, did you know he and I are brothers? So if I'm a special kind of shark, that means Mr. Benny over there is one too!" Will winked over at Katie who was smiling at the interaction.

"Hey, Mr. Benny! You didn't tell us you guys were brothers!"

"Yeah, that means you're a special kind of shark too!"

"Oop, you caught me!" Benny flashed another brilliant smile as he started swimming away.

"We're chasing Benny? Sign me up!" Santiago jumped in and tackled Benny, followed closely by Frankie.

The four men ended up chasing after the boys, although Will spent most of the time near Katie, pretending to try and catch her a few times too.

"Got ya!" Connor had been play chasing after Aria and finally caught her, wrapping his arms around her from behind. They both froze, Aria turning her head toward Connor and they both smiled.

Splash

One of the twins splashed the pair as they were frantically trying to get away from Benny and Will who were in wild pursuit.

_________________

"Again, can we just acknowledge the fact that we are seeing this all for free?" David laughed as he, Ty, Lucille, and Melissa watched the antics of the poolgoers from a table.

“Are you losing your mind now that Frankie’s hat fell off?” Ty teased.

With all of the splashing and playfighting, both Benny and Frankie had lost their hats. Frankie’s curls stuck to his neck as Benny’s bangs kept getting into his eyes.

“Baby, that’s not the only thing making me lose my mind!”

“Ay, dios mio!” Lucille shook her head laughing at them.

“Oh come on, Lulu, you can’t tell me you’re not enjoying the view too, right?” Melissa asked as she kept her eyes on the pool. Santiago was in the midst of hoisting one of the twins up and throwing him - his biceps flexing and the water dripping down his chest as he jumped out of the water.

“It’s definitely not the worst way to spend an afternoon,” she winked, giving a sly smile.

“Katie seems to be having fun with Will, right Meg?” Ty asked.

“Yeah…best believe I am getting all of those details later,” Megan replied, noting how close Will had stayed to Katie the whole time, the two were now laughing in a corner, talking as the rest of the guys splashed with the kids.

"Ok everyone, food's ready!" Danny called out.

______________________

Megan smiled as she saw Connor and Aria sitting together on a lounger wrapped up in towels, laughing and talking.

Benny came up and handed her a beer.

"So, that's your doing?"

"Nah, that's all him. I just gave him a push, well, I guess it was more of a toss," he winked.

"He really liked hanging out with you guys yesterday, by the way. Couldn't stop talking about it," she chuckled as she took a swig of her beer. "He mentioned something about you both working out together?"

"Y-yea, we talked about it yesterday while driving. Would you be cool with that? I think it may help his confidence a little."

"I think that would be really nice Benny, thank you. But don't let him take up too much of your time, I'm sure you have a girlfriend or something, right?"

"Ah, no. I'm not dating right now," he moved his bangs out of his eyes, realizing he needed to go find his hat.

"I may have some friends if you’re interested," she laughed.

"Ha, no, I appreciate it. I'm uh…taking some time for me. I'm not really looking for anything right now."

"You know, I feel I wanna make some type of liar liar pants of fire kinda joke," she motioned to his swim trunks. "But that feels too on the nose," she laughed.

"Hey! I like these trunks, I usually get a lot of compliments about them," he smiled.

__________

The party continued well into the early part of the evening. After the raucous game of sharks and minnows followed by a big meal, the twins were starting to lose steam, so Olivia and her family left.

Aria and her family were next to leave, she went over and gave Connor a hug goodbye. He watched her walk away before turning back to see Benny smirking at him.

Connor walked over to Benny and the older man gave him a side hug and messed with his hair.

"Proud of you, bud."

"Ha, thanks. I had a good time. I think we might hang out soon."

"Hell yeah!" He gave the boy a high five.

"Well, I guess we're going to head out," Lucille said as the rest of the neighbors got their things together. "Thank you so much for hosting us all mija it was beautiful as always over here."

"Thank you, Lulu," Melissa gave the woman a kiss on the cheek.

Melissa and Danny gave hugs and handshakes to everyone. When it was her turn to say goodbye to Santiago they both hesitated on whether to go in for a hug or a handshake, but he committed and went for the hug. Whereas normally he would reach for the waist, resting his hand on the upper part of a woman's ass, he decided to hug her around her shoulders. For her part, Melissa put her hands on Santiago's midback, feeling the cords of his muscles tense.

"Have a good night," he said softly as she smiled at him

Frankie gave Lucille his arm to make the walk back to her house as Santiago wheeled the wagon. David and Ty chatted with Megan, Connor, and Benny, as Will and Katie lagged behind.

David and Ty said their goodbyes, followed by Connor and Megan. Lucille asked if Frankie and Santiago could help unload her wagon. Knowing that it probably meant they would get leftovers to take home, the two men eagerly agreed. That left Benny, Will, and Katie.

Benny looked at his brother, knowing very well that he was trying to put the moves on Katie.

"Ah, shoot!" he smacked himself in the forehead. "I forgot, Tommy called me earlier, let me go call him back, see ya Katie!" He gave his brother a wink over Katie's shoulder as he hugged her goodbye.

"So…and then there were two, huh?' Katie laughed.

"Ha, yeah. I'm…uh, looking forward to lunch tomorrow," he smiled. "Hey, speaking of, what do you want me to pick up?"

"Oh, I'm not picky. Surprise me. Whatever's your favorite. Just as long as there's no pickles."

"Got it, extra pickles," he winked as they both let out a nervous laugh. "Just kidding, I just so happen to love pickles, so if you ever get them I'll gladly take them off your plate."

"Well, aren't you my hero!" She teased.

"Here, let me walk you home."

"Will, it's like three doors down," she smirked.

"I know, but it's late and I just want to know you made it safe."

"Ok, Boy Scout let's go."

The trip to Katie's house was short, but Will didn't mind.

"Well, this is me. I had fun today."

"Yeah, I did too," he smiled, keeping her gaze for a beat before she reached into her bag for her keys.

"I'll ah see you tomorrow, then?"

"Yea."

They both looked at each other for another moment before Katie went in for a hug, which Will reciprocated.

"Good night, Will."

"Good night, Katie. See you tomorrow."

She closed the door and Will turned on his heel to head back home. He didn't realize that a smile hadn't left his face the whole walk back.

Previous Chapter / Next Chapter

A/N: I know this was a longer chapter, so thank you if you made it this far! Our little soap opera continues to unfold.

What didn't make the cut? I had an additional scene with Santiago and Melissa along with one with Danny and Frankie, but decided we could cover what happened in conversations later on.

Let me know if you want to be on the tag list moving forward!! Apologies if I accidentally left you off, I added it all manually and may have missed someone … just let me know!

@goodwithcheese / @gemmahale / @trulybetty / @patti7dc / @periodtsparadox / @ramblers-lets-get-ramblin / @maggiemayhemnj / @mysterious-moonstruck-musings / @avastrasposts / @meveispunk / @chaoticfestninja / @beholdbebravethings / @casa-boiardi / @katw474 / @linzels-blog / @laughing-in-th3-purple-rain / @primosworld / @lynnchun / @anoverwhelmingdin /@lilmizmoz / @pedrit0-pascalit0 / @titlee78 / @noisynightmarepoetry / @inept-the-magnificent / @perennialdoll247 / @for-a-longlongtime / @readingiskeepingmegoing / @harriedandharrassed / @musings-of-a-rose / @anavatazes / @sherala007 / @midnightraain

#delta landscaping #triple frontier fic #triple frontier fanfiction #triple frontier fanfic #triple frontier au

121 notes · View notes

gorgeouslypink · 1 year

Note

hiiiiiii pink. super exciting news. so you had shared that people were entering the void state with slade's shifting brew v2 and i have a lot to share so i did it for 4 days and i entered the void!! but also before i entered the void i changed like it was so weird like i got more intuitive, like idk i could sense if something bad was gonna happen or people's intentions kinda and stuff. also i felt like my manifestations were coming into fruition even before i got into the void, like one of my things is clear skin and I've been struggling with bad acne for years and it cleared up so much during the past few days idk but yeah highly recommend that subliminal to everyone

hey girl! congratulations and im so happy for you. also that seems so cool and it probably was a side effect of the sub. have fun living your dream life 💗

#void state #void success

232 notes · View notes

woneuntonzz · 4 months

Text

what's it like to love ? 𓇢𓆸

anton lee x afab!reader (part 4/5)

• part 1

• part 2

• part 3

• part 5

warnings: cussing!

genre: fluff -`♡´- highschool love

word count: 5.3k words!!

౨ৎ ˖ ࣪⊹ description: student athlete!anton x studious class officer!reader | you swore to yourself, to you friends and even to your parents “I'm not one to easily fall.” and you thought you were that tough, not until him of course. [note!!: hiii i'd just like to quickly say that this is my first ever post ever and i'm still a bit insecure with my writing, and english is not my first language so bare with me now 🙏 open for any forms of feedback please do take note that i will take longer to update/respond to anything because of school, thank you!!! ]

[Day 14]

“You seriously aren't dating?”

It's been over an hour since you've set yourself to finish the very last thing that you needed to complete your grades in Economics.

You and a couple of your friends were in the library on an early Tuesday morning to finish schoolwork. You've spent the past week taking tests, conducting group presentations, finishing remaining school work, and preparing for the finals which were to be held the next day.

“No —shouldn't you be studying? I heard your class is getting a long test from Mr. Choi later.” you didn't bother drawing your eyes away from what you were doing hoping that they would stop pestering you with the unnecessary questions.

“That's not a problem to me, so stop changing the topic. Tell us what's going on between you and the swimmer guy, you two are always together nowadays 's so hard to miss now.” you stopped and stared at the paper you've been working on, giving Liz a quick glance.

“He likes me.” These words slip past your mouth like it's been resting at the back of your tongue.

”And?” you sighed at Liz's urges and pursed your lips, trying to find the words to explain everything.

“I haven't reciprocated.” your response was very subtle but your tone indicated hesitance.

“For real? Well, how do you feel about Anton?” Liz's question made everyone take a pause on what they were doing, they were all eyes and ears for you.

“Anton —he's very sweet, and he cares about me, like, a lot. And you know how I've been bothered by him ignoring me for like, months? I just suddenly became interested in befriending him, even just a little bit —but, yeah, that happened. I don't get why it bothered me so much that it got to a point of him confessing out of the blue, does this mean I like him too?” Your eyes lingered on the empty space on the table you occupied.

Your friends exchanged worried looks, unsure of how to help you.

“I mean, you were mainly worried that he hated you, right?” you weakly nodded at Danielle. “Normally you wouldn't really care about that stuff, at least since last year, so looking at it now it seems like your fixation on Anton must mean something.”

You sighed, averting your eyes from the table and staring on the floor below you as you started to think. Because of something that happened back then, I just stopped caring for anyone with a negative sentiment towards me. I didn't care when that girl I swore to the heavens I loved suddenly stopped caring about me just because of a stupid rumor, I didn't care when people started giving me glares, whispering to themselves when I passed by, I didn't care when I saw the screenshots from group chats that talked shit about me and my friends. I just didn't care, but what made me care for him? —you started to reflect on your feelings and actions for the past year.

“I'll be fine!” The sudden shift of tone and the smile that sprang forth your lips shocked your friends.

“You sure? We're really worried, you know.” Liz held your free hand and caressed it with her thumb.

“Yeah, I think I got it.” you heartily smiled at both Liz and Danielle to reassure them.

Danielle went to give you a warm embrace whilst Liz had her arm wrapped around your shoulders, giving you a light squeeze.

In all honesty, even you didn't know what you meant by "I think I got it.”. What was the next move? Just go with the flow —you repeated in your mind, allowing yourself to be receptive as the next few hours flew by.

————— ୨୧ —————

Anton sat next to you in the classroom with a very few others, those including you who chose to stay back for lunch to finish the workload.

Both you and Anton were busy with something, with you assisting him every now and then since he had a lot more to work on.

Despite the very heavy atmosphere brought in by the stress from school, you and Anton appeared to be marveling in your own little world, sifting through paperwork with such radiant expressions embedded on your faces.

“How should I design this?” Anton held up his unfinished project.

You turned to face him, crossing your legs and holding your chin to imitate enthusiasm. “You know what it needs?”

“Please don't say Barney the Purple Dinosaur, that… thing… It terrifies me.” Anton shimmied his shoulders to express his supposed fear.

“WHAT? He's cute!” you pressed on him, making him breathe out a laugh.

“So you're saying Barney looks like you?” your eyebrows nearly touched from what he had just said.

“Excuse me? Do I look purple to you?” you jabbed at him with 'threatening' eyes.

“No, what I mean is, if he's really cute as you claim, he should at least resemble you.” Anton calmly explained.

His zealous explanation made you chortle. He was immersed in your laughter, your voice, your eyes that disappeared as you chortled on, and the corners of your lips that rose higher and higher, because of him.

“Oh, so I'm your basis for what you classify as cute?” you breathlessly spoke, still trying to recover from your disoriented state.

“Well, yeah! look at you…” he cupped your face in his hands, gently squishing your cheeks.

His eyes went from your lips to your eyes after you had gone completely quiet. Your eyes meet each other, stuck perfectly as if binded by glue. He delved into the pools of your eyes, trying to capture what it is you're trying to tell him with your stare.

“Anton.” Your serene voice made Anton blink.

“Yeah?” he whispered back.

“Can you give me a little more time?” he breathes in after hearing your question, but you spoke again before he could utter a response. “To think about… us.”

Your face was still in his hands. He started softly brushing his thumb against the skin of your cheeks. “Of course. I'm sorry, am I moving too fast?”

“No.” but I'm falling too fast —you were only able to finish your sentence in your mind, still afraid to admit your feelings.

You were still quite unsure. You were still afraid that things would end up the same way it did for you past 'relationships', you were already thinking about the plausible downfall before anything had even started.

————— ୨୧ —————

The bell rang, students scurried out of the building, being chased by the obligation to study for the exams tomorrow day.

“Don't message me tonight okay? Both you and I have A LOT to study.” you iterate to the guy walking beside you.

“Yep. I'll be crying over chemistry… if you even cared.” you playfully rolled your eyes at his humorous cry.

When you stepped out of the school gates, you were expecting him to wave goodbye and walk the other way, but then after being about a meter away from school, you stopped in your tracks.

“Why are you still with me? isn't your house the other way?” you furrowed your brows as you looked at him.

“You're crazy for real, my house is literally in the same direction as yours, keep walking luv.” Anton placed his hand on the area below the back of your neck, lightly pushing you to continue your steps.

“Wait, really? you've always walked the other way…” at this point you were just questioning everything and you already had a lot on your mind considering the exams.

“I visit the record store nearby before going home.” you simply nodded at Anton for his clarification.

“Why?” you asked to which he shrugged.

“I like it there. It's peaceful, it's vintage, the music is fire, and the owner is very nice.” it was true that he often visited that place before he went home, but not everyday, what wasn't a fact is that his home is actually in the same direction as yours. “I can take you there some time when you're free.”

“I'd love that.” you utter, smiling to yourself, keeping your eyes on the vamp of your shoes.

You two kept walking till you reached the gates to your house and the sun was just about to fall.

“I never knew you lived just right ahead.” you were unlocking the gate when the words fell off your lips.

“Are there no people inside to open the gate for you?” you swung the gate open and looked at Anton whose eyes lingered on your bedroom window on the second storey of the house.

“My dad's abroad, my mom's at work.” you shake your head away from the gloomy thoughts, smiling up at Anton.

He smiled back, subtly biting down on his bottom lip.

“Get home safely Tonii.” there was a glint in Anton's eyes when they enlarged in a modicum.

“Uh —Oh, yeah, you too.” Your laughter filled his ears and soon enough he cracked up as well.

“What do you mean 'you too'?” At this point, you're just breathing out your words. “I'm literally at home right now!”

“You never know, Barney might be right behind the door to kidnap you…” Anton eyed the door of your house, his actions gave you the creeps and the thought that an intruder might actually be inside your house waiting for you flashes in your mind.

“Ow!” you hit Anton's chest, but still, he laughed.

“Go home! you didn't have to give me anxiety you know!” Anton chuckled once again looking down on you who was looking up at him and pointing at his face, acting menacing in jest.

“Go inside your house first, what will happen then if I left and Barney ends up kidnapping and eating you alive huh?” you both had pursed lips in an attempt to suppress a laugh.

“Okay, okay. I'll go in.” When the two of you finally calmed yourselves down, you walked to the doorstep of your house.

You had the door wide open, just enough for Anton to catch a glimpse of your humble home. You stood by the door, already inside the house. “Message me when you get home, will you?” you asked eagerly, just loud enough for Anton to hear you despite the distance.

“I will.” Anton replied, matching your volume.

He waved at you as a smile crept up to his face.

His smile somehow caused you to feel some kind of current coursing through your entire body. You had to defy the urge to just walk right back to Anton to make him feel what you felt as your eyes traced the curve that gradually formed on his lips.

He kept his smile as he started to slowly disappear from your sight. You were so smitten that you failed to notice that he walked back to the direction where you came from.

————— ୨୧ —————

About an hour has passed, and the message you'd been waiting for since you've had yourself settled at your study table is yet to come.

You've been flipping over your notes, sequentially staring at every word delineated with different color variations of highlights.

Maybe he forgot, he must've gotten really tired… —you began to think of a thousand reasons why he hasn't messaged you yet. You exhaled heavily, laying your head on your forearm resting on your study table. You shifted your head to the side and eyed your phone. You were pondering on just grabbing it and asking him where he was and why hasn't he messaged you yet.

You sat up with both hands at the sides of your head. After a few minutes of resisting and a long blink, you finally gave in.

Anton just got off the bus when he felt his phone vibrating in his hands. His eyes went bulging out of its socket when he saw your name.

Anton couldn't help but beam at the little nickname you gave him but he quickly gathered his thoughts and gulped, glancing at the quiet street of their neighborhood. He couldn't stand making up a nonsensical excuse that you'll eventually dissect within seconds, he didn't want you to think that he doesn't really care or that he forgot, that he got too tired. It wouldn't make sense for him not to speak or be with you even if he's exhausted to the core, he could only be in repose with you after all.

A downturned smile formed on Anton's lips. He made great effort every time he intended to flirt with you, and he was aware when you flirted back, he just wasn't certain if you meant any of them. He surely meant every endearment, often masking them with his little quips. He didn't want to think you were just frivolling with him and he's quite abashed with even having to take a second to think about it.

He felt his phone vibrate in his hands again, this time you were calling. He picked up almost immediately, and you were met with the ceiling of his room.

“Nice wall.” you uttered.

“It's the ceiling.” he was chuckling out of frame

He had his phone set up on his desk and you could see his medals and trophies at the background, and his cello. You were eager to ask him about his cello, ask him to play you something, and maybe even teach you. You cleared your throat as you cleared out your thoughts.

Anton sat down on his desk chair facing his phone —facing you.

“Where are the others?” Anton asked as he watched you blurt down what you were studying.

“Oh, they backed out.” your tone was nonchalant and your head hung low, pouring all your attention to blurting, or at least you were trying to.

“Really?” he was almost laughing and you heard it, making your left brow rise.

“Mhmm~” you hummed back.

“You sure it's not because you wanted to talk to me?” Anton's tone sent shivers down your spine.

He sounded calmer, and a lot more alluding, so much so that you had to stop and stare at your notebook for a while to calm your mind and give it some space to process what to reply.

“Maybe —Well, yeah, I guess, but I called you to study.” your voice took after his making him feel assured.

Despite the soporific air in his room which he inhaled, he was wide awake, wanting to just hear you talk on and on and on again. His yearnings were answered not long after.

“And I guess I wanted to… hear your voice —again.” your figure remained placid in his eyes, but deep inside, your heart pounded like a whole planet of people marching together.

“Really?” somehow his voice became a lot lower, while still having a comforting and peaceful cadence.

“Mhmm~” your hum, this time, was a lot more mellow. It filled his ears and it got stuck in his head like a song that he almost hummed too.

“Everything about you is so, so beautiful.” your heartbeat persisted.

You looked up to your phone to see him, and there he was, giving you the same smile he left you as he stood by the gates of your home. How could you not smile back? in a matter of seconds, you shied away from his stare, looking back down on the paper that you've almost forsaken.

“Hey —uh —let's have this talk some other time. There's still a lot to study, especially for you.” Anton could hear the frailty trying to break out of your voice.

He chuckled spurring your attempts to calm your heart down to fall short. “Okay, lovely.”

Your head fell right onto your desk, producing a loud thud.

“Y/n? you okay?” your sudden action stunned him.

“Yeah, yeah, i'm fine! let's just study, please!” you pleaded as you lifted your head back up.

You just had no idea that his heartbeat was in sync with yours. He just wanted to be by your side again. He didn't want the call to end just yet, he loved hearing your voice, but at the same time he couldn't wait for the next day to come so he could admire you closely and marvel in your presence.

————— ୨୧ —————

[Day 17]

Finals have come to an end. Some tests were easier than others, but you were confident, you were gonna be in the Top 5 of the ranks. You felt particularly good during those 3 days of absolute mind torture. Within those 3 nights, you and Anton have been having your study calls. You would both study the whole time, while also fighting to make the other blush more than yourselves.

It's a cloudy Sunday morning, you could tell it was cloudy since the sun has yet to peek at you at the time it normally would. You had just woken up from a good night's sleep and felt very relaxed that you had nothing to worry about anymore. No pending schoolworks, no group projects and presentations, no more quizzes and exams, and most importantly, no more school for a few short months.

Once that long awaited break greets you and pats you on the back, all you'll have to do is brace yourself for your senior year, your final year. You've been thinking really hard on what course to take and all you've ever been is nothing but unsure even with the pressure of having only a year left to figure it out.

You got your phone from your bedside table, and without checking it, you headed downstairs.

“Hey, hun', your grandpa asked if you wanted to come over and visit, we'll only be there till dinner.” your mom asked as she eyed your figure that slowly descended from the stairs. “Your grandpa is having some visitors if you don't mind.”

You lightly smiled at your mom and nodded.

It's been a while since you've paid a visit to your grandfather's haven —as you'd like to call it. He owned a huge flower field, filled with flowers that he and his family adored. Your grandfather loved seeing people with mouths hang open, admiring the beauty, the work, and the thought put into this field. He could've capitalized on it, but he didn't. He made a gateway and a stone path through the field, and anyone could go in and out. He always watched, to make sure that no one would ruin his beloved flowers, but for the most part he just wanted to see the appreciative nature of mankind towards such beautiful beings.

In the car ride to your grandpa's, your mom would ask you about everything that's been happening for the past few months. It's been quite a while since the two of you had an actual conversation. It was a great relief that your mom missed you as much as you missed her, where every night when you hear the sound of her parking the car in the garage, you couldn't bring yourself to get up anymore and greet her. It would be too late in the night for you to be up and it would worry her, so you would just lay there and you would see her with only the moonlight shining down on her, and she would caress your hair and leave once she's assured that you've been sleeping well.

After some catching up with your mom, you finally arrived at your grandpa's. He welcomed the two of you with a warm and wide smile spread across his face. He smelled like a pie of mixed fruits, which could only mean one thing.

“These visitors, they want to buy my field.” both you and your mom went wide-eyed from his words.

“You said yes?” your mom's hand reached for her dad's forearm, keeping it there.

“Well, not yet.” your grandfather scratched the back of his neck when your mom let out a loud sigh.

“Well, grandpa, if you can refuse it, you definitely should. That's your gift for grandma for her last birthday, and she's looking over it from the heavens. Who knows what these visitors would do with these fields. They might clear out all the flowers and build a factory for all we know!” your grandpa looked at you with contrite eyes.

“I know, I know, but they've really been pushing me for almost 8 months now! I was hoping we could talk it out through dinner.” you had so much trust in your grandfather, and you knew he could resolve this, you knew he would never give up the field, even for his own life. “And maybe you'd like their son too.”

The worry painted on your face was diminished within seconds.

“Dad!” your mom lightly hit his shoulder with the hand that used to rest on his forearm.

“What?” your grandpa seemed to be a little too indifferent with the situation he'd put you in and it made you a bit upset.

“Did you set her up with the son!?” your mom had a firm grip on his shoulder now, slightly shaking him as she spoke.

“I guess so.” your mom sighed even heavier than earlier. “Their son is a good guy! He's a bit timid, but he was tall! really tall… and I believe he plays basketball —or was it football? I can't really remember, but—”

“It's fine.” you blurted out, arms crossed and gloomy eyes pinned to the floor.

“I'm sorry my little tulip. I shouldn't have. You don't have to, okay? I'll try my best to convince them with my words and cooking alone, and if it doesn't work, then, I don't really know what to do —but you can just settle, okay?” your grandpa placed a hand on top of your head and gave it a gentle pat.

You could only nod and give him a weak smile. You loved the field, it's the only fragment of your grandmother that you'll be able to keep till your last breath. When you were born, it's been over a decade since your grandmother had passed. You had never been in her presence, but in the fields, you could catch a glimpse of her amidst the clouds, smiling down at you.

Before you knew it, the night would fall. You made sure you looked proper, still staying true to your words that you were not there to impress anybody.

You helped your mom with setting up the dining table. When the bottom of the glass pitcher you held touched the table, you heard your grandpa say “Welcome Mr. and Mrs. Lee! —oh, and hello to you too young man!”.

You sighed, but then you felt a hand on your shoulder. You turned your head and was met with your mom's reassuring smile. “Nothing's going to be sold, and no one's going to be forced into anything, okay?” she says softly, before making her way into the living room to greet the guests as well.

Her words made you feel at ease, the heavy feelings that slowly weighed down on you started to dwindle.

Put away the cloth you used to handle the pitcher, and you could hear your mom, grandpa and the guests coming into the kitchen.

“Oh, and that's my granddaughter Y/n. She's very smart, and she can sing too!” you suppress a laugh from hearing your grandpa's proud tone.

You turned around, and your mind went spiraling. It seemed out of the blue, a very peculiar instance. Perhaps this was entirely by chance as this was never a part of your wishes and prayers.

“Y/n y/s/n?” you tensely nod at who you could only guess as the mother of the family.

“You know my granddaughter?” your grandfather tilted himself to the side out of curiosity.

“Hmm, yes. We know her very well. She's known for being one of the top students in their school, in fact, she's helped our son a lot with his schoolworks since he had a lot to catch up on.” the mom gave you a warm smile after her sentence.

“Our son is very thankful. We hear your name quite a lot and we've really been wanting to meet you.” This time, it was the dad who spoke.

Your lips quivered. You're just simply at a loss for words.

Everyone was sitting on the dining table, and there he was, sitting across from you.

“Oh, I thought you were a basketball player because of how tall you are! good for you! I feel like being a swimmer is a lot cooler!” your grandfather would excitedly exclaim somewhere in the adults' conversation.

You and him never bothered to join in unless you were asked.

Once again, being in your own little world, when the adults had gone to the living room to talk, the two of you went to the flower fields.

“This place is surreal.” you barely believe that you were hearing the same mellow voice that you could never seem to get off your head again after a while.

“Yeah? just imagine how it would look under the light of day.” you crouched down to touch one of zinnias.

You felt his lofty figure crouch down next to you.

“I missed you, you know. My parents tricked me into coming here. I just said I wanted to see this field, but when we got close they told me they wanted me to meet the field owner's daughter. It was like they were implying that I get no bitches.” you couldn't help but laugh at him.

You turned yourself around and carefully sat yourself on the stone path with your knees bent towards your body. You could feel some of the flowers tickling your back making you giggle softly as you looked into his eyes.

“I missed you too Tonii.” he gave you a smile as bright as the moon above.

You both looked up to the sky and admired the stars, and the crescent moon.

“It was so cloudy this morning. I can't believe this sight would be possible.” your voice was very gentle, still admiring the night sky.

Anton looked into your shimmering eyes. He could see the reflection of the moon greeting him. It was telling him something. He was so mesmerized by you that he wouldn't even realize that you were already staring back at him.

“It's kind of funny, you know? it's like the universe was taunting us, telling us we're gonna meet another romance that was not each other, but in the end it's still us.” you tilted your head, trying to see through Anton's entrancing gaze.

“I like you too Anton.”

Despite the cold air of the night, heat traveled throughout your entire body as you watched his eyes grow larger.

“Am I hearing things? Y/n? Y/n are you there?” you released a hearty laugh and hit his chest playfully.

You allowed your hand to rest there, and you could feel his rapid heartbeat that went at the same pace as yours. It wouldn't take long until you were both staring into each other again, and at the same time, at the same speed, your eyes would shift to each other's lips, and they would meet eventually. You wrapped your arms around his neck when he had placed a hand to support your back as he leaned in closer, and closer.

“Y/n? Anton? Where are you?” you two would hurriedly stand up from where you were when you heard your grandpa's calls.

You glanced at each other's flushed faces before a flashlight shone right onto your faces.

“Oh, there you are. Well, Anton and his parents will be leaving now.” Your grandpa gave Anton a big smile, signaling with his hands for Anton to come back to the house.

You walked back side by side with your hands latched onto one another.

You two were met with silent stares when you entered the house with linked hands. You two would let go from each other and Anton would go stand next to his parents.

“We'd like to thank you for the wonderful meal, we really do appreciate it.” Anton's mom shook hands with your grandfather, and would give your mom a hug.

She went up to you and hugged you as well, a little bit longer than you expected.

————— ୨୧ —————

When you got home, you had asked Anton if you could give him a call since your time earlier was cut short. He immediately said yes and you two would be on facetime again, this time with no books or notebooks, not seated at your desks. You were both just lying on your beds with your phones in hand.

“Wait, you like me too?” Anton had been asking the same question for the past 6 minutes

“Yes!” you laughed.

He just couldn't believe it. You couldn't believe him either. You've been thinking about it ever since day 1, it was just now when you realized that you did feel the same.

“Are we like g-f and b-f now?” he places a hand over his mouth acting like a shy toddler.

“Ew, don't say it like that!” He ended up laughing too.

“Okay!” his laughter would fall to an abrupt stop and it would go silent for a while that you almost asked him if he was still there. “But seriously, what are we?”

“Well, we feel the same. Couples become couples because of reciprocated feelings. Now put two and two together.” you made little hand gestures as you spoke, and he just smiled, but deep inside he was awestruck, still finding everything unbelievable.

“We're… we're together now holy shit.” you couldn't help a gasp from escaping your mouth. You've never heard him cuss so heavily before, it sounded harmless —well of course, he's Anton— but it was so foreign to you that you just bursted out laughing.

The two of you talked and laughed throughout the night, and when the clock ticked at 12, you two had to say goodbye.

“Good night Tonii.” you yawned, making Anton expel a chuckle. “Can't you stop laughing at everything?”

“I should be the one saying that to you, but anyways, I just think you're so adorable, leave me alone.” his last words were muffled as he hid the bottom half of his face under the covers. “Good night lovely. See you again tomorrow.”

Tomorrow was another day, and a very great one as it turns out. Suddenly you two weren't hiding the fact that you two would hold hands and were always just centimeters away from touching noses. Your friends and Anton's alike didn't seem to be surprised at all, they were more likely relieved that the two of you finally came to a conclusion to what they thought shouldn't take too long. After all, the painfully obvious mutual feelings you shared were so strong that your friends and he would have distorted faces by the end of observing you two. But now, the clock is finally set.

“So you're saying, your grandfather spent almost a half of his life on that flower field, and it would be his final and greatest gift to your grandma?” you hummed an affirmation at Anton's query. “Woah.”

“The commitment made me believe that there is indeed true love.” you said in a very dramatic tone, looking off into the distance.

“I can do that for you too.” he took great offense from you laughing at his face. “I'm not kidding!”

“I mean, it,'s not that I don't think you can or would, you don't really have to. There's a lot more ways you can express your feelings, my grandpa just happens to be a very hard-working man who appreciates the smallest of the small things in life.” Anton just loved it when you got so immersed with explaining.

“It's love.” he blurts out.

“Yeah. Love.”

Love drives us to do the unthinkable, the perceptively impossible. Love is complex, but you would know it when you feel it, you would know when you've found it. And it is when love is exchanged unconditionally that life begins to finally be as fulfilling as they claim it to be in books and movies.

｡ﾟ•┈୨♡୧┈• ｡ﾟ

#riize #riize au #riize fanfic #anton lee #briize #riize anton #riize fluff #riize x reader #Spotify

53 notes · View notes

reimeichan · 6 months

Text

Yknow what yeah I do wanna talk about that last post I reblogged.

Because I was in survival mode for so long, I didn't even realize it was survival mode even when I got out of it. My brain was so convinced for years afterwards that I was STILL in danger constantly, even though I was no longer being constantly traumatized and re-traumatized by my abusers. I thought by simply escaping I was allowing myself to heal and recover, never once realizing I never actually did the work to do such. Plus, Survival Mode had been my norm for over twenty years of my life. I didn't know anything else.

For four years after leaving that traumatic environment, I continued on as if I was in survival mode. And, well, that was what worked for me. Work was basically an extension of college which was an extension of high school, and I continued to beat myself up internally to do chores and shit the same way I would avoid being yelled at by my parents. I didn't see anything wrong with any of this. After all, I had a stable income and was no longer dealing with a toxic, abusive environment. Why did anything need to change?

Well, turns out, a lot of my old coping skills were only helping me because they were so maladaptive and hurting the people around me. My emotional dissociation made me distant and inattentive to the emotional needs of the people closest to me. My reliance on panic and adrenaline to get myself started on tasks made me unreliable to others who actually treated me like a human being. And as I slowly realized how much my past had shaped my current behavior, I became more and more aware of how different my current life and my old life were.

And that revelation felt like ripping the carpet from under me, only to find a massive whirlpool of chaos where there should have been solid ground.

It was like my eyes suddenly opened to all the trauma and grief and emotional turmoil that I had pretended did not affect me was now rushing out as a stream out into the open. I had opened Pandora's Box and couldn't close it again. My life that I had carefully cultivated quickly fell apart as I was now all too aware of just how much I hadn't actually worked through and processed. I lost my partner of 14 years, and the stable job I held for 4 years. I was a mess as I tried to untangle the mass of cobwebs in my head from decades of pushing things away, the cobwebs that feebly held me together until they no longer could.

And... slowly, I replaced those cobwebs with stronger things. Instead of ignoring my traumas, I faced them. Instead of ignoring my feelings, I let myself feel them. Instead of pretending everything was fine, I let myself fall apart, so that I knew how to better put myself back together again. I replaced the old coping skills and old behaviors that no longer served me with healthier things that allowed me to move forward. I stacked things neatly in my head where I could see them, instead of shoving them away into a corner.

And in time, I learned how to be happy.

It's weird, really. I thought I knew what happiness was. I thought happiness would have been louder and more obvious. I always saw the people cheering on screen and celebrating as what happiness would feel like. But I've found that happiness is gentle and calming, and I realized the "happiness" I had growing up was not truly happiness.

I'm doing better now. It fucking sucked to get here. But... it's worth it.

#mental health #recovery #healing #personal #okay to rb #by green #functional multiplicity #we're finally accepting that we've reached a point in healing that we can truly deem as functional multiplicity #it's weird to realize we're here but I'm proud of us and wanted to share all this

64 notes · View notes

arvensimp · 2 months

Text

YFSK Preview, pt. 4.1

I know i've been super duper quiet, but I promise there's a good reason. Please forgive me and accept this teaser for part 4.

“Hey! I dunno if you’ve been keeping track on your end, but Kiki is gonna be graduating from Blueberry, and I know it would mean the absolute world to him if you were able to attend the ceremony.” Carmine called, nearly out of the blue one day to inform you. Her brother had apparently been a part of a trial class that not only earned a high school diploma but also continued on for a few more years as part of a pilot Bachelor’s degree program in pokemon battling. From what you understood, it was basically like a feeder system to train new gym leaders and Elite Four hopefuls.

You look down at your ballooning tummy,

"Congratulations to him! When is it exactly though…?"

You wince and resist the urge to suck your teeth when Carmine gives you the date.

"Ahhh... I'm so sorry, I've got something at that time."

"For real? You can't just ask for time away from your league for even a weekend? This would REALLY mean the world to Kiki..."

"I'm sorry, but…I won't actually be allowed to fly by that point."

"Allowed? What kinda terrorism have you gotten into?"

You snort a laugh. "Pssh, nah. It's... It's medical actually. Here. Lemme, uh..." Without hanging up, you send over the most recent ultrasound photos. Your baby still kinda looks like a Munna in there, but she should get the point. Or, at least you assume she does when you hear the sound of crashing and fumbling on her end.

"You're having a BABY?????"

"Uh...haha, yeah. The due date is, like, a week after Kieran's graduation, so... I, y'know, can't fly. I'm really sorry. I'll be sure to send a gift though!"

"A BABY?"

"Yup. I can hardly believe it myself, most days."

"I didn't even know you were seeing anyone! Who is this guy? Why didn't you let your incredible Unovan friends suss him out for you?"

Another wince. "...About that. Yeah... He's not...um. In the picture."

"What? How? Why? Whomst would even dare? Do I need to kick some ass?"

"It's...." You still haven’t gotten used to talking about the subject. "It's a lot. Don't. ...Don't worry! Really! I have tons of support! It's fine. For real."

Carmine absolutely isn't buying it. "Mm. Fine. I guess I get why you can't make it to the graduation. Could we come visit afterwards though? Like I get you probably wouldn't want us there immediately after he graduates. But...maybe like a few months later? Give the thing a chance to develop an immune system?"

"I can't promise I'll be a great host, but... Well, it would be nice."

"Don't worry yourself none! I've changed diapers and stuff before if you end up needing a nap while we're around!"

So around the time Basil is 3 months old, the Kitakami pair head to Paldea.

Of course, Basil is having a rough time of it, screaming his little lungs out as they're knocking on the door, so you can only hope that you don’t look as frazzled as you feel when you welcome them in.

"Hey! Hello! Please, come in, come in. Make yourselves at home.” You give the pair a hug at the same time, barely able to register them beyond the fog of ‘TAKE CARE OF BASIL, TAKE CARE OF CRYING PROGENY, TAKE CARE OF BABY’ that alarms through your brain. “I'm really sorry, but I just need to feed Basil real fast. That should hopefully get him sleeping and happy again."

You usher them in and invite them to sit on the sofa, the TV is theirs, and you hide away in the bedroom to nurse. A few minutes later, Carmine gently knocks on the door and asks if she can be of any help. You joke through the wood that the dishes need doing when she presses past the feeble ‘it’s fine!’ that you offer.

"Kiki! Take care of the dishes, yeah?"

"On it!" You hear, softer.

"Okay, what else?" She continues.

"No! Just. Just relax, please."

"Nah, I'm gonna tidy up. Kay? You just keep feeding the chonklet there, and we can catch up when you're done."

You come back out to the room, and it's not Clean, but it's definitely more put together. You also hear the hum of the dishwasher from the kitchen.

"You guys...." You start tearing up, and both siblings immediately swoop in to hold you. Carmine strokes your hair, shushing you. Now that you’ve got your child content, you have a moment to comprehend your guests.

Kieran is. Bigger.

"I... I promise I'm not this pathetic! I can handle this. Plus, I... I have folks here who can help... It's just hard..." You snivel, sounding way more pathetic than you mean to sound.

"It's okay that it's hard..." Kieran finally pipes up and his voice is definitely deeper since you last heard him. Not a bass or something, but there's been a change there. "This is more or less the hardest thing in the world, right? And we all know you're the strongest person there is, so...ya know. It's okay. You...you can do this. And you can feel overwhelmed."

They end up staying for about a week or so, and on the night before they're due to fly back, Kieran pulls you aside while Carmine is grabbing takeaway for dinner. He's fidgeting with his hair a bit, tapping his foot, but he's doing his best to meet your eye.

"I'm staying." He declares.

"What? Like you're gonna look for a job here?"

"Yeah! I know I'm not as strong as you, but I'm certain I could get a job in your league or...or maybe even at your alma mater, maybe. I... I'd need to do a teaching cert in Paldea for that, probably, but..."

"Wow! So you liked it that much here? That's great, Kieran. I can help you learn the language if you want. I can also see if Nemona has any real estate connections. We'll try to find you a place when you're ready to get back, and hopefully by then you'll have a job, and you can get started wi--"

"No! I mean... I'm. I'm not going back to Kitakami." One of his hands grabs yours and the other rests gently on Basil, sleeping soundly in your arms. "He needs...a...a father figure, y'know? I..." Kieran swallows thickly. "I can do that. I'm... I'm a man now."

"Kieran..." You shift slightly, freeing a hand from your bundle while keeping him balanced in your arms. You trace a palm along the older boy--no, man's cheek, your callouses having grown softer in recent months. You can feel where he's begun to grow consistent stubble. Wow... He really did grow up.

"I... I'm not going to keep you from reaching your fullest potential out there. You're welcome, more than welcome, to come visit any time, but... You're not thinking clearly about this. About what you think you're signing up for."

"I AM though!" He raises his voice, showing some hints of the anger he holds onto. "I'm READY for this! God, why can't anyone TRUST me?!"

All the yelling wakes up Basil, who cries, startled. Kieran quickly scoops him up and out of your arms, attempting to soothe the baby.

"Aw, geez... I'm sorry, little guy... I didn't mean to make you upset... Shh, shh... It'll be okay..."

The momentary flare of anger you felt at having your son torn from your grip is placated as you watch Kieran hold him so tenderly. Your heart melts... You lose all affection you may have secretly held onto in your heart for Arven, that loser.

Kieran is here. Kieran is capable. Kieran... Kieran can do this.

"Okay..." You softly tell him once Basil has calmed, the single word hanging in the quiet between you for a moment.

"...Okay?" He parrots.

"You... You can stay. You... You'll be his father."

Then y'all DO IT.

THE END

april fools :)

#arvensimp kidfic

36 notes · View notes

genericpuff · 7 months

Text

Winter is Coming - Rekindled schedule adjustment and plans for next year!

So it's that time of year now when conventions, markets, and expos for next year are rolling out their submission periods. So far I've gotten accepted to attend the Atlantic Entertainment Expo again (both venues so two shows), MiraCon, and I'm gonna be attending not one, not two, but THREE tattoo expos ! Which is definitely a lot, but I'm excited, it's gonna be good publicity and good money :' ) I'm also gonna be applying to HalCon, Geekquinox, and Animaritimes again, I didn't get in on HalCon this year and didn't find out about Geekquinox until submissions were done (and I only got in on Animaritimes at the last minute when they were looking for people to fill in) but if I do get into any (or all) of those, I'll have to play the fun game of "make sure none of these events land on the same weekend" LMAO

All that's to say, it's gonna be busy next year! (and all of those are the ones I actually decided to apply to, there are ones I did this past year that I'm not planning on doing again because they just didn't turn out to be as good as I had hoped). Thankfully, none of this is starting up until spring, so I'm gonna enjoy the winter off and get to work on new stuff to sell. I'm really eager to get through the rest of [AFTERBIRTH], it's still got quite some time until it's done but my plan is to pitch Thread of Fate to publishers once [AFTERBIRTH] is finished - and if it's not able to get in with those publishers, then I'm gonna pursue other means in getting it published, either digitally or traditionally. Time Gate is a series I've been working on for well over a decade of my life, and it's not something I want to keep throwing to the wolves of free-to-read platforms like WT. As much as I love being able to offer it for free, I want it to be taken more seriously than being just another free to read comic and that starts with me and how I choose to distribute it.

Right now working on all these things is sort of limiting due to the fact that I'm stuck on my iPad, but I'm making it work as best I can and I'm hoping to have the new PC setup going by the end of the year running with a new tablet (currently shopping around between an XP-pen and Huion, I don't want to get a Kamvas 22 Plus again if it's gonna shit the bed in 2 years like this one did, apparently this is a common problem from what I've seen :/)

So yeah, with all that in mind, I'm planning on adjusting Rekindled's update schedule. While I did initially want to offer a poll for y'all to choose between "shorter updates once a week" and "full updates once every 2 weeks", frankly I'm erring more towards the "every two weeks" one because it'll give me more actual time and room to work on everything else. Not to mention (and I'm sure you've all noticed by now) that I have a very specific way that I structure many of these episodes so making them shorter would sort of ruin that rhythm. I don't want to be sacrificing the comic's quality, pacing, or narrative progression for a schedule adjustment.

This isn't going to be an immediate change, I'm thinking of doing this sometime in December so that y'all can have a decent amount of heads up before the switch. I know it's gonna be a little painful to go to a slower release schedule but ultimately I think it's the best way to go so that I can balance all of the projects I have going on without sacrificing quality. Rekindled may be a free to read non-profit project, but I still hold myself to high standards and I want to do my best to deliver on those standards !

Thank you all so much for your patience and support. It seriously blows me away to see all of the wonderful comments, asks, and support for what I do here every day. I'm gonna do my best as well to respond to asks in my inbox as they come in, but please just know I get a LOT of them on a regular basis, it's sort of a Hydra situation where I respond to 1 or 2 and then get 4 more LOL That said, rest assured that I do read and appreciate each and every one of them <3 That also includes essay posts about LO, with LO returning in November I'll surely have more stuff to say about it so I'm gonna try and keep up as best I can :' )

On a final note, we're coming up to the one year anniversary of when I started posting actual episodes of Rekindled!! I'm so excited for this, I can't believe it's been a year!! And I have so much awesome stuff planned for the story that we're gonna see throughout the next year, I can't wait! Thanks so much for being a part of this project with me, I couldn't have asked for a better audience <3

(P.S. everything I have lined up for next year is lining up with the dry period for FF XIV between Endwalker and Dawntrail so I won't have distractions until the summer LMAOO)

#lore rekindled #lore rekindled comic #ask me anything #ama #anon ama #anon ask me anything #update post #announcement #genericpuff

68 notes · View notes

twistedtummies2 · 6 months

Text

Top 15 Portrayals of Peter Pan

A while back, in 2021 - in celebration of the 110th anniversary of “Peter Pan” - I posted a list of my favorite portrayals of the villain of the story, Captain Hook. Earlier this year, I updated that same list. I said then that, even as a kid, I always liked Hook more than his nemesis, the titular Peter. While this is true, I do think it’s important to state that, as much as I may love the dastardly pirate Pan battles constantly…this does not mean Peter is a bad character. I think that Peter Pan gets a bad rap a lot nowadays, mostly because, if you read the original book…Peter is kind of a little psychopath. He’s sort of a little tyrant, threatening to kill or banish anybody who doesn’t do what he wants, and refusing to listen to reason when people try to help him or keep him under control. And that’s the entire point: Barrie’s story originally didn’t HAVE Hook. The original idea behind what would become “Peter and Wendy” was that Pan was a representation of both everything good AND everything bad about childhood: he is not necessarily EVIL, but he is stuck perpetually in a state of infantile, underdeveloped youth. He’s brash, cocky, and has a LOT of power that I don’t think even he is fully aware of. There’s a lot of mystery surrounding Peter, which actually makes him more fascinating to adults than I think many might realize. Peter’s arc in the story is one of coming to grips with emotions he’s never experienced before, and taking up a kind of responsibility he’s always tried to deny in the past. He’s much more dynamic and more interesting than many people give him credit. I’ve been in a Peter Pan mood lately, so I decided…what the heck? I might as well give a bit of a spotlight to some of my favorite portrayals of the Boy Who Never Grows Up that have come around over the years. (On that note, there has long been a tradition, particularly in stage shows, of women playing Peter, so there will be some ladies included here. Don’t you dare whine about it, they’re absolutely awesome.) Some of these versions stick to the ambiguity of Barrie’s original, while others make Pan either more heroic or more villainous depending on interpretation. There’s a lot of ways you can go with the idea of an eternal child, both idealistic and cynical. So, think Happy Thoughts, everyone, and don’t forget the pixie dust! Here are My Top 15 Favorite Portrayals of Peter Pan!

15. Sandy Duncan, from the Styne-Charlap Musical. (The most famous stage musical version of the story; Duncan first played Peter in a 1979 Revival of the show on Broadway.)

14. Greg Tannahill, from Peter Pan Goes Wrong.

13. Petermon, from Digimon: Ghost Game. (Yeah. Peter Pan as a Digimon. That weirdness speaks for itself.)

12. Mia Farrow, from the 1976 TV Musical.

11. The Version from “Peter and the Starcatchers.” (I’m referring specifically to the books; there is a stage version based on the first book, but I haven’t seen it for various reasons. I love the original books, though. This is probably one of the “nicest” versions of Peter on the list, for lack of a better description.)

10. Robin Williams, from Hook. (Come now, you all knew he had to be here somewhere.)

9. The Version from “Alias, Hook.” (Without going into detail, this really shows how scary a Barrie-accurate Peter can be without much real change.)

8. Charlie Rowe, from SyFy’s Neverland.

7. Betty Bronson, from the 1924 Film.

6. Robbie Kay, from Once Upon a Time. (By far the most evil version of Peter Pan ever made, at least that I've discovered.)

5. Mary Martin, from the Styne-Charlap Musical. (She originated the part on Broadway, starting in 1954.)

4. Cathy Rigby, ALSO from the Styne-Charlap Musical. (She’s been playing the role off and on since the 1970s - no joke, look it up - with her most recent stint being in 2015. She was in her sixties then! Talk about Never Growing Up!)

3. Jason Marsden, from Peter Pan and the Pirates.

2. Jeremy Sumpter, from the 2003 Film.

1. The Disney Version. (Originally played by Bobby Driscoll; this one wins out mostly just because this is the first version I think of when I think of Peter as a character, and because I think the various spin-offs and such have really helped to make him a more likable protagonist over time, while still keeping him true to his established persona.)

#list #countdown #best #favorites #top 15 #peter pan #j.m. barrie #actors #acting #portrayals #literature #tv #animation #film #movies #musical theatre #broadway

47 notes · View notes

bamnamuu · 8 months

Text

HELLO AGAIN ˗ˏˋ✩ˎˊ˗ CHOI SOOBIN

PAIRING ! non-idolchoi soobin x fem!reader

SUMMARY ! After starting her new job as a barista, Y/N begins to see someone more and more it just so happens to be Choi Soobin from grade school, never thinking she'd actually get to talk to him let alone get to know him, soobin has been dying to know her.

INCLUDES ! txt members, skz's Hyunjin, nwjns' Danielle, itzy members

A. NOTE ! this is based off of those Soobin pics from the seasons of txt youth box, also y/n and Danielle are both 03 babies in this, also i started this before lia went on hiatus and i love & miss her [if it’s bad don’t tell me i can’t take constructive criticism:) ]

W. COUNT ! 3k shes a long one

not very proofread beware

⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ⭑ ⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⊹ ࣪

Walking onto the empty bus only made y/n overthink about her day more, after finding a seat at the back she put her headphones in. It's not like this is her first-ever job, it's just her first day as a barista. If she thought about it, the y/n of three months ago would be jumping for joy that she gets to work at the famous GuGUcafe, however, the y/n now was filled with dread.

GuGucafe is one of the busiest cafes downtown, y/n didn't even know why she was worried about her first shift. She had done her orientation and training days already so she knows its not the work that's worrying her, it could be the fact that her ex Hyunjin not only just works but also lives downtown, their relationship wasn't bad but it wasn't good either, just the basic things young love never works through, jealousy, miscommunication, insecurities, alert of y/n will always love him, he was her first love. they haven’t ran into each other since the breakup, she hoped that wouldn't change. Y/n snapping out of her reminiscing cloud, realized she was at her stop. Walking through the doors y/n was greeted by Lia her boss.

"I'm happy you showed up today! "The blonde girl said,

"Do you guys get a lot of no-shows ?" y/n was totally regretting showing up

"yeah... but let's not talk about that, go find your

apron!"

she did as the older girl said, finding her brown apron with a name tag, in her new uniform y/n started getting nervous again, but by pushing through she found herself at her break.

"I've been here for 4 hours ?!" y/n said shocked

"Unfortunately ’’ Yuna the another new hire said while rearranging the hot drink cups

"I'll see you in a bit, good luck!" y/n said to the girl who was now moving all the cold tea jugs around, yuna nodded as y/n went to the back to get her things.

At the beginning of the day y/n thought she would mess up horribly or bump into her ex in the mass-populated downtown, yet to her surprise the first half of her shift went well, so she just assumed that her anxious thoughts were just getting the best of her...until she bumped into a tall man entering the cafe, not even having to look up she knew it was him, she still knew his perfume. Y/n thought maybe he had forgotten who she was, it had been a entire year, maybe if she just apologized, walks out the door he won’t even see that it’s her, before she could move he spoke up

"y/n?" the boy spoke in a questioning tone

"Who?" y/n said, She was a fool, an absolute fool, and both of them knew it.

" God, you haven't changed one bit!" Hyunjin said smiling causing y/n to meet his eyes finally, they still hadn't changed from that night, but she felt different when looking into them than she did

" it's nice to see you again, but I have to get going" she finally spoke up, giving him a final smile and pushing past him, before turning around and saying

" oh and sorry for bumping into you"

⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ⭑ ⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⊹ ࣪

Frantically reaching for her phone she texted Danielle, who's been her other half since elementary school, they've been there for each other through, first loves, birthdays, heartbreak, even emo phases ( that one was mostly y/n, but they promised to never bring it up)

"Gonna come see you" y/n typed

"YAY! I kind of figured you would, got you lunch" Dani responded

"I'm gonna marry you"

She finished typing as she made her way to the park near Dani's place of work, she truly wouldn't know what to do without her sunshine. looking up after texting her mom that she was okay and doing alright y/n saw Danielle waving to come to sit down with her,

"Okay what happened, did you spill coffee on someone, did you spill coffee on yourself, did you mi-" Danielle practically interrogating y/n before she could say hello, was cut off by the coffee girl.

"OMG! You really have no faith in me, but no it went really well..till” y/n said shaking her head during the first part, then quickly falling silent thinking about the incident.

"till???" the inpatient girl started shaking y/n, causing both of them to giggle.

"Well I was leaving and then I bumped into someone." y/n didn't want to say it because if she said it then that meant it happened, Danielle, on the other hand, brought hers up to try and help speed her friend's confession out

“Walked into Hyunjin and I kept staring at his boobs.. god... I don't think I've ever stared at someone's boobs for that long ever, but I did. I did! '' y/n said frantically

"So you're telling me you saw the "love of your only life" after almost a year, and you couldn't even look at him in his eyes!?" Dani brought her hands up to make air quotes, then shook her head not believing that her friend could be so silly and dumb at the same time. Y/n didn't speak she simply nodded. She didn't feel like getting into the nitty gritty part that were her feelings and if she still had them for Hyunjin, because even she didn't know, not after that interaction but for now she'll just let her friend believe she is.

"Also men don't have boobs y/n" she added remembering what her friend said.

much to both of the girl's dismay y/n had to get back to work, crossing her fingers and praying that Hyunjin wasn’t staying for long , maybe y/n was going through a lucky strike cause the boy was nowhere to be seen, letting out a happy sigh y/n got her apron back on and got back to work. 4 more hours was all she had to get through, and she would as long as Lia was there with her, she needed her for reassurance.

⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ⭑ ⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⊹ ࣪

With the sun going down y/n had only two hours left in her shift. She didn’t have much to do Yuna was on her break, so she looked around the floor of the now desolate cafe and decided she would sweep, walking around the counter that was brushed by a rushing, heaving stressed lia,

“woah are you breathing properly?” y/n said to the blonde girl

“No... I think someone broke into my apartment!”

“Jesus, did you call the police?” y/n said now also stressed

“No, I'm gonna go over there just to make sure, and call on the way,” Lia said, walking around the empty store collecting her things and the scissors by the cash register.

“Do you think you can handle being alone here? Yuna should be back in a little bit” Lia said now looking serious

“ I think all will be fine Lia, rush hour is over and no one’s in here, I’ll be fine till Yuna gets back you should go!” with y/n saying that Lia gave her the keys to the shop in case she wanted to close early, and left

Y/n now getting free range to use the speakers, puts her music on shuffle, and continues cleaning. ‘Paris by Taylor Swift’ starts playing as the door chimes, y/n is now in the stock room, she figures it’s just Yuna. Until she hears a voice coming from the cashier's desk that’s clearly not Yuna’s

“Hello, is anyone here?” a boy said

Y/n who now sets the milk back in the fridge and walks to the front, can’t help but feel some sort of familiarity in the boy's voice, until she sees who it is, Choi soobin, they went to the same school since they were kids, he was two grades older than her but she knew of him.

“hi…sorry i’m the only one here,” y/n says waving her hands around to show the empty space around them

“s’ok you’re here now,” Soobin said with a little smile

“so what can I get for you” y/n smiled at his last comment

“I’ll have an iced Americano please”

“Just that ?” y/n looked up after putting his order in the machine, soobin nodded, then paid, as y/n was making his drink, she asked

“We went to the same school, right?”

“yeah I’m pretty sure we did” soobin replied,while looking at her with a soft smile

“here you go” She held out soobins drink for him to take

“have a good night y/n!” he said walking to the door

“you too”

It wasn’t until he finished his drink that Soobin realized that Y/n drew a small smiley face on his cup.

⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ⭑ ⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⊹ ࣪

It's not that Soobin knew y/n worked there, he didn't, he doesn't even like coffee that much,but now he knows he has a shot to talk to her he's gonna do it. unlocking his apartment door he heard his friend say

''If anyone has a tiny smooth brain it would be you Beomgyu!'' Yeonjun said to his phone, making Soobin let out a little laugh.

''Ayo, you went to get coffee and didn't bring back anything for me? that's so cold man'' his roommate said looking at him with sad fox eyes

''Oh shut it, you never get me anything when you go out, and I didn't even plan on getting coffee it was just a spur-of-the-moment decision'' Soobin said rolling his eyes at the older boy

''Whatever dude! I will remember this next time'' Yeonjun rolling his eyes at soobin when he spoke

''Hey I have a question for you, do you remember Y/N from when we were little?''

''I think so? isn’t she dating Hyunjin?''

''No, they broke up'' the man on Yeonjuns phone said

''Shit I forgot to hang up''

''Hey Soobin didn't you have a crush on y/-''

Before Beomgyu could finish his sentence Soobin jumped from the kitchen onto the couch finally hanging up the phone. it's not that soobin was embarrassed to like y/n its just he was embarrassed that he hadn't stopped liking her even after he found out one of Beomgyu’s friends was dating her. There was just something he loved liked about her maybe it was the way she always smiled at him when they passed in the hallway or the one time when he had to walk home but it started pouring, and he forgot his umbrella until a cute girl a couple years younger him tapped his shoulder and handed him her umbrella, and carried on her way, not caring that she would be drenched. Ok so maybe he did know why he liked her, but it's entirely his fault that they've never had an entire conversation he was just too scared he would say something stupid that would scare her away, as well as haunting him for the rest of his life or be it Beomgyu would tease him, seeing the fact that he was the only one who knew.

''Dude what the hell is wrong with you'' yeonjun said, confused and scared

''What do you mean?'' soobin said looking up knowing full well he was laying in Yeonjun’s lap, with his phone in his hands

''Get off of me, you probably bruised my stomach'' Yeonjun chuckled whilst pushing the taller boy on the floor.

''It's not like I didn't know you liked her, Beomgyu is horrible at keeping your secrets and that's entirely your fault!'' Yeonjun said, pointing his finger at Soobin and moving to his room.

⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ⭑ ⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⊹ ࣪

Y/n was getting ready for the day when she heard Lia walk into the break room frustrated, with a follower right behind.

“I want my key back!” Lia said turning around to the girl

“I lost it! Why do you think I broke into the apartment?” the other girl said, y/n realized it was chaeryeong, one of Lia's friends.

‘’G'morning to you two!’’ y/n said passing the bickering girls, starting her second day off better than the first, she was still running off four hours of sleep, it's not like she got off at a ridiculous time, no, she just kept thinking about the tall boy with the dimples. She didn't know why she drew a smiley face on the soobins cup, god he probably thought she was weird. y/n didn't know why the cup drawing took over her mind, but she should be happy because she'd been so focused on Soobin that she completely forgot about bumping into her ex, well until her sunshine friend's face jumped at her, knocking her out of the thought of last night.

‘’So have you face-butted anyone's boobs today?’’ Danielle smiles

‘’Sorry you have to leave the shop we don't want you here!’’ Y/n said teasing Dani

‘’ whatever… I’ll have that’’ Danielle said pointing at one of the posters with the seasonal drinks

After finishing Danielle’s order, y/n watched as her friend took her drink with a smile and waved goodbye. Y/n likes her job it's fun to people-watch without looking creepy, as well as her shifts go by super fast which she's grateful for. Until y/n found herself alone in the cafe just like the night before.

‘’Hello again!’’

‘’Oh, Soobin.. Hi’’ y/n said getting scared at the sudden volume change

‘’I'm sorry for scaring you, I didn't mean to’’ Soobin started apologizing, only to be opposed by y/n telling him he's fine and to not worry about it, or that it happens all the time

Soobin ordered his drink and watched y/n make it with such intent so he didn’t miss a single thing, he watched as she finished up and walked over to him drink in hand, nervously he took it replacing the drink in her hand with a small note meant for her.

confused y/n watched as the boy smiled wishing her a good night and went on his way. looking down at the small piece of crumbled paper in her hand she unraveled it to find the cutest little note.

you look really pretty today! <3

⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ⭑ ⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⊹ ࣪

The causal flirting between the two started after soobins note, every single day, at the exact same time soobin would walk in the door to the usually quiet coffee shop and beam down at y/n causing the girl to form a reddish pink hue to her cheeks. Leaving Lia to be the third wheel, as she watched Soobin and y/n blush and giggle at each other, she got sick of it. she knew she had to do something for her best employee.

“Soobin wait!” Lia yelled sprinting out of the shop

“What? oh Lia?” Soobin replied confused

“You should just ask y/n out already, she’s been waiting and we both know she won’t ask!” Lia said dryly

“WHAT!” soobin yelled causing the passing strangers to stop at look at him

“You actually think y/n wants to go out with me?”

“You’re hopeless,” Lia said walking back into the store.

⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ⭑ ⊹ ࣪ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⋆ ── ๋࣭ ─── ⋆⋅☆⋅⊹ ࣪

‘’ AM I hopeless?’’ Soobin spoke well opening the door to his apartment

‘’You want me to answer that? I won't be nice’’ Beomgyu said following behind, without even a second thought Soobin spun around to glare at the boy he calls a friend.

‘Yes?’

‘’You are hopeless, You liked this girl for how long now? Like a bajillion years! Just ask her out, the worst thing that could happen is her throwing a drink at you.’’ Beomgyu told Soobin, who wasn’t paying any attention to him. Calling it a night soobin went to his room to think over both Lia’s and Beomgyu's words.

Soobin hadn’t slept much that night too busy making up sentences and planning out how he's gonna ask y/n out. It's not the first time he's tried the first time he was going to ask y/n to go to the school dance with him, the news of her and Hyunjin broke out, god it hurt him. Who was he to think he could compete with Hwang Hyunjin, all of Soobin's negative voices came out to attack him, and he resented Hyunjin for years, he knows now it's not Hyunjin's fault he got insecure. He was just young and unconfident and it's easier to blame someone else when time doesn't work in your favor. That was then but now he wasnt going to let anything stop him, he even bought her favorite flowers which are dahlia’s Soobin was in in for real. soobin grabbed a scrape of paper to write out his plan,

1) wait till y/n is off her shift

2) pull her aside and give flowers.

3) ask her on a date via an note on the flowers

Simple plan, nothing could go wrong Soobin kept repeating in his head. Walking into Gugucafe Soobin looked around for his girl, only to be face to face with Yuna.

‘’Is y/n here ?’’ Soobin asked wrly

‘’No sorry she called in sick today’’ Yuna replied

‘’Oh okay, ah have a good day’’ Soobin tried to hide the disappointment in his voice but failing. Would it be weird for him to go to y/n apartment? His plan of asking her out has been put aside for now, and it’s not unusual to give your friend soup when they’re sick, and that’s what he and y/n are friends first, Soobin went on his was with a new that consists of restaurant soup and finding y/n address, and the last part he would need hope that Lia would give out her address, and to Soobins luck she told him

‘’Sure it may be wrong that I'm giving out my employee's addresses but it's for a good cause so I need to!’’

He didn't ask many questions about Lias statement, he seemed to be out the door as soon as she gave him the last letter of y/n’s street, with the bouquet of dahlias and a steaming container of soup he knocked on y/n’s door expecting to be faced with red-nosed coughing y/n, only to be faced with the opposite

‘’Soobin what are you doing here, not that I’m not happy to see you I just.. How’d you get my address?’’

‘’I went to see you and Yuna told me you were sick so I thought I would bring you soup, oh and Lia told me where you live’’ y/n just stared at him

‘’Oh these are for you!’’ Soobin said handing y/n the soup and flowers with his note still wedged between the stems

‘’Oh thanks, I’m feeling ok I just lied to Lia for fun, you can come in’’

‘’For fun you and me and different versions of fun’’

‘’No seriously you should try it sometime. these are absolutely beautiful Soobin what's that?’’ y/n said looking at the flowers,in that moment he remembered the forgotten note that was still attached to the bundle of dahlias in y/n’s hands, there was nothing he could do, he accepted his fate. He watched as y/n placed his gifts on the counter and took out the note, he didn't want to see her face, he now realized how awkward this was,

‘’You don't have to read it, s’stupid’’ Soobin pleaded

‘’It's not stupid if it’s from you ’’ y/n said still not looking up at him after a few long seconds y/n looked up at Soobin and said

‘’I would love to go out with you !’’

“Oh thank god!” Soobin said inhaling like he just learned how to breathe.

56 notes · View notes