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#and my other friend is even worse it was her birthday on the 20th and i sent her a message
ugotcooneycrossed · 11 months
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you belong with me (i belong with you)
alessia russo x reader
w/c: ~700
moments of lessi and her girl (you) through the years
a/n: ive been lurking in the woso tags and thought id get back into writing😗 also, please bare with me- i have not written in a long time 😭 and im used to writing chapter fics, not one shots, but i hope i did this justice!
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17.
Alessia is 17 when she realises she’s in love.
She can tell because no one’s ever made her feel the way that you do.
Ella’s the first to know- because she’s Ella.
“Tooney you don’t understand-like I’m actually in love.”
A voice cuts in and Alessia is momentarily taken away from her phone- not hearing Tooney’s reply.
“Oooh with who?”
You grin at her cheekily, cheeks still flushed from practice- Alessia admires the way your eyes sparkle softly- she takes the time, eyes tracing every inch of your face.
“Less?”
You look even cuter now- eyes scrunched, looking at her like she just grew another head.
“Uh- no one! Don’t worry about it!”
“Okay weirdo… wanna go get ice cream with me?”
You grip her arms suddenly, squeezing softly, eyes pleading.
“Please Lessi?”
All Alessia can manage is a nod, before you shoot off again- linking your arms together and Alessia thinks she can die right now.
“So what flavour were you thinking, I’m think-“
“I think I’m in love with you!”
“Oh- I don’t think I’ve tried that before.”
Alessia punches you in the arm and you pout at her rubbing your arm softly.
“Less, I’ve been waiting for you to say that for years now."
-
18.
“GO LESSI!”
Alessia looks to the side where you sit, decked out in all the UNC gear you’ve stolen from her, every time you visit.
“THAT’S MY GIRLFRIEND!”
Her teammates send her teasing smiles, and make fun of her lovesick face but all she can focus on is the way, you almost fall off the bench you decided to stand on to get a better view.
“IM OKAY!”
-
19.
It’s the last night of the U-20s world cup.
You’re asleep in Lessi’s arms, and she watches your chest rise and fall softly.
It’s a soft and tender moment that is interrupted by fake gagging.
“You don’t have to stare that hard Less, I’m sure she’s not going to disappear.”
“Shut it Tooney.”
“Seriously Less, it’s sickening to watch- oh I love you- no I love you more- no I love you more- no-“
Alessia is fairly certain she’s never thrown a pillow so hard before.
“Whatever Tooney, I swear I’m going to marry her one day and it’s just going to be worse for you.”
Tooney lets out a loud groan, that earns her another pillow to the face. “Shhhh, you’ll wake her.”
-
20.
It’s Alessia’s 20th birthday. 
There’s a warmth in your chest as you look at your Less, though it might just be the shots you took with her earlier.
She’s stunning- she always is.
It’s much later in the night when you get a moment alone- you brush her hair that sticks to her forehead from sweat back, no doubt from when Tooney dragged her onto the dance floor hours ago.
She smiles a little dopey at you, her natural clumsiness combined with the alcohol have her falling into you every three seconds.
“I loooovee you! I love you sooo much!”
You smile at her as you catch her once again.
“I love you too Lessi.”
-
21.
It’s late in the night.
You sit with Alessia cuddled protectively into your side- a movie plays in the background, long forgotten as you stare at each other.
“Marry me?”
“Okay.”
With that you go back to the movie- fingers intertwined.
-
22.
It’s a quiet wedding- you both didn’t want anything too crazy. 
It’s hours after the ceremony has ended, after saying farewell to family and friends, loading a very drunk Ella off on Mary, do you finally get a moment alone with your wife.
“I’m so grateful you’re mine. I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”
-
23.
“You still like me right?”
Alessia pouts at you- bundle under an endless amount of blankets, nose and cheeks rosy from the cold she’s still fighting, she coughs again, this time right in your face, and you fight the urge to say no.
“Of course, I do pretty girl- in sickness and health, right?”
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24.
“Happy anniversary baby! I’ve loved you since I was 15- we’ve been married for only two years, and have known each other for 10, but I feel like I’ve known you my entire life- it feels like I’ve loved you for just as long too. So, I can safely say; you belong with me, and I belong with you.”
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lixiektty · 1 year
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old friend — a jake sim 20th birthday special, coming soon
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๛ word count: 600 (not sure how much for the full fic yet, probably less that 10k)
๛ warnings/kinks: dom!jake, sub!reader, idol!jake, language, time skips, friends to lovers, mentions of alcohol, fiction writing, unprotected sex, oral (f. and m. receiving), fingering, degradation, praise, creampie, breast play, please feel free to let me know if i miss anything!!
๛ author's note: i've always wanted to try writing this scenario especially with jake and hyunjin, it wasn't even until last week where i was like "i have to do this" and here i am writing this on the 9th and deciding to make it a birthday special for my baby daddy.
๛ summary: two year trainee, jake sim, finally made his debut as a soloist and has made it big— leading to a headlining world tour only a year after debut. when coming into the states after his shows in korea, he visits with an old high school friend only to be reminded of how much he as in love with her like he was when he was 17. if only he knew what she hid on her laptop.
๛ taglist: open | closed
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"shit," jake cursed under his breath.
his phone hadn't been receiving emails for the last two days, and it was starting to freak him out. he feared if there had been anything sent to him, it would need to be responded to within a certain period.
thank god he was here with you, and you had a computer. he was sure of it, "angel," he called out.
"yes?" you reply, picking up a folded blanket laying underneath your table to drape onto yourself.
"could i use your computer? my phone's trippin' balls and i can't get to any of my emails," he asked, standing up and walking over to the couch so he could see your face.
"yeah, go for it. it should be sitting on my bed," you said, stretching your body along the couch and turning your attention back to the movie you watched.
"you're the best," jake turned to go into your bed room, laptop on your bed just as you said— slightly open with the light beaming brightly from the inside.
he walked over to your bed and kicked his feet up, just like he was at his own home. he considered it his and so did you, and that's what brought you closer again. being around each other like roommates, you only wished it'd last longer.
it would only take about five minutes to check his emails and reply to the important ones, but once he had that laptop open he was introduced to many things.
a certain open tab on your window caught his eye, only being able to read a name. his name. so being the curious bastard he was, he clicked on it reading every word written on the page. his brain was filled with many thoughts, not fully sure if he should react right now.
it was a shock. why was this on your computer, and was the sinful imagines, the literal porn in word form, your doing? something brought jake to his feet, eyes focused on every line even scrolling down to read more.
all this time, jake thought you had forgotten about him and found someone else to be interested in since he had abandoned you to purse his dream. he never slept with, thought about, or looked at another girl ever since he left. and here you were thinking about him in ways only someone extremely dirty would think.
jake was out the door before he knew it, still reading the fiction but soon coming to a stop, looking up and seeing your resting form on the couch.
you had been so distracted you hadn't heard jake open the door behind you. "y/n," jake said softly, coming from out of your room further, computer in hand, "what the fuck is this?"
you sat up and turned back towards him, not sure of what he could be talking about. you got up onto your feet and walked his way. you could've thought it was just a virus suddenly appearing once jake using your laptop with the way he was staring at the screen— no.
it was so much worse than that. the second the screen was turned your way, your eyes got big and your heart instantly sank. there was no way.
"have you been writing about me?!"
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finelinevogue · 2 years
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omg okay!! idea! i am so so obsessed with the hazel verse, i NEED a family dinner blurb w/ harry, y/n, hazel and anne n’ gemma at anne’s house! i’m so obsessed w ur acc rn it’s unreal 🤍🤍
umm yes this is necessary 😌✌️ and thank you so much!!!
February 20th 2027
“Hazel Mae.”
Harry sternly told off your four year old daughter, who was misbehaving as the dinner table.
You were currently celebrating Hazel’s fourth birthday at Anne’s house, after celebrating her actual birthday at yours surrounded by her nursery friends. Your mum was there too, providing the food, so the only close family person who hadn’t seen Hazel at for years old was Anne.
But Hazel was misbehaving and making a scene, causing you to become more stressed.
Harry didn’t appreciate seeing you stressed, especially when you were pregnant with your second baby. Your baby was two months along and you could already tell they were a lot more peaceful of a child than Hazel. Maybe that meant it would be a boy.
“Hazel, listen to daddy please.” You sighed, watching Hazel pout fiercely at her dad as he tried to get her to eat her peas.
“No!” She exclaimed, pushing Harry’s hand, that was holding a knife, away.
“Hazel! You could hurt yourself, don’t be silly.” Harry argued, afraid for her. He was only angry, because she was going to be hungry and sad later, but also because if she accidentally hurt herself from her strop then he’d never forgive himself.
“I don’t want them.” Hazel stressed, slapping her hands down on the high chair that Anne kept at her house. She wasn’t big enough to sit at the adult chairs yet, still only being a small girl for her age.
Anne was watching from the other side of Harry, whilst Gemma sat next to you and Michal was at the top of the table. It was embarrassing for you to see Hazel behave like this, because you couldn’t help but think everyone was judging you and believing that you were a bad mum.
Many a time before Harry has sat with you for hours, convincing you that you were nothing short of perfect. Your mum abilities were second to none, he would assure you. He wasn’t going to let you go a day without knowing how amazing you were and what a blessing you were in Hazels life. It was those little reminders that kept you going and allowed you to keep believing in yourself.
“Hazel, please my love.” You said nicely, trying kindness as a tactic, using her fork to push some peas onto it.
Instead of eating them, she instead pushed your hand away and let the peas roll over the table and even onto the floor. Your jaw fell open as you were shocked with her behaviour. You thought you’d taught her better than to argue with violence. If she has something she wants to voice, she has to learn to do it vocally not physically.
“Bad mummy.” She told you off and went back to aggressively pouting.
You sat back in your chair, contemplating what Hazel had just told you.
It was hard to hear that you were a bad mum when you knew exactly what a bad mum looked like from personal experience. To think that you were anything like that woman made you feel physically sick. It hurt to think that Hazel thought you weren’t good enough, even if it was just for a moments time.
You tried to keep your tears at bay, but you could feel them welling up in your eyes along with that horrible lump in the back of your throat. Keeping your head down you rested your hand over your small belly and thought to yourself, if you couldn’t be a good mum to one child then how could you be a good mum to another? Was it cruel to bring another human into the world if you weren’t good enough?
“Hazel, look, if you eat your peas then you can have some of nana’s homemade chocolate cake?” Gemma asked and that made Hazel’s eyes light up with excitement.
“Okay.” She nodded and picked up her fork to start eating again.
If it wasn’t bad enough already that you couldn’t get her to behave yourself, then it was even worse that Gemma was a better motherly figure to your daughter than you were.
You stood up from the table before you had an anxious breakdown in front of everyone. “Excuse me, sorry.”
You made a mental note to come and thank Anne for a lovely meal later, but for now you couldn’t think of anything other than get somewhere quiet so you could have a cry to yourself.
Walking upstairs, you went into the guest bedroom, where you and Harry were staying, and wandered into the bathroom, softly closing the door behind you. You sat on the cold floor tiles and brought your knees up to your chest, before letting a few tears overtake your body.
It simply to hurt to think that you might just be exactly like the woman before you. It was terrifying in fact.
“Lovie?” Harry knocked on the door before entering, not waiting for you to respond because he already knew that you’d need him and his hugs regardless.
He quietly made his way onto the floor next to you, sitting down so he could pull your body across him and onto his lap. You fit perfectly, like two pieces of a puzzle finding home. Your head rested on his chest, light sobs escaping your body. His hand rubbed your back smoothly, whilst also supporting your body, whilst his other grasped onto one of your hands.
Your felt his lips touch the top of your head and you breathed out a heavy sigh from comfort.
“S-sorry.” You weren’t sure what you were apologising for, but you did it anyways.
“Nothing to apologise for, bub.”
“Just can’t help but think i’m a bad mum. That i’m like her. And, like, what the hell am I doing bringing another child into the world if I can’t even be good enough for Hazel.” You continued to cry against him and you could feel his head shaking with every word that you spoke.
“Thank you for talking to me about this and helping me understand how you feel,” He often told you this as a way for you to understand it was okay to tell people how you feel, “But I’m fucking proud of the woman you are and the mum you’ve come to be. I am infatuated with you every day and it only grows as I watch the bond between you and Hazel grow. And hey, she was a tiny pain in our asses tonight but we get through it together. Just because she throws a tantrum doesn’t make us bad parents, or people. We just grow and learn from them. We grow and learn from each other.”
You sniffled and tilted your head up from his chest. “You always know what to say that it actually makes me look bad.”
He shook his head and leant down to kiss your lips a couple of times. “You help me in more ways than just words, baby.”
To most people that would sound like he was being gross and sexy, but to you you knew he meant it in a loving and intimate way. No one made your heart quite beat like he did and it was very apparent that he felt exactly the same way about you.
“I try my best, H.” You nodded and he smiled so warmly at you, he was like your own miniature version of the sun.
“You do more than that m’love. I’m proud that you’re the mum to our daughter every day and I can’t wait until we have this one too.”
You stayed in his arms for a bit longer, Harry just whispering sweet words into your ear. He knew that at times like these you could send yourself to very dark places, but with every kind word that he spoke you were able to pull yourself back and stay in the light.
“I want to go hug Hazel.” You told him softly.
“Okay. Let’s do it together, yeah?”
You nodded and he helped you up off the floor. He held onto your hand as you walked down the stairs and into the lounge. It was clear that Hazel had finished at the dining table and she was happily watching Cbeebies now, surrounded by her mass of toys that Anne kept for her here.
Instead of disturbing her, you sat down on the two-seater sofa and smiled at Anne and Gemma. They knew how hard that must’ve been for you so they would never criticise you over your daughters behaviour. Plus they were just good people and good people don’t hurt others.
Hazel must’ve noticed you sit down because the next thing you know she’s flinging herself at your body. You helped her climb up your legs and onto your lap, not stopping herself until she had her arms around your shoulders and was squeezing you tightly.
“I love you mummy.” She said softly and you had to purse your lips to keep you from crying again.
Harry came and sat down next to you, admiring his two girls reuniting. He knew that Hazel never meant what she had said, but he was proud that she knew what she said was wrong and was dealing with it appropriately. This was something that Harry would remind you later on as evidence for being an awesome parent.
“I love you too, baby.” You kissed the side of her head and she remained there for the rest of the evening.
There was no better place than here, in a family home, with some of the most important people in your life.
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skznccmlee · 3 months
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Vent post (and it's long)
I don't thing anyone reads it
I'm gonna murder everything and then myself
I miss my friends too much I wanna talk to them
I don't think I can't stand not being there in chat with my squirrel (best friend) on Christmas
And you know what's worse??? Today's December 20th, my ex's birthday
And you don't get how fucking much I miss her, but I think he moved on from me so I don't think it's correct to text him saying "Happy Birthday" or something
AND
TO MAKE THINGS WORSE
On December 24th will be the 1 year anniversary of the first time we started dating
And I just pretend to anyone I don't miss him and I am fine when the truth is I just wanna be with her again
And it's so heartbreaking for me to wake up everyday and see how much messages from my friends, from our group chat and from my squirrel I have, and not being able to text them back
And it's so heartbreaking for me feeling like the world is moving on without me
Do they even miss me? I miss them, but do they miss me back? Do they even care about how I am? Do they even remember my simple existence? The people I care about, care about me? I don't think they do. Most of the time I don't feel they do
I think they are fine without me, or even better than with me
Cuz who could miss me? I'm literally the most uninteresting, annoying person in the whole world
Who could miss someone who needs affection constantly? Who could miss someone who sometimes feels good and the other minute they're crying? Who could miss someone who cries for literally everything? Who could miss someone whose taste in literally whatever, books, movies, series, games, music, dance style is different from literally everyone? Who could miss someone who everyday thinks you stopped loving them just for a minimal thing? Who could miss someone who eats chocolate and bubblegum the whole day to deal with anxiety? Who could miss someone like me?
I think no one
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Personal Journey
In the days of high school, I was that shy, awkward teenager yearning for friendship and approval from the elusive cool kids. No matter how hard I tried, I felt ignored and invisible.
But then, everything changed when I got my first smartphone – the gateway to the world of social media. I started posting things, hoping to catch someone's attention. I slid into the DMs of random people, leaving birthday wishes on countless profiles, all in the quest for validation. That tiny acknowledgement on social media felt like a rush of self-worth. But deep down, the emptiness and loneliness remained.
College came, and my obsession with social media intensified. Hours vanished as I reached out to strangers online, perpetually hunting for new sources of validation. My studies and well-being suffered. Depression and anxiety became my constant companions. The more I sought approval online, the worse I felt about myself offline. Little did I know that social media was fueling my insecurities rather than soothing them.
Determined to change, I started hitting the gym daily, pushing my slender frame to become stronger. I dived into uplifting books, journaling my emotions, and took up hobbies like art and dance to find joy. It was tough, but it was necessary for personal growth.
And then it hit me – the need to be the best version of myself, not for anyone else, but for me. I gazed inward, lost in thought.
Fast forward to today, I find myself in a much better mental space, though not without its challenges. A miraculous twist led me to a wonderful girlfriend who loves me for who I am. We met six months ago through the same platform I once used to seek attention.
The story of how we met is a tale of patience and courage. She initially ignored me for nearly a year, but in the winter of 2022, she posted a sketch that prompted me to reply with all the guts I could muster. We continued talking, but I had secretly harboured a crush on her since the fall semester of 2022. I never approached her directly; instead, I just admired her by liking her stories, especially the ones where her face shone through.
In March 2023, our college reopened, and we continued our conversations online. Then, it happened. One day, our paths crossed on campus. Our eyes met for a fleeting second as we passed each other – her class had just ended, and I was headed to mine. I waited anxiously for a message, fearing she would be put off by my "ugly face." Hours went by without a response, and I sighed in relief, convinced she hadn't seen me.
Then, out of the blue, her reply came. She saw me, but she didn't run away; she continued to talk. I felt a renewed sense of hope and decided to approach her about meeting in person. She was shy and initially declined, but fate had other plans.
One day, we accidentally met in the same spot, and she touched me to check my fever, a topic I had mentioned online. Over the next few weeks, we grew closer. On April 17th, I mustered the courage to meet her outside her class. What followed was an awkward encounter – her friends pushed her towards me, she playfully ran away, fell to the floor, and then suddenly tried to drag me and push me in a fun, shy, and somewhat aggressive manner. It was cute and made me fall for her even more.
As her birthday approached on April 20th, I decided to propose at midnight. It took me 90 minutes to decide what to post on my story and in her DMs. The fear of rejection nagged at me, but I gathered my courage and sent the message. She saw it but left me on "seen," and I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was overjoyed to find that she said yes.
Her friends organised a surprise birthday party, and I surprised her with a cake. We've now been together for six months, and I love her more than anything. She accepts me for who I am and never critiques my appearance, although I want to change for myself and for her. She validates me, talks to me when no one else did in my life, wishes me a happy birthday, and gave me my first birthday cake and gifts.
Through this journey, I've come to realise that self-acceptance must begin with moments of solitude. I still occasionally seek attention on social media, posting gym pics and photography but I've learned that it's essential to put your well-being first and maintain detachment from others' opinions.
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occult-roommates · 1 year
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Congratulation, it’s a girl
After putting it off for months, Akva had to cave in, she had to get pre-natal care. Whether she likes it or not, a baby is going to be there in a few months, so better not neglect its health on purpose...And like, pregnancy is also really hard on the mother too, so better make sure everything is ok for her too. Jay was also with her, as he was spending the rest of the summer in San Myshuno in his family, mostly cause his 20th birthday was approaching in late July and he wanted to be with his folks. He would only return to Oregon around a month after that.
Ultrasound tech: Do you want to know the sex? Akva: No, not reall- Jay: Yes! Ultrasound tech: It’s a girl. Akva: I said I didn’t...Why do you even care Jay? That child is not for us, it’s for Paisley and Damian. Jay: I’m a curious bitch! Ultrasound tech: Could you please resolve your relationship issues elsewhere? Anyway, congratulation, your little girl is a perfectly healthy mermaid.
While it’s impossible to tell what another occults a child might be with an ultrasound, mermaids are pretty easy. A mermaid’s fish tail grows when they come into contact with water, and being in contact with water is pretty much all a fetus in the womb does all day. 
A little bit later, Akva needed to get some fresh air, so Jay brought her for a walk in a park near his childhood home, where the two had spent countless hours as teenagers.
Jay: You know Akva, I’m worried about you. I knew you were a mess before, but it’s gotten worse. Like, you used to be a track star and wanted to go to college and to do stuff with your life. Now you work a shitty minimum wage retail job and live with a bunch of losers in one of the worst district in the entire city! What happened to you? Akva: Losers?! You mean my friends?! And you fucking know what happened to me, you were there.  Jay: You’re just making me sad now. Like, just look at you. You didn’t want to be a lesbian, so you lied to yourself and tried dating guys and it backfired twice. Like one time left you pregnant and the other left you disabled while Khaled fucking died. And now you don’t want to be either of those things so you just do whatever that’s not recommended during your pregnancy while you just let yourself rot as if you died too. Akva: I can no longer run and I can barely swim. My entire life before that night were centered around those two things. If I can’t do either, what’s the point. Jay: Unlike Khaled you have the privilege to still be alive, so use it! Yes, sometime life doesn’t go your way ok! Maybe I didn’t want for my parents to get divorced when I was a kid, maybe I wanted to have clear skin, maybe I wanted to be born a gi-...greater...son...a greater son! Life doesn’t always go your way!!
And Akva started crying, as if she didn’t felt enough guilt already regarding the death of Khaled. She had literally bribed June during her vacation so she wouldn’t bring him up. This caused Jay to go into damage control, especially considering another thing he almost said. Which ironically is also something about himself he can’t accept.
Jay: You know, since you complained earlier that this tank top is the only shirt you have left that fit you, but can’t bring yourself to buy actual pregnancy clothes. Like, my sister had a baby two years ago and you seem to be the same size I think. I could ask her if she doesn’t mind borrowing them to you, which I don’t think she will considering she said my nephew is going to be her only baby. Akva: Are you crazy? I said I don’t want either of our family to find out! Jay: Ok then, I can tell her it’s for me. She caught me trying on her jeans once...In my defense I was just curious how women jeans feel like ok, don’t judge me. I thought she wasn’t home that day. Akva: There is so much things to unpack here I don’t even know where to start. Jay: You know, I think it’s ironic I’m the last person you dated before realizing you like women instead. Akva: Why? Jay: I-I don’t know.
Since the mood was starting to improve again, Akva decided to be a little bit nice and offer Jay to feel the baby. As he did, he started thinking about when the ultrasound technician revealed the gender of the future kid. “It’s a girl”. Why couldn’t it have been what Mister and Misses Ramdeen heard twenty or so years ago.
...Why couldn’t it have been her...
Prev - Next
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whoneedsapublisher · 1 year
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Mari's Big Secret
RubyMari that I've had sitting in my finished fics folder for a while.
Words: ~1600
Summary: Mari has been less than open with Dia before. But after they've reconciled, she'd hoped she wouldn't end up doing it again. But years later, that's just what happens.
Also on Ao3
**************
A secret could provoke a lot of feelings. Sometimes, it made you feel giddy with delight. You could hardly fight the urge to giggle, so pleased you were with the wonderful thing that you had hidden away from the world. Other times, it made you scared, more scared than anything else, a deep, paralyzing fear of being found out, of having a spotlight shined on what you wanted to keep in the dark, something shameful that you couldn’t imagine facing your friends they knew. Sometimes it just made you annoyed, upset that you couldn’t share something so important with the people you cared about.
The best secrets were all three.
And that was the kind of secret that Mari and Ruby were keeping.
It started out suddenly. Well, perhaps it wasn’t really the start. Something like what happened that day didn’t come from nowhere. It had really started when Ruby had peeked out from behind Dia’s legs to shyly say “hi” to Mari for the first time. It had started when Mari had given her a dazzling smile and said that Dia had such a cute little sister. It had started when Mari came back from studying abroad and saw how Ruby had changed. It had started when Ruby saw how little of Mari’s larger than life vivaciousness was the blurred memory of a child.
But it hadn’t necessarily been a secret, then. Perhaps it wasn’t public knowledge, but it was unspoken at best, not something hidden on purpose. It was the spark of something. The flames hadn’t burst to life yet, and so the door of the furnace hadn’t yet been hurriedly slammed shut to keep the inferno inside.
The night it became a secret, though, was an eventful one. It started with an Aquors reunion party. Everyone was old enough to drink, finally, and they took advantage of that. Dia was back in town anyway for Ruby’s 20th birthday, so everyone else who’d moved away came back too to make it a reunion. They met up in Tokyo and took Ruby to a nice bar to celebrate. They talked, and laughed, and drinked, and somehow Mari ended up being the one who helped Ruby into a cab. Probably because Dia was busy being helped into a cab by Kanan. She’d had too much to drink that evening, all while bawling about Ruby being an adult and how her job as a big sister was coming to an end and she couldn’t believe how fast Ruby had grown up.
Once she was in the cab, though, Ruby was a lot less unsteady. Mari had still taken her back to her hotel room just in case. She’d make her some coffee and sober her up before sending her home.
That had been the plan, anyway.
She’d managed the first couple parts well enough. She’d gotten nicer coffee than the hotel’s complementary instant stuff on her first day in Tokyo, and she’d set the electric kettle to boil as she helped Ruby over to one of the cushy chairs. As she waited, she’d kept a close eye on Ruby, making sure she didn’t look like she was about to throw up. Luckily, though, Ruby was seeming a lot better already, and by the time Mari passed her a cup of coffee and she took a careful sip, it seemed like she might not even need it.
“Um,” Ruby said. “T-Thanks, Mari. I think I misjudged my limits a little.”
“It’s no biggie,” Mari said. “You didn’t even throw up! I’ve seen worse. Poor Dia probably got more drunk than you did.”
Ruby giggled.
“Well, you seem back to sobriety, so I should probably send you back home before-”
“I-I’m not.”
Mari paused, and glanced over to see Ruby fidgeting, twisting her hands together in her lap.
“Eh? Scusi?”
“I’m… I’m still a little drunk,” Ruby said quietly, and she reached up to cup Mari’s cheek, standing out of the chair and coming face to face with her. “That’s why… it’s okay.”
And then her lips were pressing against Mari’s, and the situation had suddenly changed.
That was when it became a secret. But at that moment, it could have just been a little secret. It could have been something they just didn’t tell Dia about. Ruby was still a little tipsy and did something impulsive. Dia didn’t have to know about it.
Ruby pulled back from the kiss, watching Mari nervously, like a rabbit suddenly spotting someone, waiting to see if it should flee, its limbs tensed.
“I think,” Mari said quietly. “That I might be a little drunk too. Is that okay, Ruby?”
A relieved smile crossed Ruby’s face, and she nodded. Mari brought their faces back together, and from there, well. Now it was definitely a secret. A big one. One that only got bigger as it became clear that Ruby wasn’t going to be going home that evening.
**************
Secrets, are in some way, inherently dishonest. “The truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth” has no room for secrets. A secret will often, at the very least, require lies of omission. Sometimes it will simply never come up, and a secret can remain a secret even with only those omissions. Even then, a secret can feel dishonest. That you’re hiding something important. That a relationship is built on false pretenses. Even if you know that no one deserves your secrets, keeping them can feel like a dishonest act.
But many secrets require much more direct lies. And this was one of them.
The lies started, of course, the next morning. Sober, Dia awoke to find Ruby not in the house and immediately called Mari in a panic. What could Mari do but lie? She started off with the truth, of course- that Ruby was safe, was with Mari, and had spent the night in her hotel room. But the lies came out right away. Excuses had to be made. Cover stories had to be established. Mari had to pretend that she was wearing pyjamas, had to pretend that she’d leant Ruby a nightshirt. As Dia thanked Mari for taking care of her sister and apologized on Ruby’s behalf, there came the another emotion tied to secrets There was delight. There was fear. There was irritation. But here, finally, came the fourth of the horsemen.
Guilt.
Lying to Dia didn’t feel good. And it certainly didn’t feel good to have Dia thank her for it.
But of course that wasn’t the only reason she felt guilty.
As soon as she got off the phone with Dia, she hunched forward, clutching her head as the enormity of last night crushed down on her.
“Ohhhh Dio mio…” she moaned. “I slept with my best friend’s little sister. Gesù Cristo, Dio lassù, Signore nei cieli, cosa faremo?! Ruby, what are we going to do?”
“Well,” Ruby said, looking innocently up at Mari. “To start off with, I was thinking you could sleep with your best friend’s little sister again before we get in the shower together.”
And then Ruby’s hand started to wander some very exciting places, and Mari decided that maybe she could afford to put off her nervous breakdown for a hour or two.
**************
“Ruby, you’re a miracolo worker,” Mari said, snugging her face into Ruby’s shoulder as she hugged her with the arm thrown over her chest.
“Hmm?” Ruby said.
“You’ve cured my anxiety entirely. It’s miracle!”
Ruby giggled, ruffling Mari’s hair. It sent a bit of a tingle up Mari’s spine. She’d ruffled Ruby’s hair more times than she could count, but had Ruby ever done it back to her like that? She didn’t think she had.
“...So, what happens from here?” Mari asked.
“What do you mean?” Ruby asked.
“We had a nice time, sì?” Mari said, smiling a little weakly. “I hope I lived up to whatever fantasies you had. But… well... “
Ruby frowned and set her shoulders. “Are you saying you don’t want to be with me anymore? Just because of Dia, you want to run away?”
“I didn’t say that,” Mari said.
“You might as well have,” Ruby said. “You want to me say that it was just a one time thing, so you don’t have to say it. Well I’m not going to. I want to do this again. I want you to be my girlfriend. And I don’t care what big sis thinks of it.”
Mari blinked in surprise, and the words came out of her mouth before she thought better of it. “Usually when you want to date someone you start a little slower, cara.”
Ruby blushed. “W-Well,” she mumbled. “I sort of… just meant to kiss you, and then ask you out after that, but... things sort of… escalated a little…”
“Ahh, colpa mia,” Mari said, sighing. “That might have been my fault a little… but you were so cute.”
“Well, I’m asking you out now,” Ruby said, stubbornly. “So?”
Mari sighed and laid back on the pillow, staring up the ceiling above her.
“Well?” Ruby demanded.
“...Dia’s going to kill me for saying yes, you know.”
“I won’t let her.”
Mari glanced up to see the fierce look of determination on Ruby’s face. Ruby had changed so much from when she was a nervous little kid hiding behind Dia’s legs, following her older sister around like a lost puppy. “Mio eroe. My hero. Sì, cara. I’ll go out with you.”
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moveslikeanape · 3 months
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oh no worries, take your time with responding if you need to! i hope you had a good time visiting family, and a happy new year.
dreamlight valley is a pretty casual and simple game as well, though it does get somewhat frequent updates and have time-limited events to get cosmetics and such. but you can currently unlock every character (except for a handful that are part of a DLC expansion) just by playing the game, and have unlimited time to complete their quests. and it's available on PC as well. it's confirmed that tiana and mulan are coming this year, so i'm excited to see them! if tarzan were ever in these games like magic kingdoms or dreamlight valley, how do you think he'd react to being in a totally unfamiliar world with so many other humans like him? do you think he'd be excited, or more nervous, or maybe a mix of both? lorcana only has one treasure planet card right now, of john silver, but the game only released a few months ago so i'm really hopeful that we'll see more treasure planet cards in the future! i'm also hoping that at some point we'll get cards for atlantis: the lost empire. ooh, that tarzan art is great though, thank you for sharing it! i saw wish in theaters and had sort of mixed feelings about it myself, but i hope you enjoy it whenever you get to see it! seeing all the different movies celebrated in the credits made me glad i stayed to watch them, and there's also a really sweet little scene after the credits that's worth watching. ooh, if you'd like to read the article i came across, here's a link to it! https://www.forbes.com/sites/joshweiss/2019/06/17/youll-be-in-our-hearts-an-oral-history-of-disneys-tarzan-for-its-20th-birthday/?sh=50c8c0ab2b74 i actually have not read the original books, or watched any other tarzan adaptations for that matter, but i've heard a handful of things about how they compare to disney's version! i've heard that the books are a lot more violent, for example, that disney fleshed out jane more and gave her more to do, and that kerchak was the one who killed tarzan's father in the books. and, of course, disney's tarzan never learns that he's the earl of greystroke because he chooses to stay in the jungle with the family who raised him. which i think is a beautiful ending despite not being true to the books. would you recommend reading them? -🌟
I did, thank you! And a very happy New Year to you as well!
Unfortunately, my computer is apparently "too old" to be able to play Dreamlight Valley. I've tried but it won't let me. It currently works perfectly for everything I need it to do, so I'm in no rush to replace it. That's awesome that Tiana and Mulan are coming this year, love those characters! I personally think Tarzan would be far more excited to learn about everything new going on around him. He may be a little cautious, but for the most part he'd probably dive right into everything.
Very excited to see what the future holds for Lorcana, every card I see looks so incredible. Atlantis would be an amazing addition, there's so much they could do with it.
I've heard a lot of mixed reviews about Wish. I was really excited to see it, but Disney kind destroyed that by releasing the music. It started off fine, but the more songs I heard, the worse they got. Not a single one of my friends who have seen it liked it. Not having any expectations of liking it much myself, especially given the last few Disney movies… But if Tarzan's included in anyway (even just a small nod), I gotta see it, lol.
That was a great article, thank you so much for the link! So happy Mark Mancina was part of it, his music is so gorgeous and I've always felt he's been overshadowed by Phil Collins. Much as I love Phil, it's so nice to see Mark get the spotlight for a change.
I really enjoyed the books. Haven't been able to read all of them, but I have the first 6 and have read them all many times. They are more violent, and also have some racism and sexism. They are definitely best read if you go in keeping in mind they are a product of their time. They're over 100 years old, a very different time. The apes in the books are a fictional species, separate from gorillas. They have some human like qualities, such as ritual celebration after the vanquishing of an enemy. For both them and other animals (like lions, elephants, etc) I remember thinking he'd probably only heard of the animal and didn't know much about them (there are a LOT of lions in the jungle).
That's true about Kerchak killing Tarzan's father. Disney's Kerchak is kind of a mix between the novel's Kerchak and Tublat (Kerchak is the leader, Tublat is Kala's mate). There's another ape called Terkoz who is an enemy of Tarzan. They changed him into our Terk as a best friend. I would say Disney's Tublat from the tv series is closer to the Terkoz of the novel.
Overall I find the books very well written. I've always loved reading, but it's one of those books that somehow makes me fall even more in love with reading. It does a great job of transporting you to the jungle. I also found the characters are far more developed than I expected them to be. We have that stereotype image of Tarzan being an uncivilized brute, "me Tarzan, you Jane". But he's actually incredibly intelligent (don't want to spoil it, but the things he teaches himself!) and has better moral compass than you would image going into it. And I agree that the Disney ending is beautiful, it fits with the main themes of the movie and is truly the perfect ending to the story. But I think you would really like how it plays out in the books, Tarzan is the definition of a hero in every way.
The novel is actually also in 2 parts. You could get away with just reading the first one, but reading the second as well is definitely much more satisfying… this is making me want to read them again, lol. Better go move them to by to be read pile!
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prettyboybarzal · 3 years
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Falling For You
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Pairing: Jake DeBrusk x female!OC
Summary: Sutton Beckett is settling for an unhappy relationship, but a chance encounter with Jake changes everything. 
Word Count: 18k+
A/N: Happy birthday, JD! Here’s the fic I’ve been working on since the beginning of quarantine. It’s been fun for me to write in my free time. It’s mostly a friends to lovers story, but very much a slow burn. SLOW. BURN. (Title inspired by Fallingforyou by The 1975)
Warnings: Smut, alcohol consumption, shitty boyfriend (not Jake)
Masterlist
January 20th, 2019
Sutton Beckett was pouting into a Long Island Iced Tea in the middle of a club in Boston. Despite being surrounded by her two best friends and a sea of beautiful, smiling people, she couldn’t find it in herself to crack so much as a smirk.
“Stop moping,” her roommate, Kate, demanded. Sutton lifted her chin and caught the glare she was sending her. “You’re no fun when you’re fighting with Garrett.”
“So, she’s no fun all the time?” their other roommate, Mia, asked with a sarcastic laugh.
“I’m fun!”
“Yeah, when you’re not fixated on every little detail of every little fight you have with him.”
Sutton almost opened her mouth to argue that her roommates were wrong, but she was tired of fighting it. They were completely right. Her relationship of two years was draining her energy completely.
When she first met him, their relationship felt like a dream. He was older, so he had a well-paying job and she reaped the benefits of those paychecks. He brought her to five-star restaurants and surprised her with gifts just because. He talked about the future and his plans to buy them a house on the Cape. She loved him, she saw that future with him, but as time had gone on the vision was getting dimmer.
After they hit a year and a half, a switch flipped.
When Garrett stopped caring, she blamed it on his work, but months passed and she needed something new to blame it on. His parents’ divorce, his sister’s Bridezilla wedding planning, even the death of his childhood dog. But she knew, and her friends knew, the relationship was a disaster and her excuses weren’t good enough.
“What was the fight about tonight?”
“He didn’t like what she was wearing,” Kate answered the question before Sutton could even open her mouth. Sutton opened her mouth, no doubt to come to Garrett’s defense, but Kate warned her, “Don’t defend him.”
“I’m going to grab another drink.”
Sutton found an open space at the bar and gunned for it. But, just as she stepped into the space, someone else did the same and she nearly crashed right into the broad chest of a random man. He stopped short just before she collided into him. When she looked up at him, he spoke but the music was too loud to hear. So, he leaned down to speak into her ear.
“You can order first,” he spoke, nodding towards the bar. “I’ll wait my turn.”
The boy stood at least two steps behind her as she leaned against the bar and stood on her tippy toes to get the bartender’s attention. She was shorter than almost everyone standing at the counter and kept getting ignored as a result, so he finally took matters into his own hands and waved the bartender down.
She spotted him and made a beeline to their side of the bar, though she looked directly past Sutton and up to him.
“I’ll have a ginger whiskey,” he spoke. He extended his hand with his card right over Sutton’s shoulder. “And whatever she’s having you can put on my card, too.”
Sutton almost protested, but the moment she turned to do so, he simply shook his head and she snapped her mouth shut. She placed her order, despite herself, and turned back to the boy as the bartender went to grab the drinks.
“I have a boyfriend,” she told him. He choked on his laughter, but said nothing more as he leaned over her to grab their drinks from the counter of the bar. He handed her glass to her as she continued rambling. “I wasn’t sure if you were, like, flirting with me and I didn’t want to take advantage of you if you were.”
“I was totally flirting with you,” he admitted. Sutton’s eyebrows shot up at his honesty. “But, hey, no problem. We can just be friends, yeah?”
She eyed him skeptically because, honestly, no guys just wanted to be friends. But the smile on his face made it hard for her to believe that he had any bad intentions. He just looked kinder than most guys—soft eyes, kind smile, brown hair that was a little long and tousled like he couldn’t have been bothered to groom it himself.
“Sure, we can be friends,” she told him with a smile that mirrored his own. “What’s your name?”
“Jake,” he introduced himself as he extended his hand.
“I’m Sutton,” she responded, dropping her hand in his. His fingers, rough against her much softer and more delicate skin, curled around her hand and gave her a firm shake.
“I love your outfit,” he said, leaning back to admire the lace body suit she paired with black skinny jeans. Her hand remained in his grasp as she threw her head back with a laugh. How beautifully ironic this interaction was.
“Thank you,” she responded, shaking her head at him in amusement as they dropped each other’s hands. “Guys never compliment girls on what they wear, so thank you for being a breath of fresh air.”
“Not even what’s-his-name?”
“Who?”
“Your boyfriend.”
She laughed again before offering his name.
“Garrett.”
“Garrett,” he scoffed. He knew he was probably treading on thin ice, but he also noticed how easily the laughter was falling from her lips, so he continued. “Garrett doesn’t compliment you?”
“Not tonight,” she said, gazing down at the glass in her hands. She didn’t mean for it to come out sounding that sad, and yet. “No.”
Jake frowned as he watched her close in on herself. The laughter was gone and her eyes had gone dark and the smile on her lips was upside down, so he asked, “Do you want to dance?”
And, because the five minutes she’d been around him made her smile harder than the past six months with Garrett, she decided to say, “I’d love to.”
In the middle of the dancefloor, he spun her into his chest. His free hand fell to her hips as her arms curled around his neck to rest her elbows on his shoulders. She giggled softly again before curling her fingers into the hair at the nape of his neck.
It started out innocent enough, but as the music changed so did the air between them. It wasn’t long before her back was pressed against his chest, glasses forgotten on a table a few steps away from them. His hands danced along her sides and wrapped around her waist to pull her close. 
He liked the way she laughed and the way she felt against him and he noticed that she would lull her head to the side when he leaned down to whisper in her ear. His breath tickled her neck and she reacted immediately and it turned him on. He wanted to touch her bare skin, he wanted to kiss her neck, and he wondered if he could press his luck. He reached up, brushed her hair behind her, and leaned in to place a chaste kiss against her neck.
Nothing more happened, though they danced through another few songs before he was dragged away from her to rejoin his friends. He practically begged for her phone and left his number under a contact name of Jane (“Just in case Gary sees,” he explained. “Garrett,” she corrected him.)
When she returned home that night, she jumped in the shower immediately, earning confused looks from her roommates. She told them that she just felt gross when she really just needed to wash him off her skin.
---
February 12th, 2019
“Garrett, wonderful to see you.”
“Likewise.”
Sutton laughed to herself at the sarcastic formalities exchanged between her boyfriend and Mia. It had been a few weeks since her night out with the girls and, even though Sutton and Garrett hadn’t fought since, Mia still couldn’t stand seeing him in their apartment.
“Where’s my girl?”
“Bedroom.”
Sutton heard him approaching and pulled the door open. When he stepped in, he held up a jersey and waved it in her direction.
“You can wear my Pasta jersey tonight,” he spoke. “He’s one of our best players.”
She reached out and took it from his hand, but he didn’t release it. Instead, he leaned in and puckered his lips for a kiss. She complied after mentally rolling her eyes at him. He let go of the jersey, and she slipped it on over a long sleeve shirt. “Are you excited?”
“Yeah, baby,” he answered, stepping up behind her as she check herself out in the mirror. He wound his arms around her waist and kissed her neck. “This is such a great gift.”
“I’m glad,” she said softly, thinking about all the money she’d spent on it. He better have liked it, if not only for the dent it left in her wallet.
They made it to their seats five minutes before puck drop. He spent most of their ride to the Garden talking her ear off about the team and the season they’d been having, but Sutton never cared much for sports so most of it was in one ear and out the other.
It wasn’t until the team came out for the beginning of the game that Sutton’s worlds collided. Above her head on the massive Jumbotron, Jake was smiling down at her. She gasped, hand jolting in surprise just enough to spill some beer on Garrett’s jeans.
“Sutton, what the hell?” he grunted, wiping the liquid off his leg. She muttered an apology, but her eyes were already searching the ice for the boy she’d been considering a missed connection. He stood at center ice, shuffling on his skates as the anthem played. And his number? 74. Just like the jersey Garrett was wearing.
She was flustered in the very worst way. It felt like she was barely functioning, unable to carry a conversation with Garrett because her mind was so clearly on Jake. It was made even worse whenever she caught a glimpse of his last name branded across Garrett’s back. She felt a little bit sick, and a little bit guilty, even though she didn’t really have a reason to be.
On the way back to her apartment, Garrett chattered on about the game while she stared down at her phone in her lap. It felt heavier now that she’d been reminded of the number in her phone.
He walked her up to her apartment, though she kind of hoped he’d just stay in the car, and waited for her to change out of his jersey before going. Kate began to chat with him, and Sutton made a mental note to thank her later for at least being polite.
“What are you guys going to do for Valentines?”
“Well, we just had an early Valentines’ date tonight,” he said. Sutton reentered the room at that moment, wishing she had stayed in her bedroom for a moment longer so she didn’t have to hear that. “Did you have fun, baby?”
She nodded because she genuinely thought if she opened her mouth that she would cry.
“Oh!” Kate responded. Her face was white, eyes shifting uncomfortably between her best friend and the guy who’d just crushed her spirit. “No dinner on the day of?”
Garrett offered the girls a performative pouted, dropping an arm over Sutton’s shoulders, as he responded, “I tried to get reservations at Sutton’s favorite spot, but they’re all booked up.”
“When did you try to do that?” Kate asked, eyebrows raised in shock.
“I called last weekend.”
“Garrett, it’s Valentines’ Day,” Mia grunted as she entered the room. He glared at her. “You can’t just call the weekend before and get a table. You should’ve planned in advance.”
“Oh, no,” Sutton spoke up, suddenly finding her voice as she waved off their concerns. “It’s really not a big deal. We’ve been together for so long, you know? We’ve celebrated way too many things. Besides, Valentines’ is just a money maker, right?”
“You crack me up,” he murmured. He leaned in and pressed a kiss to Sutton’s lips. “Listen, babe, I have to run. Early morning tomorrow. I’ll call you, okay?”
“Okay.”
Kate and Mia waited until they heard the elevator doors close before launching into a dramatic monologue about how much they hated him, how Sutton deserved better. Sutton, on the other hand, made herself a grilled cheese while they ranted at her and tried to tune them out.
When she was in bed later that night, she couldn’t find it in her to turn on the television or read the book she’d bought earlier that afternoon. Instead, she stared blankly at the wall in front of her and let her brain run a mile a minute.
Finally, after about thirty minutes, she grabbed her phone and pulled up Jake’s contact. She laughed at the contact photo, a goofy selfie he’d taken of himself just before leaving her that night.
When were you going to tell me you were a professional hockey player?
She deleted it and retyped it about five times before just hitting send and hoping for the best.
Across the city, Jake was slipping into his apartment and nearly dropped the food he grabbed on the way home when he saw her name flash across the screen. He smiled when he read her message and settled down at the kitchen table to respond before eating.
Right now, I guess
Bubbles popped up on his screen immediately as she typed out a message of her own. He locked his phone, then unlocked it, watching the bubbles intently as if urging her to type faster.
I was at the game tonight… My boyfriend wore your jersey.
Jake licked his bottom lip, tugging it between his teeth to suppress the cocky grin that was finding its way to his lips.
What did you wear?
Sutton laughed at the undertone of the message, but before she could respond he’d already sent another.
I don’t mean it like you think I do. Get your mind out of the gutter.
Her response: I wore a Pastrnak jersey… And my mind isn’t in the gutter
Well, why don’t you just rip my heart out, Sutton???
The next morning, she woke up to a follow request from him and the realization that a simple shower wasn’t going to make him go away.
---
February 14th, 2019
In the two days since Garrett dropped the bomb about the lack of Valentines’ plans, Sutton had come to terms with it. It was okay that they weren’t going out to some fancy dinner surrounded by happy couples or desperate singles… As long as he did something to make up for it.
Quite honestly, she wasn’t asking for much.
Flowers would be great, she thought. But, at this point, she would settle for a heartfelt card (or, hell, even a text).
She woke up to a coffee, still hot, waiting for her on the counter with a sweet Post-It note from Kate. Mia even snuck freshly baked cookies into the girls’ lunches. Sutton would be making dinner in their apartment that night as her contribution to their Valentines’ Day plans. At the end of the day, she knew she’d be thankful she spent the night with her girls instead of Garrett.
Maybe that was a problem.
There were no flowers waiting for her when she got to work, and still none by lunchtime. She checked with the office’s receptionist three times that day, wondering if she’d missed a call or something like that. But she hadn’t.
It was around 4 p.m., two hours until the end of her work day, when she heard the mail cart rolling down the hallway.
“Special delivery for Miss Beckett!”
Sutton’s heart fluttered. She practically danced out to the hallway from her desk. The cute elderly man who delivered the mail was standing just beyond the threshold with a black box wrapped in a beautiful white bow.
“Thank you, Earl.”
“Enjoy, beautiful,” he said. “He better treat you right or someone else might come and snatch you up.”
Sutton laughed politely as she walked back to her desk. She placed the box down and squealed excitedly as she pulled the ribbon apart. She took the top off, pulled back the tissue paper, and revealed a Bruins t-shirt with a note that read: You’d look better in #74 than your boyfriend
+
While Kate and Mia set the dinner table that night, Sutton found herself preoccupied with dinner and Jake DeBrusk, once again. She’d been thinking about his gift all day.
Since she texted him the other night, they’d been Snapchatting a little bit. It was never anything of substance, just photos of his sneakers or skates and her coffees. They hadn’t exchanged any message since earlier that morning, and certainly not after the arrival of his gift, but she knew she’d have to thank him eventually. It made her nervous to think about. She typed out a dozen of texts, but kept talking herself out of it and deleting them. She was so far in her head that she couldn’t figure out how to deal with the situation.
She figured that she should’ve been more upset with him. Sending her a gift on Valentines’ Day when he knew she had boyfriend was clearly crossing a line and she knew she needed to stop him before he took it too far. But, she couldn’t help but ask herself if she even wanted to.
Against her better judgement, Sutton decided she needed to ask for help from the girls. So, as she placed the entrée down on their dining table, she announced, “I need to talk to you guys. And I need you to not be crazies, or jump to conclusions, or anything like that.”
“If it’s about Garrett, I’m liable to be a little crazy.”
“It’s not about him,” she said. “Well, it kind of is. Indirectly, at least.”
“Spit it out, Sutton.”
“Remember when we went out after Garrett and I fought at the end of last month?” she asked. The girls nodded, already digging into the food on their plate despite Sutton being too nervous to put anything on her own. Kate noticed and began shoveling food onto her plate for her, pushing it towards her after it was full. “I met a guy.”
“Excuse me?” Mia blurted out. “What do you mean you met a guy?”
“His name was Jake,” she continued. The girls nodded along, hanging onto every word that Sutton said while she went through the details of the night she met him, and the night she saw him again. They both had smiles on their faces, giggling at the way Sutton relayed their texts from two nights prior.
Kate couldn’t believe she had been talking to a player on the Bruins. Mia was just happy she was talking to someone other than Garrett.
“He sent me one of those t-shirt jerseys,” she said. “Today.”
“Today?!”
“Yeah, and he left a note that said ‘you’d look better in #74 than your boyfriend’.”
The girls swooned.
“I love him!” Mia announced. Kate nodded in agreement. “You have to call him and say thank you.”
“Call him?”
“Absolutely!”
“I feel guilty,” she admitted. “I should probably let him down easy, right? I have a boyfriend, and he knows that. He shouldn’t have sent me that gift… Let alone on Valentines’ Day!”
As expected, her roommates groaned or eye rolled or reacted in whatever frustrated way they wanted to.
“We’ll clean up after dinner if you call him.”
+
Jake declined her call, and then FaceTimed her back. She threw the phone onto her bed, far away from her, at the sight of herself and grabbed an elastic from her dresser to tame the frizzy locks on her head.
“What kind of psychopath FaceTimes someone they hardly know?!” Sutton screamed to her roommates. She heard them laughing in the living room. “And without warning!”
“Answer him!” Mia yelled. “I hate the sound of your ringtone!”
Sutton huffed out in frustration and plopped onto her bed, checking once more to see if she looked okay. She pressed her thumb over the front camera and answered.
Jake was grinning when he popped up, but then he frowned comically.
“I FaceTimed you for a reason.”
“And I voice called you for a reason.”
Sutton watched as Jake threw his head back with a laugh and smiled despite herself. He was in a hotel bed, at least that’s what it looked like, and he was laying on his side, propped up on his elbow. He stared at the black screen on his end of the call and sighed.
“Sutton, show yourself.”
She rolled her eyes, but did as she was told and pulled her thumb off the camera. Before he could say anything, she asked, “How did you know where I work?”
“You put the building on your Instagram story yesterday,” he answered. “And the company is in your Instagram bio. I put two and two together.”
“I really appreciate the gift, Jake, but I have a boyfriend.”
Jake blinked at Sutton, unphased by the statement, before finally saying, “I know that.”
“You really shouldn’t be sending me gifts on Valentines’ Day.”
“It’s Valentines’ Day?” he asked. She honestly couldn’t tell if he was serious or he was just joking around. He laughed softly at her confused expression. “Relax, Sutton. I just wanted to get you the jersey before our game tomorrow night.”
“Oh.”
“Oh,” he teased. She rolled her eyes. “Was he mad?”
“He didn’t see it.”
“Why? Did you throw it out? Don’t tell me you threw it out. I mean, it’s not a big deal. I could pay for a new one, but I always hoped if anyone was going to get rid of my jersey they would burn it. It’s so much cooler that way.”
Sutton laughed at him, and Jake beamed at the sound. He hadn’t heard it since the night at the club and it was just as pretty as he remembered.
“I wouldn’t do that.”
“Shouldn’t you be out right now?” he asked. “It’s only 9 p.m. You look like you’re in bed.”
“That’s because I am in bed.”
“Why?”
“Because I have work tomorrow.”
“What did you do tonight?”
“You ask so many questions.”
“I’m trying to get to know you.”
Although they were a whole country apart from each other, him in a hotel room in California and her in bed in Boston, she felt vulnerable. It was because of the way he was looking at her through the screen, the softness of his voice when he was flirting with her, the not-Valentines’ gift and handwritten note that still sat beside her.
“I made dinner for my roommates and I,” she answered. “It was nice.”
“You and Garrett have roommates?”
“Oh, my God,” Sutton grumbled. He was really going to make her spell it out for him wasn’t she. (And, yes, he fully intended to.) “No. I don’t live with him. I live with my two best friends.”
“Did he not spend Valentines’ with you?”
“No, he did,” she said. Her voice dropped to a mumble. “Two nights ago, at TD Garden with you and thousands of other people.”
“Tell me he got you a better gift than a t-shirt with my last name on it,” Jake pleaded, no longer finding the humor in teasing her about him. Sutton grit her teeth in response, not wanting to tell him the truth but knowing she couldn’t lie. “I am your fucking Valentine.”
“No, you’re not.”
“I am by default,” he argued. “And so are your roommates apparently.”
“We celebrated early! Why is that so crazy?”
“Who bought the tickets to the game?” Jake asked. Her silence spoke volumes. “You did, huh?” Sutton nodded. “What kind of asshole doesn’t get his girlfriend a gift on Valentines’ day? What kind of asshole doesn’t even bring her out to dinner?”
“Jake, that’s enough.”
“Did he send you flowers? A card?”
“Jake!” Sutton yelled. He pulled his phone away from his face at the sharpness of her tone. “I don’t want to hear it from you. I already hear it from my roommates. I don’t need to hear it from you. You don’t even know me.”
“Well, I want to.”
There was a pause in conversation, a moment of intense eye contact (if you could even call it that through the phone). Then, Sutton dropped her head back in frustration.
“Why?”
“Because I’ve been thinking about you since I first met you.”
“I have a boyfriend, Jake.”
“Sort of.”
“Stop.”
“Okay.”
Sutton let out a frustrated sigh and Jake watched her run her free hand through her hair while her eyes gazed at something across the room. They looked like they were welling up and Jake frowned, the feeling of helplessness washing over him as he realized he didn’t quite know how to make the situation any better.
“You’re going to wear the shirt tomorrow, though, right?” he asked, forcing a grin onto his face. She looked at him and laughed. “Because if you tell me you’re wearing a Pasta jersey again, it will break my heart.”
“Yes, I’ll wear your jersey.”
They spent another thirty minutes on the phone talking about nothing important. Jake was happy to be talking to her for real, not through Snapchats that he had to disguise as snaps he sent to everyone on his contact list. As their time together ended, it was clear neither of them was quite ready to hang up.
“I’ll admit,” she started. Jake’s eyebrows perked up. “I like talking to you, Jake DeBrusk.”
“I knew I’d wear you down at some point.”
“But I have a boyfriend.”
“What did I say at the bar?” he asked. She narrowed her eyes at him, unsure of what he was referring to. The only thing that came to mind from that night was the feeling of his lips against her skin. It was hard to remember everything else. He made her head fuzzy. “We can just be friends.”
---
March 1st, 2019
Sutton’s relationship with Garrett and her friendship with Jake were never supposed to come closer to intersecting than it had on February 12th and there were a few reasons for that.
The first was that Sutton didn’t want to taint the friendship she had with Jake by throwing Garrett into the equation. It just felt too close for comfort. Besides, she knew the two wouldn’t get along. Jake was giggly, happy, full of life. Garrett was serious, grumpy, exhausting. Just because she liked being around them separately did not mean she’d like them together.
The second was that she knew if Garrett found out about their friendship, he would be pissed. There was a reason she shied away from having guy friends. Garrett hated sharing her with other guys, and that included her work husband who was a gay man in his 40s. He was slightly possessive, but she brushed it off as his own insecurities and vowed not to make the relationship more difficult than it needed to be. Just like everything else in life, Sutton catered the relationship to him.
Kate and Mia found humor in the way that Sutton’s life had suddenly become a revolving door. Garrett was there one minute and the second he was gone Jake was showing up at their front door. They started referring to the two parts of Sutton’s life as church and state. Always separate.
She found it easy to keep it that way. Her friendship with Jake was almost completely virtual, save for a happy hour or two. He was busy with hockey, so she didn’t have to worry about him asking her to hang out on the weekends or ever at night. She reserved those for Garrett.
Besides, something about being with another guy after sunset just felt a little scandalous to her and she didn’t need anyone—Jake, Kate and Mia, Garrett, herself—getting the wrong idea.
Nights with Garrett were few and far between. He seemed to be getting busier and busier at work, but Sutton played the part of the doting girlfriend (which really she was) even better. She made him dinner before he went in for night shifts, waited for him to come home from working overtime to give him a massage, made him breakfast before he went out to work again.
Things seemed to be getting better between them, despite his busy schedule. So much so that he met her at work that Friday to bring her to happy hour. He said he wanted to check out a new place downtown, and she went happily because it finally felt right.
Apparently, the opening of this bar was highly anticipated because the place was packed. Unlike Valentines’ Day, Garrett called ahead. Sutton kept the sarcastic comments swirling through her mind to herself and settled into the booth across from him with a sweet smile.
They browsed the menu; Sutton a little longer than Garrett due to her indecisiveness. He gazed around the bar, taking in the atmosphere and then the sight of not one, not two, but a whole group of Boston Bruins.
“Sutton, you’ll never guess who just walked in,” he said in an excited whisper. Sutton gazed up at him from the menu with a smile, then followed his eyes to the door. “Do you know who that is?”
Among a group of men in athletic clothing stood Jake in a Bruins sweatshirt. She spun back to face Garrett and shook her head to give him the illusion that she had no idea who they were even though her heart was about to jump out of her chest.
“Those are some of the Bruins players,” he murmured. “I gotta get a picture with them.”
“Well, why don’t you just let them get drinks and then you can ask for a picture before we leave,” she suggested. The shake of her voice was enough to give her away, if Garrett would only listen.
“That’s Jake DeBrusk,” he continued, eyes still trained on the men across the room. “And Charlie McAvoy.”
“Stop staring, babe,” she said. She took his chin between her fingers and redirected his attention to her. “It’s rude to stare.”
“Well, I’m sorry,” he grumbled, leaning back against his seat. “It’s like if one of those podcasters you liked walked in. I’m star struck.”
Sutton’s heart was pounding in her chest long after Garrett stopped staring at the players that had entered the bar. She knew Jake wouldn’t notice her with her back to him, and since he’d never met Garrett it was impossible that he’d even recognize him. But with Garrett jumping for joy at the opportunity to meet them, she knew she couldn’t avoid him completely.
She spent the entire time trying to figure out how this was going to go down, and even when it came down to it she couldn’t be sure she was making the right decision.
She gathered her things, including her nerves, as Garrett approached Jake. He’d been on the way to the bar when Garrett reached him and the two exchanged polite conversation, smile plastered across Jake’s face as usual.
“Sutton, baby, would you come take a picture for us?”
His smile dropped the moment Sutton locked eyes with him.
“Sure!” she said cheerily, diverting her eyes from his stare. She flitted over to take Garrett’s hand in hers. Jake watched, stomach turning. He was frozen in place. She wasn’t even going to say hello? She wouldn’t meet his eyes or even give him a playful look, a wink even, to acknowledge him behind Garrett’s back.
Jake clenched his jaw and led them back to the table, teeth grinding against each other like they never have before.
“Boys, real quick picture, okay?”
Everything moved so fast. Garrett jumped in with them, Sutton snapped the picture, then stepped away as Garrett praised them on the season they’d been having. She ignored the way Jake was staring at her, tapping away at her phone instead of engaging with him. Like, what else was she supposed to do?
“What’s your name?” Charlie called out. Sutton looked up at him, anxious as all hell that the cat was going to be out of the bag in approximately five seconds. Thankfully, Garrett was talking to one of the other guys they were with and she caught her breath. “You look familiar.”
“Familiar?” she asked with a laugh. Jake watched her carefully. “I don’t think we’ve met before.”
Charlie looked skeptical and then, as he turned to ask Jake if he thought you look familiar too, it clicked.
“Holy shit,” he murmured. And then, as he looked back and forth between the two of them, he also realized the tension. “Holy shit.”
Jake shook his head at Charlie before turning to sit in his chair. Sutton stared at his back, hating every choice she’d made in the minutes before.
“Well, listen, I’ll let you guys get back to it,” Garrett finally said. Sutton redirected her attention to him, hand curling around his forearm as he reached out to her. “Good luck the rest of the way.”
He received words of thanks from the men as they turned back to their food and drinks, and then he was guiding her out of the entrance of the restaurant. Sutton stole one last glance at Jake on the way out and knew that she fucked up.
For the rest of the meal, Jake was quieter than usual because his head was reeling. He was stupid to ever get attached to her. All the time they’d spent talking made him forget that she already had someone at home. Seeing him with her, holding her hand, snapped Jake back to reality. He needed to give himself space.
That’s why when Sutton texted him that night to apologize. (I’m sorry about today! I didn’t really know what I was supposed to do. But thanks for taking a picture with him.)
He left her on read.
---
March 4th, 2019
Nights were meant for Garrett, but Sutton gave herself one pass.
Jake hadn’t answered her texts or Snapchats since happy hour. She knew the way she acted was shitty, but did he expect her to just tell Garrett about him? It seemed like mess of situation that she didn’t want to get into. Three days later, and after numerous attempts to get in contact with him, she had to go full-on stalker mode.
Jake was at practice late that afternoon, so she planned to grab his favorite meal from a local Thai restaurant and drop it at his apartment when he was home later that night. She followed through, feeling confident in herself as she marched towards his apartment with her head held high.
That feeling dissipated almost as soon as the elevator left the ground floor, but she kept it pushing despite the anxiety. At his door, she knocked once, and waited. No response came. She knocked two more times with the same result and decided to give up.
Maybe it was a sign from the universe that she wasn’t supposed to try to fix this. She took this thought in stride, turning to walk away from his door and find shelter in her apartment across the city. And then the elevator opened and Jake stepped out.
They both stopped in their tracks.
“What are you doing here?”
“I wanted to drop this off,” she answered, extending the Styrofoam take-out box to him. He walked toward her with his duffel bag over his shoulder looking tired and sweaty. He took the box from her hand as he passed by her to unlock his door.
He was momentarily stunned into silence. She had texted him and called him a few times since happy hour, but he figured she’d just stop trying eventually. The thought of never seeing her again stung, but he gave himself a lengthy pep talk the day after the Garrett fiasco and then he re-downloaded all his dating apps.
“I’m going to go.”
“Hold up,” he murmured, kicking the door open. “Come inside for a minute.” Her feet remained planted to the carpeted hallway beneath her feet. She glanced at the elevator, then back at him. “Or don’t.”
Jake pushed the door open enough to slip through it with an annoyed huff of air, and then it slammed shut behind him.
She continued down the hall despite the invitation she desperately wanted to take. She reached the elevator and pressed the button to call it up to his floor. The whir of the car started immediately. The doors opened just a minute later, but Sutton was already on the way back to Jake’s front door.
She only knocked once before he was swinging the door open and stepping aside to welcome her in.
Jake walked straight into the kitchen where the microwave was already heating up the Thai food she’d brought for him. While she sat at the counter, Jake leaned up against the opposite side and asked, “What did you buy me Thai for?”
“It’s an apology.”
“The Thai food is an apology?”
“Yes.”
“For what?” he asked, crossing his arms over his chest. He narrowed his eyes at her, as if he had no idea what he was talking about. He knew damn well what it was for. He just wanted her to say it herself.
“For happy hour the other day.”
Jake hummed, seemingly satisfied by her answer, and grabbed the food from the beeping microwave before slipping out of the kitchen to the living room. Sutton stood there a moment longer, ignoring her overwhelming urge to find a pillow and scream right into it.
“Do you want me to leave you alone?”
Her question was followed by a moment of silence until he reappeared in the doorway. He gave her an amused look before he stepped over to the utensil drawer to grab two forks.
“Sutton, when have I ever wanted you to leave me alone?” He paused. “Do you want me to leave you alone?”
“No.”
“Great.” He turned and continued out of the room. “Come eat.”
Jake sat on the floor on one side of his coffee table, and Sutton sat across from him. He turned the television on to some rerun of Friends and watched absentmindedly while they ate, his quiet chuckles the only thing filling the air around them.
Sutton watched him, mostly because he wasn’t looking at her, and felt relief wash over her. The tension in her shoulders over almost everything going on in her life was momentarily cured just because she was near him. She knew the Thai food was only a momentary solution and that a more serious conversation would follow later, but she didn’t care. This moment was something she’d been wanting since she saw him on Friday.
After eating, Jake showered and left Sutton in the living room to pick a movie for them to watch. When he returned, she was sitting on the opposite end of the couch from where he had been. He settled down onto the cushion without a word, eyes grazing over the description of the movie she’d picked out.
“Feels weird to have you all the way over there,” he said softly.
She stood and readjusted herself on the cushion beside him. Her legs folded beneath her as she pulled her sweatshirt sleeves over her hands. He noticed the way she was curling into herself and sighed in defeat, dropping his head against the back of the couch.
“Are you cold?” he asked. Sutton glanced over at him. “Or do you just feel that weird around me now?” She frowned. He looked away from her, muttering, “If I had known that you were going to be there with him, I would’ve gone somewhere else.”
“This is so fucked up,” she groaned into her hands. “That’s so unfair to you, Jake.”
“What do you mean?”
“You would have gone somewhere else? So that I could keep my friendship with you private from my relationship? Who does that?” she rambled. “Christ. Why do you deal with this? I’m such a shitty friend.”
“You’re not shitty, Sutt.”
“Yes! I am!” she exclaimed. “I should’ve just told Garrett that we met, but I didn’t because I knew he’d be pissy and I didn’t want to deal with it. Now, look! I’ve just made the situation worse because I hurt you and dug myself into a hole even deeper than it already was.”
“Why would you even think he’d be mad?”
“There’s a reason I’m only friends with girls, Jake.”
He stared at her long and hard after that admission feeling an anger boil in his stomach that he hadn’t felt in a very long time. Finally, he asked, “Does he not let you have friends who are guys?”
Sutton’s answered with a look.
“He—he doesn’t hit you, does he?”
“No!” she exclaimed. “No. Never. I wouldn’t be with him if he was, like, abusive.” She almost couldn’t get the words out because she realized how ridiculous she sounded. She couldn’t even believe herself.
Jake huffed, his eyes rolling in frustration, as he said, “Okay, so he’s not physically abusive.”
“Jake.”
“No, I know,” he murmured. “You don’t want to talk about it. You never want to talk about it.”
He turned his attention back to the TV screen, jaw clenched so he could hold back all the words he wanted to say. He kept it to himself, knowing that if he spoke he’d be speaking out of anger and it would just make the situation worse.
So, he waited until he was composed. He waited until he was levelheaded. And level headed Jake cared more about keeping his friendship with Sutton intact than telling her that her boyfriend was a piece of shit.
“I hate being mad at you so much,” he said with a sigh. She pouted at him. “You’re like my best friend.”
“You’re mine, too,” she whispered. Jake stretched and pulled her into him for a hug. She relaxed in his arms, sighing softly into the crook of his neck. “I’m sorry.”
“It’s okay,” he said. “I just wish you wouldn’t let him control your life the way you do.”
Sutton pulled away and sighed.
“Things are good between us right now,” she said. “I know you don’t really understand it. Kate and Mia don’t either, I know that. It’s just that Garrett has been good to me. I’m happy.”
“Okay.”
“And I know that our friendship started out a little flirtatiously,” she continued. “But I can’t let you get the wrong idea, Jake. I’m happy with Garrett and I don’t want to lose you because of it. We’re—”
“We’re just friends,” Jake jumped in. “That’s what we have been since you yelled at me for buying you a Valentines’ gift.”
“I just wanted to make sure that the lines weren’t blurred.”
“Not blurred,” he insisted. “You’re my friend, Sutt. That’s all.”
---
March 17th, 2019
Jake was on his way to Sutton’s apartment because Garrett did something fucked up. He was beginning to forget how to treat Sutton again and Jake found himself picking up the pieces more than once. It wasn’t his job. He knew that, and yet he was still showing up to check on her.
Boston was in full-on party mode for St. Patrick’s Day and though Jake had been invited to a teammate’s house that night, he was on his way to Sutton’s apartment with ice cream. She answered the door, eyes rolling when she saw Jake on the other side. She told the girls not to tell him what Garrett had done that day… Clearly, they didn’t listen.
“Why are you here?”
“That was not a nice hello,” he noted as he pushed past her. He stepped into the kitchen and grabbed two spoons before entering the living room with Sutton hot on his heels. “What are you doing?”
“I was watching Project Runway,” she told him. She grabbed the remote and paused the television. He raised an eyebrow at her.
“Is Project Runway your emotional support show?”
“Who says I need emotional support?”
“Your roommates.”
“God, they’re so nosy,” she muttered. “I told them not to call you.”
“I would’ve figured it out even if they didn’t,” he said. He sat down on the couch and opened the pint of ice cream he’d brought with him. “I knew something was wrong just from the way you were texting me.”
“How?”
“Just your general lack of interest in the conversation.”
“Sorry.”
“All good,” he said, waving her off. He lifted the pint up toward her. “That’s why I came with your favorite flavor!”
Sutton fell to the couch beside him and grabbed a spoon, heart fluttering at his thoughtfulness. He pulled her legs over his lap and gazed over at her as she started digging into the Ben & Jerry’s in her hand.
“So, what happened?”
“Today’s our anniversary,” she explained. She handed him the pint after placing the spoon in her mouth, eyes fluttering shut as the flavor exploded in her mouth. Jake huffed, scooping out a spoonful for himself.  
“Why isn’t he celebrating with you?”
“He had a St. Patrick’s party at his office,” she answered. “He’s up for a huge promotion at work, again, so he’s sucking up.”
“He couldn’t bring a plus-one?”
“I didn’t ask.”
Sutton might’ve asked Garrett at the beginning of their relationship, but she would never ask him to demand a plus-one now. And there was a very good reason for this. She was sure that if he’d dragged her along, she would find out something that she didn’t want to know. Something along the lines of him cheating on her.
All the signs were there, but she didn’t want to believe it. Or confront him about it.
And she certainly didn’t want to tell Jake.
“That’s so unfair to you,” he grumbled, passing the ice cream back to her. “You should say something to him. I thought things were going well for a little bit.”
“Yeah, well,” she said dismissively. “This is how things are between us.”
“Isn’t it exhausting, Sutton?”
“A little bit.”
“You deserve better than exhausting.”
+
When Kate and Mia got home later that night, they found the two of them wrapped up in each other and a message on the television asking if they were still watching their show. The sound of the door slamming shut startled the two awake and, under the watchful eyes of her roommates, Sutton scrambled off him.
“Hi, sleepy heads.”
“What time is it?” Jake grumbled, reaching out for his phone. He read the time, dropping his head against the pillow in frustration. Sutton left the room in search of sweatshirt and Jake found himself cornered by the other two girls. “I have to go.”
He stood, running his hands through his hair to contain the locks that were sticking up from the pillow. The roommates watched him with amused smiles.
“That was sweet,” Kate said. Mia nodded in agreement, but he just rolled his eyes.
“Friends,” he said. A sigh of disappointment fell from Kate’s lips. “That’s what she wants. That’s what I’m giving her. Don’t complicate it.”
“You two are so full of shit,” Mia grumbled as she marched out of the living room.
When Sutton returned, she looked ready for bed. Her hair was pulled up into a bun and her sweatshirt hung loose over her much smaller body. Kate was in the kitchen, out of sight, so Sutton’s guard fell for a moment. She walked over to Jake and wrapped her arms around his waist to cuddle against his chest again.
“Talk to Garrett, would you?”
She looked up at him, almost pleading him to drop the subject, but caught the look in his eye and knew he was serious.
“Okay, I will.”
“I just want you to be happy,” he said. “And he makes you happy, right?”
---
March 26th, 2019
Charlie was disappointed in Jake. There he stood, in Charlie’s kitchen, with his hip cocked against the counter and his phone in his hand. It had been two months since he met this girl and he was still pining after her, even though she had a boyfriend. It was pathetic.
“Sutton?”
Jake hummed at him in response. Charlie rolled his eyes and ripped the phone from his hands like a middle school bully. He glanced down at the screen, eyes catching her name and a horrible grey text to blue text ratio.
“Dude, are you triple texting a girl with a boyfriend?”
He shoved the phone back to Jake who then placed it in his back pocket with a scowl.
“I’m worried about you.”
“We’re friends.”
“You got friendzoned by a girl you tried to hit on at a club,” Charlie pointed out. “Where did you go wrong?”
“I talked to her.”
“Is she coming tonight?” he asked, deciding to use mercy rules on his love-struck friend.
“Yep,” Jake answered, avoiding eye contact with Charlie. It didn’t go unnoticed by McAvoy and he was waiting for Jake to drop whatever bomb was coming. “I think she might be bringing her boyfriend.”
“What?”
“It’s my fault,” Jake said. “I told her she could bring him if she wanted to.”
“Why would you do that?”
“She wanted to be here to celebrate us clinching a playoff spot. And I really wanted to see her, but she also had dinner plans with him. So, I told her to bring him with her after dinner.”
“I don’t want that prick in my apartment.”
Although Charlie thought Jake’s crush was ridiculous, he started to become a little protective of her over the last two months. He was always hearing all the crazy stories about her boyfriend and how shitty he was to her. It made Charlie itch.
He’d been around Sutton a few times since he saw her at happy hour, mostly at Jake’s apartment and in passing. She spent some time there on the weekdays, when Charlie assumed Garrett was at work. She was always making sweets for Jake (he claimed it was because she was stressed, though Charlie thought it was something more than that). When she noticed that Charlie would steal half of them each time, she started leaving him a bag of goodies too.
Other than those few occurrences, Jake was mostly talking his ear off about the times they could grab lunch or drinks. And, though he was still completely head-over-heels for her, the relationship between the two of them seemed to shift to a more platonic type. Forget the constant flirting and you just had two best friends.
“I don’t want him here either,” Jake grumbled. “But I want her, so we’ll just have to deal.”
Truth be told, Jake had gotten better at just being her friend. She stopped telling him all the shitty stuff that Garrett did to her. Instead, they talked about work and the things they would do when they finally got time off. Even Kate and Mia stopped telling him when Sutton and Garrett fought.
It was a step in the right direction, but he still knew things weren’t going right. He could tell by the way she filled his counter with baked goods and picked out the sappy rom coms on movie nights. Both were becoming a daily occurrence, but Jake kept his mouth shut. 
He kept checking his phone for a sign of life from Sutton. Dinner with Garrett was at 6:30 p.m. 10:30 p.m. came around and his phone was still dry.
He hated himself for being so hung up on it because she was out with her boyfriend! Maybe they were having a great time, maybe for once in their relationship Garrett was doing the right thing and she was happy, maybe they’d gone back to his place… Jake shook off the traitorous thought.
He spent the night bouncing from group to group until Charlie pulled him into a conversation with some of his girlfriend’s friends. It was obvious, from the look in Charlie’s eyes, that this was a set up in progress. And, for the first time in a long time, Jake let it happen.
He talked to the girl in front of him, a small brunette with big brown eyes, for what seemed like hours. And not in a good way. He wondered if maybe she was being so boring to get him to kiss her, but it wasn’t working. He didn’t want to kiss her because he didn’t want to kiss anyone but Sutton.
Jake sighed, lifting his hand to the girls forearm to say, “It was really nice to meet you, but I’m gonna run to the bathroom.”
She looked at him like he punched her in the gut.
When he got to the bathroom, he peed and then stared at himself in the mirror for a little bit too long. He wasn’t even drunk. He just needed to have a moment with himself. Finally, when he felt centered, he leaned over the sink and splashed some cold water on his face before slipping out to the hallway once more.
“Jake!”
The sound of Sutton’s voice echoed off the walls of the hallway and set him off kilter once again. She bounded forward and wrapped her arms around his waist, effectively turning him to putty in her hands.
“Hi,” she greeted. She hung on him a little more than she usually did. Jake gazed down at her, thinking she looked a little bit like an angel with her hair pinned back like that.
His lips turned up into a small smile as he pressed a kiss against her forehead and murmured, “Hey.”
Mia turned down the hallway at that moment and let out a large exhale.
“Oh, good,” she huffed out. “She found you.”
Kate bumped into Mia from behind, apparently also in search of the sweet girl in his arms.
“She found him!”
“I found him!” Sutton exclaimed, clapping her hands over Jake’s cheeks as she looked up at him.
“You found me,” he responded with a soft laugh. He brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, then glanced up at her roommates over her shoulder with a concerned look.
Kate came forward, wrapping her arms around Sutton’s waist to pull her from Jake.
“Come to the bathroom with me?”
“Sure, lovebug!” Sutton exclaimed. She turned back to look at Jake and planted a kiss right on his lips so quickly that he didn’t even get a chance to close his eyes, pucker his lips, or savor the moment. With a shocked gasp, Kate pulled Sutton away to the bathroom down the hall.
Jake’s eyes widened when he looked back at Mia.
“What the fuck is happening?” he asked, reaching up to brush his fingers along the tingling on his lip.
“She thinks Garrett is cheating on her.”
“Weren’t they supposed to be at dinner tonight?”
“He didn’t show, so she checked his location,” Mia explained. “He’s at a coworker’s house. Apparently, it’s been happening for a while and she didn’t care to tell us until tonight.”
Jake couldn’t decide what he was feeling. He was simultaneously pissed off at Garrett for being a dickhead, and Sutton for kissing him in that moment, and himself for feeling butterflies.
“She ended up eating dinner at the bar of the restaurant by herself and came back to our place bombed,” Mia continued. “We tried to get her in bed, but she insisted on seeing you. So, here we are.”
“She can’t stay.”
“We know that,” she said. “But she won’t leave with just us.”
The two of them exchanged a knowing look before the door down the hall swung open and Sutton stepped out, pulling Kate along with her. Jake stuffed down his frustration towards her and walked over with a smile to pick her up in a hug. She giggled and pressed her forehead against his.
“Let’s go home, yeah?”
“I just got here!”
“Yeah, but I’d much rather be at your place right now.”
Sutton pouted. Jake pouted back. And then she was smiling again.
+
Charlie stopped Jake before he slipped out the door behind the girls. His fingers curled into his teammate’s bicep way harder than necessary. Jake winced beneath his grasp.
“You need to sort this Sutton situation out,” he spoke. “I saw her plant one on you.”
“I don’t know what’s going on with her.”
“You are going to let this girl rip your heart out if you don’t set some boundaries,” Charlie barked. “I know you love her and I know deep down she’s not a shitty person, but I think she needs to figure her shit out on her own. You need to stop trying to fix everything for her.”
The ride back to Sutton’s apartment was silent. Charlie’s words echoed in his head as he slipped into the back of the car with Sutton right behind. She kicked her legs up over his lap and snuggled into his chest. Knowing nothing would get solved with her this drunk, he sighed and wrapped his arm around her shoulders to pull her into him.
He couldn’t believe she just kissed him like that, especially because she thought Garrett might’ve been doing the same thing across the city. It felt like he was a pawn in her little game, and he hated that because Sutton was better than that. At least he thought so.
Soft snores fell from her lips moments after they pulled away from the apartment building. Without thinking, he began to massage the top of her head. Kate watched with a fond smile on her face.
Jake carried her up to the apartment, stirring her from sleep only as he placed her on her bed.
“Jake,” she murmured. He knelt beside her and started to unclasp the heels she was wearing.
“Sutton.”
“Thank you.”
He hummed, picking up the shoes to place them by her closet door.
“Come to the bathroom,” he urged, extending his hand to her. “We’ll get that make up off. You can brush your teeth.” He turned away from her once she was standing and smirked. “Maybe even throw up if you feel so inclined.”
Sutton hit him lightly on the back, a giggle falling from his lips at the teasing.
Jake rummaged through the cabinets in search of her make up wipes while she sat atop the counter and brushed her teeth. After rinsing, she watched him with tired eyes as he moved to stand between her legs.
He cupped the back of her neck to hold her head steady while he removed her makeup and tried not to think about the way that she was looking at him, or how she melted into his touch the moment he held her. Her eyes fluttered shut for him to get off her eye makeup. When they opened again, their eyes met in a steady, loving gaze.
“You’re going to be the death of me, Sutton,” he murmured. He stepped back and opened the bathroom door once more to usher her out. She did as she was told and retreated to her room to crawl into bed. He returned a few minutes later with a bottle of water and pain killers. He placed them on her bedside table.
“Are you mad at me?” she asked. Jake sat down beside her and she reached up to cup his cheek in her hand. He leaned against her palm as her thumb stroked his cheekbone.
“We’ll talk tomorrow,” he responded. Her eyes began to well up. “You’re working yourself up. Don’t do that. We’ll be fine, okay?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Okay.”
She brushed the tears away with the back of her hand and sniffled. Jake placed a kiss against her forehead before turning to leave. He stopped at the door and looked back at her as she settled beneath the comforter and snuggled the pillow beneath her head.
“Call me when you get up.”
+
Sutton didn’t call by 10 a.m. the next morning, so Jake swung by to check on her. Mia let him in and informed him that she still wasn’t awake. He walked down the hall anyway, stopping just beyond the threshold of her door before pushing it open to find her sprawled out with her face mushed into the pillow. He took a few silent steps towards her bed and sat at the edge of it before lightly shaking her awake.
She woke with a start, the touch of Jake’s hand against her ankle shocking her enough to sit up right.
“Ouch,” she grumbled, squinting her eyes at the light filtering in from the window as she brought a hand to her head to stop the throbbing. Jake sprung up to shut the blinds. “Thank you.”
“I thought you’d be awake already,” he said, standing in front of the remaining rays of light coming through the window. “Get up. Let’s get breakfast.”
Jake was beyond anxious as they walked to her local diner. He wondered if she could tell that he was off or if she even remembered what happened. The way that she was talking, so nonchalant and unbothered, gave him the impression that she had no clue what damage she’d done last night.
“I honestly don’t remember getting to Charlie’s last night,” she admitted as they sat in a booth beside the window. “I remember seeing you in bits and pieces.”
“Really? Do you remember that I put you to bed?”
“Oh, Jake.” She dropped her head into her palms as she shook her head in disappointment at herself. He tried to hide the frown on his lips by turning his attention to the coffee in front of him. He ripped open a sugar packet and dumped it into the mug as Sutton grumbled about how sorry she was.
She continued talking, but Jake was finding it hard to listen. How could she act like nothing was wrong when it felt like the weight of his whole world was crushing him?
“When are you gonna tell me about your dinner with Garrett?” he blurted out as he finally met her eyes again. Her mouth snapped shut and realization set in that he wasn’t the happy-go-lucky Jake she thought she was grabbing breakfast with. He was not happy.
“He didn’t show up. He had something work related to take care of.”
“At his coworker’s house?”
“How do—”
“Mia filled me in when you showed up at Charlie’s,” he answered. “You were already plastered when you got to the party.” He paused. “Why didn’t you call me when he didn’t show?”
“Because it’s not your job to pick up the pieces every time he fucks up.”
“Then who will? Yourself? Because you did a pretty shitty job of it last night,” he spat. Sutton sat back against the vinyl seat behind her, shocked at his outburst. He paused, inhaling deeply before dropping the bomb. “You kissed me. Do you remember that, Sutton?”
Her jaw dropped and a hand came up to clasp over her mouth in shock as she mumbled out an apology that Jake didn’t want to hear.
“I like you, Sutton. I like being around you and talking to you. But, you drew a line months ago… A line that I’ve stopped trying to cross. And then you just kissed me, like there’d be no consequences.”
“I shouldn’t have done that.”
“But you did. And this morning you still woke up as his girlfriend, and you will tomorrow morning too. So, all I’m asking is that you figure your shit out with him and you don’t drag me into it. You can’t just kiss me because you think he also might be kissing someone else. That’s not fair. You wanted friends, so I gave you friends.”
As if by some divine intervention, their meals came at that moment and the conversation was dropped immediately. When they reached the front door of Sutton’s apartment, Jake didn’t try to come in like he usually did on hungover Sunday mornings. Instead, he stopped at the door.
“Sutton, I’m saying this to you as your friend and nothing more,” he started. “I can’t be around you until you figure your shit out. I’m tired of being your second choice. You have to figure out your worth and I can’t hold your hand until you get there. It’s driving me crazy.”
She stared up at him, eyes welling up with tears, and realized that the best thing in her life was about to walk away. A rogue tear slipped down her cheek, but she wiped it away quickly hoping that he wouldn’t notice. He did, though, he always did.
He pulled her into his arms, engulfing her in an embrace despite the conversation at hand. She stayed still for a moment, rigid even, until she heard Jake let out a shuddering breath into the crook of her neck. Only then did she reciprocate the hug, arms wrapping around his neck like he was her anchor.
---
May 17th, 2019
Sutton didn’t know what she expected to see when she walked into the club, but it definitely wasn’t Jake dancing on a table in the VIP section. She watched as Charlie grabbed his arm and pulled him back down to solid ground, unable to peel her eyes off the boy who’d become a stranger.
“Did you see him?” she asked Mia.
“I don’t think there’s a single person at this club that didn’t.”
When they reached a table, she glanced back in his direction, but the crowd had grown so thick that she couldn’t find him. Kate, who’d already made a beeline for the bar, found them moments later with drinks in hand. She handed one to each of the girls. She took one glance at Sutton and asked, “What’s the face for?”
“In true Sutton Beckett fashion, Jake was the first thing she saw when we walked in here.”
“Jake’s here?”
“Why do you think we’re here, Kate?” Mia asked. Sutton looked at her with a slight panic to her expression. Mia raised her eyebrows at her with a smirk. “Yeah, I know all your tricks.”
“He posted it on his Instagram story, okay?”
Kate dropped her face into her palms, grumbling, “Why won’t you just call him like a normal person?”
“I’m planning to,” she said defensively. Mia hummed in disagreement. “What? I will! Eventually. Like at the end of the season probably.” The girls groaned at that answer. “I don’t even know if he wants to talk to me. He said he didn’t wanna be around until I figured my shit out.”
“Yeah, and you broke up with Garrett two months ago!” Kate exclaimed while Mia grunted, “You like sabotaging yourself, don’t you?”
“You both suck.”
After Jake left that morning, Sutton felt like she cried forever. The door shut behind him and she sank down to the floor and sobbed. Mia and Kate came to her rescue immediately. They listened to her when she wanted to talk about it and, finally, helped her cleanse the apartment of all traces of Garrett. Mia even went as far as purchasing sage to burn. They packed his things into a box and placed it on the floor beside the door with plans to drop it off to him the next day.
When Sutton called him to end it and let him know she was dropping his shit off, he didn’t pick up. It continued for another two days before Kate and Mia were tugging her out to the streets in pursuit of his office building. She ultimately found him flirting with the receptionist in his office and dropped the box to the floor. She kicked it over to him, sending the contents flying.
“Go fuck yourself, Garrett.”
“I never liked you,” Mia echoed. Sutton marched toward the exit, ignoring the protests coming from her scumbag ex’s mouth. She grabbed the girls’ arms and dragged them out with her. “Fuck you, Garrett!”
Sutton didn’t cry over Garrett, but she did cry over Jake. She would be crazy not to.
As she drained her first drink of the night, Sutton couldn’t help but search the bar for Jake and his teammates. She didn’t want to be surprised by him because, truthfully, she wasn’t sure she was ready to see him.
“I honestly don’t know why we even came here,” she muttered, chewing on one of the ice cubes from her cup. “We should leave.”
“We’re not leaving,” Mia barked. “We came here for a reason, whether you think so or not, and you’re going to get what you came for.”
Sutton glared at her, Mia glared back, and Kate watched in amusement until Sutton finally gave in. She grabbed her drink and knocked it back in one swift movement before standing.
“I’m going to get another.”
The girls cheered as she stepped away from them and began to nudge her way through the crowd. She found a break in congestion a few steps ahead. But, just as she was about to slip in, a solid body stepped in front of her. She was about to apologize when she glanced up to see Charlie McAvoy.
His eyes blew wide when he saw her. He was convinced that he was seeing things, but he knew there was no way he was drunk enough for that. He reached out, setting a hand tentatively against her forearm and she waited patiently for him to snap back to reality.
“Does Jake know you’re here?” he asked, eyes searching the area around them frantically. She shook her head, slightly embarrassed by his reaction. He looked back at her. “Why haven’t you called?” Before she could answer, he frowned. “You haven’t broken up with that asshole.”
“I did.”
“Then, why haven’t you called him?”
“We didn’t exactly leave off on the best terms,” she said. Charlie rolled his eyes, shoving Sutton lightly towards the bar. She ordered, he ordered, and he scolded her when she tried to pay for her own drink. Then, he tugged her off towards the VIP section.
Jake saw Charlie first and flung himself out of the booth to swipe his new drink from his hands. And then he saw Sutton over his shoulder and his face dropped. Charlie slipped away, leaving the two face-to-face. He squinted at her, like he was trying to process the image in front of him.
“When did you break up with him?”
“A few days after we argued,” she said. He stilled, mind racing as he tried to figure out the timeline.
“Sutton, you’ve been single for two months and you haven’t called?”
“I was scared.”
“Would you have even called me if you hadn’t seen me tonight? Or would I still be wondering?”
“Of course not,” she defended herself. “I was going to tell you at the end of the season.”
He looked uncertain for a moment, but then his features softened and he wrapped his arms around her. He ducked so that his head was in the crook of your neck. She could feel the soft sigh that left his lips against her skin.
“I miss you.”
Sutton relaxed against him, relieved that he didn’t seem angry at her in the moment. They stood there for a moment, ignoring the hooting and hollering from his teammates at the booth. When he pulled away, he gazed down at her adoringly. “You look beautiful.”
“You look happy,” she said. She ran her fingers through his hair, playing into his sweetness despite her better judgement.
“Are you happy?” he asked, face suddenly serious. She nodded, corners of her lips turning up at his question. His eyes searched her face. “I’m proud of you.”
Before either of them could say anything more, Charlie’s girlfriend appeared with a tray of shots and they were swept up into a crowd of his teammates and their plus-ones, all reaching for shots for themselves.
Sutton stepped backwards to make space and ended up stumbling over Jake’s feet, her back bumping into his chest. Instead of stepping away, drunk Jake dropped a hand to her hip to steady her. He was tingly all over, liquor coursing through him, and when he felt her relax into his touch, he allowed himself to wrap his arm around her stomach to hold her instead. She leaned into him happily.
Someone called out a toast and everyone tossed their shots back with a mixture of grunts and exclamations at the taste. The group dispersed after and, though Jake dropped his arm from around her, he placed his hand in hers moments later to search the bar for Kate and Mia.
The look at their faces when they saw Sutton and Jake hand in hand was comical. They were practically bursting at the seams with excitement and hopped out of the booth to embrace the two in a hug.
“We missed you!” Mia all but yelled in Jake’s face. His drunken giggles got the best of him then, squeezing her a little tighter in response.
+
Unlike the first time they danced together at a club, Jake wasted no time in grinding up against her. His arms wrapped around her waist and her fingers followed, trailing along his arms until she could curl her fingers between his.
When she turned to face him, she wrapped her arms around his shoulders. His fingers danced along the skin of her back and he smiled when he noticed the goosebumps on her arms. He leaned in just enough to speak lowly into her ear, lips just inches away. “Sleep over tonight.”
“I don’t know if that’s a good idea, Jake,” she said. When he pouted, she reached up and thumbed his bottom lip with a smirk. “You’re too drunk for a sleepover, I think, but I’ll get you home like you did for me.”
“Like the night you kissed me?” he asked with a teasing smile. She dropped her forehead to his shoulder to hide the blush that was creeping up her neck to her cheeks. He chuckled softly, tilting his head to kiss her cheek and murmur in her ear, “I’m ready to go when you are.”
During the fifteen-minute cab drive to Jake’s apartment, he just seemed to just get drunker. He was giggly, chatty, and clingy. His fingers danced along Sutton’s calves, which he’d pulled onto his lap the minute they pulled away from the club. She watched him engage their driver in mindless conversation, smiling softly to herself every time he said something stupid and giggled at himself.
When they pulled up to his building, Jake paid and left the guy behind the wheel a fat tip. Then, he was pulling Sutton out of the car and into the lobby. He wrapped his arms around Sutton’s shoulders and pulled her against his chest as they waited for the elevator.
The doors opened with a ding and Sutton slipped to the corner while Jake pressed the button to his floor. He swayed uneasily on his feet as the elevator jolted upwards. She reached out to steady him, just a soft touch of her hand against his bicep. He turned with a smile.
“Sutton, Sutton, Sutton.”
“What?”
He stepped forward, boxing her into the corner of the elevator. She gazed up at him, finding it hard to breathe as he got closer. He rested his hands against the rail on either side of him and smiled.
“I want to kiss you so bad right now,” he whispered. She leaned away from him slightly, a frown developing as she did so. And though she was hesitant, her heart was hammering in her chest, begging her to attach her lips to his.
“You’re drunk.”
“Sure, but what does that matter?”
“We can’t just do this whenever one of us can’t handle our liquor,” she murmured. His face dropped. “It makes it difficult to tell if we mean it.”
“Trust me, I mean it,” he told her. “I want to kiss you when we’re sober as fuck eating leftovers on your kitchen floor; I want to kiss you when I’m hammered and can barely keep my hands off you.”
The elevator doors opened and Sutton, desperate to move on from this conversation, pushed him out of the car and down the hall.
The moment they entered the apartment, he went to his room to change and returned with a pair of sweats and a t-shirt for her. He watched her happily from his perch on the counter as she walked about the kitchen in his clothes. All he could think about was how badly he wanted to kiss her, touch her.
“Drink this,” she said, handing a glass of water over to him. She leaned up against the counter across form him. “You’re going to be so hungover tomorrow.”
“That’s why you should stay over,” he said. “You can nurse me back to health tomorrow morning.”
“Not gonna happen, DeBrusk.”
“Was worth a try,” he slurred. Sutton laughed at the rise and fall of his shoulders as he shrugged before chugging the water from his cup. After dropping the cup in the sink, he turned back and shook his head at her in amusement.
“What?”
“I’ve just missed you,” he told her. He took a few steps toward her before dropping his hands to counter on either side of her and leaned in. He was intoxicating. The smile on his face made her weak in the knees, but she couldn’t just act like there hadn’t been a fight and two months of silence between them.
“I’ve missed you, too,” she said. “We should really talk when you’re sober.”
“Let’s just talk now.”
“I��m not going to count this as a conversation.”
“Why not?”
“Because what if you don’t remember?”
Jake’s eyes studied her face and he realized the seriousness of her question. He leaned away then and sighed out, “Okay.”
“Let’s get you to bed, drunkie,” she murmured. She slipped past him, fingers catching on his wrist to tug him along. They stopped in the bathroom so he could brush his teeth and he wouldn’t stop glancing at her the entire way through the rest of his nightly routine as if he was worried she might disappear into thin air.
When they got back into his room, he picked her up and dropped her onto his bed.
“Jake!”
“Just stay for a little bit longer,” he whined. She rolled her eyes, laughter falling easily from her lips as he rolled off her to change into pajamas. He boldly dropped his pants and glanced over his shoulder just to see if she was looking, chuckling to himself when he saw her with her hands over her eyes.
He dropped onto the bed and hovered over her, grin on his face.
“I need to tell you something,” he said, slur in his voice still evident. She raised her eyebrows and pressed her hands against his chest to create some distance between them. “I want to be your boyfriend.”
“Jake,” she whispered. “You’re hammered!”
“Yeah, and I still want to be your boyfriend when I’m sober.”
“I told you I didn’t want to have this conversation right now,” she groaned. He dropped to the side of her and propped himself up on his elbow. “If you really mean it, I need you to tell me when you’re not drunk.”
“I will,” he said. “I promise.”
---
June 12th, 2019
They didn’t talk to anytime soon, and Sutton kept trying to convince herself that it was because he was in the Stanley Cup finals so he was busy, not because he regretted everything he said when he was drunk. But, as time went on, she felt more and more defeated. She waited patiently, though, hoping that she’d get some sort of closure at the end of the season.
She watched the entire series against the St. Louis Blues at the edge of her seat. Game seven had ripped her heart out, like many others in the city, but her first thought went to Jake. She almost felt sick to her stomach thinking about it.
Vice versa, the first person Jake thought about when he left the ice was Sutton. He thought about her through each post-game interview and his post-game routine, and as soon as he was in the parking garage he was texting her.
Did you watch?
He dropped his forehead against the wheel and waited for a response. He wasn’t even positive there’d be one after the shit he pulled at the bar and the silence that followed.
There’s a key under my welcome mat
He started the car immediately and drove in complete silence to Sutton’s apartment. He rushed upstairs, eager to fall into her bed. When he lifted the welcome mat, he let out a sigh of relief at the sight of the key and opened the door. He placed his bag down and kicked off his shoes before locking up behind him and heading off to her room.
When he opened the door, the light from the hallway filtered in and stirred her awake. She leaned up on her elbow and murmured, “I pulled out a toothbrush for you and there are sweats and a t-shirt you can wear at the end of the bed.”
He smiled softly, grabbing the clothes from the bed and turning to go brush his teeth. When he returned, she was leaning up against the headboard waiting for him.
“Are you okay?” she asked. Jake shuffled up towards the headboard of her bed just enough to drop his head to her stomach. A shuddering breath fell from his parted lips as he shook his head that indicated no, he was not okay. She curled her fingers into his hair and leaned down to place a kiss against the top of his head. His arms wrapped around her and the weight of the world disappeared, if only for a second. “I’m proud of you.”
+
When Sutton woke up the next morning, Jake was gone and her stomach dropped. She moved slowly out of bed and then, as panic set in, she quickened her steps through the apartment. The sound of the kitchen cabinets opening and closing greeted her. And when she reached the kitchen so did Jake’s tired smile.
“Good morning,” he said. She watched his cheeks turn pink and felt hers do the same. He motioned to the pan on the stove. “I started making breakfast.”
“I see that.”
“Coffee?”
“I’ll make it,” she offered, walking past Jake to the coffee maker on the other end of the counter. She didn’t catch Jake watching, didn’t feel his eyes wander along her body. She almost caught him when she turned to ask how he took his coffee, but he was quick to divert his eyes.
“I’m sorry I didn’t call after the night at the club,” he said suddenly. “Or text.”
Sutton continued for him, feeling the anger she’d built up over the past few weeks begin to boil over. “Or Snapchat. Or really do anything to assure me that things were okay between us.”
Jake frowned, turning his attention back to the eggs on the stovetop. They continued putting breakfast together in silence and reconvened at the kitchen table when the coffee was done and the eggs and toast were plated.
“I mean, you weren’t exactly jumping at the chance to tell me that you weren’t with Garrett anymore,” Jake argued. She sighed, fork clattering to her plate as she leaned back in her seat.
“You told me you didn’t want to talk until I had all my shit together!”
“And do you not?”
“I have no idea!” she exclaimed. “I wanted to call you the moment that I broke up with him. It was my first thought, but then I stopped myself because I thought of how unfair that would be to myself.”
“Why?”
“I haven’t been just Sutton in three years, Jake,” she said. “I’ve been Garrett’s doting girlfriend for three years. Everything I did, I did with him in mind.” She paused. “Then you come along, and suddenly I’m thinking about you, too. For once, I want to just think about myself.”
She continued, “I don’t even know myself. I feel like I’m rediscovering these parts of me that I haven’t thought about in years. I’ve been doing things to make me happy and I’ve been applying to new jobs because I want something more for myself and I finally feel motivated to fight for it. I feel different.”
He felt warm all over, buzzing from the inside out. He didn’t realize how much it would mean to him to hear her say that she was finally fighting for herself. Hearing her explain how she was feeling overwhelmed him with a sense of pride, and in that moment, he couldn’t help but smile at her.
“I guess that’s a good enough reason not to call,” Jake resigned.
“Why haven’t you called?”
“Because I was scared of what I might find out,” he answered. “That you were still with him.” He paused and then shook his head. “And I didn’t call after the club because I couldn’t remember any of the things I said and I was worried that I did something stupid.”
“You don’t remember?” she asked, her fears coming true.
“Not much.”
“Oh,” she whispered. “Okay.”
He was lying. He remembered every moment of that night spent with her. The image of her in his t-shirt swallowing her whole, the look on her face when he told her how he felt, the blush that crept up her neck to her cheeks. How could he forget it?
Mia entered the room then, cutting the conversation off before it could go anywhere else.
 “Ooo! You made bacon!” she exclaimed, snatching a strip from the plate at the center of the table. Her eyes cut from Sutton’s face to Jake’s and she smiled at the sight. “Happy to have you back, Jake.”
---
June 15th, 2019
Three days after the game seven loss, Jake was still feeling the heartbreak of it. He wondered if there would be a day that he didn’t. He spent a lot of time in his apartment, ordering Postmates for food to be dropped at his door so he didn’t have to see anyone he didn’t want to. The only time he’d left was for locker clean-out.
He saw Sutton every day and, though the visits were welcomed, he realized as they sat on the couch and watched shit reality shows that there was still a lot to be said.
He wanted to tell her how he felt about her again, but he kept his mouth shut. Friendship with Sutton was something he’d gotten used to, and he could continue living like this for now. Besides, he’d be leaving Boston soon and he didn’t want to start something that he couldn’t commit all his time to. She deserved to be the center of his world.
On the morning of the fifteenth, Sutton picked him up to drive him to the airport feeling like shit. It had been weeks since they saw each other at the bar, which meant weeks since he admitted his feelings and nothing had been said about it. He said he didn’t remember much, but she wondered if he really did and was just regretting what had been said.
Conversation on the way to the airport was mundane. He talked about all the things he was excited to do at home, like seeing his family and friends, and asked about what she’d do while he was gone, and she sighed heavily before answering, “Work.”
After she parked the car at the curb of the terminal, she reached over for the handle of the door, but Jake grabbed her other wrist to get her attention.
“I lied to you,” he blurted out. “I remember everything I said to you after the club. I wasn’t going to say anything because I love that you’re just being Sutton right now. But, I also don’t want to leave Boston without telling you how I feel.”
“Fuck you!” she exclaimed after releasing long sigh. He started laughing and stepped out of the car. She scrambled after him towards the trunk to grab his things. He was grinning ear-to-ear. “I thought you didn’t remember or you regretted it!”
“You’re crazy to think I’d ever regret you,” he said, fingers coming up to brush her cheekbone. Sutton blushed hard. “Seriously.”
“Your timing is shit,” she said. Jake curled his arm around her shoulders and embraced her. “Why would you admit your feelings and then fly off to Canada? That’s bullshit.”
“I don’t want you revolving your life around us right now,” he said. He pulled back and pressed his lips to her forehead, even though he desperately wanted to kiss her lips. Then, he pulled away completely. “You have three months to just be you, but then I’m coming back for you.”
---
September 1st, 2019
Jake and Sutton were both shaking like leafs as they made their way to each other on the morning of September 1st, him on the plane, her in her car on the way to pick him up. The summer was full of fresh starts. For Sutton, she ended up in a new position with a corner office at work. Jake had the summer to reset, spend time with his family, and relax.
Together, it was a fresh start to their relationship and more time to get to know each other.
Although they weren’t officially together, they talked on the phone at least once a week, but usually more. They flirted with the idea of the future through conversations about dates they’d go on when he got back and movies they needed to watch together. It felt like all the pieces of the puzzle were finally together, all Jake needed to do was come back to Boston.
And he was finally home.
Sutton stood beside her car as she waited for him to emerge from baggage claim. Her hands were shaking and her stomach felt sick, but the moment she saw him, it all went away. She sprinted over and threw herself into his open arms, giggling as his bags hit the pavement.
He wrapped his arms around her so tightly he thought she might snap in half. Then, she looked up at him, wide smile on her face, and all he could ask was, “Can I please kiss you like I’ve been wanted to all summer?”
“I might die if you don’t.”
And then the world fell away and it was just Jake and Sutton, finally kissing on purpose.
+
“Where are we going?”
“Stop asking questions!”
Sutton knew exactly where he was taking her, but she was hoping the question would make him rethink it. The door just before the stairs had ROOF ACCESS stamped across it.
“Won’t we get into trouble?”
Jake paused then, turning to answer, “Of course not. I slipped the security guards $50 to let us up here.”
Sutton laughed loudly at that and allowed him to continue tugging her along.
After picking him up at the airport, they spent the day re-exploring Boston. They walked in parks and talked on benches for hours on end, like they hadn’t spoken all summer, and then Sutton brought him to her office building to show off her new office. He kissed her in front of her desk and congratulated her for the hundredth time before whisking her off to dinner reservations he’d made a few weeks prior. By the time dinner ended, the two of them were drunk on each other, giggling and dancing down the streets to his apartment.
Jake pushed the door to the roof open and stepped out, tugging Sutton along with him towards the edge of the roof. She laced her fingers through his and followed happily. When he slowed to a stop, she halted beside him, resting her cheek against his arm. The city was alive beneath them, lights shining on them like a spotlight.
“I’ve always wanted to bring you up here,” he spoke, glancing down at her. She was already looking up at him, soft smile playing on her lips. “But I didn’t think it was appropriate to bring you up here if we were ‘just friends.’”
“We were never really just friends, huh?”
“Not at all,” he answered with a laugh. “You were delusional.”
That moment felt so poignant to Sutton, like it was the moment that was going to change everything. She turned to fold into his chest and his arms curled around her, filling her with a warmth she hadn’t felt in a long time.
“Do you want this, Sutton?” he asked, voice just above a whisper. She looked up at him, eyes searching his face, falling to his lips as he spoke his next words. “Do you want to be with me?”
“More than anything.”
---
October 18th, 2019
“He’s going to pass out when he sees you.”
“God, I hope not,” Sutton murmured, fingers still covering the small smile on her lips as she gazed at herself in the lingerie she was modeling for her roommates. Her eyes cut back to the two of them. “You don’t think it’s too much?”
“Not at all,” Mia said. Kate shook her head, eyes still taking in all the little bows and lace on the set. She sighed suddenly and grunted, “Now you’re making me want to buy lingerie. I don’t even have a boyfriend.”
Sutton snorted before turning back to her reflection to admire herself once more.
They’d officially been dating a little over a month and it was a dream. It was fun to get to know each other in a different, more intimate way and little by little all the walls were being broken down between them, not that there were too many to begin with.
Jake’s 23rd birthday was October 17th, but because he had a game, they couldn’t celebrate the way they’d been planning to. Fortunately, his next two days were free, so Sutton booked a stay at an Airbnb in Cape Cod.
She was all nerves and anxiety leading up to the trip, simply because of the mounting pressure that came with not having had sex with him yet. They’d spent the past month exploring each other with their hands and their mouths, but it was never taken any farther than that.
Only twice had they gotten close to it.
The first occurrence was about a week after the season started. He’d been away on a four-game road trip and by the time he got home, he was exhausted. Sutton was waiting for him when he got home the next afternoon and he collapsed into her arms on the couch until he was ready to cleanse himself of the remnants of loss and airplane germs.
“Come shower with me.”
“Jake,” she murmured hesitantly, threading her fingers through his hair.
“C’mon,” he whined through a pout. “I missed you.”
“Fine.”
She followed him to his room and popped her phone onto the charger while he stripped himself of his clothes. His hands found their way around her waist, sliding underneath her sweatshirt to pull it over her head. When Sutton turned to face him, he captured her lips with his and she moaned against his lips happily.
He shed her of her clothes as they kissed slowly, but as soon as she was standing naked in front of him, she pushed him towards the bathroom, too nervous for what could come next, unsure if she was even ready to go there.
Jake held her close beneath the warmth of the water, fingers traveling along her spine, into her hair, gripping her ass. Her hands were just the same, feeling his every muscle constrict beneath her touch, listening to him shudder when her hands traveled below his hips. He was hard against her lower abdomen,
“I’m not ready,” she blurted out. The second the words were out in the open she was clasping her hands over her mouth. Jake took a step back, his hands falling from her skin to his sides.
“Ready for what?”
“Sex.”
“Okay, that’s okay,” he murmured, placing another soft kiss against her lips. “I can wait.”
The second time was after a night spent with Charlie and his girlfriend, drinking wine and watching shitty movies. She was going to spend the night at Jake’s anyway, so when they got back to his apartment, they got ready for bed and cuddled up under the covers together—him in a pair of boxers, her in underwear and a t-shirt of his. She woke up in the middle of the night with Jake wrapped around her, his erection against her ass. As she pulled his arms tighter to her, he stirred and rutted his hips against her. 
“Sleeping with you is so hard.”
“Why? Cause you’re always hard?” she asked with a laugh. He hummed affirmatively, pressing into her a bit more. She turned around and kissed him softly. His eyes fluttered open at the feather light touch of her lips, and then he was on her, kissing her while his hands gripped her ass. In seconds, he had her on top of him, straddling his lap.
“You’re so wet right now,” he murmured as she rubbed against his bulge. Sutton was thankful for the veil of darkness in his room because she was bright red and flustered. He gripped her hips and guided her hips. “C’mon, use me, baby.”
She began to grind against him as they made out and he kept her hips down, rutting up into her to help her towards orgasm. It didn’t take long, the friction against her clit had her breathing heavily into the crook of his neck in no time and as her orgasm washed over her, he helped her through it by continuing to guide her hips against him.
“Fuck,” she sighed, and he laughed gently, wrapping his arms around her to keep her close to his chest. “I’m sorry.”
“Why are you sorry?” he spoke. “That was hot.”
And that was the extent of it. But now, he was turning another year older and she wanted to give him a gift to remember.
“Hey, baby,” he greeted as soon as Sutton opened the apartment door. He swept her up into a hug and kissed her full on the mouth while Mia and Kate aww’d behind them. “Hey, ladies.”
“Happy birthday!”
“Thank you, thank you,” he responded before placing one more kiss on Sutton’s lips. They detached from each other long enough for Jake to grab Sutton’s overnight bag. “Are you ready to go? I’ve been itching to get out of this city with you.”
Jake led her to the car, hand-in-hand, chattering on about the game he played the night before and Sutton hung on his every word, like she always did. He loaded her things into the trunk beside his and slid into the driver’s seat, handing the aux over to her—the only person he ever let control the music in his car.
As soon as they pulled onto the highway, Sutton blurted, “I want to have sex with you.”
“Yeah? I want to have sex with you, too,” he responded, goofy smile playing at his lips. His eyes were still trained on the road, like she hadn’t just divulged this important information to him. She laughed softly and reached out to take his free hand.
“No, like tonight,” she said. He looked over at her with wide eyes. “Eyes on the road.”
“You can’t say something like that and expect me to pay attention to much else,” he grunted, though he was now grinning from ear-to-ear. He squeezed her hand lightly. “Are you serious? You want to?”
“Yes.”
“Birthday sex,” he murmured, chuckling at himself. She laughed with him and shoved his hand away playfully only for him to drop it to her thigh, a little higher than usual, and hit the gas.
+
Jake was a pest at dinner.
Even though they’d been seated at a table across from each other, he pulled his chair around to sit beside her. His hand rested against her thigh the entire time, fingers gripping every once in a while to get a rise out of her.
When asked if they wanted a dessert menu, Jake was quick to turn it down.
“No, I think we’re alright,” he answered. Sutton turned to protest, it was his birthday after all, and he’d probably get a free dessert, but he shook his head at her. “Thank you, though. Everything was delicious.”
“You don’t want dessert?” Sutton asked as soon as the waitress stepped away.
Jake smiled and leaned in close to whisper in your ear, “You’re my dessert, Sutt.”
The ride back to the Airbnb felt way too long and the anticipation of the night ahead had Jake buzzing from the moment they got into the car after dinner to the moment he was sitting in a chair in the living room, waiting for her.
“You can’t touch!” she called from behind the bedroom door. His eyes were locked on it, carefully watching the handle so he could prepare himself.
“Sutton, you’re evil.”
“Promise me!”
“I promise, baby. Come on.”
She pulled the door open and his eyes drank her in. Then, her robe fell to the floor and he released a shaky breath. He leaned forward in the chair, elbows resting on his knees as he braced his hands together to keep himself from touching her.
“Sutton, I don’t know how you expect me to keep myself from touching you when you’re wearing that.”
“Do you want your birthday gift or not?”
“I really fucking want my birthday gift.”
“Then, you’ll find a way to keep your hands to yourself.”
Jake leaned back against the chair with a frustrated sigh, eyes still glued to the lace clinging to her body. He swallowed thickly as his eyes trailed over her chest, landing on the little bow between her breasts before meeting her eyes again.
In the sweetest voice, he murmured, “You’re so pretty.”
A blush crept up her cheeks, smile betraying the seductive front she was trying to show, and she sighed, “How am I supposed to act sexy when you’re making me blush like this?”
“You’re always sexy,” he spoke, voice low again. “You don’t need to act.”
She walked over to him, shaking her head when he reached for her again, and straddled his lap, fingers threading through his hair as he gazed up at her. His hands hung limp on either side of him and his fingers twitched as she grinded against his bulge.
“This is so unfair,” he grunted. She kissed his neck, sucking a mark into it as she continued to rub against him. “Who knew you were such a tease?”
“Who knew you were so chatty?”
“Shut me up then,” he challenged with a cocky smirk. Sutton rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t stop her lips from curling into a smirk as well. She sunk down to her knees, pushing his thighs open before fumbling with his belt and his eyes watched her hungrily. He lifted himself from the chair and let her pull them down, leaving him in just his boxers.
“Take your shirt off.”
He threw it off eagerly, tossing it over her shoulder to the other side of the room.
Sutton flattened her hands against his chest and ran her fingers over his muscles as they constricted beneath her touch. His breath was already unsteady. It was painful not being able to touch her when she looked so damn good. She kissed along his chest and down his abs to the waistband of his boxers. A breathless curse fell from his lips as she tugged them down.
In no time, she was working him with her hands and then her lips were wrapping around his length. He gathered her hair in his fist and gently pulled it back and out of her face, watching in awe, mouth ajar as she bobbed her head on his dick. She looked up at him sweetly, eyelashes fluttering against her cheekbones as she watched him unravel. He moaned as she took him deeper, hitting the back of her throat.
His other hand flew to his own face and ran through his hair, gripping the roots as he felt his orgasm beginning to bloom in the pit of his stomach. Jake never lasted long when she was on her knees. Her mouth worked wonders for him.
“Fuck, I’m gonna cum,” he muttered, grip on her hair getting tighter. His hips thrust up involuntarily and she gagged around his cock, but didn’t stop. He threw his head back with a groan as she deep throated him and then he finally came. She swallowed it, sucking him dry as he became a moaning mess beneath her. “Fuck, Sutton, fuck.”
She pulled her mouth off his cock with a pop and licked her lips as his gaze returned to her. He dropped his hand to the back of her neck and pulled her up to him. The lace of her lingerie scratched against the bare skin of his chest and when she straddled him as they kissed, he could feel how wet she was underneath.
“You’re so wet, princess,” he whispered into her kiss. One hand slid along her thigh up to her pussy. He pushed the fabric to the side and slid his fingers along her folds. “I love it when you suck my dick, but I can’t wait to fuck you.” He inserted two fingers into her pussy and she moaned as he curled them against her g-spot. “You’re so wet, so ready for me. Do you want my cock, angel?”
Sutton nodded, a whimper falling from her lips as he pulled his fingers out of her. He stood, wrapping her legs around his waist so he could walk her into the bedroom. When he lowered her onto the bed carefully, he kissed along her skin from the valley of her breasts to her lips.
“Do you like your gift?”
“I love it,” he whispered against her throat. His fingers trailed along the lace covering her pussy. “You bought it for me? Just me?” She nodded, breath catching in her throat as he rubbed her through the fabric. “Happy birthday, JD.”
She giggled at his dorky expression and that little smile on his lips, but she shut up the moment he pushed the lingerie to the side. His fingers began to massage her folds again, coaxing sweet moans from her as he sunk the fingers into her heat and curled them once more.
“I never get tired of your moans,” he murmured. “And I can’t wait to hear what you sound like when I’m fucking you.” She swallowed thickly, his words so dirty compared to how he often joked with her. He noticed her reaction and smiled. “Do you like it when I talk to you like this, Sutton?”
“Yeah, I didn’t know you had it in you.”
“You’re gonna learn a lot of new things about me.”
Sutton giggled and he did just the same because nothing between the two of them could ever stay serious. They just liked each other too much to not be smiling, giggling messes at all times.
“As much as I like this lingerie,” he began, fingers dancing along the bows. “How do I take it off?”
Sutton sat up with a laugh and reached behind her to unclasp the bra. It fell away and she tossed it onto the floor. Jake hooked his fingers beneath the waistband of the panties and pulled them down, throwing them onto the floor as well. His hands were everywhere all at once, cupping her breasts, teasing her core.
He pushed her thighs apart and slotted himself between them as he began kissing her again, the head of his cock brushing against her clit as he leaned in. Her sharp intake of breath shattered the silence in the room.
“Jake, I want you,” she pleaded. He released an uneasy breath, cheeks flushed pink as he reached out to grab the condom from the nightstand and ripped the wrapper open with shaking hands. Sutton reached up and took it from him, asking, “Are you nervous?”
“A little bit, I think. It’s because I like you too much.”
“Too much?”
“It’s not a complaint,” he responded, capturing her lips in a kiss. He sucked in a breath and pulled his bottom lip between his teeth as Sutton rolled the condom over his cock. “Fuck.”
She laid back against the pillows once it was on and Jake admired her body, laid out for him. His hands travelled up her sides, back to her breasts, along the skin of her neck and her cheeks. He nudged her thighs apart some more with his knees.
“Are you ready?” he asked. She nodded, accepting his kiss before he reached down and aligned himself with her entrance. One hand rested beside her head and his other wrapped around his cock as he pushed the head into her. She sighed as he entered her some more, finally releasing his member from his hand and caging her head in on both sides with his hands.
He shuddered as he filled her up, the feeling of her warmth all too consuming. His forehead dropped to her shoulder as he bottomed out and she sighed out a moan, wrapping her legs around his waist to take him deeper.
“You feel so good,” he muttered, barely able to get the words out. He let out a shaky laugh and halted his movements to steady his breath. “Hold on. I need a minute.” Sutton furrowed her brows as he leaned back. He gazed down at her body, down at his body and the place they fit together. “If you told me back in March that this is where we’d be seven months later, I wouldn’t have believed you.”
“No?”
“No, you’re my dream girl,” he spoke, leaning in to kiss her again. He pulled out slowly and then pushed back into her. As she sighed beneath him, he spoke against her lips, “You’re so far out of my league.”
“Jake,” she whispered, fingers carding through his hair. He glanced up at her again. “You’re perfect for me.”
Their next kiss was passionate and full of fire, and he began to thrust faster, pulling her leg higher on his waist to hit deeper. The sound of their moans mixing and their bodies together filled the room. He spoke praises to her about how beautiful she was, how good she felt. She kissed him until her lips were bruised.
His thrusts were slow and calculated and he tried to look her in the eye to see how she looked when she was filled with him. The view was beautiful with her lips plump and her eyes wide. She watched him intently, overwhelmed by this moment, overwhelmed that she was finally with him like they’d wanted to be for so long.
She rutted her hips up to get more friction from him and he dropped his hand to her clit, hoping to help her reach the peak before he had his second orgasm of the night. Her nails scratched his back as her toes began to curl.
“Please,” she moaned.
“What’s up, baby? What do you need?”
“Fuck me harder.”
Jake lifted her leg up to rest against his shoulder and dirty, loud moans filled the room as he fucked her. She looked so pretty beneath him, eyes squeezed shut as her back arched off the mattress. He coached her through it, talkative as always, and she shuddered beneath him as he reached the peak, pussy fluttering around his cock. Her chest heaved as he fucked her through the orgasm and, finally, he poured into the condom as he reached his own.
He didn’t pull out until he was soft, and even then, he hardly moved away from her, opting instead to just drop his weight against her in bed. Her fingers carded through his hair and he relaxed into her touch, leaving lazy kisses against her skin. Finally, he pulled himself off her and moved up the bed to rest his head beside hers on the pillow.
They stared at each other for a long time without saying a word.
Jake couldn’t believe his luck, couldn’t believe that this girl was his, finally. He threaded his fingers through her hair to see her face properly and sighed before leaning in to press a kiss to the top of her nose.
“You’re my best friend,” he whispered. “I’m so happy we’re together.”
“Me too.”
Sutton’s heart felt like it could explode from happiness. After all the times she’d been mistreated, all the bullshit she went through with Garrett, she was finally with someone who understood her, both inside and out. Jake looked at her like she put the stars in the sky and it made her melt.
“I think I could spend the rest of my life with you,” he spoke, voice cracking a bit with emotion as his eyes bore into hers. “I love you, Sutton.”
“Jake,” she sighed out, tears coming to her eyes. She reached up, swiping a thumb along his cheekbone and he tilted his head to press a kiss to her palm. “I love you, too.”
377 notes · View notes
uchukiyoo · 3 years
Text
"Do you love her?" - OS | Hwang Hyunjin (SKZ)
prompt: Your brother Jisung suspects you to like one of his bestfriends. How will you tell him the truth?
Pairing: Hwang Hyunjin x You
Word count : Around 2000
Category : mostly fluff
It was Sunday morning, and you were watching tv in the living room of your parent’s house, wearing sweatpants and a hoodie. Your hair was messy and you had a face mask on, typical Sunday afternoon look.
Jisung, your older brother, came downstairs, and grabbed a chocolate bar in the pantry.
“Yo Y/N, Hyunjin is coming over real quick, we’re going to Felix’s to play games...I’ll be back this evening” he said, munching on his snack
“Oh he is coming here?” You said, sitting up straight
“Yeah...he’s just coming in to grab something to eat, we won’t be long, why?”
“Oh okay...nothing...I just didn’t know” you said, trying to look as carefree as possible
The truth was, you had quite a big crush on Hyunjin even if he was your brother’s best friend.
A few minutes later, you heard his car park in front of the house.
“Hi Y/N” he said as soon as he came in. “How are you?” He asked, smiling at you
“Hi! I’m great and you?”
“Feeling really good” he softly said, looking at you straight in the eyes.
You smiled and looked down, feeling kind of intimidated even though you had known him for the longest time.
Jisung, who was finishing his chocolate bar was observing you two.
“Hyunjin, do you want a sandwich or just a snack?” He asked, speaking a little louder than usual
“Uh yeah I’ll take a snack thanks bro…”
Jisung gave him the candy bar and they both left.
Well that was weird…you thought, switching the tv off.
When Jisung came back home, he looked kind of down, so you asked him if something had happened with Hyunjin or Felix.
“Nah…I was just thinking about earlier…is there something going on?”
“Uh…what do you mean?”
“I mean between you and Hyunjin? Is there something going on? I don’t know it was weird…the way you two looked at each other and stuff...”
“Oh…no no no don’t worry I was just a bit flustered because I didn’t know he was coming and I looked all weird with my mask and-”
“Since when do you care though? I mean I’m pretty sure he saw you looking worse than this”
“Okay? Well I was a bit embarrassed that’s all.”
You really didn’t like lying to Jisung but you had to.
“Okay…okay, I was just wondering…have you eaten yet? Maybe I can order some pizza?”
“Hum yeah okay! I’ll take a shower in the meantime!”
Since your parents were on vacation to celebrate their 20th wedding anniversary, Jisung and you were alone for a week.
Your brother and you had a really good relationship and loved spending time together.
After playing some games and eating your pizzas, you decided to go to sleep because you had an exam the next day.
***
Come on Y/N, come on, hurry up!
You put your pencil case back in your backpack and checked the time on your phone: it was already 6:39pm.
you had spent a bit more time than expected on your exam and now, you were about to miss the last bus which was leaving at 6:45pm. Unfortunately, you had a 10-minute walk to arrive at the bus stop.
Screw it, I’ll never make it in time…I’ll just walk home…
As you were walking down the main road, you heard a car slow down and park next to you.
“Y/N?”
You immediately recognized Hyunjin’s voice.
“Oh hi Hyunjin!”
“Are you going home?”
“yeah…I missed the bus” you replied, a little embarrassed.
“Oh…well, hop in! I have an errand to run in the area anyways” he smiled brightly and unlocked the doors.
“Thanks!”
You got in and fastened your seatbelt.
“Were you really going to walk home?” He asked, looking quite worried
“Yeah…I took too long to finish my exam”
“Oh right, how did it go?? I’m sure you nailed it!” He exclaimed
“I hope so…”
“You know what, let’s go get something to drink, you up for some coffee? I’m buying.”
“I wouldn’t say no to some coffee! I’m exhausted…” You sighed
He took a left turn and drove to one of your favourite coffee shops.
After ordering, you two sat down with your drinks and spent some time together.
“So, what are you up to my little Y/N?”
“well…not much honestly, I’ve been quite busy with exams and assignments these days so…”
“How long have we known each other Y/N?” Hyunjin suddenly asked, sipping on his iced americano
“Oh my…I feel like I’ve always known you to be honest…why?”
“No nothing I was just wondering…you know I really like hanging out with you, even though we don’t do it as often as before. I feel like I can tell you things I can’t really tell Jisung.” He continued
“Really? I mean it’s crazy…I feel the exact same”
You had always been really comfortable around Hyunjin. Jisung and him had been friends for over 15 years. He was kind of your best friend too. Well…that was before last year when you two kissed at Jisung’s birthday party. You were both kind of tipsy and had gone outside to watch the stars together and talk. Next thing you knew, Hyunjin and you were kissing under the moonlight.
You two never told Jisung and swore to never talk about it ever again.
But the thing was: since that day, you had started to see Hyunjin differently. He wasn’t “your brother’s best friend” anymore but just a boy who was really really cute.
Since you were starting to get a bit cold, Hyunjin gave you his hoodie and you two went back to the car.
“Thanks for the coffee!” You exclaimed, buckling your seat belt.
“No problem, it was really nice hanging out with you a bit…”
He stopped talking and suddenly the atmosphere changed.
“Y/N?” Hyunjin finally said, looking at you
“Yes?”
“You know I’ve been thinking about our kiss every single day since Jisung’s party? The reason why I’e kinda been avoiding you the past few months is because I was just trying to hide my feelings…for you.”
You were so shocked and also tremendously happy but the only words that came out of your mouth were:
“Oh really…”
“I don’t know if you feel the same about me and I really wish that it is the case but I needed to say it…I don’t want to make things awkward between us but-“
You didn’t let him finish his sentence, as you crushed your lips on his.
Since that day, Hyunjin and you started dating but you both agreed on the fact that Jisung shouldn’t know about your relationship.
When you came back home, Jisung was laying on the couch, watching TV.
“So? How did the exam go?” He asked, switching the tv off as soon as you arrived in the living room.
“It was okay I guess…honestly I don’t know”
“Wait, are you wearing Hyunjin’s hoodie? Were you with him today?” Jisung started to get a bit suspicious
“Huh, yeah I missed the bus so he drove me back home…I was a bit cold so he gave it to me” You felt your cheeks burn.
“Why are you still wearing it though?” Jisung continued, looking slightly annoyed
Because it smells amazing and it feels like Hyunjin is right next to me which comforts me a lot.
This is what you wanted to answer but for obvious reasons, you couldn’t.
“I don’t know jeez…I just kept it calm down…I’ll give it back when he comes”
“Nah give it to me, I’ll return it tomorrow”
You took the hoodie off and throw it at your brother before going back upstairs, in your room.
Since you hadn’t come back downstairs to eat, Jisung knocked on your door and entered your room.
“Yo, what’s up with you? I made pasta, you’re not gonna eat?”
“I’m not really hungry…”
He sat down on your bed and looked at you with a serious look on his face.
“Y/N… be honest with me please. What the hell is going on? These days I can’t even recognize you, your behaviour is so weird and…and I feel like it’s because of Hyunjin”
Shit….
“No, I mean nothing is up with me…why would something be up with me? Nothing is up with me…”
“Girl…you really don’t know how to lie…”
“I’m not lying Jisung…you need to stop obsessing over Hyunjin and me.”
“Okay…I hope I can trust you.”
“Yeah…”
Once again, you felt terrible, but you couldn’t tell him the truth, it would hurt him too much and you were honestly scared of his reaction.
***
Hyunjin and you had been dating for about a month now but hiding the relationship was becoming harder and harder every day. You hated that you had to lie to your brother.
It was also really difficult to meet with Hyunjin and hide it from Jisung since you both had either school, homework to do or simply because Jisung was there.
This is why you took the decision to tell Jisung about your relationship with Hyunjin.
You hand’t told Hyunjin because you know he would try to stop you.
Saturday evening. Hyunjin came over as usual and as always, you two started your acting performances and acted as if you were just friends.
“Hi Y/N” he simply said, barely looking at you
“Hi…”
He directly went in the kitchen where Jisung was doing some homework.
“Hey! How are you?” Asked Hyunjin
“Could be better…I’ve been working on this essay for like…5h? And it’s due tomorrow…”
“You should take a break dude, let’s play some games”
“Yeah… I’m just gonna finish this part”
“ I’ll go upstairs set everything up !” said Hyunjin
This was your cue, you waited for a bit and entered the kitchen. You were scared of disappointing your brother but it had to be done. You were tired of lying.
“Jisung?” You simply said, sitting down at the table.
“Huh yeah? What’s up?”
“Can I talk to you for a second?”
“Okay what the hell Y/N? You’re scaring me”
“I have a boyfriend…” You said, looking down as if you had done something wrong.
“For how long??”
“About a month…”
“Well that cool Y/N-”
“It’s Hyunjin.” You saw his smile fade away instantly.
Jisung didn’t say anything and closed his laptop.
After a few seconds he let out a nervous laugh.
“I’m sorry what? No because I thought you just said you had been going out with my best friend for a month without telling me…that’s silly…”
He looked at you straight in the eyes, but you really could not read his feelings.
“Can you stop Jisung, I’m having a hard time right now…”
“Oh yeah? Well think about me, will you? Do you know how much this situation sucks? Why didn’t you tell me? I can’t believe it…”
“Well I was scared of your reaction…I’m so sorry Jisung, really…”
“I could understand why Hyunjin didn’t say anything but you? Every time I asked you, you lied to me, looking at me straight in the eye…”
“I-“ You didn’t even know what to say anymore.
“Among all the boys there are in this city you had to date MY best friend…you do understand why I don’t like this right?”
“What do you mean?’
“What if you two break up? What if he hurts you? What if he breaks your heart? Am I supposed to still hang out with him, knowing that il would hurt you? Or should I ditch my best friend whom I’ve known for almost 20 years? Should I stop hanging with him? The guy who’s is like a brother to me? And what if you break his heart? What am I supposed to do?
“I just want you to be happy for me…for us…”
Since Jisung hadn’t come up, Hyunjin came back in the kitchen
“Yo dude, I’m waiting for- Oh…”
Hyunjin stopped and looked at you, understanding what was happening.
“You told him…”
Jisung turned to Hyunjin
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“I’m sorry man, I was scared…Y/N is your sister, I was worried it would make things awkward but I should have told you I’m sorry…”
The three of you was sitting around the little kitchen table, looking at each other. No one spoke for a few minutes but Jisung broke the silence.
“Hyunjin do you love my sister?”
Hyunjin looked at you and said :
“I’m madly in love with her yeah…”
You could help but smile.
“I love you too.” You said
“Then that’s all that matters. Even though I just wished you had told me sooner but…I love you both and I happy that you two love each other too” He finally smiled and stood up.
“Come on, group hug”
You jumped in his arms and let a tear of joy roll down your cheek.
Hiii ! I'm back with a 'little' OS i wrote this week, i'm entering exam season in uni and i'm kinda wondering whether i shoud breakdown or breakdance :,))
anyways i hope you like this ! Don't hesitate to tell me what you think
have a good day/night !
Stay safe & vote skz on kingdom and stream their performances ♥
-sun ☼
(english isn't my first language so excuse me if there are mistakes !)
51 notes · View notes
armageddontyoudare · 3 years
Text
Forever and Always
Ryder x Reader (Into The Badlands)
So, since nobody was requesting, I decided to write something. I hope you like this....
Warnings: Mentions of torture, kidnapping, mutilation and sex. Pining. PTSD. Death. Angst angst angsttttt!!
Tumblr media
Lydia was worried sick. Every waking hour, she stood by the window, silently cursing her heartless husband for choosing pride over their young child, Ryder. She didn't dare to imagine what those savage Nomads were doing to her baby boy. Was he tied up? Unconscious? Bleeding? Wounded? Or worse? She shuddered at the thought.
She was snapped out of her thoughts when a young girl of nine trotted up to her.
"Mama is asking whether you'll come down for dinner or will you eat up here." The child asked nervously.
Lydia smiled weakly. "Tell your mother to bring it up, Y/N." She told her handmaid's daughter.
She nodded and turned to leave, but didn't. Instead she asked, "Baroness, when is Ryder coming home?" The young girl had tears of worry and sadness in her eyes.
You see, Ryder and Y/N were barely 3 months apart in age, Y/N being older. The two had been close all nine years of their lives, and swore to keep it that way. Ryder and Y/N were practically joint at the hip, you couldn't find one without the other. They were like soulmates. This was the first time they had been apart for so long and young Y/N was worried sick.
Lydia sighed, "I don't know, dear. But I know he misses his best friend." She smiled a bit. Y/N did too.
The day Ryder finally returned, was the day Y/N realized what he was to her. Seeing her soulmate all bloodied up and mutilated lit a spark in the child, she knew that it was now her duty to protect her best friend, regardless of her status. She loved her partner in crime, and would go to the ends of the Earth to keep him safe. Even if it meant receiving training from Minerva, the wife of the Baron of Oils.
Y/N grew up to be a beautiful and formidable woman, the only female Clipper in Armadillo territory, and skilled enough to hold her own against Sunny. She became Ryder's personal guard and confidant, and stayed in the room next to his to keep an eye on him.
Eleven years later, Ryder and Y/N grew closer, but at the same time, the pair drifted apart. Y/N was still the one person he poured his heart out to, but ever since Jade became more prominent in their lives, it felt as though Ryder and Y/N were miles apart, even if they were sitting side by side.
The day of Ryder's 20th birthday, was the day she realized she was hopelessly in love with her best friend.
She loved the way his eyes gleamed when he was happy, she loved his scars, his endearing risque persona she had only seen with Dolls, his soft and curly hair, his painfully perfect plump pink lips, that curled into a rare smile, and his smile.... the beautiful smile that wasn't laced with sarcasm. According to Y/N, that smile of pure joy was probably the most beautiful thing to ever exist. She loved it when he laughed. He got little crinkles in the corners of his eyes, he lips would stretch out to form a huge grin, and he would laugh. It took all of her self control not to kiss him where he stood.
It broke her a bit, every single time he brought a Doll home. It broke her even more when she found out about Jade's affair with Ryder. She couldn't help but feel jealous every time she heard Jade walk into Ryder's room, wishing it was her instead.
When they were twenty five years of age, she pleaded with Ryder to let her accompany him to the Opium warehouse. But Ryder being Ryder, refused, claiming that he couldn't put her in danger. 'Put me in danger my ass.' She thought to herself, but let him go. That turned out to be a huge mistake.
The day Ryder barely clung to life, was the day she realized she would die for him. Y/N found herself crying in the barracks, spending many sleepless nights worrying about the young man who had stolen her heart.
One night Ryder dragged Y/N out of the barracks to get drinks. This was the night where Y/N got hopelessly drunk with Ryder, and spilled her heart out to him, the jealousy, the worry, the feelings, all of it. Thankfully, the young man was just as wasted as his best friend. The night ended with Ryder acquainting his best friend with a man's touch, more specifically, his own. The night was full of lust, love and passion, something neither of the two will ever regret. The morning after, however, was awkward, since neither one remembered anything from the night, apart from the passionate love making. They decided to put it behind them, and continue with their lives. This broke Y/N's heart, but nevertheless, she got over it. Or at least tried to.
The day of Ryder and Jade's wedding, was the day Y/N disappeared. She slowly and silently broke apart at the altar, standing behind Jade as her bridesmaid, she watched the love of her life marry another woman. This truly destroyed her.
That night, Y/N didn't sleep in the room next to Ryder's, and went to the barracks instead and disappeared in the night.
The day she disappeared, was the day Ryder realized how much she really meant to him. She was a constant in his life, she was always there. She held him when he had nightmares, she patched him up when he got hurt, she comforted him when he broke, she protected him, she gave him all the love he needed, but he never noticed. And now that she was gone, Ryder was lost. Sure, he had Jade now, but his Y/N was irreplaceable. He searched the entirety of the Badlands, leaving no stone unturned in the search for his best friend. Even the words 'best friend' couldn't describe what she was to him because she was so much more.
When he finally found her, all bruised and bloodied up, he feared he'd lost her for good this time. He tended to her himself, claiming that he should treat her as she did him.
But she never woke up.
Ryder broke the day her buried his soulmate, realizing that he had loved her all along. His heart had always belonged to his Y/N, but he never acted on it.
Truth be told, Ryder felt a twinge of relief as his father killed him. At least he would see his Y/N again, and this time they would stay together.
''Will you stay with me, Ryder?'
'Forever and always, my love.'
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jksmoongf · 4 years
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heaven’s kitchen [preview] || jjk
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Pairing: cook! Jungkook x shy! reader
Genre: fluff / smut
Wordcount: n/a [preview 1.4k]
Plot: Jungkook is one of the youngest and most popular cooks in Seoul, lucky for you - he teaches cooking classes and so much more.
Warnings: not established relationship, non idol Au (omg it’s my first time writing one of these so pls be kind lmao), a big dash of pining, a pinch of jealousy, smut (tba!) a/n: a little while ago I asked if some of you wanted a preview and I never posted it, sorry! I still don’t know when this will be up (I have presentations to do and work, so I have to put writing on the backburner. I originally wanted to post this on my birthday but I didn’t finish it in time.) Hopefully I’ll be able to post this at he end of July.  As always feedback would be lovely. love you, angel babies! 
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Thursday - August 20th
“You confidently cut down to the bone, three times… you want the chicken to cook evenly and the thigh meat won’t cook as fast as the breast if you don’t do this. ” Jin explained as they were all gathered on the opposite side of the counter, watching him skillfully prepare the chicken. “Hyung, here…” Jungkook handed him a bowl filled with the herb butter he had just taught them how to make. “Thank you…” The older one trailed off. “By now the butter should be at room temperature, and you should be able to easily spread it evenly underneath the skin. You carefully pull here at the end and you have to be really gentle when you move your fingers underneath so you don’t tear the skin, we really don’t want that to happen because it’ll prevent all the goodness from the butter to leak out…” “And when it melts in the oven, the butter will seep into the meat with the herbs and give it a wonderful flavor and it will be so soft, the meat will melt on your tongue; combined with the tardiness of the lemons…it’s heavenly.” Jungkook sighed, making the females around him swoon in response. “That must be one hell of a roast chicken.” Taehyung mumbled. “I’ll be on lemon cutting duty, I won’t touch the bird.” “Me neither.” “I’ll do it.” She gestured for them to be quiet so she could soak up the rest of the instructions until the chicken was safely tied up and roasting in one of the ovens. “Wow y/n, you’re so good at this.” The boys gathered around her, watching in awe as she stuffed the warm lemon slices inside of the chicken. “You should open a restaurant, this is amazing.” Tae peeked over her shoulder, his deep voice vibrating in her chest. “Shush, it’s not even halfway done.” She waved her hands to shoo them away so she would have some space. Namjoon and Taehyung were preparing a salad all on their own, she had figured that it would be easy enough for them to slice and dice some greens and mix a dressing according to a recipe. “Did you put everything in?” She asked her best friend, eyeing the butter he was preparing. “Only the parsley is missing then I’m done.” He beamed, happy with the almost finished product. “But you need to make sure it’s finely chopped.” “I know, I know…” Hoseok trailed off, the tip of his tongue parting his lips in concentration as he tried to use the chopping technique Seokjin had taught them in the first class. She reached for a bigger knife in the wooden block to have better control when cutting the thigh meat when suddenly a smooth, familiar voice made her freeze in place for a second. “How’s everything going?” Jungkook stood next to her, his eyes scanning the work in progress. “The salad looks really good. You two are slowly but surely getting the hang of it.” He praised the other two who proudly bowed a little in return. “And over here?” He walked around them to check on the butter, which Hoseok was now mixing up so all the ingredients were spread as evenly as possible. “We’re just getting ready to butter the chicken.” He announced, placing the bowl next to the tray. “You’ve not cut the thighs yet, let me see how you do that. Maybe you’ll need some help.” Her heart was hammering against her ribs; her hands were trembling as she felt the warmth of his body so close to hers - it was the first time he was standing this close to her, usually he was avoiding her at all costs, even sending Seokjin over to help. The sweet musky scent of his cologne intruded her lungs, clouding her brain. Now she knew why all those girls always tried to be close to him, he smelled amazing; and she wanted to ravish this moment forever. “Y/n…” Hoseok hissed under his breath, snapping her out of her thoughts. “Right.” Her grip around the handle of the knife tightened and carefully she cut into the meat. “Ah, really good! Good job!” Jungkook commented; her eyes shot up to look at him, a small smile playing on his lips. He had praised her, he had said she did really good. A tingling feeling of bliss spread from every single hair follicle down to her toes. Finally, he knew that she wasn’t a lost cause, that she didn’t just come here to drool all over him and without looking down she moved her hand and pulled the knife from the incision. “Ouch.” Instantly she dropped it, her hand wrapping around her finger but it was too late, blood had already dripped down onto the chicken. “Are you okay?” They gathered around her.   “Yes but I ruined the food.” “Doesn’t matter, come over here…” Jungkook’s hand nudged her towards the sink. “We have to clean the cut…” In a daze she watched how he carefully rinsed her hands under cold water, examining the cut. “It’s not deep, I don’t think you’ll need stitches.” “I’m sorry, I’m so clumsy…now you’ll have to throw the chicken away.” “I told you, don’t worry about it. Your health is more important.” Handing her a paper towel to apply some pressure to the cut before he reached for a small first aid kit on top of the shelving unit. “Do you have a preference?” He held up regular flesh-colored band-aids and yellow ones with a Pororo print. “Uh…regular is fine.” He nodded, his fingertips brushing against her skin when he deliberately removed the paper towel. The plague-like army of butterflies in her stomach, made her knees feel weak - his touch was so gentle yet determined. An unexpected hiss escaped her lips, his hand wrapping around her’s to hold it still while he placed the small bottle of disinfectant back into the pouch while the stinging slowly subsided. “Sorry, I should’ve warned you…noona...” His voice hitched at the end, she wasn’t sure if he was asking if she was older or if his heart was racing just as fast making his voice hiccup. He was so beautiful, she watched how his lashes fluttered softly while he looked down to place to the bandaid just right. Her eyes carefully examined every feature of his face; from the little scar decorating his cheek to the small mole on the bridge of his nose, down to the perfect shaped cupid’s bow - he looked like a prince from a fairy tale and she was desperately wanting to be his princess. “All done, I hope it’s not too tight? Everything okay?” His big brown eyes dived into hers, the fear that he caught her staring spread through her limbs, petrifying her as she watched a look of confusion form on his features. “Y-yes, it’s okay.” She swallowed the tight feeling in her throat, an unwanted redness creeping its way onto her cheeks. “You have to be more careful, those knives are very sharp.” ‘ Quickly she nodded her head, averting her eyes to his chest which suddenly seemed to move in closer with every blink.  Her hands were starting to shake, an uncomfortable clamminess was sticking her hair to the back of her neck. Was he really going to do this in front of everyone? They had never really talked to each other, yet she couldn’t bring herself to step away, it was happening too soon. It wasn’t at all like she had imagined what it would be like every night before she fell asleep but maybe reality would be better than her dreams. Time seemed to have slowed down and with every blink of her eyes; he was so close that she wanted to drown in his warmth and scent. She wrapped her arms around his torso, pressing herself tightly to his toned body. If only this moment could last forever, she never wanted to let go, nestling her face into the soft fabric of his black shirt. “Oh my god, what is she doing?” A voice laced with mockery reached her ears, shortly followed by a snarky laugh that drowned out everything, even her heartbeat that was beating so loudly against her ribs. She couldn’t feel his arms around her; he wasn’t reciprocating the embrace. Almost immediately she pulled back, trying to get some space between them. Jungkook had simply wanted to reach for a box on top of the shelf, frozen in place he stood still, a baby pink hue tinting his cheeks as he avoided looking down. Praying for the floor to split in two and swallow her whole so she wouldn’t have to face him ever again, was the only thing she could hope for. She always had a habit of making a fool of herself but this time it was worse. If she had ever stood the smallest chance with Jungkook, she had just ruined it...
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dayseternal-blog · 3 years
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i think im running out of naruhina fluff/smut. T-T. Can you help me out? hihi
 🔍
you think you can hide behind anonymous 🧐  I’m quite certain I know who this is haha 😘
And for you, dearest anon, have three completely unfinished, barely started wips (EVIL CACKLES BECAUSE THESE GO NOWHERE)
But actually, if any of these one-shot ideas catch your interest, please let me know and maybe I’ll actually try to finish one of them?
Smutty Soulmate AU, where you meet your soulmate in your dreams each night upon turning 20.
When her alarm jars her from sleep, she’s always only left with a feeling and flashes of color.  Today...she desperately tries to focus, to reach back, to remember…
Excitement.  Red.  Dark.
Her heart beats faster for reasons unknown to her, and there’s no point in trying any harder to slide the experiences of the soul into her brain.  After pointless meditation sessions, longer naps, and all manners of effort with dream diaries and online tips, she’s been resigned to the fact that only her other half can unlock that translation of dreams to memories.  She has yet to meet her soulmate in person.
Ever since her 20th birthday a few months ago, since that nerve wracking night of meeting her soulmate for the first time, going out has been a secret manhunt.  Eyes peeled to every single passersby over the age of 20.  Any one of them could be the person she’s spent the last 200 or so nights with.
So she dresses carefully for a day out with Sakura, Tenten, and Ino.  They’ll be going to the restaurant where Sakura’s fiance works his part-time job.  For all she knows, her soulmate might be there, too.
A guy?  A girl?  Her age?  Much older?  She has no idea what she’ll say to her soulmate, either.  But she imagines that when she sees them, it’ll be like a homecoming.  Planning is unnecessary, right?  When it’s someone you actually see every night?  If they didn’t like her, she can’t imagine why she would wake up every morning with so much residual happiness and longing.
-------------------------------------THAT’S IT @bunny-hoodlum
Ghost-Hunting (Obake Hunt) Comedy Modern AU, Naruto & co. visit a college at night for some scares that take an unexpected turn...
A shadowed driveway leads up the mountain toward the private college.
“Is this it?” Sasuke asks, peering out the car window.
“Yeah, turn here,” Ino instructs.  
“Okay, but why is the place even open at this time of night,” Sakura states, arms crossed with a skeptical expression as Sasuke drives the minivan through the gates, up the grand driveway.  The dorms for the college were built at a separate location down the main thoroughfare.
Ino shrugs.  “They have all kinds of events that go on at night.  I don’t know.”
“At least we know we’re not trespassing if the school’s open.”  Hinata’s soft voice comes over the back seat.  
“I still can’t believe we actually talked you into coming with us!” Ino teases.
Sakura laughs, “We’re having a bad influence on her!”
Hinata shakes her head.  “Actually, I’m amazed that Naruto-kun is here,” she shyly replies.
Sasuke lets out a quiet laugh.  “Doesn’t mean he won’t shit himself if we find a ghost.” 
“Okay!, no!, I won’t shit myself, alright?” he immediately defends.  “...I might just scream a little, but I won’t poop my pants…”  He’s already in a protective stance, arms crossed, back hunched a little.  
Everyone laughs at him, but Hinata takes his hand, smiling half-amusedly, half to comfort him.  “I’ll protect you, Naruto-kun.”
That only makes everyone laugh harder as Naruto sinks into himself in embarrassment.
Despite Ino’s school being open, the parking lot is somewhat empty save for a few cars.  The buildings are magnificent in design, echoing back to an era when arched entryways and stucco were favored over walls of glass.  The hum of cicadas pierce through the still, late summer air.  
The small group of friends silently follow Ino back toward the driveway of the school with only yellowed street lamps lighting the dark sidewalks.  They cross into the street, stopping right in the middle at the fancy traffic meridian.  It’s an odd decorative aspect of the driveway they passed on the way up.  It’s right in the middle of the street, separating the in and out lanes, somewhat built-up and rounded with a grassy patch and flowering bushes planted high on top.  It really only serves to make the school look expensive.
Ino smiles, then whispers, “Put your hand here on the wall.”
“Why?” Sakura asks, also in a whisper.  
“Just feel it.”  
They do, all of them placing their hands on the wall, waiting for something to happen.
“You see how the plaster is kind of rough over there?” she asks.
They nod, their fingers dragging over the rushed job.
“...This is an ancient burial ground,” Ino explains in a hushed tone.
Their hands spring off of the wall, their fingers wide in stress at what they were just touching.
“Ino, what the fuck?!” Naruto hisses, barely containing his volume, his legs already carrying him away from the meridian and onto the side of the street. 
Sakura stares at her hand wide-eyed.  “Oh my gosh, we’re all cursed,” she laments.  She can practically feel the spiritual energy twisting around her fingers. 
Ino snickers.  “That’s what my course major senpais did to me.”
Sasuke and Hinata are silently trailing after Naruto with abject horror on their faces.  Hinata fists her hand uncomfortably against her skirt.  
Once they’re all gathered safely away from the meridian, Ino continues to explain.  “When they were constructing, they found the remains of the ancient natives.”
“So they just built that random thing in the middle of the street to house the bones and then continued on their merry way?” Naruto asks for clarification.
Ino nods.  “After they found them, they built that wall around the burial ground, and apparently they were in a hurry to cover it back up.  They just made the driveway go around it.”
They stand there, staring at the burial ground, picturing the bones just on the other side of the wall they touched, below the grass and bushes.  
“Did you have to make us touch it, though,” Hinata asks, regretfully, with a really sad frown.
“The spirits of the ancient warriors are going to find me and kill me in the dead of the night,” Naruto states, as if it’s already fact.
Ino brushes his paranoia off.  “We’ll, I’m still here, aren’t I?”  
“Note to all of us--don’t do anything Ino tells us to do,” Sasuke says.
Ino gives him a very evil smile.  “That’s not all there is to this place.”
“Why...why am I doing this…” Naruto asks to no one in particular.
She leads them deeper into the center of the school, where a large tree spreads its thick limbs over a beautiful cobbled courtyard.  A simple fountain beneath the tree spouts water, and pennies shine beneath the surface of the circular pool.  The gurgle of the water as it falls is relaxing, serene in the quiet of the night.
“Wow, this is nice,” Sakura says, looking around at the manicured gardens surrounding the courtyard.  
Ino nods.  “A girl hung herself here.”
They turn their attention to the blonde.  Suddenly, the peace of the courtyard feels like an ill omen.
She tilts her head at the large tree.  “They say that when this used to be a mental hospital, a girl got away from her caretakers.  She was found hanging from this tree.”  
They frown at the branches, wondering which one the girl chose.
Ino gestures to steps that lead to an academic building.  “They said that at night, you could see her ghost walking and talking to herself in the corridors, always bringing herself to this tree.  Someone suggested to the school that they build this fountain here to give rest to her spirit.”
“So no one sees her ghost anymore?” Sakura asks. 
Ino shrugs.  “I guess we’ll find out…”
“What?”  Naruto scrunches a face of distaste.
“Let’s go,” Ino invites.  
“Go where…” he whines quietly.
Ino takes the disturbed group down the steps to the building.  “Hm, I wonder if it’s open…”  She pulls the handle.
The door opens.
“Whyyyy is it open…” Naruto groans.
“But actually, though, why,” Sakura states.
“Maybe the teachers are still here?” Hinata suggests.
Ino laughs.  “Psh, what college professor cares that much about their job?”  She holds the door open, inviting them into the building.  “Welcome to the language arts hall.”  
The corridor lights are all on, assuring them that the building is, indeed, open.
They enter the hallway.  Naruto lags behind.  When the door shuts, he opens it again.  “I’m just making sure…”  He tests the handle a couple more times before closing it.  Then he tests it once more for good measure.
“You satisfied?” Sasuke asks.
“I’m just making sure,” he repeats.  
Hinata frowns, imagining the door locking them in while they’re inside the building.  
Naruto’s paranoia is only making things worse.
Ino starts ahead of them, and Naruto has to rush to catch up.  “Wait for me!”
“SHHHH!!” Sakura scolds, finger to her lips.
They stand there, noticing how her shush seems to echo in the hallway.
“This place is really creepy,” Hinata comments quietly.
Ino shrugs.  “Only at night.  I had classes in this building in my first year.” 
“So this place used to be part of the mental hospital?” Sasuke asks.  
“Yeah,” Ino affirms.  She brings them to a classroom.  “You see how there’s this little window that you can use to look inside?”  
They nod, taking turns peeking into one of the dark classrooms.  It’s a normal room with normal desks.
“All of the rooms have this hallway window, you see?  It was so that the nurses could check on the patients.”
“Oh gods,” Naruto mutters.
-------------------------------------THAT’S IT
College Ballet AU, Naruto sees a different side of his quietly reserved friend.
It wasn’t a trick. 
Winter had dragged its sharp claws across the ground as long as it could, but finally, finally, three seasonal false-starts and numerous wilted, early-blooming daffodils later, 
Spring had finally decided to stay for good.
Trees bloomed pastel pinks instead of icy white.  New hopefuls popped out of the wet dirt, ready to face the sun.  Birds were suddenly a real thing again.  
Students strolled across the college campus in shorts and light sweaters, eager to shed the winter coats they had worn for six straight months.
And most importantly…
“The forecast is in the high 50s all week!” Ino announced as she pranced into the room, swinging her dance bag to the floor.
“Oh!!  Remember last spring we had class outside?” Sakura asked, turning her attention to their ballet instructor.
“Can we have class outside, Kurenai?” Ino pleaded, eyes wide in hope.
“Hm, the weather is nice today.  I suppose it is a shame to stay indoors on an afternoon like this,” she considered aloud.
Hinata listened with alarm.  She had never danced outside before, never in her 14 years of dancing.  Yes, she had danced on stage before, had performed in front of many strangers before, but still...  Everyone will see us, she worried.  
“I didn’t bring my speakers today, though,” Kurenai continued.
Before Hinata could feel any relief, Tenten pulled out her tech from her bag.  “You can bluetooth your phone to mine!”  
“Awesome, Tenten!” Sakura exclaimed.
“Oh, please, Kurenai?  Can we have class outside?” the other girls begged.
Hinata already knew her fate.  She was going to have to wear her body-conforming leotard and tights in front of the entire student body.  Nevermind the fact that the last time she had gone barefoot on grass was in elementary school.
They all picked up their belongings and made the quick trip to the center lawn.
As she predicted, many students who were already finished with their classes for the day were enjoying the afternoon weather, laying out in the grass reading or playing frisbee.  
And here they were, in their leotards and tights, about to have their whole ballet practice for all to see.  
“There’s so many people,” she whispered in embarrassment to Sakura.  
The pinkette looked at Hinata in confusion, then sympathy.  “Don’t worry.  Just relax and enjoy the sunshine!  It’s a lot of fun to dance outside.  It feels like…”  Sakura glanced up in thought.  “...Like freedom.  Or like...nature!”
Hinata took a deep breath and nodded.  She slipped off her sandals and lined up with everyone to begin their barre exercises...without a barre.  She spread her toes open to first position and settled her arms and hands into en bas.  
Already she could see curious onlookers watching them, and she could only thank the god above that they were having class in a corner of the field, and not front and center.  
Kurenai glanced over her dancers, noting their prepared positions.  She rattled off the instructions for their plie routine before setting up the speaker and scrolling through her phone’s music menu.
Familiar piano music rose into the air.  
More students glanced around.
Hinata tried not to think that all of their eyes were on her.  Because she knew, logically, that they weren’t all watching only her, but her heart just hadn’t been prepared for this sudden public display.
Eventually, with the right side completed and the combination repeated on the left side, Hinata began to feel less tense.
The students lazing on the lawn returned to their own devices, and only passersby watched as they headed to their destinations.  
She fell into the muscle memory of the exercises, and her focus turned inward on the flow of her arms with the music, of the dart of her toes with the beat, and the alignment of her body.  
It was like Sakura said.  There was a certain freedom she had never felt before in dancing barefoot in the grass under the Spring sun, turning, leaping, and reaching into the fresh air.  
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darkwingdragon · 3 years
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Here’s Patches the adopted son of Trafalgar Law and Monkey d Luffy of my One Piece Lawlu fancanon au. 
Name: Patches (Real name Rudolph)
Age: 8 years old
Gender: Male
Species: Drakonoid type Subterra or Earth 
Affiliations: Heart Pirates and the Straw hat Pirates
Occupations: Cabin boy and Adoptive son of Trafalgar Law and Luffy
Birthday: 20th of May
Blood type: B
Personality: Patches is an Adventurous kind young Drakonoid  that always saw the bright side of life, even when he knew he was dying of the ALD and was living on the streets he continued to keep on enjoying life until the very end but when he was saved and adopted Law and Luffy then cured from the disease he was even more excited because he was going to live a life and with his new family.
Patches is like the Bart Simson of the one piece universe just a lot more nicer, he is a mischievous prankster, whenever he’s in the mood Patches will pull pranks of unsuspecting members of the public, other pirates, marines and even members of the Straw hats and the Heart pirates his favourite targets are Travis and usopp. 
Despite being a good kid he’s often can be rebellious towards certain things such as bath time and eating vegetables his rebel nature also makes him a bit reckless like wanting to join in on a fight with dangerous pirates but is always taken to safety by the others.
Patches for his age is very Bright minded It surprised Law to how Patches knows certain things that would be a bit complicated for a normal child.
Patches can be very witty, he often thinks of funny remarks or jokes when facing the enemy even if his life is in danger he’ll crack a few jokes to brighten the day., free spirited and caring this kid if he feels the need to will help anyone that needs help especially he new family.
Patches can get very flustered about various things such as calling Law dad for the first time he’ll run off shouting in denial then go and hide embarrassed.  
Abilities: Devil fruit user wielder of the Calm Calm Fruit can detect earthquakes and smell metals is very stealthy and is a pickpocket.
Weapon: Slingshot and various items he can find to use as a weapon
Likes: Candy although he’s not allowed it due to making him crazy hyper. Being with his friends and family. likes to collect random things, drawing, pranking, likes to sleep with Law and Luffy in bed usually does this when he has a nightmare or when there’s a storm.
Dislikes: Hates thunder it frightens him but it also reminds him of his old parents death, snakes and vegetables absolutely HATES BATH TIME.
He’s also doesn’t like it when either Law or Luffy separate for a while to other islands, it makes him feel like he’ll lose them like he lost his own parents. 
Relationships: Patches had a loving relationship with his old family right until they were killed by the landslide. After a while he lived alone on the streets until he was saved and adopted by Law and Luffy and their crews.
Patches relation to Law was a genuine father son relationship, Law became very bonded to Patches after finding out he had the same sickness that Law had survived from. After Law cured him of the illness with his power Patches grew attached to Law and loved him and his crew they often remind him of his old family. 
Patches had a very rocky relationship with Travis as he always caused trouble on his sub but over time and learning about his past he became good friends with him.
Patches relation with Luffy was loving as well as exciting, Patches found Luffy and his crew to be wild and crazy but loving and fun all the same and the adventures Patches has with them was everything the boy could ever dream.
Patches relation to Lyra is that to having a fun caring auntie he finds Lyra to be awesome due to her devil fruit powers and loves it when she takes him flying.
Backstory: Rudolph came from a small mining island somewhere in the new word. He was born from a small family of Subterra Drakonoids who were one of the family of miners of the island, His family specialized on finding ores in the mine due to them able the smell the metal within the rock. Rudolph lived a happy life with his parents who were the head chiefs of the miners. When he was 6 years old Rudolph joined his family into the mines to begin his training. However on that day his island was hit but a powerful storm which start to drench the mining mountain in rainfall. When Rudolph was in the mines with his father Rudolph smelt a strange type of ore in one of the shafts that his father referred as “bad ore”, before they could investigate the torrential rain from the storm caused the ceiling of the mineshaft to collapse, fearing for his son’s safety Rudolph’s father took him out of mines to a shack outside the entrance. He then left his son the go help his wife and the other miners who were also injured.
However as the storm worsened Rudolph watched in horror as a landslide formed and came down the mountain causing the mine entrance to collapse crushing Rudolph’s family just as they were about to reach the exit. Not long after his family’s death he was evicted from his house by the island officials due to him being to young to take ownership of his family home and was forced to live on the streets.
A few years later Rudolph began developing white spots on his skin after finding out from a doctor he discovered that he had caught the Amber Lead Disease. When he asked for a cure the doctor chased him out of the clinic stating that there was no cure and refused to help him. Because of the fear of the disease the towns people branded him an outcast and often tried to kill him. So to help him stay safe Rudolph wrapped himself in ragged clothing to hide his skin whenever he’s in the town amongst the crowd to pickpocket and stealing food.
Sometime later he stole the calm calm devil fruit from a merchant who was passing through, out of hunger and desperation he ate the fruit and became a devil fruit user. After learning of his abilities he used his newfound powers to help him be more stealthy when stealing food and money. Rudolph soon changed his name to Patches because he always hated his old name and due to his white spot getting worse.
He lived on the streets for a while until one day he stole food and wallets from the from the straw hats and the heart pirates who both of the crews were traveling together at the time. Patches ran off and was chased by Luffy, Law and Lyra. When they caught up to the boy  they found him trying to buy food with the money he stole but was then cornered and beaten up by some men because they noticed his spots under his rags. Patches was about to be killed but was saved by Law, Luffy and Lyra who had intervened. Patches was then taken back to Law submarine the Polar Tang by Luffy and Law to tend to his injuries.
Upon trying to help Patches Law was startled when he found out the boy was sick with the same sickness he cured himself from. Now making it personal Law saved the boy from his injuries, He and Luffy decided to adopt Patches after finding out he was an orphan. Law later on cured Patches of his Amber Lead disease but still had the spots. The boy joined both crews on their adventures and was so happy he was going to live a life.  
May update his bio in the future
Enjoy!
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y0ung-4ever · 3 years
Text
When I think of you..
Pairing: Park Jimin x female reader
Description: You and Jimin have a strong connection to one another. But when he moves away, will you keep that connection or will it be severed?
Warnings: Ngl this imagine gives off a lot of yandere energy- Soulmate au, Jimins the man we all want
Rating: E
Notes: This story switches between povs, but I’ll tell you who’s and when- but the beginning is yours ;) Also, I’m not sure if I should leave it here or make a part 2?
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When I see you, you make every fiber in my body smile.
When I hear you, your voice is a melodic song to my ears, I never want to stop listening.
When I touch you, it feels like lighting shot up my fingertips, electrifying.
When I think of you…
————————————-
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
August 14, 2015
We were always friends. We grew up together, we were never apart, therefore we did everything together.
One day after the other, we made new memories and had exciting adventures.
We went through middle school, made friends.
Then highschool came and it was a bit rough, but we were getting by.
We always hung out with the same friends, this group of just one girl and seven boys.
Me and you were the closest, but I grew closer to each of the other boys as we grew older.
Each of them had their own unique colors. But I always came back to you.
Eleventh grade. Your family was moving away, you weren’t going to be with me much longer.
I was staying back in Seoul, while you were moving to the UK.
You were studying abroad and your dad got a new and improved job in England.
I was left behind with the other boys. But before you left, you said one final thing to me that I held onto for the rest of the time you were gone until today.
We were at your house, we were up on the roof, looking at the sunrise. It would be our last one together. I thought.
It was the beginning of fall, so the air was a bit chilly.
You gave me your jacket. You were taller, so it fit me well.
You turned towards me and looked deeply into my eyes and caressed my hands with your own.
“Y/n-ah I will be gone. For a while. You may not see me. Or feel me. Or even hear me. But you can always think of me. Think of me and all our dreams we had. Think of all the good things we have gone through together and what we will go through as soon as we see eachother again. This will not be our last sunrise, and the sunset will surely not be our last either. As long as you are here on this earth and I’m here too, we are watching the sky together. Think of me when you watch the colors fade together. Promise? I wanted to tell you, not in these standards, but I wanted you to know that I will wait for you. Will you wait for me? I will count down the days until I get to see your beautiful face again-“
Your fingers painted against my cheeks. You put a stray piece of hair behind my ear. You leaned in closer but not close enough.
“-I will never love another woman like I love you. I promise you, Y/n. From this day forward, I may not be here with you, but you are mine. Don’t let anyone else have you. Keep yourself for me and your purity for me too. Promise me that you will do all of those things like I will you.”
You came even closer, I got anxious, I closed that space and closing that space made us fly into oblivion. All I could see was the back of my eyelids as my eyes were closed and my lips were on yours. With that kiss we shared. I promised that I would never let anyone else be this close to me except for you. You were the one I was supposed to be with. You were the first and only person I see as perfect. From that day forward, I would look up at the sky, thinking of us, and this moment we shared on the rooftop of your house.
———————–———————————————––
August 1, 2016
It’s been a year since you left, I held up.
Me and the boys haven’t stopped hanging out, they know I miss you.
I’m doing good in school, junior year was hard without you, but I think that I’ve gotten better senior year.
I was thinking of studying abroad for college in the UK. We could see eachother again.
Every day, after the last class of the day, I always stop by your house. Well your old house.
I’m never alone, If you wanted to know. Out of all the boys, Namjoon was always there for me the most and knew how it felt to lose someone close to you.
Taehyung is so flirty and such a big baby, I wish you were to see how Jungkook grew up. He’s taller than me now.
To be honest,Yoongi has been really distant since you left. More than usual. I think we all just miss you. But I think I miss you just a little bit more.
I really haven’t been eating that much, I just haven’t been hungry. But Jin always makes me. He doesn’t leave me alone until he sees me eat a full course meal before bed.
I think we made really good friends. Hoseok is still the brightest star. He tends to see the positive side of things. I need that right now.
_________________________________________________________________
May 23, 2017
Today is the last day of school. I’m going to be going to college soon. I passed exams well, I kept telling myself that I wouldn’t be able to see you if I didn’t do well.
We haven’t got to call, I promise that I’ve been trying. I always leave voicemails, your mom said that you’ve been really busy. I’m sorry for bothering.
____________________________
July 17, 2017
I miss you. I miss you so much that I wear that jacket you gave me all the time. I’m going to college. Not in the UK, but hopefully you will come back soon. I study hard. But sometimes I have these moments when all I think about is you, and another girl. You probably have a girlfriend. You’ve probably forgotten about me. But I still promised you. I will keep that promise.
I hope you get breaks. That you aren’t working all the time. Is your dad pushing you? I know he can be like that.
My birthday is coming up soon. I wish you would at least text me or call me. Just your voice would be reassuring. I think I’m asking too much.
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
———————————-
Namjoon’s Point of View— July 17, 2017
I am not going to lie about the situation. Y/n has been terrible lately. She has definitely gotten worse. She never eats or interacts with anyone else except for me and the boys. It’s like Jimin was the reason she was put onto this earth.
“Hyung, Y/n’s birthday is coming up. I think we should invite Jimin Hyung down. For Y/n/n sake.”
Jungkook misses the way Y/n lit up when they all hung out and played video games together. They never do that anymore, especially now that Jimin’s gone and she’s started going to college.
“Good idea, Kookie. We should. Go get the other boys and tell them we are having a meeting.”
He smiles and runs up the stairs. I turn off the TV and clean up the living room.
Once all the boys pile down the stairs and into the main room, I clear my throat and stand in front of everyone.
“Okay! So everyone knows, or at least I hope you do, that Y/n’s 20th birthday is coming up. Kookie, had the bright idea of throwing a surprise party for her, and inviting Jimin to come down for about a week or two. What do you guys think?”
“Can she handle seeing him after such a long time?”
Yoongi asked. He really cares for Y/n’s mental and emotional health.
“I think it is better if we follow through with it. They both need to see each other.”
I confessed. I think it’s settled.
“Then my idea is the best! Can we all go out to eat now? I’m starving..”
We all laughed and went out to eat.
————————————————————
Y/n’s Point Of View— July 20, 2017
It’s almost my birthday..I think you probably know that. At least I hope you do.
I remember when time just flew by like it was nothing when we were together. But now it’s so painfully slow.
I keep wishing in the well outside of our school, that maybe, just maybe you would show up for my birthday.
Have you really forgotten about me? Has it been that long?
4 more days, Jimin, is that enough time for you to pack and come over here? I think it’s plenty..I think you could do it in less because I bet you are just so excited to see me..right?
••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
—————————————-
Jimin’s Point Of View— July 20, 2017
Gosh I miss you so much..I bet you think I forgot about you..But I think the same.
I have made 0 friends here..I only have so much attention and I’m going to give 90% of it to you and 10% of it to the boy’s..that’s not selfish, right? I don’t think so.
I meant what I said back before I left..no other boy should be as close to you as I am, or at least was. Yoongi has texted me so much..and I guess they are wanting me to fly over and surprise you. I think that’s an amazing idea, but will I recognize you? And will you recognize me? I wonder if it will be a surprise..
I bet you’re depressed, about me not contacting you..
To be honest, I’m too scared.
What IF you have moved on? I don’t want to face that pain..I’m so vulnerable without you next to my side that if I hear the words, ‘Who are you?’ Or ‘Oh, I have a boyfriend’, my mind will go totally blank and I’ll hide myself away just like I did when I left.
The truth is..I think you are my soulmate. I think you are the one that was put on this earth for me to find and to love.
I'm going to come to you and prove my love for you.
Because when I think of you..
—————————————————
Y/n’s Point Of View— July 20, 2017
I really do love you, Jimin..I’m just so lost without you. Cliché, I know.
You’re my soulmate. I just know it! I have never felt the way I do about you with anyone else! You are the one!
Whenever I see you, I’m going to never let you go. Not like last time. You aren’t going to stay away from me. We are going to be each other’s happiness.
And just your smile. I look at the pictures we took together everyday. Your smile brings me joy, like butterflies in my stomach.
And when I think of you..
•••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••••
—————————-
When I see you, it’s like seeing color for the first time.
When I hear you, your words make me love to listen.
When I touch you, the feeling of your warm, soft skin lingers on my fingertips.
When I think of you..
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popculturebuffet · 3 years
Text
House of Mouse: Mickey and the Culture Clash (Commission by WeirdKev27) or “What the Hell, Clarabelle?”
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Hello, hello, hello... I wish I could say I was in good spirits but i’m tired, have covid induced chills running down my spine.. and oh yeah there was an armed insurrection i the captial last night that showed just how broken this country was. And while Monster Bash would still be relevant... I couldn’t do it. I admit to being unable to do an episode where the millitant racist nutjob who harms people runs off into the night, and does much worse in later episodes, while the people she harassed are arrested the night after a bunch of millitant, racist, sociopathic, selfish nightmares sieged the captial, killed a woman, raised the fucking maga flag over the buildling and took pictures like they were goddamn heroes.  We got a stark reminder, not a wake up call, not an opening a REMINDER of just how badly broken our country is last night, and it wasn’t till this morning I found out just how BAD it was. The deaths, the flag, the fact josh fucking hawley, MY STAT’ES SENATOR and registered piece of shit, raised  A FUCKING FIST IN SOLIDARITY, which gives me the crippling fear his stupidity and unabashed racisim and support of a cou could mean riots at best and attempted uprisings at worst and who knows what kind of hate crimes against those of color and those in my own queer community. I am afraid, tired, and I am pissed and I feel we could ALL use something wholesome, warm and far removed from the shit going on. And in my hour of need to figure out something like that to put on the schedule.. Kev brought up a wonderfufl idea.  Every month this month till the end of it Kev is going to comission one episode of a show near and dear to both our hearts that has it’s 20th birthday this month. House of Mouse. He was intitally going to request Pete’s One Man Show, which is one of my faviorites, but was ironcially one I already planned to cover next month to celebrate both the show’s anniversary and Pete’s Birthday. But since he was happy to wait till then to comission it, he instead asked for another classic and one with easily my faviorite character on the show: Moritmer Mouse. 
One of the best things House of Mouse did was bring back Mortimer Mouse. Introduced in Mickey’s Rival, Mortimer was an ex of minnies who showed up for one short to be a dick to mickey before running off and leaving Minnie at the mercy of a bull he pissed off. He also weirdly kept electrodes and a car battery in his pants. The short itself is.. not great mostly because Minnie dimissies Mickey rightfully being pissed someone is hitting on his girlfriend in front of him, making jokes at his expense, and generally being a pillock as being jealous... which yeah, yeah he is. Most of the time jealousy and supscison of your partner is ugly, gross and damaging to a relationship.  You should trust them unless you’ve been given good reason not to, and if your paranoidly jealous about every friend she has she could be attracted to.. get some fucking help. Seriously, I need to, not for this for various other problems, but get some therapy to help with your trust issues or if your just being the kind of dick who naturally assumes men and women or men and men or women and women or men and nonibinary persons, or women and nonbinary peeps and so on and so on cannot be friends if they could possibly be togehter romantically... grow up.  I say all of that because those are serious underlying issues and I didn’t want it to seem like for a moment I was supporting them... and because sometimes i’ts OKAY to be jealous, to either just feel a little jealous of someone, or to you know be irate because your girlfriend’s ex is hitting on her in front of you and she’s being entirely receptive to it. 
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So yeah i’ts really hard to feel bad for minnie’s bull attack or find the ending sweet after Minnie was you know, what ramona said for an entire short. However my point for this rant, besides giving out about the short again because I clearly didn’t enough in my Mickey Birthday Special, is that Mortimer is still pretty great. He’s a frat bro in the 40′s sense sure, but the idea of a local douche hoping to swoop in and woo minnie away, who has an oddly specific sense of humor and a bizzare, memorable and wonderful walk, seriously the short is worth watching for mortimier’s “I got two car batteris in my pants’ walk, is a good one. While he’d naturally show up in comics and what have you Mortimer just sort of vanished. But clearly someone on the House of Mouse staff, and Mousewerks before it, agreed because Morty was made easily one of the best and most recurring characters in the HOM, and often more prominent than Horace or Gus. While he still tried his old “I’m gonna do your common law wife act” a few times he was mostly there to be an annoying douche when the ep needed one and to be taken down a peg by everyone in the house. And that VERY MUCH includes Mickey. That’s also part of why I love this show bringing him back: It gives Mickey someone besides pete to give out too on a regular basis. He’s still his charming self about it but it’s lovelyt os ee Mickey sarcastically roast someone. And I honestly attribute the main factor of his sucess on the show to VA Maurice LaMarche. While his original VA, Sonny Dawson, was fantastic.. it’s Maurice who very clearly made the character his. While others like Jeff Bennet have taken over since i’ts Maurice who gave him his signature “ha-cha-cha” catchphrase, swagger and signiture voice. And no i’ts not lost on me that one of Maurice’s OTHER best roles is another cartoon mouse.. and I now very badly want him to meet Pinky and the Brain. But yeah, Maurice just oozes the smarm that defines mortimer for me, oozes condescinon and assholery and he, is., glorious. He was a faviorite as a kid, he’s a faviorite now, and Disney needs to use him more.. and also have Maurice voice him for wonderufl world of mickey mouse, though Jeff Bennett is not bad at all I just prefer the master at the role. 
So obviously, after the nightmare of an evening america had yesterday, an episode not only about how wholesome mickey and minnie are but about Mickey teaming up with Mortimer was EXACTLY what i needed. So pitter patter, this is Mickey and the Culture clash. As always for house of mouse i’ll be chonking it up and since this one starts right with the wraparound, and sicnce you know I spent a godo few pagraphs going over mortimer and he’s only IN the wraparound this episode... let’s start there
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Mickey and the Culture Clash: Don’t Go Changin, To Try and Please Me So we open the episode and the review proper with Mickey performing a banjo sernade for Minnie, their song in fact. It’s a really sweet scene.. that’s quickly ruined by Clarabelle being an asshole, who says i’ts a bit crude. Minnie counters that while “It’s not mozart”, it’s nice and she clearly likes it and the gesture. Instead of you know leaving it there like a good friend, like she’s SUPPOSED to be to Minnie in most continuities, Clarabelle.. takes the things she said and her having to run out to wrangle pluto out of context, painting it as her thinking he’s not sophisticated and then running out because of it. Oh and she tops it by pointing to a classified add from a MM looking for sophisticated companionship. 
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It just paints Clarabelle not as Minnie’s friend or a chatty gossip, but as a heartless bitch who has no trouble implying one of her best friends would cheat on her boyfriend TO HIS FACE, and is fine wrecking a perfectly lovely relationship just to have more to talk about. Seriously she starts gossiping to everybody on top of it just in case you thought Clarabelle was a decent person in any shape this episode. She’s the one thing about this episode that dosen’t work despite being integral to it.. well two but hte other thing is a small, end of episode gag we’ll get to. This.. this is an integral part of the plot. It also relies on Daisy and Donald being absent for the episode for what I can only assume is their annual sex decathalon because otherwise the second she heard about her friend doing this, before reassuring Minnie, Donald would be holdiing her while Daisy beat the absolute shit out of her for hurting thier closest friend and not bothering to take a look into anything when leveling such a rough accusation at Minnie. In a really stellar, really well paced episode, Clarabelle being so heartless stands out. It’s also, might as well get this out of the way, teh final episode not inlcuding the two holiday specials.. and it’s a good note to go out on otherwise, I just can’t ignore the obnoxious cow in the room.. in both senses of the word. 
So yeah Mickey’s trying to be fancy, and Mortimer gets a good dig in about him reading “You having trouble sounding out the words”, but once he hears what’s going on, or rather once he realizes mickey things Mortimer’s personal add is in fact his girlfriend cheating on him, he decides to help Mickey. And to his credit for this con.. Mortimer actually thought things out on how to trick his rival, and his plan here is douchey as hell but incredibly genius: he offers to help mickey and while that’d normally be suspcious he offers a genuine, and very mortimer explination for helping him become a bit more sophisticated to win minnie back: if Minnie finds a handsome, sophisticated guy to date, what chance does MORTIMER have against that? At least with Mickey, in his deluded egocentric view of things anyway, he has a shot at beating him. 
So Mickey classes it up a bit, taking some sopshitcated stances when announcing and trying to woo minnie by talking in ye olde english. When that fails, she just finds it silly but charming, Mickey finds Jose.. hitting on her.
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Just.. I expect better from you man. Woo ladies all you like as long as your respectful but I expect better than to hit on someone else’s girlfriend.. which granted he has but given the last time we saw him do that, he nearly got stabbed a bunch and the last time he agressively hit on a woman he got punched in the beak as he should, you’d THINK he’d of learned something. Seriously once again Donald is only missing because this time Daisy would be holding Jose down while Donald hit him. Or possibly they’d take turns. Point is Jose REALLY shoudln’t be doing this and knows better.. marginally. But.. it is in character enough so ti’s not as bad as Clarabelle the homewrecker. 
So Mickey tries being fancy and goes on to do poetry instead of letting O’Malley and the Alley Cats play.. which is a nice running gag the series does as they NEVER get to play.. which while funny is a shame since I love the Aristocats. So then we finally get what Mortimer’s been playing at, he swoops in, claims MICKEY dosen’t need HER, and uses the same personal add to trick her. See, while what Mortimer’s doing is vile.. unlike clarabelle I can repsect it at least. I don’t condone it and i’m glad he gets foiled.. but as a bad guy plan it’s pretty clever and for someone like Mortimer whose usually pretty incompitent.. it’s pretty suprising he could pull this off. It’s still pretty damn low and scummy, no question, but props to being able to outwit and nearly outplay two people who deal with your crap on a regular basis and still convincingly conning both.  Thankfully while he tries to take Minnie out Mickey, in a great visual gag, puts two and two together, and busts out their song, with Mickey and Minnie heartwearmingly reuniting on stage as seen above. Then we get that gag I mentioned not liking: Mickey gets Morty back by planting a false marriage proposal from Moritmer to Clarabelle, again under MM and he gets carried off.. HAHA HE’S BEING FORCED INTO A MARRIAGE HE DOSEN’T. LAUGH. LAUGH AT IT. The gag just really hasn’t aged well, as otherwise it’s clever Mickey used Mortimer’s own trick against both him and the person who caused all of this but really.. Clarabelle gets no real compuance. At worse sshe finds out she was tricked.. but she again you know tried to break up her close friends relationship for shits and giggles. But .. it’s at the very end of the episode and very easy to ignore, so it dosen’t really bother me too bad, and compared to some gags of the type i’ve seen, it could be MUCH worse.  Overall this wraparound is one of the series best and a good one to go out on. it has a simple premise, a brilliant antagonist plot, some great bits from all involved, and even a great Belle and Beast cameo. All in all a really good wraparound only hampered by a sexist and dated ending and Clarabelle being portrayed as ...
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She’s the worst, in the world. Okay onto the shorts.
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Mickey’s Piano Lesson: That was a Fun One
It really was. It’s a simple premise: Minnie wants MIckey to do a piano recital and he decides “I don’t need practice i’m mickey mouse. “ And it’s REALLY nice to have a short that has, rather than aw shucks mickey, shenanigans mickey. While thanks to the new shorts we’ve had tons, it’s still nice to get one in the House of Mouse era, and it’s just fun to see Mickey take the usual donald roll of letting his overconfidence punch him in the face> It fits both though: Both are everyman and while I lean towards the duck, to no one’s shock, Mickey is just as capable, and his lack of practice comes off less like the angry and hostile way donald would dismiss it and mroe just loveable procastination. And as someone who REALLY struggles with procastination I related to this short, as Mickey does everything else he’d rather do from bathing the dog to skydiving till Minnie, in a great bit informs him everyone from the president, to several dignitaries from other countries, to a televised audience will see. We then get two really great and really beatuifully animated bits as MIckey wrestles with the notes on thep age then fights with his piano as he performs, still pulling it off but destroying the thing and rightfully earning a glare form his girlfriend. Just a fun, slapstick short with a great premise. 
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Dance of the Goofys: Scary Children Set to classical music, this one has a bunch of goofys as Fairy’s, who are making the flowers go and the one who sleeps in ends up saving the king from a horrifing looking little brat. He reminds me of Montanna Max a bit.. speaking of which Creer Summer recnetly announced Elmyra won’t be in the reboot. And while this does make me fear actually good characters like Fifi, Montana Max, and more will be cut like the animanics reboot and I do feel for Cree not getting to be involved and hope they find another roll for her as, given her status in the industry she deserves better.. THANK FUCKING GOD. I’ll go into this in another review I have planned for the future but unlike the cuts made to animaniacs this was a REALLY good decision i’m really greatful for. Thank you crew thank you. 
Back on topic, it’s just a fun, really beautifully animated short about the goofies and hteir shenanigans with a really great high concept. 
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Maestro Minnie: Brahm’s Lullabye: Simply Irresitable Another simple but clever and lovely to watch one, and one I like quite a bit more. Minnie is conducting some living violins to Brahm’s Lullabye to get a baby Violin to sleep, and we get some really beautiful shots of her as she does so.. only to get comically interuppted by other insteruments turning up the noise. Not much to say on this one as it’s short and simple.. but sometimes short and simple is just what you need and the fun premise nad really beautiful especially for tv animation at the time visuals really sell this one.  ONce again, good stuff. 
Overall: This was a REALLY good note to go out on. While as I said the Clarabelle stuff can eat my entire ass, everything else is really damn good and I highly recommend checking this one out. Next time, in about a month, we’ll be looking at Pete’s spotlight episode for his birfday. While you wait tommorow we have my first look at legend of the three cabs. But for now, goodbye, goodbye, goodbye. 
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