#and every time since the first the guy who just tells me to stoo gets this weird pitiful expression and i hate it | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

nalgenewhore · 4 years

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masterlist - ao3 - last chapter - next chapter

+*+*+*+*+*+*

“Ress, Ress, wait,” Elide exclaimed, skittering to a stop as she tried to turn the corner. Her soft spoken bodyguard had been acting strangely ever since they had invited Fenrys to the palace.

He reluctantly stopped, not meeting her eyes. “Hey, Elide.” Ress slunk away when she tried to touch his shoulder and she dropped her hand, a little pathetically.

She tried to smile, tilting her head to the side, “I-I feel like no one’s seen you for ages, Ress. You know, if there’s ever something wrong, you can talk to me about it.”

“Not about this,” he whispered. Ress looked down the hall, looking for a way to leave.

Elide tried again, not ready to just let him leave, “Was it your boy?” She had a slight smile in her voice, trying to get a rise out of him or at least make him blush. His kind eyes hardened and she knew she had said the wrong thing. “Wait, Ress, please, I’m sorry- I-I didn’t mean to–”

“Elide.” He said, his voice hard, brooking no room for argument. “I don’t want to talk about this and definitely,” he huffed a icy laugh, “definitely not with you, so please. Leave me alone.” Ress brushed by her without another word, walking quickly down the hall.

Elide stood in shock, trying not to cry. After too long, she walked over to her old rooms, which they were fixing up for Fenrys. She nodded and tried to smile at the painters, whispering greetings to them.

She sidled up to Lysandra, who was directing movers. “Hey.”

Lysandra’s warm grin fell at Elide’s expression, “Hey, lovie. Wh-what’s wrong?” She ran a soothing hand down Elide’s back.

“I think something happened with Ress and his boy and he- I think it’s my fault but I don’t know why,” Elide said, trying to not cry by tilting her face upwards.

“How could it be your fault, El,” Lysandra asked, putting down her tablet. “He just wants a little space right now, I’m sure.”

Elide nodded, not believing her friend in the slightest, but hoping she was right all the same.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Lorcan’s phone rang and he didn’t bother looking at the caller before he picked it up, “Hello?”

“Lor, is that you, you fuckin’ bastard?”

A lazy grin pulled at his lips and he sat back in his chair, propping his feet up on the desk, “Marama.”

Fenrys laughed brightly and Lorcan could almost see his friend’s shit-eating grin. “Heard you're trying to steal some poor girl’s throne, hmm? Seems fitting for Hellas’ spawn.”

Lorcan rolled his eyes, “Yeah, and you’re the poor guy they called to slap a ring on her pretty lil’ finger.”

“Ooh, she’s pretty?”

Elide Lochan was the most beautiful person he had ever seen, but Lorcan kept that to himself. “She’s… nice to look at.”

“Mmm, is that jealousy?”

Lorcan felt something grow in his chest and he swallowed, some of his joking swagger leaving him, “Have at her, Fen. She’s feisty. I think you’ll like her.”

Fenrys chuckled again, “Tell me again how many times she’s slapped you. It brings me such joy.”

“Sadist,” Lorcan grumbled, rubbing his forehead. “And twice. The first was an accident.”

“And the second?”

His cheeks burned and he was grateful he was in his rooms with no one around, “I… uh, I might’ve called her ‘sweetheart’ or something.”

“Hellas save you, man. You really are a fucking dumbass.”

Lorcan rolled his eyes again, “I realise that, Fen. When’s your plane getting in, anyway?”

The man on the end of the line hummed, “Mmm, in a couple days. Did you know I get a fancy room at the palace?”

“Yeah, well, me too,” Lorcan shot back, smiling smugly. “You aren’t that special.” Fenrys just huffed and something crossed Lorcan’s mind, “Hey, weren’t you talking to some guy? What, ah, what are you doing about that?”

“I ended it,” Fenrys said in a nonchalant voice. “He seemed fine with it, so no feelings were hurt, I guess.”

“And what about you? Are you fine with it?”

“Couldn’t be more fine with it.”

“Mmm, whatever you say, Fen.”

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Elide ran down the hall, trying to go as quickly as possible. “Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck,” she muttered, trying not to tip over in her three-inch heels. She was running as fast as she could, but her strides were shortened by her tight, fitted houndstooth skirt and the matching coat she carried in her arms.

She attempted to slow down when she turned the corner into the foyer, but ended up sliding and windmilling her arms. Elide crashed into Rowan, groaning softly, “Shit, sorry, Ro.” She shrugged her coat on, flipping her hair out from under the collar. “How do I look?”

“Ravishing,” said a new voice, one she had never heard before. Elide spun, her eyes landing on a beautiful man. “If I may say so myself.”

“You must be Fenrys,” she replied, her cheeks burning. She surveyed him from head to toe. He had cut off his dreads, his hair now bleached blonde and shaved close to his skull. It was styled in a meticulous, 360° wave pattern, which no doubt took years of mastering.

Fenrys smiled, his cheek dimpling, and then he bowed, “It is a pleasure to make your acquaintance, Lady Elide. I am humbled that you think someone like me could be your knight in shining armor.”

Elide liked him immediately and laughed, holding out her hand for him to shake, “I am forever in your debt, good sir.” His hand was large and warm, his grip not too tight and not too loose. Perfect. “How was your trip from Doranelle?”

“Oh, uneventful, I’d say. Lovely plane you’ve got,” he said, flashing her another grin. Fenrys’ dark eyes had a cheeky gleam in them that Elide instantly adored.

“Oh, that old thing?” she asked flippantly. “That’s just something we have lying around.” Fenrys laughed, the sound warm and booming as it echoed through the hall. Elide smiled, turning back to Aelin and Rowan, who were in the midst of exchanging a secret glance. “Your Majesties, Fenrys Marama.”

Fenrys bowed to Aelin, “My queen.” Aelin dipped her chin, sending a giddy grin to Elide. I like him, Elide mouthed as Fenrys and Rowan said their greetings.

Elide looked around for Ress, wondering if her bodyguard was feeling better. In his place, another guard stood, looking much more intimidating and imposing than Ress ever did. She turned to Lysandra, whispering softly, “Where’s Ress?”

“He’s taken some time off, not feeling well,” Lysandra murmured back. “Now, you and Fenrys are going to have a walk in the gardens. A photographer will be there, but just ignore them.”

Elide nodded, turning back to Fenrys. The man smiled again, offering Elide his arm. She slipped her hand into his elbow and he said, “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Three days later and Elide didn’t think she would ever tire of Fenrys’ company. He was hilarious and kind, his humour more bold and obvious than Elide’s, but they paired well together.

She had learned that his favourite colour was yellow, his birthday was exactly two months after hers - August twelfth - his favourite sport was soccer and he had gone to the University of Varese on a soccer scholarship. Though his degree was in political science, and he planned to become a lawyer, Fenrys had an aptitude for photography and carried his camera almost everywhere with him.

His older brother, Connall, was quieter than him, the dark side of the same coin. They had grown up in Doranelle their whole lives. Fenrys said he was grateful that he was the spare, because it gave him the freedom to explore the world as he had always itched to do.

“Ellie,” he called, beckoning her over to where he was bent over a flower bush.

Elide walked over to him, leaning down next to him, “What is it?”

“A butterfly,” he said, lifting his camera to snap a picture. It was as if the soft click of the frame had bothered the delicate creature and it took off, fluttering in the air to a new perch. Fenrys pouted, sad that his new friend left so soon.

Elide chuckled, “Don’t worry, sweetie-pie.” That was a new thing they had started the other day. Elide called him ‘sweetie-pie’ and in return, Fenrys had dubbed her ‘honeybunch’. It annoyed everyone around them, these overly affectionate names, and the pair thrived off everyone’s irritation.

Fenrys laughed softly and stood up, slinging his arm around her shoulders, “You hungry? I think it’s time for lunch.”

She smiled, wrapping her arm around his waist, “You always think it’s time for…” Elide trailed off as a certain someone walked into the garden, a book in his hands. Immediately, she scowled.

“Honeybunch, are you alright?”

Elide nodded, still frowning as Lorcan sat down on a bench and opened his book. He must’ve noticed her staring and looked up, flashing her a cocky grin that she wanted to slap off his perfect, beautiful face. “‘m fine,” she muttered, balling her free hand into a fist.

Fenrys looked up, following her eyeline to Lorcan, who he faked a confused frown at, deciding it would be best if Elide didn’t know their connection. “Who’s that?”

“Hellas incarnate,” she said, tugging Fenrys along to the castle. “He’s the other heir. I hate him.”

Fenrys nodded thoughtfully, squeezing her shoulder comfortingly, “Don’t worry, he won’t succeed. That’s why I’m here.”

“Ah, yes, my knight in shining armor,” Elide said in a simpering tone, batting her eyelashes.

Her friend rolled his eyes, bumping her with his hip, “Shut up, stupid.”

+*+*+*+*+*+*

My dearest honeybunch, snookums, Elide, Meet me in the garden, at dawn, should you dare Forever and truly, Your most beloved sweetie-pie

Elide snorted at the note in her hand once more, shaking her head as she walked down the stairs. The whole proposal was planned out and still, Fenrys had used every loophole that he could to make it feel like it wasn’t just a business deal.

She wore a pretty pink midi skirt and an oversized, cream-coloured sweater. On her feet she had on another pair of rounded-toe pumps, cream to match her top. Her hair was curled and loosely falling down her back, two sections pinned in the back to pull her hair away from her face.

Nerves fluttered in her stomach as she walked out into the garden, spotting Fenrys sitting beneath a lilac tree. He stood up when he saw her, smiling broadly, “Good morning, Elide.”

“Good morning, Fenrys,” she said, rolling her eyes when he took her hand and bent to kiss her knuckles. “Will you tell me why you’ve summoned me out here?”

“Let us sit,” he told her, motioning her to the stone bench he had been resting upon.

Elide sat, her hands folded in her lap. Fenrys joined her, his knee knocking into hers. She knew the paparazzi and the press were peeking through the garden fence and gate, their cameras flashing as they snapped a flurry of shots. “Over the past week,” Fenrys started, reaching over to hold her hands in his, “I have had the absolute pleasure of getting to know you and I have fallen desperately in love with your entire being.”

Elide bit her lip to stop from laughing, nodding serenely, “Of course.”

Fenrys’ eyes held a warning light, telling her if she laughed, he would laugh too. “And I can’t imagine the rest of my life without you so I ask thee,” he slid off the bench, smoothly pulling a velvet box from his pocket as he kneeled and flipped the lid open, “if you would do me the greatest honour in life and become my wife. Elide Amara Lochan, will you marry me?”

She lifted her hand to her throat, the tears in her eyes forming in an effort to keep from snorting and ruining it all, “Oh, sweetie-pie. Yes, yes, yes, a million times yes!” Fenrys grinned wickedly and slid the ring onto her finger.

Elide flung her arms around his neck, hugging him tightly. “Thank you, Fen,” she whispered, eyeing the diamond ring on her finger.

“The pleasure is all mine,” he said, wrapping his arms around her waist and lifting her with him as he stood up.

For some reason, the sinking feeling in her gut didn’t dissipate and Elide had to hold back tears of grief.

Everything is fine, she told herself, you’re happy. The happiest you’ve ever been.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

“I believe congratulations are in order,” Lorcan drawled as Elide walked into the library.

She froze and turned, glaring at him. “Thank you,” she said tightly, her back straight. “I’m very happy with him.”

“Oh, I don’t doubt it,” he replied, smirking at her before returning to his book. He could tell she hadn’t moved and looked up again, “Is there something I can help you with, sweetheart?” Her cheeks reddened as her eyes flashed dangerously.

Lorcan idly thought he should be scared of her, but he wasn’t in the slightest. He ran his eyes down her body, stifling the urge to reach out and wrap her up in his arms. She looked so soft in her black leggings and slouchy grey cashmere sweater that slipped down one arm.

“I am,” Elide insisted, her knuckles turning white as she gripped her stack of books. “I am very happy with Fenrys. We’re in love.”

Lorcan snorted, looking down at his book. He didn’t read a single word, “Don’t be dumb.”

“I am not dumb, Lorcan,” she hissed.

“Hmm, I don’t think you’re dumb, I think you’re being dumb,” he said, flipping the page. “Because if you were being smart, you would know that you could never be happy with Fenrys and,” he lifted his eyes up to her angered gaze, her cheeks still pink, “he could never fall in love with someone like you.”

The angered light in her eyes guttered. It was replaced by crushing sorrow and she quickly looked away from him, “Well, you would know, wouldn’t you? I can’t ever imagine someone loving you.” Without another word, Elide turned away from him and walked deeper into the library.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

“Ready?”

Elide breathed out slowly, resting her hand on Fenrys’ forearm, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”

They walked to the formal dining room, their steps sure and measured. “You look rather dashing,” Elide said, appraising her fiancé in a fitted suit.

Fenrys flashed her a grin, taking her hand and twirling her under his arm. Elide laughed, but the unwarranted thought in her mind was that it felt nothing like when Lorcan had spun her around. “As do you,” Fenrys said, resting his hand on her lower back, her black dress offering an open back. The neckline was square with delicate straps, its skirt ending just beneath her knees with a back slit that allowed her to walk normally even with the snug fit.

Fenrys led her to the hall and Elide saw Ress standing with Lysandra at the door. He didn’t look pleased to be there, so she held herself back and simply nodded at him. He gave her a small smile and she tucked the little victory into her heart, not noticing how he glanced at Fenrys and immediately dropped his gaze.

She didn’t notice how Fenrys locked his jaw and stared straight ahead, tears burning in his eyes, either.

“Are we ready?” Lysandra asked, her eyes sparkling. Elide nodded, shooting her friend a grateful smile.

She and Fenrys waited outside the room as the majordomo announced from inside, “Presenting, her royal Grace, Lady Elide, and Lord Fenrys of Doranelle.”

The double doors were pulled open by two men. The couple smiled and waved politely as they walked to their seats. Aelin and Rowan were standing at the head of the table.

The queen stayed standing as the guests all sat, raising her glass of champagne to Elide and Fenrys, “Thank you all for joining us today as we celebrate the engagement of my dear cousin, Elide, and Fenrys. I could not be more happy for the two of you.” She lifted her glass as the others did and toasted, “To Elide and Fenrys!”

Elide lifted her glass, staring across the table at Lorcan as he mockingly tilted his head to the side and toasted them. “To the happy, happy couple,” he said, just loud enough for Elide to hear him.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Elide viciously cut a bite-sized piece of her veal, scowling the entire time at Lorcan, who just smiled back at her and chewed slowly on his own food.

She hoped that he choked.

He spoke quietly with his aunt, who looked like she wanted to throttle either Elide or Fenrys or maybe the both of them.

Elide smirked at the thought, smug knowing she had bested Maeve. Her uncle looked displeased as well as he pushed his food around his plate, glowering down at something and on occasion, up at Lorcan.

She watched as Vernon lifted his head to glare at her arch nemesis. Lorcan just sipped on his whiskey and regarded Vernon with a bored expression, his body language open and unimpressed. Glancing down his frame, Elide swallowed hard at the sight of his white dress shirt. Lorcan had forgone a tie, somehow managing to pull it off and not look out of place amidst Elide’s formally dressed guests. He wore a navy suit, the colour making an arresting match with his copper skintone.

The top buttons of his shirt were opened, the white material straining over his muscular chest. She caught a glimpse of black ink and a flush appeared on her chest as she imagined tracing her tongue over it.

Shaking her head, she looked up at Fenrys, smiling, “How are you?”

He lowered his head to her ear, “I’m doing quite well, Elide. And you?”

“I’m good,” Elide said, sighing in relief when servers cleared their plates for the next course. “Bit tired.”

He slid his hand between the back of the chair and her, easing the strain from her shoulders with a soothing touch. Elide sighed, easing into it by a bit. It still wasn’t as comfortable as she wished it was.

It was the touch of a friend, a confidant, but not one of a lover. Shame coursed through her as the memory of Lorcan’s hand on her back was the first thing she thought of.

Fenrys’ touch was nothing like that and she wished so badly that it was.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Lorcan watched Fenrys rub Elide’s back, watched how she let the royal, regal mask slip. A pang of jealousy echoed in his chest and he knocked back the rest of his whiskey, savouring the slight burn that accompanied the amber liquid.

Still, she didn’t relax completely. An image of her, something his mind made up, took up his brain. Elide, tired and exhausted, melting into his side. She smiled sleepily, wrapping her arms around his waist and pressing her face into his chest. He dropped whatever he was doing and lifted her into his arms, gently carrying her to a bed - their bed.

The hissing voice of his aunt startled him out of his reverie. “What, Maeve,” he said, looking down at his plate to find that they had moved onto the last course of desert. Thank the Creator.

“Were you even listening to a thing I said,” she snapped, viciously deconstructing the delicate chocolate and espresso pot de crème.

“No.” Lorcan looked at Fenrys, who was shooting him a worried look as he glanced between Lorcan and Maeve and Elide’s horrid uncle. If Lorcan had to choose one man he hated with his entire soul, it was Vernon Lochan. He had heard the story of Elide’s injury and the moment he had met Vernon, he had had to refrain from inflicting the very same pain and abuse onto the weaselly regent. “What do you want?”

His aunt huffed, “We still have a chance at the throne, Lorcan.”

“Of course we do,” he said drily, watching Fenrys whisper something that had Elide covering her mouth with her hand as she laughed. Her eyes sparkled and her nose scrunched up and she looked so happy.

Lorcan hated Fenrys in that moment. He hated him so damn much.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

Maeve had finally left. She had been telling him bullshit about how they could still win, Elide could still be ineligible.

Eventually, he had just told her he would talk to her another day and he was tired. Lorcan stood on the dining room balcony, staring out at the forest. He had a crystal glass of whiskey in his hands, the singular ice cube melting. Lorcan had been waiting too long to drink it.

The door opened behind him and he didn’t need to turn to know that it was Fenrys.

“Lorcan,” Fenrys said, his voice low.

He turned, offering a tight smile, “Congrats, Fen. I’m real happy for you guys.” Lorcan drank deeply from his glass, a slight buzz numbing him. “Real fuckin’ happy.”

Fenrys arched a brow, not believing him in the slightest. In his hands, he carried an unopened bottle of liquor, “Really?”

“Mm-hmm. I think you’ll,” he coughed, his throat tight, “you’ll make her really happy, Fen.”

“Lor, don’t fucking lie to me.”

“I am not fucking lying to you, Fen,” he said, his voice raising. “I hope that you make Elide Lochan happy. I hope that she makes you happy because if she doesn’t, what the fuck is the point of any of this?” He waved his hand, “Yeah, and I know it’s my fault, it’s all I think about.”

Lorcan breathed in deeply, putting his glass down, “You told me you were in love, Fen. With that boy, you called me when you were blackout drunk and were crying over how much you loved him. How do you just… give that up for some girl you don’t know?”

Fenrys sighed heavily, rubbing his eyes, “The boy… he didn’t love me. Not yet, at least, and I couldn’t stand waiting around for it so… yeah. I gave whatever that was up for some girl I didn’t know. She needed help, don’t you get that?”

Lorcan just shook his head and pulled Fenrys into a tight hug. Better than most people, he thought to himself, not noticing dark eyes watching him through the opened door.

+*+*+*+*+*+*

an: ......i feel like that was a lot of stuff that happened. wow.

@mythicaitt @tinywolfofeyllwe @schmlip-scribble @the-regal-warrior @empire-of-wildfire @ladyverena @ttakeitbacknoww @shyvioletcat @alifletcher2012 @tswaney17 @ourbooksuniverse @flora-and-fae @thesirenwashere @queenofxhearts @maastrash @mynewdreamwasyou @cursebreaker29 @empress-ofbloodshed @b00kworm @hizqueen4life @silversprings98 @amren-courtofdreams @minaidss @superspiritfestival @sanakapoor @ireallyshouldsleeprn @spyofthenightcourt @januarystears @aelinfeyreeleven945tbln @magicalunicorngypsy @elriel4life @sensitiveillyrian

#knowing me knowing you #kmky chapter six #princess diaries au #elorcan #elide x lorcan #elide lochan #lorcan salvaterre #isa writes #nalgenewhore #the fact that it's only gonna get messier from now on.......wow 😳 oopsie

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1dffchallenges · 4 years

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Growing Pains

Written By: @rosegoldsweetpea

Characters: (Daniella/Harry)

Summary: When a wish on a sixteenth birthday candle goes wrong, Daniella finds herself ten years into the future. Navigating a new boyfriend, her best friend who is no longer her best friend, and her crumbling relationship with her family, Daniella finds out that adulthood is not everything she ever imagined.

A “13 Going on 30″ AU

Warnings: Language

I had boobs.

I should preface this by saying that I’ve technically always had boobs. They existed before this moment. But they had always been tiny. They were what my mother affectionately called “mosquito bites.” As I held my new boobs in my hands, however, I could tell these were not mosquito bites. These were actual boobs that I saw on models in magazines. I wasn’t wearing a bra— which I hadn’t needed to wear anyway because the size of my boobs had always left something to be desired. Lifting my silk sleep shirt away from my boobs, I examined every inch of them. Sure enough, there was a small scar underneath, like someone had cut my boob open with a knife.

“I got a boob job?” I whispered to myself.

“What did you say, babe?”

Along with suddenly having boobs, apparently there was someone in my house.

I screamed at the top of my lungs, the one thing my father taught me to do whenever there was a stranger around me. The man standing behind me had floppy brunette hair and tattoos covering his arms. Definitely not someone who would ever be allowed in my house, per my father’s rules. In fact, I think my father would have an aneurysm if I ever brought home a boy that had tattoos. This mystery boy’s eyes widened when I screamed in his face. “Babe, are you okay?” He moved like he was going to rush over to me and I took an immediate leap back.

“Who are you? Why are you in my house?” My voice screeched out, reaching an octave I knew was probably unpleasant to his ears.

His eyebrows furrowed. “What do you mean?” He moved again, but I was quick to mirror his movements, scooting backwards. I nearly fell on my ass because there was a couch in the way of my step, but I managed to right myself before I did any real damage. “Daniella, are you okay?”

“How do you know my name?” I asked, grabbing the nearest object to use as a weapon. It happened to be a pillow, so it wasn’t very effective, but it made me feel better. I could throw it at him and block his vision while I found the kitchen in this place and got a knife. “Who are you?” I asked again.

“Liam. Your boyfriend of three and a half years.”

“I don’t know a Liam!” I argued, throwing the pillow in his direction. I didn’t stick around to see if he caught it or not before I was tumbling through the house. I wasn’t familiar with the layout of this house, like I had been with the floorplan of my childhood home, which I was fairly certain I had fallen asleep in last night. This was some kind of apartment, decorated with too many neutrals for my taste. There was a giant mirror I passed by, decorated around its edge with swirling cream wood and gold accents. I managed only a glance in its reflection as I moved, but what I saw made me stop in my tracks.

In the reflection was me, only it wasn’t me. Last I remembered, I did not have a boob job, my hair was short, and my eyebrows had looked horrendous because I had accidentally plucked them too much. This Daniella had long hair that fell to her lower back and her eyebrows looked like they had been recently waxed. And then there was, obviously, the boob job. “What the hell is going on?” I exclaimed, sure that this mirror was some fancy one that only Bill Gates owned. It showed you what you wanted to look like. Or, if it was a real mirror and not a billionaire one, it was obviously broken or something.

“Daniella, sit down,” Liam said placatingly, his voice soft and soothing. He didn’t touch me, which I appreciated, but he kept his arms out in the likely case that I would fall to my knees as I dragged myself to the tan couch in the middle of the living room of the random apartment. “Do you need water? Did you have a bad dream?”

“I don’t know what’s happening,” I stuttered out, my breathing coming quickly. I hadn’t had a panic attack since I was thirteen, when I had thought my best friend Harry was going to move away. “Where am I?”

“You’re in your apartment.” Liam gently sat on the couch next to me. “I woke up and you were gone. Then I came out here and you’re just standing in the living room. Do you think you had a sleepwalking episode?”

I didn’t sleepwalk. At least, I didn’t think I did. But this Liam guy was insinuating that I did, in fact, sleepwalk often enough for him to be concerned about it. “You’re really my boyfriend?” I asked hesitantly, my breathing still shallow. “You didn’t try to drug me and kidnap me, right?”

“What?” The word left his mouth in such a surprised and offended tone that I knew it wasn’t true. “No.”

“Tell me facts about myself, so I know you aren’t just lying,” I demanded, trying to keep my tears at bay and my breath from coming in and out shallowly.

He didn’t even take a second to think. “Your name is Daniella Araceli Rodriguez. Your birthday is February first. Your mother’s name is Alejandra. You once threw up on a cast member at Disneyland. When you were younger, you wanted to be a veterinarian, but then found out that they were the ones who euthanized animals and you started crying. You broke your arm in the seventh grade because your old best friend Harry dared you to flip over some monkey bars and you fell.”

Okay, so obviously this boy knew me. Either that, or he was a fantastic stalker.

“Liam, I think I’m going crazy,” I whispered, assured at least a little that this Liam guy actually knew me. “The last thing I remember is my sixteenth birthday. My friend Harry was there, and some girls from my school. Gianna’s brother was bringing beer...” I trailed off.

“How about I call Gianna? I’m sure she’d be able to help you. I want you to stay on the couch until she gets here, okay? I don’t think it’s a good thing you can’t remember anything.”

“I’m still friends with Gianna?” I asked breathlessly.

Liam’s brows furrowed again. “Babe, Gianna is your best friend. I’m gonna go call her, okay? Maybe she can call into work for the two of you.”

I could do nothing but nod as Liam stood from the couch and made his way over to the kitchen counter. I could see his phone resting there and a little tiny key rack with two sets of keys in it. Obviously, this Liam guy and I were very close. Close enough, I noticed, for us to live together. Upon my survey of the apartment, I realized there were pictures of us plastered everywhere, as well as a pretty cocoa-skinned girl with wild curls. Her face was familiar to me, albeit a little bit older. So Liam hadn’t been lying. I was really still friends with Gianna.

Harry was nowhere in the pictures.

This was weird to me for two reasons. First of all, Harry loved being in photos. Though we had both been pretty nerdy in high school, he was the life of the party. So I found it hard to believe he would have stayed out of the pictures that were now decorating my living room. The second reason I found it weird was because Harry was my best friend in the entire world.

The circumstances of my friendship with Harry went as follows: we met in kindergarten when a nasty first grader had stolen my lunch in the cafeteria and Harry had stood up to him. The first grader ended up punching him in the nose. I had felt so bad that I had burst into tears and held up the end of my shirt for Harry to use as a tissue to block the blood as we awkwardly stumbled to the nurse’s office. Our mothers had arrived there at the same time, Anne Styles freaking out because her son’s nose was bleeding and my own mother Alejandra freaking out because the bottom of my shirt was bloody.

The next day, I asked my mother to make another sandwich and pack extra oreos. I sat next to Harry at lunch and thanked him for being so nice. And thus, our friendship had begun.

It only grew stronger when I realized that he lived down my street, just a short walk and even shorter bike ride away. There wasn’t a day that went by where I wasn’t begging my parents to ride down to Harry’s house. Their answer was usually different renditions of “if Anne is okay with it, then we are too” and since Anne Styles was an angel on Earth, she was usually okay with it.

“Babe,” I heard Liam say from the kitchen. He seemed to be off the phone, if him holding it in his hand was anything to go by. “Gianna called the both of you out of work and is on her way here.”

“Okay,” I mumbled, “are you gonna be here too?”

A guilty look crossed his face. “I...can be if you need me.”

“What do you do?”

He looked concerned again. As he should be. If he was telling the truth and we had been dating for the past three and a half years, shouldn’t I know what he did for work? “I’m a foster care recruiter.”

My mouth fell open. I was sure I looked like a fish. I was apparently dating someone who was incredibly good-looking, seemed nice, and worked as a foster care recruiter? “That sounds like a pretty important job. You should go.”

“You’re pretty important to me, too,” he argued.

“I’ll be fine. Really. I...remember Gianna and I’ll probably be more comfortable with her around anyway.” He still looked hesitant, so I reached out and grabbed his hand in my own. His fingers dwarfed mine. “Go. I’m fine. Hopefully Gianna can help me sort this out.”

He looked like he wanted to kiss me, but thought better of it. Instead, he pressed a hesitant kiss to my knuckles. “Alright. I’ll be back around six, okay? If you need me at all, call me. I’m serious, babe. My boss will understand.”

“I will.” Releasing his hand, I gave him a wobbly smile. I wondered if he could tell I was about to burst into tears. “I promise.”

Liam seemed as if he’d rather be shot in the foot than leave my side when I was so obviously going through something neither of us knew how to deal with, but he nodded and stood from the couch. He grabbed one set of the keys on the little rack and put his phone in the pocket, grabbing a blazer from a fancy and antique looking coat rack near the front door. “I’ll see you later, okay?”

“Okay,” I whispered pathetically.

And then the door closed behind him.

I spent the next twenty minutes trying to think about the last thing I remembered. We were having a sixteenth birthday party for me in the basement of my childhood home, and I had invited Gianna and a couple of her friends over. Obviously, Harry was there. We were setting up beer pong because Gianna insisted her brother would get us actual beer to play with. Harry had given me a beautiful mini-model of the house he was working on for his theatre tech class. It was pretty much his dream to become a set designer for theatre and cinema. He had produced a small strawberry cupcake from the fridge we had in the basement, which was my absolute favorite flavor in the world.

What the hell had I wished for when I had blown out the candle? I couldn’t remember.

A knock on the door cleared the fog of my memory, and it was like I couldn’t stand up fast enough. It also felt like my legs were like jelly. By the time I made it to the door, I wouldn’t have been surprised if two minutes had passed even though the walk was only about twenty feet. Yanking it open, I was met with the familiar face of my friend from high school, holding two iced coffees and a little bakery bag. The second she saw me, she smiled.

“Hi, sweetie. You remember me, right? Liam said you were fuzzy on some things.”

I didn’t answer. I just threw myself into her arms.

“Oh thank God,” she cried out, wrapping her arms around me and squeezing me as tightly as she could manage. “I would have burst into tears if you said you didn’t remember me.” We stood there clinging to each other, forgetting that the iced coffee was melting and dripping condensation down my back. “I brought you an orange cranberry scone, your favorite. Hopefully this helps.”

I didn’t remember orange cranberry being my favorite. But this was Gianna, and I trusted her a hell of a lot more than I trusted myself right now.

“What is the last thing you remember?” she asked me when we settled onto my couch, the coffee and scone putting something in my empty stomach and making me feel a little better. “And don’t even worry about Nick being upset. I told him that you were having a family emergency.” I didn’t know exactly who Nick was, but using context clues, I was able to guess he was my boss.

“The last thing I remember is my sixteenth birthday party.”

She wrinkled her nose. “Funny. I would have thought you wouldn’t remember that. We got absolutely plastered.”

I didn’t even remember that. Harry gave me his mini-model house, I blew out the candle on my cupcake, my mother and I got into an argument about something…

“I wished my mom would start treating me like an adult,” I said to myself, the words finally clicking into my head. Harry’s fingers, wrapped around the bottom of the cupcake wrapper, grinning as I closed my eyes and blew out through my mouth. Harry complained because I spit on him, but had gotten his revenge when he smashed the cupcake into my face.

“What?” Gianna asked.

“Nothing. Sorry.” My head was spinning. “What do we do?”

“We’re designers for Nicholas Jennings. We’re currently working on some pieces for his summer showcase.”

“Nicholas Jennings?” I breathed out. Nicholas Jennings had just been starting out his career when I was sixteen, but he had already been predicted to be one of the top designers by the end of the decade. He was known for his avant-garde looks that were still wearable for the workplace. “We work for Nicholas Jennings?”

“Work for him? Sweetie, you’re basically his muse,” Gianna stated excitedly. “His entire winter collection was based on that movie you recommended to him. The Iron Giant?”

Another thing that was familiar. Harry and I would sit on the couch in my basement and watch Iron Giant at least twice a week. He always made fun of me for crying, but I knew it made him tear up too. I could only imagine what Nicholas Jennings had come up with if he were using the film as a concept for an entire clothing collection. However, I doubted Nicholas Jennings had fattened himself up with oversalted and greasy, buttered popcorn when watching the movie like Harry and I had.

“And…” I leaned forward, as if it were a secret, whispering even though it was only the two of us in the apartment. “And I got a boob job?”

“And they look fantastic. I know you’re insecure about the scarring it left, but Liam doesn’t mind and your tits look great.”

My hands went up to cup them again, sure I was still imagining this whole thing. Gianna just laughed.

“Listen, we are going to take today and research what’s going on, yeah? I was reading something about Kleine Levin Syndrome last week, which could be it, but Liam said you weren’t sleepwalking…”

Gianna’s voice trailed off as a lightbulb went off in my head. Research. Research like contacting the only person who could talk me through what the hell was going on at this moment in time. I ignored Gianna’s surprise when I abruptly stood from the couch and walked to the kitchen counter, where my phone was resting. I had an iPhone when I was sixteen, but this was some fancy one that didn’t have a home button. It took me at least six tries to get it open, but when it finally did, I didn’t hesitate to click the phone button.

Gianna stared at me as the other line rang, the little intervals between obnoxious dial tones spent biting my thumb nail.

“Hey, it’s Harry. Sorry I can’t get to the phone, but leave a message and I’ll get back to you later.”

“Harry!” I shouted, surprised that he still had the same phone number and excited that this meant I could talk to one person who knew me better than anyone else. “It’s Daniella. I really need to talk to you, so call me back when you can. I have the same number. Er, if you don’t remember the number, it’s 205-1340.” I awkwardly pressed the end call button and tossed my phone back onto the counter.

“Harry Styles? That’s a name I haven’t heard in a long time.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

Gianna stared at me with sympathetic eyes. “Sweetie, we haven’t talked to Harry since high school.”

I think she was expecting me to gasp or something, but instead I snorted. Yeah, right. Harry and I not talking? There was a higher chance I would spontaneously combust. Maybe we weren’t as close as we used to be when I was sixteen, but even that was highly unlikely. Harry was the one person I told everything to. “Okay,” I said, just to placate her, but I was still chuckling a little bit in disbelief.

She gave me a look. “Okay, but...don’t be surprised if he doesn’t call back, okay?”

“He’ll call,” I promised, more certain about this fact than anything else in my life. The most serious fight Harry and I had ever gotten into was when I had accidentally killed his goldfish. He hadn’t spoken to me for three weeks, and the only reason he finally did was because I went to go apologize and burst into tears. Harry was awful when someone was crying.

“Which reminds me,” Gianna said after several moments, pulling out her phone, “I need to call Nick and say that we’re not going to make it to the party tonight.”

“Party?” I asked, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah. We were invited to the launch of Christian Siriano’s new collection. But Nick will completely understand if you aren’t feeling well.”

I was invited to a collection launch party? I felt the smile on the face widen. At least in the midst of waking up ten years older, I had a pretty decent life. “We don’t have to cancel. As long as you stick by my side, it should be okay.”

“I don’t want to overwhelm you.”

“I want to go,” I promised. “Maybe it’ll help me remember something.”

Gianna looked uncertain, but also was biting her lip like she was considering my idea. After a few moments of considering me, she groaned. “Fine. But Liam will want to come to make sure that you’re alright. I’ll call Nick and Rachael.”

“Rachael?”

“Your assistant.”

“Right.” I had an assistant. Sixteen-year-old Daniella was snorting at me right now. “I can call Rachael, if you want to call Nick. What time is the party?”

“Not until eight.” She looked at her watch and sighed. “I’ve got to head out. I’m meeting a potential new employee for lunch. You’ll be okay here by yourself, right?” She looked so worried that I sent her a small grin.

“I’m doing better. Seeing a familiar face helped. And I know Harry will call back and he’ll help.”

Her face fell. “Right. Harry will call.” She didn’t sound convinced. “Well, if you’re sure you’ll be okay, then I’m off. Call me if you need anything, okay? Or Liam.”

“I will, Gianna. I promise.” I couldn’t stop myself from reaching forward and giving her a giant hug. I honestly didn’t know what I would have done if she hadn’t been here to calm me down. “Thank you.”

“I’m always here for you, sweetie,” she whispered, squeezing me back before releasing. “I’ll see you tonight. I’ll have my driver pick you up at around seven forty-five so you don’t have to worry about getting an Uber or anything.”

Gianna left, shutting the door behind her quietly. I could do nothing but stand in the middle of my apartment, staring at the home I’d somehow managed to create for myself, despite my not remembering it. I tried searching through the pictures on my wall to see if I had any with my mother and father, but before I could I remembered Gianna’s words about calling Rachael and took my phone out.

She answered on the second ring. “Hello Miss Rodriguez. How can I help you?”

It was then I realized I had absolutely nothing to say to her. “What are you doing tonight?” was the only thing that blurted out of my mouth.

“Um...staying here to work on that collection concept you asked me to?”

“Oh. Why aren’t you going to the party?” I questioned. If Rachael worked there as my assistant, then wouldn’t she have gotten an invite? Why would she willingly choose to stay and work when there was a freaking Christian Siriano launch party?

“I wasn’t invited, Miss Rodriguez.”

“Well that’s stupid,” I claimed. “I am officially inviting you.”

“You’re...you’re inviting me to a launch party?” She sounded confused, like I’d never interacted with her before. Which was insane. Had Gianna been wrong when she said Rachael was my assistant? “You’ve never done that before.”

“Sure I have!” I did not, in fact, know if I ever had. Then, I had the best idea ever. “Oh! Can you do me a huge favor please?”

“Yes ma’am. What do you need?”

“Could you find out where Harry Styles lives?” Surely Harry wouldn’t mind if I dropped by. I was getting a little anxious as the minutes ticked by without a reply, as Harry usually had his phone glued to him. Since we were both apparently twenty-six now, it was entirely possible he was at work, but I would still feel comfortable knowing I could see him in person rather than texting over the phone.

“Of course. I’ll email you his address. Is there anything else you need, Miss Rodriguez?”

“Nope, that’s it, Rachael. Thank you! I’ll see you tonight!”

“Right…see you tonight, Miss Rodriguez.”

When I hung up the phone, I had no clue what to do. Being in a body I didn’t really know, in an apartment I wasn’t familiar with, was terrifying. So I decided to take the time to snoop around my own place, starting in the kitchen. I opened up cupboards and drawers, finding fancy chrome silverware and glass plates that were neatly stacked in the cupboard above my kitchen sink. The entire kitchen was decorated with black paint and dark wood, something I never thought my own kitchen would look like. It was sleek and modern and so far from my colorful blue-cabinet and white tile kitchen at my childhood home that it was almost shocking.

Opening up the fridge, I examined its contents. Inside was nothing but vegetables and almond milk. I was pretty sure I had never once had almond milk and there were purple vegetables in one of the drawers. Did purple vegetables even exist? I closed it, suddenly frightened of what Liam and I seemed to eat on a day-to-day basis. Moving out from my kitchen, I examined the living room with passing interest. The one thing I was really concerned about was my bedroom.

This room was nearly as dark as the kitchen, with canned lights dimmed when I flicked the light switch on. It was attached to a bathroom which had a heavenly looking tub. Deciding to start in the bathroom, I rummaged through some of the drawers, finding an expensive Tom Ford cologne that I assumed belonged to Liam. in my own drawers there was a variety of face creams and serums that I had only ever dreamed about purchasing when I was sixteen.

Before I could examine my bedroom too closely, my phone chirped. I had honestly forgotten I was holding it, so the sound made me jump before I realized it was probably Rachael with Harry’s information. I tried to hurriedly unlock my phone again, still struggling a little with the technology, but managed to get Rachael’s new email opened.

Harry Styles, 515 W 52nd Street. Avalon Clinton apartment complex.

Grinning, I managed to quickly strip my silk sleepwear off and change into the first outfit I found, not bothering to even zip up my boots all the way as I exited my building.

Harry’s apartment complex was an incredible building. My jaw dropped when I saw it, figuring that to live somewhere like this, he must have been doing pretty well at whatever he was doing.

I found the intercom well enough, pressing the button that had H. Styles written on it in cursive script. It crackled to life underneath my touch, and just like drinking a cool sip of water after being dehydrated for thirty days, hearing the deep baritone of Harry’s voice instantly soothed me. “Hello? Who is it?”

“It’s me!” I screamed, nearly sinking in the relief that this was the Harry that I was looking for. “Daniella!”

“Shit, the fucking thing’s broken again. I can’t hear you, but ring twice if you’re from Amazon. I’ve been waiting on that package for days.”

I didn’t know what he had bought on Amazon and it was most likely important, but I didn’t care. I hit the button twice and the door immediately opened up. Once I checked to make sure I was headed towards the right floor, I scurried inside and into the lobby.

There was a front desk, and the concierge smiled at me when I walked in, but I was on a mission. I hastily made my way to the elevators, pressing the fifth floor button and willing the doors to close faster than they were. Sure I resembled a drunk cheetah with the rush in which I was moving, I almost crashed into Harry’s door when the elevator finally stopped and let me off on his floor.

“Harry!” I demanded, pounding on the door in a series of succinct knocks that portrayed my urgency.

The door swung open and I immediately took a step back. There, standing on the other side of the door, was my best friend in the entire world. Long gone were the shoulder-length strands of curly brown hair that I had grown up with, instead cut short. He had some glasses perched on his nose and something that looked like paint on his hand. He was wearing comfortable looking jogger pants and a white shirt, no shoes or socks on his feet.

In my pleasure to see him, it took me a couple of moments to realize that he did not look equally as pleased to see me.

“Daniella,” he said stiffly, opening the door a little wider and leaning on the threshold. “I can honestly say I wasn’t expecting this.”

I launched myself at him.

He let out a “oof” when our bodies collided, but I was holding onto Harry and suddenly everything seemed okay in the world. My arms wrapped around his neck in a vice-like grip, holding him to me like he might disappear if I loosened my hold even a little. He robotically moved his arms around my shoulders to hug me back, but his stiff posture turned soothing when he realized that on top of squeezing him with all my might, I was also sobbing.

I prided myself on not being a weepy person, but this entire morning had warranted a good cry, in my personal opinion.

“C’mon inside,” he said softly, gently prying my hands off him. Once we were both inside his apartment, he shut the door and moved to his kitchen. I wondered if I should follow him. Just when I had mustered up enough nerve to take a step, however, he had returned with a tissue in his fingers. “Want to sit?”

I nodded and let him lead me to the colorful orange couch he had in the middle of his living room. Well...living room was a little bit of an overstatement. He lived in a studio apartment, so everything was an open floor plan, save for the small door I saw that led to a bathroom. His place had much more color than mine did, and I found myself jealous at the styling choices. This place was much more me.

“Feeling better?” Harry asked, sitting on the opposite end of the couch. This in itself was weird, considering sitting on a couch with Harry almost always ended up with us sitting as close as we physically could. This was because we were both blanket-hoggers and being close meant neither one of us was trying to jip the other out of their respective half of the blanket.

“I don’t know what’s going on, H,” I told him, my voice cracking as the emotions of this morning hit me all at once. “I...I think I’ve got amnesia or something. I don’t remember anything past my sixteenth birthday. And then I’ve got Gianna telling me that you and I don’t talk anymore?” I looked over at him and let out a crazed laugh. “How crazy is that?”

“We don’t talk anymore, Daniella,” he replied. “We stopped being friends shortly after your sixteenth birthday.”

Tears gathered in my eyes again. “No, I refuse to believe that. We’re Harry and Daniella. You’re my best friend in the entire world.”

He looked genuinely sorry to be telling me this, but shook his head. “No, Daniella. Not anymore.”

This time, I let the tears fall. My fingers curled in on themselves, balling into fists as I tried to stop myself from biting them or ripping my hair out. We sat in silence for several moments, my heart racing in anxiety because here was Harry, the person I knew most in the world and who knew me in return, and he was saying that we weren’t friends anymore. The bike rides, the late nights watching movies, the careful and soothing hugs he gave me...they were all gone. This Harry didn’t know me, not like I knew him. And who was to say I even knew him anymore?

“Why?” It was the only question I could seem to let escape.

Harry sighed, rubbing his hands over the thighs of his jeans. “I don’t know, Daniella. We just grew apart.”

“People like us don’t just grow apart, H.”

“We did.”

“There’s got to be a reason!” I exclaimed, and I could hear that my breathing was labored. My chest felt like it was constricting, like someone had taken hold of my lungs and was crushing them between their hands.

He sensed the anxious change in my breathing and his eyes widened. “Hey, hey, Daniella. Take deep breaths for me, okay?” His body shifted off the couch and suddenly he was on his knees in front of me, holding my arms in his hands. He was tall enough to nearly be at eye-level with me. “C’mon, Dani. Breathe. Can you tell me five things you see?”

I was sure I looked a mess, with tears streaming down my cheeks and on the verge of a mental breakdown. “What?”

“Tell me five things you see, Dani. Count them for me.”

I still couldn’t breathe properly, so his words sounded muffled like we were underwater. But I managed to get the point of his demand. My eyes shifted from his impossibly green ones to find something to latch onto. “You’ve got yellow and red throw pillows on your bed.”

“Good. Count four more for me.”

It was impossible to ignore the soft cadence of his voice. “You’ve got granite countertops. You’ve got playbills on your bookshelf.” It made me wonder if his dreams of designing sets had really worked out. “You’ve got clay on the counter. And there are sculpting tools next to it.”

“There she is,” he said softly, a hand hesitantly raising to brush my hair back from my face, where it was sticking because of the tears. “Now count five things you can feel.”

“The couch. My nail polish. Your shirt.” I brushed my finger against the shoulder of it. “My hair. The paint on your hands.”

He looked down at them, as if remembering. “I scrubbed, but it wouldn’t come off.”

“Typical,” I choked out, giving him a tight smile. My breathing was beginning to even out and return to normal, but I still felt like someone had placed the weight of the world on my shoulders. “What happened, H? Tell me.” I had to know. I had to know why we suddenly weren’t friends, like we had been for our entire lives.

I heard a sigh escape him, but luckily his fingers didn’t retreat. I think if he pulled away, I might have started up on the attack again. “I don’t know, Daniella. We just grew apart. I guess it was you hanging out with Gianna in high school. You just stopped bothering with me. Or maybe it was the funeral—”

“What funeral?” I interrupted.

“C’mon Dani,” he whispered brokenly, “you know what funeral. Don’t make me say it.”

“I don’t remember anything, Harry. I swear to you. I woke up this morning and my...my boyfriend of three and a half years that I don’t remember at all was trying to get me to calm down because I didn’t know who I was. I look like me and feel like me, but at the same time...I don’t? For Christ’s sake, Harry, I’ve gone and gotten myself a boob job!”

He cleared his throat, his cheeks turning pink. “Obviously I hadn’t noticed, Dani. I’m not looking there.”

“It’s hard to miss them!” I was glad this seemed to get a laugh out of him, but he turned serious once again.

“You really don’t remember anything?”

“Not a thing past the night of my sixteenth birthday. The last thing I remember is you giving me my cupcake and then blowing out the candle and you trying to smash it in my face and then...nothing.”

His thumbs on my shoulders began to rub across the fabric of my jacket. It was cold in his apartment, but it was a comfortable kind of cool. To be honest, I hadn’t felt as comfortable this morning as I was sitting here now, with my best friend looking at me like I was something fragile that was about to shatter. At this moment, I didn’t care if he thought I was weak. If it meant that he would explain what the hell was going on and tell me that we could be friends again, I would cry a thousand more tears.

“Dani,” he whispered in a tiny voice, “I’m so sorry.”

“What funeral?” I asked again.

He flinched, like he was avoiding the question. Then, his arms moved to caress my face, anticipating my reaction to his next words. He cradled my cheeks like I was going to fall apart. “Your dad’s.”

I couldn’t speak. I just stared at him, processing his words. That couldn’t be right. I had just spoken to my father less than twelve hours ago, when he had helped me set up a board game table in our basement as asked if we had a couple minutes for a quick round of Operation. My father was always a sore winner. He had purposely jostled the table so I would hit the metal and lose my turn.

“No, you’re lying,” I mumbled, but I knew deep down that Harry would never lie to me. He was honest to a fault.

“You...you weren’t at the funeral. You and he were in an argument of some kind and you didn’t show up.”

I shook my head, his hands moving with me as he cupped my cheeks. He anticipated the tears, catching them with his thumb the second they started to fall. “No, H,” I groaned out, the feeling of panic twelve times worse with the new news. “No, no, no.” I was a blubbering mess. He didn’t move from his spot, slotted between my thighs and holding my face tightly in his hands. “No, there’s got to be some mistake. I would have gone. I would have.”

“Maybe you did,” he said in a soothing voice, brushing my tears away. “I left pretty early. Maybe you just showed up late.” But we both knew his words were empty. He didn’t truly mean them. “Let’s get you a glass of water, yeah?”

“No!” I clutched onto his fingers, gripping them tight enough to leave bruises. He didn’t pull away or wince in pain.

“Alright,” he said soothingly, “I won’t go anywhere.”

He allowed me to sit on his couch, crying my eyes out until there were no more tears that could possibly come. Last night, I went to bed with everyone I ever loved in the world content and safe. Now, I had lost my friendship with Harry, I didn’t remember this insanely nice boyfriend I apparently had, and my father was dead. I hadn’t gone to his funeral because of some stupid argument. What argument could have been enough to keep me from attending his funeral?

“What have I done to ruin everything?” I questioned in a teary voice, shaking my head at myself. What the fuck had I done in my life to deserve this? There had to be a reason.

“Don’t think like that, Dani. It wasn’t your fault.”

But obviously it was. Obviously there was something I had done to piss off the universe so much that they took the most important people away from my life. I stood up quickly, suddenly feeling like Harry’s apartment was suffocating me. He let me go without question, but his eyes were trained on me like he was afraid I was going to have another panic attack. “I have to go,” I stuttered out, my body moving towards the door before the sentence fully left my mouth.

“I think you should stay here until you feel better,” Harry said, kind enough to worry about me even though apparently we weren’t friends anymore.

“I’m sorry for showing up unexpectedly.” They were the only sentiments I managed to get out before I was out of his apartment, rushing towards the elevator. I didn’t know why I was running away from Harry. All I knew was that it was imperative that I get out of his apartment and away from the life I’d apparently fucked up.

The elevator doors were closing when I heard him call my name.

I let the tears fall once again.

Since I was a little girl, I had dreamed of getting invited to a party as fancy as a Christian Siriano launch party. Now, here I was, waiting for Gianna to pick me up for said party, and I felt like shit.

I had reluctantly gotten ready for the party, pulling out a fancy dress and one of my many pairs of heels that I already wanted to rip off my feet. I was already missing the Vans my mother had gotten me for my birthday that I had been wearing when whatever this weird dream had happened to me. Due to my low mood, I hadn’t felt like doing much to my hair, so it was just up in a high ponytail that would have to do. This weird twenty-six-year-old skin of mine didn’t need foundation, but I made sure to coat my eyelashes in waterproof mascara in case I started sobbing again, which I had in spurts since leaving Harry’s apartment.

My father was dead. The only reason I was even going to this stupid party and not on the soonest train ride back to my mother was because maybe something at this party would shake my memory loose and I would remember something. In reality, I wanted to curl up in a corner and cry some more. Still, when Gianna’s limo pulled up in front of my building, I plastered a smile on my face and opened the door with mock enthusiasm.

“You look amazing, sweetie!” Gianna said excitedly when I opened the door. She was wearing a bright yellow dress that set off the dark color of her skin perfectly, along with gold accessories. “Love that color on you!”

The first dress I had picked was a bright fire-engine red high-necked dress with tulle puffed sleeves. The shoes were a satin material in the same color as the dress. If I had been in a better headspace, I would have screamed because the label on the dress said Versace, but right now it didn’t matter who the hell had made the dress. I plastered on a smile. “Thanks. You look fantastic.”

“Get your ass in the car! Nick is so happy you decided to come tonight. Christian is looking forward to it, too!” She slid over in the seat as I situated myself inside the car. The second the door shut behind me, her driver was taking off to the destination of the launch party. “Liam is coming tonight, too. He texted me and said he wanted to surprise you, but I figured that with everything going on, a surprise is the last thing you needed.”

This was smart of her. If Liam showed up and started being as incredibly kind and sweet as he had been this morning, I might have thrown up. Did he know about my father? Had I talked to him about the mysterious argument that had estranged us? I felt the tears welling in my eyes again at the thought of it, so I choked them back and tried to focus on Gianna, who was talking a mile a minute about who would be at the launch.

“Rachael is coming too. She said that you invited her this morning,” Gianna said, looking at me to confirm. When I nodded, I was surprised to see a frown grace her features. “Sweetie, that’s fine and all, I’ve got no problem with Rachael. But she hasn’t exactly been to one of these before. And she’s a bit meek. They might eat her alive.”

I frowned. “Rachael is nice. I wanted to invite her.” I had no clue if Rachael was actually nice, but I knew she shouldn’t be excluded from the party even if she was meek and hadn’t been to one before. “Besides, she did a big favor for me this morning. She found Harry’s address.”

Gianna’s eyes widened. “No shit. Did you go and see him?”

“Yeah. You were right. We aren’t friends anymore.” The words hurt even saying them out loud. “When he answered the door and saw me...he looked annoyed, like I was something from his past he couldn’t shake off.” I guess that’s what I was, now. And even though he had been so sweet, trying to comfort me and holding me tightly, it didn’t change the fact that he hadn’t wanted to see me when I knocked at his door.

“Oh, sweetie. Things will work out, I’m sure of it.”

I wondered if Gianna calling me “sweetie” was a normal thing. I hated it.

We pulled up to the party, smiling fakely at photographers that were loitering outside as we walked into the building, clearing the security easily. The inside was decorated in bright avant garde styles, bleeding color into every corner of the venue. It was a beautiful setup that I would have been dying to explore if I hadn’t been so muddled emotionally. I was so wrapped up in the decorating that I jumped when arms wrapped around my waist from behind, pulling me close to a hard body.

“I’m glad you’re feeling better, babe,” I heard Liam say in my ear. “You look absolutely beautiful.” I turned in his arms, immediately throwing them around his neck. I didn’t know anything about this man, but he had offered me kindness and hadn’t given up on me this morning, despite how hard I knew it must have been. He looked extremely pleased at my reception towards him, pressing a delicate kiss on the top of my head. “You need a drink?”

“Sure.”

As soon as he had appeared, he was gone, Gianna headed over to the bar with him. And then I was alone, standing in the middle of the launch party twiddling my thumbs and feeling like I belonged anywhere but there at that moment. I saw someone moving towards me, a timid looking blonde with giant glasses taking up half her face. Still, she looked wonderful in her pale blue dress.

“Hi, Miss Rodriguez. Thanks for inviting me,” she said softly when she made her way over towards me. Ah, so this was Rachael. She looked every bit as nice as her voice sounded, and I sent her a genuine smile.

“It’s nothing at all, Rachael. You look great.”

Her eyes lit up, and I wondered how terrible I had to usually be to have her look so terrified of me. “Oh, thank you Miss Rodriguez!”

“You can call me Daniella, Rachael. We’re co-workers, aren’t we?”

“Oh.” She looked surprised. “You told me to never call you Daniella.”

As if my night couldn’t get any worse. “Right. I wasn’t feeling myself that day. I apologize. Feel free to call me Daniella.” Suddenly uncomfortable with the revered way she was looking at me, like I was some kind of fashion god giving her access into the world I lived in, I gestured towards the bar. “Want a drink?”

“Sure!” she said quickly, smiling brightly. “Mind if I go with you? I don’t really know anyone here.”

Me neither, I wanted to say, but refrained. “Of course. C’mon.” Following in the direction Liam and Gianna had disappeared to, we made it to the bar with ease. “What do you want?”

“I’ll take a strawberry martini.”

I had no idea what cocktail I wanted. My alcohol experience consisted of sneaking shitty beer into my basement and champagne at my cousin’s wedding. “Make that two,” I told the bartender, smiling softly as he got to work. “Hey, Rachael, can I ask you something?”

“Of course, Miss Ro—Daniella,” she corrected herself. The bartender handed our drinks over and she immediately took a sip. I didn’t bother with mine yet, on a mission.

“Do you know why I wasn’t talking to my father when he died?”

She flinched. “Ah...no. I just remember reminding you about the funeral and...um...you weren’t too happy.”

How selfish was I in this new life that the idea of my father’s funeral made me angry? “Right. If you’ll excuse me, I’m just...going to go powder my nose.”

I left Rachael nodding after me as I walked through the venue. I saw my boss (I still couldn’t believe I worked for Nicholas Jennings) and tried my best to stay out of his sight, lest he greet me and ask me questions I didn’t know the answer to. Walking into different hallways and still not able to find the bathroom, I decided to just lean up against a pillar on the second floor of the building, looking down at the launch with a sense of bittersweetness.

I had seemingly gotten everything I wanted. At what cost?

The second I heard whispers, I ducked behind the pillar, not willing to join in conversation with people. However, I recognized the voices almost immediately as Liam and Gianna.

“I still don’t know what happened to her, Gianna. It worries me.”

“I know. It worries me too. But...we’re still going to tell her, right?”

I peeked out from the pillar and saw them standing at the entrance of the hallway, Liam’s hands wrapped around Gianna’s wrists. The lights were reflecting brilliantly off her dress.

“You want to tell her that we’ve been having an affair for eleven months when just this morning she didn’t recognize either of us?” Liam asked incredulously.

“I know the timing is shit. I know it, Liam. But I can’t hold my feelings in any longer. Besides, you know she was seeing Rachael’s boyfriend for that little three-month period a couple years back.”

“And we discussed that. I forgave her. Sleeping with your assistant’s boyfriend twice isn’t really the same as sleeping with your best friend’s boyfriend of almost four years.”

I couldn’t take it anymore. I pushed off the pillar, walking in the opposite direction on my tiptoes so I didn’t draw attention to myself. The hallway swung back around in a circle to the staircase, so I quickly rushed down them when I was in the clear and made my way out of the building, letting the New York air cool my skin.

I hadn’t thought going to this party would make me feel worse, but I had been proven wrong.

Without thinking, I pulled out my phone and called Harry.

He picked up on the second ring. “Dani? Thank god. I was worried when you left earlier. That wasn’t exactly the best news to hear.”

“Do you want to get dinner with me?” I asked bluntly, ignoring his concerns. “I just...I need to get away from reality for a while.”

The other line was silent, and I was terrified he was going to reject me. He would remind me that we weren’t friends, that he hated me and thought I was selfish, and then tell me that he never wanted to see me again. The longer I heard nothing but his breathing, the more certain I was that these events were about to unfold. So I was surprised when I heard him say, “Sure. Meet me at Blue Elephant. It’s the Thai place a couple of blocks down from my apartment.”

For the first time that night, I felt a genuine smile spread across my features.

I tried not to laugh when the noodle from Harry’s pad thai dangled from his mouth, but the snort escaped me before I could stop it.

He had gotten to the restaurant much quicker than I had. He wasn’t lying when he had told me it was just down a couple blocks. He had raised a brow at my fancy attire, since he was just in jeans and a black shirt splattered with tiny little paint flecks. His fingernails had clay under them, which would have been gross if I hadn’t known it was because Harry spent nearly all his free time sculpting. The comfort of this sight nearly had me in tears again, but I shrugged it off in favor of ordering what Harry suggested from the menu. I had ended up with what the restaurant called “glass noodles,” which was their low-carb options that had lots of vegetables mixed in. Harry had gone for the classic pad thai, which if the way he was slurping was any indication, he enjoyed.

“How are you doing?” Harry asked hesitantly, like he was unsure how to ask the question.

I shrugged. “I woke up this morning not knowing anything about my life, not being friends with you, finding out my father is dead, and seeing Liam and Gianna discuss how they were going to tell me that they’re having an affair.”

“Shit. That’s terrible, Dani.”

The wry laugh left my lips before I could stop it. “The thing that kills me is that I deserve it. I let a stupid, petty argument that I can’t even remember keep me from the funeral. Apparently I slept with someone in a relationship. It was my assistant’s boyfriend, by the way. And I don’t know what I did to ruin our friendship, but obviously it was my fault.” I twirled some of my pasta around my fork. “I work for Nicholas Jennings as a designer. I just came from a Christian Siriano launch party. I managed to get everything I’ve ever wanted, but it feels terrible.”

“You didn’t ruin our friendship single handedly,” Harry assured. “It was the both of us.”

“I can’t even argue with you, because I don’t remember.”

He sighed, pushing his plate away from him. “It was your party. Everyone had left to go get beer with Gianna’s brother.” I sat up eagerly in my chair, ready to hear his version of events so I could decipher when it all went wrong. “I had just given you the mini-model for my theatre class and then I let you blow out the cupcake and smashed it in your face.”

“And?” I asked impatiently. “And then what? That’s the last thing I remember.”

His hand reached up to rub the back of his neck. “And then I kissed you.”

My mouth had been open, ready to comment on whatever he had said, but no sound came out. I stared at my best friend, who suddenly looked so embarrassed and small, and my heart ached in my chest. “You kissed me?” I whispered, food completely forgotten in front of me.

“I kissed you,” he repeated. “You had strawberry frosting on your face and you just...looked so beautiful. I’ve always thought you were. And there was a moment when you were trying to wipe it off that I thought I might have seen something in your eyes...but I was wrong. I kissed you and you pulled away. You looked so regretful, like you were running through a thousand ways to let me down easy in your head because you were always too kind to me. I tried to tell you to forget it, that it didn’t mean anything, but you were determined to talk about it.”

“Did we?” I asked.

“I wouldn’t let you. I knew the second I pulled away I had made a mistake. But you kept...pushing. And I got angry, said some things I didn’t mean. You got angry back, and said some other things. Then you shoved the mini-model in my hands and told me to leave. The glue was shit, so it crumbled a little. I’m sure it was an accident, but...after the rejection, it felt like it was on purpose.”

“Harry, I would have never—”

“I know,” he interrupted, giving me a hesitant smile. “I know, Dani. It was just me being pathetically in love with you.”

The words made me wish the ground would swallow me whole. “In love with me?” My voice was so quiet, I was surprised he heard it.

“Yeah, Dani. In love with you.”

The Harry from my memories suddenly shifted, as if with his confession I was seeing him in a new life. My quinceañera, when I had asked him to be my escort and he had to help me zip the back of my dress up. The first day of high school, when he had ridden his bike to my house and looked at me like he was seeing someone new. That moment he had just told me about, looking at him with strawberry frosting on his chin because I had managed to swipe some there.

Was there some other emotion hiding in those eyes every time he looked at me?

“I’m sorry,” I said, unable to say anything else.

“You don’t have to be sorry for not loving me, Dani. It wasn’t your responsibility.”

“But I should have fought harder for your forgiveness.” The tears did come then. I felt like that was all I had done today, just sob and sob. “I should have fought for us. I don’t want to be the person that doesn’t fight.”

I stood from my chair, slapping down a twenty dollar bill to cover the price of my meal. He watched me with clouded eyes, part-betrayed that I was leaving him once again and part-understanding that being in that restaurant was going to suffocate me with the weight of what had happened today. As I made my way towards the exit, he let me go.

I wondered if he would have before the night of my sixteenth birthday.

My lip wobbled as I hailed a cab, pulling out my phone to see all of the missed text messages from both Gianna and Liam. There was even one from Rachael, who had seen me leave in a hurry and asked if I was alright. My heart clenched in my chest when I saw her name across the screen. I wondered if she had any clue that I had apparently slept with her boyfriend. Assuming that she would have quit if she had known, I was going to guess she didn’t know. The texts from Liam were all variations of him asking me where I was.

I couldn’t even be angry with him for cheating on me with Gianna. Who knew what kind of person I was now? What if I had pushed him away, like I had with Harry, like I had with my father? If he found comfort and love in Gianna, who was I to tell him he was wrong?

My feet were carrying me somewhere I didn’t know, walking in the direction of my apartment that wasn’t home. When the first drop of rain splattered on my nose, I didn’t even feel it.

I just felt numb.

The house before me was very non-threatening. It was a small thing, brick on the outside and a bright red door. When I was younger, the kids at school used to tease me and call it the “Three Little Pig” house, the one left standing at the end of the story that the wolf couldn’t blow down. I hated it when I was little, but I found it comforting now. Even with all that had changed in my life, this seemed to still be the same.

Knocking on the door shouldn’t have been terrifying, but it was suddenly the most scary thing I’d ever done. Before my fist could meet it for a third time, the red door swung open to reveal my mother, looking at me with a softness in her eyes that I was sure I didn’t deserve.

“Harry called me earlier. Said you might be coming here.” Her words were matter-of-fact, like there was no arguing. And there wasn’t. I wasn’t entirely sure how Harry had guessed that I was going to visit my mother, but I supposed he still knew me like the back of my hand. “Said you’ve got amnesia?”

I couldn’t stop the laugh that came from my throat. Amnesia was a weird way of putting it, but it was the only explanation I could give. I was sure “I’m really sixteen and just woke up in twenty-six-year-old Dani’s body” wouldn’t work with my mother. And then I was flinging myself into her arms and sobbing, like I constantly did now. “He said I didn’t come to Dad’s funeral,” I cried out.

“You didn’t,” she replied simply, but she held me in her arms and squeezed my shoulders like she had when I was younger. I hadn’t felt more like myself than in that moment, except maybe talking with Harry.

“But why? That doesn’t make sense.” I clutched her to me, wanting nothing more than to melt into her skin and disappear forever.

She sighed, rubbing my shoulders. “Come inside. We’ll talk.”

Minutes later I was sitting at the familiar circular dark wooden table from my childhood. My mother had poured us iced tea, a drink I had forgotten I loved until I took a cautious sip of it. We sat in silence for a few moments, just drinking as she stared at the wall across from me. Just as I was about to open my mouth and ask again what had happened, she began to speak.

“You really don’t remember anything?”

“No,” I promised. “The last thing I remember is Harry shoving a cupcake into my face at my sixteenth birthday party after I made a wish.”

She nodded thoughtfully. “What’d you wish for?”

I smiled grimly. “For you to treat me like an adult.” Awkwardly picking at a loose thread on my sweater, I looked away from my mother. I didn’t want to see the disappointment or hurt on her face when my words registered. “I...I didn’t mean it.”

“Yeah, you did. And you were right. Maybe if I had treated you like an adult, you would have...you would have come to the funeral.” She took a long sip of the tea, steadying herself. “You’ve got to know that we always planned on telling you. But we just never did. And that was on us. And you’d always struggled so much with your identity. Remember when you used to come home from school and cry just because you felt like you didn’t know yourself?”

I remembered those days well. The last one I could remember had been two days before my birthday. Harry seemed to fit in so well with everyone he met, and I just didn’t have that skill. I had come home crying to my mom, asking why Harry could manage to fit in everywhere but I couldn’t.

“Two Christmases ago you were looking in the attic to help find some tree topper I had bought. You came down from the attic with that piece of paper in your hand and my heart stopped. I knew right then and there that you’d never forgive us.”

“Mom, it can’t be that bad.”

“Believe me, it is.” There were tears in her eyes now as she set her glass down. Her hands shook. “You...found adoption papers and letters from your birth mother. She had written to you every year on your birthday. Your father and I never showed them to you. And obviously...we never told you about the adoption.”

If there was one thing I did not expect for my mother to say, it was that.

“What?” I managed to stutter out, blinking at her in disbelief.

Her tears fell now, streaking the mascara on her bottom lashes and leaving horrible black lines down her face. “We always meant to tell you, you...you have to believe that. And you got so, so angry with us. You said you never wanted to talk to us again. You marched out and went back to New York to stay with Liam. And then your father got sick and I...I just thought we would have so much more time to make things right with you before he died. I called you to tell you about the funeral and you just didn’t care. And the shitty part was that I couldn’t blame you.”

My tears had stopped, simply because I was trying hard to process what she had just told me. My mother, the one who braided my hair when I was younger and kissed my knee when I skinned it, wasn’t my actual mother. And my father, who read me bedtime stories with funny voices and made me pancakes when I was feeling sad, he wasn’t my actual father. I had never felt less like I knew myself.

I laughed.

It was a short, stark sound in the silence between us. My mother had been staring at the ground and she looked up at me in surprise when she heard it. I couldn’t help it. I laughed again. I laughed until there were angry and frustrated tears falling out of my eyes.

“Do you know what kind of person I am?” I didn’t give her the chance to answer before I started speaking again. “I’ve spoken more to Harry in the past two days than I have in the last ten years. I let him feel like I hated him. I slept with my assistant’s boyfriend and apparently haven’t told her about it. But I did tell my boyfriend, who is currently having sex with my best friend because of something I did, I guess. And now I find out I didn’t go to my father’s funeral because I was being an absolute bitch?”

“You had every right to be upset—”

“No! I didn’t have the right to not go to the funeral!” My lower lip quivered. The reality of the words set in with me then. I had missed my father’s funeral because of something as stupid as me being adopted. That didn’t change the fact that he had gone to all the little father-daughter dances my school held when I was young. That he had taught me how to swim and clapped when I could jump into the pool with no problems. That he had held me when the boy I liked called me ugly. “I didn’t go to the funeral,” I whispered brokenly.

My mother’s arms were around me before I had time to blink. She flung herself across the table and wrapped me in her embrace. I felt her tears on my shoulder, the tears the both of us had apparently needed to cry since two Christmases ago. When the pain got too uncomfortable, I moved out of my chair so I could be closer to her, on my knees on the kitchen floor. She slid out of her own seat, grabbing onto my shoulders and kissing my head.

“I’m sorry,” she kept saying, over and over again. “I’m so sorry.”

“I missed the funeral,” I repeated, my fingers digging painfully into her shoulder blades. If she was in pain, she didn’t show it. She just held me harder as we both kneeled on the kitchen floor.

New York was having a good weather day.

I was sitting outside a little cafe, munching on an ice cream cone. It had been only hours since I’d left my mother’s house. We had talked, cried, drank wine that she had stashed in a cupboard, and cried some more. Even before the freak accident in which I had aged ten years overnight, it was the most I’d really talked to her in a long while. There was a dull ache in my heart because I wanted my father to be there, but my mother had kissed my forehead in the way he used to when I was headed out the door.

“I love you, Dani,” she had said, with so much conviction that it had nearly brought me to my knees.

“I love you too, Mom,” I had replied. She smiled that big grin of hers, the one I used to tell her could light up the world.

Now I was waiting for Liam and Gianna to arrive. I had called them both the second I got into a taxi from my mom’s house and was waiting to meet them. The cafe was the first one I had found (though it wasn’t as if they were lacking in New York), so I didn’t know if it was any good or not. If the ice cream was any indicator, it was fantastic.

“Thank god you’re okay,” Liam said from somewhere behind me, and then I was forced out of my sesat and engulfed in a huge bear hug. Liam’s hugs were nice, I decided. Maybe if I had met him when this weird thing hadn’t happened, I would have loved him. “Why didn’t you return any of my calls?”

“I was visiting my mom. Sorry,” I mumbled into his shoulder.

He pulled away immediately. “Your mom? Is everything okay? You haven’t spoken in—”

“Two years,” I interrupted, nodding my head. “Everything’s fine, just needed to talk some stuff out with her.”

“Well, I’m glad you’re okay.” He pulled me back into another hug, rubbing his hand on my back. “Do you want to sit? Have you ordered anything?”

“Not yet. I was waiting for you and Gianna to get here.”

“You don’t have to wait much longer.” Gianna appeared, seemingly out of nowhere, and gave me a small hug. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, sweetie. Did you ever figure out what the hell was going on yesterday? Memory all back?”

“Not at all.” And that was still the frustrating part. I gestured to the little bistro table and watched the two of them as they moved towards their seats. I had never really had to examine how two people moved together before, but they moved like they were magnets. Liam hesitantly reached out his hand for me to hold and I saw the quick glimpse of something akin to heartbreak on Gianna’s face.

At least I knew the two really loved each other.

“So, what did you and your mom talk about?” Liam asked, his thumb making circles on the back of my hand.

“Life. How things didn’t really work out the way I wanted them to.”

Gianna’s brow raised. “What do you mean, sweetie? You work for Nicholas Jennings. That’s like your dream job.”

“Yeah.” And look where that dream had gotten me. “But I mean in my personal life, not really my professional life.”

It was quiet for a few seconds. Liam awkwardly smiled. “We don’t really know what you mean, babe.”

“I know.” I composed my thoughts for a moment before hesitantly reaching out my other hand to stretch it across the table. Gianna was quick to grab it, but I could tell she still looked a little confused. “I’m not a good person. I see that. I don’t know how you two put up with me. But I like to think I deserve better than my boyfriend and best friend lying to me.” The color drained out of Liam’s face and Gianna was gaping like a fish, opening and closing her mouth as if she’d find something to say. “And you deserve better than the way I’ve obviously treated you.”

“Dani,” Liam said brokenly, but I shook my head.

“It’s okay. We’ve all got things we need to work on, I guess.”

And that was the truth. If there was anything I’d learned from the last two days, it was that I had to work to not be the bitch I had so obviously become in the ten years I’d missed. I pat Liam’s hand comfortingly before standing from the little table, allowing Gianna and Liam to digest what I’d just sprung on them as I walked away.

I was in a city I genuinely loved. The sky was pretty and blue and I felt a little bit of the ice cream cone in my hand dripping on my fingers. Things were okay with my mom and I. I would never get back the memories I’d lost with my father, but I’d use him as an example on how to be better. I wished for nothing more than to go back in time to my sixteen year-old self to tell her what she was missing when she wished on that stupid candle.

But maybe it wasn’t all bad, I decided, when I stopped at a hot dog stand to ask for some napkins and saw Harry ordering on the other side.

“Dani,” he said, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise. “Hey. What are you doing?”

“Walking,” I replied, gesturing to his hot dog. “Looks good.”

“I’d ask you if you wanted a bite, but I know you don’t like mustard.”

The fact that he’d remembered something so insignificant made me smile. “Right.”

He finished up his hot dog and took one of the napkins I offered. “What’re you doing today?”

“Nothing much. Why?”

“Mind if I join you on your walk?”

I pretended to think about it for a moment, but it truly was just pretending. My mind was made up the second the question had left his mouth. “Only if you tell me what you’re doing for work. Don’t think I missed all the clay and stuff in your apartment.”

He flushed, the apples of his cheeks turning a cute pink color. I wanted to poke them, like I used to when we were kids, but didn’t know if it would be welcome or not. “You don’t want to hear about my job,” he said, like he had already decided it was going to be a boring topic.

“Harry, I always want to hear about what you’re doing.”

It was a statement he must not have heard from me in ten years, because he gave me a soft and hesitant smile, the kind of smile I imagined he had given me as kids through the lens of someone in love with me. It made my stomach warm to see it.

“Really?” At my enthusiastic nod, his smile widened a little bit and he rubbed the back of his neck. “Okay. Well, shortly after high school I was just working for the theater department at the community college. It didn’t pay much, but it was a good experience for the resume. I worked there for about three years and then got into sculpting.”

“Which explains the clay,” I joked, reaching for his hand. I lifted it between us and gestured to the clay caked underneath his nails. He laughed, nodding his head at my observation.

His laughter came up short when he realized that we were skin-to-skin, my fingers dancing across his knuckles to get a view of the clay. It turned his skin a light gray color, somewhat matching the color of the shirt he wore. “Yeah,” he said, and his voice sounded a little breathless. “Yeah, that explains the clay.”

I was hesitant to release his fingers, but I did. He didn’t move his hand away, however, just stared at me with those impossibly green eyes of his. I had always been jealous of them when we were younger. “Harry?”

“Yes?”

“If I were to hold your hand, would you hate me?”

His smile was quick and soft, and I realized there was a tiny little speck of mustard on his top lip. “If you had asked me at sixteen, I would have jumped at the opportunity. And maybe faint.”

I laughed. “I’m not asking sixteen year-old Harry, though. I’m asking twenty-six year-old Harry.”

“Right. Semantics. I suppose he’s fine with it too, if it means you’ll go out to dinner with him.”

Our fingers threaded together, still awkwardly hanging in front of us. His hand was warm and callused, and I could feel the texture of the clay. “I would love to go to dinner tonight. You can regale me with stories about how you fell in love with me when we were kids.”

He laughed, and our hands dropped to fit more comfortably between us. “It’s not very hard to fall in love with you, Dani.”

I was used to getting ready for a friend hang-out with Harry. For those, I knew what I would wear. It would be some variation of comfy jeans or leggings, a graphic tee of one of my favorite bands, and some Vans. I was familiar with that ensemble.

It was a little different getting ready for a date with Harry.

He had followed me back to my apartment, where I saw some of Liam’s stuff was already gone. It seems he wasted no time in seeking shelter with Gianna. I was honestly happy for him, if he was happier with Gianna. Harry sat on my couch and laughed while I tried on different outfits, seeing which one would fit his surprise restaurant better since he wouldn’t tell me where we were going. In each dress, he twirled his finger to signal he wanted me to turn in the dress before he disagreed and sent me back.

“Could you at least give me a hint on what to wear?”

“Do you have jeans at all?”

I poked my head out of the door to my bedroom, giving him a look. “I would never wear jeans on a date.”

“It’s a date with me. You know I don’t care what you look like.”

That made the butterflies in my stomach set off. Apparently, however, twenty-six year-old Daniella didn’t own a pair of jeans, so I settled on a casual sundress and slipped it on. It was a pretty orange color that looked good with my skin, and had little yellow flowers printed at the bottom. When I walked out into the living room, Harry grinned.

“Perfect,” he said, standing from my couch. “You look beautiful.”

If I were still sixteen and Harry was just a friend, the words wouldn’t have such an effect on me. But the truth of the matter was, my skin was warming, butterflies were flying, and my eyes were looking at Harry in a new light. “Thank you.”

“I have always wanted to say that to you and not have you punch me in the shoulder.”

“I wouldn’t have punched you in the shoulder!”

“Yeah...but you wouldn’t have looked at me like that, either.”

I wondered what expression was on my face to make his eyes go slightly dark and hazy. Letting out a short, breathless laugh, I grabbed his hand and led him out of my apartment. “Lead the way, since I have no idea where we’re going.”

The walk to the restaurant was spent talking about old memories from the past, Harry’s fingers intertwined with mine. There were several points where we had to stop walking so the two of us could laugh, bending over at the waist as we remembered when Gemma had put makeup on Harry or I had fallen into a puddle of mud at one of our family get-togethers. When we got to our destination, I stared at the theatre in front of us with a look of awe on my face.

“C’mon, I told the guys that I needed this place to myself tonight. I’ll give you a grand tour.”

He took the keys out of his pocket and opened the door. The lights were automatic, turning on when they sensed movement. We were in the lobby of the theatre, with programs from all the productions hung on every inch of the walls. Harry laughed when I took in the colors of all of them as he opened the door to the main stage.

“You’re a giant softie,” I breathed out when I saw that there was a picnic set up on the stage. “I’m telling Gemma.”

“She’ll never let me live it down.”

“That’s the point, Harry.” But I squeezed his fingers even tighter in mine. “It’s perfect.”

The theatre itself was beautiful. Unlike the harsh white lights of the lobby, the stage was lit with warm stage lighting that gave the place a pretty yellow glow. I took the stairs up to the main stage and sat down on a pillow Harry had placed there beforehand, unwilling to let our grip break when he moved to sit down on his own pillow. It was only when he started moving towards the picnic basket that I relinquished my hold on his hand.

“Okay, I’ve got some pasta, a little cucumber salad, and wine. Because we all need wine.” He made a plate for me and then himself before reaching back into the picnic basket. “And for dessert…”

I wanted to laugh at the little cupcake, nearly identical to the one he had given me on my sixteenth birthday. I could tell it was what he was expecting. But I just stared at it, my throat going dry. Eventually, the smile slipped off his face and he set the cupcake on the stage. “I didn’t mean to make you sad.”

“I know you didn’t,” I whispered, shaking my head. “I just...you deserve so much better, Harry.”

“Maybe. But who are we to decide that?”

“You deserve someone who hasn’t treated you like shit. Which is what I treated you like. I shouldn’t have let our friendship go just because I was scared that loving you would ruin things for us.”

“Dani,” he said softly, reaching out to take my hand in his. “It’s all in the past.”

“But it’s not. Not for me. For me, it was two days ago. And I know that it sounds crazy and you don’t believe me, but I...I’ve obviously made some choices that have hurt a lot of people and I don’t remember making any of them. I hurt you.”

“Yeah, you did. Look at where we are now, though. Look at where you are.”

“I just don’t want you to wake up and regret this tomorrow because you’re holding onto a sixteen year-old version of me.”

And that was the point of all of this. I couldn’t just forget that this weird time blip had happened, and I couldn’t forget that apparently I had made shitty choices for the past ten years of my life. I wished more than anything that I could go back to the night of my sixteenth birthday and just tell Harry that while I didn’t love him at that exact moment, I would be willing to give us a shot because really, it was Harry. I knew that I could fall in love with him if I just had the time. Maybe I already had been, secretly, and was just scared.

“We’re just...we’re not sixteen anymore, Harry.”

He nodded, his mouth tight-lipped and his eyes sad. I think it was because he knew what I was saying was true. We couldn’t change the past. “I know,” he whispered. “I just...having you back in my life was like this out of reach dream.”

“I don’t want to go the next ten years not talking to you, Harry. But I think you’ll be so much happier with someone else. Someone who doesn’t run away when you tell them you love them.”

The wry smile on his face made my heart break. He gently slid towards the end of the stage and jumped off, his feet hitting the ground with a thudding sound that echoed in my ears. He made it to the back of the theatre before he turned around, tears in his eyes and a small smile on his face. “Maybe in a parallel universe, then. I’ll see you around, Dani.”

The tears were already on my cheeks when the door shut behind him.

I didn’t feel like eating anything after Harry’s departure, but I picked up the cupcake gently, willing it to bring me back to the night of my sixteenth birthday, before I had royally screwed myself over. Setting it down with a sigh, I started to pick up the food items so Harry wouldn’t get in trouble for leaving food on the stage. It was only then that I saw the candle and lighter in the basket.

I cried as I stuck the candle into the cupcake and lit it with the lighter.

“I wish I could go back and do this all over,” I mumbled to myself. Shutting my eyes, I softly blew out the flame of the candle.

I kept them shut as I leaned back and lay on the stage, letting myself fall asleep.

“Dani?” I heard, and I opened my eyes slowly. The theatre was gone, the soft yellow light something harsh and white again. I took in my surroundings, noting the Jonas Brothers poster on the wall and the ugly pink color of them. I sat up quickly, looking around the room before I gasped and looked down at my chest.

No boobs.

“Dani, you awake?” I heard someone say from the other side of the door. Immediately I was up, shooting like a bottle rocket as I flung my door open. Harry stood there, sixteen year-old Harry with his head of floppy curls and the spot of acne on his chin. He was holding something wrapped in a pretty pink box.

“Harry?”

His eyebrows furrowed as he stepped into my room, setting the pink box on my bed as I shut the door behind him. “You okay?” he asked. “You seem off.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m fine,” I said, still looking around my room to reassure myself that I was actually here. “I...I think I had a really weird dream.”

“What was it about?”

“It was terrible, H. We weren’t friends anymore.” He sat on my bed and I moved to sit next to him, careful of the pink box that I somehow knew contained a little theatre set he had made me.

“Well, that’ll never happen,” he snorted. “But, let’s focus on something happy. Open up.” He handed me the box. I pulled apart the purple ribbon and opened it up. It was in an Amazon box, but sure enough, it was a beautiful stage designing set. “It’s Wicked, since I know that’s your favorite musical.”

“Harry,” I whispered, “it’s gorgeous.”

“You like it?” When I nodded enthusiastically, he relaxed. “Oh good. I was worried. Also, I got you something else.”

From behind his back he produced a pretty pink strawberry cupcake, complete with a candle. He took a lighter out of his pocket and held it up to me. “Make a wish, Dani.”

When the flame was lit, I closed my eyes. I didn’t bother to make one. There wasn’t anything more that I needed.

I was expecting the smash, and the cool feeling that followed. I was expecting Harry to double over in laughter as pink goop fell from my face. I was even expecting my own laugh as I wiped it from my eyes so it wouldn’t burn them. What I wasn’t expecting was for Harry to suddenly take my face in his hands and kiss me, the minty taste of his breath mingling with the strawberry of the frosting coating my mouth. The kiss was over before it had begun, and Harry stared at me in fear, like I was going to reject him.

Instead, I smiled.

“Harry,” I said softly, reaching out my hand to him. His own hands shook when he placed his fingers in mine. “Do you want to go on a date?”

When his shoulders sagged in relief and he nodded, I knew.

“Oh, and I really need to go talk to my dad.”

#1dff #movies challenge #harry

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gabriel-agreste-has-no-rights · 4 years

Link

Rating: T

Chapter Summary: Luka and XY have a double date with Marinette and Adrien.

Word Count: 1627 | 5/5

Notes: It’s the epilogue! Takes place a while later, at least a few months. @luxyweek thank you so much for this event!!

XXX

“Hey! Over here!” XY waved like he was trying to flag down an airplane.

“I’m pretty sure they’ve already seen you,” Luka deadpanned, but he couldn’t suppress a smile. As if anyone could’ve missed XY’s tall quiff, though Luka admitted he stood out more in XY’s purple jacket.

It was worth it, to see the grin it put on his boyfriend’s face. And it almost no longer smelled like Doritos.

“Sorry we’re late!” Marinette sounded out of breath as she plopped down at the edge of the Seine. Her ice cream almost fumbled from her hands, but Adrien caught it with a smile and sat beside her.

“It’s no problem. We know you’ve got busy schedules,” Luka said.

He and XY had doubled with Alya and Nino twelve times in the last few months, but Marinette and Adrien were somehow more elusive. Akuma attacks and other last-minute cancellations kept pushing their plans back. He guessed that was to be expected when two out of the four of them were famous and the other two were getting there.

He was getting there, thanks to partnering with XY on his newest album. It was a weird thought. He still played with Kitty Section too, of course, but the collaboration had brought enough attention to the tiny band to get them into a minor record deal. Nothing as fancy as what XY used to have with Bob Roth, but it had far fewer strings attached.

“So do you, now.” Adrien punched his shoulder. “You two are still going to California next week, right?”

“Yeah! Kitty Section world tour, babey!” XY grinned and flashed the new hand sign he’d come up with for the band. It looked something like a shadow puppet cat, if it was missing a leg and been run over by a truck.

Adrien and Marinette blinked in surprise, and Luka hastily corrected, “It’s not a world tour. We’re just going to open for a few concerts, see if the two of us can expand our name. Jules and the others are too young to be traveling all over the world.”

“Pshaw, I’ve been trippin’ since I was, like, ten. They’d be fine.”

Luka was pretty sure “trippin” didn’t mean what XY thought it meant. Either way, Juleka might be fine with traveling to the states—Mom didn’t really care what they got up to—but Rose and Ivan’s parents would probably take issue.

“Maybe I didn’t want to bring all of them along. Did you think about that?” His heartsong beat with anticipation for the trip. Just him, his boyfriend, probably a lot of mac ’n’ cheese, a new city… there’d be so much musical inspiration, too.

XY’s mouth made a tiny o before he grinned. “Aww, Lu, you didn’t tell me this was our honeymoon!”

Marinette just about choked on her blackberry-and-peppermint ice cream.

“You’re engaged?” Adrien asked, eyes wide.

“No, NO. Babe, you’ve got to stop that.” Luka smacked XY’s chest, making him spill a glob of blueberry-cheesecake ice cream on Luka’s hand. Luka rolled his eyes and licked it off.

“But their faces!” XY cackled, but eventually relented. “Naw, we’re still takin’ it slow. It’s nice to just enjoy dating without my dad breathing down my neck.”

Getting XY to move away from his dad (and stay in Paris) was one of the best things that had ever happened to them. Luka was lucky his boyfriend was a pop star who could afford the high city rent.

“I’m really happy for you.” Marinette said once she recovered. Her smile was directed at Luka and XY equally—of course, XY had told Luka about the advice she’d given him.

“Back atcha,” XY replied, holding his fist out for a bump, which she returned with a giggle. “Looks like you finally talked to your dude too, huh. Did you play him a sick tune? Sew him a fancy little jacket?”

Adrien smirked at the blush on his girlfriend’s face. “Well, she did make us matching—”

“Shut up.”

“...matching Ladybug and Chat Noir pajamas,” he whispered behind his hand.

XY cracked up, laughing so hard he snorted. That laugh never failed to make Luka smile, though Juleka thought he was crazy for it.

“See, Lu, they’re furries! Why can’t we get matching Viperion and, I don’t know… maybe just matching Viperion hoodies? I don’t think he has a partner.” XY frowned, tapping his lip, which was stained with a smudge of blueberry ice cream.

“You know, I think he might.” Marinette said with a wink at Luka. Wait—did she know? How did she know? At least she was trustworthy; she wouldn’t give away his secret. And it wasn’t like he was taking Sass to California, anyway. “If you can convince Luka, I’ll make you some matching Viperion gear.”

Luka’s face warmed at the thought of his boyfriend in his alter ego’s merch. He wasn’t a frequent enough Miraculous holder for anyone to sell anything official-looking, but that hadn’t stopped XY from latching onto him. In XY’s words, “his abs are almost sexy enough to make me leave you, Lu.” That had been a bit of a confidence-booster.

“If you’re not too busy. And I’ll pay twice your usual commission fee,” Luka said. He had plenty of money now, and he wanted to make up for all the times Marinette had designed Kitty Section’s costumes for free. “No hoodies, though. I can’t replace this one. Maybe a t-shirt, if that’s okay?”

“Of course! And thanks, Luka.”

“Awww, my jacket grew on you,” XY said, pecking him on the cheek. Some of the ice cream stickiness was left behind, but Luka didn’t wipe it off.

“Just like someone else I know.” He bumped his shoulder before stealing a bite of ice cream himself.

“You know, I’ve never asked. How did you two end up dating?” Adrien asked. “I’ve heard parts of the story, but never straight from you guys.”

“That’s because we’re not straight,” XY said like Adrien was stupid.

Luka suppressed a snort. “I wish I could tell you. Like I said, this idiot just kind of grew on me. Like a song that’s not your favorite at first, but the more you listen to it, the more it means to you.”

“Pshaw, I’ve been in love with Lu from the first time he cradled my face and literally took my breath away. It doesn’t get gayer than that.” XY took a giant bite of the cheesecake ice cream. “An’ the way he stoo’ up to Da’?” He swallowed. “Very sexy.”

Luka would have to down the entire cup of ice cream to fight off the flush that was forming on his face. He loved how honest his boyfriend could be; it was like he had no filter when it came to saying anything, positive or negative. But man, did it make him want to kiss him indecently in public.

“You mean when he was Silencer?” Marinette blinked.

“Uh-huh. Now that was a sick costume. You think we could wear something like that for our next concert?”

“Um, XY, it’s kind of rude to bring up people’s akumatizations…” Adrien began, but Luka just smiled.

“Sure, babe. I bet they’d dig that in the States.” It wasn’t like he remembered his time as Silencer, and all things considered, Luka didn’t regret the experience. If he hadn’t been akumatized, he wouldn’t have made such an impact on XY. If anything, he just wished he could remember the face caress XY mentioned. Surely he hadn’t been attracted to XY even then?

“Well, uh… neat, then.” Marinette smiled awkwardly. She and Adrien had never been akumatized before; maybe they thought the experience was worse than it was.

“It’s great that you guys can be so open with each other.” Adrien relaxed, smiling at her.

“Yeah… it’s really nice,” she replied with a grin only slightly less dopey than XY’s. She’d finally gotten to harmonize with Adrien. She deserved every bit of lovestruck happiness she could get.

“I’ll drink to that, bro.” XY gulped down the melted ice cream in the bottom of their cup. Then he tossed the cup over his shoulder, leaving his hand free to hold Luka’s.

“Dude, you can’t throw trash around. It’s littering.”

“Huh? Don’t pigeons eat trash?”

Luka rolled his eyes as Marinette and Adrien laughed. “Come on.” He tugged his boyfriend to his feet. Their hands remained linked as XY picked up the paper cup and tossed it in the nearby garbage can.

“It’s like they’re made for each other,” he heard Marinette say as they sat back down. “Yin and Yang. Pop and rock, or something like that.”

“Ooooh, Pop Rocks! That’s another thing we can get in the States! You’ve gotta try ’em, Lu—it’s candy that explodes in your mouth like BANG!” He threw his arms wide, almost smacking Luka in the face. “Ooh, I bet we could make a song about them! Do you wanna write the lyrics or can I? I guess you’ll have to taste them first. And we could put some sick drums in it and…”

Luka smiled, leaning against his boyfriend’s shoulder and closing his eyes as he talked. He was so cute when he was invested in something, even if it was a silly American candy. Luka could feel his heart picking up tempo, the way that always made him want to get out his guitar and compose.

But there would be plenty of time for them to make music. For now, he left the instrument on his back, content to just hold his boyfriend’s hand.

#luxy #fic tag #luka #xy #adrinette #tali writes #heartsong

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xxburritosxx · 5 years

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Sweethearts

Pairing-Terrormoohm

(This is my first post:3)

Brock and Brian were the classrooms best couple, they were always so open about their relationship, but not so much that they were bragging about it. They respected others when they said they were being too loving towards each other but they couldn't help it.

Ever since their first dance at their first party. The party was for Jon who's parents just had his baby sister but turns out they turned it into a party for them instead of the baby. His parents thought is was for the best because they were a rough bunch of kids.

They were in love and they loved nothing more than eachothers time together, but something was missing and that something was Ryan, but before is say anymore let's start with the story.

●~~~~~~~~~~●

It was almost 8:45 and Brian was going to be late for his first class, he ran through so many corridors and when he realised he looked at his Wednesday schedule instead if his Thursday schedule he had to run all the way to the other side of the building.

A couple of teachers were telling him not to run in the corridors but he couldn't help it. He was obsessed with school but he knew when he was supposed to early and when he, shouldn't be but is, late. Wednesdays first was his form room. And his teacher was nice and all but lately there were family points for who has the most attendance.

When he finally got there the teacher was crossed arms and staring him down.

'Brian, your late,' she said with a stern voice that pierced through his body.

'Yeah in sorry Miss Longsdale, but the bus came late...' he said with a pout on his face and the strong Irish accent that his boyfriend and the class loved.

'Well I guess I cant be mad at you for the bus but next time try to get the bus earlier.'

'Will do ma'am' and he said into his chair.

He sits in the middle desk on the back row alongside his boyfriend hmwhi sat on the same side as the door and Ryan whi sat close to the window.

'Hey babe,' Brian said smiling at him.

'Hey Brian,' Brock was a little shorter than Brian which he loved seeing as he could give him kisses on his forehead and so he did.

'Awwwwww' echoed around the room seeing as the attention was still on Brian for being late.

'Ok kids we need to start winning more family points,' their teacher said.

'So any ideas?'

Silence.

It was awkward how the classroom was so suddenly silent but no body spoke up to respond to the teacher.

'How about you, Ryan?'

'Huh?' Ryan asked.

'Do you have any ideas to the family competition?' She said once again.

'Uhh m-maybe we could, uhh maybe we could ,hmm, maybe we could do a fundraiser and see which family gets the most money?'

'That's a pretty basic idea but we haven't done that before so yeah u guess that works,' she said smiling widely at the idea.

Ryan sighed a sigh of relief when the attention of the class was moved towards the teacher again.

The teacher was now talking about different they could sell and what event to do when Craig yelled.

'We could sell cakes and stuff like that, I mean I know its cringy but people are buying Valentines day gifts and what couple doesn't like cakes and chocolates. And maybe some flowers-'

'Perfect idea Craig, it doesn't sound cringy at all.'

'So I'll put you in groups of fours, and you guys will prepare something to being in for the competition,'

'Let's see... James, Lucas, Georgia and Faith... Jon,Luke,Evan and David...and theres one group of three people and that would be... Brock,Brian and Ryan, you may sit with your groups for now on and talk about what you would like to sell '

Brian and Brock exchanged glances, thinking about who Ryan was, but then they realised whi their teacher was talking to before and looked to their left.

Their sat a Brunette with a grey bunny hoodie, black ripped jeans and black gloves which didnt cover his fingers.

'Is that him?' Brock asked.

'I think so, hey are you Ryan?' Brian said and peered over to the silent boy next to him.

Ryan nods not looking at them and remaining his view outside the window.

'Can you look a t us while your conversation with us?'

Ryan turned faxibg them and they were greeted with a boy who had cuts on his face, they seemed to torture them as they stared at them and it seemed they hurt them more than they hurt Ryan.

'Are, are you ok?' Brian said with a concerned look.

'Yeah I'm fine,' he clearly wasn't fine.

His eyes had bags which looked like they were dragging his eyes closed.

'When we do this project your going to let us help you,' Brian said eith narrowed eyebrows.

He didnt let Ryan respond when he said.

'We're going to help you and your going to feel great,' he paused when he realised the wording of his sentence and turned red to face Brocj who patted his head.

'You know what he means,' Brock said smiling nervously turning pink in the face.

Ryab didnt respond to the statement and turned to stare out the window.

●~~~~~~~~●

The next couple of months was relaxing and Ryan was treated fairly and Brock and Brian grew closer and closer to Ryan until it was the week of Valentines day.

Every moment together seemed to be more painful the time they had to say goodbye.

Ryan git more confident but not as confident as Brock and Brian.

On Valentines day in their form group they gave their items to their teacher.

Afterwards their teacher asked them to make cards for their loved ones.

Brock and Brian made cards for each other along with a card for Ryan. They decorated it with blue glitter and white hearts and the front and a hide red heart in the middle.

Ryan decided to make two cards for each of them and decorated then with pink,red and purple hearts there were so many that you couldn't see the background.

When the teacher took the cards in and handed them out to the person written it to, there were only one card. He was suprised he even got any at all, and it read.

To Ryan,

Hey Ryan happy Valentines day, we wanted to plan this out since nine days into the project and we wanted to tell you that we love you, we wish that everyday you have the beautiful smile we see when you laugh and we wish to see your green and blue eyes sparkle, we wish that every day you have an amazing day and that your everyone shows that you are better than what they think if you we know what you can behave like and we love it, how could anyone not love you? So we ask you one thing, Ryan, will you be our Valnetines.

P.S- Its me Brock who did most of this.

Love from- Brock and Brian xxx :)

Ryan couldn't help but blush and he couldn't help but feel his eyes tear up. No one had shown that Ryan meant so much to them and that he was so important to someone in their lives and it just so happened that it was the people he mostly respected.

Brock and Brian opened up eachothers card to each other then open an unexpected card form Ryan.

In Brocks it read-

To Brock

I know your probravoy think that you already in a relationship and dont worry Brian if your peeking at this I'm not trying to steal him but I wanted to say thank you for supporting me and showing me i'm worth it, thabky ih fir welcoming me with open arms and a wide smile on your face, you and Brian mean so much to me that it could count as a drug, but not so much that its weird... I hope you dont think if me as any less now.

By Ryan (the guy you did the project with beside your boyfriend)

Brian's card read-

To Brian

Hey Brian, please dont hate me for giving you and Brock a card and I'm sorry for being such trouble for you guys, I've probably interrupted your time together but I guess that's life, huh?Anyway thanks I so much for making me feel like I belong somewhere, you guys have made such and improvement in my life an di hope you guys have a happy ever after.

P.S-Don't kill me for giving you guys a card.

By Ryan(they guy you did the project with)

Brock and Brian looked at each other and back to their cards that they deeply appreciated and blinked, then they turned to Ryan who was covering his flustered cheeks with embarrassment.

'Hey Ryan meet us at the park after school today.'

Ryan nodded still covering his face trying to act calm and normal.

●~~~~~~~~~~●

After school and Brian and Brock were waiting for Ryan to show up. They watched an out of breath Ryan run over to them zipping up his hoodie to look smart. They could tell he had just finished P.E.

'Uhh h-hey guys about the c-cards I'm sorry-' he was cut off by Brian and Brock giving him a hug.

'Ryan were not angry at you we're actually thankful for the cards.' Brock said smiling loving at Ryan before looking at Brian whi didnt stoo hugging Ryan.

'Ryan we need to ask you something,' he said before letting go if the out of breath shorter male.

'We want to ask if you will like to be our...well our boyfriend?'

Ryan blushed and covered his face up to look strong but he couldn't hold in his flustered reaction.

'Gah- uhh o-ok' he said as his voice started to get high pitched.

Brian Walker dup to him and kissed him passionately on his lips and Brock hugged him from the back of him.

Ryan didnt know what to say. He expected them to be annoyed at the cards but he guessed that they were merely proud of his 'confession'.

He couldn't help but cry into the passionate kiss and the loving hug he was getting off two new lovers.

'We're sorry it took so long but we had to wait for the right moment,' Brock said with a nervous smile.

'I-its fine,' Ryan sound through the kiss of Brian once again with a high pitched voice still.

●~~~~~~~~~~●

So that was my first fanfic I hope you guys liked it, I'm obsessed with this ship and i hope to write more in the future!

Thanks for your time!

P.S- Sorry if it doesn't make sense I had autocorrect on and I was too eager to post this for you guys to enjoy :3

#BBS Ships #Terrormoohm #Terroriser #MooSnuckle #OhmWrecker-#Fanfic #Terrormoohm Fanfic #BBS Fanfic

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whydontwe-fanfics · 6 years

Text

Sixteen and... Yeah pt.2 (Z.H)

Description: You and Zach juggle co-parenting, doubts and introductions.

Request: Idk if your requests are open but if they are could you please do a second part to Sixteen and... Yeah. With more father and daughter bonding and the guys meeting Madelyn. Thank you so much for reading, xoxo

Warnings: dad!zach, mentions of teenage pregnancy, angst, swearing

A/N: remember, this is set towards the end of 2019

Word Count: 4k

Make Sure to Read This

Part One | Part Two | Part Three | Part Four | Part Five

---

It's been a month since you've run into your ex-boyfriend and the father of your child. You and Madelyn have paid him at least five visits and within them all, she's grown closer to the man she didn't know was her father.

Zach's been wanting to introduce your daughter to the rest of the guys, but schedules have been changing so they have yet to meet the tiny Herron.

On this day, you had been randomly called into work and everybody who usually babysits Madelyn was busy. So you called Zach and the second the suggestion left your lips he accepted.

"Where we goin'?" Madelyn asks from the back seat as she fiddles with an empty juice box.

"To Zach's house," you reply.

"Zach?"

"Yeah, remember Zach?"

"Mommy, I 'member Zach," she giggled just as you turn into his driveway that only parked one car, and before you could even unbuckle Madelyn, Zach came rushing out the door.

"Hey," he grinned as you placed Madelyn on the floor.

Madelyn smiles up at her father and you feel joy fill your chest when he beams right back down at her. "Hi, Zach."

"Hi, Maddie," he bends down and she doesn't hesitate to give him a hug. "You look so pretty."

{Outfit Madelyn’s Wearing}

"'ank you," she beamed.

“Okay, Maddie, I have to go to work, now,” you kneel down and watch as her smile drops from her face.

“What?” Her tiny face scrunches up in confusion.

“You’re going to spend the day with Zach,” you informed her.

“Mommy,” the two-year-old whined, walking towards you with a small stomp.

“You’re going to have fun here,” you say.

“Mommy, stay,” she frowns and you shake your head.

“Be nice to Zach, okay?”

“Mommy,” she cried, tears forming in her eyes.

“Maddie, I’m going to come back,” you sigh.

“We’re gonna have a lot of fun,” Zach interjects and Madelyn looks up at him with a pout. “We can do whatever you want.”

Madelyn looks back and forth between both of her parents, one whom she didn’t know was hers, yet. You could tell she was having mixed feelings being that she did enjoy Zach’s company, but you were leaving them alone.

“Mommy,” she whimpers as the tears begin falling. She reached for you, but Zach picked her into his arms as she began to cry harder. “No.”

“I have to go to work,” you ran your hand over her full head of hair and wiped a few of the gushing tears away. “I’m coming right back after.”

“No,” she repeated, trying to free herself from Zach’s arms, but his grip was firm.

“She’ll calm down in a bit,” you turn to Zach with a sad smile. “She does this with everybody.” He nods and you glance back at Madelyn. “Baby, please stop crying. You’re going to have fun.”

“Go with you,” she reaches her arms towards you but you shake your head as her body racks with loud sobs. “Mommy!”

“Thank you for watching her,” you tell Zach genuinely.

“No problem at all,” he shakes his head. “I’m happy you asked.”

With another quick smile, you turn and make your way back to the car as Madelyn’s cries grow more distant.

As you pulled out of the driveway, you watched as Madelyn’s head rested in the crook of Zach’s neck as she cried, his hand rubbing her back soothingly.

“Mommy will be back soon,” Zach cooed as he turned and made his way to the front door, entering the large house.

For the next ten minutes, Madelyn sobbed. It all began to die down when Zach sat on the couch with her on his lap, her head against his chest as he brushed hair out of her face. He watched as her eyes began to droop.

He lightly bounced his legs as she inevitably fell asleep, her whines coming to a stop and her hands loosening from the tight grip they held on his shirt.

Zach couldn’t help but stare down at his beautiful daughter as he shifted her in his arms so she lied horizontally on his lap, her head leaning on his arm. He couldn’t help but run the back of his hand against her cheek, admiring the toddler in his arms.

“My beautiful baby,” he murmured to himself. He sat there for a few more moments before cautiously standing up and bringing Madelyn up to his bedroom, placing her on the bed and making sure she was secure.

Not too long after putting her down, Jonah, Corbyn, Jack and Daniel arrived home, their loud voices cutting short as Zach hastily hushed them.

“She’s sleeping,” Zach pointed to the ceiling and the guys all stared at him with confusion.

“Who?” Jonah asked.

“Madelyn.”

“Holy shit, she’s here?” Corbyn grew excited.

“Where’s Y/N?” Jack questioned.

“She had to work, so I’m watching Maddie until she gets off,” Zach explained.

“We get to finally meet the little cutie?” Daniel grinned and Zach smiled at him.

“I don’t know when she’ll wake up, but yeah,” he nodded.

“When does Y/N get off of work?”

“Nine.”

Jonah looked down at his watch as Corbyn and Daniel glanced at their phones.

“It’s only four, we’ve got time,” Jonah claps his hands and immediately regrets it when the sound echoes through the large house.

“Great going,” Corbyn pats his back.

Madelyn stayed sound asleep for the next hour and a half, waking up with squinted eyes and a foggy head when she realizes she’s in a bedroom alone. Her moves are sluggish, but she lets out a small whine, something she usually does to get your attention when you aren’t in the same room.

Zach heard the noise from the kitchen downstairs and rushes up to his room, where Madelyn is sitting up in the middle of his bed, her eyebrows furrowed as she rubs her eyes with the back of her hands.

“Hi, Princess,” he greets, walking up and gently picking her up. She instantly wraps her arms around his neck and rests her head on his shoulder, making his insides melt.

“Mommy?” she mumbles, looking around for her mother.

"Mommy isn't here right now, but she'll be back soon," Zach quickly explained, preparing himself for another mood drop, but fortunately it never comes. She stays quiet and leans off of his chest, taking the ID tag necklace around his neck into her small hands and fiddling with it. He smiles and shifts her in his arms as she uses one hand to put her hair out of her face. "Are you hungry?"

She slowly nods before leaning forward again and placing the side of her face on his shoulder. He then carries her to the first floor of the shared home, the sounds of bickering males getting louder with every step closer to the kitchen.

"Guys," Zach interjects and gathers all of their attention. The boys' eyes widen at the sight of the toddler in Zach's arms, who turns and looks at them.

She leans into Zach when she sees the four strangers, feeling secure in his arms, a very small sound of discomfort leaving her mouth. Madelyn looks up to Zach, who shifts her on his hip.

"These are my friends," he tells her. "They're nice, it's alright."

"Oh my God, she looks like if you and Y/N had a baby," Jonah holds a hand up to his heart and Corbyn smacks the back of his head with an eye roll.

"She's beautiful," Daniel grins, taking a step closer.

"Madelyn, meet Daniel," Zach points to said male. "That's Jonah, that's Corbyn and that's Jack."

Madelyn glanced at all of them before turning her head back into Zach's neck.

"Shy," Zach hummed before walking towards the counters and trying to place her down on it, but she holds on tight to him. "I have to make your food, Maddie," he chuckled, but she doesn't budge.

It took the next thirty minutes for Madelyn to finally give up and sit on the counter, but only with that help of one of her toys she had brought over, Silly.

This time, Silly was a brown bear in a yellow dress that obviously belonged to a doll of some sort.

Madelyn seemed to be growing more comfortable in the guys' presence because she was talking more and more as time passed.

"She's a princess," Madelyn, perched on the counter, explained to Corbyn as he stood in front of her. "Mommy lost her crown."

"What color is the dress?" Zach asked, growing into the questioning antics that you did.

"It's ye'yow," she looks up at him. "My favorite."

"Mhm," Zach nods with a smile.

"Food?" She asks.

"Pizza is coming," he replies, picking her up. She puts her head on his shoulder and stretches her arm out to Corbyn, handing him her bear.

"Really?" Corbyn smiles, eyebrows raising.

"Mhm," she nods.

"Why does he get to have it?" Jack feigns to be hurt, pouting.

"Because she likes me the best," Corbyn grinned.

"Share," Madelyn picks her head up hastily. "No fighting."

"Yeah, you guys should share," Zach nods, sending the boys fake glares as if scolding them.

"Fine," Corbyn sighs, handing Jack the stuffed animal.

"Thank you," Jack cheekily smiles and Corbyn scoffs.

"Do you wanna watch a movie?" The three boys and toddler exit the kitchen and make their way to the living room, where Daniel is.

"Where's Jonah?" Jack asks as he takes a seat beside Daniel.

"He's in the shower," Daniel responds, eyes not leaving the guide frame on the television.

"What movie?" Zach asks as he sat down, placing Madelyn on his lap.

"Nemo, Nemo, Nemo!" Madelyn chants.

"How does she know about FInding Nemo?" Corbyn furrows his eyebrows.

"Y/N makes her watch all old school movies because she doesn't like any of the ones coming out," Zach elaborates.

"Your mother is awesome," Jack sits down beside Zach and taps Madelyn's nose, to which she scrunches her nose at.

"Mommy likes Nemo," she claims.

"Nemo it is," Daniel agrees and they all grow comfortable, spread out around the living room. Sometime eventually, Jonah joins the gathering and then after that, the pizza arrives.

"Be careful," Zach told his daughter as he handed her a slice of pizza on a plate. He sat on the floor while Madelyn stood beside him, her full height not equal to half of his. The rest of the boys sat on the couches, eyes shifting from her to the movie playing on television.

They still couldn't believe Zach had a daughter and she was the cutest thing in the world to them.

Zach goes to take his own slice when a gasp is heard, making all of the males turn to Madelyn, whose eyes are wide and tongue hanging out of her mouth.

"Hot?" Zach shakes his head and the boys chuckle as she nods.

"Wait for it to cool down," Zach pulled the paper plate away from her.

"I'll get her some juice," Daniel got up and headed to the kitchen. Seconds later he reappeared with a plastic cup of orange juice.

"'ank you!" She says as he hands her it carefully.

"Here, you've gotta blow on it," Zach picked her slice up and held it in front of her face. She leaned forward and blew on it with her small breaths, making him smile. She then bit into it and chewed happily, bouncing on her feet, a cheerful hum leaving her mouth.

Zach chuckled and took out his phone, recording the little girl who joyfully ate the pizza he held for her.

"Happy?" He asks and she nods while swaying her head from side to side.

He suddenly was reminded of times years before, when you'd be in a bad mood and all he'd have to do is buy you food to calm you down. You would dance in your seat while eating and he'd roll his eyes with a smile on his lips from you quick change of mood.

He quickly saved the video and sent it to you with a text that read 'remember when you would do this?', a boyish grin playing at his lips.

'Still do' you quickly replied and he let out a laugh-like exhale.

An hour later, the movie was long forgotten as Jack pulled Madelyn around the hallways, screaming giggles leaving her lips as she slid around on the blanket she sat on.

"Wait, let me get on," Jonah laughed, taking a seat behind her and holding on.

"Corbyn, I need help," Jack called and Corbyn didn't hesitate to take a grip of the blanket.

"Hey, I've gotta talk to you," Daniel called Zach, who sat on the bottom step watching the goofiness take place before him. He glanced at Daniel who stood in the archway of the kitchen.

"Yeah, sure," Zach stood up and made his way to the Seavey boy. "What's up?"

"When are you gonna tell our managers about this?" Daniel abruptly questions and Zach tenses.

"Uh, I... I don't know," he scratched the back of his neck before doing so to his chin that he had obviously forgotten to shave that morning.

"Are you planning to tell them at all?"

"I didn't want to think about that," Zach groaned.

"You have to," Daniel pushed. "One day paparazzi is going to catch you walking down the streets with that little girl in your arms and you're going to have to answer some questions."

"What do you think they'll make me do?" Zach furrowed his eyebrows, growing defensive. "You know them, man. They'll force me to pretend she's a cousin or a friend's daughter."

"So you want people to know she's your daughter?"

"Of course, I do," he frowned.

"Does Y/N?"

Zach stays quiet for a few seconds, biting his bottom lip and diverting his eyes to his shoes. "We haven't spoken about it."

"Okay, what about your family?"

"My parents know," Zach shrugged. "I told them a few weeks ago and they want to come down to meet her soon." When you and Zach had been dating, his parents adored you and vice versa, so it was heartbreaking for them to find out that you had broken up all those years ago. And then for them to find out about you having a child and raising her alone was horrifying for them both. The phone call between them and Zach had turned into a lecture while his mother spoke to him with great disappointment and his father with great anger. They had offered to send you and Madelyn anything you needed, but Zach knew you wouldn't like using their money when you're financially stable yourself.

"What about the fans? How are you going to explain your secret child to the world?" Daniel rose a single eyebrow and Zach let out a huff.

"I haven't had much time to think about everything, Daniel."

"It's been over a month, Zach. I'm sorry, but I just need to know if you're aware of how different everything will be now."

"I know it will," Zach muttered, glancing back to the guys and Madelyn playing around, his daughter's smile making his heart flutter.

---

It was nearly nine when you had shown up at the guys' ridiculously large house. Zach carried Madelyn out, who looked on the verge of sleeping but not quite yet.

"Mommy!" she screamed, eager to leave Zach's arms and into yours.

"Hi, Baby," you laughed, taking her from his hold and kissing her adorable cheeks. "You have fun?"

"Bunch of fun," she danced in your arms. "Zach friends are fun!"

"The guys finally met her?" you smiled, kissing her forehead and turning to Zach.

"Yeah, they came home while she was passed out," Zach nods. "That's okay, right?"

"Of course it's okay, Zach," you couldn't help but laugh before looking back at Madelyn. "I'm glad you had fun."

"I wanna come back," she declared and you raise your eyebrows with a smile. "Oh really?"

"That'd be great," Zach nodded eagerly. "Perfect, actually."

"Thank you, again," you say as he hands you Madelyn's bag and her teddy bear.

"It was no problem. I loved every second of it."

"Mommy, I had pizza," Madelyn lightly tugged on your hair.

"I know, I saw a video of you dancing, too," you chuckle, opening the car door and placing her in her car seat.

"Mommy?"

"Yeah?"

"Is Zach my Daddy?"

Your movement instantly stopped and you could hear the intake of breath coming from Zach who stood behind you.

Your eyes slowly met your daughter's, who looked at you with her head cocked to the side.

"What-what makes you ask that? Why would you think that?" you quickly respond, your words rushed as you felt your stomach drop.

"Everybody has Daddy," she sighs. "I want Daddy."

You glance back at Zach, who seems just as shocked as you. You knew he wanted to see what you'd say in response, but you honestly didn't know what to say.

Inevitably, you did speak, and your words came out before you could process even saying them.

"Yes, Zach is your Daddy," you said, your eyes not leaving his. His jaw nearly drops as his face seems to melt.

Madelyn squealed. "I have Daddy?"

"Mhm," you hum, turning and officially buckling her in. "Say bye."

"Bye, Daddy!"

Zach felt his eyes nearly water as his heartbeat sped up in his chest.

"Bye, Maddie," he sighed with content before her door closed and he was met with you. "I thought you wanted to wait a bit longer."

"You're her father," you murmured with a shrug. "She might as well know it."

"Thank you so much," he quickly took her into his arms, pulling her into a tight hug and you let out a small laugh.

"It's whatever," you uttered as you both pulled apart.

"Hey, um, I wanted to ask you something," he detangles his arms from around you and takes a step backward.

"Go on," you nod.

"I told my parents about Madelyn," he admitted. "And they really want to meet her."

"Really?"

"Yeah, if that's okay-"

"Of course it's okay, Zach," you repeat. "Just tell me when and I'll drop Maddie off."

"They want to see you, too," he informs and you raise your eyebrows. "Why so shocked?"

"I didn't think they'd want to see the woman who hid their grandchild," you nonchalantly shrug and he bites his bottom lip.

"They love you, Y/N," he sighed. "They always have."

"I've missed them. They were always like my second parents," you timidly smile. "So, um, when are they coming down?"

"Next week, Monday. Are you free?"

"That's really perfect," you nod. "I have all Mondays and weekends off." You were a nurse at a local nursing home, LPN and soon to be RN if you could find a way to pay for even more online classes.

"Great," he smiles with his lips closed. "We'll be meeting at some restaurant downtown. I could pick you guys up."

"Sounds like a plan," you fiddle with the keys in your hands. "Keep me updated and we'll be ready."

"Great," he says for what seems like the tenth time that night. You send him a quick and awkward wave before making your way to your side of the car, opening the door and climbing in.

You glance back at Madelyn who was distracted with her stuffed animals and then towards Zach, whose eyes were still on your frame. You nip at the inside of your cheek and start the car before driving out of his driveway and then driving off.

It took less than twenty minutes to get back to your apartment. Madelyn skipped through the front door as you held it open for her and turned on the hall lights.

"Y/N?" Connie yawned as she came walking out of her bedroom. "I texted you."

"Sorry, I had to pick up Maddie," you apologize, locking the door behind you.

"Who watched her?" Connie questioned, a smile forming on her face as Madelyn runs up to her. She kneels down and takes the two-year-old into her arms, kissing her cheeks that everybody adored.

"I was with Daddy today!" Madelyn cheered and you winced as Connie's eyes shot up to you.

"Daddy?" your sister repeats, her jaw almost clenching.

"Yeah! I eat pizza and we watch Nemo," Madelyn beamed up at her aunt.

"Baby, go pick out some pajamas," you say.

"Okay," she obediently responds before leaving her aunt's hold and scurrying to her bedroom. You place Madelyn's bag and your keys on the hallway table while keeping your eyes away from Connie's.

"So she's calling him Daddy now?" Connie crossed her arms as she stood back up.

"It's not a big deal," you shake your head.

"Not a big deal?!" she repeats incredulously. "You're joking, right?"

"Listen, I know you don't like him-"

"You weren't much of a big fan of him not too long ago. You remember that, right?"

"Connie-"

"I still can't believe you're even letting that prick near her," she scoffed. "He left you pregnant, Y/N. At sixteen! For the past two years, you've raised that little girl all alone and without him."

"She needs a father," you defend both yourself and Zach.

"No, she doesn't," Connie objects.

"Everybody needs a father-figure in their life,” you find yourself rephrasing Zach.

"No, they don't, Y/N."

"You don't get to say that. We both have had a father in our lives. Our dad was there," your voice rises. "I'm not moving in with him, Connie. He just wants to have a relationship with his child."

"A child he knew he had but never cared to find!"

Your mouth shuts as she says this, tears welling in your eyes. Your eyes leave hers and meet Madelyn's, who runs back into the hallway with her grey bunny onesie in her hands.

"I wanna wear this," she holds the item of clothing up. You don't bother to look at your sister before picking Madelyn up and walking into her bedroom, closing the door behind you.

"Mommy, wha's wrong?" Madelyn frowns as you place her on her bed and begin pealing her boots off. Her small hand reaches over and wipes a stranded tear that you hadn't even known fallen.

"Nothing, Baby," you muster up a smile. "I'm just tired."

"Cry when tired?" she scrunches her face up in confusion.

"Sometimes, yes," you nod, pulling her dress over her head.

"No bath tonight?" she asks when you unroll the pajamas.

"Nope."

"Yay!" she cheers, placing her feet into the holes before you pull it up and pull the sleeves onto her arms. While buttoning it up, her hands play with your ears, a habit she's always had.

"Alright, get under the blanket," you pat her legs.

"Sleep in your bed," she says and you nod.

"Okay, C'mon," you yawn, standing up and taking her hand into yours. She grabs her plush Princess Jasmine doll before following you to your bedroom across the hallway.

You place her on your bed and peel your scrubs off and pulling on clothes you considered pajamas.

"Mommy, I go to Daddy 'morrow?" she asks from the bed and you shook your head.

"No, it's just you and me tomorrow," you say before exiting your room to wash the (small?/large?) amount of makeup you had on your face. When you return to your bedroom, successfully not running into Connie, Madelyn is lying on her back while playing with her doll.

"Time for bed, Babe," you turn the lights off and crawl underneath the covers, bringing her with you.

"Night, Mommy," Madelyn sighed, nestling herself into the crook of your neck. You kiss her forehead before grabbing your phone from the nightstand.

Your eyebrows furrow when you see you had two messages from Zach, but a smile grows on your face when you see the photos he had sent.

The first one had been of Madelyn sitting on his lap while eating pizza, her eyes focused on something behind the camera while Zach's eyes were focused on the picture. The next was of Madelyn and Silly, both of them sitting on the couch while Madelyn smiled at the camera.

'I took about a hundred pictures today, but these are my favorite'

---

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