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#cole caufield
misschino · 2 days
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diorsluv · 14 hours
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casual , part 2
“ ‘cause i’m still hanging around ”
series m. list previous chapter
vivianliu
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liked by yourusername, adamfantilli, and 66,824 others
vivianliu spending time w my girlfriend while she’s still my girlfriend 🫶
tagged: yourusername
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yourusername what’s that supposed to mean 😰
→ vivianliu you know exactly what i mean.
→ yourusername NO YOU’RE STILL MY WIFE I PROMISE
→ vivianliu SAY THAT IN FRONT OF THE MAN WHOSE BED YOU SLEEP IN
→ yourusername VIVI PLEASE
→ rutgermcgroarty whats going on 🙉
→ lhughes_06 ARE YOU THE MAN WHOSE BED SHE SLEEPS IN?? rutgermcgroarty
→ rutgermcgroarty no stupid (i wish)
→ yourusername HUH? EXPLAIN URSELF RUT
→ _quinnhughes oh hell no
→ jackhughes wtf
→ edwards.73 oh
username33 YOU’RE SO GORGEOUS
rutgermcgroarty baguette 🥖
→ vivianliu those are french dumbass
→ rutgermcgroarty mamma mia! 🕺
→ yourusername THAT WAS IN GREECE 😭😭
→ rutgermcgroarty goddammit you two never let me win
username7 OKAY GODDESSES???
luca.fantilli i love italy 🇮🇹
→ vivianliu i love taiwan 🇹🇼
→ edwards.73 i love canada 🇨🇦
→ markestapa i love america 🇺🇸
→ rutgermcgroarty i love nebraska
→ adamfantilli stop speaking right now rutgermcgroarty
→ rutgermcgroarty i thought we were naming our native countries????
→ mackie.samo but nebraska isn’t a fucking country?????
_quinnhughes okay i know my sister asked what the caption meant but actually what does the caption mean 😥
→ vivianliu figure it out
→ yourusername no quinny don’t figure it out
→ _quinnhughes just because i’m in vancouver doesn’t mean you can run around doing crazy shit
→ yourusername BUT IM NOT THOUGH??? 😭
→ _quinnhughes i’m going to figure it out and once i do you’ll have no choice but to tell me everything
→ yourusername you’re so nosy wtf
→ jackhughes what about me 😓😓
dylanduke25 why didn’t you take me with you
→ vivianliu because we didn’t want to 🤗
→ dylanduke25 oh 😕
→ adamfantilli LEAVE MY DUDE ALONE
username94 what i’m hearing is rosie’s cheating on vivian with ethan
username45 everyone’s so obvious abt this shit 😭
username21 the dresses are so prettyyy!
username30 best friend goals 🗣️
username28 correct me if i’m wrong but isn’t that the bag ethan posted himself buying on his story a few weeks ago??
→ username76 this sum detective shit 😭😭
trevorzegras i know
→ vivianliu know what?
→ trevorzegras I KNOW.
→ yourusername and how do you know
→ trevorzegras a little birdie told me
→ yourusername a little BITCH*** by the name of rutger mcgroarty?!????
→ trevorzegras snitches get stitches 🤫
→ rutgermcgroarty i plead innocent
→ vivianliu since when are you ever innocent???
username53 trevor knowing before her brothers is insane
jamie.drysdale bring back souvenirs 🙏
→ vivianliu she spent an HOUR at a gift shop today
→ yourusername i’m thorough with my purchases 😈😈
markestapa your girlfriend’s boyfriend is jealous
→ vivianliu my girlfriend doesn’t have a boyfriend 😒
→ mackie.samo THEY’RE DATING
→ vivianliu they’re “casual” 🙄🙄
→ luca.fantilli exactly they’re casually dating
→ vivianliu we all know he doesn’t like labels
edwards.73 pretty
→ vivianliu stfu 🤬🤬
→ edwards.73 was talkin bout the view but ok
→ yourusername the view is very pretty
→ edwards.73 so pretty i couldn’t take my eyes off it
→ dylanduke25 GET A ROOM
username21 ethan flirting every chance he gets 😭
→ vivianliu i’m against it but majority rules ig 😞
username60 the sunset is STUNNING
_alexturcotte what’s your opinion about it
→ vivianliu i’m definitely a neutral supporter but i’m kiiiiiiiiiinda leaning towards NO. NEIN. NAY. ABSOLUTELY NOT.
→ colecaufield agreed
→ edwards.73 yall gotta stop hating on my boy
→ _alexturcotte 🫤
→ vivianliu 😐
→ colecaufield 😑
edwards.73
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liked by adamfantilli, mackie.samo, and 94,168 others
edwards.73 shi was fogging up 😵‍💫
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username6 wait. waiiiiiiiiiiiit.
rutgermcgroarty HOLD TF UP IS THAT HER CAR
→ edwards.73 🚗💨
→ rutgermcgroarty wtf bro i was sitting in there like 15 mins ago
→ edwards.73 you never sit in the back anyways you’re fine
→ markestapa I WAS SITTING IN THE BACK WHAT THE FUCK
→ edwards.73 😱
→ markestapa i’m gonna shower for a week what the hell
username47 IS THAT THE LAKE????
username33 bro really dropped the biggest bomb on us like we wouldn’t notice tf?
luca.fantilli notice how the clock says 4 am. I COULDN’T SLEEP FOR 4 FUCKING HOURS
→ edwards.73 STOP EXAGGERATING it wasn’t even that bad
→ luca.fantilli it wasn’t that bad MY ASS
→ edwards.73 we were quiet 😪
→ luca.fantilli yeah when you two were finally passed out 😒😒
dylanduke25 ethan i have two very important words for you
→ edwards.73 go ahead say it
→ dylanduke25 thin. walls. THIN. FUCKING. WALLS.
→ edwards.73 that’s 5 words duker
→ dylanduke25 fuck you
→ edwards.73 there we go now we’re at 2
→ dylanduke25 😒😒
username57 that is a hughes if i’ve ever seen one
vivianliu 🤬
→ edwards.73 why r u beefing w me 🙄
→ vivianliu is this supposed to be a soft launch
→ edwards.73 you could call it that yeah
→ vivianliu then tf r u launching bc it sure as hell isn’t a relationship last time i checked mr “i don’t do labels”
yourusername nice very nice
→ edwards.73 whats nice?? im gonna need u to specify
→ yourusername the heart it’s nicely drawn 🤗
→ edwards.73 mhmm cuz the windows got foggy af
→ yourusername oh really? doing what?
→ edwards.73 that’s a good question maybe we should test shit out to see what gets the windows so fogged up like that
username26 it’s a whole hughes-a-palooza up in here
username80 sunset 😁😁
lhughes_06 eddy since when did you get a girl??
→ edwards.73 since before u left 🙄
→ lhughes_06 AND YOU DIDN’T TELL ME??
→ edwards.73 my girl wanted to keep it a secret so we kept it on the dl 🙏
→ lhughes_06 but everyone else knows.
→ edwards.73 we’ll tell you eventually!
→ lhughes_06 😓
username24 tell me this aint the girl he’s been flirting w for the past three months
→ username5 i think it’s been longer than three months 😭😭
username78 name drop rn
mackie.samo 🥀
→ edwards.73 🥴
→ vivianliu is this the boy verson of code names
→ rutgermcgroarty fuck no
→ adamfantilli we use initials cuz we’re not weird???
→ colecaufield this shit is too obvious
jackhughes 🤨🤨
→ edwards.73 😰😰
→ jackhughes ur a little risky for that one
username66 does jack know or is everyone cluless
username32 are we just gonna ignore the fact that ethan called her his girl in one of the threads??
username87 this shit freaky asf 😭
trevorzegras oh 👀
→ edwards.73 yes
→ _alexturcotte z stop acting like you know more than we do
→ trevorzegras I DO
→ luca.fantilli go ahead keep lying to yourself
adamfantilli 😲
→ edwards.73 🫣
→ vivianliu 🤫
→ colecaufield 🫠
→ rutgermcgroarty 😏
→ markestapa 😫
→ yourusername 🤭
→ jackhughes 😧
→ dylanduke25 🫢
→ trevorzegras 🤪
→ luca.fantilli 😃
→ _alexturcotte 🙃
→ mackie.samo 🤓
→ _quinnhughes all of you are like the definition of brainrot
notes ) like stated in the description under the au on the main masterlist… EXTREMELY SUGGESTIVE so let this be your warning 😭 yall r freaky bitches tho bc I REMEMBER THAT ONE CHAPTER IN FEATHER 🤨🤨 the influx of notes i had on that chap was insane also this chap’s a short girlie butttttt hell week is incoming so im either gonna have more short chaps or less longer chaps 😓😓
tags: @dancerbailey3 @hughesfein @loveforaugust
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zetterbabe · 3 days
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5 Second Challenge
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fiapartridge · 3 days
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he's a stranger! | mack + grace 🌷💌⭐️
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macklin x hughes!sister
summary: grace wants to bring macklin to the sacred lake house and her brother, jack is not having it.
fia's notes 💌: soooo much dialogue, like no mack in here SORRY this is like a siblings + trevor and cole imagine lol <3 enjoy!
not proofread
In the heart of Michigan’s summer magic, nestled among towering pines and tranquil waters of Lake Michigan, stood the sacred Hughes family lake house. Throughout the year, the Hughes siblings would be spread far apart in different stretches of the country, one of them not even residing in the country, but at this lake house and on this plot of land, none of that mattered. Because for two full months, the four of them were there together, and it was always better than the last.
“What do you mean you’re inviting him here?” Jack yelled from the living room as Grace rolled her eyes, stirring a pitcher of ice cold lemonade from the kitchen. She stood in a forest green triangle bikini top and jean shorts, fanning herself from the scorching hot summer heat that was seeping into the house.
“It means exactly that, Jack,” she shrugged, throwing the lemonade into the fridge and fetching a container of strawberries in return. “And you better not be mean to him!”
Jack scoffed, peeling himself off the couch, his bare chest exposed as he stumbled into the kitchen. “You haven’t even met the kid yet! What if he’s crazy? You’re just gonna invite some stranger into the house like it’s nothing?”
“He’s not a stranger, Jack. You’re being dramatic.”
“Yeah? Well, you’re being under-dramatic!”
Grace laughed, shaking her head as she cut the strawberries into halves. “Oh, wise words, Mr. Harvard.”
“Very funny. You know, these college dropout jokes are getting real old.”
“Can’t be a college dropout if you never went to college, Jack,” Luke butted in, stomping down the stairs as he opened the fridge and immediately grabbed the lemonade Grace had just made.
“Hey! I just made that!” Grace shouted, her small knife pointing in Luke’s direction.
With his hands up, Luke dropped the pitcher onto the counter. “Hey, no need for weapons!”
“Can you guys shut up?” Quinn complained, Trevor in tow, as they sat on the barstools at the kitchen island. “We can hear you guys fighting from the lake.”
“Oh, did someone make lemonade?” Trevor asked, ushering the pitcher towards his direction. “Grab me a cup, Grace?”
“You’re 23, grow the fuck up and get your own cup,” Grace scolded, her hands crossed over each other as Trevor stood up, a frown etched onto his face.
“Someone’s angry,” Trevor mumbled to Luke as he stretched for a cup at the top cabinet.
At that point, everyone was angry about something. Jack didn’t want Macklin to come, Grace wanted the complete opposite, Luke was deprived of the lemonade and was now watching Trevor sip it with ease, Quinn was tired of everyone’s bullshit, and Trevor got yelled at by the youngest Hughes, but truth-be-told, he was more scared of her than anyone else in the family—other than Ellen.
“Guys!’ Jack announced from his spot by the entryway of the kitchen. “Tell me I’m not crazy—”
“You’re crazy—”
“I haven’t even said anything yet, Luke,” Jack scolded as Luke shrugged his shoulders in response, diving into something on his phone. “Okay! Gracelynn here wants to bring a complete stranger to the lakehouse. That’s stupid, right?” he asked.
“Well, haven’t you done that, too? Like all of the girls you’ve brought here,” Cole added from the backdoor, fanning his red sunburn in search of the aloe vera that Grace restocks in the fridge every summer. 
“That doesn’t count.”
Grace scoffed, her back resting on the cool counter behind her. “Why not?”
“Because—”
“Because you’re a hypocrite! Macklin’s gonna come here and you guys are going to enjoy him—or at least pretend to.”
Luke stood up, his head pointing up from his phone. “We’re talking about Mack?”
“Yes?” Jack agreed confusingly, his brows furrowing at the younger boy.
“I thought this was some random dude! I’m on G’s side.”
“Oh, come on!” Jack groaned. “He is random!”
“Don’t act like you weren’t complimenting his puck protection like two weeks ago,” Luke scoffed, stealing a sip of lemonade from Trevor’s cup.
“Hah!” Grace jumped. “You like him! Admit it!”
“I don’t like him,” Jack huffed. “But... you can bring him if you want, I guess.”
“I’m sorry, what did you say?” Grace asked, her hand cupping her right ear. “I don’t think I caught that.”
“You can bring him,” he groaned, defeated.
Putting down her knife, Grace jumped up and down before running towards Jack and throwing her arms around the boy. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”
Mirroring her actions, he threw his arms around Grace. “He better not be a weirdo and murder us in our sleep.”
“He won’t! Well, I don’t think he will,” she smiled. “Also, you’re really sweaty.”
“Oh well, fuck you then.”
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croszukis · 2 days
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silly era (nick new career high in points!) — MTL @ COL 03.26.24
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toasttt11 · 2 days
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julianna rae hughes
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summary: julianna the older twin sister to jack and a multiple gold medalist olympian.
thoughts
julianna hughes
introducing julianna
julianna x luca
instagram
stories
blurbs
lukey
fics
random
2023
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hab-a-nice-day · 3 days
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—Cole about coach Martin St. Louis, Montreal Canadiens, Cole Caufield's Journey to the NHL
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withwritersblock · 1 day
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Say Love
~Say Love by James TW~
Author's Note: this is inspired by Chimney and Maddie from 9-1-1: such an amazing show. As always italics are flashbacks Summary: Kirby says I love you for the first time Warnings: mention of emotional abuse in relationships Word Count: 1,200 Kirby Dach x fm!reader
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There is something so pretty about the way he eyes her. She was brighter than the sky during a sunset. She was warm and the kindest person he’d ever met. He was in love. He has yet to tell her. He was afraid that she wouldn’t say it back. 
She has been waiting for Kirby to come back for three days. He had scored in a shootout against his former team in Chicago. He called her the second he got back to his hotel room and they talked the entire night. 
She stood against the kitchen counter as his door was pushed open. He smiled widely as he dragged his suitcase inside. “Hey baby,” he mumbled as he rested his suitcase against the wall and walked towards her. She jumped into his arms as she laughed.
“God, I’ve missed you,” she whispered into his ear as she rested her hand on the base of the neck. He loosely wrapped his arms around her waist as he spun her in a circle, “How are you feeling?” she asked as he delicately put her down. His hands were still holding her waist as she rested her hands on his cheek. He smiled.
“Amazing, so glad to be home,” he muttered as he leaned towards her, kissing her urgently. “So glad to see you,” he mumbled against her lips as he guided her backwards towards the couch. He kissed her again as he tightened his grip against her waist. 
“I wish I was there,” she mumbled as she slowly sat down on the couch, keeping his lips close to hers. 
“Me too baby,” he said as he pulled away from her. He looked deeply into her eyes as he lifted his hand and rested it onto her cheek. His thumb slowly ran across her warm cheek. 
The words were on his tongue for the first time in their relationship. He’s spent his entire roadtrip thinking about her and craving her touch. He missed the way she made him feel. He missed when his heart would race just by meeting her eye. 
It was still early, too early to say it but he thought it. He felt the words on his lips and wanted to say them the longer he searched her features. Instead his lips found hers again as he slowly pushed her on her back; climbing on top of her.
She was sitting on their balcony, drinking a cup of coffee as she watched the sunset over Montreal. A place she moved to a year ago because she wanted a new life. A new life that she wasn’t aware of was going to later include a gorgeous man. She had gotten out of a long term relationship that was incredibly toxic. Emotionally hard to be involved in. 
The last thing she ever wanted was to be in a relationship. Until she met a boy who lived in the same apartment building as she did. He was also new to town and also unwilling to be in a relationship. 
All Kirby wanted was a friend that didn’t play hockey. Kirby and Y/N first met while they were getting packages from their mailboxes. After that she invited Kirby up to her apartment. They played Mario Kart and talked about their new lives in Montreal. 
Any time they weren’t busy with other people they would hang out. And after four months, she kissed him and they started dating shortly after. 
She ran her hands over the sweater on her frame as Kirby raised his hand up and knocked it onto Nick’s door. The team was having a get together before the holiday break and Kirby was introducing Y/N for the first time. 
“Come in!” Nick shouted from inside. He met her gaze and raised his eyebrows. She nodded her head as she took a hold of his hand. Leaning towards her, he pressed his lips against her cheek before he pushed open the door. “Kirby man,” Nick shouted as he walked away from Cole.
Nick quickly wrapped his arms around Kirby, “How are you always the last one here?” Nick chuckled as he pulled away, glancing at Y/N.
“Nick, this is my girlfriend, Y/N,” he mumbled as he pulled her closer to his side. Y/N smiled kindly towards him.
“Nice to meet you, welcome to the family,” Nick expressed excitedly as he smiled towards her.
“Thank you,” she mumbled as she leaned closer to Kirby. He ran his hand up and down her side.
“Come on, I wanna show you off,” he mumbled against her hair before he kissed the top of her head. She chuckled nervously as she remained attached at his hip.
She rested her head on his chest, as she felt his hands run slow circles across her skin. It was perfect. Just the two of them in bed together, watching the sun rise over the city of Montreal.
Except Kirby was keeping his eyes on Y/N, admiring the sleepiness in her features. The three words were on his tongue as he wanted nothing more than to say them.
“You’re so quiet,” she mumbled before she pressed her lips against his chest. He hummed as his hand started to slowly glide up her skin.
“Just thinking,” he mumbled as she lifted her head up to meet his gaze, his lips curled upward.
She hummed, “Yeah?” she asked as she pursed her lips forward. He hummed as he bit his bottom lip. She furrowed her eyebrows as she smirked softly. “So are you going to tell me?” she asked as she glided her hand up his chest. 
He looked deeply into her eyes, “I love you,” he blurted out. His eyes widened as well as her own. Her lips parted as her heart started to race. “I’m sorry-”
“No, no, don't apologize,” she mumbled as she kissed him. She pulled away and stared into his eyes, “I just haven’t been able to hear those words without flinching in years,” she mumbled as she ran her thumb across his cheek, the beard scratching her skin. He ran his hand up and down her back soothingly. 
“I feel the same way,” she muttered, his smile faltering slightly. “I just don’t know if I can say those exact words,” he clenched his jaw as he furrowed his eyebrows, “I would use those words as a defense against my ex. I never really felt like they meant what they should’ve meant when I would say them. I don’t know if that makes any sense but Kirby, I truly believe you are my soulmate,” she mumbled.
His smile formed on his lips widely again as he scanned her features, “One day, I can say it back,” she muttered. He leaned towards her, kissing her urgently. “Say it again,” she mumbled against his lips, meeting his gaze.
“I love you,” he let out, her heart fluttering, “I love you so much,” he expressed.
“I’m gonna need you to say it a lot,” she mumbled as she pecked her lips against his.
“Don’t worry, baby girl, I’ll say it enough for the both of us,” he said before he devoured her lips with his.
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leaentries · 9 hours
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headcanons | cole caufield
summary: boyfriend!cole
warnings: none
more boyfriend!player headcanons
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✮. he’s so sunshine a rainbows and it’s adorable. he would bend over backwards to make sure you’re happy. definitely keeps a hair tie on his wrist for you at all times.
✮. the type to dance with you in the kitchen when everyone else in the house is asleep. you guys would be giggling so loud bc everything is just funnier when you’re supposed to be quiet.
✮. cuddle sessions with his dog! you guys curl up in his bed all cozy and warm, with his puppy situated between the two of you.
✮. for some reason i see cole loving pool dates during the summer. grabbing coolers and bags full of everything you’ll need for the day. making sure to rub sunscreen all over your body and you do the same for him. he also loves to watch you sunbathe ;)
✮. such a fun boyfriend like will always want to play games with you. whether they’re board games, video games, etc. he just loves to spend time with you and make sure you’re both enjoying yourselves.
✮. along with this, he loves to do crafts with you. like if you’re super interested in making jewelry or crocheting, you bet your ass he’s right beside you either helping or wanting you to teach him how. the boys definitely give him a good chirp or two when pictures of him get leaked to the team group chat.
✮. small spoon. no arguments. he obviously loves to hold you while you sleep, but much rather prefers to lay on your chest and listen to your heartbeat. the feeling of your soft body against his, paired with the rise and fall of your breasts will lull him to sleep in record time. will cling to you like a koala, i mean full arms and legs somehow wrapped around you.
✮. prefers to keep an arm around you while in public. it just helps him feel more secure knowing you’re right beside of him.
✮. i feel like he would love to have one of those location sharing apps like life360 or something. he doesn’t want to control you or stalk you in any way, he just a likes knowing where you are in case of emergencies. although sometimes he’ll just pop up out of nowhere bc he was bored and decided to see what you were up to.
✮. cole loves to trace your facial features when you sleep. running his fingers ever so softly over the swoop of your nose, or tracing the special spots of your freckles. he loves when you fall asleep first so he can take the time to admire every single detail of your face and commit them to memory.
✮. pretty much, he’s just a big ole softy
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dearstvckyx · 1 day
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𝐚𝐥𝐛𝐮𝐦 𝟐
𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬
𝐥𝐮𝐧𝐚 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐱 𝐧𝐢𝐜𝐨 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐞𝐫
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𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐫 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐬𝐭 ➜ 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞
Location: New Jersey
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Liked by nicodaws and 30,528,259 others
thelunahughes the beach out september 9 🫶🏻🌊but Somewhere Only We Know out NOW!!!
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lhughes_06: not to brag or anything but thats me on the cover
⟶ thelunahughes: lu 😭
⟶ markestapa: OUR BOYS FAMOUS NOW
⟶ thelunahughes: STOP 😭
jackhughes: killing it baby sister
⟶ thelunahughes: love you jack, so much
trevorzegras: ONLY TEN SONGS?
⟶ thelunahughes: IM SORRY?!?
jamie.drysdale: not to brag or anything but im in the Somewhere Only We Know MV
⟶ _alexturcotte: same
⟶ colecaufield: same
⟶ jackhughes: same
⟶ noahwest31: same
⟶ mackie.samo: same
⟶ trevorzegras: same
⟶ luca.fantilli: same
⟶ _quinnhughes: I’m in that AND The House That Built Me
⟶ lhughes_06: same _quinnhughes
⟶ jackhughes: the whole family is Quinn
⟶ tj_hughes13: AND IF YOU HAVE A MINUTE WHY DONT WE GO
⟶ patrickmoynihan_: TALK ABOUT IT SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW
⟶ lhughes_06: THIS COULD BE THE END OF EVERYTHING
⟶ luca.fantilli: SO WHY DONT WE GO
⟶ mackie.samo: SOMEWHERE ONLY WE KNOW
⸻ view 210 more comments
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wake me from this eternal slumber, rumor has it, a kiss is all it takes; i'm no fairytale but your lips might make me one.
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jh86 x reader: you've sworn off frat boys, but maybe just one more?
(warnings: blasphemous filth, unprotected penetrative sex (m on f), oral sex (m on f) yay! we love exceptions, fingering, hair pulling and lips and limbs and all my usual stuff (you guys know what i'm about). idk just please be warned, don’t read if you’re not 100% sure.)
(a/n: well, favorites, my ex was in pike in undergrad, so you can thank him for 18k worth of a fantasy-level frat romance (i know, it's too much, i need to cut it down, but i can't. this is how i'm dealing with my breakup. leave me be). and, actually, don't thank him. thank me, because i worked really, really hard on this <3. there are a billion things that i ask you to take for granted, like how i included too many side characters, so i know it will be confusing, but i needed sleazy nh13 in there, okay? and i needed starboy pitcher lh43, and cc22 falling for his postgame reporter, and tz11 not being able to catch, and qh43 being a pawn in a president x president love story featuring alex turcotte. all of it was necessary for my healing process. i wanted to write something in which someone can drop into your life and rewrite all of the things you believe to be true. some star-crossed shit. so, this is my best shot. what is love, after all, but leaving your window open for fratboy jh86 to climb into? i was never actually in greek life, so all of this is based on what my friends have told me (sam is based on my irl best friend, fun fact). forgive me for any plot holes and inconsistencies. please, please, tell me what you think, because i love when you do, and tell me what you want next. thank you for your support. thank you for indulging my silly whims and most delusional daydreams. tell your snakes i love them. getting pretty busy up here in the real world, but until next time. go canucks. all my love).
this day, the first day of classes, had been a real disaster, honestly. what had been the worse part, even? it was hard to decide, with so many natural contenders.
would it be the alarm clock of your roommate, which had gone off for twenty minutes, until you had to get up yourself and shake her awake? or maybe the pop quiz in your lecture, on the very first day, when you forgot to do the reading? but, no, we can't forget the back to back to back texts from that guy, the one who mistook your general friendliness as romantic interest.
it had been a terrible day, genuinely, but this might be the worst of it, you thought, as you stood outside the tke house, on the sidewalk, waiting for your friends. your friends, who said they would be out ten minutes ago.
it was getting kind of brisk outside, and your outfit, compliant with the finance bros and business hoes theme, wasn't keeping you very warm. you looked down at your phone, tried to will a text from one of them into existence. you just wanted to go home, which, honestly, you probably should have already done by now. your sorority house was maybe a five minute walk down the row, but you didn't want to abandon your friends, and you didn't really want to make the walk alone, in the dark.
you could go back inside, you knew. but, this day had sucked, and you weren't in the mood to dance on an elevated surface tonight.
you opened the text conversation with your roommate, typed almost out? and hit send, before a deep voice pulled your head up.
"miss, is that an open container?" you looked up to find a stout officer of campus security shining his flashlight on you and your red plastic cup.
of course, because today was terrible, today would be the day that security cracks down on their no-open-containers-on-the-row rule. of course.
you looked into your solo cup, swirled around the pink liquid. what could you even say this was? the officer could probably smell the vodka in it from where he stood, a few feet away. honestly, it was probably better to just come clean. you'd get, what, a citation? hopefully a warning, if you could conjure up some tears?
you sighed, opened your mouth to spew some sob story, but you were cut off by some goofy voice coming from the door.
"there you are, baby!"
both you and the officer turned to face the voice, now an approaching figure.
your eyes narrowed as you tried to make out a face from the dim street light. you certainly were not anyone's baby. and you were fairly certain the only people who could have been wondering where you were would be the friends you came with, who had much more feminine voices.
before you could tell this guy he had the wrong idea, though, he slung a heavy arm around your shoulders, used it to pull you close to him before pressing a kiss to the side of your head, gentle, doting, fleeting.
you were about to shove this guy off of you, as he had obviously mistaken you for someone else.
"thanks for holding my drink for me," he said, then, taking your cup from your hand and downing it in one go.
you swallowed, your mind buzzing, not just with confusion but with the weight of his body against yours, the ghost of heat from his lips on your temple, the slightly muddled sandalwood scent of him so close. was he covering for you, this stranger? this stranger, who definitely could see your face, now, so there was no one he could be mistaking you for.
was he just being nice?
"'course, baby," you mustered, letting yourself lean into his embrace, hooking an arm around his waist. if he was going to get this officer off of your back, you'd let him.
your savior turned to face the shorter man in front of you both, as if noticing him for the first time. "oh, good evening, officer," he said, ever the gentleman. "can i help you?"
as the officer explained his presence with a gruff tone, you turned your neck to look at the face of the man who currently had his arm around you, whose lips on your forehead you could still feel like a purpling bruise.
you looked up at him, and your stomach flipped, because he was just so pretty. so much so that it flooded your gaze, made him hard to take in all at once. that fairytale profile, cut jaw, sharp cheekbones, soft slope of a nose. long, dark lashes that framed light blue eyes. grown out hair that curled around the brim of his backwards baseball cap, which read the letters tke in bold font. full, pink lips you had the sudden urge to tug on with your teeth.
uh oh, the gossip in your head whispered to her friends. we've seen this before. we know how this ends.
you could have shushed her.
"as you can see, officer, there's no liquid here, at least not anymore," the tke boy above you said with the voice of an experienced sweet-talker, smooth and sugary. "we wish we could be of more help, don't we, baby?"
he turned his gaze down to you, meeting your eyes directly for the first time. oceanic amusement met your careful skepticism, so electric and charged you swore the streetlight above you began to flicker.
"sure do," you said, reluctantly fixing your gaze on the officer and away from the mesmerizing face next to you.
the short man looked unconvinced, but switched his flashlight off anyways.
"have a good night, sir," you added, to which he muttered something and walked in the other direction.
you waited until he was out of earshot before lifting that warm arm from around your shoulders, crossing your own arms over your chest. "right," you began, "so, do i know you, or something?"
he tilted his head, let a bemused smile slant across his face, completely lopsided, completely endearing. "or something," he said, his eyes glinting, brimming over with mirth.
you furrowed your brow, shifted on your feet. "why did you come out here, then?" you asked. "and what was that whole act for?"
he sucked on his teeth for a moment, during which you took in his whole frame, his wide shoulders, tall build, strong stance.
uh oh is right, you thought to yourself, clasping your hands behind your back.
he shrugged, the movement making the muscles in his shoulders tense. you looked at your feet. "saw you come out here by yourself," he said, simply. "just wanted to make sure nothing was wrong."
you narrowed your eyes, which made his gaze shimmer again.
"then i saw you with the security guy, and he's been camping out recently for their open container policy, so i figured i'd-"
"you figured you'd pretend that we're together?" you raised a brow. "awful dramatic, don't you think? could have just smacked the cup from my hand." you cringed internally as soon as you said this. you'd felt his hand on your side, and there was no chance that soft touch was capable of anything so harsh.
he just took a step closer to you, though, and part of you wanted to back away, but you didn't. you couldn't. "maybe i had selfish motives," he added, "maybe i wanted him to think i could pull a pretty girl like you, hm?"
you gave a slight scoff, the smallest shake of your head, before looking up at him again, finding him closer, looking at you like you were something special. something he wouldn't find again.
"okay, you can turn off the charm, now," you warned, more for your own sake than his. "what's your name?"
he stuck out his hand to shake yours, which felt wholly odd, given you could still feel his lips on your skin, like a brand, a scar. "i'm jack," he said, and you took his hand, gave it a shake as you offered him your own name in return.
"and you're in tke?" you asked, half-hoping he would laugh, nod you off, say that fraternities were stupid. hoping he wouldn't be a frat brother, so that he might still be on the table. so that you wouldn't have to walk away from him knowing exactly how he would hurt you if you gave him too much of a chance, too much of yourself.
he nodded though, and you could have sighed in disappointment. he was so, so pretty, but pretty wasn't good enough for your no frat boys rule. not after last time. "are you in a sorority?"
"no," you said immediately, shaking your head. this was a lie, you were in alpha phi, but you were hoping he'd lose interest as soon as you denied it, as so many greek-life boys did.
the light didn't blink out from jack's eyes though. "you must have a walk ahead of you then, if you're not on the row," he said. "i'll walk with you, it's dark."
you peered up at him, dubious. what was his angle, here? what would he have over you if you said yes?
luckily, you didn't have to answer, because you heard your roommate's voice from the door, now walking towards you. "'m so sorry, didn't see your text," she said, walking right past jack and pulling you in for a hug. "of course we can go. let's go back to the house, yeah?"
you nodded, returned her hug.
"the house?" jack's voice asked, to which your roommate pulled away from you, looked at him.
"yeah, a-phi," she said, skeptical. "um, who is this?" she elbowed you.
"this is jack," you explained, "he saved me from a safety citation. jack, this is my roommate, sam."
he nodded to her, which she returned. if jack had put together that you had just lied to his face about being in greek life, he didn't call you out on it, only smiling that goofy grin at you again, the one that awoke butterflies in your stomach, the one that had the street light rolling its eyes at you.
"well, jack, we're off," sam said, linking her arm in yours.
"goodnight, ladies," he said as the two of you set off down the sidewalk. "until you next need saving, baby."
you shook in a disbelieving laugh.
"baby?" sam whisper-screamed at you.
"i'll explain later," you told her.
you did explain later, that night, when the two of you were taking off your makeup in your mirroring vanities.
"i'm sorry, what?" sam said when you had finished recalling the night. "he quite literally kissed you?"
you flushed, waved her off. "barely," you said, "on the head."
"okay, sure," she mused, patting toner into her face. "sure, as if this isn't the longest you've talked about a guy since last year!"
you sighed. "it doesn't matter," you said, trying to make yourself believe it. "he's in tke. and i've sworn off frat guys, you know this."
"oh, i know this," she replied, "but rules are made to be broken."
"that's not right," you sing-songed.
"don't talk back to your president," she sung right back at you, using her position in the sorority as a trump-card, as she was so prone to doing.
"he's probably just like the rest of them," you reminded her, and yourself, "he's charming and sweet and lovely until he gets what he wants, and then he's gone."
the words hurt as you spoke them, jagged and sharp in your throat, like shards of glass. it hurt to think about your history with frat guys, the ones you'd let get close to you.
the guy from pike whom you had been seeing, sort of, for half a year, who had relished in the chase of it all, been so caring until you finally slept with him. and then he acted like you were nothing, not even worth a text. he had acted like you were crazy, delusional, for thinking your relationship went any deeper than sex.
he had all but laughed at you when you had suggested anything different. "i don't, like, do labels," he had told you. "you know that, right?"
you shuddered, now, thinking about how stupid, how utterly childish he had made you feel. thinking about how you had given the next guy, the one from lambda, a chance, about how he had done the same thing, with slightly different words, on a slightly different timeline.
you refused to feel that way again.
sam just shrugged. "i don't know, love," she said, "the way he was looking at you, back there, i swear, it was special."
you scrunched up your nose. "i'm not changing my mind. it's not worth it. he's not worth it."
something in the back of your mind twisted, though, because there was a trace of disbelief in your tone.
"whatever you say," sam said.
"now, tell me about your progress on project peace treaty," you said, hoping to change the subject, referring to sam's crush on the tke president.
one of your other friends had come up with the moniker after sam had been voted president herself, like a relationship between the two leaders would be some kind of deal between nations.
sam pretended to faint in her chair. "i don't know how much more obvious i can be," she whined. "i swear, i can't tell if he's just quiet or if he wants me to get the fuck away from him."
you rolled your eyes. "there's no way he's not into you," you said, and you meant it - sam was your best friend, and the best person you knew. if there was a way not to like her, you were unfamiliar with it.
she just shook her head. "you haven't talked to alex," she said, solemn. "he's, like, impossible to read." she shot you a look. "not all of us can have a tke brother wrapped around our finger after meeting once."
you threw a pillow at her, laughed her off, tried not to dream that night about starry blue eyes and soft lips on your temple.
the week passed, slowly, defined by welcome back mixers and new classes, new faces.
before you knew it, it was friday. you were exhausted, but you only had two classes today, the first of which passed quickly, the second of which was ballroom dance 101.
you had already had your first ballroom class on wednesday, so you knew it was fairly laid back, a good way to get some unit credits, a place to move around a bit before the weekend. you were, however, taking it alone. sam had been planning on taking it with you, but then an opening for a class she really needed had come up, and you had insisted you'd be fine on your own, that obviously her major credits were more important than this random elective dance class.
and it was fine, truly, if not a little less fun without her there. you waited patiently for the instructor to arrive, watching the little circles of friends stretch and chat. you leaned your back against the wall, crossed your arms over your chest, let your mind slow until you felt a presence next to you.
you glanced to your left, felt your heart stutter as you did a double take. "jack?" you asked, almost incredulous. if he looked pretty in the night, he looked downright distracting in the daylight, today in khakis and a polo shirt.
"hey, baby," he said, maybe a trace of smugness in his voice as he mirrored your lean, your posture. "how're you?"
this felt like a trap. he felt like a trap. your eyes narrowed. "you're in ballroom? since when?"
"since i switched into it, yesterday," he answered, simply and plainly, before his mouth quirked up. "is that what the experts are callin' it? just 'ballroom?'" he gave a facetious nod. "i like it. drop the 'dance,' 's too bulky."
you rolled your eyes, but laughed nonetheless. "we went over this kind of expert vocabulary on day one," you said with a shrug, "sorry you missed it."
the instructor clapped her hands, signaling her arrival, before beginning a stretching sequence on the floor.
"you're gonna dance in khakis?" you whispered to jack, who had taken the spot next to you as you both leaned forward to touch your toes.
"was i supposed to bring my tux?" he asked, which made you choke down a laugh. "or are we doing some kind of breakdancing i'm unaware of?"
"what, you don't have your handstand mastered?" you teased, "if you insist, but that's the foundation we're building from, just warning you."
"students, focus!" the instructor demanded, shooting you a glare, which you acknowledged with a nod before sharing a guilty smile with jack, like kids caught laughing too hard on the field trip bus.
after class, the both of you were planning on walking back to the row, so you just walked together, chatted pleasantly. the street was pretty in the daylight in a way it wasn't at night. there was something to be said, you thought, about being able to see everything clearly, about knowing exactly what you were looking at. and sure, there was beauty in mystery, and there was beauty in danger, but there was beauty in comfort, too.
"so, do you think i could get your number?" jack said, as you both turned the corner, the tke house now in clear view. his smile was easy. "for all the questions 'm gonna have about the tango?"
you let out a little laugh, thought for a moment. it was just your number, after all, and he said it was for class. it probably didn't mean anything. it was probably safe. "okay," you said, taking out your phone, handing it to him, "sure." your mouth quirked up as he put in his information, sent himself a text. "don't know how much help 'm gonna be, though."
he handed your phone back to you, that halfway grin on his pretty face. "you're right," he said, making his way towards his front door. "if anything, you'll just distract me from the steps, lookin' like that and all."
you looked down, shook your head, felt the gentle heat of a blush on your face. "focus up, then," you chided, gripping the straps of your backpack.
"oh, i'm focused, baby," he called out, "just not on dance."
you rolled your eyes at him as he smiled at your reaction, both of you saying your goodbyes. you heard his front door shut only when you had completely turned away, began to walk the few houses down the street.
when you got back to your room, you flopped down on your bed, breathing into your soft comforter, until you heard the door swing open again. you looked up.
"all good?" sam asked, raising a brow. she threw her bag and keys on the floor by her desk, slipped off her shoes, hopped up onto her bed, opposite yours.
"yeah," you said, sighed, then laughed, short and breathy. "remember that guy from last weekend?"
her eyes went wide, now alert. her posture straightened. "uh, your valiant hero in the face of danger? of course."
you laughed, then, more naturally this time, hugged a pillow to your chest. "he's in my dance class." you looked down at your hand, examined your fingernails. "and i gave him my number."
sam squinted at you. "okay," she said, slowly. "i know what i think about this, i think you know what i think about this." she tugged her hair elastic down, freeing her hair from the ponytail it had been in. "what do you think about this?"
you sucked on your teeth, thought for a moment. "i don't know," you said. "i guess i'm just confused. and worried. and i don't think i want him to text me first, but i also kind of want-"
a buzz from your phone interrupted you, and sam tilted her head back and groaned. "that's him, isn't it?" she asked. "that's definitely him."
and it shouldn't have been, you thought, there was no way it was him, because it had been what, ten minutes? you knew frat guys, and you knew it couldn't be him.
it was.
forgot to ask if you were coming tonight, he had texted, followed by told you you're distracting lol.
"i knew it," sam said, shaking her head, "i'm like an oracle. it's a gift, i know, but it's also a burden." she gestured for you to speak. "what's he say?"
"asked if i'm coming tonight," you said, looking up at her, "in all lowercase. and he said lol."
she waved you off. "non-issue," she declared.
"but, like," you pushed, giving her a look, "who taught him to use all lowercase?"
"doesn't matter," sam continued, "he called you baby and kissed you on the forehead. he gets a lowercase pass."
"so you're the oracle and the lawmaker?" you asked, teasing.
sam nodded seriously. "and the president," she finished.
you laughed, then sighed, began typing.
"what're you saying?" sam asked, leaning forward on her bed, as if she would be able to read your screen.
"just that 'm not going," you said. not tonight sry, you sent, followed by you might want to get that distraction thing checked out.
sam nodded. "what was their theme tonight? something bad, right?"
"country bros and rodeo hoes," you answered with a grimace.
"who the hell is in their little think tank?" sam asked, shaking her head, "'m gonna tell alex if they do the bros/hoes thing again a phi isn't coming."
you were nodding in agreement when your phone buzzed again. then you'll be up at a reasonable time tomorrow? he had asked, followed by any chance you wanna come watch my friends' baseball fall game?, followed by maybe more exposure will help w my distraction problem :).
you bit your lip, looked up at sam. "what?" she asked.
"have plans tomorrow morning?" you said as you typed. thanks for the invite, you sent, followed by can i bring sam? and can you bring alex?
"of course not," sam said, "it's saturday morning."
as long as you'll be there, you can bring anyone you want, he texted back, followed by alex is in!
see you there :) you said in a final response.
the field @ 9, he sent, followed by thank you!
your brow furrowed at this, because what was he thanking you for? what had you promised him, in this interaction, besides just seeing him? surely that wasn't enough to warrant a thank you?
you cleared your throat, tossed your phone aside. "well, you do now," you said to sam. "we're going to baseball tomorrow morning."
sam groaned. "those guys suck."
"alex is coming," you tried.
"i love baseball!" sam said, straightening again. "and soph is covering it for the paper, so we can support her, too."
you laughed. "so easily convinced, eh?"
"you don't wanna talk to me about being easily persuaded," she sing-songed. visions of easy grins and high cheekbones flashed across your mind, and you knew she was right, so you let it rest.
the next morning, as the two of you walked to the baseball field, sam was reminding you about the plight of being the president.
"we've warned her a million times about what she's posting," she told you, out of breath, referring to one of the freshman who didn't seem to understand your house's social media rules. "i don't know how many times i can remind her politely before i just start smacking cans out of her hand when someone takes their phone out."
you laughed as you rounded the corner by the field entrance. "i say resort to violence," you said, "i hear it's always the answer."
sam groaned while you smiled. "look, there they are," you whispered, spotting him and jack over by the stands. suddenly all evidence of sam's unhappiness was mysteriously gone. her face was the image of alert interest. you imagined you probably looked a little more nervous as you approached where they were standing.
"gentlemen," sam greeted the pair of them as you approached. "good to see you." she shot a wink alex's way. he appeared completely unaffected. "'specially you, handsome."
you and jack shared a gentle smile at sam's boldness, and it felt like a secret language, the kind you make up with your friend during a playdate, the kind everyone understands but that feels extra special, anyways.
"hi, sam," alex said, plainly, but you caught the faintest of a pleased look in his eyes before he nodded to you in greeting.
"thanks for coming," jack said, although when he said it he was speaking directly to you. there was a fluttery feeling in your stomach that you scolded into submission. then he offered you his arm, and you decided that the butterflies were probably here to stay, at least for now. "shall we?"
you exhaled, had the feeling that touching his extended arm would be like touching a loaded gun, dangerous and daunting, but you took it anyways, found him warm and comfortable against your side as you fell into step together. "i'm, uh," you started, testing your limits, "i'm happy you texted."
jack shook his hair from his face. his returning smile was nothing short of stunning. "yeah?" he asked, which had your mouth feeling a bit dry. "made you happy?" this fact seemed to make him especially pleased, proud.
"what, no arm for me, al?" came sam's abrupt voice from behind you. alex appeared horrified by this nickname. "that's fine, i have enough arms, anyways. three would be overdoing it, i think."
you coughed, turned your gaze back to jack. you felt the force of his attention like a suckerpunch to the stomach. "yeah, i, um," you tried, "thanks, i guess. for inviting us."
his soft features lit up with amusement at your uncertainty, obvious discomfort. he appeared just on the verge of laughter, but it didn't really feel like he was laughing at you, somehow. you knew what being on the bad end of joke was like, and this didn't feel like that. maybe you were just distracted by how his mouth curved around his almost-laugh, slow and delighted. "of course, baby," he said, and you sort of wished he would stop calling you that. for your mental well-being, he really needed to stop calling you that. he tugged you slightly closer to him as you made your way towards some empty seats in the stands. "can i have the seat next to you?"
and you let out a little laugh, then, as you sat down, made a motion as if to wipe off the seat to your left. "all yours," you said.
he hummed, something sparking in his eyes as he sat down, which had you rethinking your words, the gravity of them. you couldn't bring yourself to regret them, though, if you were honest. how could you regret them, when they made him look at you like this? like there was some worldly truth in the blush on your cheeks?
the cracking sound of a bat pulled you from your daze. "so, who do you know on the team?" you asked, eager to push the conversation towards something safer, something that didn't have your neck feeling hot, didn't make the arm rest between the two of you feel like something cruel.
he turned his head towards the field slowly, reluctantly. "11, 22," he said, pointing to where they stood, one tall, the other shorter, broader. "trevor and cole." he smiled. "they aren't very good."
you huffed a laugh. "they're on a d1 team," you chided, "so they must not be terrible."
"we still have no idea how they made the team," jack replied, shaking his head. "you'll see, swear trev can't catch a ball."
"and they only took on cole 'cause he's good with media," alex added from the seat on the other side of jack. "he's their backup backup catcher."
sam snapped her fingers. "cole, like cole caufield?" she asked, her eyes widening when alex nodded. sam looked at you. "he's the one soph's been talkin' about. the one she interviews all the time for the paper."
you laughed in recognition. your friend sophie covered almost every baseball game, and apparently a certain backup backup catcher had been giving her a lot of grief whenever she tried to get a useable quote.
"oh, and 43," jack said, pointing to the lanky kid on the pitcher's mound. his smile turned bashful. "'s luke, my younger brother."
your stomach flipped at how his gaze had softened. "didn't know you had siblings," you said, although you didn't know much about him, so you guessed that made sense.
he just nodded. "older brother, too, you might know him, actually."
"'s in tke with you?" you asked, to which jack made some affirmative sound.
"yeah," he said, "quinn, 's close with nico."
you hummed in recognition, picturing their faces, noticing the similarities. "right," you said, "you guys do look similar."
his smile turned indulgent as he tilted his head. "'m better looking though, right, baby?" he asked, and his voice dripped with confidence, but you felt a strange compulsion to reassure him, anyways, could somehow sense that this was important.
so you just ran your tongue along the inside of your cheek, gauging what to say, here, how much you could reveal. "i think you're pretty, jack," you said, and it was soft, low, for him. your eyes caught on his for a blazing second. "you know i do." and it was true, you knew he was aware of the way he affected you.
his gaze grew hooded for a moment, which terrified you, a horror-movie jump scare, a reminder of the reason you made your no-frat-boy rule in the first place.
luckily, as always, sam had something to say. she scoffed. "don't know about that," she said, leaning back in her chair, crossing her legs over the seat in front of her. "quinn's a straight ten." she gave a satisfied smile, looked to her right. "say, al, d'you think you could set me up with him? you guys are close, right?"
alex didn't answer right away. he shifted slightly in his seat.
"c'mon, from one president to another, think you could help me out?" sam gave a dreamy sort of sigh. "he's got a real face on him, and ever since he's grown out his hair-"
"'m not setting you up with him," was alex's short reply, cutting sam off, not quite looking at her.
you knocked jack's knee with your own, mirroring smiles on your faces.
sam just pouted as the game started. "don't have to be such an ass about it," she said, but you could tell by her face that she had accomplished exactly what she had set out to.
you weren't really a baseball fan, but this particular game flew by, probably because of the shaggy-haired, full-lipped person sitting to your left.
the slow pace of the game was cut with conversations about the party tke threw last night (it was lame, jack insisted, and his knowing, shy grin gave you a hint as to the reason why), which led to a conversation about who picks the themes (a board of esteemed individuals, apparently).
"i know it's just nico," sam said, rolling her eyes. "tell him that if he keeps up with the bros and hoes thing a phi isn't coming."
this actually appeared to alarm alex. "you're not serious," he said.
"as death," sam said, nodding.
alex promptly took out his phone and started to text someone. you had the sneaking suspicion it was nico.
jack asked about what you did last night, which led you to talking about your favorite movies.
"you've never seen scream?" you asked, practically confused.
he just shook his head, something glinting in his eyes.
you scoffed. "you have to. it's the best."
"you'll have to show it to me, sometime, then," was his response, which had you blushing, which had you wanting to.
cole never went in, as was expected. he seemed to spend the majority of his time goofing off in the dugout, throwing paper cups at his teammates, then turning away like he had no idea how they'd been hit.
luke threw a great game. he was the kind of player that drew your attention, that you just knew was good, even if you didn't know anything about the sport.
trevor only batted once (he leaned his shoulder into the pitch and took his walk). as an outfielder, he didn't see a ton of action, only getting one real shot at a catch, of course fumbling an easy out, much to the dismay of his teammates.
cole put his head in his hands but welcomed his friend back to the dugout with open arms.
the game ended with a win for the good guys, and you found yourself sticking around, all because jack wanted to wait to congratulate his friends and brother. he extended a hand to you to help you up from your seat, his grip firm and warm against your palm.
your group of four walked down to where the players would exit. you were surprised to find the silence especially comfortable, easy.
at some point, jack slapped his thigh, lightly. "i meant to ask you, baby, what's your coffee order?"
you gave him a confused sort of look. "just hot coffee with oat milk," you answered, almost wary. "why?"
"for next time," he answered, like it was the easiest thing in the world, maybe the most obvious.
you swallowed down how touched you were by this. it felt like ginger, like something you know is good for you but that feels foreign, harsh, anyways. "how do you like your coffee, then?" you asked.
"sweet," he answered, with a smile that made you feel like he knew something you didn't. "really, really sweet."
a chaotic presence shook you both from the haze you'd settled into. "oh, hey, guys." you turned, found your friend sophie there, hands full with a clipboard and her bag and a voice recorder. she pushed her hair from her face. "how's it going?"
"all good, soph," sam answered. "you?"
sophie blew out a breath. "will be good once i get a couple quotes," she said, "just hope they don't give me twenty-two. readers want quotes from impact players, and-"
"sayin' 'm not an impact player, love?" came a goofy approaching voice. you turned again to see cole coming out of the now open exit gate.
sophie groaned. "tell me they're giving me someone else," she pleaded, to which cole grinned wider. "tell me they're giving me someone who played, today."
cole rolled his neck, cracked his knuckles. "might wanna turn on your recorder," he advised, "you're gonna wanna get this."
sophie just rolled her eyes and pulled him to the side, beginning a short interview about the game as you continued to wait.
shortly after, trevor walked out, grinning when he registered the group of you. jack slung an arm around your shoulders as his friend approached, which you noticed. which you would have questioned, maybe, if he didn't pull you into his side in the best of ways, if his touch didn't make you basically delirious. so delirious that you reached a hand up to hold his, dangling from your shoulder.
you could almost hear his satisfied smile as trevor clapped alex on the shoulder in greeting. "packed the stands for us, eh?" he asked, to which alex laughed.
it was the most emotion you'd seen from him. sam appeared very confused, crossed her arms over her chest. "great game," she said.
"yeah," jack continued. "my favorite part was that gorgeous catch in the sixth." he nodded. "seamless."
trevor scoffed, waved jack off. "almost had that one," he insisted. "was this close." he brought two fingers up to show just how close he had been to making that catch.
"you were not," came another voice. you recognized the tall figure as jack's younger brother.
jack clapped his hand in a handshake, congratulated him on the win. you echoed the sentiment, stuck out your hand in greeting, which he shook. "really good game," you said, "i'm-"
"know who you are," luke said, to which you furrowed your brow.
"how?" you asked. luke shared a look with his brother, halfway amused, halfway bored.
jack cleared his throat. "might've mentioned you," he said, but it came out like a mumble, a murmur into your hair.
your heart felt too big for your chest, for a moment. the peanut gallery around you faded away, suddenly it felt like it was just the two of you, standing here. just the two of you, in this universe. "been talkin' about me?" you whispered, and you couldn't help but lean a little more into his side, your grip on his hand growing a little more substantial, a little more confident.
because you'd been someone's secret before, someone's wyd text late at night, someone's nobody, really, someone's a friend. you knew what it felt like to be traded up for, like an old phone, to be the just old enough model that someone looked for someone else, someone newer.
it felt a little spectacular to be someone to write home about, someone to be seen with in broad daylight, someone to be gushed about to a brother. maybe it just felt spectacular to be that kind of someone for jack, in particular.
"a bit," jack breathed into your ear, the softest, probably most uncertain you'd heard him. like he didn't want to scare you away.
you bumped your hip against his. "real chatterbox, hm?" you whispered, adoring the ghost of a flush up his neck, the shy smile he couldn't seem to hide.
"only about stuff that matters," he said, and whatever joke you were going to say died in your mouth, tasted bitter.
luckily, cole and sophie approached, drawing your attention away.
"good to go?" alex asked, to which cole nodded, a smug smile on his face.
sophie huffed. "i don't know why they give me you every damn game," she exclaimed, shoving her recorder and clipboard into her bag. "as if you could give me a useable quote if your life depended on it."
cole scoffed. "i can't help it if your questions are boring as hell," he said. "why don't you ask me something interesting?"
"like what?" sophie asked. "what do you propose i ask you?"
"to dinner next week," cole answered immediately, his smile more of a toothy smirk, and sophie groaned, shook her head.
"i'm out," she said, taking a quick right. she made eye contact with you and sam. "i'll see you back at the house, tonight, girls?"
you both nodded, called out your agreement and goodbye.
when sophie was out of earshot, trevor clapped cole on the shoulder. "don't you get tired of striking out, coley?" he asked.
"you don't seem to, trev," luke observed, to which jack let out a laugh.
"hey, i got a single out of today," trevor argued. no one seemed to view that as the victory that he did.
cole and trevor eventually peeled off to the athlete's dining hall to get lunch, while luke walked back to the row with the group of you, saying something about grabbing a shirt from quinn's room.
when you all made it back, standing in front of the tke house, jack reluctantly retracted his arm from your shoulders. you felt cold without it.
luke headed up to the door.
"luke, tell quinn i say hi, would you?" sam asked, to which he gave some confused confirmation, before disappearing into the house. sam then turned to alex. "a pleasure, as always, al," she said, barely sparing him a second glance.
"yeah, bye?" alex said, almost a question, obviously wary of sam's change in pace.
jack touched your hand, pulled your gaze to his like two magnets, eliciting some kind of shield between you and the rest of the world. "thanks again for coming," he said, so soft, you could feel in your bones that he meant it.
"'course," you said, found it strange that it was entirely true. of course you would come when he called you. of course you'd indulge his every whim, when he asked so politely. "see you on friday? for dance?"
and he gave the slightest of pouts, but it drew your attention to his mouth nonetheless. made your cheeks feel hot, your heart beat fast, nonetheless. "too long, baby," he said, and you could have rolled your eyes at his boyish whine, but you never would. not when he was whining for you.
you just stayed quiet, let yourself smile, slightly. "maybe before friday, then?"
he grinned as if some plan he'd formed had turned out exactly as he'd hoped. "i'll text you," he said, giving you that fairytale smile, and you'd been told that before.
you'd been told that before, during nighttime hours that passed like slug across rain-drenched walkways. you'd been told that while in boxer shorts that weren't your own, standing in a doorframe that was practically laughing at you.
i'll text you, you'd been told, from some guy on his bed, on his phone, not quite looking at you.
and the doorframe might have cackled at how desperate you seemed, then, desperate for something you'd never get from this guy in the room you were leaving.
kick rocks, girl, the doorframe might have said, you know how many i've seen come in and out, even just this week? and you really think you're special?
but, right now, jack told you that he'd text you, and you couldn't find a doubt in your mind. you knew he would.
you proved to be right. the weekend flew by, because you were busy, yes, but also because of the near-ongoing text conversation you had fallen into with jack.
he might ask you something about the classes you were taking (besides ballroom), to which you would shyly tell him about some finance discussion you found genuinely interesting.
you might ask if he played sports at all, like his brother (he played hockey growing up, but wasn't good enough to play in college, like luke was with baseball), to which you would tell him you found it hard to believe that he could ever be not good enough at something.
and you'd believe it, too, wholeheartedly. sure, he had this ease to him, this softness, but he also seemed to possess a specific kind of eagerness, a delicious sort of hunger you felt must lead him to the things he wanted without exception.
you wouldn't admit it to anyone who asked, but he had you smiling at your phone on more than one occasion, had your heart beating a little faster with every notification. he had you dreamy. it was a good look on you.
that's how he had you, just over the phone, so the feeling was amplified by a million the next monday afternoon, after class, on your walk back from the business building, as you passed the tke house. a walk you'd taken a hundred-something times over the years, but this time was different, because your name was being called out of an upstairs window.
your heart stuttered, because you recognized that voice, in its confidence, in its goofy gentleness. you stopped walking, looked up, searching for an open window.
"that you, jack?" you called back, when you found it, found him leaning out of the pane with a smile you could see from where you stood. even though you knew. even though you'd never mistake his tone for anyone else.
he gave a pout. "who else?" he asked, and it was careful, calculated, even though it was playful. like he really wanted to know who else you thought would call your name from a window. like he really wanted to be the only one.
"oh, no one," you assured him, beginning to walk down the sidewalk again, towards your house, "you're my only romeo." you'd meant it in a joking way, but you could tell the first three words were the ones that mattered to him. the ones that would echo in his head. you're my only.
this made him light up, made him glow like a disco ball in a middle school gymnasium. "look so pretty today, baby!" he said, in response, before the distance between you grew so stark.
you flushed, wanted to feel the word pretty from his mouth against your neck, wanted to swallow it down. but you just smiled. "only today?" you asked, wondered where this confidence had come from, tried to imagine you saying that to anyone else. you couldn't.
"come back tomorrow, just to check!" he called out after you, making you shake your head, look down at your feet.
you weren't even back to your front door yet before your phone buzzed. not just today, he'd texted you.
i knew what you meant :), you sent back.
just didn't want you to think differently, he replied, followed by spend a scary amount of time thinking about how pretty you are.
the following day, you'd be lying if you said a smile didn't bloom across your face as you walked back after class, as you approached the tke house. maybe it was some pavlov response, but it was probably because you recognized the figure sitting on the window pane on the top floor, swinging his legs, just looking out, like he was on the top of a pirate ship.
you smiled, but your pulse stuttered, a bit. "jack?" you asked, although of course you knew it was him, that perfect facial structure, shag of soft hair. "is it safe up there?"
his gaze fixed on you, alight with flame and amusement. "worried 'bout me, baby?" he asked, and you rolled your eyes, but something in you twitched, because you were, actually. when did that happen?
"why're you hanging outta your window?" you asked, because you didn't need to tell him that you cared that much about him, not yet. you barely wanted to admit it to yourself, even.
he seemed to take your deflection as confirmation, anyways, to see right through you, as he typically did. his grin ticked up, a beautiful combination of a bashful blush and confident smile. he pushed his hair from his face. "knew you'd be walkin' by," he said, swung his feet up and back gently. "had to catch you."
you swallowed, ran your palms along the straps of your backpack in delighted disbelief. "you were waiting for me to walk by?" you asked, still not quite understanding.
he only nodded, tilted his head, gave the softest of smirks. it was almost too much. "don't you know you've got me waitin' by the phone, baby?" he asked, melodic. it was almost like he was making fun of you, with that teasing tone, but you knew in your heart that he wasn't. that he would never.
cherry-blossom pink bloomed across the bridge of your nose as his confession registered in your mind. the thought of him throughout his day, acutely aware of his phone in his pocket, his heart racing at every buzz, like yours did. "bein' so patient, are you?" you asked, the words smooth and drowsy in your throat, like cough syrup.
he hummed, swung a leg back over the pane, starting to shift his body back inside. "'m here when you need me, baby," he said, matter-of-fact, absolute. his gaze sharpened, the temperature of it rising to a scorch you felt like a slap. "or when you want me."
it was something sort of breathtaking, how honest he was with you, from the beginning. how he seemed perfectly content just waiting for you to come to terms with the attraction you felt so deeply. the attraction he could see in your eyes, in your breath, in your words.
you were scared, though, because this was the before part. and the guys you'd had before had appeared genuinely interested during the before part, too. it was the after part you were concerned about.
because what if he lost interest as soon as he had you, like the other guys did? he seemed so different, and so genuine, and sure, you'd never thought anyone to be as beautiful as him, but what if he wasn't different? what if he left you, too, standing alone, dumb, a desperate fool?
how many times had a beautiful trick forced your hand? you shivered at the thought, but the romantic in you wanted to believe. in yourself, in him. she wanted to believe in the love story between the beautiful trick and the desperate fool. she needed to.
the following day, perhaps you shouldn't have been surprised, as you approached tke house on your walk back, to recognize jack's familiar figure in his front yard. he appeared to be making progress closer to you, day by day, from inside his room, to outside his window, to now, just next to the sidewalk.
the scene you approached wasn't necessarily a rare one, not on the row, but it might appear odd to an outsider. a few of the brothers, some that you recognized, were sitting on a couch that they had obviously moved from inside, while a couple others, jack included, were lounging on adirondack chairs. most of them had computers out, doing work, or something like it. and, of course, because it was a sunny afternoon, all of them, save for one, were bare-chested.
you weren't especially sensitive or judgmental when it came to that sort of thing, but, as you got closer, you found your cheeks growing hot, anyways. you were embarrassed like a kid, like you'd been caught with something forbidden, and you might've walked right by the house, avoiding eye contact, if jack hadn't made that impossible.
"tryna sneak by, baby?" he called out from his chair, teasing, his posture so distractingly relaxed, knees spread wide. he waved you over with a knowing smile. "c'mere," he said, but not like a demand. like a request, sweet-sounding from his full mouth.
and you'd do just about anything he asked, so of course you exhaled, turned on your foot, walked nervously from the sidewalk onto the lawn, over to his chair. you nodded your hello to nico, on the couch, on your way, finally stilled in front of jack's chair.
your heart was pounding, your palms felt damp. he'd called you baby, in front of all of his friends, like you weren't something to hide. the opposite, actually, like you were something to show off, someone to be proud of. he looked at you like you were worth something, and he looked so beautiful, drenched in sunlight, so stunning that your throat felt tight.
"hi," you said, internally smacked yourself at how lame you sounded, how dumb.
"hi," jack parroted, his smile growing as he shut his computer, set it down on the ground next to him. you suspected he could probably feel your nerves, your distraction. you suspected he was delighted in it. and that made you feel a bit better, at least. to be his delight, for the moment being. "you know quinn, right?"
you turned your eyes to the chair next to jack, to a face you recognized, the only one in the yard wearing a shirt. "yeah," you answered, giving quinn a small nod, which he returned. "hey, quinn."
the older brother gave you a small smile. "hey," he replied, "heard your sam's been askin' about me."
you laughed, twisted the sole of your sneaker into the grass slowly. "she has," you confirmed, although you highly doubted her interest was genuine. "very recently, at least."
quinn just laughed, gave a slight shake of his head before turning back to his computer. he knew something you didn't, you could tell, but you couldn't focus on that, right now, not when jack's voice called you back from your curious state.
"wanna sit?" he asked, spreading his legs wider as if to make room for you. you scrunched up your nose, slightly, in thought.
"you're not busy?" you asked, sort of shaky, shifting on your feet.
he shook his head, gave his thigh a soft pat in invitation. "wanna hear about your day," he said, and you could have swooned.
you set down your backpack next to his laptop, on the grass, let him pull you onto his lap. you settled into his chest, crossed your feet over the far armrest, rested your hands in your own lap as he draped a heavy arm around your shoulders to keep you upright.
you tried not to ruminate too hard on how warm he was, how his bare skin seemed to spark against you like an electric shock. jesus, had you ever been so awkward?
"nervous, eh?"
you looked up at him, found his smile lazy but his eyes attentive, almost concerned. you nodded, because who could lie to those eyes? "you make me nervous," you said, plainly, because it was true.
he fixed you with that starry gaze, his mouth dipping slightly into something like relief. you were confused, your brow furrowing as he took your hand in his free one, brought your fingers up to his neck, just below his ear. he pressed your index and middle finger into his soft skin until you could feel his pulse, until it vibrated through you.
until you could feel just how fast his heart was beating. you felt molten, all over, like day-old valentine's day chocolate over a flame.
you rubbed careful circles into his neck, as if to soothe the underlying pace. "like you just ran up the stairs," you said, and it came out like a whisper. jack just huffed a laugh, let his hand fall to the top of your legs. there was something mesmerizing in his eyes when he looked at you, then. "thank you," you added, a breath.
"make me nervous, too, baby," he said, so soft only you could hear. his mouth twisted into a teasing grin. "'m just better at hidin' it."
you rolled your eyes, but relaxed deeper into him, all the same, leaning your head back on his extended arm, shifting across his lap. "guess 'll have to get better at it, then," you said, a small smile on your face.
he just shook his head. "hope you don't," he told you. "hope you never hide from me."
your tongue felt too big for your mouth, then, so you just asked about his day, told him about yours, felt yourself grow more and more comfortable with each passing second, as the sun peeled across the sky like a sweet orange. you had homework to do, but you lost track of time, talking with him about everything and nothing, about nonsense and significance. you found yourself hanging off of his words like they were his lips, found yourself laughing so genuinely and sharing more with him than you had with a new person in a long, long time.
his laugh rang in your head like church bells. everything he said to you felt like a secret, like something just between the two of you. people moved to and from the lawn as you spoke, as you listened, but neither of you seemed to notice. the hours melted away in moments.
"jesus, there you are," came a loud voice from the sidewalk, pulling you from your bubble. you turned, found sam, a hand on her hip, looking right at you. "would it kill you to answer your phone?"
guilt bloomed in your chest. you hadn't thought to check your phone in what must have been an eternity. you quickly picked yourself up from jack's lap to grab it from your bag, caught a glimpse of his pout, which made your stomach flip. you scrolled through your notifications, winced at the texts you'd missed, mostly sam asking where you were. "i'm sorry," you said, looking up at her, and you meant it.
sam didn't hold grudges, though, had better things to do. it was one of the things you loved about her. so she just waved you off, approached you where you knelt next to your phone. she tilted her chin up at jack in greeting before noticing his brother. "'sup, quinn," she said, pushing her glasses to the top of her head. "didn't get the tarps-off memo, did you?"
quinn looked up, smiled right back at her. his gaze darted to the front door of the house and back in a second, almost undetectable, but you noticed it, noticed quinn's grin grow almost devious. "sorry to disappoint, sammy," he said, emphasis heavy on the nickname, his eyes settling on the door again. he coughed, nodded his head. "hey, uh, alex."
you bit your lip to stifle a laugh, shared a look with jack, who touched your shoulder lightly. just to say are you getting this? just to say i'm right here with you. as if you'd forget.
sam spun around to face alex, who stood on the front steps, hands in the pockets of his shorts. he wasn't looking at sam, though. he was glaring daggers at quinn, who was acting oblivious, practically humming contently in his seat.
"excuse me?" sam's voice was pitched. "what the hell are you wearing?"
your eyes widened as you registered the front of alex's t-shirt. it was a pretty pale yellow, with some bid day slogan on it, over three identical triangles. alex was wearing something tri delt.
you felt jack lean forward, his mouth right by your ear. "that from this year's bid day?" he asked. you nodded slowly, so as to let the scene unfold in front of you without disruption.
alex just looked down at his shirt, shrugged, appeared to be the picture of confidence, even arrogance. "what's the big deal?"
sam rolled her eyes, crossed her arms over her chest. "tri delt, al, really?" sam sighed, then began to pull at the sleeves of her own sweatshirt, tug it over her head. of course, she was wearing only a bra underneath. of course, she didn't care.
quinn laughed, let out a whistle.
jack's laugh shook through you as he leaned forward, rested his forehead on your shoulder blade. you grinned at the intimacy of it, of letting him hide his laugh in you.
sam exhaled again, her sweatshirt now in her hand, which she extended to alex as she fixed her glasses. "here," she said, impatient.
alex narrowed his eyes, took the blue mass of fabric, pulled it over his head.
sam didn't wait to see him put it on, like she didn't need to check, instead turning on her heel, in pajama pants and pretty much nothing else, and began to walk back towards the a phi house. she gestured your way, "let's go, you," she ordered.
you scurried to grab your bag, pushed up on your feet, touched your fingers to jack's chin, lightly, before making to follow her. "movie tomorrow?" you asked, emboldened by hours of comfort, of being made to feel comfortable.
"yes, please," jack said, and the way he smiled up at you was something of dreams. "i'll text you, yeah?" you nodded, turned to run after your roommate.
"pleasure as always, madam president," nico called out from the couch, to which sam scoffed.
you caught up with her, hugged her into your side. "feeling feisty, eh?" you asked.
"tri delt," she said, biting, "what a moron, honestly. who does he think he is?"
you laughed. "i don't think he's thinking about anyone in tri delt, right now," you tried.
"and don't think we're not talking about you," she said, wagging a warning finger at you, "disappearing for hours, just for me to find you in the lap of a," she gasped dramatically, for emphasis, "frat boy!"
and you did talk about it, later, in the comfort of your room. you talked about jack, and how special he made you feel, and how patient he was with you, and how different he seemed.
and you talked about how scared you were, how you were so worried that as soon as you gave him any more of you, he'd take it all and run like blue and red flashed in the rearview. how you were more scared now, probably than ever before, because of how ready you were to give him whatever he wanted, and after such a short time of knowing him, too. to give him all of you, if he asked.
or, at least, to give him enough of you that, if he did run, he would leave nothing left.
sam listened, and asked questions, and talked for a long while, but the gist of it was that sometimes good things are scary. sometimes to be scared is to care, and sometimes to care is to be human.
"jesus, just look at me," she said, "make a fool out of myself on the daily for that scumbag, and look where it gets me." she sighed. "minus one sweatshirt and plus one poor boy calling me sammy."
you laughed. "you're a lot of things," you mused, "but you're no fool."
unlike you, foolish one, some voice in your head taunted, low and mean. your nose twitched.
sam hummed. "so, i should be out of the room tomorrow night?"
you groaned, hung your head in your hands. "it's a terrible idea, right?" you asked. "of course he's going to think something specific when i asked him to watch a movie at my place, hm?"
she just laughed at your anguish, put her hands up in surrender. "hey, you asked him," she pointed out. "not like he snapped you u up? at three a.m."
you scrunched up your nose. "i guess," you said.
"you make the rules," sam reminded you, "you set the pace." she fixed you with a look. "but you seem to like the fast track, love." she gestured to her cheeks. "you're glowing with it."
and maybe she was right. but you didn't feel like you were glowing, the following night, the night jack was supposed to come over.
you'd fussed over your hair and your clothes and your general being, made and remade your bed, folded all the clothes in your closet, as if he would be doing a thorough inspection.
you felt scattered, scared, so devastatingly nervous. you caught a glimpse of yourself in your mirror, almost flinched at the lack of confidence you found, the physical embodiment of anxiety. it seemed to web under your eyes like spiders, seemed to coat your skin like dull plaster.
it was sort of odd you felt so anxious, you thought, because you trusted jack. you trusted him so much, so truly. brutal memories had your sense of security all twisted around, though. at the moment, you couldn't quite grasp his lips against your temple, you couldn't tangibly touch his kind smile, didn't have the echo of his reassuring words in your ear.
you just felt crazy. crazy for wanting to trust him, somehow even more crazy for not being able to just let go. how badly you wanted to let go of the past, of your insecurities, of your fears.
it was almost like you were being pulled between two realties. you felt the stretch in the lines on your palms, in the seam of your mouth, in your breastbone. it was a pull between the kind of fear you found some deranged sort of certainty in and the future, what could be, what you could almost taste, if you'd just let yourself relax. if you'd only let yourself enjoy it.
why do you have to remember every embarrassment and failure? some voice in your head screamed, why can't you just be normal? you swallowed around your sadness, because he'd probably want someone normal, right? he probably wouldn't want you.
as if summoned by your despair, your attention was pulled upwards by a knock on your window, a few quick raps. you squinted, were shocked to find jack's pretty face on the other side of the glass.
you lived on the first floor, so it wasn't necessarily unsafe, or anything, but the front door was right there, and he was early. he was early, and you looked like a mess, felt like an even bigger one.
still, you walked over to the window, pulled it open. "what're you doing?" you asked, cleared your throat to hide the shake in your voice.
his blue eyes flashed with something like recognition, gone again in a moment. "am i too early?" he asked, like some impatient kid on christmas morning. "i can wait by the front door for another hour, if you want." you could have sighed in his voice, this specific tone that calmed you like lavender, the one that was almost making fun of you, but not quite.
even in your chaotically disorganized state, you just left the window open, stepped back. "'course you can come in now," you said, welcoming him in. you gave him a bit of a laugh, but it sounded kind of sad as it came out. "'m sorry about all this," you said, giving a rough gesture to your room, yourself, as you sat at the foot of your bed. "i'd probably have fixed it by the time you were supposed to get here."
he climbed into your room, and the sight was so intimate it made your chest contract. when he looked up at you, confusion dripped down his gaze like candle wax. "what do you mean?" he asked, coming to sit next to you, warm and easy. "fix what?"
you gave him a half-smile, genuinely believed he was just being polite. "i know i look crazy," you said, running your fingertips under your eyes. "i feel crazy."
his eyes filled with kind concern, not pity, but just care. he tentatively wrapped an arm around your shoulders, pulled you into his chest in an embrace that felt like a midday nap, exactly what you needed. "then i'm happy i couldn't stay away, crazy girl," he said, and it was so soft it hurt. "tell me." a request, only because he wanted to know. he wanted to know you.
and, after a sigh, you did tell him, just as you'd told sam. you told him about how scared you were, about how you could feel how he was different, how you knew it like some philosophical principle, but how you were terrified, anyways.
you told him about how dumb, how juvenile and stupid you'd felt, over and over again, just for wanting to be taken seriously, just for wanting someone to deem you worthy of something longer than a night. just for wanting someone to stay. you told him about how you'd had people be so sweet and kind and caring, but they'd still left after they'd gotten what they'd wanted.
and you sort of felt pathetic as you spoke, and you half expected him to laugh, to tell you that you were like every other girl, expecting un-promised things from some poor guy. but, of course, he didn't. of course, he just held you to his chest, listened to you the entire time, his thumb rubbing circles into your upper arm.
"i don't want you to think that i think you're a bad guy," you made sure to say, looking up at him, "and i don't want you to think that i don't care about your life, and your anxieties, and stuff, just because i'm rambling about mine." you let your eyes flood with everything you were feeling. "but i also don't want you to think i'm disinterested, or bored, or something."
he hummed, and it was quiet, for a moment, as your words rolled around his head. "what do you want me to think, then?" he asked, finally, gently.
you leaned your head on his shoulder, thought for a second. "i want you to know that i'm into you," you landed on, and the truth tasted sweet on your tongue. "and i want to ask you to keep being patient with me, please." your mouth quirked up. "like you already are, i guess."
his smile was something dreamy before he pressed his lips to your hair. "how about this?" he said, a murmur, "how about you let me try to convince you i'm staying, hm? trust me to?"
you found yourself nodding.
"and if you want something, you just ask me, okay, baby?" he amended. "ask me, and i'll be here. promise."
you looked up at him through your lashes. "thank you," you breathed, after a pause, because a promise was something special. him being so soft with you was something special, too.
he gave a slight shrug, his smile almost a smirk. "you told me you're into me, baby," he said, like that explained everything.
you just laughed into his shoulder, felt fear melt away, dissolve into the air. "what did you come over for, again?" you joked, because you were supposed to be watching a movie, and instead you'd unloaded all this information on him. instead, you'd told him how you felt.
but he didn't seem to hear the joke in your tone. "to see you," he said, simply, making you flush.
eventually, you watched the second scream movie, which was your favorite, and you asked about his day, and you continued to add to the filing cabinet of information about jack that existed in your mind. eventually, the dim light and night air made your words slow and your eyes droopy. eventually, the two of you fell asleep.
when your eyes fluttered awake, sunlight poured in through your curtains like flour through a sieve. your limbs felt stiff, your neck tight, having fallen asleep in an awkward position, but your head was clear, not foggy at all. you'd slept scarily well.
a slight shift on your mattress drew your attention, and your eyes widened when you registered jack, still asleep, still in the clothes he'd come in last night. you looked around to find your laptop on the floor, jack's sweatshirt halfway off the side of the bed.
checking your phone for the time, you mouthed a curse, because you were already late for your eight a.m. you must have forgotten to set your alarm for this morning. admittedly, you had been awfully busy last night, in a comfortable sort of way. you'd had much more important things on your mind than today's lecture, namely the way jack's voice grew rougher as the hours passed. namely, how he shared things with you like he trusted you with everything, like he knew you'd take care of him.
you silently rose, crept to the bathroom to brush your teeth and quickly get ready. when you emerged again, you were relieved to find his eyes still closed.
he looked so peaceful, like this, so blissful, almost angelic. the morning sun settled on his face, the crown of his head like a halo, his chest rising and falling with even breaths.
as you pulled on a different shirt and shorts, you couldn't help the small smile that stretched across your face. because, you remembered, you'd told him everything, and he had stayed. when you looked over at him, he didn't disappear. he was really, genuinely there, and had felt comfortable enough in your bed, in your space, to fall asleep with his arm under your neck, with his knee grazing your hip.
only when you picked up your backpack did he stir, reaching a hand to rub over his face, stretching with a groan that made you blush. when he retracted his hand, resting it up against your headboard, his sleepy gaze found yours. he smiled, an instinct, a compulsion. you smiled back. "tryna sneak out on me?" he said, yawning halfway through.
you approached the side of the bed he was laying on, by your nightstand, bent down and sat back on your heels so you were close to eye level with him. "no," you told him, honestly. you pushed his hair back from his face, and he hummed at your touch, eyes drowsy, getting used to the light from the window. perhaps still getting used to the light of you. "just didn't want to wake you."
he exhaled, and you felt the heat of it on your arm. "going to class?" he asked.
you nodded, smiled. "but i'll see you later, maybe?" you asked, hopeful. "i'll text you?"
"please," was his reply.
before you pushed up from your knees, though, you bit your lip with indecision. "jack," you began.
"yeah, baby?" he asked, almost confused, certainly intrigued.
"remember when you said to tell you when i want something?" you tone had grown cautious.
"'course," he said, reaching a hand forward, under your chin, to keep your eyes trained on his.
you swallowed, shifted. "i want something."
he smiled, shy, in a flash of teeth, just so, so pleased. "anything," he answered, sleep now gone from his gaze, replaced with something sharper, something beautiful. "anything." he said it like a plea.
you breathed out, searched his eyes, then leaned forward slowly, pressed your lips gently to his. only for a second, soft as anything, barely there, before making to pull away again.
then his broad hand was on the side of your face, though, guiding you back to his mouth, this time harder in commitment but not in force. the positioning was kind of awkward, with him propped up on his elbow, and he tasted a little bitter from the morning, and your heart felt like it was buzzing, but it was perfect. it was perfect, all of it, because it was with him.
no running away, his kiss seemed to scream at you, not from me.
you hoped he could sense your promise by the way you reached an arm around his neck, by the way you relaxed into his mouth, practically a sigh of relief.
he felt like lazy laundry days and laughing in the kitchen and pinkie promises. he smelled like worn-out cologne from the night before. he felt like trust, and belief, and something meaningful. he felt like something, someone, you could get used to. someone you wanted to, at least.
you both pulled away, at some point, only just barely, enough to catch your breath. you ran your nails along the nape of his neck, watched his glossy gaze settle on you.
"'m really gonna be late, now," you said, dumb, but you didn't really care. you had greater things to care about, it seemed.
he laughed, and you felt it in your fingers. "they're lucky they're getting you at all," he said, and it was a rasp. his smile grew lopsided. "or maybe 'm the lucky one."
you gave a slight shake of your head. he just said these kinds of things, and he didn't think about how they'd make your vision spin. how terribly inconsiderate. "i'll see you later?" you clarified, giving his shoulder a squeeze before getting up, lugging your backpack on.
he nodded, still a bit dazed, it seemed.
the thought made you smile. "bye, jack," you said, on your way out.
"bye, baby," he called out after you, a sing-song. you could hear the happiness leaking from his voice, could almost taste it.
time passed quickly and blissfully, from there. the semester began to rush forward in a flurry of classes and chapter meetings and philanthropy obligations, all which were cut with movie nights with jack in your room, nights on which he slept over more often than not (you swore every time he came over he stole a different sweatshirt of yours. your closet was starting to look scarce, but whenever you saw him push the too-tight sleeves up on his forearms, you couldn't find it in yourself to mind), dance class on friday afternoons (you didn't know how someone could be so tragically terrible at ballroom as you seemed to be, but you looked forward to it, all the same), parties at tke on the weekends (you grew to know his friends and brothers and their girlfriends, grew to be a part of their little world).
tonight was one of those parties, and you were in your room, trying to figure out what you were going to wear, before sam burst in the door.
"we're not going," she said, plain and simple, sitting on her bed.
you looked at her with a raised brow. "why not?" your eyes widened. "what did alex do?"
she rolled her eyes. "it's not alex," she explained. "i told nico no more bros and hoes bullshit a long time ago, and he didn't listen." she shook her head, as if disappointed. "what is the theme, if not golf bros and tennis club hoes?"
you gave a light laugh. "so we're actually not going?"
"nope," sam declared, "already put it in the chat. a phi is boycotting."
as if on cue, you received a text from jack that read coming tonight?
haven't you heard, you sent back, a phi is on strike :)
you accepted his almost instantaneous face-time request, grinning as his pretty features filled your screen. "what do you mean you're on strike?" was his immediate question.
"hi to you, too, jack," you teased, your stomach flipping when his eyes filled with something soft.
"hi, baby, 'm sorry," he amended, and his voice was genuine.
you waved his apology off lightheartedly. "i'm under strict presidential orders," you told him, "apparently nico didn't heed the warning about the bros and hoes thing."
jack groaned, then looked away from the screen for a second. "they're not coming," he called out to someone, "like, actually, all of a phi is not coming."
"and we're not budging!" sam called out from her bed.
"is that sam?" came another voice from jack's end. "put her on."
and so the phones were passed to alex and sam, respectively.
"c'mon, sam," alex said, the most emotion you'd heard from him in a while. "you guys need to come out. we need you there."
it was true, sort of. they needed girls there, and a phi was plentiful with pretty smiles and kind laughs.
"no can do, al," sam said, smug. "tke needs to learn their lesson."
alex blinked.
"will you put nico on, please?" sam asked, syrupy sweet. "i have some choice words for him."
"no, you can't talk to nico," alex responded, short.
"what's the deal, madam?" came a very nico-sounding voice, off screen. "it's a good theme, eh? think you'd look great in a tennis skirt."
you rolled your eyes.
"what, won't let him talk without his lawyer present?" sam pressed.
jack's laugh was bright. you felt it through the screen.
"he can talk to you when he puts a shirt on," was the curt response.
you smirked. alex was not doing a very good job of shielding his emotions, not anymore.
"you know me better than that, don't you?" sam asked, almost offended. "not one to get distracted easily by a bare chest."
alex sighed, rubbed a hand over his face.
"are you saying you get distracted by nico's abs, al?" sam continued. "i mean, i get it, even if i can't relate personally."
"you're not talking to him, sam," alex said. "our theme for tonight is not up for debate. it's too late."
sam gave a dramatic sigh, appeared deep in thought.
"well, can i talk to quinn, then?" sam said. "not for any reason, really, just want to see his face."
you bit your lip out of frame, smiled, because you had a feeling jack was doing something similar. you had a feeling that if you were in the same room, right now, you'd be sharing a knowing glance, a hidden laugh. you felt warm with that knowledge.
"quinn's busy," alex bit out. you could almost hear his grinding teeth.
sam just gave a theatrical pout that had you giggling.
"shame," sam said, a winning smile on her face.
you heard alex's deep exhale. "you're killing me, here, beautiful," he said, a sigh. your eyes widened. was alex finally breaking?
sam just hummed. "'s that my sweatshirt you're wearing, al?" she asked. "color looks nice on you."
then she handed the phone back to you, walked from the room, and when you looked down at the screen, alex was gone, too, leaving only the soft slope of jack's nose, messy hair in his face. "hi," you said, a smile bubbling free.
"hi," he parroted. "if you're not coming, then, what're you doing tonight?"
you shrugged. "probably just watching a movie here," you said. "nothing crazy."
his nose twitched, his eyes shone with an unasked question.
"wanna join?" you asked, loving the way his face lit up at your invitation.
he sucked on his teeth, and your stomach coiled with heat at the sight. "think 'm technically supposed to be here," he said, to which you pouted. "but i might be able to sneak out."
"sneak outta your own party?" you asked, a light laugh on your mouth like a sparkly gloss.
"for you," he added, which made your laugh settle into something dangerous.
you scrunched up your face in delight. "'ll leave my window open, then," you said.
"thank you, baby," he said, waited for you to hang up first.
you did leave your window open, let the cool nighttime breeze ease in, blowing your curtains slightly, the edges of your sheets by your feet. you were comfortably on your side, your mind quiet as your eyes lazily took in your computer screen.
the tassels on your drapes seemed to sing at jack's knock on the window pane. the fixtures in your room seemed to relax, the wood of your desk turning malleable, the light on the ceiling to burn hotter, dimmer.
play it cool, you wanted to shush them, the way you whisper to your friends in middle school when your crush walks past your locker, just act normal.
your smile crept up on you, slow and genuine, as he swung his other leg over, shut the window again, immediately kicking off his sneakers and collapsing on top of you, the weight of him almost oppressive against your chest, your face.
you laughed nonetheless, wrapped your arms around his middle to hug him closer, to breathe him in. you felt his neck relax, his heavy head hang just above your shoulder. he let out a breath, like he was exhaling everything heavy. like he was making space for you in his lungs, in his chest, in his being.
you rubbed gentle circles into his back over his sweatshirt. "successful jailbreak?" you murmured, your voice muffled into his chest.
he pressed his lips to your shoulder, gently, before rolling off of you, soft as anything but sparking heat between the two of you nonetheless. "you've made a fugitive out of me," he joked, laying an arm over your torso and pulling you into his side.
"sure they won't be missing you?" you asked, brushing his hair from his face. his eyes simmered with something lovely.
he gave a shrug you felt through your whole body. "if i was there, i'd be missin' you," he clarified in explanation. of course, your heart stuttered like a shy kid giving a speech at an all-school assembly.
"i'm glad you're here," you said, soft, the words not feeling like nearly enough. you hooked one leg around his, tangling the two of you further, then rethought your action.
because you'd known guys who'd groan at this kind of thing from you, who would warn you not to start something you couldn't finish, who would call you a tease or something much meaner.
but, of course, jack did no such thing. he just relaxed deeper into the position, nodded towards your abandoned computer. "what're we watching?" he asked.
you swallowed. it struck you as weird, that his endless patience and kindness sparked something hot in your stomach, that you wanted to give him anything and everything, all because he would never demand it of you.
his hand on your back suddenly felt heavy, his leg under yours too warm. you hummed, tilted your head up to press a soft kiss to the corner of his mouth.
you could feel him smile against your lips. "what's that for, baby?" he asked, rough.
"for you," you answered, simply.
you felt his pleased exhale in your bones as he took your chin in his hand, led your mouth to his in a deeper kiss, this time, one that felt like coffee mugs with lipstick on the rim, like good morning texts before you wake up, like burning fireplaces in the winter, fragrant and lively. "so sweet for me, baby," he mumbled against your mouth.
you sighed, ran your fingertips along his jaw, found courage in the blue of his eyes that willed your nerves away. "can i have something, please?"
"anything," he answered, softly, immediately, as he always had.
you ran your tongue along the inside of your cheek, wondering what you were actually asking for. "i just want," you started, uncertain, then started again. "just-"
you cut yourself off with a shaky exhale, reaching an arm around his neck, shifted your body until you were on top of him, kissed him with something feverish in your veins. he let out some kind of whimper-ish sound, so strained, so desperate, as his hand found your hips, held you to him with intention.
you kissed him like you were burning, like you needed him to taste the flame of your want, like your desire was some burden you couldn't possibly shoulder alone.
he didn't seem to mind, anyways, quite the opposite - he kissed you back like he'd take anything you'd give him, like the fire you were exuding was water in a drought, like you were some fabled savior. like you were saving him.
you pulled gently at the hem of his pink sweatshirt, or yours, rather, withdrew slightly to help him tug it off. he was so beautiful, always, but especially now, glowing in the light of your bedroom, flushed entirely because of you, eyelids heavy with attraction.
you stilled, straddling his hips, his back against your headboard as you traced the veins in his arms with your fingertips.
his thumbs slipped under your sleep shorts, rubbed feather-light circles into the flesh of your hips. "tell me what you need, baby," he said. "whatever you want, swear it."
you bit your lip to dull your smile, because you realized, in that moment, that there was no semblance of fear in your mind. not even a drop of doubt. you knew, that no matter what you gave to him, no matter how much of yourself you offered up, he wouldn't leave you, dumb and ashamed, standing alone in some taunting doorway. he'd stay.
the fact made unfiltered want flow through you, powerful as a river after heavy rain.
you met his gaze with a confidence that hadn't been there in a long time, that he seemed to pull from you with ease. you rocked your hips against his lap, relished in the strain you saw in his eyes. "wanna feel you inside me," you rasped, continuing to shift back and forth. "wanna make you feel good, hm?"
you felt his groan in your teeth as he flipped you on your back in a single, swift motion, left messy, open-mouthed kisses down your jaw, your neck. he didn't saw anything about how long he'd been waiting, about how long you'd made him wait, and you had a feeling it was because he genuinely didn't care.
you had a feeling the only thing he cared about, in this current moment, was the feeling of your collarbone under his teeth, the way your hands rooted in the curls of his hair, the not-nearly-enough friction of his grinding hips against yours.
you both twisted and tugged clothes aside, hurried, almost crazed, until you could take him in your palm, hard and hot, run your grip up and down his length, urging a groan from his throat that you wanted to taste. his exhales were so, so labored as his hips jerked towards you involuntarily.
your eyes widened, because you'd almost forgotten what it felt like to be with someone like this, to be with someone whom you trusted entirely, someone whose pleasure you could feel as deeply as if it was your own. it made your blood feel volcanic as it beat from your heart.
"please, jack," you begged, and his overwhelmed gaze found yours, again.
"i know, baby," he cooed, running his fingers through your folds, cursing under his breath at how wet he found you, from barely being touched. all from him. your grip around him faltered as he pushed two fingers inside of you, the stretch immediate. "i know." you cursed, shut your eyes as he thumbed your clit, making your breath feel heavy in your mouth. he retreated further. "just wanna taste you first, baby, please?"
you just nodded, perfectly happy to give him any he wanted. then his mouth was on you, his tongue slow, methodical, as you tugged at his hair, your face pinched in pleasure.
pressure coiled inside of you as he pressed his tongue flat against your clit, making your back arch up of your bed, the friction dreamy.
the weight of him pressed your hips down, heightening the sensation, making each motion of his fingers feel like an eruption of flame, each swipe of his tongue feel monumental.
you choked out a whine of his name, pulled on his curls just a little harder, lewd, slick noises echoing in your ears. "more," you breathed, to which he groaned, rocked his hips against the bed, desperate for some kind of friction, some kind of relief. the sight had you clenching around his fingers.
"not enough?" he asked, his voice gentle, the fervor of his motions anything but. "need more, do you, pretty thing?" you nodded, whimpered a please, which had him pulling his deft fingers from you, shifting closer to you. he angled his cock to your core, held your hips down with his other hand. he hummed. "you can have it, baby."
your eyes fluttered shut as he began to push inside of you with a moan that you swore made your lampshade blush, made the conservative hangers in your closet shake their heads, disappointed. you grasped at his forearm with a reaching hand, fisted the other in your cotton sheets, the texture heightened in your palm.
you felt the stretch everywhere, half expected your bedroom to crack in half, to feel the pressure just as acutely as you did. "almost there, baby, 'atta girl," he bit out, "fuck, feel so good for me."
you whined at his words, at the feeling of him all the way inside of you, that perfect stretch that gave way to something deliriously good as he began to move and in out, slow, deep.
you felt your eyes roll back, as if in slow motion, as you dug your nails into his arm, shuddered at the sensation as he pressed your hips harder into your mattress. "'s so deep, jack, fuck," you breathed, careful as a wince.
he held the top of your headboard with a steady grip, increased his pace. when he spoke, his voice was gritty. "that okay, baby?" he asked, shifting your hips to make you more comfortable, to make the angle feel better. "how's that?"
"so good," you moaned, raw, "feel you everywhere."
and it was true. he thrust in and out of you at a mind-numbing pace, with an intensity that burned through your body. time seemed to freeze, or maybe to liquify, to flow like molten rock. to scatter into oblivion, marked in breathy pants and strained moans, desperate kisses and tired muscles instead of minutes and seconds.
at some point, he took his hand off of your headboard, brought it to his mouth, bit down, as if to stifle a groan, as if to distract himself, last longer for you.
the thought shot right to your core, made your head spin faster, that his pleasure might run so deep, because of you, that he needed a distraction from it.
you moved your hand to your clit, rubbing carefully, moaning at the stimulation, which made you clench down, grip him in a maddening kind of way.
he gave a choked moan. "fuck," he grunted. "can't, jesus, can't do it, baby, so wet for me." his voice was a tortured sort of overwhelmed as his hips sputtered, as his pace continued, harder, faster.
he made to look away from you, maybe to sink his teeth into the flesh of his hand, again, but you wouldn't let him, instead reaching up to pull his fingers to your own mouth, press them against your tongue, soothe the angry red mark that had begun to show.
you swore your mind was somewhere else, somewhere shiny, somewhere sleepy, as you felt his stomach and thighs contract, firm and wiry.
"won't last like this, pretty thing," he breathed, a slight sheen on his collarbones, his forehead, shimmery under the overhead light. "so close, baby, feel too good for me." his exhale was unsteady. "so perfect like this."
"want it," you whined, so impossibly close, yourself. "need it so bad, baby, please. want all of it." your eyes met his. "need you."
he seemed to shatter at your words, at your request, his high, warm and hazy, triggering your own, a blur of whines and pleases and his hot breath at your temple, an all-consuming wave that had your vision blurring, had you clenching down on him so tightly.
he collapsed on top of you for the second time that night, this time his skin glowy and damp, the air sticky and humid as you both let your breathing normalize again, as you let your eyes flutter open.
he rolled to your side, refusing to unclasp his arms around your back, consequently pulling you to his chest, your nose against his breastbone. you traced a hand along the top of his spine, so perfectly content, so wonderfully blissful.
with anyone else, now would be the time when the anxiety really set in. now would be the time that the furniture started to hiss at you to get out.
such anxiety was nowhere to be found, though, not now. not with him. his rough hands felt soft on your back as he shifted deeper into your bed, making himself comfortable, making you comfortable, too, in succession.
and even though you knew it, he knew you, just so, so well. "'m staying," he whispered into your hair, "long as you'll let me."
your heart was pink jello in your chest. you pressed your swollen lips to his shoulder. "i'll let you," you promised.
and so your self-proclaimed frat-boy-ban was broken, completely done away with, replaced instead by the most delicious stability.
the already fast-paced semester was made a fairytale blur by your beautiful exception, in all of his endless kindness, his unrelenting loveliness.
how many afternoons did you spend in his lap, out on his front lawn? how many nights did you fall asleep together, tangled up in each other? how many parties started with his hat backwards on his head, but ended with it on yours, instead? when did you start to leave your window open, every night? how many mornings did he surprise you with coffee, remembering your order like it mattered, simply because it was something you'd told him? how many times did his beauty and thoughtfulness surprise you, again and again?
like the time you went with him to a baseball game, an away one, this time, to support his friends and brother, when you insisted that you'd drive. you'd had to stop for gas, halfway through, gotten out of your truck, had only just stuck the nozzle in before he'd come around the side to lean against the door.
you had felt yourself raise a brow, almost confused. "sort of a one person job," you'd joked, to which he'd smiled, leaned back further against the side, just waiting with you.
like he couldn't bear to sit in the passenger seat, alone, not when you were out here, hands idle.
or like the night of your ballroom dance midterm performance, in front of an audience (an audience that included a lot of your friends). you'd stumbled halfway through the steps, nothing crazy, but certainly enough to notice. your face had grown hot, an embarrassed strawberry-milk flush.
but then, across the stage, jack had tripped over his own feet, in a way that looked pretty intentional, if you thought so yourself, as if he wanted to draw everyone's attention for a moment. as if he wanted to keep any potentially judgmental eyes off of you. he caught your knowing gaze as he pushed himself off of the floor, shot you a cheeky wink.
or, like tonight, a phi's blind date formal. this event was always a highlight of the year, at the very least always entertaining, always a good source of drama, of gossip, for a few weeks following.
planning it was a nightmare, from what sam had told you, a disorienting flurry of spreadsheets and communications with different frats and teams. typically, each house was matched with a frat and an athletic roster, and the dates were assigned from there, based on survey results and different requests.
you were excited for tonight, not nervous at all, because you'd requested jack as your date, and sam practically ran the whole thing, so you knew there would be no surprises.
for you, tonight was just a fun opportunity to dress up, to hang out with your best friends and your favorite boy.
the reveal of the dates was one of the best parts of the night. you'd be called upon to come out the door, and your date was supposed to be standing on the front step to walk you to the venue of the formal, just a few blocks away.
you gave yourself a final once-over in the mirror, turned to sam as you slung your clutch over your shoulder. "ready?" you asked, to which sam gave herself a spritz of perfume, nodded. you held the door for her. "did you tell me already if you requested somebody?"
she gave you a grin. "quinn," she said, simply.
you laughed. "you're gonna drive poor alex crazy," you chided.
she just shrugged. "he's driving me crazy, more like," she corrected. "all he does is bitch and moan when i mention other guys, then he wears my sweatshirt like it's all he owns, calls me beautiful, all that nonsense." she gave you a look. "i'm losing hope, love. if he doesn't make a legitimate move soon, i might go for quinn for real, just for all his trouble."
when it was your turn to open the front door, you took a breath, turned the handle, weren't surprised to find that familiar figure on the other side, pink flowers in his hand, his suit fitting him so wonderfully, his eyes softening when they caught on you.
your smile came easily, so naturally, as you approached him. he reached an arm around your middle, pulled you into his embrace by the small of your back as you wrapped your arms around his neck. you pressed your lips to his jaw in greeting before he pulled back.
"let me get a look at you," he said, soft, holding your hand at a distance, giving you a twirl that made you feel like a princess. he whistled. "i'm the one on your arm, tonight, pretty thing?" he asked, his smile toothy. "must be my lucky night."
you flushed with contentment, ducked into his side. "i'm the lucky one," you insisted, before the door opened again, making the two of you move to the sidewalk as he handed you your flowers, which you accepted with bashful thanks.
sam now stood in the open doorframe, but her wandering eyes narrowed when they landed on the curly-haired boy that stood on the front step. "what the hell is this about, alex?" she hissed.
"you look lovely, sam," alex said, undeterred.
"yeah, okay, thanks," sam said, "you know i requested-"
"i know," alex interrupted. "i vetoed your reuqest." he offered her his arm, which she took, lightly, reluctantly.
"that's not how this works," she reminded him, "you don't get a veto."
"i'm the president," he deadpanned, "of course i get a veto."
"i'm the president," sam retorted, "and i requested-"
alex sighed, turned to face sam, placed his palm over her mouth. "stop," he said, short, "talking."
her eyes narrowed, and jack pinched your side as you took in the sight in front of you. you shared an excited look.
"please be my date, tonight," alex asked, removing his hand from sam's face only after her mouth stopped moving. "for real."
after a brief pause, sam's mouth broke into a wide grin as she looped her arm through alex's, fell into step behind you and jack. "get up off your hands and knees, al," she teased, "'course i'll be your date. waited long enough, haven't i?"
it was a storybook sort of night from there, one defined by shared laughter and good music and gushing with your friends about their dresses.
time passed too fast in a blur of dance-floor spins that made the hem of your dress bloom, gentle touches and laughs into shoulders.
at some point, you and sam took a break by the edge of the venue, next to the refreshment table, having promised to bring jack back a drink. sophie approached you. you smiled, having not really seen her since the last chapter meeting.
"hey, sophie," you said, "this dress is stunning on you."
"thank you," sophie said, genuinely, before her eyes flashed. "if you see cole come up behind me, warn me, okay?"
"isn't cole your date, though?" sam asked.
sophie sighed. "technically, yes," she admitted, "but he thinks i requested him, which i didn't, so now he's being especially persistent."
you tilted your head. "so you got paired together because your survey results matched up? completely organically?"
"i guess," she answered, exasperated. "which i don't get, because we have, like, nothing in common."
"you have a little in common," sam said, "you both love baseball. it's, like, all you talk about."
"okay, so we have one thing in common," sophie conceded. "it's a conflict of interest! i'm supposed to be an impartial reporter!"
you shrugged. "impartiality is overrated," you said, and you meant it. now that you'd settled into being completely honest about how you felt, you couldn't imagine it any other way, couldn't fathom hiding that kind of thing from people that mattered.
"code cole, code cole," sam whispered.
"soph, you gotta stop running away from me," cole said, coming up behind her, shooting her that confident smirk. "tirin' me out, love."
sophie sighed, turned to face him, crossed her arms over her chest.
"care for a dance?" cole asked, extending his hand to her.
her gaze dipped to his fingers, then rose again. "i'll dance with you," she said, which made cole light up with excitement, "if you agree to give me at least one objectively useable quote after ever single game for the rest of the year."
cole blew out a breath like it was the easiest decision of his life. "done," he declared. he gave an enthusiastic fist pump when sophie took his hand and led him to the floor.
leaning back against the table, you and sam scanned the room, laughing at trevor's ridiculously bold suit, scoffing at nico, who was dancing with two girls at the same time, sharing a knowing glance when you registered quinn and luke, sitting at a table on the outskirts, luke's tie completely untied, quinn's tied around his head. the two loners appeared to be engaged in a game of cards with their respective dates.
eventually, you made good on your promise to jack, grabbing two drinks. when you turned your back on the table, he was walking up to you, his face pleasantly flushed, eyes so doting. your smile grew as he got closer. your eyes shut, delighted, when he threw an arm around your shoulders.
"there you are, baby," he said, pressing a kiss to your temple. you were hit with a dizzying sense of deja vu, knowing you'd been here before, knowing so much had changed since the last time you'd been in this position. "thanks for holding my drink for me."
you smiled up at him, leaning into his side, warm and firm against you. it was something magnificent, to have it not be an act, this time. to have it be completely genuine. to have it be real.
"of course, baby," you said, the slight tease in your tone made shimmery by the glint in his gaze.
he hummed, moved his arm down to wrap around your waist, pull you against him as he swayed back and forth to the music. you exhaled, so utterly at peace, relaxed into his chest, tilted your head back to look up at him. he met your gaze eagerly, that smile you so adored overtaking his face like a mural on the side of a building. "what?" he asked.
you shook your head, laughed lightly. because what, really? how could you sum it up? "you," you answered, honestly. "just you."
how could you sum him up? he was one million things. your pretend boyfriend in the face of campus security. your ballroom dance partner. your movie-night, good-morning text, sweatshirt stealer. your window-climber, baseball-watcher, owner of your favorite smile. your tke boy. your exception.
he was one million things, but, when he leaned down to press his lips to your hair, he was only one.
yours.
fin.
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buckysb1tch · 5 months
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the hughes pout
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generalllimaginesss · 3 months
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"Would you still love me if-" "No, no I wouldn't."
with luke!!! definitely could see him not being able to sleep and just asking the reader in the middle of the night would you still questions, and she would say no after like the fifth question and pull luke closer to her and start brushing her hands through his curls and slowly getting him to fall back to sleep and telling yes i would still love you
This is short, but I thought it was cute! Currently watching the devils and flyers and I saw Luke in the penalty box for tripping I think….it was kinda funny ngl. Hope you enjoy!!
••
For some odd reason you had let Luke convince you that it would be a good idea to set up a tent in the backyard during the middle of summer. Why on earth he wanted to do this? There's no telling what his thought process was, but you agreed under the condition that he would let you drive the boat the next day on the lake.
The ground was hard, even with the cushion of the sleeping bag underneath the two of you. Nothing about this was enjoyable, but you'd do anything for Luke.
After an hour of Luke not shutting up, you were really about to lose it. He kept going on and on about the most random shit and he wasn't getting the hint that you wanted him to zip it. He was currently rambling on about random situations and if you'd still love him.
"What if I was three feet tall...would you love me still?"
"Yes," You internally groaned.
"Oh my God, what if I was allergic to animals. I know you love animals, but would you still love me if we couldn't have any?" He absentmindedly twirled his curls around his finger, snuggling closer to you.
"Yes, Luke. I would love still love you," Your tone was becoming increasingly annoyed, but Luke seemed to be oblivious.
"I would hate to be allergic to animals. Imagine not being able to have a dog," He trailed off.
"Have you seen that trend going around...the one where they ask somebody if they still would love them if they were a worm. Would you?" His voice was loud compared to the peaceful night, the only other thing that could be heard was the crickets somewhere off in the distant.
"I don't even know how to answer that," You rolled over, facing away from Luke.
"Would you still love me if-"
"No, no I wouldn't," Your tone was harsh, cutting easily through the night.
It was quiet for a few seconds, your sudden aggravation catching Luke by surprise. He kept peeking at you from the corner of his eye, wondering if you were going to say anything else.
His eyes quickly cut to the ceiling of the tent when he felt you rustling as you turned to face him and wrap your arms around him. You kissed his temple and ran your fingers through his hair, getting snagged on a couple of tangles he hadn't managed to brush out.
"I love you no matter what, but this hard ass ground and stuffy tent makes me want to drown myself in the lake. I'm doing it for you because I love you and this is something that you wanted. Please shut up and go to sleep so this will be over sooner," Your voiced was low and hoarse, but it caused him to let a belly laugh out.
"Yeah sleeping in here isn't quite like I expected. Wanna go inside?" He turned his head to look at you.
"I thought you'd never ask."
*
*
*
*
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drysdalesworld · 2 months
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i loved what you wrote about the boys with super energetic kids but what about them with kids who are the complete opposite? like a very shy, quiet kid
them with a shy, quiet child
i was planning on doing this anyway but i love that you asked for it bc i wasn’t too sure if anyone else wanted that as well. hope you enjoy! <3
the boys with a shy & quiet kid (+ x fem!reader)
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the boys with a shy, quiet daughter:
JACK HUGHES
— is so patient & gentle with her it’s crazy
— ^ like he’s so careful with his words when speaking to her & always makes sure that she’s comfortable
— speaks for her when she’s too shy to speak. like when the three of you are out at a restaurant & she’s too shy to tell the waiter what she wants, he’ll do it for her & always makes sure to ask her exactly what she wants beforehand so there’s no mistakes when ordering
— holds her hand when she gets anxious & squeezes it a couple of times to make sure she knows that he’s there for her
— she much prefers you over jack due to how calmer you are as a person but he doesn’t mind at all. if anything, he’s glad that she’s able to find solace in the reader as he can only imagine how hard it is to be shy & quiet as a child
— he genuinely tries to be more calmer & quiet in her presence. it’s a work in progress
— jack often finds himself going to quinn for advice on how to do better with his daughters shy & quietness. he only wants to do good by his daughter & it shows in his actions
— encourages her to speak her truth & speak up for herself when needed. he knows that it’s a hard thing to do but he encourages it by practicing & setting an example with reader as they both openly communicate how they feel to each other
— encourages her to speak her truth & speak up for herself when needed. he knows that it’s a hard thing to do but he encourages it by practicing & setting an example with reader as they both openly communicate how they feel to each other
— will literally wear a princess dress to the movies if a new disney movie comes out & she decides it’s her new favorite princess & wants to dress up. he has no shame
— during the summers, he makes sure to lather her in sunscreen. he’s deathly afraid of her burning so he goes the extra mile
— ^ tries to convince her to go wake boarding with him but she always says no. until a couple of weeks into the summer months, she finally agrees & has a blast as jack holds her tightly & does all these cool spins & tricks on the board
— he 100% always joins the readers & their daughters nap times when he gets back home from morning skate. the sight of the two of you wrapped up & cuddled around each other is so cute & makes his heart melt
— jack makes sure to give her a puck before every home game & blows her a kiss before skating off. he also makes sure to dedicate his second goal to her, his first dedicated to you always
KIRBY DACH
— she’s so small in comparison to kirby it’s insane
— he always holds her close wherever they go together. since you both live in montréal, & it’s cold, he always bundles her up so it’s quite funny to see him carrying just a ball of wrapped baby
— kirby’s so much more gentler & quieter with her. he can definitely tell when she’s having a more quiet day & is the best in making her comfortable
— 100% tries to help with her shyness by signing her up in sports or other activities to try to get her out of her shell
— ^ you once suggested summer camp & kirby was super hesitant about it but she ended up loving it so much that she couldn’t wait for the next summer. kirby lowkey felt sad at that bc all he wants to do is spend time with his baby girl & her going off nearly every summer for however many weeks just goes to show how much she’s growing
— whenever she gets nervous or eerily quiet, he holds out his hand for her & just dance around with her. it never fails to put a smile on her face & always gets her out of her funk
— kirby made her a bracelet when she was younger & she wore the shit out of it. it’s now just string but she always played with it whenever she got nervous or approached a new person at school in hopes of being their friend. she still carries it around with her for comfort
— is so supportive in whatever she does
— ^ she wants to play pickleball instead of hockey? he’s already checking out all the gear she’ll need. decides last minute to wear a princess dress instead of her school uniform? he’s asking her which dress she wants. she wants to try to make a friend by herself at the park? he’s sitting back & observing w/ a smile on his face
— kirby’s very big on communication so he always makes sure to check in on her & her feelings. it’s gotten to the point where she’ll just tell you how she feels instead of reader or kirby having to ask
— is also the type of dad to have matching costumes with his daughter
— ^ one year they went as (pink) kirby & princess daisy. it was so fucking cute. it’s one of your lock screens in your phone hehe
— is the one to wake her up in the morning & ease any anxiety she has about school or making new friends
— ^ he’ll brush back the hair from her face & softly speak to her as she voices her concerns & he’s so good at proving that she has nothing to be afraid of. he also makes sure that she’s confident in whatever she wears so kirby allows her to choose her outfits (she’s a little fashionista fr)
NICO HISCHIER
— mans will be the gentlest giant with her
— ^ cuddles 24/7 & nothing but affirmations from this man
— he can understand how hard it is to be so shy & quiet so he always tries his best to make little goals with his daughter in hopes of breaking her out of her shell
— ^ he’ll ask her what she wants to achieve that day on their way to school. it can be anything ranging from making a flower crown to asking someone to play with her during playtime. he’s always so proud of her when she runs up to him after school with the biggest smile on her face, telling him what she achieved that day
— nico’s heart always warms whenever he sees reader & their daughter together. she’s a lot like you & he’s so proud & thankful that he’s been blessed with this kind of life
— encourages her to go to practices with him whenever she’s allowed to
— is def the dad to be up on the stage with his daughter during her ballerina recital
— takes her to new places for exposure & although it’s nerve racking for the both of them, it’s something that neither of them will forget bc of the fun memories
— she does eventually “grow out” of being quiet & shy. she’s got a lot more tools to work with when she’s anxious or feeling shy & nico is always there to help her whenever she needs it
— plays with her hair when he sees that she’s going back into her shell
— ^ he allows her to do so most days but he knows the importance of building up your confidence when young & making friends so he plays with her hair for a bit while he talks to her to bring back up her mood. it usually works
— 100% the one to talk to her about her anxieties & make her feel better about them after
— nico tries everything to get her more out of her shell. he puts her into sports he thinks she’ll enjoy. makes sure she goes to her classmates birthday parties. all that stuff with different goals in mind so even if she doesn’t make a new friend, she’ll still have something to be proud of herself for
TREVOR ZEGRAS
— tbh, he has no clue what to do lol
— he’s learned a great amount of patience with his daughter
— he def tries to understand why she’s so quiet & shy. this leads him to reading about it more & seeking out answers on what he could do to accommodate her more
— trev 100% had to go to jamie for help since they’re both alike in personality. he’s such a big help
— will do anything to protect her & make sure she’s comfortable
— ^ whether that be in his arms or by herself, he’s ready to do whatever
— practices speaking up for herself. trevor will be so much more talkative about how he feels & what he’s doing throughout the day w/ her that she’ll eventually pick up on it & do it herself
— ^ if she’s not confident enough to verbalize it, she’ll write it & sometimes he & her go back & forth with letters. reader got the whole family a notebook so they all can communicate through that if verbalizing it is too hard
— mans literally shed a tear when she made her first friend
— the entire ducks team adore her
— let’s her take the reins in some things. it gives her the confidence to do things for herself & he can see the change in her behavior when she has more control over certain choices
— if she’s feeling shy or anxious, trevor will suggest they play hide ‘n seek or another game to get her mind off things or to simply just make her laugh & have a good time
— always on high energy when he wakes her up & sometimes she bounces off him with it but most often, she doesn’t so he has to check himself a lot & be a lot more calmer around her in the morning
the boys with a shy, quiet son:
JAMIE DRYSDALE
— is so happy to have a kid just like him. he literally looks just like jamie & acts like him it’s kind of eerie
— before jamie leaves for morning skate, he always presses a kiss to the crown of his sons forehead, whispering a promise of coming back & waking him up for breakfast
— ^ jamie takes great pleasure in waking up your son every morning after he returns from morning skate. he just looks so cute with his dark hair all sprawled about, still wiping the sleep from his eyes as he reaches out for his dad. jamie always chuckled to himself as he takes his son into his arms & rubs his back soothingly, making his way out to the kitchen where you are
— you & jamie are one of the only people your son plays with so it’s always a hassle to try to encourage him to play with other children his age
— ^ the one time it works is when jamie took him to the park & started talking to one of the other dads there. his son saw him talking to someone new so he decided that if his dad can do it, then so can he. he made two friends that day & they regularly go on play dates
— you always encourage both jamie & your son to be more friendly & talkative as you know it would most likely help them break out of their shells a little bit
— he put your son into hockey in hopes of him coming out of his shell a little bit & it def worked. jamie sometimes has to drag your son off of the ice bc he doesn’t want to leave just yet
— he’s really only friendly to certain people like trevor or mason since he’s known them since he could remember. it’s just other people he’s super hesitant about but both him & jamie are working on it together!
— loves loves holding him & taking him everywhere
— he always talks to him too about whatever & his son usually responds talking about something random. it’s how he developed his rambling habit whenever he meets new kids lol
— when he got traded, jamie was really nervous to see how your son reacted to the change since it was so sudden & abrupt. but he surprisingly took it really well. he even said hi to some of the other players after the game, head buried into readers collarbone as he waved to those walking passed him
— ^ the flyers def love your son & always include him on their “barking”. once he gets comfortable enough, he just kind of screams instead of barking but the whole team just eats it up & loves it, cheering him on
LUKE HUGHES
— he & his son are one in the same
— ^ they have the same facial expressions for everything & it’s too funny when they overhear someone saying some random shit & make the exact same face
— your son may be shy & quiet but he’s also calm & mellow. he speaks through his eyes & facial expressions
— ^ has a rbf & is not afraid to use it (especially if someone’s bothering him or you lol)
— reader 100% believes that her son is an old soul & is just done with living. like little dude barely tries to make friends (granted he is shy & it’s a little difficult for him) & just doesn’t have much to say & when he does, he has you reevaluating your life after a conversation
— lukes fav thing to do with his son is put a shit ton of blankets on the couch, make a fort, & watch his favorite movies while snacking on mac n cheese & homemade cookies. they do it nearly every night luke’s home
— he’s super gentle & patient with him as he tries to navigate his shyness. luke encourages him to make friends but doesn’t pressure him at all & also puts him into sports in hopes that he makes them naturally through that
— ^ & it does work! he’s made so many friends through hockey, soccer, baseball, etc.. although he is still quite shy & quiet during his games, which he is actively working on
— whispers to him when he’s overwhelmed & rubs his back in comfort as his son crawls into his arms
— puts him to bed & reads him bedtime stories
— at the lake house, luke is ever the more observant & cautious with his son. he makes sure to put sunscreen on him & that he always has his hat on to protect him from the sun
— ^ when he asked luke if he could go wake boarding with him, he nearly squealed in excitement. his son doesn’t really feel comfortable trying new things so this is a HUGE step in the right direction. holds onto him so tight as he giggles whenever luke does tricks. he has such a blast
QUINN HUGHES
— these two are a mirror image of each other it’s insane
— ^ ellen pointed it out to you a few weeks after you had given birth & you can’t unsee it (your son & quinn are twinsies fr)
— even tho his son is shy, he highly encourages him to make some friends in pre-k but assures him that he should take it day by day & that he’ll always love him no matter what
— definitely tries to make him less anxious by taking him in his arms & giving him raspberries in his neck or on his stomach. it helps take his mind off of whatever he was thinking about
— his son always wants to see him right after quinn’s games, which isn’t always possible so sometimes he has him join him for interviews. just quinns presence makes his son calm
— ^ quinns def encouraged him to answer or speak into the mic & his son is always a blushing mess after he says hi into it, hiding his face in the crook of quinns neck as everyone awes
— quinn always has a hand on his son. whether it be on top of his curly hair or on his back as his soothingly rubs it. he always has to have a hand on your son as quinn knows that he’s his son safe person. it makes the both of them feel better
— always tries to include him in everything (when it’s appropriate) so he’ll def bring him to events or practices. it exposes him to more things & it eases his sons anxiety with stuff like that
— 100% does arts & crafts with him. it’s so fucking cute istg
— when he’s old enough to understand certain words, quinn will tell him about his struggles with being a quiet child as well. he wants his son to know that he’s not alone & never is
— gets him a bear that has a voice recorder in it with the both of you saying “we love you bud! you got this!” that he plays every morning & it 100% makes him feel better about whatever he was worried about
— his son’s biggest cheerleader fr
— ^ the loudest you will ever hear quinn be is at his sons sports game or when he gets an award. he’s so proud of him & all of his progress, no matter how great or small
LUCA FANTILLI
— is off the walls ecstatic to just have a child really
— loves him either way
— luca is definitely his sons safe person so luca always has him in his arms or has a hand on his head as he clings onto his leg
— always refers to him as “buddy” or “my little buddy”, which gets him out of his shell sometimes since he wants to be just like his dad
— so so patient & understanding
— ^ will sit by his son as he’s trying to express himself without feeling nervous & lets him take his time. also helps him through his emotions as well
— encourages him to practice his “social skills” on him so he can remember what to say or do when he wants to make a new friend
— takes him to practice when allowed & just lets him chill or play around with the pucks
— ^ the entire umich team loves loves your son & although he is shy, they always make an effort to talk to him or fist bump him every time they skate by him. they respect his boundaries 100% too
— ^^ monday questions with him is always 50/50. sometimes he’ll be up for it & other times he won’t. but when he is, he’s so cute & giggly as he answers the question (most definitely copying his dads answer)
— reader is the one to wake him up more often than not & he much prefers it that way. you’re much calmer than luca at times so your son loves to just cuddle up to you as you pick him up & make your way to the kitchen where luca is making breakfast
— luca has him do the “shakes” whenever he’s feeling anxious about something
— ^ he told his son that it helps with getting the nerves out & he’ll absolutely just start shaking his arms or whole body out of nowhere to get rid of them
— the king at back rubs fr
— gets all papa bear when he hears from his sons teacher that some kids were making fun of him for being so quiet. luca literally gives a stern talking to to their parents & tells his son that bullies only do that to make themselves feel better since they feel “bad/insecure” about themselves. him being shy & quiet is something that he shouldn’t be ashamed of as it is apart of him & luca & reader love every inch of their son, no matter what
— posts “ootd” stories on his insta & hypes up his son as he poses & giggles
— always makes sure to shower his son in praise whenever he achieves a goal or makes a new friend. he’s so excited for his little buddy & his progress!
COLE CAUFIELD
— is surprisingly good at this for some reason
— knows all the tricks to encourage his son to get out of his shell & interact with others
— ^ you’re suspicious of him sometimes bc whatever he does or suggests always works. it’s like he’s psychic or something
— if he’s not having a good day, cole will gather his son in his arms & hold his close to his chest. sometimes he even puts his sweatshirt over him as he’s wearing it so he feels even safer
— cole throws ice cream parties whenever his son makes a new friend or talks to someone for longer than five minutes
— ^ you think it’s a bit excessive but start to see the progress he’s making in breaking through his shell so you don’t stop cole from continuing to throw them. you eventually find it super cute & heartfelt
— def encourages him to find something he’s passionate about to take his mind off whatever he’s feeling anxious about. sports is something he wants to try so cole sort of threw him into whatever sport he thought he’d enjoy
— ^ soccer is something your son enjoys as communication has to be constant between all the players & it encourages him to be more vocal
— is really good at implementing coping techniques/mechanisms for his son if he ever needs them. lowkey a therapist fr (he’s got extensive knowledge about this shit that you sometimes wonder what cole would be like as an actual therapist)
— gets super excited when he does something out of his comfort zone & makes sure his son knows how proud of him he is
— is super patient & understanding
— it’s a tradition for cole to take him to practice once or twice a month (or week) & the boys absolutely love your son!
— ^ little dude is a completely different person on the ice it’s insane. all of his shyness & quiet tendencies disappear & he just has so much fun that it sometimes makes cole tear up with pride & happiness
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pocketsizedq · 2 months
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Them cuddling you HC
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Big spoons
Jamie Drysdale
-He’s a very shy when it comes to receiving physical affection from you
-it takes alittle bit before he warms up to you but once he does
-He is always cuddling you or hugging you
-His arms always remain around your waist when you are cooking or doing something
-sometimes after a game and he’s tired is the only time he lets you hold him but he’s very blushy and shy about it
-you guys usingly sleep with your head snuggle into his chest and with you on your side and his arms wrapped around while he’s laying on his back
-He always pulls you close to his chest and place a kiss on your forehead
-makes sure your comfortable and cozy when cuddling
Maveric Lamoureux
-him being 6’7 makes a big spoon
-you had to get a California king for you both to cuddle comfortably
-He always uses his large frame to his advantage
-when you both spoon he traps you with his long legs which you never complain as it makes you feel comfortable
-you both sleep on your guys sides but your facing him well his chest and you snuggle your face into his chest as he holds you close
-he rest his cheek on your head playing with the ends of your hair
-if he’s had a bad day he would want to be held and would lay his full weight on top of you
Luke Hughes
-Strong cuddler
-when you are cooking breakfast for him,Jack and you
->He will come half asleep into the kitchen wrapping his arms around your waist pulling you close snuggling his face into your neck leaving small kisses.
-Jack always side eyes you two if he finds you both cuddling on the couch
-He more of a spoon cuddler when it comes to sleeping.
->He would lay on his side while you lay on yours and he would wrap his arms around your waist and he’d hold your hands
->if he couldn’t fall asleep he would slighty fidget and play with your hands as you sleep
Lukas Dostal
-big Bear energy
-when he comes home from a game he always looks forward to cuddling with you
-He would never admit that he loves cuddling but he does
-he’d find you in the bed and he’d get quickly changed before getting into bed with you as he showered at the rink
-He’d pull you into his arms while he lay on his back and you rest your head kind of on his shoulder
-He’d just tell you all about the game went and his feelings
-you’d listen and play with his hands
-he’s always gentle with you and sometimes stops talking to look at you just admiring how pretty you are
-you both usually fall asleep that way
Jeremy Swayman
-protective cuddler
-He’s always hugging you like giving you full on bear hugs
-he’s a very affectionate person so he’s arms are always on you
-when you both go to sleep
-he sleeps where the entrance is into the bedroom as just a safety precaution as he worries something might happen
-He always spoons as he can turn his back to the door and keeps a strong hold on you protective
-he always feels you sometimes playing with his hands
Mason Mctavish
-your personal teddy bear
-absolutely loves cuddling and having you close to him
-he always has you on top of him sleeping as he likes the feeling of your weight on top of him
-your head is snuggled into his neck and your knees by his sides while his arms are around your waist
-always leaves a small kiss on your temple every now and then
-loves the sound of your breathing not in a weird way but the sound of it is comforting to him when you fall asleep before him
Nico Hischier
-loves holding you
-He always feel like he’s at home when he has you in his arms
-He cuddles you everywhere and even sometimes infront of the guys
-he’d cuddle you when your sitting on his lap when the guys are over talking about different things
-He’s also very cuddly when he’s tired
-you always sleep with your head on his chest and he tiredly scratches your back as you both fall asleep
Jack Hughes
-could go either way honestly
-He loves holding you at night but he also loves snuggling his face into your chest when he is sick
-He literally even when he is sick will motorboat you
-always loves having his wrap about you when he silps even if you try to move away from hus embrace he pulls you in more.
-always kisses your forehead before going to sleep at night.
Adam Fantilli
-has a very protective style when cuddling
-if you guys are in a new area when cuddling he always makes sure you are tightly tucked in his arms
-when you guys are home you snuggle your face into his neck and he wraps his arms around you
-only is little spoon when he has bad days
Little spoons
Cole Caufield
-loves being the one to be held
-always loves being held by you after a long day or even if it’s just a relaxing day
-he always loves coming home to you all snuggled up into the bed wear all he does is have to change and snuggle into your chest
-loves listening to the sound of your heart beat as he tangles his legs with yours
-always ask you to play with his hair which you always do and you do until he’s asleep
Fraser Minten
-he’s always wanting to have your arms wrapped around him
-if he’s ever having a hard day he loves to be held by you
-even though he’s taller than you He’s still the small spoon
-you both lay on your sides and he always like the feeling of your face cuddled into his back
-always fidgets with your hands that are around him as he always gets a little flustered when you both cuddle together before you both fall asleep
Trevor Zegras
-this man is a strong ball of energy
-the man can’t stay still even if your cuddling him
-you always have to convince him to come cuddle but once you finally get him to agree
-He’s all happy about it
-you both spoon but he snuggles his face into your chest which makes you always giggle which makes him grin
-you always play with his hair and plant kisses on his forehead which he enjoys very much
-this is the only time he will stay calm as you heartbeat calms him
Luca Fantilli
-absolute angel
-loves just being in your arms as he rants about what ever is on his mind
-loves when you gently scratch his back as he talks
-he always keeps his head on your waist with his head on your shoulder so he can easily look up at your pretty face and leave small kisses on your jawline
-when you fall asleep he always looks up and watches you sleep wrapping his arms tightly around you waist
Quinn Hughes
-this man would never admit to being a little spoon but he enjoys it
-In your arms he feels that he could drop all the stress of being captain and games and just relax in your arms
-He’s very cuddly when sleeply
-if he’s had a long hard day after game and press he always comes home to you and snuggles his face into your neck slighty laying on top of you
-you would run your fingers through his hair gently scratching his scalp which brings him comfort
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pucked-bunnie · 18 days
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told you so ⎜l.hughes
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pairings: luke hughes x reader, platonic!ethan edwards x reader genre: fluff synopsis: you didnt know a trip to a theme park for halloween horror nights would change your 'just friends' status word count: 3.6k
“Wake up.” 
You yank one of the pillows over your head, turning away from the hand that reaches out for you. 
“Wake up.” The voice whines again, a heavy weight sinking the base of your bed. 
“Go away.” You groan, trying to tighten your grip on the pillow over your head, the body next to you sitting up with a groan. 
“Jack, get out.” His voice is raspy as he swats at his older brother, your eyes squeezed shut as you try to ignore the two brothers arguing. Jacks laugh echoes as you lift your pillow throwing it at the end of the bed smiling at the sound of it hitting it’s target before letting out a long huff. You sit up in the bed, sweeping your hands through your hair, the brown tangled with the blue scrunchie your forgot to take out last night. 
“What are you even doing in here?” You hiss, glancing over at your displeased bed mate who glares at his brother, his curly hair a mess on top of his head, his left cheek flushed from being pressed into his pillow. 
“We’re going out.” Jack responds, his smile growing as he glances between the two of you. 
“Out?” You question, rubbing the sleep out of your eyes, before trying to untangle your hair. Jack pulls his phone from his pocket dropping it on the bed letting you glance down at the tickets on his screen. 
“A theme park?” You question, pulling your hair over your shoulder tugging at the scrunchie some more before sighing and pushing it back off your shoulder. 
“Managed to snag some tickets to the halloween horror night.” Jack exclaims the excitement shining in his eyes. You can’t help the way your shoulders suddenly straighten, your eyes brightening as you pull Jacks phone off the bed, looking closer at the tickets. 
“Horror Night?” Luke asks, his hand slowly reaching over to the matted hair sitting on your spine pulling the tangle towards him as he slowly untangles the knot, his eyes never leaving his brother. 
“Yeah, like at universal? She’s been talking about it for weeks.” Jack says swiping his phone from your hand when it dings, the message clearly not something he wants you to see, his cheeks flaming as you raise your eyebrow at him. Luke drops your scrunchie in your lap as he brushes his fingers through the ends of your hair a few more times before letting it fall on your back, his hand retreating back to the mattress. 
“Quinn said we’re leaving at two so you better get ready.” Jack coos before sliding off the mattress sauntering out of the room, his attention now completely on his phone. 
Luke glances at you with a soft smile before dropping back onto the bed, throwing his arm over his eyes in an attempt to fall back asleep. 
“No.” You grumble, picking up the previously thrown pillow smacking it against him. “We have to get up.” You say glancing down at your phone, only an hour to get ready and knowing Quinn he expects everyone to be out of the house at two on to dot. 
“C’mon Luke it’ll be fun.” You whine, as you slip off the mattress hitting him again with the pillow. 
“Fine.” He grumbles, rolling off the bed with a thump his shoulders slumped as he pulls himself off the floor, making his way into the bedroom. 
+
+
“So you two just slept?” Ethan questions as he sits besides you, watching as you tug on your converse tying the laces as you go. 
“Yep.” You respond looking up at him in confusion at his sudden questions. You and Luke had been friends for years, meeting a few years ago at the University of Michigan open day, where you were both introduced to the third in your trio, Ethan. With both hockey players being in the same team and both later drafted to New Jersey Devils together they became close friends quickly, the two of them opting to spend any free time they had with you. 
“So nothing happened at all?” He asks again. 
“Yes Ethan, nothing happened. We are friends and we shared a bed cause all the rooms were full and I felt bad that he was going to sleep on the couch.” You answer standing from your spot on the couch to grab your mini backpack, making sure you had all the supplies you would need for the day. “I would’ve shared a bed with you if the roles were reversed.” You emphasise, rolling your eyes at Ethans wide grin. 
“Knock it off.” You sneer,  zipping your bag and grabbing the water bottle off the counter taking a short sip before moving towards the front door, Quinn already waiting glancing down at his watch impatiently. “Ready when ever you are.” You say as you stop in front of the oldest Hughes brother, returning his small grin before waiting besides him for his two younger brothers. 
“Why don’t you two goat, we’ll be out in just a moment.” Quinn mumbles, handing you the keys which are promptly plucked from your hands. 
“Aye Aye Captain.” You say with a mock salute, Quinn letting out an exhausted laugh as you follow Ethan out to the car, sliding into the backseat as he adjusts the dials for the air conditioner. 
“It’s just interesting that two single people, share the same bed and nothing happens.” Ethan starts again, the glare you land on him making him throw his hands up in defence, climbing over the centre console into the back seat as the brothers make their way towards the car. “I’m just making a point.” He says with one more smile as the back door opens, Luke looking between the two of you with furrowed brows. 
You move into the middle seat, letting Luke slide in besides you as you do up your seat belt, holding Ethans tightly in your hand as he tries to pull it towards himself. “Give me my seatbelt.” He huffs tugging on it some more, but your hold in unwavering as you shake your head. 
“You don’t deserve safety.” You hiss, Quinn snorting as he looks over his shoulder between the two of you. 
“Give him his seatbelt.” He says and you glare at the oldest before obliging letting go of Ethans seatbelt with a snap, a small smile as it smacks against his arm. “Lord, please save me.” Quinn sighs as he puts the car in reverse. 
+
+
“They really went all out on the decorations, didn’t they?” Luke asks as everyone slides out of the car taking in the new appearance of universal studios, the halloween decorations at the next level. 
“No need to be scared, Lukey.” Ethan coos as he comes around the back of the car, slinging his arm over your shoulder, watching Luke’s gaze watch the gesture. “They’re just actors.” Ethan continues, pulling you closer to him, his front pressed to your back as he places his chin on your shoulder, his smile growing as Luke frowns. 
Ethan makes his way to the front gates of the theme park, dragging you along with him, his arm still slung around your shoulders, his fingers tracing against your arm. 
“What’re you doing?” You question as your friends trail behind you, Ethan glancing over his shoulder at the group before leaning in closer to whisper in your ear. 
“Proving a point.” 
The front gates are still closed tightly, groups of people gathering out the front, the conversation buzzing with anticipation. You all watch as the actors start crowding around the front gates, each in an immaculately terrifying costume, one of the large men in the clown costumes stopping in front of you, reaching his arms through the bars. 
You let out a nervous laugh as you take a step back, slipping from Ethans embrace to take a spot next to Luke who stands towards the back, still easily able to see over the crowds. “Clowns?” He asks with disgust your head just nodding the smile not leaving your face as you glance over some of the other guests. 
“What was Ethan whispering to you?” Luke asks quietly, his arms stiff by his sides, watching as his friend chats animatedly with his older brothers, his eyes occasionally drifting over to the two of you. 
“Nothing.” You say quickly, Luke looking down at you with a raised eyebrow. “Seriously, it was just Ethan being Ethan” you reassure turning towards the sudden yelling of Jack, a few bodies moving through the crowd towards you, the unmistakeable smile of Cole Caulfield beaming over to you as he greets his friends, and where Cole Caulfield goes, Trevor Zegras follows. 
Cole is quick to ignore his friends rushing over to sweep you into a hug, his arms tight around you as he lifts you from the ground, spinning in circles. “I didn’t know you were coming.” He exclaims in excitement, giving you a few more squeezes before setting you on the ground and letting you go, the dizziness hitting as Luke places his hand on your lower back to steady you. 
You send a quick smile and wave over to Trevor who returns it before turning your attention back to Cole. “We didn’t even know it was happening till Jack told us like two hours ago.” You chuckle, your hand gripping Luke shirt as the dizziness settles, the boy stepping closer his hand still supporting you. 
Coles next words are interrupted by the loud blearing of a bull horn, the gates rattling as the actors get more excited, more into character. “You’re mine, little girl.” The clown sneers his hand still reaching out towards you, Luke stepping even closer as a shiver runs down your spine, a nervous smile on Coles face as he moves back towards your friend group. 
“I really hate clowns.” Luke says with a grimace, his thumb tracing soft circles on your back, as the gate begins to open, people slowly filing into the theme park, cheerful screams echoing as the actors do their jobs. 
“Ditto.” You smile, reaching your hand behind you to take hold of Luke, your fingers lacing as you pull him towards the park, his palms sweaty as his hand grips yours. 
“Where to first?” You question as you reach the group, Cole and Trevor looking around at all the rides before pointing at the giant drop - everyone nodding in agreement before trying to make their way over. Moving through the park quickly is almost impossible with actors trying to jump out at any stage to scare you. 
Cole managed to get sandwiched between two large zombies his pleas for mercy making the whole group laugh as they abandon him to the flesh eating monsters. You feel Lukes hand squeeze yours anytime a creepy monster comes close, his smile never leaving his face as he stick close to your side, occasionally throwing one of his brothers into the mix as a distraction, the ride finally coming into view. 
“Oh wow, this is a lot higher then I remember.” You exclaim as you and your friends join the line for the ride, everyone sharing their stories of the last time they were on the ride. Ethan makes his way over to you and Luke stopping besides you, his gaze falling down to your joined hands with a knowing grin, your fingers flexing in Luke as your pull your hand free, glaring at the intruder. 
“I wanna sit in the middle of my two best friends.” Ethan teases, slinging his arm over Lukes shoulder, ignoring the way Luke looks down at his empty hand and back to yours. 
“No.” Luke is blunt as he shoves his friends arm off his shoulder, before adding, “she can sit in the middle.” 
“Suits me.” Ethan agrees, reaching out to grab your hand, which you pull away quickly. “Oh c’mon hold my hand.” He whines making grabbing motions for you. 
“No thanks.” 
“I know you’re scared of heights.” He teases and you shrug. 
“I would rather die scared then hold you hand.” You hiss, a small grin on your face as your group moves closer to the front. 
“I’m so sorry guys, we just have one more with our group.” Jacks voice catches your attention, his words directed at the people behind you as he ushers another through the line, the small blonde stopping with your group a shy smile on her face. Jack ignores everyone else pulling her to his side, the two chatting softly as the line continues to move. 
“Wow not even an introduction.” You huff, crossing your arms over your chest as Jack tucks his girlfriend into his side, shooting a glance towards you, the blush high on his cheeks. 
“Next group.” The worker begins ushering people through, Trevor promptly grabbing hold of Quinn, making him promise not to let him die. Ethan gets guided to a seat beside cole, the worker motioning for you a Luke to move around to the other side of the ride. 
“Sucked in.” You tease as you pass Ethan, sticking your tongue out at him as you walk away, taking off your bag and placing it in front of your seat before glancing at the high chair. 
“Need some help?” Luke asks as he moves to his own seat. You shake your head turning around before trying to lift yourself into your seat, huffing when it doesn’t work to first time, trying one more time before Luke laughs his hand softly gripping your waist as he gives you a hoist the next time you jump, your butt sliding into the seat. 
“Comfy?” Luke confirms and when you nod he moves to his own seat, easily lifting himself into the slot, the worker making quick work of pulling down and buckling everyones harnesses. The worker wishes everyone good luck as he starts the ride the chair starting to lift slowly. 
“Luke?” You ask, your watching the ride ascend, your feet dangling below you. He hums in response craning his head to look at you. “Can you hold my hand?” You question, removing your gaze from the floor to look up at him, his hand wasting no time in reaching for yours. 
“You’re shaking.” He notes and you just nods swallowing the lump in your throat. “You didn’t have to go on this if you were so scared.” He adds and you shake your head sending him a reassuring grin. 
“I wanted to. It just the anticipation.” You note, one hand gripping your harness as the other squeezes the life out of Lukes. As the ride comes to a stop at the top your breathing quickens, the adrenaline kicking in as you take in the view, watching the scare actors continue to work down below. 
“Wow.” You say looking over the theme park. 
“Yeah, wow.” Luke says softly, his eyes still glued to the side of your face. 
“We’re gonna die.” You hear Trevor scream from the other side, Luke lifting your hand to place a soft kiss on your knuckles, smiling as the ride clicks, the sudden drop ripping a scream from you as it plummets to the ground, your scream turning into a laugh as it breaks the ride slowing. “We’re alive.” Trevor exclaims, and you can almost see the way Quinn would be rolling his eyes. 
+
+
“She’s cute.” You whisper as you slide into the seat besides Jack, taking a long sip of your bottle of water, smiling as the man looks over to his girlfriend. 
“She is.” He whispers back, turning to face you with an equally as cheeky grin. “What about you? Just friends?” He says with a questioning look towards his younger brother, his eyebrows raised as you look towards the youngest Hughes. 
“I don’t know anymore.” You grumble, your shoulder slumping as Jack pats your shoulder. “We have moments where I think he’s gonna say something, or do something and then it just doesn’t happen, and I’m too chicken to make a move because what if we are just friends to him.” 
Jack lets out a surprised laugh looking at your dumbfounded as he glances towards his little brother again, Luke attention now on where you and Jack sit. 
“You good?” Luke mouths and you nod, turning your attention back to the wooden picnic table in front of you. 
“Are you kidding me?” Jack asks, “You have to be fucking with me if you think that he only sees you as a friend.” Jack continues, watching his little brother watching you. “Luke would’ve never come to something like this if it wasn’t for you, he would rather die then come face to face with a clown.” 
“Yeah, because we’re friends. Friends hang out.” You explain and Jack shakes his head. 
“Not even close - Luke doesn’t do anything like this for his friends, and he definitely doesn’t share his two grand orthopaedic mattress with someone he considers ‘just a friend’.” Jack continues patting your thigh gently as he adds, “one year Ethan tried to share his bed with him and Luke dragged him from the room before locking him out. He kept his room under lock and key the whole summer.” 
“Hey, are you coming to the haunted house with us?” Ethan asks jogging over to the table, stopping by your side, as he holds his hand out for you to take. You glance over to Luke who’s still watching you and his brother, and take Ethans hand letting him pull you up from the seat. 
“Just remember what I was telling you.” Jack mumbles to you with a firm nod, before turning towards the small girl sliding in next to him with a churro, offering some of it to the lovestruck hockey player. 
“So, what was he telling you?” Ethan asks as the two of you walk behind the group towards the haunted house, your hands swinging between the two of you as you walk. 
“Honestly?” You ask Ethan nodding quickly. “He was telling me that I’m stupid for not thinking that Luke thought of me as more than a friend.” Ethan pauses, his footsteps faltering for a minute before he continues walking. 
“He’s right.” Ethan says his hand tightening on yours as he looks over at his best friend, “Luke adores you.” Ethan continues, his hand squeezing yours again as he glances down at you. 
“But if we’re wrong and he doesn’t feel that way, it won’t change things between us.” Ethans voice drops a little as he leans down closer to your ear, “It wouldn’t change the way I feel about you.” Ethan presses a soft kiss to your cheek before dropping your hand, jogging slightly to catch up with the group, leaving you standing at the back of the group palm pressed against your burning cheek. 
“I knew I’d find you again.” A voice growls in your ear, fabric covered hand gripping your forearms as your turned away from your group, the large clown from earlier in the day standing in front of you with a wicked grin.  
“What the fuck?” You yelp, trying to shake his grip off of you. “Ha ha funny, you got me.” You joke sarcastically, trying again to shake off the clown who just continues to grin down at you. “You can let go now.” You hiss, finally yanking your wrists out of his hands. 
“Sorry Krusty, I need to borrow her for a minute.” A voice says from behind you, a large hand wrapping around your wrist and pulling you towards his tall figure, his eyes darting over the clown before he takes a step away. “We have unfinished business.” He concludes with shrug before turning and walking away from the confused clown, the actor dropping the scary facade watching Luke drag you away. 
“I fucking hate clowns.” He shivers as he walks over to the haunted house where the group stand waiting for you, shooting them a look before walking straight past them, pulling you around to the side of the building. 
“What is going on with you and Ethan?” Luke asks abruptly, letting your arm fall back to your side as he looks down at you. 
“What are you talking about?” You question. 
“Are you kidding? He’s been hanging all over you all day and the whispering while no one is looking.” He adds, taking a long breath before continuing, “Don’t even get me started on that stupid little kiss.” You just watch as he starts pacing, listing all the things throughout the day he’d noticed Ethan was doing, all the things that were bothering him. 
“Are you two together or something?” Luke finally stops in front of you, his eyes tired as he asks the question. 
“Why? What does it matter to you?” 
“It matter because I thought we were— because I thought you— I don’t know.” He stumbles on his words, his hand rubbing over his face. He pauses taking a long breath before reaching out for you. 
He takes one step forwards, his hands smoothing up your arms. 
“I need you to tell me the truth.” 
He takes another step forwards.
You take one back. 
“This is life or death.” He whines, taking two steps forwards pressing his forehead against yours. “Are you dating Ethan?” 
“No.” 
“Are you interested in Ethan?” 
“No.” 
“Are you interested in me?” His eyes are closed now, his hands slipping down to your hands, twining your fingers together waiting patiently for your answer. 
“Yes.” You voice is barely a whisper as your gaze trails over his face, you can feel the way he relaxes at your words, his body closing in, his forehead heavy on yours. 
“Thank you, lord.” He praises, lifting his head off your and opening his eyes, a soft smile on his face as his thumbs stroke the backs of your hands, lifting them between the two of you to place soft kisses on each of your knuckles. 
“Are you guys coming or not?” Ethan says, popping his head around the corner, a shit eating grin on his face as he takes in the two of you, his eyes locking with yours as he adds, “told you so.” 
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