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dakarimainink · 3 years

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Happy New Year

WARNING: Fluff, friendly, little bit of alcohol, angst, a bit of bullying

Pairing: Pedro Pascal x You (Reader)

Wordcount: 1.6K

Note: Not betad, all mistakes are my own.

This was a request by anon:

"heyy could u write a os about reader and pedro meeting each other at a mutual friend's party and they just hit it off??"

I'm so bad at fluffy writing because 'Im such a slut

I hope you like it.

I'm not gonna lie, I actually struggled writing this 😭

Extra note: Y/F/N = Your friend's name

DISCLAIMER: the number is fake! I got it off a fake number site!!

Masterlist

You knew your friend was popular with a lot of people, but when you were invited to their New Year’s Eve party, you had no idea there would be so many and you barely recognised any of them. You guessed some of the guests were your friend’s partner’s, but it didn’t really make a difference to you now that you were standing alone on the side-line with a drink in hand.

You contemplated to just leave and go back to your original plan to celebrate in front of your TV with pyjamas on, it wasn’t as if you hadn’t done it before, but it was nice to see your friends again, at least some of them.

While contemplating what to do next, you absentmindedly plucked one and one chip from the bowl next to you, your eyes glossing over the mingling people around. Your thoughts drifted over to how your next year would be like, what goals you would set for yourself. It had been a slow year and you were truly ready for a fresh start.

In the corner of your eye, you noticed a small group of people approaching you. You took a step to the side, getting out of the way of the snack table. You turned your head away and looked at the fairy lights slinging across the walls.

“Y/N?”

The voice made you snap your head to the source, meeting a pair of curious baby blue eyes. You gulped as ice prickled in your veins. Fuck…

“Oh my god, it is you.” She giggled and turned to glance at the three other people standing with her. “Haven’t seen you since high school.” Your eyes dragged along her beautiful features and her silver cocktail dress. “Do you remember us?”

“How could I ever forget?” You mumbled with your head hanging low, dread washing over you as old memories hit you left and right and all you wanted to do was crawl away to the safety of your bed.

“I’ll never forget that time you got your period in the middle of the class, your seat was gushing red.” The woman cackled and you cringed inward at the memory. You had to go home that day and didn’t return to school until a week later once your period was done. “Or that time you got gum stuck in your hair.”

You chewed on your lip as you looked up at her, a hint of anger lingering at the back of your throat. “That was because of you.” You pointed out; your fingers tightened the grip around your glass.

The woman took a step closer to you with a smirk playing on her lips. “Mmm, and it was hilarious. You truly rocked your new hairstyle after that.” She grasped at your hair. “You should have kept it short.” She chuckled, lightly tugging at your hair before taking a step back.

You wanted so badly to snap back at her for what she put you through. Years of humiliation you had fought to suppress resurfaced as you were facing her for the first time since those horrible years.

She folded her arms and leaned her weight to one side. “Let me take a guess, you’re here alone? I wouldn’t be surprised, someone like you are born to be lonely.”

You met her cocky gaze and furrowed your brows. That was the last straw for you and you inhaled sharply, ready to bark out at her.

“There you are.”

Everyone snapped their head to the warm and vibrant voice to your right.

“I’ve been looking all over for you.” You met the man’s gaze, warm dark eyes that radiated kindness. He stepped right up to you and pulled you in by the waist with a caring smile. “We need to get outside if we’re to catch the fireworks.”

You could feel the warmth radiate from him and the smell of dark spice and light citrus hit your senses and you inhaled deeply. You gaped at him, not sure as to what to say or do.

“If you’ll excuse us, ladies.” Shifting his hold to your hand, he led you away from them and towards the garden. You barely kept up with his long and confident strides through the crowds of people until you finally stood outside under the clear night sky.

The air was crisp and fresh, feeling grateful for getting out from the cramped and uncomfortable situation, you looked up at him with a grateful smile. “Thank you.” You breathed out.

“And I thought we were all grown-ups here.” He mumbled to himself as he gave you a once over. “You okay?”

You nodded.

“I’m sorry for just marching in there, but I couldn’t help but overhear how rudely they spoke to you.”

You cleared your throat, feeling the fuming heat cool off of you. “Actually, I’m grateful you did. I almost snapped at them, which would probably turn into a whole scene.” You rubbed the back of your neck uncomfortably.

He nodded understandably. “That would probably turn a few heads.” He chuckled and took a sip from his beer. He held out his hand to you. “Pedro.”

You took it with a smile on your lips. “No, that’s not my name.” You said with a serious tone.

“N-no I mean…” He noticed your smile had twisted into a playful smirk and he rolled his eyes teasingly.

“I’m Y/N.” You chuckled and let go of his hand, licking your lower lip in the process.

“So that’s how it is, huh?”

You nodded, proud of your little joke. “That’s how it is.” You took a sip from your glass. “You know what, I think you would look great in a hat.” You giggled, the thought had popped so randomly into your head, and usually you would have kept it to yourself, but the alcohol was already making you a bit smug.

His eyebrows shot up in amusement. “A hat? What kind of hat?”

“I dunno, just a hat.”

You both chuckled at the random thought. He nodded with a smirk playing on his plump lips. “A hat it is then.”

You cleared your throat, shaking off the thought of him reminding you of someone. “So, are you ready for the new year?”

“Yeah, ready for a new year with new adventures and new projects. And you?”

You shifted your weight to one side. God yes! “Pretty much, yeah. It’s been a long year, so ready to put it behind and get a new start. At least that’s what it feels like – a new start.” You smiled “I definitely won’t waste away in my pyjamas at all.” You added sarcastically.

He chuckled. “You know what, that sounds pretty nice. It also sounds like the plans I initially had for New Year this year.”

You snorted at his honesty. “Mine too.” You admitted with a chortle as you looked around at the other unfamiliar faces glancing at you.

“How do you know these people?” He asked, snapping your attention back at him. You couldn’t shake off the feeling of having seen this man before.

“Y/F/N and I have known each other since we were like three years old.” You replied. “And you?”

“Ah, Y/F/N is also a friend of mine. We met like - … - four years ago I think it is.” Your heart lightly fluttered at his furrowed brows as he thought about it. “Or is it three?” His eyes bounced to your gaze with a warm glow. “I can barely remember, time flies by so fast.”

“TEN. NINE. EIGHT.”

You both looked out on the growing crowd by your side, everyone facing away from you to look up at the clear night sky. You felt a smile grow on your lips as you realised it was soon to be a new year.

“FIVE. FOUR. THREE.”

They all chanted together as some fireworks flew up in the air and exploding, painting the black canvas with colours and sparks. You turned to look at Pedro beside you, who already had his gaze on you.

“ONE. HAPPY NEW YEAR!” Everyone shouted out in unison.

He held out his beer bottle and you clinked your glass to it. “Happy new year.” He smiled sincerely, filling you with warmth.

“Happy new year.” You both took a sip from your own drinks and held each other’s gaze. You both took half a step closer and he bent down, wrapping his arms around you and hugged you tightly.

“To new beginnings.” He whispered.

Safety washed over you as you stood in his embrace. His scent overrode your senses as you wrapped your own arms around him. He pulled you a little closer as you heard him inhale deeply.

“Pedro.” An unknown voice called out in the distance.

He let go of you slowly, as if he was reluctant to part from you and looked behind you.

“Alex.” He chimed and took a step to the side to greet what you thought was his friend. “Happy new year.”

“Happy new year, man. The others are looking for you, they wanna wish you a happy new year as well, come on.” Alex grabbed Pedro’s wrist and pulled him with him.

You chuckled at the sight as Pedro looked over his shoulder at you with an apologetic look. You waved at him, hiding the feeling of dismal and emptiness as you watched him leave. Pedro… You echoed his name in your head, when suddenly realisation washed over you. Pedro…! You gaped at yourself in disbelief. Holy shit!

You woke up with a throbbing headache, rolled over and grasped for your phone. You had a few texts from different family members, but what caught your attention was a text from an unknown number.

---------------------

202-555-0021

You’re right, I do look great in a hat.

Omg, ahaha

You're definitely rocking that hat!

How did you get your hands on a hat so quickly?

Have coffee with me and I’ll tell you the thrilling story of how I got it

Hahah sure. When?

El Barrista in an hour? I will be wearing my hat

See you in an hour

(Wanna be added to my tag list for Pedro Pascal and his characters? Let me know and I will happily add you)

@cynic-spirit, @lililolli, @notabotiswear, @sara-alonso, @blankmooon, @xoxo-callie, @mamacitapascal, @thewaythisis, @greeneyedblondie44

#Pedro pascal #Pedro Pascal x you #Pedro Pascal x reader #Pedro Pascal x Y/N #fluff #writing #fanfic #fanfiction #ao3 #real person fiction #rpf

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lifeexperience · 3 years

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We are vengeance.

It has been almost three month since Lila Rossi came back from her fabulous trip from Achu. And since she arrived again she enjoyed the glamour. Enjoyed how everybody - who was someone, of course, - danced as she moved her strings. Even that Capitano della Moralità, Adrien was doing what she was saying.

Just lonely, little Marinette stood on the other side.

The Italian grinned confidently. If she had some plan like that day, she was going to ruin that little girl.

Anyway she had to take prioritization of her tasks. Firstly it’s time to make a Wikipedia page about herself for future reference. She couldn’t be sloppy from here because she could meet more forceful people than Dupain-Cheng.

Okay, so she would list her accomplishments: modeling with Adrien Agreste , best friend with Shaytan, knowing Jagged Stone… When she finally finished, the sun already went down and it was dark. Lila disinterestedly looked at her door, his mother again worked overtime.

Nevermind, she would eat something then collect links of her publications. Yepp, after some pasta all'Ortolana the work would be so much easier.

However when she went back to gather her online mentions she didn’t find anything. There was nothing about her on the Ladyblog, or on Adrien’s Instagram. Someone deleted them? Who? Maybe it’s just a bug? She would know more if she asks Alya first.

Yeah, don’t need any panic.

“Ciao Alya! I have a question.” she said immediately as that wannabe journalist answered. “Yeah, yeah, così accidentally you didn’t delete my interview from your blog, right?” She nervously patted her laptop as she waited for Alya to look at it. After two minutes there was the answer. She tried to disguise her anger, but she didn’t have the patient at the moment for that stupid girl apologizes.

So somehow her interview was lost. And she didn’t have to call Capitano della Moralità about their model photo, she knew he didn’t have too much control on it.

Lila unconsciously started to chew her nails. It was a bad habit of hers since her childhood.

Who had enough knowledge to hack two different websites to mess with her? Marinette was too morally high for this. And Max, who had the skill, was already under her thumb.

“Argh!”

She had to calm down. She couldn’t become an akume because of this since she planned a bigger performance for the next week.

Breath! In! Out!

Okay.

Maybe tomorrow she could make a new interview with Alya and drop some seemingly accident infos about the new adult heroes. Then at the weekend photoshoots she could force Adrien again.

Yeah. Why was she nervous at all? She could use this to grow her territory.

It has been almost six days since Adrien reluctantly posted a new photo about the two of them. There were fewer likes and more comments then before, but she was happy because she could continue to build her Wikipedia page. It would be her first thing when she got home.

And tomorrow she would start her small shame with poor Marinette again. The little girl already was alone most of the time in the school, but Lila knew it was a matter of time to find new friends outside of their class. And she wanted to prevent every attempt of it.

I am great at ruining others.

She smiled sweetly as she pretended to listen to another rabbling from Rose. That pink fool rarely shut up about her disgusting viewpoint, and Lila sometimes thought she would be a perfect next target after Dupain-Cheng. And if this little pink wannabe would be destroyed, her loser girlfriend would fall with her.

Yepp, she will be an excellent following after the shit show Marinette will go through.

“Lila, it’s not your phone?” Alix poked her. She turned to her in confusion and listened to the ringing.

“No.” she shook her head. “My ringtone is different. I don’t like metal music.”

The skater tilted her head. “You sure?” Lila nodded, starting to be annoyed. “Because it’s coming from your bag.”

“What?”

She hurriedly got her phone out, and indeed it was ringing with that strange growl music. And the number also was foreign, yet she picked up. “Hello?”

“It’s Lila Lucrezia Rossi?” Everybody in the classroom jumped at once.The voice from the other side was much louder than she thought and now every one of her classmates watched her with wide eyes. She fastly tried to turn down the volume as she answered in agreement. “So your appointment was moved to the next with Doctor Lacroix.”

“Wha...What appointment?” Lila asked. She didn’t remember any medical thing. Of course she told a lot of tails about her health problems, but she was completely healthy.

“So for the farting irritation.” The woman said with a monotone tone. And of course, because Lila couldn’t turn off the speaker everybody in the room heard it.

She blinked.

“I… I think you… you called the wrong number.” she muttered as now she tried to end the call. With no success.

“But you're Lila Lucrezia Rossi, age fourteen, Italian, aren’t you?” Lila looked around embarrassingly. How did that woman know that about her? If… If she denies it her little puppets' trust would crack. But if she continues this conversation… She didn’t even want to know.

And as she stood there in panic and listened about her supposed condition she wanted to be killed. Every fucking eye was on her. She even saw that goodie-two-shoe tried to hide her giggle with Adrien grinning next to her. And of course she noticed how her circle slid away from her.

Fuck.

She skipped two weeks of school again after that… THAT phone call. Of fucking course almost every one of her classmates called her almost daily to ask about her health. And she had to answer with a lot of information for Every Fucking QUESTION.

It was irritating.

However she couldn’t stay at home for more days because her mother. It would be too suspicious if there would be some supposed akuma without any TV gossip about it.

So she had to go to school.

Fortunately most of the kids were understanding and didn’t bring up the topic. But there was Kim. Of FUCKING course.

As many times as he saw her he faked a fart with a disgustingly loud moan. She tried to cry about it, though everybody said to bear with it. Kim was just Kim and if she didn’t react he would let it go.

At first Lila didn’t want to believe it then Alya patted her shoulder sympathetically and left her to stand alone. And because of these really annoying events she couldn’t start her plan with Dupain-Cheng who - of fucking couse - got closer to Adrien. To her key to the famous-rich-carefree life.

They were chatting cheerfully in the classroom without any glance at someone other than each. They were in their little world, and every girl in the class blissfully sighed at the sight.

And if that day was not enough of a bother to her somehow her school tablet started streaming porno when she tried to project out her presentation. She was mortified just like everybody in the classroom. And she didn’t even have luck with teachers. Because of - fucking - course that lesson was with Mendeleiev.

It was already December when she finally served her detention time because of that… THAT incident. She couldn’t go any photoshoot with Adrien due to her attendance problem.

She didn’t even see Batman, yeah THAT Batman when he saved Shaytan and Chat Noir. She was at a detention with others. Although she could tell Alya a little story about her knowing the American hero and how he called him to help Paris.

However she only had ten minutes to bask the light because her mamma called her home. Immediately. At first Lila found it strange, but she shook the confusion down. She said goodbye to the wannabe journalist and went home. She blissfully entered the elevator then with a big smile greeted her mother.

“Lila!” her mother nodded sternly. The woman waited as she - not so happily anymore, dropped her things in her room. “Why did you use your emergency money?”

Lila furrowed her eyebrows. “But I didn’t.”

“No?” her mamma asked.

She shook her head. She didn’t use her emergency card because her mother could check it anytime. That’s why she asked her payment in cash from Gabriel.

“Then tell me mia figlia, why your debit card is in the minus?” Her mamma held a tablet with an account statement in front of Lila. She slowly read over the document. And indeed, her debit card which was only for emergencies was in minus. The description list showed a lot purchasing from different sites that she didn’t even know.

“I didn’t do this.” she said franctincly.

“No?” her mother glanced at the numbers. “You know how much money it was? We kept it for your university years.”

“We?” Lila whispered as she became aware of the gravity of the situation.

“Yes. Your father was the one who drew my attention to it.”

At first Lila only just gaped then she felt how her blood started circulating. Of fucking course that bastard was the one who spying after her.

“You are a grounded signorina!” she heard her mother voice through her anger. “After the school ends you have to come home then do your homework. I take your phone and electronics too.”

She didn’t even have time to protest as she saw a dark butterfly. She quietly waited as that insect landed on her phone. “How unfair to blame something on others when she is not at fault.” She heard the well-known tone. “Finanza I’m giving you the power to punish everyone who sinned against you. Your only task to bring to me their Miraculous.”

“Of fucking course.”

She was defeated again. But one day she would destroy the fame of Shaytan. That girl would taste the fall and humiliation.

“LILA!” A loud yell cut her from her plans as she sat at the ground. “Lila!” Someone shook her. She looked up to meet Alya irritating face. “Are you okay?”

She blinked some to win some precious moment to calm down. Then she nodded with a fake whimpering. “What happened? You shouted about some money then forced everyone to admit their sins.”

“Oh… I… I didn’t want to hurt anyone.” she sobbed while she tried to hide her dry eyes.

“It’s okay.” Alya hugged her. “Can you stand up?”

She shakely raised on her foot. They silently walked along the pavement for some time when she finally looked around. They were not far away from the school. And of course it meant they were near to the Dupain-Cheng's bakery.

At first Lila didn’t even notice the bakery, then she heard a shocked gasp from next to her. Alya with wide eyes pointed forward. She also turned the direction and her jaw also dropped. There stood Marinette, little innocent Marinette, embracing a tall, muscular man. After some moments they let go of each other and with a big smile Marinette got in the car with the stranger.

“What… Who was he?”

Next day Lila wasn’t able to forget that stranger with the baker girl. He was gorgeous, but most important, older than them and a little dark. Plus he was clearly an adult. Alya tried to claim he was surely a cousin of Marinette, however Lila wasn’t that certain about it. They didn’t look alike. And if she remembered correctly Alya never told about any relatives of Marinette except her great-uncle chef and grandparents. Nobody else.

“Hm.” If she could twist it somehow then she would be on advantage again. But how? Alya was adamant about the family thing, but what if… Perhaps some well aimed stab about gang members. Perhaps.

Although she needed to conceal her mirth as she eyed her classmates. They all stood at the bottom of the stairs and were themselves like stupid sheeps they are. Lila forced a shy smile on herself and carefully stepped between them to tell a new tale about her time in China. And of fucking course it was not a coincidence, she knew well if she use any rather distinct - nevertheless linked to Marinette, - facts then Dupain-Cheng was much easier to upset.

However that stupid girl didn’t bother to pay any attention to her. She just stood beside Adrien and chatted happily with him.

Lila frowned.

“There is a problem?” someone poked her shoulder. It was Mylene.

“No… No.” her smile was strained. “I just… Why are Marinette and Adrien avoiding us?”

And everybody simultaneously turned their way. The two blissfully laughed at something as they ignored everything else.

“How sweet!” she heard Rose’s murmurs. Yeah, like pineapple on pizza. Bhrr.

She started to open her mouth to say something though she wasn’t able to voice any sound. A darker than black and really long limousine parked in front of them. It was not Adrien’s one, neither Chloé’s.

And the most surprising thing was Marinette jumping up and down for the sight.

All of them including Lila watched as their class president pulled Adrien to the car and after some debate with the driver they got in the car.

What did she just watch?

“Oh!” It was not a shocked ‘Oh!’, it was a ‘I realized what was happening’. And Lila also wanted to know what the fuck happened before her beautifull eyes.

“You know something, Nino?” She really tried to conceal her angry curiosity.

The DJ nodded with a relaxing smile. “Marinette’s family visiting from America.”

“You mean she has relatives in America?” Alya asked, more interested than a few minutes ago when she listened to Lila’s gossip.

“Oh, hell!” Kim shouted. “The brothers, right? I almost forgot about them.”

Alya tilted her head as he turned to the swimmer. “Brothers?”

“Yeah.” Nino talked again. “Dick and Jay, and Timtam… and… Who was the one who pissed Chloé off?”

“Some Da… De… Demon!”

“No. His name was…”

Lila tuned out the conversation. So Marinette had a family in the States. And they most certainly rich drawing that conclusion from the limo. Why didn’t she do better research before she transferred?

In the middle of the week was the career day and Lila was really lucky to talk her mamman down about coming to it. Of course she didn’t want her here. It would be a disaster.

She had a quite good feeling about the day. If she heard correctly only a few parents agreed to participate and after the school for the day would end. And naturally she kinda forgot this particular information when she told her mother about this ‘really awful’ day.

Yep, I am a genius.

She confidently walked through the hallways and winked at some cute boy because not only Adrien was appreciable in this school. Maybe if Monsieur Agreste would appear she could negotiate for a new line just for herself. After all she always paid attention to his handsome boy.

Humming the newest XY’s song Lila happily stepped in the classroom. However her mood dropped exactly that moment when her foot touched the room’s floor. Since there, in the middle of the room stood with her fake innocent Marinette and that gorgeous foreign man. And from closer he was more handsome than she first thought. Even Madam Bustier blushed and she had a husband.

Why has this girl this kind of luck?

Lila forced a charming smile on her face and with a friendly wave she sat down. She would not risk her status in front of that man when Marinette is nearby. She had to calculate carefully so for the time she just waited for the start.

When everybody arrived the teacher began her really boring speech about the importance of work knowledge and connections. Lot of the guests nodded in agreement. There was Rose’s mother who was a florist, Nino’s father was a doctor and Alix’s historian father. And of course Marinette’s mysterious man.

She was really curious about him. He wore a perfectly fitted suit and was fucking handsome, nevertheless he looked young. Maybe twentish. It’s maximum six year age difference between them. It’s not too bad.

She patiently waited as every one of the guardians did their presentation when finally the man stepped forward.

“Before I introduce myself I would like to clear something up.” His voice was a pleasant baritone. Even Adrien didn’t have that kind of sexy voice. Lila already enjoyed the show.

“I would like to ask everyone present to turn off the phones, tablets and any other smart device.”

Lila indifferently watched as everyone reluctantly got their device and turned them off. She didn’t get back hers since her mother grounded her. How lucky, she grimaced.

“In the next step please read through the confidentiality agreement that Marinette hands out. If you don’t want to partake in it or don’t agree to the terms I have to ask you to leave the room.” he continued as the baker girl gave everyone a copy.

As Lila looked around some of her classmates without thinking signed it up. And surprisingly it was Chloé and Adrien who handed back among the first. She also saw how after that some other looked at their paper with more bravery and signed it. She didn’t even bother to read it, just scan the logo at the top and the stamp at the bottom. She didn’t know this company so she also wrote her name on and handed it back.

Nobody left the room.

“Thank you, and I am apologizing for that little inconvenience, but this is necessary in today’s competitive sphere.” he said as he and Marinette counted and rechecked every one of the papers.

After a few minutes they finished. “Since today we also published an article it’s not that big of a harm if I introduce myself.” he smiled a little at Marinette and pulled her next to him. “My name is Damian Wayne and I am one of Marinette’s siblings.”

Lila straightened. She heard it right?

“I work at the Wayne Enterprise as a co-CEO beside my brother Timothy Drake-Wayne.”

It can’t be!

“After our Father decided he would like to spend more time with his family, I took over his position. Some of my...”

How the fucking hell?

Lila kind of lost herself and didn’t hear anything other than the slowly repeating ‘Wayne’ echo. That rascal was a Wayne heir?

And Lila targeted her?

Oh fuck.

It was Friday when Lila finally understood Marinette’s real power. It was never her connection or her skills. Not even her so-called friends.

No.

It was her family.

She of course knew about the Waynes. Who not? They were celebrities, start managers, philanthropists, fucking Gods. And of fucking course every one of the students also knew about them. So for the next couple of days went by like a couple of seconds. One moment she was the center of the attention then suddenly everybody wanted to be friends with Marinette.

Everybody.

Even the fucking street-sweeper.

And of course there was the media attention. The police had to be called because of the sensation. Lila even saw how two journalists quarreled about which one hid in one the bushes in front of the school.

Naturally she wanted to take advantage of the situation, however as the article with her name was published her mother’s phone started ringing. And the caller was Lila's worst nightmare.

On Friday she and her mamman head to the Wayne Enterprise’s Parisian branch. It was a modern building with clear glass windows and a big dark gold W letter. They were hurriedly ushering in an empty meeting room where there were too many chairs for Lila’s liking.

Her mother - of course, - was enraged. She almost learnt everything about Lila’s school life. Just almost. Unfortunately it was enough to lose her trust in her daughter. Lila was grounded kind of permanently. She wouldn’t get back her phone kind of ever. She only could use her mother’s computer and just for homework. She was not expelled from Francois-Dupont, however she had detention for a year and had to repeat this school year.

And now she would learn what the Waynes cooked up for her.

She grimaced.

“Good morning Madam Rossi and Mademoiselle Rossi.” greeted them Damian Wayne himself as he steeped in the room. He was followed by Marinette, her parents - or they were even her parents? Lila wasn’t able to read any article about the family ties. -, a petite Asian woman, then some other more business-like men and women. Surely the lawyers.

“I think you know why you are here.” Damian stated as he sat at the head of the table. Marinette went to his left side with her parents (?) and the petite woman sat down at his right side with the lawyers.

“Yes.” Her mother nodded.

“We would like to sue your daughter, Mademoiselle Lila Lucrezia Rossi, for breaking our confidentiality agreement. Furthermore ask a restraining order to prohibit her from approaching my little sister, Marinette Athanasia Al Ghul Wayne.” This man spoke with a really unconcerned voice that Lila almost thought he was not even interested in his sibling’s life.

“Yes.” Her mamman agreed without any protest.

“However” his voice steeled, “because my sister is a really kind soul she will not sue for the physical violence, a mental and physical harassment and the defaming.” he stared down at her with dark eyes. “Nevertheless we, as from her guardians who are presented” he pointed to the stranger Asian woman and himself, “decided to put on the blacklist Mademoiselle Lila Lucrezia Rossi in every business in which we owned the majority.”

The air got stuck in Lila’s body. Every business? Every? The Waynes owned half of the planet.

“But” spoke the petite woman, “we would ignore this blacklisting if the Mademoiselle successfully participates in various therapies.” She passes toward a paper. “It’s a list of some advised areas to search for good specialists. We don’t want to break a young child's career so we are ready to compromise.”

Lila almost believed her then she glanced at the man. At first she thought this Damian Wayne was gorgeous. And indeed his look was perfect, however she didn’t meet more horrifying people than him. His eyes screamed for murder.

She turned back to her mother who kind of looked relieved. “We… I thank you.” she breathed.

After that were just formalities. Signing up that or this. Lila wanted to run home and curl up. And cry.

She worked for her fame. She worked hard to destroy those lives in her way. She didn’t think she would meet someone who could destroy her with just a flick.

However the paper said otherwise.

Her fucking status said otherwise.

She didn’t remember a lot from the meeting after that. She barely registered when they arrived home. She almost didn’t hear her father's disappointed voice on the phone.

And Lila almost missed the little note on her desk. With a photo about herself as she moves to get an akuma.

We are the night. We are vengeance. We are a family.

#maribat #lila rossi #platonic daminette #bio dad bruce wayne #oneshot #2021

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aellynera · 3 years

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The Best Years of Your Life (Reeves x Reader)

THE BEST YEARS OF YOUR LIFE

(hey hey, this is my other submission for @wasicskosgirl and her 800 follower celebration! and yes, you read that right - it’s REEVES. i had a lot of fun writing it and i hope you enjoy reading it! CONGRATS Amanda!!)

Word Count: um like 6200ish oops it was supposed to be a blurb

Summary: They say the best years of your life happen in high school, but what do they know?

Warnings: Some language. Female reader implied but no pronouns/description. Teenage angst. Adult wistfulness. Mostly fluffy tho. No promises about proofreading. Frog murder.

with the prompt - “Like what you see?”

It all started back in high school. Sometimes you wonder how often people say that, and if it’s really true or they’re just falsely remembering how things happened because high school is supposed to be the best four years of your life.

But in this case, it’s true. Because high school is when you met Reeves.

Sophomore Year. High School. A Friday.

It was the third day of sophomore year, fourth period on a Friday morning, your last before the lunch break. Biology class was maybe the one you were least looking forward to, not exclusively because of the required frog dissection, but pretty damn close. Gross. And you never understood why the school year didn’t just start on a Monday, but you were new here in San Diego. Maybe they just did things differently.

It was bad enough being the new kid. It was worse when you walked into class halfway through the lecture, even if it wasn’t your fault. The timing of the move was weird, and you’d spent most of the first two days, and this morning, doing placement tests and talking to your counselor.

And now you were being called out in front of the entire class.

“Ah, there you are,” your teacher announced as you walked in the door. “Everyone, this is our new student, please make them feel welcome. You can sit over there.”

Your eyes followed as she motioned to the empty seat at the lab table in the back of the room. Suddenly you weren’t sure if your face felt hot because of embarrassment or because of the boy in the other chair.

Dark, curly hair cut close on the sides but longer on the top. Deep brown eyes framed by long, long lashes. Full, plush lips curling up into his cheek on one side. A nose that, okay, maybe might be a bit oversized but for some reason worked on his handsome face and--

Well, shit. Definitely not the embarrassment.

You shuffled your way to your seat and slid into it with your head down. A few students watched you curiously but soon turned their attention back to the lesson. You tried your best to focus on what was going on, to not look to your left at the distraction next to you.

You weren’t very successful.

By now you thought you’d sneaked enough covert glances to know that we was wearing a leather jacket, had a small diamond stud earring in his left ear, a bunch of silver-studded brown suede wrap bracelets around both wrists, a silver ring on his right index finger, and oddly precise handwriting as he took notes. In between relevant facts the teacher was sharing, he was doodling tiny music notes in the margins of his notebook.

And he totally caught you looking.

“Like what you see?” he leaned over and whispered.

Your mouth felt drier than the Sahara but also somehow so moist you were afraid you might have actually drooled on yourself. You should have opened your mouth to respond but your brain refused to make the connection. Probably for the best.

At least, at first. When it finally caught up to you, the only response your brain could provide was, “Maybe?”

Now would be the perfect time for the floor to swallow you whole.

He just winked at you and his attention went back to the doodles around his notes.

You shifted your gaze back to your own notebook, but you don’t know if anything else of importance was said, and don’t remember writing anything down. The bell ringing sharply pulled you back to reality and you hastily shoved your books in your backpack, ready to escape.

Just as you were about to leave, a voice called out. “Hey, sorry about earlier. If I freaked you out or anything.”

You looked up. He was smiling at you, a little shyly. You bit your lip, your brain and mouth still refusing to connect.

He stuck his hand out. “I’m Reeves. You’re new here?”

“Um…” you smacked yourself internally. This was ridiculous, you weren’t really shy, you knew how to have a conversation, he was just introducing himself. You were going to have a serious conversation with your brain later about proper communication techniques.

It felt like hours had passed, but you finally pulled yourself together enough to respond. “Yeah. My- my dad got transferred for work, we moved here like a week ago. He literally dragged the family across the country. I’m originally from New York City.”

His eyes lit up. “Oh, cool! I always wanted to go to New York City!”

You found yourself smiling back.

“Do you...wanna sit with me at lunch?” he asked, tilting his head to the side. “Maybe you could tell me a little about the city? And...about you, since we’re gonna have to commit heinous acts of violence on an amphibian together? I’d like to know who’s wielding a scalpel next to me.”

The giggle that escaped your throat could not be contained. This boy - Reeves - was adorable. “Oh. Okay, yeah. I’d really like that.”

The Present.

Poor Lenny the Frog never stood a chance. Then again, neither did you.

To be fair, Lenny was already dead when you and Reeves got your hands on him. Well, when you got your hands on him, because for the full first half of that specific class period, Reeves refused to touch him and nearly turned as green as Lenny once was. That’s when he insisted on naming your cadaver, because somehow giving it a name made it easier to deal with.

You were pretty sure Reeves was nuts.

By the middle of sophomore year, you were dead too, but not for the same reasons.

By the middle of sophomore year, you weren’t sure how you were still alive, because every time he looked over at you and gave you a sly smile during class, gave you that look, you felt your heart go taut and you forgot how to breathe and certainly, rightfully, should have been dead.

Your friend Alexis stuck her head into your bathroom. “Hey, we’re just waiting on Vanessa, and then we’re good to go. Drinks first? The show doesn’t start until 8 so we have time.”

You glanced up from your makeup and nodded. “Yeah, that sounds good. I’ll be out in a few minutes.”

Alexis grinned. “Aaaaaah I’m so glad you agreed to go out tonight! It’s gonna be so much fun!”

“Oh, it’s gonna be something,” you muttered, going back to your eyeliner.

Alexis had been the first one to see the concert announcement about a week ago. A benefit show at one of the clubs down in Greenwich Village, some punk revival thing (for charity) with a bunch of different singers and musicians. Not normally your scene, but Alexis scanned through the names and suddenly remembered you’d known Reeves in high school. You said yes, he was in your class, and you’d been lab partners once. Vanessa squealed in excitement and Alexis announced you were going to the show. There was never any actual agreement.

Because of course Reeves was going to be there. And of course, you had to be too.

Junior Year. The Parking Lot. A Tuesday.

“I’m just saying, it was a ridiculous foul, and it should never have been called,” Reeves groused as you walked out of the gym.

“We also should have made like twenty more of our own foul shots,” you pointed out.

The Lake Howell Silverhawks had fallen to their arch-rivals in a somewhat glorious fashion. You didn’t even like basketball that much. But that didn’t really matter. The games were just an excuse to go out for burgers before and hang out with your friends during.

It was definitely an excuse to hang out with Reeves.

Junior year, you were both disappointed to find you didn’t have any classes together, but you still almost always ate lunch together. He’d come over to your house to study during the week and sometimes just to chill out on the weekends. Over the past year, he’d shown you all around the city and taken you to his favorite places. You told him all about New York, how you missed it and one day you’d go back, and all the famous sites and which ones were tourist traps that he was only allowed to visit the very first time and then never again.

You spent so much time together, even your mother liked to tease you about why he wasn’t your boyfriend.

It took a while for you to find the words to tell her it was because he was someone else’s.

As much as you liked to pretend she didn’t change anything, Randie Rustenberg changed everything. It was gradual, like a creeping vine of ivy, and she slowly took him over. There was no malice; it was just one of those things that happened. Reeves spent less time with you, his best friend, and more time with Randie, his girlfriend.

The girlfriend you desperately wished was you, because ever since that first biology class you’d had the biggest, stupidest crush on him.

Eventually you had a boyfriend of your own. Theo was a nice guy, he really was. Polite, friendly, had a good sense of humor, liked your family. And your family loved him. Your mother was so happy that you had a boyfriend, she seemed to forget to ask how Reeves was and if you’d seen him lately.

Of course you saw him. You saw him every day, in the cafeteria, at his locker, passing by in the halls. Sometimes you could find him playing the grand piano on the stage in the empty auditorium. Yes, if your mother bothered to ask, you saw Reeves all the time. Now it was just always with her.

Except this week. It was a break of sorts, no classes, just some sports and other school activities. Randie was on some trip with her parents for some kind of church function, and Theo was fishing with his dad on some lake up north. He’d told you where, but you honestly couldn’t be bothered to recall. So when a bunch of your friends and a bunch of his friends all said everyone was going to the basketball game, there was no debate.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

Sometime during the game, your friends wandered off to the snack bar and never ventured back. His friends started a game of hacky-sack under the bleachers. And you found yourself pretending to understand all the finer points about hoops strategy, cheering and yelling along with Reeves and having a great time, just like you used to.

“Where’d you park?” he asked as you left the gym and headed out into the sea of cars. You vaguely pointed in the direction of yours and he grinned. “Oh, good, I’m that way too. Come on, I’ll walk you.”

The faint glow emitted by the lampposts in the parking lot bounced off his curls and his eyes, when you could catch a glimpse, were bright beneath them.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

The walk wasn’t very far, but it felt like it was over in a second. You hadn’t said anything on the way, just soaked in the comfort of walking next to him as he kept commenting on the game.

He was waving his hands everywhere, looking at them as he talked as if his hand motions would make things make any more sense to you, in the middle of saying something about your center and how they needed to get better about blocking out when you finally spoke.

“Oh, shit.”

Reeves looked up at you. “What, you don’t agree?”

You dropped your bag on the ground and rolled your eyes. “No, my car is locked and I left my keys inside.” You pointed to the passenger seat. Your keys stared back at you derisively.

You both stared back at them for a moment, then he grinned. “Hang on, I got you.” He held up one finger and trotted off to his car, coming back a minute later with something in his hand. “This should take care of it.”

You took a step back. “Reeves? Um. Okay, why do you have a coat hanger in your car.”

He rolled his eyes back at you. “For emergencies, duh.” He quickly twisted the hanger into a hook shape and went to your passenger side window.

“And why do you know how to break into a car with said coat hanger?”

“Like I told you,” his tongue poked out between his teeth as he worked, “for emergencies. You think I haven’t locked my own keys in my car once or six times?”

“Did Randie teach you how to do this?” The words were out of your mouth before you could think. She probably had. She might have been churchy when required, but she was also responsible for about half of Reeves’s stints in detention (the other half just being him making the wrong joke at the wrong time and pissing a teacher off.)

Thank god he didn’t seem to hear you as he kept working at the lock. Finally you heard a *click* and he pumped a fist into the air with a little “yessss!”

And then you’re not really sure what happened. You bent down to pick up your bag and then you were standing up and Reeves’s face was literally about three inches away from yours and for the eight thousandth time since you’d know him, you forgot how to breathe.

Neither of you said anything for what felt like days. You just stared at each other under the dim halo of the parking lot lights.

“Here you go.” He took your hand and dropped your keys into it.

“Thanks,” you whispered.

“Like what you see?” the corners of his mouth quirked up, just the slightest little bit.

“...Maybe.”

And the staring recommenced. Were you two getting closer? Physically closer, you meant, of course you were close, you’d always been close. Well, at one time you were really close but then Randie Restenberg happened and it wasn’t fair that she got to know what those lips felt like and did he always smell this good or--

“Yo, Reeves!” A pickup truck full of guys skidded to a stop behind your car and one of his friends - Jake? Jack? you barely remembered your own name right now - stuck his head out the window. “Fight to the death ping pong tourney at Matt’s house! You in?”

Reeves bit his lip and closed his eyes for a second before he pulled back with a soft “I’m sorry” before turning to his friends. “Um, yeah, sure. Sounds brutal. I’ll meet you there.”

The pickup sped off, tires screeching out of the parking lot. Reeves turned back to you, but you’d already gotten into your now unlocked car and started the engine.

You rolled down the window a fraction and gave him a weak smile. “Hey, um. Thanks for saving my butt. Now go kick theirs at ping pong, yeah?” Your face felt so hot, and for once you were grateful for the dim lights in the lot.

“You could, um, come along if- if you want.”

“Nah, I’m...I’m tired, I’m just gonna...um, head home. But I’ll see you tomorrow maybe?”

Reeves looked like he was about to say something else, but he didn’t. He just stepped onto the curb in front of your car, smiled, and raised his hand in a little wave as he watched you drive off.

The Present.

A series of shrieks and the slamming of the door told you Vanessa had finally arrived. It sounded like they were jumping up and down on the tile just inside your front door, which was ridiculous since you’d all just seen each other the day before. But typical.

You smoothed a pinkie under your eye, checked your makeup one final time, and went into the living room.

“Oh, you look hot,” Vanessa gushed. She grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge and plopped down on your couch. “Who are you trying to impress tonight?”

“Reeves, of course,” Alexis laughed, leaning on the kitchen counter. She sorted anything she might need from her big purse into a little evening bag as she talked. “You know we go to all his shows. And you know they went to high school together.”

You snorted. “That was a long time ago. I’m not even sure he’d remember me.”

Vanessa waggled her eyebrows. “You’re probably right, No offense, honey, but no one was that hot back in high school.”

He was, your brain supplied. Very helpful. You smiled wanly.

Vanessa continued. “But you were friends, right? You’ve never really talked about it. God, it must be so cool now to think that you were friends with Reeves back when he was an awkward high school teenager.”

“Reeves was never awkward,” you laugh. “It was kind of unfair.”

“But you totally had a crush on him,” Alexis offered.

Had? What do you mean, had? Oh my god, shut up, brain.

A pillow flew in your direction and you ducked as Vanessa giggled and Alexis rolled her eyes. “Come on, tell us something about him,” Vanessa goaded. “Wait. Was he, like, your prom date? That’s your secret! You totally went to prom with Reeves and you never told us!”

Senior Year. Prom. A Saturday.

The night was not supposed to go this way.

It was supposed to be limousines and corsages and dinner with dates and friends. It was supposed to be endless pictures while your mother told you how gorgeous you looked and how handsome he was and your father gave a thinly-veiled shovel talk about how he knew what happens on prom night and what would really happen if that actually happened. It was supposed to be punch and cookies and balloons. It was supposed to be dancing closer than the chaperones were comfortable with and kissing with tongue when they weren’t looking.

It was supposed to be the best night of your life. It was supposed to be fun.

Nowhere in your weeks of dreaming of this night did it involve sitting on a bench in the girls’ locker room, knees pulled up to your chest, while the party carried on in the gym just beyond.

It definitely didn’t involve crying.

The bass beats of the deejay and the harmony of laughter temporarily got louder as the locker room door opened, and then faded back into a muted thumping as the door closed again a second later. You could hear footsteps headed in your direction but before you could unfold yourself and wipe your tears away, a familiar voice called out.

“Hey, there you are!”

Being able to find the words to describe how he looked in his tux, his curls slightly tamed by some gel, the blue rose (of course it would be an off color, why would he pick something standard?) pinned to his lapel, his lopsided grin… Finding the words was nearly impossible.

Of course he would show up now. Because your night wasn’t already crappy enough and half the reason you were sitting there weeping instead of out there dancing was standing right in front of you.

You realized that wasn’t fair. It was probably more like, twenty-five percent of the reason, and it wasn’t his fault. But that didn’t make it any better.

“Why are you in the girls’ locker room, Reeves?” you sniffled.

He furrowed his eyebrows and his nose scrunched up in concern as he took in your mascara-streaked cheeks and puffy red eyes. “One of your friends said you came in here like half an hour ago and nobody’s seen you since. I just wanted to make sure you were okay.”

“I’m fine.”

“Clearly not.” He sat down next to you. “Wanna talk about it?”

A deep, shaky sign left your chest. You didn’t really want to talk about how, earlier in the evening, you’d excused yourself to use the restroom and come back to the gym to find Theo dancing with...you didn’t remember her name, nor did you care. You didn’t mind that he was dancing with another girl, in theory, but it was another matter entirely when his hands were on her ass and she was sucking a deep purple mark into his neck. And he was laughing.

A short, vicious argument ensued in the coat room after you’d cut in and dragged him off by the elbow. And it turned out that he’d been seeing whats-her-name for months, somehow, behind your back while pretending that everything was perfect with you. When he was supposedly visiting his grandparents? He was with her. When he had to work an extra shift? He was with her. When he got off the phone with you, saying he needed to get to bed early? He was calling her.

Prom wasn’t supposed to involve a very public break-up.

And things didn’t get any better when, deciding you needed something to drink, you went back into the gym and immediately saw Reeves and Randie, dancing cheek to cheek, arms snugly wrapped around each other as a soft, romantic song wafted through the air. Because of course he was with her. She was his girlfriend and Reeves wasn’t a detestable cheating asshole.

There was always another her.

You couldn’t handle it.

So you took off to somewhere almost guaranteed to be empty. You figured the locker room wasn’t really the kind of place kids would want to make out, and you were right. It was blessedly empty. Until now.

But you couldn’t tell him the second part, so you just went with the first. His eyes got wide as you blubbered through the sordid details of Theo being a complete and utter twat. Another quivery sob half-burst from you and Reeves got up. He grabbed a few paper towels from the dispenser and handed them to you as he sat back down.

“Thanks,” you hiccuped.

“I never liked him,” Reeves announced.

You found yourself choking on a huff of air. “What? Yes you did! Everybody loved him. That’s what makes it extra shitty.”

“Did you?”

“What?”

Reeves cocked his head and looked at you with an expression you couldn’t quite place. “Did you love him?”

Your mouth opened and closed but nothing came out. Why did you always seem to forget how to make words when Reeves asked you questions?

“What?”

He shrugged. “Everyone else loved him. Did you?”

You used every last ounce of willpower you had to not jump up on that bench and shout that of course you didn’t love Theo, you idiot, because I love you.

That would not make this night any easier.

The next thing you knew, Reeves put an arm around your shoulders and pulled you into his chest, hugging you soundly. He rested his cheek on the top of your head. “Doesn’t matter. You’re better off without him.”

You dabbed at your eyes. Nope, still couldn’t make words.

Minutes, hours, days. You had no idea how long you stayed like that, pressed to him and feeling him breathe beneath you. You no longer had any idea how long it had even been since everything crashed around you and he’d come to try and help you pick up the pieces. You just listened to his heartbeat, strong and steady, as the muffled music and joyful shouts of classmates went on past the closed door.

Finally he spoke again. “Hey, you wanna get one of those complimentary pictures?”

“What?” Oh, great. You were finally able to answer his question but you could still only come up with that one word? Stupid brain.

“Well, I…” he sat up straight and, after the briefest look into your eyes, he glanced away. Was he blushing? You weren’t sure. “I always kind of...I kind of thought we’d have a prom picture together. I mean, I just figured, y’know, we’d go with a bunch of friends, but I always hoped I’d get a picture with my best friend.”

The sniffles were back in an instant. Damn him. “Reeves, I...you really want to get a picture now? I look horrible, I can’t get a picture taken like this!”

He took the paper towel from your hand and gently dabbed at your cheeks. “You couldn’t look horrible if you tried. Come on, it’ll be fun. And just think how excited your mom will be when she gets a copy of it.”

Despite your best efforts, you had to laugh. “Okay.”

You headed to the photo area after you washed your face, Reeves helped you wipe off the stray streaks of mascara, and you reapplied just a bit of makeup to make yourself feel better. You were never sure what Reeves said to the photographer before the shots, but he seemed quite happy to take multiples. Reeves stayed pressed against your back with his arms down around your waist, hands clasped together in front of you, for each and every one.

At some point between the second and third shot, he leaned just a little closer into you and you suddenly felt his breath against your ear. “Like what you see?”

For maybe the first time that entire night, your face broke into a genuine smile. “Maybe.”

For a few minutes, your night was absolutely perfect.

The Present.

It was the greatest date that never was.

“No, Reeves was not my prom date,” you told your friends with a shake of your head.

You left out most of the other details, partly because you didn’t want to answer eight hundred questions from Vanessa and partly because, well, you just wanted those moments for yourself.

After the pictures, Reeves had asked if you would like to dance. Until then you didn’t realize it was possible for eyebrows to shoot that far up a person’s forehead, but yours were up for the challenge. You’d mumbled something about if Randie would mind, because you were sure she absolutely would, but he brushed it off. Randie had gone off with her friends when he came to find you, and he really wanted to dance with you, just one dance with his frog murder accomplice. And he said that with a straight face and a twinkle in his eye and there was no way you could refuse.

As if there was any way you’d say no.

One dance turned into two, and then several, until the girlfriend in question finally did show back up and Reeves was pulled away, leaving you with a soft smile and a mouthed “sorry”.

Definitely the greatest never-date.

After prom, life returned to what vaguely resembled normal. Your love life sucked and Reeves still had a girlfriend that wasn’t you, and you didn’t see him much. To be fair, the end of senior year and graduation did creep up pretty fast so there wasn’t a lot of time anyway. Graduation was there before you knew it; he cheered for you and you cheered for him as you each walked across the stage. You made brief appearances at each others’ graduation parties and talked a bit and then, once again before you knew what happened next, it was time to leave for college.

You went back to New York. Reeves stayed on the west coast.

And over the years, like so many other people before you and after you, you just fell out of touch.

“And anyway,” you asserted, “we were just kind of friends. Yeah, like I told Alexis before, we were lab partners sophomore year, and we hung out sometimes, but that was it. Really.”

Alexis snorted and Vanessa narrowed her eyes. “Mmmhmm.”

You threw the pillow back at her. “Mmmhmm.”

“All right, you two,” Alexis chided. “Come on, let’s get going.”

Somehow, you managed to get down to Greenwich Village without further interrogation and minimal shenanigans.

The Present. One Hour Later. Another Saturday Night.

The bar inside the club was pretty packed. Granted, it was a Saturday night down in The Village, so it wasn’t too uncommon, but you were honestly surprised that this many people showed up for a punk retrospective.

There were a few other relatively big-name acts you recognized on the bill, and a fair number of people were wearing t-shirts with Reeves’s most recent album cover on the front. There were even a few that had shirts with his face on it, which was frankly kind of weird.

“Looks like you’re not his only number one fan,” Vanessa smirked.

“I just enjoy his music,” you said off-handedly as you tried to flag down a bartender. “But anyway, tonight isn’t even about him. We’re just here to support charity, right?”

Alexis pretended to agree with you. “Right.”

You glared at both of them before turning your attention back to the bar. Yes, you came to every one of his shows in the area. When you had time. When you could take the night off. When you could rearrange your schedule and switch shifts at the last minute and promise favors to be able to attend them. When you maybe once or twice just called out sick because nothing else worked. So what.

They were really starting to get on your nerves.

The bartender finally noticed you and took your order, and you looked around the club again while you waited.

Lots of people, ranging from just-allowed-to-buy-booze to mid-sixties businessmen. A few folks that looked to currently be in their golden years but were clearly once punks in their prime. Many people in black and chains and mohawks and neon hair and piercings, to the point where you honestly couldn’t tell who was a performer and who was a patron.

The one person you were looking for was the one that you couldn’t pick out of the crowd.

“He’s gotta be here somewhere!” Vanessa’s voice shouted from somewhere behind your shoulder.

“Vanessa, you’re getting a little weird about this,” you called back as you grabbed your drink and turned around.

“Like what you see?”

Eyes wide and mouth slightly hanging open, you almost dropped your full glass.

Vaguely, nearby, you heard the sound of glass shattering and shot a glance to your left. Alexis really had dropped her drink, and Vanessa was clutching onto her arm for dear life. She was holding her glass at a slightly odd angle and the contents were dripping onto one of her shoes.

The crowd silently pulsed backwards as one, clearing out around the four of you for a respectable distance. Several people watched curiously; surprisingly, they just stood back and stared instead of trying to get involved.

Reason Number One why you really couldn’t blame them: Reeves stood there, right in front of you. Literally less than two feet away, looking right at you. His mouth pulled up into his familiar lopsided grin, his hair still dark but shot through with strands of silver, curly on the top and shorter on the sides. His nose with the little dent, perfect on his face under those dark, luminous brown eyes and...holy shit, was he wearing eyeliner? He was wearing eyeliner.

Reason Number Two why you really couldn’t blame them: Leather pants. Under his old, faded t-shirt and black leather jacket (you were used to seeing him in brown, but you had to admit the black looked good) he was wearing leather pants.

Reason Number Three why you really couldn’t blame them: Quite simply, Reeves was standing in the middle of a bar in New York City and he was talking to you.

You blinked once, then twice. You may have blinked more times but all you could think about was the fact that, after all these years, your brain still couldn’t make words when Reeves asked you a question.

That same old question.

Suddenly you were grinning back, completely ignoring your friends and their dumbfounded squawking and sputtering next to you. You were smiling because even though your brain couldn’t make full sentences of words, it could pull one particular word out of the void and let it come out past your lips.

“Maybe.”

Reeves grinned fully now, his eyes lighting up and the crinkles at the corners deepening.

Someone - maybe Vanessa, maybe a total stranger, you couldn’t be sure - might have swooned from the sidelines.

“Always told you I wanted to come to New York,” he said.

“Always told you I’d go back.”

And the next thing you knew, the next thing that made any sense anywhere in your mind, was that Reeves had stepped forward, wrapped his arms around you, and placed the softest, sweetest, most heart-achingly gentle kiss on your lips.

You pulled away in a daze, felt the heat rising in your cheeks, as you heard a muffled choking sound halfway behind you. Definitely Vanessa.

Alexis and Vanessa’s eyes, already bugging out of their faces, nearly fell out of their sockets when Reeves turned to address them.

“Hey, ladies. I’ll come talk to you after the show, but for now, I just need to borrow your friend for a few minutes, okay?”

There were somehow still more bizarre, mostly inhuman noises that came out of your friends and even later, when they’d deny ever acting like that in front of a famous rock star (and rolled their eyes at you when you corrected them that he was a musician, not a rock star), it wouldn’t matter because you weren’t paying a single bit of attention to them them anyway.

You only had eyes for one person.

He took your hand and pulled you past the bar, into a little room in the back; the office, presumably. The second you were both inside, he wrapped his arms around your waist and looked you in the eyes. He just stared for a few minutes, or maybe hours, you weren’t sure.

It really didn’t matter.

“Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted to do that?” he whispered.

“Third day of school, fourth period biology class, sophomore year?”

Reeves smiled softly. “The second you walked in that door.”

“Why didn’t you?” you tilted your head to look at him. Okay, to gaze into his eyes. You tilted your head to gaze into his eyes and your subconscious hoped to any gods that would listen that you did not have actual hearts or stars in your pupils.

Not that it really mattered.

His arms never left you but he gave a little shrug. “Never seemed to be the right time. And then I had a girlfriend.”

“Yeah,” you laughed. “And I ended up with that lame excuse for a boyfriend. But do you know how long I’ve wanted you to do that?”

“When you couldn’t stop staring at me when you sat down at the lab table next to me?”

“Hmmm, maybe. But definitely when you told the teacher we had to have a funeral for Lenny.”

“Hey, Lenny was a fuckin’ hero,” Reeves batted his eyes at you innocently. “He performed a brave and great service to his country.”

“I am oddly happy you’re still an idiot,” you giggled.

“I’m ecstatic that you kept coming to all my shows in the city.”

You pulled back slightly and looked at the ceiling. “You noticed?”

Reeves gave you that look. That look he always gave you, when you were teenagers, when you said something either completely ridiculous or completely profound. That look he gave you when he thought you might not be looking, even though you were always looking. That look that said he always had your back and you were his best friend. That look that you thought you’d be lucky to see one more time but probably never would.

That look.

“Of course I noticed. I thought about having security make you stay back, but that’s just...no. You always looked happy, and I don’t know...I just didn’t want to intrude, I guess? Just always wondered why you never stuck around after the shows, never stayed to talk to me, never came knocking on the dressing room door.”

You thought about that for a minute. You really did try, but you couldn’t come up with a decent answer. You were happy. Just seeing him was enough, you told yourself. Just hearing him sing was enough, just being in the same room with him, just being near. Just like it was back in high school.

Only it wasn’t high school anymore, and now that he’d finally, finally - after years of would’ve and should’ve and maybes - kissed you, you knew enough wasn’t going to be, well, enough.

So that’s what you told him.

And Reeves pulled you close, leaned in closer, and kissed you again.

You pulled apart, breathless again, and rested your foreheads together.

After minutes, or maybe days, or maybe hours, and definitely years - it didn’t really matter - Reeves was there. You were there. And for once, you were really there together.

“Like what you see?”

“...definitely.”

The Future. Any Day. Every Day.

You always thought, and your friends always said, that the best years of your life happened in high school. And to a certain extent, that was true and you believed in that notion for a very long time.

But ever since that night, that one glorious night in a Manhattan bar, you realized you were wrong.

The best years of your life were still happening.

~end~

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vivianweasley · 4 years

Text

Love, George (George Weasley X Reader)

Prompt: This is for @weasleysflowr‘s 300 writing challenge! “Can I tell you a secret” and “just shut up and kiss me”.

Summary: You have always loved Michael Corner but now he’s getting married and you are the bridesmaid. As cliche as it sounds, you just wanted someone to save you from this mess. Fake dating.

Pairing: George Weasley X Fem!Reader

Warnings: a tiny bit of angst with Michael, alcohol use, mention of underage drinking

Word count: 2K

A/N: Did I just write another unrequited love bridesmaid story? Yes, but this idea is stuck in my mind for a long time. The inspiration is from the first scene of the movie Love, Rosie! GIF is from the movie too and credit goes to whoever owns it. Anyways, hope you guys would like it:)

Please do NOT repost or translate my work on another site without permission! Thank you! Reblogs and comments are always welcome!

You were sitting at Michael Corner’s wedding and your brain was a foggy mess, but you were next to give a toast. The logical side of you told you to look at your notes one last time, but the emotional side of you just wanted to hide in a hole in the ground and pretend like you never existed.

Michael was your best friend. You’ve known each other since the first year at Hogwarts. And like all cliches, you were the person who has always secretly loved their best friend.

You thought maybe one day he would finally realize that the person meant for him was right beside him. But now he’s getting married and you, his best friend, became the bridesmaid.

Why were you the bridesmaid? Didn’t the bride have any friends? But you knew, you could complain and make fun of the bride all you want and in the end, she still has everything you’ve ever wanted.

It was your turn to give a toast now. You stood up and cleared your throat, “I’ve known Michael since the first year at Hogwarts. It feels like it was only yesterday that Michael got stuck on the moving stairs and almost missed the first class. Oh, or when the Weasley twins dumped blue paint on him during fourth year. Can’t believe that he’s getting married today. Merlin, I sound like his mum.”

The guests laughed and the Weasley twins cheered at the mention of their prank. You laughed along and continued, “And I should probably say something nice about Michael too. Michael Corner was the funniest, most interesting, and most amazing person I’ve ever known.”

The guests cheered again in agreement and you waited for the waves of cheering to die out, “I just wanted to say that the bride is really lucky. And I wish you guys all the best with all my heart. Congratulations Michael, and I will always love you...” you looked at his eyes one last time, those ocean eyes, “cause we’re best friends.”

The crowd was clapping and cheering, but you couldn’t hear anything. You just sat there, staring blankly at the crowd. This was the end, was it? Before the wedding began, you fantasized about so many scenarios. Like in a soup opera where you would run up there and object. Or like in a romantic comedy where he finally realized that you were the one he has always loved.

But nothing crazy happened in the reality and to be honest, you were glad.

“Y/N, if you need a shoulder to cry on, I’m always here.” Cho was there with you in the restroom. She knew about your crush on Michael and was always there to support you when you prepared for the wedding.

“No, I’m not going to cry.” You sighed, “But I really do hope that maybe, I could suddenly have a tall and handsome boyfriend, and then I could walk out of the wedding feeling less defeated.”

When you two were leaving the restroom, you bumped into a tall man. You looked up and recognized that it was George Weasley.

You became friends with the Weasley twins right after they dumped blue paint on Michael. You guys would hangout together sometimes and you joined Dumbledore’s Army with them, so you could tell the twins apart. But after they left Hogwarts, you guys barely contacted each other and would probably only see each other at Hogwarts reunion dinners or some old classmates’ weddings.

“George?”

“I’m sorry Y/N, didn’t mean to eavesdrop. But I believe I heard you said that you need a tall and handsome boyfriend?”

You were embarrassed that he heard your silly talk, but you still managed to reply calmly, “Yea, are you gonna introduce me to someone?”

“That someone is standing right in front of you! See, I’m tall,” he raised his hand to emphasize his height, “and I’m handsome!” He winked at you.

“George, I was only joking...”

“Yea, joking. Someone told me I’m quite good at that.” He grinned at you, “I can pretend to be your tall and handsome boyfriend and make Corner jealous!”

You laughed at his remarks, but the reality slapped you in your face. You lowered your head, feeling defeated again, “But he won’t...”

“Well, at least you could still use some fun now. Consider this as a light-hearted prank! ” He cupped your face and lifted your head.

At this moment, you felt like the playful and happy you came back. You turned back to look at Cho. She nodded at you, reassuring you that this idea was not completely dumb, so you finally held out your hand, “Well then, shall we, darling?”

He chuckled and held your hand, “Let’s go, darling!”

Your plan went well. Not long after you left the restrooms, you and George ran into Michael. He looked surprised seeing you holding hands with George, “Y/N, you two?”

Before you could say anything, George answered the question for you, “Y/N is my girlfriend!”

Michael was looking at you now and you couldn’t quite understand his expression. Putting aside all of your unrealistic daydreams and wishful thinking, he was probably just surprised.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“Erm....I was busy preparing for your wedding and I just kinda forgot.” Your left hand was tugging nervously on the hem of your dress now, but you were still impressed that you could lie so smoothly even under this kind of situation.

“Yeah Corner, my girlfriend was so busy preparing for your wedding, she didn’t even have enough time for me! You should really thank her mate,” George added.

Now Michael was looking sorry as he said, “I didn’t know...Thank you, Y/N.”

To you, this “Thank you” sounded like the closure for your unrequited love that lasted for years. “It’s alright,” you replied softly.

“I need to go get a drink. Congratulations mate!” George pulled you away before you started to zone out.

After returning to your table, George just sat on the empty seat next to you. The owner of this seat, Terry was probably already drinking the night away somewhere. You glanced around. Everyone looked so happy, making you a misfit.

George noticed you were zoning out again, “I’m guessing that you don’t want to stay here anymore. How about we sneak out right now?”

You nodded. Yes please.

He held your hand. You thought he was going to apparate you into somewhere else, but he just held your hand and ran out of the wedding. Just like a muggle movie.

Surrounding the wedding venue was a grassland and some small hills. You and George finally stopped running at the highest hill and something came over you. The presence of George just made you comfortable doing crazy silly things that you usually didn’t have the courage to do. You took off your high heels, “I always wanted to try this.” And without hesitating, you rolled off the hill.

George was probably shocked by your sudden action. But he wasn’t shocked for long, because you soon felt someone rolling off the hill, too.

You didn’t even have the time to stand up or move away as George just landed on you. You looked at each other and started laughing. You were both in formal clothings, but you were also both covered in dirt and grass. This was probably the first time in weeks that you were laughing wholeheartedly, not like back at the wedding, when you could only call what you were doing a mere action of pulling the corners of your lips upwards.

“Aren’t you full of surprises.” George laughed as he gently pushed away the hair and grass on your face.

You were speechless for a moment. You were lying on the grass and George was still on top of you. You stared into his deep brown eyes with the breathtaking starry night sky as the background, and memories from fourth year started to come back.

At that time, the Weasley twins were very popular. Well, they were always popular, but you only got to know them during your fourth year. That year and fifth year were the only two years that Michael wasn’t really occupying your mind.

They were older, Gryffindor beaters, and legendary pranksters. It was impossible for you to not notice them. Especially George. He kept appearing in front of you, asking you if their new pranks ideas could work. You didn’t know when did this happened exactly, but he did eventually claim a place in your heart.

Maybe you were a little bit drunk. Maybe it was because the stars were mesmerizing tonight, but you confessed, “Actually, I have more surprises for you. Can I tell you a secret?”

“Oh yea? What is it?”

“It was a long time ago and it’s quite funny actually, but I had a crush on you back at school.” You were blushing, but you hoped that he couldn’t see it.

“Let me guess, was it the year of the Triwizard Tournament?”

You sat up as you were shocked and he sat up with you. “How did you know?”

He chuckled, “You probably don’t remember much about this, but do you remember the night of the Yule Ball? You were so drunk, but you couldn’t find your friends?”

The memories you thought were long gone began to resurface. Your friend group went to the Yule Ball together that year and Michael was also part of it. You still remembered you telling yourself that technically you could still say that you went to the dance with Michael.

That night, someone sneaked a bottle of firewhisky into the dance and you ended up getting drunk. Your friends were probably wasted too since when you finally regained a tiny sense of conscious, they all disappeared. You searched the hallways, with your arms leaning against the walls, trying to find some support. You called their names, but no one answered.

You remembered now. The last person you could remember from that night was George Weasley.

The loss of memory was making you anxious. You started to pull your hair nervously when you asked, “Merlin, what did I do that night??”

He shrugged, as if it was no big deal, “Not much. You told me that you fancy me and you kissed me.”

Your brain went blank. You did what??

He continued, ignoring how you were losing it right now, “Earlier tonight, I heard you say that Michael was the funniest, most interesting, and most amazing person you’ve ever met? If I remembered correctly, you told me the exact same thing that night. Do you say that to everyone? I’m hurt. Thought my feelings were reciprocated that time. Turns out to be a lie...”

He was still ranting, but you only managed to hear one thing he said. He thought his feelings were reciprocated? Did that mean at that time, he fancied you too? To be honest, if Fred and George didn’t leave Hogwarts that early, maybe the person that you loved for years wouldn’t be Michael anymore. Suddenly, you felt like you just wasted all of these years and all of the heartbreaks.

“So...do you still have feelings for me now?” You felt stupid immediately after your words left your mouth. That was years ago and you were asking about it now?

“Why did you think I wanted to be your fake boyfriend today?”

It was sudden and you still wasn’t sure what you were thinking, but you just kissed him, smashing your lips together.

He was shocked for sure, but soon a smirk appeared on his lips, “What’s with you and all these sudden kisses, Y/L/N?” He then pulled you in and kissed you back. This time properly and with more passion, as if you were both trying to make up for all those lost years.

“So did I actually become your ‘tall and handsome boyfriend’?”

“Maybe, if you could just shut up and kiss me.”

#weasleysflowr300wc #george weasley #weasley twins #george weasley x reader #george weasley imagine #george weasley fanfic #george weasley fanfiction #tw: alcohol #harry potter fanfic #harry potter fanfiction

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shessoparticular · 4 years

Text

Ready Set Date: Chapter 3 | #ShawnMendesWritingCircle

Another day, another fic!

Find part 1 written by @shawnscxlvins here! & part 2 written by @sinceweremutual here! thank u again @saysweartogod-og for the challenge again, everyone enjoy x

You sat at the table dumbfounded for a little bit before collecting your belongings before heading out to your awaiting Uber. You’d passed several paparazzi’s as you left, making you confused as you’d been told that they wouldn’t really be making an appearance until your next “date”.

Once you had safely made it into the car you made sure to send a short text to Shawn, making sure that everything was okay since he’d left you in a pretty dramatic way. You couldn’t help but be nosey and wonder what that text he received was about. It wasn’t long before he replied with a simple “everything’s okay, I’m so sorry about leaving”. You smiled to yourself and decided to end the conversation at that.

Your apartment was lonely, and you found yourself wondering what it’d be like if you ever found yourself a significant other. Your couch was made for two, your king bed was basically invented for cuddling and your breakfast nook was designed to have two people crammed on to the stools. You couldn’t help but picture all of those things featuring Shawn. You had to remind yourself that everything was fake and behind the scenes he had a long-term girlfriend, even if you didn’t like her. You’d have to settle for being friends.

You were cuddled up on the couch with your favorite red wine while watching Game of Thrones on the couch later that evening before you heard a knock on the door. You glanced at the time on your phone, seeing it was just after midnight. You checked your peephole before seeing a teary-eyed Shawn with an overnight bag in his hand. “I’m so sorry about coming over this late. I didn’t want to deal with Andrew and Camila’s decided that it’s more important for her to win this argument than me to have a place to stay. The team gave me your address on that paperwork we looked at during the meeting” he told you as you ushered him into your apartment. “It’s fine Shawn, I have a guest bedroom. I’ll show you where it is” you suggested, leading him to the room.

“Do you wanna talk about it? I understand if you don’t, we don’t exactly know each other that well yet” you suggested as you both took a seat on your couch, red wine in hand. “It’s probably best if I do hey? Get it off my chest” he confessed, taking another sip of his wine. “So Camila isn’t happy about all of this obviously. She sent me that text telling me that there was an emergency so obviously I freaked out. I get back to our apartment to find out it was a lie to get me out of being with you” he proclaimed before continuing. “We argued about it for a while before she confessed that she also called the paps on us so they’d see me react to the text to make you look like an idiot. Obviously, I was mad at her because you don’t deserve that, so she kicked me out of my own apartment” he uttered, clearly upset.

“I’m so sorry Shawn. It must be really hard on her. You don’t have to defend me to her, I’m a big girl and can do it myself. You can stay here as long as you need; I need someone to drink my extensive collection of red wine with” you laughed, trying to comfort the boy seated next to you. “So, are we finishing this bottle tonight?” he asked, laughing at himself. “Let’s make you feel better” you exclaimed, chugging the rest of your glass.

It was hours later and to say the both of you were slightly intoxicated would be an understatement. In those two hours, the two of you had finished three bottles of wine and you were about to finish the fourth. It was insane how well the two of you got on, even when intoxicated. He’d shared so many stories about the hundreds of cities he’d been to and you’d told him all about the movie and TV sets he could only dream of working on. You’d promised him to try and get him in the door with your acting agent when he explained how he felt like acting was his next step. You two were even more compatible than you could have imagined

“How long have you and Camila been together?” you asked, finally growing the courage to ask about her. “Officially for over a year but there’s always been something between us since I was like 17” he answered truthfully. “I’m not gonna lie, I think we’ve outgrown each other already but we waited so long to be together I don’t want to make a crazy decision that’ll just hurt both of us” he confessed. “Have you told her this?” you asked. You didn’t like Camila but she deserved to know exactly how Shawn was feeling. “No, she’s all in on us. I think I want to end it but I have no idea. She’s been my first serious partner since I was in high school” he replied. “I’m sure this is just a combination of alcohol and the argument. I think you should sleep on it” you suggested, trying to give him good advice.

“It’s insane that I’ve known you for a few days and I already feel a better connection between the two of us that I’ve felt with Camila for months” he confessed, the alcohol clearly affecting him. “You’re just saying that because of how much we’ve had to drink” you conceited, even though you felt it too. “If you don’t feel anything y/n, you have to tell me” he confessed, getting closer to you. “I was always taught not to lie, Shawn” you sassed, letting him get closer.

It felt like hours, but realistically it was only seconds before Shawn finally put his lips on yours. It was cliché but you felt so many butterflies in your stomach. It was almost like time slowed down. “Tell me if you want me to stop” Shawn confessed, taking his lips away from yours for one second to make sure that you consented. “Absolutely not” you whined, kissing him again. “What way is your room?” He asked, lifting you off the couch and swinging your legs around his waist where you quickly gripped on. “Second door on the right. Stop talking Shawn” you babbled, wanting this more than anything, despite how wrong it is.

The next morning you had woken up with an extreme headache as the light shone into your bedroom. You’d been so caught up with Shawn that you’d forgotten to close your blackout blinds. You moved your arms around, trying to reach for the human heater that is Shawn. You quickly pulled on some clothes as you realized he wasn’t in your bed anymore.

You found him out in your kitchen with McDonald's breakfast on the bench waiting for you. “I knew we both wouldn’t feel like cooking” he confessed, passing you a McMuffin. “Thank you! This is exactly what I needed” you uttered, moaning as you took a bite. “I could get used to that noise” he muttered, laughing at himself as you whacked his shoulder. “What we did last night was so wrong but am I a bad person if I want all of this, with you?” you ask him, scared of his answer. “I feel the same way. I think I’m going to end it with Camila. I at least owe her that much” he proclaimed, seeming sure of his decision. “Please don’t end it just because of me” you added, trying to not feel like the bad person. “I think this is just evidence of why I need to” he decided.

You were both startled as your phone started to ring, making you both jump. “It’s my manager, I’ve gotta answer this” you stated, picking up the ringing phone. “You guys are doing amazingly already! How did you two manage to get photos of Shawn coming out of your apartment, looking like he just had sex? This is insane” your manager exclaimed excitedly. “What? Are they online? Where are you seeing these?” you asked frantically, stressed that you two had potentially been caught out already. “They’re all over Twitter and those gossip sites. Good job guys” she stated before hanging up, leaving you almost speechless.

Almost as soon as your manager hung up, Shawn’s phone also lit up. He lifted it quickly to see who it was. “Yeah, we’re busted” he confessed, showing you the screen. You gulped when you saw Camila’s contact lighting up the screen.

#shawn mendes x reader #shawn mendes fluff #shawn mendes #shawn mendes fic #shawn mendes imagine #ShawnMendesWritingCircle

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the-great-imagines-of-1812 · 4 years

Text

Through The Years (Bucky Barnes x Fem!Stark! Reader) Pt. 2

A/N: Enjoy! As always, any feedback is appreciated! Let me know if you want to be tagged! And YES, Bucky makes his first appearance in this chapter. ;)

tags: @the-romanian-is-bae @a-girl-who-loves-disney

tw: catcalling

~~~~~~~~~~~~

LONDON ENGLAND, 1943

“Alright. Howard, Y/N. Welcome to London. In this camp, resides the 107th and 108th infantry regiments. You two will be able to set up your stuff over...”

Peggy thinks for a second. “Ah! There. It’s Perfect.” She pointed to a more secluded area of the camp, where you and Howard would be able to set up camp and experiment.

“Thanks, Peggy. We’ll see you later?” You said, turning to Peggy, as Howard unloaded he last of you guys’ things off the plane.

She hugs you. “Of course you will. I’ve got to go check on Steve. He’s got another USO performance tonight, one in Edinburgh, another in Glasgow, and we continue up North. It might be some time before you see me, sadly.”

You frowned. “Well, make sure to write. I couldn’t bear not hearing from you.”

She gave you a smile and said her goodbyes as she wandered off, looking for Steve.

“Y/N/N, care to help me with the luggage?” Howard said, already carrying a few suitcases.

“Of course, Howwie.” As you turned to grab the suitcase the suitcase was already up in the air.

Frozen in shock you stood there, hoping no one would see.

“Y/N!! What was that?”

You nervously turned to Howard, ringing your hands. “What was was what, Howwie?”

He gave you a look. “You know what I’m talking about. We’ll discuss this later.”

You sighed and grabbed the suitcase, a rucksack and another suitcase, following Howard.

~~~~~~~~

After you and Howard set up camp on the clearing, he immediately went out, in search of General Philips.

You sighed. You should’ve told him since the start.

To clear your head, you decided to take a walk a round the camp, to simply familiarize yourself with the place. To clear your head too, that would be nice.

The men you saw all around the camp were pretty much the same. Drinking, sobbing, sleeping. Oh, and don’t forget the body odor.

This was not what you were used to, but these men are fighting a war. The least you could do is give them a break.

“Heyyyyyy pretty lady! C’mere.” you heard a drunker soldier slur out.

You turned and crossed your arms, scoffing. “Excuse me?”

“He said c’mere, lady!” another soldier said from behind him.

“You is the only lady here, we could pass you around, darlin’ there’s enough of us to go around” the first soldier said.

“No thank you sir, I have enough self-respect and dignity to not be seen with the likes of you.”

The second soldier, his friend, spoke up again. “What’re ya doin’ here anyway? Are’nt you supposed to be in the kitchen?”

You were starting to become scared. “I’m an engineer. I have no excuse for being in the kitchen.”

“All ladies belong in-”

“HEY! Leave her alone!” the soldier was cut off by a voice. You turned to see, and it was a tall, blue eyed soldier, with hazel-colored hair, and fair skin.

He was tall, he stood straight he wanted to be seen. His crystal blue eyes pierced through the room, but were focused on you. He most definitely stood out from the rest.

Then it hit you. This man was the mysterious stranger you had seen at the Stark expo a couple of months back.

He grabbed the soldier by his shirt. “That’s no way to treat a lady. Show some goddamn respect.” he put the soldier down and turned to you.

“I apologize on behalf of my fellow soldier, Miss.” he said, kissing your hand.

You smiled at him, a blush covering your cheeks. “I-It’s ok. I’m used to it, I guess.”

He looked you straight in the eyes this time. “No one should be used to it, Man or Woman.”

“You crossed your arms and looked up at him again; him being much taller. “You got a name, soldier?, or are you just going to remain my knight in shining armor?’

He chuckles. Damn, that laugh could brighten anyone’s day. “I’d rather remain your knight in shining armor, gorgeous. But if ya really wanna know, the name is James Buchanan Barnes. Friends call me Bucky.”

“We’re friends, now?”

“I’d be surprised if we weren’t, doll-face. I think Everyone needs a friend right now.”

He pauses to scan your face.

“How about it darlin’, you got a name?”

“Y/N. But friends call me Y/N/N.”

By this time, him and you were already walking off to the edge of the forest, not to far where he first found you. You bot sat down on a log.

“Y/N, that’s it? No last name?” he said, in a teasing tone.

You laughed. “Y/N Stark. I know what you’re going to say. I do run Stark Industries with my brother.”

“More like he runs it with you, doll-face. I was at the expo this year. I’ve seen your work. You have a talent.”

You chuckle and blush, breaking eye contact with him. “You are a charmer, Barnes. I got to give you that.”

“Ya know before I left for the war, they used to call me ‘the heart breaker of Brooklyn’”

“No way Barnes. A guy like you? No way.”

“Yes way.”

“I don’t believe you Barnes” you feigned shock.

“You better!”

“Uh, well, how about you tell me how you became this gorgeous genius engineer, huh?”

You let out a laugh, not holding back this time. “I attended a boarding school in London, St-martin-the-fields high school, strictly for girls, which is were i met Peggy. I later went on, against my parents wishes, I got a P.H.D in engineering from NYU; graduated early.”

He seems to look at your with pure wonder in his eyes. “Impressive.What after?”

“I became a professor of Engineering at Columbia College, also in New York. My parents didn’t like this, so they sort-of threw me out.”

“I am so sorry doll. No one deserves that, no matter how big their aspirations may be.” he said, laying his hand over yours.

“The teaching position didn’t last long though, that’s when I lost it and moved in with Howard. And a few years back, we started what today is known as Stark Industries.”

“You continue to impress me with every passing second. What’re you doing on an army camp like this?”

“The SSR was re-tasked by President Roosevelt. We’re bringing the fight to HYDRA. Anyway, enough about me, sport. You practically know me already.”

He told you all about his childhood in Brooklyn, saving Steve from trouble at every corner.

“Wait, wait. hold the phone. You know Steve, Barnes?”

“Y-yeah, I do. Since we were kids. How do YOU know him?”

You let out a hearty chuckle. “That’s a story for another time.”

You two talked for hours upon hours, until the night sky got even darker, and all the soldiers had retreated to their tents. He told you about his childhood with Steve, how his mother would scold him as a child for stealing a cookie from the jar, his cherry red bike when he was a teen. He told you about his sister Rebecca, and how you two would be best friends, if you ever had the chance to meet.

“Y/N! Where are you?”

This startled you, and you jumped into Bucky’s arms. “Woah there, dollface, I haven’t even taken you out dancin’ yet-”

“Hands of my sister!” Howard came running and pulled you away from Bucky, shoving you behind him.

“Howard I’m fine!”

“Woah there Mr. Stark. It wasn’t-”

“If I EVER see you with her AGAIN, I will fight you on SIGHT. Let’s go, Y/N/N”

You mouthed a ‘sorry’ to Bucky as Howard dragged away from him. Bucky shoved his hands in his pockets ‘It’s okay’ with a dopey smile as he walked back to his tent.

He just hoped he would see you again. Maybe he’d take you dancing.

~~~~~~~~

Howard dragged you by the hand all the way to a bigger tent, one that wasn’t his and yours. “Where are we, Howwie?”

“I’m taking you to see someone. Because there’s something your not telling me. How long have you been lying to me about the serum? huh? how long has it been affecting you?” He said, face morphing from anger to sadness to worry.

“Ever since... I guess there’s no use in lying to you.”

“Please, sis, I just want to help you.”

“I guess- ever since Steve received the serum? When I was shot? My best guess is that the bullet went through a tube of the serum, then into my ribs.”

You paused.

“Ever since then, when I’m alone, I concentrate on something, let’s say a book, I can lift it with my mind. My brain just concentrates, it moves. I tell it to move forward, it does so. It’s at my command if I just focus on it. I guess that with the suitcase you told me to lift, it was just- an accident.”

Howard sighed and let go of your hand. “What you have, dear sister, what you have gained, is telekinesis is a superpower where the user has an ability to move things at will. At it’s highest levels, dismantle the fabrics of the universe.”

“Howard, I’m scared.”

“Don’t be. I’m here to help you. Come with me.”

You both walked into the tent, were General Philips was siting at his desk.

“Howard, Y/N. Finally I wan’t to talk to you both. Howard as told me about the situation of yours, Y/N, your secret is safe with me.”

“What is it, General?”

“I want you to join the 107th.”

“General! I beg your pardon-”

“Allow me to talk, Ms. Stark. The regiment needs someone like you. I know you’ve expressed your interest in the war efforts-”

“But General, the men, my brother- you can’t expect me to use telekinesis in my service-”

“You’ll still be able to work with Howard. Don’t worry about the men. They need someone to keep them in line. Without your powers. Only if and when i tell you to.”

You clutched Howard’s arm. You had never been this nervous.

The General stands up from his desk to pick up a box, which he opens, to reveal a army uniform with pins on it, including three stars, identifying your rank.

“What I’m saying is this: Welcome to the 107th infantry regiment, Lieutenant General Y/N Stark.”

~~~~~~~~~

A/N: feedback is appreciated! :)

- Talya

#marvel #marvel x reader #marvel imagines #Marvel x Y/N #Howard Stark x sister! reader #Howard stark #peggy carter x best friend! reader #peggy carter #Steve Rogers #peggy carter x reader #steve rogers x reader #Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes imagine

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babyeijra · 3 years

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Socially Anxious INFJ Introvert

January 22, 2021

Okay, so it’s been a while since I last made an entry in this blog

I feel like I had to write something about what happened today because I wanted to get over something that I know will bug me if I don’t vent it or say anything about it.

I have always known that I have social phobia. Even without being clinically tested or what do you call it, psychological testing or diagnosis from a professional(?), I know I have social anxiety. I just don’t know what degree, but I know it’s there. Since elementary and high school, I was a quiet kid. I never speak unless spoken to, I don’t even interact with relatives, cousins, or strangers I just met. I have always been like that. I was afraid to be called in class, I get mental blocks when I get called even when I know the answer (this really happened), that’s why I don't participate in class recitations, and activities (unless forced). If I get called, my mind blanks, my heart pounds so hard, and I could feel the blood rush through my whole body and to my brain. Then if I stutter, I feel like I don’t know what I was saying, l feel like I’m being laughed at secretly and I would think of it hours, even days after what happened. And I learned that by writing it and reading more about my condition, and reading from other people’s (with social anxiety) experiences, that’s when I could get past one mistake or move on from my shame. When I read that there are others just like me and have experienced what I went through or going through, is only when I could move on from ONE mistake. But then, until when am I going to be like this? I honestly thought I got passed this social anxiety. That what I had was just acute social phobia, nothing too serious, that I will not experience anxiety to my adulthood, that I could now proceed of dreaming to be a lawyer since I passed high school, college, and now a CPA working in the government. I got passed a lot of interviews when I was just trying to find work as a fresh graduate. I thought, maybe nervousness during interviews, or presentations is just normal?

But now that I think about it, I had always needed days, even weeks of preparation and practice to get passed simple interviews. I had always had sleepless nights thinking of the days of interview. In high school I had always needed to study 5 times, even 10 times harder just so I wouldn’t get left behind, because I lack class participation. I always though I was stupid or stupidest person in class, I had always envied my classmates who can get through being called and being made to stand to answer and yet giving the wrong answer, because they seem like they were answering a question like it’s nothing, being called to stand is nothing, reporting in front of class is nothing, speaking and interacting with others is nothing. But for me, it’s not a simple “nothing”. I would think about it, I would remember my embarrassment when I stutter, or get mental blocks and gave the wrong answer, I would remember the judging stares (my mind probably had created).

I could recount, even today, how my high school English teacher, embarrassed me had called me to answer the last question, in front of everyone. The previous questions I had mentally answered and got them all right, after they were discussed or when my classmates had got it also right after they were called to answer. It was coincidental or I don’t know, that the last question was given to me. I had already made up my mind on the answer to the last question before being called. But when I was called, I don’t know what happened. My mind went black, and every symptoms of a social anxious person (from what I read from others’ experiences), I had really felt. I missed to give the right answer which I had already made up before. It just went away, I tried many times and I still had given a different answer, During that time, I really forgot what I answered in my head. Didn’t I say, I went blank? And so this teacher made it worse by saying, “If you got the highest score in the exam, you have to prove it, otherwise I would think you cheated” (nonverbatim). Okay now that I think about it, was she allowed to say that to a student? (I want to know the answer to this). I felt embarrassed then, but no one can deny the fact, that I did get the highest score on her exam. I really studied hard (like five times hard) and I listened well in class in high school and not because I wanted to compete with others, but I really had an interest to learn, and I also thought I was stupid and might fail (because of my lack of participation) that’s why I had to recoup by studying. I had the lowest self confidence and self esteem then. It was the lowest of the low. Surprisingly, actually, I graduated high school as salutatorian, and I dreaded it. I never wanted to be salutatorian. I never want to make a speech in front of many people, on the stage in an open space, at the University Quadrangle. I thought, maybe I’ll just get the “1st honorable mention” (3rd in the batch) or even 5th place, because I knew, what would pull me down (even though I sometimes or often times get the highest scores in exams and quizzes; Math, Science, Physics, and others included. Okay maybe except Filipino) was my lack of participation.

But yeah. Surprised? I was the salutatorian? Although it made me proud after I learned this from our class adviser (also our trigonometry teacher), but the next second I felt was, dread. “Oh shoot! I had to make a speech. I had to speak in front of everyone!”. Did you know, I even cried inside the Teacher’s room, in front of all the teachers, when we, I and another classmate who was the valedictorian, was asked to rehearse our speech in front of them? I was so nervous, I was crying while I was trying to speak (and the tears were not happy tears). I was so nervous that it made me cry. Can you imagine that? And you know what, the teachers actually thought? That I was crying because of happy tears, but I said to them, it’s because, “Gina kulbaan ako”(I’m really nervous). I should tell you, that when I said “crying”, I was spasm-sobbing (you know that sound you make when you cry, you get breathing spasms or hiccups) and had runny nose. I was a mess inside that teacher’s room. When I got out, my valedictorian classmate asked, “Ngaa nag hibi ka?” (Why did you cry). Yup, this happened. I need not relay to you what happened during the graduation. It would take up the time. Oh yeah!, I tried to think of ways to skip delivering the Salutatory Speech, like searching “how to get colds” so my voice will get coarse. I guess I would say, I never want to experience that (Salutatory Speech) again! And I had more also experiences in college. Like when we had to stand in front of the Audio Visual Room. And recite a (I think it was a long poem or verse). I was able to memorize it, but when I got in front. Well, you guessed it. I panicked and had a mental block. *sigh*

Wow, I actually made a long entry about my high school experiences as a Socially Anxious INFJ Introvert. I haven’t even gotten work experience yet. Huh!

I guess I need to let everyone first know the struggle of being a Socially Anxious Introvert from childhood experience POV, or what one feels like when speaking in front of everyone. So please, don’t judge this entry. What happened today, during our online Legal research class was, we had an oral exam about a hearing observation we had of a case. It was the easiest question by our Professor (who is a MCTC Judge) I think out of everyone’s. But I wasn’t prepared for the easiest question. I prepared for different questions and not the one she asked. So yeah, I blanked, stuttered and I guess and most probably flunked. Now you may be asking. Why did I enter Law School if I have a Social Anxiety? If you really read everything above, you’ll get the answer.

PS, I used at least 2 and a half hours of writing this entry. I have final exams next week. But I know I really couldn’t concentrate if all I think about was what happened 3 hours ago. I wanted to move on from a mistake and embarrassment. I really feel like and did sound stupid answering that SIMPLE question.

Now, what do you think? Should I give up Law School? Or try and conquer my fears in Law School? Do I even have a chance? Do you think I’m being brave? or being stupid for taking up Law but can’t even speak properly.

Any answer from anonymous person will be appreciated. Even if it’s a discouraging answer. I should accept the truth, whatever truths there would be. When I said, “don’t judge” I don’t mean it. Judge all you want really. It is the fact of the world. We even do it unconsciously.

PSS (is there such?), I have found a site (just now, while looking for pictures) that also talks about dealing with Social Anxiety in Law School (http://www.thelegalduchess.com/2018/08/dealing-with-social-anxiety-in-law.html). So I guess I’m not the only one. (by Sam Smith lol, unrelated content but still a good song).

Will take time to read it. But, I need to study after this entry. (ugh! 😖The horror, I have a lot to cover for the finals and I have wasted so much time). I feel a lot better after writing this. So I guess it was not wasted time after all.

PPS: 12:17 am more than 4 hrs since my bad recit. I still can't concentrate. I have now been watching youtube about moving on from bad recits. I still cringe everytime I remember it, quite often. That's why I dont think I can remember what I read. Also, I'm writing this because I remember something. Studying harder is now 10 times harder to do in law school, especially if you are a full time, full load, working student. I couldn't prepare well for the next class, and I couldn't prepare for all possible questions as a Socially Anxious INFJ Introvert (which means all questions my mind could think of, because like I said, there'd be no time). And what makes it more embarrassing and humiliating, I have a classmate who is also a coworker (she's in a different work group) and her husband is also my coworker in the same work group.

#note #notes #Social Anxiety #Introvert #INFJ #Shame #Embarrassment #Dream #COL #Law Student #First Year #social anxiety disorder #experience

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shoutaaizawas · 4 years

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Bakugou x OC Messaged Received: Chapter Twenty Two

Summary: Bakugou Katsuki wants to improve his English after enough incidents of tourists getting into trouble. Harper Bailey is hoping to learn enough Japanese to be able to take a trip to Japan one day. They find a site that sets up online pen pals to help them improve in the language they’re learning. When they’re paired together it’s the beginning of a relationship neither of them expected.

Read On AO3 | Masterlist

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It had been a week since Harper had arrived in Japan. That week had been the best week of Bakugou’s life. Or at least that’s what he felt at the moment.

Bakugou sat on the couch watching Harper make her cup of coffee. As she stirred the drink with a spoon she did an excited little dance as she did he realized just how far gone he was as he smiled widely at her actions.

Sure, he had accepted how deep his feelings were for her but he wasn’t planning on saying it out loud any time soon. It wasn’t that he was sure about how he felt but even with how well he felt things were going he was still scared that she didn’t feel the same way. He couldn’t imagine anything more embarrassing than putting his feelings on the table only for her to not return them.

It was easy for him to get caught up in what their future would look like but he constantly told himself to take things one step at a time. For now, she was going to stay here longer and that was good enough for now.

Harper returned to the couch, sitting down next to Bakugou, he placed his arm around her as she did.

“I just have to answer some work emails then I’m all yours.” She said resting her head against his shoulder as she pulled her phone out.

Last night Midoriya had texted him about a group of their friends getting together to go to the beach. His initial reaction was to say no. He would prefer to spend the day alone with Harper but more than that he was worried to introduce her to all his childhood friends at once. He knew it would be overwhelming and didn’t want to put her through that.

At the same time, he also did want them to meet, even if he knew his friends were sure to embarrass him in front of her. But he wanted her to be a part of his life and this was a good way to start. He finally decided to leave it up to her.

“I was wondering if you’d like to go to the beach today?” He asked.

“Oh, you’re not surprising me this time?” She teased, looking up from her phone.

“Midoriya invited us, a lot of my high school friends will be there. I wanted you to have a choice. I didn’t just want to throw you into it.” He explained.

“That’s very sweet of you.” She said pressing a kiss against his cheek. “I would really like to meet your friends. Are Mina and Jirou going?”

“Yeah, I think so.” He said. “Did you bring a bathing suit or do we need to get one?”

“I brought one, I kind of over-packed but in hindsight that wasn’t a bad thing.” She laughed.

“Let me make you breakfast before we get ready.” He said, brushing a strand of hair out of her face.

“How can I say no to that.” She said with a big smile, leaning up to press a kiss to his lips. Bakugou’s heart skipped a beat.

Bakugou quickly made breakfast for both of them before getting ready. He made sure to pack a back with sunscreen and towels as well as grab an umbrella and chairs.

He was finishing packing some drinks and snacks when Harper walked out of his bedroom dressed in a pair of shorts and a tank top.

They arrived at the beach, the sun was bright in the sky and the weather was perfect for swimming. Harper was nervous, she would admit it. For one, they were all impressive pro heroes but more importantly, they were Bakugou’s friends. Even if he played it off that they weren’t super close she knew they meant a lot to him.

“Are Suki and Kirishima going to be here?” She asked.

“Yeah, they rarely miss anything where we all get together.” He said, pulling their bags out of the car. Harper tried to reach for one before Bakugou pulled it away giving her a look. She should have known better that he wouldn’t let her carry anything. She put her own bag over her shoulder refusing to let him take it for her.

It was a funny sight looking at him carrying all of their stuff at one. The bags over his shoulder, chairs in hand, and umbrella balanced somewhere in there and yet he still left his hand open to hold hers.

“If it’s too much we can leave whenever.” He said squeezing her hand reassuringly.

“Thank you, I appreciate it.” She said looking up at him with a big smile.

It was easy to spot the group even with only knowing a few of them. There was a large group, they had umbrellas, towels and chairs set up all over. As they approached them all Harper started to feel even more nervous.

“Harper!” A familiar voice shouted. She looked over to see Mina waving at them excitedly. Harper and Bakugou approached and Mina gave Harper a hug before going to hug Bakugou. “I’m surprised you guys came, I was sure Bakugou would want to keep you to himself.”

Bakugou gave her a look and Harper laughed.

“I’m glad we came, I’m excited to meet everyone.” She said.

“Hey, guys!” Kirishima said as he and Suki approached. They both gave them hugs as well.

“I’m so hurt that you got to meet her before I did.” Harper heard from a blond man as he approached with Jirou beside him. He had yellow eyes and a black stripe that almost resembled a lightning bolt in his hair. She recognized him from the news the other day.

“Hey, Harper.” Jirou greeted. “It’s good to see you again. This is my boyfriend Denki.”

“Not just your boyfriend but one of Bakugou’s best friends.” He defended. “Not that I’m not absolutely overjoyed to be your boyfriend.” He said giving Jirou a charming smile.

“It’s nice to meet you,” Harper said bowing.

“Hey, I don’t want to be left out!” A man with black hair said. He had a wide grin and odd elbows. “I’m Sero, it’s nice to finally meet you. You’ve been quite the subject among us all.”

“Oh boy, hopefully only good things,” Harper said with a nervous laugh. She understood that it was only expected to be talked about, her own friends talked about Bakugou quite a lot.

“It’s not been anything negative.” Mina jumped in. “Everyone has just been excited to meet you.”

“I’m glad it’s mutual.” Harper laughed.

“We’re going to play some volleyball if you want to join. We need one more for the girl's team.” Jirou mentioned.

“Oh, I love volleyball. I’d like to play.” She replied excitedly.

“Perfect, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the girls.” She said grabbing Harper by the hand. Harper spared Bakugou a look before being dragged away. He looked concerned but she gave him a reassuring smile to let him know she didn’t mind.

“Okay, you know Jirou and Suki of course. This is Momo,” She said pointing the woman with her black hair in a ponytail. She looked so elegant.

“Asui,” She said.

“My friends call me Tsu.” The green hair woman said. She had big eyes and almost resembled a frog.

“And Uraraka, or Midoriya now,” Mina said with a laugh at her slip up.

“You’re married to Deku?” Harper asked. The brunette blushed.

“Yeah, it’s been over a year now.” She said sheepishly. “Have you met him yet?”

“Oh, no not yet. I’ve heard about him quite a bit. Is he here?” She asked. Harper was quite interested to meet Midoriya. She had heard so much about him both from her own friend back in America and from Bakugou now.

“We forgot to bring ice so he went to go get some, he should be back pretty quick.” She explained.

“Alright, let’s head over to the net,” Mina said. Harper’s gaze followed to the net that wasn’t too far from where they had set up everything.

“Are you going to play?” Harper asked as she walked beside Suki.

“Oh no, honestly I can’t keep up with all these heroes.” She laughed. Harper gave her a serious look.

“Am I about to make a fool out of myself?” She asked.

“Maybe?” Suki said trying not to laugh at her sudden seriousness. “Depends on how good you are at volleyball.”

“What have I gotten myself into.” Harper sighed.

They got to the sandy court and the guys were there and ready to play. On the other team, there was Bakugou, Sero, Denki, and Kirishima that she knew. There was also Iida, a tall dark blue-haired man and Tokoyami who had a bird head and a quirk called Dark Shadow that was a sentient bird shadow that was a part of him. Nothing out of the ordinary. She had also seen him on the news.

Harper tried her best not to stare at Bakugou as he pulled off his shirt and tossed it to the side before getting into place for the game. He said something to Sero that she couldn’t hear.

The game began and it was easy for Harper to understand why Suki sits these games out. The speed and power that they casually played at was far above anything Harper could accomplish. The ball darted back and forth far quicker than she could keep up with. She tried following it along but it usually was gone before she could do anything.

It was also hard to focus on the game when she couldn’t keep her eyes off of Bakugou. The way that he jumped for the ball spiking it into the sand. The way his muscles flexed as he effortlessly moved. That determined look in his eyes as he watched everyone before deciding his next move. She almost didn’t mind that it was a point against them when he did it.

“Harper!” Mina shouted, setting the ball in her direction. It headed toward her at a normal speed for once. She was able to run up and hit the ball over the net. The ball headed in Bakugou’s direction. His gaze moved from Harper and to the ball. He hesitated before going for the ball but it slipped past him.

Harper shot Bakugou a look. There was no way he couldn’t have hit that ball.

“Oh my god, he really is going soft.” Denki said.

“Shut up, extra.” He shouted over at his friend.

“I’ve never seen Bakugou let anyone win anything on purpose.” Sero chimed in.

“They’re gonna get themselves killed.” Jirou said indifferently.

“Never stopped them before.” Mina laughed.

Bakugou walked over to them but Kirishima was quick to intervene, holding him back.

“Wow, guys. Let’s get back to this game so we can break out the snacks once it’s over.” Kirishima reasoned.

Bakugou let it go, looking over to Harper. She gave him an amused look. Bakugou smiled back. She saw Denki open his mouth but Tokoyami was quick to slap his hand over his mouth to stop whatever comment was about to come out.

The game went on, even with Harper not able to help out very much the girls stayed nearly tied to the boys. It felt like the last play of the game lasted forever. Both sides were pushing to win. The ball went back and forth for the longest time.

The ball was about to hit the sand on the girl's side when Harper dove for it. She pretty much went face-first into the sand but she was able to hit it up just enough for Tsu to jump up and spike it onto the boy's side.

The girls cheered. Mina and Jirou helped Harper up from the ground.

“Harper you’re amazing.” Ochaco said approaching her as Harper dusted the sand off of herself. She was going to feel that tomorrow but it was worth it to not be the most useless person on the team.

“I’m glad I was able to do something.” She laughed. “I didn’t realize just how out of my league I was.”

“As long as you had a good time, that’s all that matters.” Tsu said.

After they finished up they broke out the snacks as Kirishima promised. Harper got to meet Shoji, Aoyama, Ojiro, Sato, and Koda as they arrived. They were all so nice.

Bakugou stayed close to Harper’s side, almost always having a hand on her whether they were holding hands or he had his arm around her shoulder. It was nice, getting to meet everyone and laugh with them. She would sneak looks at Bakugou when he wasn’t looking at her and see how content and happy he looked around his friends.

“You’re finally back.” Ochaco said Harper looked to where she was walking over to only to see a tall green-haired man. That must be Midoriya, she thought. He had bright green eyes and freckles across his cheeks. He was both an intimidating figure and very soft at the same time.

“Sorry, I got caught up with some work on the way back.” He said sheepishly.

“Of course you did.” She said with a laugh.

“Look who I found on the way here.” He said gesturing to the two men with him. One had purple hair and the other had white hair on one side and red hair on the other along with a scar on one side of his face.

“I got lost.” The one with the split hair said.

“I found him lost on my way here.” The purple-haired one said.

“Of course you did.” Bakugou scoffed. “That’s Midoriya, Shinsou, and Todoroki.” He said pointing to them respectively.

“It’s nice to meet you all.” Harper said with a smile.

They all said hello to her before splitting off to different areas. Midoriya took his ice to a cooler before making his way back to Bakugou and Harper.

“Kaachan! It’s good to see you. How are you feeling?” He asked giving him a big smile. Harper looked over to Bakugou giving him a look at the nickname. He gave her a look back that said don’t touch it. She smirked.

“I’m fine, don’t worry about it.” He replied.

“You must be Harper. I’m really happy to get to meet you.” He said with a bright smile.

“Same here, I’ve heard a lot about you,” Harper said. “In fact, one of my close friends in America is a really big fan. She’s actually a pro hero, she’s not in the top ten or anything but she’s awesome.”

Midoriya’s face lit up. He asked about her friend and her quirk. Harper gladly explained everything, it took her off guard that he was so genuinely interested.

“Do you have a quirk?” He asked.

“Yeah, I can control plants. Not very much but it comes in handy for keep houseplants alive.” She laughed.

“Wow, that’s an awesome quirk!” He said. She wasn’t expecting him to be so impressed by her quirk and it didn’t seem like he was just trying to be nice.

“Can you control any plants? Is it only small plants or can you control trees or any organic material? How can you control them? Can you move them or is it only their growth?” Midoriya rambled out what felt like a million questions. It was overwhelming she wasn’t sure where to start.

“Cut it out, nerd.” Bakugou interrupted. “That’s too many questions.”

“Oh, I’m sorry!” He apologized. “I get a little carried away.”

“That’s an understatement.” Bakugou scoffed.

“It’s okay.” Harper said.

The three of them ended up sitting down under some shade as Harper explained her quirk to Midoriya. His genuine interest was flattering. This was the number one pro hero in Japan and he was interested in her quirk that in her own opinion was barely capable of taking care of a garden. Granted, it did help her when she was kidnapped so she supposed she couldn’t bash it too much.

“Bakugou, can you help us before Kirishima burns all the food?” Suki called out to him. She was standing next to Kirishima who was standing in front of a grill that currently had more fire in it than looked necessary.

“I’ll be back.” He said to Harper giving her a soft look before getting up.

“No worries.” She replied.

“He really cares about you.” Midoriya said when Bakugou was out of ear’s range. Harper looked over at Midoriya.

“I really care about him too.” She said with a smile.

“Kaachan has been through a lot, he’s grown a lot. He’s an amazing hero, an amazing person.” He said. “He deserves an amazing person.”

“I agree.” She said. “I hope I can be that person for him.”

Midoriya smiled at you.

“I know I don’t know you very well but I have a good feeling about you.” He said. “Kaachan mentioned you're an author.”

“Yeah, I write under the name Harper Hawthorne.” She explained.

“Really? Ochaco loves your books. She made me read them when we first started dating.” He said. “We can’t wait for the next book.”

“You guys like them?” She said with a laugh. Who would have thought that the number one hero had read her books? “Well, then I’ll have to hook you guys up with it before it’s out.”

“If you could not tell Ochaco that would amazing. Our anniversary is coming up and that would be the perfect gift.” He pleaded.

“On one condition,” She said with a smirk. “My friend’s a big fan and it would make her life if you could send her a little video saying hello.”

“Of course.” He said happily. “I can get her some merch too if she wants. I’ll even sign it.”

“She would love that!”

“You two are really excited about something.” Bakugou said as he returned.

“We’re just bonding.” Harper said.

“Great.” His tone was dry but she could tell he was happy that they were getting along. “C’mon, let’s go in the water.”

Before she could protest Bakugou was pulling her up and dragging her towards the water.

The water was beautiful, a clear blue against the white sands it was picture perfect. Harper hadn’t seen a part of Japan she hadn’t liked yet. The water rose and crashed against the shore.

Harper wasn’t one for the beach, normally. The waves made her nervous and she had never been a strong swimmer. The few times she had beach days with her friends she always stayed far away from the water and stuck to getting a nice tan or helping her friends prepare food.

But she didn’t want to stop Bakugou and the thought of breaking off from everyone sounded nice. She was enjoying getting time to meet all of his friends but it was overwhelming.

Before they got too close she stopped to pull off the clothes that had been covering her bathing suit. Bakugou had already been in his swim trunks without a shirt.

Looking up she caught Bakugou staring, he looked away quickly with red cheeks.

“You’re allowed to look.” She teased. Bakugou looked back but his blush didn’t lessen.

He walked into the water and Harper followed. It was cool against her skin, a nice relief from the heat of the sun that felt endless. Bakugou continued further in but she hesitated when the water reached her knees.

“Are you coming?” He asked when he noticed her falling back.

“I- uh,” She hesitated. It felt childish, stupid even to be scared of the water. Bakugou was so strong, fearless there was no way her fear wouldn’t be seen as foolish. Instead of answering she caught up with him, the water now at her waist. She could feel her anxiety raise but she pushed it down. It’s fine, she thought.

“When I was little my family would always come to the beach.” He said as he watched the waves move. The water would move past them, crashing onto the sand behind them. “My dad would take me out into the water, he taught me how to hold my breath and swim under the waves before the crashed. It became a game for me.”

Harper smiled at the fond look on his face.

“I never liked being in water that much, it makes it harder for my quirk to activate but I always loved our beach trips.” He said.

“That sounds really nice.” She said. “My family didn’t go to the beach very often. We lived pretty inland, we would go to the lake or a river.”

She left out the part where she always avoided going too far in so she wouldn’t have to swim.

It seemed that life didn’t care for her hiding of important facts about herself, that or it simply didn’t care for her in general. Before she could reminisce more about her family’s summer activities a big wave swelled up.

Before she could do anything it was crashing down on her. Harper froze, closing her eyes and waiting for the impact to sweep her away. The water rushed over her, she hadn’t been able to hold her breath in time but an arm wrapped securely around her waist keeping her from tumbling with the wave.

As the water settled she coughed out the water that made it into her lungs. Opening her eyes she saw Bakugou looking at her concerned. He picked her up carrying her out of the water with hast before setting her down on the wet sand out of the path of the waves.

“Are you okay?” He asked.

“Yeah,” Harper said still coughing. “I’m okay, I’m okay. I’m just not that good with water.”

“Why didn’t you say something we didn’t have to go in.” He said.

“I know, I just didn’t want to be a wet blanket.” She sighed.

“You drowning would be more of a wet blanket than wanting to stay out of the water.” He scolded. “What if I hadn’t grabbed you in time?”

“I mean I wanted to get in the water too, I just didn’t expect that wave to come out of nowhere.” She said.

Bakugou sighed, glancing out to the water. The sun was getting low in the sky and the sky was beginning to turn shades of pink and purple.

“If you told me I could have helped you more.” He said.

“Maybe we can try again, without the almost drowning this time.” She offered.

“Okay, just stay close to me and follow my lead.” He said.

Bakugou took her by the hand leading her out to the water. He leaned down for a moment in front of her hoping she’d understand what he was asking without him saying. Harper hesitated a moment before realizing it. She wrapped her arms around his neck, trying her best not to choke him, and she used her legs to keep herself from falling off his back. He easily stood up, walking further into the water. He made sure to time it right so they weren’t hit by any big waves.

He was quick and efficient as he swam just far out enough that the waves would break after them. He grabbed Harper’s arms, signaling her to let go so he could turn around to face her. He made sure he kept his hands on her so she didn’t feel like she would float away.

“Good?” He asked.

“Good.” She smiled back at him.

The sky was stunning, the motion of the waves bobbing them up and down gently was relaxing. He pulled her closer to her, one arm wrapped around her waist the other brushing her wet hair out of her face.

“It’s beautiful.” She said glancing at the sunset.

“It is.” He agreed.

“This is perfect, thank you.” Harper said, wrapping one arm around his neck. It was so easy floating in the water, keeping her close so she would feel safe. He felt honored that she felt safe enough with him to be able to enjoy this.

Bakugou didn’t answer but pressed a kiss against her lips. He had never considered himself a romantic man but Harper changed that. Or maybe she was simply the key to unlocking all of this softness he had locked away. She made him want to be a better man, not just in their relationship but in every way.

He pulled away breathless, staring into her eyes. He loved her so much but he wasn’t ready to say it out loud. Not yet.

It was nice to be able to hold each other and float in the gentle waves and watch the sun sink lower in the sky as the colors changed every moment.

“Bakugou! Harper!” Denki shouted from the shore. “Food’s ready!”

Bakugou let out a huff.

“Are you hungry?” He asked.

“As much as I’d love to stay out here, yes I am.” She answered.

Bakugou motioned for her to hang onto his back again and he made his way out of the water safely. He put her down once they were back on solid ground but he didn’t let go of her hand as they returned to where their friends were gathered on the beach.

It was nice to see his friend accepting Harper and it was nice to see her getting along with everyone. He knew it had to be overwhelming for her but she handled it so well. He was thankful that his friends were welcoming, granted if anyone gave her any attitude it would be the last thing they’d do.

A part of him wondered if she would be happy living here, with him. He knew that it wouldn’t be easy leaving behind everything that she knew, that she was comfortable with. But she got along with his friends, he could easily see her as a permanent part of his life here in Japan.

He shook his head. He couldn’t ask her to leave behind everything she knew, leave behind the friends she cared for so much. He wouldn’t ask her. He shouldn’t even be thinking about it right now, he should enjoy the extended time he had with her.

His friends had prepared food and had it set out on the table under the sunshade.

“Dig in guys.” Kirishima said gesturing to all the food.

They didn’t hesitate, grabbing plates and grabbing the food that they wanted. He waited back with Harper for most everyone to get their food.

“What do you want?” He asked her as he grabbed a plate.

“Oh, I’m not sure. I can get it myself.” She said reaching for the plate in his hand but he pulled it back.

“I got it.” He said.

Harper threw her arms up in surrender.

“Okay, whatever you say.” She said with a slight smirk.

Once he got both of them food he sat down near Kirishima and Suki, knowing that Harper was the most comfortable with them.

Midoriya and Ochaco were sitting nearby along with Mina and Sero. The group talked about different things. Bakugou was glad that they included Harper and she easily cracked jokes and fit in with the conversation.

As it got darker they started a bonfire easily thanks to Todoroki’s quirk and they all gathered around sitting down.

Bakugou sat on a towel, Harper resting between his legs and leaning back into his chest. He had been mindlessly playing with her hair as he watched the fire move and dance, listening to the conversation around them. That lead to Harper falling asleep in his arms.

“I really like her, she’s a nice girl, Bakugou.” Midoriya said from beside him. “I’m glad that you found someone.”

At times it was hard not to fall into old habits with Midoriya. Even now, after all this time and progress he made he still wanted to shoot a rude comment at the green-haired man. It didn’t help that his relationship was a touchy subject. Not that that meant anything bad, but it was still a tender thing opening his heart and his life to someone else. Much less having people comment on it.

“Thanks.” He said finally, using his self-control.

“Maybe sometime we can go on a double date!” He suggested.

Bakugou didn’t have that much self-control.

“Okay, beat it nerd.” He snapped.

Midoriya laughed at the comment, undisturbed.

“Really, I think it’d be fun.” He said. “Besides I owe her some signed merch for her friend. She’s hooking me up with a copy of her new book before release.”

Bakugou scowled at that. He was the first to read her book before anyone else, he didn’t like the thought of Midoriya getting his hands on a copy. Granted it wouldn’t be long before the whole world read it but he liked feeling special. His reasoning voice kicked in and offered that he would always be the most special since he was the first one to read it.

“Fine.” He grumbled. “We’ll set something up.”

“I can’t wait.” Midoriya smiled.

Bakugou spent more time around the fire chatting with his friends, but not so loudly that he’d wake Harper from her peaceful sleep.

As much as he hated to admit it, with Harper in his arms and being surrounded by his close friends his heart felt full.

He wished that the rest of his life could be like this but even though their relationship was firm so far they had so much to work for before they could feel secure in their future.

It hadn’t been long since they started dating officially but he couldn’t stand the thought of losing her. He couldn’t stand the thought of spending another moment without her.

Whatever they face, they would get through it. He promised that not only to himself but to Harper.

We’ll make it through.

taglist: @our-lady-avon

#bakugou x oc #bakugou katsuki x oc #bnha x oc #mha x oc #bnha #bakugou katsuki #mha #my writing #message received

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tessisawriter · 4 years

Text

Going All Out (Cole Caufield ft. Carey Price)

Request (anonymous): I need more Poehling in my life!!!! 😍😍 The reader is Care-Bear’s (Price’s) 18 year old sister imagine please

A/N: I don’t know much about Poehling but I really like this concept so I wrote it for Cole Caufield, who is very underrated on this site and I can’t figure out why! This takes place in September 2020 and in this alternate reality, Cole left Wisco to join the Canadiens. Text messages are in bold.

Warnings: None

Word Count: 2.5k

“Hey, Y/N!” Johnny, the security guard at the door, greeted you by name.

“Hi Johnny.” You returned the greeting while craning your neck to make eye contact with the huge security guard. Then again, everyone was huge in your eyes because you were only five feet tall.

“The lineup is real good this year, I’m assuming your brother is psyched,” Johnny said.

“He definitely is. Have a nice day!”

People stared as you walked past Johnny and into the practice arena without having to show any form of ID, but you were long used to this by now. It came with the territory of being the younger sister of Carey Price, the Montreal Canadiens’ goaltender who was worshipped by practically the entire province. You were going to be around a lot more this year because you were starting university at McGill and your dorm was down the block from Carey’s apartment.

You loved your big brother, but he had a lot of rules, including not getting too close to his teammates. You had no intention of dating a hockey player; you wanted to find a nice and normal guy, if such a person existed. But what really hurt was that Carey didn’t trust you. You were going to make sure he changed his mind by the end of the season.

You were so lost in your thoughts that you walked right into someone. You felt strong hands wrap around your waist, steadying you. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry! Are you okay?” A guy with an unfamiliar voice asked.

You looked up and realized the voice (and hands) belonged to none other than prized Canadiens prospect Cole Caufield.

You were so screwed.

Cole was the only hockey player you had a weakness for. Last June, you were sitting on the couch with your family watching the draft, and your eyes were drawn to a sad-looking boy sitting in the audience. The commentators then provided a name for the face: Cole Caufield. They talked how talented he was, but that his short stature meant he had to watch his teammates and other inferior prospects get picked before him. You noticed from his soulful eyes and mouth pressed into a thin line that he was desperately trying to keep it together, and you felt badly for him. What sealed the deal, though, was his radiant smile when Shea Weber called his name at the podium, making him the newest member of the Montreal Canadiens. It was in that moment you knew you were in trouble, and you developed a huge crush on him afterwards.

You were hoping you wouldn’t see Cole today (or ever), but fate clearly had other plans.

“I…I’m fine, thanks for asking. I’m sorry, I should’ve looked where I was going,” you blushed.

“No, it was all on me. I was so busy looking at all the photos on the walls that I didn’t see you coming.”

You smiled at that. They had fascinated you, too, when you first started coming to practices here. “Yeah, they are amazing.”

There was a moment of silence before Cole broke it. “I forgot to introduce myself before, I’m Cole. And you are?”

“Y/N,” you said.

“Nice to meet you, Y/N.” He smiled at you before his cheeks flushed red, and he dropped his hands from your waist, where they had remained since they steadied you. He extended one of his hands to shake yours, and you took it. “So, are you from Montreal?”

“No, but I’ve lived here since high school and I’m a first-year at McGill,” you replied, intentionally vague about what, or rather, who, brought you here. “What about you?”

“I grew up in Wisconsin before moving to Michigan for the NTDP program, and I went to Wisco last year before turning pro and coming here.”

“That’s awesome!” You acted like you hadn’t conducted countless searches about him on the Internet in the past year.

“McGill’s a really good school, what are you studying?”

“English literature.”

He only nodded this time, and you wondered if you said something wrong because he got really quiet and looked super nervous. Or maybe he figured out your last name.

“I know we just met,” Cole began, and your heart started beating rapidly in your chest, “but I was wondering if—”

“Y/N!” Of course, at that particular moment, your brother had to come down the hall and wrap you up in his arms as if Cole wasn’t standing there. When he finally let you go, he finally noticed Cole, whose eyes were darting between you and Carey. You could tell from his face that the pieces were fitting together in his mind.

“I see you already met my baby sister,” Carey said with a note of suspicion in his voice, and he actually puffed his chest out in an attempt to look intimidating. Your brother’s behavior made you cringe.

Cole opened his mouth to speak, but you beat him to it. “I crashed into him as I was walking down the hall.”

Carey visibly relaxed and ruffled your hair, which you immediately smoothed back down. “Y/N, I love you, but you’re a klutz.”

“Hey, not all of us have superhuman reflexes like you,” you said, hands in the air.

Cole laughed out loud. “You got that right; your brother’s the best goalie I’ve ever seen. He made some wicked saves during practice today. Well, uh, I’d better get going. It was nice to meet you, Y/N,” he said, smiling shyly at both you and Carey.

“You too,” you said, but he had already put his head down and started walking down the hall.

It took all you had not to sigh out loud. You were convinced that Cole was about to ask you out when Carey showed up. Now, he was probably never going to ask you out. You were the “baby” sister of the franchise goalie, and he didn’t even find out about it from you. You were absolutely crushed. You wanted to get to know him better, go on dates with him, maybe even be his girlfriend, but you doubted that would happen now. Cole seemed smart, and there was no way he would risk upsetting your brother.

“Are you okay?” Carey snapped you out of your trance.

“Yeah, totally fine. Can I have dinner at your place?” you asked. After only a few weeks at McGill, you were starving and Carey’s wife, Angela, was an amazing cook.

“Of course, shorty.”

“I told you not to call me that!” you said indignantly.

“You’re my baby sister; I have to have at least one embarrassing nickname for you,” he responded before putting his arm around you and guiding you out of the practice arena and into the cool and crisp Montreal afternoon.

***************

That night, you were in your old room at Carey’s place because you had received a text from your roommate, Leslie, saying she was having a guy over and that you had make yourself scarce. It had taken you about a week to hate her guts, and that hatred increased every day. You already requested a dorm transfer for the spring, but you were in the lurch for this semester.

After you received the latest text from Leslie, you had called Jesperi Kotkaniemi, otherwise known as KK, and commiserated with him. He said he would’ve let you crash with him, but Cole was his roommate for the year. You quickly agreed that wouldn’t be the best idea and had now come to terms with the fact that you’d probably be staying with Carey this semester.

Your phone buzzed on the bedside table and you picked it up with a sigh, thinking it might be another passive aggressive text from Leslie, but it was an unknown number.

The text read: Hey it’s Cole, I got your number from KK.

Your heart started pounding in your chest, and you scrambled to unlock your phone and respond to the text. What were you going to say?

Then, another thought popped into your head: you never told KK about your crush on Cole. That son of a bitch had figured it out, you thought wryly.

Before you could get your thoughts straight, another text popped up on your screen: Is it safe to FaceTime?

Now you were convinced that your heart was going to burst out of your chest. You typed, Let me check, before throwing the phone down on the bed and tiptoeing down the hall. You saw Carey and Angela cuddled up together on the couch watching a movie, so you went back into your room and texted Cole: Coast is clear.

Before you knew it, your phone buzzed with an incoming FaceTime call. You took a deep breath before accepting the call.

Cole’s smiley face appeared on the other end. “Hi, Y/N.”

“Hi,” you said, only partially successful in sounding calm.

“I’m sorry our conversation got cut off earlier,” he said.

“You’re sorry? If it’s anyone’s fault, it’s mine,” you responded. “Carey is my brother, after all.”

It was very subtle, but you saw Cole’s jaw clench. You mentally kicked yourself for mentioning your brother. It was like you were trying to self-sabotage.

“Well, that’s true,” he laughed nervously before clearing his throat. “Listen, I was going to ask you something back at the arena before he showed up, so I’m going to do it now before I lose my nerve.” He took a deep breath and then continued, “Would you like to go out for coffee or something tomorrow?”

You couldn’t believe your ears.

“It’s totally fine if you don’t, I totally understand—”

“No, no, no,” you cut him off. “I’d love to! I’m just surprised you asked me after finding out about Carey.”

“That’s what KK said,” he replied. “Well, he said I had to be insane, but the connotations are the same.”

You rolled your eyes. “And he’s supposed to be my best friend,” you said sardonically, and Cole laughed.

“I’m sure most people would think the same thing, but when we met, we just clicked,” Cole said before gasping. “Oh God, I sound like a weirdo and I’m putting words in your mouth.”

“Not at all, I thought the same thing,” you reassured him. “So, what time should we meet up tomorrow?”

***************

“I hope you know what you’re doing, Y/N,” Angela said as the two of you waited outside the dressing room for Carey and Cole.

“I do,” you replied, looking at her steadily. She was eyeing your jersey nervously as if she wasn’t convinced.

It had been a month since you and Cole went on your first date, but it felt like you had been together for a year. He officially asked you to be his girlfriend two weeks ago, but this was their first home game since opening night due to a long western road trip. He had also given you his jersey that night, and you were wearing it instead of your brother’s #31.

“We can’t hide this from him forever,” you continued, “and Cole scored his first goal tonight and the team won, so hopefully Carey’s in a good mood.”

You told Angela earlier today, and while she was happy for you, she was understandably nervous about how her husband was going to react. Carey looked like a teddy bear, but he was capable of being downright ferocious if he thought someone would hurt his family, especially you.

“We’re about to find out,” she replied, angling her head toward the dressing room from which your brother had just emerged. He was smiling, which was good. How long that was going to last…you knew it wouldn’t be long.

“Great game tonight, babe!” Angela exclaimed, hugging her husband. He hugged her back fiercely, then let her go and pulled you into a hug.

“You were amazing out there, big bro,” you said into his chest.

“Thanks, shorty,” he retorted, and you let the nickname slide. Carey let go of you while simultaneously saying, “I’m always better when you guys are—”

He stopped mid-sentence, staring at your sleeve or, more specifically, the #22 on it. “Why aren’t you wearing my jersey? Whose number is that, anyway?” he asked before realization dawned on his face. “Cole.”

“Carey, I don’t want you to be mad, but—”

“Y/N and I are dating,” you heard Cole say. You looked over Carey’s shoulder to see him standing behind your brother; you hadn’t even seen him come out. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you earlier, but we were both afraid of how you would react, so we figured it was best to tell you after the roadie.”

Carey’s expression was, for once, unreadable. You could generally tell what he was thinking, but now? Nothing. “How long?” he asked, the words clipped.

“A month,” you replied before continuing. “I’m sorry for not telling you, too, but I wanted to make sure this was going to work out before upsetting you, and then you guys went on the road, so I couldn’t tell you sooner.”

“Is that why you were glued to your phone the whole time?” Carey asked Cole, turning away from you.

“Yeah,” Cole admitted.

“Are you happy?” Carey spun around to face you again.

“Happier than I ever thought I could be with anyone.” Conviction rang clear and true in your voice.

There was a long pause before he looked at Cole, who had walked over to your side and taken your hand in his. “If you ever hurt her, I swear to God, Caufield, I’ll kick your ass,” he said.

“I won’t. I go all out to protect the people I love,” Cole replied, smiling at you. You just barely stopped yourself from gasping in response, instead smiling back at him and squeezing his hand to convey that you felt the same way.

“You scored your first NHL goal! I’m so proud of you,” you whispered. Cole grinned before looking at your lips and leaning in.

“And no PDA while I’m around,” Carey interrupted.

“We’re just holding hands!” You protested without thinking. Carey stared at you, and you looked at the ground, suddenly finding the concrete interesting.

“I know, I’m just messing with you!” Carey reached out to ruffle your hair, which you smoothed down with the hand that wasn’t holding Cole’s. “Why does everyone think I’m so scary, anyway?”

“You have got to be kidding me.” This time, it was Angela who spoke, barely suppressing a chuckle while she did so. “Do you remember the time you thought you saw Y/N’s prom date kiss someone else at the pre-party?”

You cringed at the memory, and Cole looked at you. “What happened?”

“He lunged at them and ripped the guy away, only to realize he wasn’t my date,” you replied. “The principal flipped out. If Carey wasn’t who he is, he would’ve been banned from school property.”

Cole looked at Carey, who shrugged. “I go all out protect the people I love.”

“And I love you for that,” you cut in, “but I’d prefer not to see you end up in jail one day.”

Everyone laughed, including Carey, and the four of you walked out of the arena together.

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elrielllll · 4 years

Text

“Perfect” part 3

A/N: As promised :) Also updates after this should be every Sunday x

Today didn’t start well.

She was late. Not to mention the pounding headache that came from marking into the early hours of the morning, and possibly a little too much wine.

She huffed as she turned into the car park, pushing her glasses up her face, annoyed that she had to wear them but with that headache she just couldn’t manage contacts.

As she pulled in she saw her parking space, or what it used to be, covered by a pile of bricks.

Not today.

Today of all days, not today. She didn’t need some thing else to contend with, she thought as she drove off to find another space.

She was still cursing those builders and the school’s long corridors as she ran, or as she preferred to call it, delicately speed walked to her room.

She only just got there in time before her students spilled into her room and she sat down, ready for a long day of teaching.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Out of all of the 5 years at this school this had been the worst morning by far. The noise and novelty of the build and the very shirtless sweaty builders, she couldn’t get her kids to concentrate for more than 5 seconds. And all of the previously intellectual questions she was used to receiving had now turned into,

“miss how do you say “you’re hot” in French?”

“how do you ask someone out in French?”

“don’t you think French is a sexy language miss? I reckon if I asked in french first I’d get their number.”

And whilst she tried to ignore her students and act like the professional adult she was, she couldn’t help but think the same things.

But how did they expect her to concentrate? Let alone teach 30 teenagers.

She came back to Lucien waving a hand in front of her face “Ellie? Earth to Ellie? Where did you go?”

“Over there,”she grumbled, gesturing in the general direction of the building site, and the people that came with it.

Lucien groaned, head in his hands, “not you too, I’ve had to deal with the kids all morning.”

Elain laughed while also internally crying, “why do they all have to be shirtless?” she asked.

Lucien raised his eyebrows, “Elain, only one of them is shirtless”

Elain froze mid bite of her sandwich, “No I swear there’s more”, but sure enough when she turned to look out of the window Lucien was right.

And just her luck, It was Azriel.

She threw her head down and groaned. Typical that the first man she would find attractive since Grayson was her sisters boyfriends brother.

It sounded like soap opera that she had absolutely no intention of being in.

Lucien laughed and gave her a quick one armed hug ,“hope you’re less distracted the rest of the day” he said with a wink as headed off.

But she wasn’t. By the end of the day Elain wanted the builders gone. After only one day dealing with them and being embarrassed by her class, she was fed up.

So much so that she found herself walking towards the site and the one builder left.

“Hey!” she shouted as she neared, “ are you trying to make my job impossible? Have you ever had to deal with 30 teenagers at once? Well let me tell you it’s not easy, It’s like being in a pit of snakes!”

She stopped the man turned around and familiar hazel eyes met hers.

She stopped, unsure. Should she really be shouting at her sister’s friend?Azriel opened his mouth to speak but she carried on,

“And now with the noise, killing my head and making it a nightmare to teach, especially a different language! And if you wouldn't mind-”

She stopped her rant as she looked at him. Still shirtless, taking in the tattoos and the muscles and the sheer size of him towering over her. She took a shaky breath and looked at the point on the wall over his shoulder, deciding that it was the only safe place to look.

She finished her rant significantly quieter, “-putting a shirt on”

She let her eyes flick back to him as she saw him reach down for a shirt and pull it on.

She wasn’t looking at his tattoos swirling up and down the planes of his chest.

She wasn’t.

“I’m sorry,” he said, rubbing a hand on the back of his neck, his deep voice going right through her, “I’ll talk to my guys and we’ll see what we can do about the noise.”

Elain nodded, now daring to make eye contact, “thank you ,” she said, feeling ashamed of shouting, It wasn’t his fault and she knew that, but he happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.

She stuck out her hand, “I’m Elain by the way,”

“Feyre’s sister,” he nodded as he took her small hand in his big one, “I’ve heard lots about you, I’m Azriel.”

She nodded looking down, noticing how her hand was completely enveloped in his, and for the first time noticing the scars that decorated his hands. She hadn’t seen them during his little speech yesterday, but then again she was a bit preoccupied.

“Beautiful” she breathed.

Shit. She shouldn’t have said that. Of all the stupid things she could have said, it was probably top of the list.

She peered up at him, to gauge his reaction, feeling guilty when he blushed faintly and nodded just once.

Way to make a good impression.

Elain looked down, realising that her hand was still in his.

“Well I have to go” she blurted out, withdrawing her hand and clenching it by her side, noting how his stayed in the air between them for just a few seconds longer.

He nodded .

Elain stood blinking for a moment before he gestured to his work, “um I should”

“Oh yeah, yes of course sorry,” Elain said plastering a smile on her face and waiting for him to turn around before practically running back to her room and leaning against the door.

Nice one Elain.

Why did she have to be so awkward. She just went out there and shouted at him for doing his job and hadn’t even apologised. What was wrong with her?

That was often the case with her temper, she always regretted getting angry afterwards, but never while she was ripping into people.

She looked down to see her phone ping with a message from Feyre,

F: Hey! Come round to mine tonight, we’re getting a Chinese x

Elain didn’t have too much work to do tonight and she could use a good catch up with her sister, and Rhys always had good wine.

E: I’ll be there! On a side note will you apologise to Azriel for me? I may have shouted at him xx

F: Ooh he must have done something wrong if YOU shouted at him. But he’ll be there so you can tell him yourself! ;)

That probably wasn’t the best idea, she’d probably make a fool of herself again. Yeah that sounds about right. But she did owe him an apology and she was going to have to do it sometime. And preferably not in front of a group of teenagers.

Not that Feyre’s family were much better.

She grabbed her keys and headed out to her car dropping Lucien a text that she was off.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Azriel had had one hell of a first day. When he took the job he thought he would be working over the holidays, with no kids. Or people in general. He though Rhys had known that and assumed he wouldn’t have brought the job up otherwise.

Azriel had apparently underestimated how much his family wanted him home.

It had started off with that speech yesterday, public speaking was not his forte, but he could manage talking to adults.

Teenage girls however, were not manageable.

Every time he saw a group giggling in the corner while stealing glanced when they thought that he wasn’t looking he wanted to jump into the hole they were digging and stay in there, perhaps be buried alive.

He wouldn’t have objected to it right then.

And just when he thought he might finally have some peace Feyre’s sister came storming out, guns blazing. .

He’d seen her a couple times throughout the day in her classroom, when he’d stopped for a moment and she seemed invested, using wild hand gestures to get her point across.

Though she didn’t use them when she was annoyed apparently.

Thinking back he turned away from her too fast. It was rude and he was politer than that, but in his defence it had been a while since he had made an effort with someone, or even made a friend. He kept himself to himself while he was in London.

He put it out of his mind as he pulled up to Rhys and Feyre’s apartment and headed up the stairs. He was pretty sure he could already hear Cassian’s voice echoing down the hall followed by Mor’s indignant cry.

It was like he’d never left.

He smiled as he pushed the door open and was bombarded with a hug from Mor.

“I missed you” he said around a mouthful of hair.

“I missed you too,” Mor shouted in his ear, “I can’t believe that you didn’t come and visit once!”

Azriel winced, “ I was busy”

Mor waggled her eyebrows, “ I bet you were in high demand”

Chuckling, Azriel made his way next to the couch and sank down next to Cassian who passed him a beer with a grin.

“Speaking of high demand, how was your first day at the new job?” Rhysand asked from where he was sat on the opposite couch with Feyre, eyes dancing.

“Hell.” Azriel, cracking open his drink and taking a long swig.

“Oh do tell,” said Rhys through a half smirk.

Azriel pointed at him, “you know very well how it went,”

Rhys only laughed as Cassian pushed, “Come on Az, it reminds us of being in school, tell us.”

“That is not something I want to re live thank you,” Azriel grumbled.

“Oi we tried to make you popular but you were too damn scary” Cassian protested.

Cassian and Rhys were on the rugby team all through school, and everyone knows that the rugby team was a free pass to an easy ride through school. Azriel was more focused on important stuff like athletics, and Mor, who coincidentally came with it, being the star of long jump.

Thank god that crush had passed, he was happy to see Mor with her girlfriend, they all were.

“Where’s Emma?” Azriel asked, subtly trying to change the subject.

“Working late,” Mor replied, “but that’s not what we want to talk about” she sang.

“I had a gaggle of teenage girls staring at me at all times. And some of the boys.” Azriel admitted.

They all burst out laughing as Cassian clapped Azriel on the shoulder and said, “Well you can’t really blame them”

“I second that,” Mor piped up.

“I just want to work”, Azriel said, exasperated.

“Are you kidding? Soak up all the attention, that’s what I do. Whenever I need an ego boost, I just head into Feyre’s class and flex a bit” Rhys said, demonstrating.

“I thought you were coming in to see me,” Feyre said as she smacked him over the head with a pillow.

Cassian’s laugh boomed around the room as Rhys yelped.

“I’m not trying to be a pig but where’s the food?” Mor said frowning at Rhys who was still rubbing his head looking betrayed.

“Pig,” Cassian quipped and got a pillow to the head as well from Feyre.

“We’re waiting for everyone to get here.” Feyre said as she sat back down, glaring at the boys.

They all looked around the room confused. Azriel could see Cassian counting on his fingers and looking at Feyre like she was crazy. They were all here, who where they waiting for? Amren was in Australia with Varian, and Nesta had gone to school down south so it wasn’t her-

And just then the door cracked open and Elain slipped through with a shy smile.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

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Tags:

@stars-falling @abraxos-is-toothless @cirieael @suppengott @candid-confetti @nite0wl29 @tyheronthorn @negativenesta @sleeping-and-books @awkward-avocado-s

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riverdalesfangirl · 4 years

Text

Melody Andrews (FP Jones)

Melody Andrews ~ Home Sweet Hell ~ Drinks ~ You Need A Break ~ But A Number

~Trouble~

I drive to Jackson's house knocking on the door. Suddenly he comes out with a gun pointed at me. "Woah!" I scream crouching down. "Shit Mel! What the fuck! I could have shot you!" "Why the hell are you coming to the door with a gun?" I ask shocked and confused. Jackson puts the gun in his waistband sighing. "It's been a little rough. I got into some trouble, and now it's... bad." I walk into his home throwing myself onto the couch. "What kind of trouble?" Jackson walks back and forth nervous. "You know the whole Blade situation?" "That dude is still alive?" I ask laughing. We use to party with him back in the day.

"He's...got into some business, and asked me to do a couple of runs for him. I got hit by a car and I fled. Left the entire shipment there. Now he's going to kill me! I lost so much shit!" Jackson flings his arms around crying. "Hey! It's alright. You're going to be fine." "No! I-I'm going to die Mel!" He cried into my shoulder. "No, you wont. I won't let that happen." Jackson laughs. "Yeah? Please enlighten me how you're going to stop a fucking drug lord." "We pay him back." Jackson pulls away fully looking at me shocked. "Mel! Do you really think I got that much money? You're fucking crazy!" I shake my head. "I didn't say you had to pay them." I go to walk out of the house and once I do I'm met with a group of men. Scary looking men... with guns pointed at me. I look in the middle and see Blade standing there, arms crossed, stern face. "Hey there Blade." He tilts his head confused. "Do I know you?" "Melody Andrews. Nice to see you again." "Shit girl. We thought you died. Everyone did." I nod sighing. "Yep. Been around just moved away alone." "Well good to see you, but I've got some business with your friend there." I turn to see Jackson as white as a ghost. "You know what. You don't. I'm taking care of it. You're not going to hurt him." They laugh at my statement. "What makes you think you're going to stop us?" I whip out my wallet and open it pulling out hundreds of dollars. "This enough?" I ask throwing the stack of cash at Blade. He looks up at me shocked. "He lost a shipment. Money isn't the issue." He tries to push past me but I shove another couple hundred at his chest. "Leave Blade." He smirks and sneers in my face. "You think you're tough little girl? How about I show you-" I cut him off punching him as hard as I can knocking him down the steps and at his follower's feet.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!" I scream at them. Blade hides his fright and leaves with the payment. "Melody." Jackson calls from the door. I turn to see a couple of Serpents staring at me. "I've got to go." I get into my car and drive around the town without a real destination. I pass Pops, the school, a couple of playgrounds, and then I finally pass my childhood home. I pull off on the side of the road and stare at the house. My old room lit up by lights. I smile when I see the glimpse of orange hair just like mine.

"I've waited long enough." I mumble and step out of my car. I walk up to the house and begin to softly toss pebbles at my brother's window. He opens it and peers down at me. I wave at him nervously. He just stares at me with wide eyes. Seconds later he is out the front door and just looking at me. Suddenly a full grown Labrador retriever bolts out towards me. "Vegas!" I praise and hug the dog that was just a puppy when I left.

My brother smiles at me and rushes into my arms. No words exchanged, only tears and huffs of breaths. I pull away looking at him. "Oh my gosh, you're so old." I laugh admiring his face. He has gotten so handsome. "You're back." He speaks in a shakey voice. "Melody. Where did you go?" He asks burring his head in my neck and holding onto me tightly. "I can't stay long Archie, but I promise to tell you everything soon." He looks at me with serious eyes. "Are you in trouble Melody?" I smile at him kissing his head. "No Arch. I'm safe. I'll be back don't worry. I love you." My brother smiles wide and hugs me as hard as he can. "I love you too Melody."

-FP-

Fred and I walk into the office trailer of the site and see both our boys sitting there tossing a ball around. "Oh, how was your first day back?" Jughead asks me with a small grin. "Oh, it was great." I say my mind running elsewhere. Like Melody for instance. She doesn't know that I've taken a new job. She doesn't even know I've been thinking about her day and night, regretting telling her we didn't belong together.

"Your dad is the hardest-working guy on the crew, as always." Fred laughs patting me on the back. "Oh, in that case, why don't we celebrate to mark the occasion?" " Yeah, Juggy and I were thinking the four of us could have dinner or something." Fred looks at the boys. "Uh, tonight? I don't know." I shrug looking at my old time friend. "I'm game if you're game. On me." Fred nods and we all soon drive down to the local diner.

"Anyway We spent the whole summer fixing up that old VW bus. Yeah. Remember what we called it, Fred?" "The Shaggin' Wagon." We say in unison laughing. "This was before your dad had game. Senior Year, he started a band, and then the girls were all over him." I explain to the boys laughing in the memory. "We were awful." Fred says. "Yeah, yeah, we were." "You know, your dad was what is commonly known as a BMOC, Jughead." I roll my eyes with a grin. "Come on. The hell I was." I watch as a familiar red car pulls in the parking lot and I get caught up in a smile.

"He single-handedly defeated our arch-rivals, the Baxter High Ravens." Fred says making me come back from my trance. "He doesn't care about that stuff, Fred. Football, sports. Takes after his mom in that respect, and I mean that as a compliment. I'd rather see you spending your time writing, thinking up stories, you still do that? Nose in a book? Typing away?" My son nods but doesn't say much else.

"Yeah, yeah, Jughead works on the school paper with Betty." Archie speaks perking my interest. "Betty? - Ooh. Who is Betty? Is that your girlfriend?" Jug shoots the subject down. "I wanna know more about the band. What was the name of the band?" I laugh remembering. "Ah, yeah. It was called The Fred Heads." Fred says ashamed.

The door chimes and I see Melody walk in. I wave to her sending her a small smile her way. She looks away shuffling to the back. "Who is that?" Fred asks looking at me confused. "Melody. She moved into town about a month ago." This catches Fred's attention and he turns around faster than spreading flames. He stands up just staring at her. "You okay Fred?" My eyes wander to Melody behind the counter putting her things away when she freezes at the sight of Fred.

Am I missing something?

"Melody." Fred says in a cracking voice. Her eyes dart from me to Fred with shock and worry written on her face. She walks closer slowly. Her steps becoming more unstable as she nears. She gets close to Fred and suddenly tears fall from her eyes. I almost stand wanting to protect her, but her words stop me completely. "Dad." Fred grabs her holding her close and crying as well.

Oh shit...

I turn to Archie watching him smile. "You got a sister?" He nods standing up and joining his family. "Don't you remember dad? Archie's Mom kicked her out. She went missing for a long time." Jughead explains to me. "Oh fuck." I do remember! Shit Jugs mom use to take him over to play with them when they were all younger.

Fred pulls away and leads Melody over. "FP, this is my daughter Melody. I don't know if you remember." I look at the women I have come to know and care for in the weeks since she arrived. I planned to find her and tell her it was a mistake letting her walk away. I guess this makes things more complicated.

"Yeah. We actually met when I got into town. It's good to see you again." I nod still shocked to the bone. "How'd you meet?" Fred asks confused. "Um. I wanted a drink. Found a bar on the South Side. FP kept me company." Melody stumbles on her words. She makes eye contact with me. Her eyes searching for something.

"I-I have to work, but I should be getting off around 12. o'clock." Melody speaks looking at me. "Do you want to come home?" Archie asks staying by his sister's side. "Um, I can't tonight-" "No. Melody you have to. You can't just wait to explain yourself. Please come home. Please darling." Melody shakes her head. "I'm not going anywhere near Mary." Archie looks down showing sorrow. "She's not here anymore. She moved to Chicago." Melody smiles slightly. She nods peeking her eyes at me every so often. "Oh, well then I guess I will come by."

Pop comes up from the back smiling. "No worries for you tonight Mel. Go on home." Melody can't hide her smile as she thanks Pops. "You want to ride with me Arch? Jug?" They both nod and move to get out of the booth. Melody gives me one last look containing a trapped box of emotions. The three walk out the door leaving me and Fred alone. He grabs the bill as I sit in shock. Fred places his hand on my should bringing me out of my trace. "You coming, man?" I nod and follow him out. Great. Plenty of time to talk when I'll be in her house.

My phone buzzes and I look down to see what it is. 'We need to talk' - Mel

I rub my eyes sighing. "Shit."

#fp jones x reader #fp trash #fp x oc #fp jones imagine #fp jones #riverdale x reader #riverdale #riverdale imagine #southside serpents #archie andrews #ArchieComics #jughead jones #betty cooper #veronica lodge

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lost-n-stereo · 4 years

Text

A/N: For anon who prompted me “Hallie+Sunshine”. Have a little 4th of July summer fic :)

and the sparks start flying (like the fourth of july)

She gets invited on a camping trip the first week of June, and when she says an invite she means that she quite literally received an e-vite from Helena through Facebook. There’s a group page and everything, with people RSVP’ing and talking about what alcohol they are going to bring and which campsites around the state are the best.

It’s not surprising to see the usual suspects on the list of people going. If Helena is setting it up that means that Luke is definitely going, since they are engaged and it’s just sort of a given. If Luke’s going then Clark and Jason will tag along with their girlfriends, and if the girls go then all of their friends will too. It’s a bit of a surprise to Allie though when she sees Harry RSVP and she kind of wants to comment on his post about how boat shoes aren’t generally camping attire but it feels shitty and she doesn’t want to be a dick for no reason.

The trip is planned for Fourth of July weekend, which is a little cliché but she doesn’t mind all that much. She orders a new tent off Amazon and an expensive pair of hiking boots because she’s not sure where exactly they are going yet but she feels like she should be prepared for anything. Becca calls her and asks if they should do some bathing suit shopping before the trip and they spend the day trying on different suits and drinking their daily calories in the form of food court smoothies.

It’s one of those rare times that the fourth falls on a weekend, so she takes the Friday before and the Monday after off from work and thanks the gods above that she works with a majority of older people that don’t care about the holiday weekend. They decided on a state park that has campgrounds that will fit all of them, she thinks it’s nearing twenty plus people going at last count, and a giant lake with tons of water sports and activities to do. She heard a rumor that someone rented out the entire stretch of sites on one side of the lake so they wouldn’t be bothered. No one said it was Harry but she can make an educated guess that was his doing.

There’s an honest to god party bus taking a large group of people to the lake but she decides to hitch a ride with Elle instead. The girl has a kick ass Jeep with no doors and it feels good flying down the highway with their camping gear piled high in the back and old school hip hop blaring out of the radio. Elle takes a sharp turn into the campground’s parking lot and Allie laughs as her body jerks out of the open door and her hair flies into her face as they jerk to a stop.

“You’re an absolute maniac,” Allie says on a laugh as they unbuckle their seat belts. “I fucking love it.”

Elle just flashes a grin and gets to work on unloading her tent from the back of the Jeep.

“Need some help?”

Allie rolls her eyes at the sound of Harry’s voice behind her and he’s grinning and eating an apple with a pocket knife when she turns around.

“I think we got it, thanks.”

He just shrugs, throws her a wink before heading over to where a group of people are unloading cases of beer out of the back of someone’s pickup. The parking lot is a madhouse. People are everywhere and Allie wonders in amusement if Helena is currently freaking out because there definitely were not this many RSVP’s in her Facebook group.

As if she conjured up the woman herself, Helena rushes up to Allie with a panicked look on her face. There are people Allie’s never seen falling out of backseats in fits of giggles, girls running around in barely there bikinis and dude-bros in board shorts lining up shots on the tailgate of a truck. It’s like a very cliché music video set to the sound of Post Malone pumping from someone’s car speakers.

“Are you seeing this shit?”

Allie laughs and reaches behind the seat for her backpack. “Yeah, it’s nuts. Who even are all these people?”

“Friends of friends,” Helena says, rolling her eyes as she takes a headcount. “There has to be over fifty people here already. It’s a good thing Harry rented so many campsites otherwise we’d be totally fucked.”

It’s the first confirmation she’s heard of Harry being the party benefactor but it doesn’t surprise her at all. He was always the one throwing giant parties in high school. His parents even rented an entire hotel for their senior prom, not just a banquet hall but the entire fucking thing.

“Let’s just be thankful no families with children will have to be in a tent next to that.” Allie points with her chin to where Lexie is currently pushed up against the side of a Suburban with a guy kissing down the column of her throat. “So much for a low key camping trip, ‘Lena.”

“I’m sure it’ll be fine,” Harry says, coming up to them with a Stella bottle hanging between his fingers. She wonders why he’s just randomly popping up when she knows his friends are here somewhere. Allie notices for the first time that he’s wearing flip flops, briefly stunned by the sight of his sort of bare feet. She’s not sure if she’s ever seen this man’s toes in the entire time they’ve known each other. The four years since high school have been good to him but that’s not a surprise. He has unimaginable wealth and a great job on top of that so she’s not shocked that he’s doing so well for himself so soon after graduating.

She went to school for accounting, ended up at a decent firm after graduating where the median age is mid forties, but she’s living in Brooklyn now which she loves and that’s what counts. Last she heard Harry was living in Manhattan but she doesn’t go that way often and someone like him probably wouldn’t be caught dead in her neighborhood.

Not that she cares or anything because what Harry Bingham does with his time has nothing to do with her.

“Better hope you get your deposit back,” Allie quips as she grabs a bottle of water out of her pack. Harry holds up his beer and asks if she wants one of her own. “No, Harry. It’s like nine-thirty in the morning. And don’t even say it’s five o’clock somewhere.”

Harry chuckles and takes a deep pull from the bottle. She shouldn’t think it’s sexy how he licks his lips after but well, it is. He smirks a little like he knows what she’s thinking and she rolls her eyes.

“I wasn’t going to,” he tells her. “I was just going to remind you that it’s Friday, you’re not at work at that stuffy job you go to every day, and it’s a fucking holiday. Enjoy yourself for once, Pressman.”

There’s not an ounce of heat in his words but it still cuts a little because she has fun, thank you very much. She might spend a lot of time in her studio apartment and she may only have a small group of good friends but she’s happy and that’s what matters. Helena just looks between them with her eyebrows raised, as if she’s waiting for world war three to start right there in the parking lot but Allie just shrugs, grabs the beer from his hand and chugs the rest of it before using her thumb to wipe foam from the side of her lip. Her heart pounds a little as Harry tracks the movement with laser focus and then she’s the one smirking, pushing the empty bottle into his chest.

“Looks like you need a refill.”

The absolute shock on his face makes her feel better than it probably should and Helena’s jaw is practically on the floor.

“Well played, Pressman.” Harry tilts his bottle towards her in what may be a show of respect and leaves again without a word.

“What the hell was that?” Helena presses when he’s out of earshot. Allie just shrugs, asks Helena if she’d mind helping her grab her tent out of the back of the Jeep so she can set up camp somewhere.

***

It’s dark when the real crazy stuff starts to happen.

There’s a group of people running around naked because someone thought it would be a good idea to go skinny dipping in a national park. Allie is pretty sure there are supposed to be park rangers patrolling but she supposes it wouldn’t be hard for a certain someone to grease a few palms to keep them away for the night.

Speak of the devil…

“You look like you could use a drink.”

An ice cold White Claw drops into her lap and she gasps, her thighs bare since she’s just in a bikini top and denim cutoffs.

“What in the fuck, Harry!”

He just laughs, drops down beside her in a pair of bright orange board shorts and nothing else. “Just paying you back for that little stunt with my beer this morning.”

Allie rolls her eyes, pops the cap of the cocktail and drinks half of it in one go. “You deserved that. You’re always antagonizing me. Been that way since we were kids.”

“Bullshit,” he says but when she looks at him out of the corner of her eye he’s grinning a little, fingers playing with the string of his shorts. It’s fucking distracting. “Maybe I was flirting.”

Her cheeks heat a little but she knows Harry, has known him practically all her life. Maybe sometimes things he’s done could be considered flirting but that’s only because he flirts with everyone.

“I’m sure,” she says, finishing off the drink and tossing the can into a bin nearby designated for recycling. “Shouldn’t you be over there with your friends?”

“They aren’t as fun to fuck with as you are.”

Allie points at him. “Ah! So you admit you like fucking with me!”

There’s no denying his eyes go a little dark and then she’s wishing that she could take that back because now it just sounds dirty. She’s expecting a dirty comment in return but that’s not at all what she gets.

“Maybe I just like talking to you. Maybe…”

She tilts her head a little when he doesn’t continue. “Maybe what, Harry?”

His teeth scrape across his bottom lip a little as he thinks but then he shakes his head like he’s literally trying to erase a thought from his mind. He stands up abruptly, brushes a little dirt and sand off his board shorts and throws her a casual wink.

“It’s nothing. Have a good night, Al.”

***

She wakes up with the hangover from hell and finds herself cuddled in between Sam and Grizz.

“What the shit?”

Grizz mumbles a little, presses his nose into the back of her neck and she giggles. “Shhh, you’re so comfortable and my brain is heavy.”

It makes no sense at all but she also completely gets it because her brain feels heavy too. It’s hot as fuck in this tent, which she realizes now is not her own. She tries to piece together what happened after Harry left her the night before. Not that she got blackout drunk or anything but she did let Becca and Grizz talk her into Jägerbombs which are never a good idea.

Sam’s eyes blink open and then he smiles and it reminds her of the sleepovers they used to have as kids. She signs, asks him if he wants some coffee and he nods, so she gets up to go find the little brew pot that Helena said she was bringing.

She can see the row of little camp areas stretching all the way down to the end of the lake, each with its own barbecue and campfire area. Every site can fit three or four tents and the one she set her tent up in is shared with Grizz and Sam, Helena and Luke, and Becca. Grizz’s tent is huge with multi rooms and she knows it’s probably because he’s really into spending time outdoors, fishing and camping all over the state. What they are all doing this week borders somewhere on glamping, because she’s almost positive she saw someone set up portable solar panels to run some gaming station and a small television.

There’s a pack of water bottles next to their makeshift “kitchen” by the campfire so she grabs one, empties it into the brew pot and waits for it to get hot so she can make coffee for her and her friends. Most of the campsites are quiet, which makes sense because it’s eight in the morning and the party raged until at least six this morning. When the coffee is ready she brings a cup to Sam, who puts a finger to his lips and nods to Grizz, who’s already passed out again. Allie grins, hands him the cup and signs have a good morning to him before quietly leaving the tent.

“Top of the morning to you, Pressman.”

Harry is helping himself to a cup of coffee from the pot and Allie rolls her eyes. “Don’t you have someone else to bug this morning, Bingham?”

“I like bugging you more,” he says with a smirk and she doesn’t miss the way he doesn’t say maybe like he did the night before. It’s like he’s finally acknowledging the fact that he’s always trying to get under her skin. She used to think it was because he was annoyed by her but after last night she wonders if maybe she was wrong about that. “Cup of coffee?”

Allie huffs and takes it from him. “I made that for me and my friends, if you couldn’t tell.”

Harry puts on a fake pout, which makes his lips look really fucking good and she tries to ignore the little flutter in her stomach when she notices it. “I’m hurt, Al. I thought we were friends?”

“Why are you even up this early?” She asks, ignoring the question of their friendship. It’s not that they aren’t friendly but they aren’t exactly hanging out on weekends either. Which...okay so she knows they are quite literally hanging out on a weekend right now but that doesn’t count. They have just always known each other, from him being in the same class all through school as Cassandra. She remembers one year when they were science partners and he was at their house once a week during the second semester to complete a project. Cassandra had complained about him being lazy and incompetent but Allie knows he put effort into it because she’d sometimes hang out in the kitchen while they worked and he was always putting in his own ideas just to have her sister throw them out. Which, if you know her sister, is par for the course on pretty much everything.

“Work hours,” Harry says with a roll of his eyes. “No matter what I do or how late I stay up the night before I’m always up at sunrise. What about you?”

“Same,” she admits. “I feel like a total bum if I sleep past ten.”

They both laugh and she realizes they are actually having a conversation, even if it’s stupid and doesn’t really mean anything. But he’s not picking on her and she’s not throwing attitude back at his snark and it’s actually sort of nice.

“So I hear we have a busy day this morning,” he says as he lowers himself into a folding chair that’s set up near the unlit campfire. “Helena has planned our day down to the minute, it seems.”

Allie chuckles, pulls up a chair and sets it near him but where she can still see his face. “Sounds like my girl.”

“Actually it’s my girl,” Luke says from behind her and they all laugh. “You made coffee? Allie, you’re a lifesaver.”

When she looks at Harry she sees a little flash of disappointment in his eyes and she can’t help but wonder if it’s because it’s not just the two of them anymore.

She also wonders if the same look of disappointment flashes in her own eyes when Harry gets up, tells them he’s off to get ready for the day, and leaves her and Luke to wake up the rest of their friends.

***

Her feet hurt.

It was Helena’s idea to take a drive up the road to a hiking trail less than ten minutes away from the lake. And while Allie might have remembered to purchase new hiking boots what she forgot to do was break them in before wearing them.

“You look miserable,” Harry comments as they move up the trail, which just seems to go up and up and up. He’s not even breaking a sweat and she sees well worn boots on his feet which surprises her. “When was the last time you went hiking?”

“Um...never?”

Harry chuckles and pulls her to the side, his hand on her arm as he guides her to a large rock just off the path. “Let me help,” he says, kneeling down in front of her and unlacing her boot. Helena passes by, eyebrows high, but Harry just waves her off, tells the group they will catch up.

“What are you doing?” Her voice is far more breathless than she wants it to be but holy shit, Harry Bingham is crouched in front of her, picking up her sore foot delicately and placing it on his knee.

“Helping,” he says simply as he unlaces her boot and works it off her right foot, followed by her sock. After repeating the same steps with her other foot, he places them gently on the ground before standing in front of her. “Lift your legs.”

“Excuse me?” Her face flushes but he just smirks, grabs each foot and places them on his thighs with her knees together.

“You need to elevate your feet,” he explains as he positions her just so. “It’ll work, trust me.”

They probably look ridiculous, him standing in front of her with a pair of dark sunglasses covering his eyes and his hair a ruffled mess and her perched on a rock with her feet on his legs. But he wasn’t wrong and after a few minutes she can feel the pain lessening by the second.

“How long do I have to do this?”

Harry looks down at his watch. “About fifteen minutes and we’ve been here for eight so get comfortable.”

Allie laughs and tilts her head back. “You’re not sitting on the hardest rock known to man. My bony ass can’t handle this.”

“Your ass isn’t that bony,” he says but it’s not an insult, she can tell. It’s definitely a compliment, and a heated one at that.

“Spend a lot of time checking out my ass, Bingham?”

Harry just shrugs, a little grin playing on his lips as he looks down at her. Her cheeks heat again and she rolls her eyes for something to do because she’s not exactly sure what to say back. The last thing she expected this morning was to be hiking with Harry, who’s apparently some sort of expert, and then have him basically admit to checking her out before.

“We should catch up with everyone,” she says a few minutes later and he checks his watch again, nods and moves her legs carefully so she can put her shoes and socks back on. “Thanks,” she says quietly as she flexes her toes. “That really did help.”

“You should trust me more often.” He puts a hand out for her to grab and she accepts, ignores the little electricity she feels when her skin touches his. It’s hard not to be attracted to someone like Harry, who exudes confidence in everything that he does. And he’s obviously not bad to look at even though he dresses like a future senator eighty percent of the time and wears his cockiness like a badge. He just keeps showing her these little sides of personality that she’s never seen before and frankly, it’s hard to ignore.

They make up time quickly, thanks to Harry’s hiking skills and her mostly refreshed feet. When they reach the others everyone is standing at the top of the little mountain they just climbed, eyes focused on something in the distance.

“What is everyone looking at?” Allie asks no one in particular but stops short with a little gasp when she takes in the view they are all gaping at. The entire lake is visible from their viewpoint, the crystal blue water shimmering in the mid afternoon sun. She can see their side of the lake, with people milling around the sites like little ants. There are boats pulling people on water skis and tons of water crafts making waves for people in floating inner tubes. The lake is surrounded by trees on three sides and Allie thinks it might be one of the most beautiful views she’s ever seen in real life.

“This is breathtaking,” she says, mostly to herself, but then she feels a hand bump hers as Harry steps up next to her.

“It sure is,” he says quietly, his eyes sliding from the view before them to her face and then back again. His pinkie touches the side of her hand just barely and the idea to reach over to hold his hand is sudden and unexpected. She doesn’t do it but she finds that she wants to and that confuses her even more.

***

“Fifty bucks says I can chug this entire bottle of Jack in under a minute!”

Allie rolls her eyes as she passes by a group of guys that she went to high school with, all of them former jocks and not so bright.

“Pretty sure fifty bucks isn’t going to be enough to get your stomach pumped,” she tosses back in their direction before heading towards the campfire that’s currently warming the majority of her friend group.

After the hike they spent the day in the water, swimming and riding around on the Jet Skis that Helena had brought for the weekend. Harry offered to rent a boat to take them out but the boats were all rented out by the time they made it back to the lake.

“Tomorrow then,” he had said, dropping his credit card on the counter and winking at the girl making the reservations. Allie’d rolled her eyes and Harry had just laughed and winked at her too.

It’s hard not to notice that he looks really good right now, sitting by the fire with a bottle of beer hanging from his fingertips, his skin perfectly tanned from being in the sun all day. He’s wearing board shorts again but he finally put a shirt on, a white button down with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. It annoys her that he can make anything look good.

The little smile he gives her when she walks up to the fire pit is almost too much to handle.

“Need a drink?” Becca asks, pushing a wine cooler into her hand before she can even answer. Allie laughs, thanks her and lowers herself into a chair that just happens to be next to Harry. He smirks a little around the mouth of his beer but doesn’t comment on where she chose to sit down.

“When do the fireworks start?” She asks Helena, who checks her watch before pointing towards the west of the lake, where there’s no trees and wide open skies.

“They will be over there in about an hour,” she says. “They won’t be super close because they are technically lit in town but we’ll see the show pretty clearly.”

They sit around for the next forty minutes drinking and laughing around the fire. Luke and Clark decide to have a rock skipping competition and Allie laughs as everyone scurries around to find the perfect flat rock to enter. Right before the fireworks are about to start Harry nudges her, leans over so he’s almost whispering in her ear.

“Want to find somewhere quiet to watch the show?”

Everyone around them is either drunk, searching for rocks or both, and no one is paying attention when she nods, stands up and tells him to lead the way.

They walk side by side next to the lake heading away from the party that’s already raging despite the fact that it’s barely ten at night. Allie practically chokes when they pass a couple full on having sex against a tree and Harry laughs, steers them away from the obnoxious moaning and towards an empty spot on the beach.

“I should have bought a blanket,” he complains as he settles in the sand and Allie smiles as she drops down next to him.

“A little sand never hurt anyone. Don’t be a baby.” He quirks an eyebrow at her and she giggles, which she only does when she’s this side of perfectly drunk.

Harry is quiet as he pulls his knees up and sits with his arms dangling in between them. “You’ve been different today,” he says so softly she can barely hear him. “More like you used to be.”

“What does that mean?” She’s sitting cross legged and stays that way as she turns so she’s facing him. He just shrugs which makes her roll her eyes. “You’ve been different too.”

“Oh yeah?” He asks with a raised eyebrow and she nods. “How so?”

She snorts, leans back on her hands which makes her knees touch the side of his leg. “If you’re not going to tell me, why should I tell you?”

“What are we, twelve?” He says on a laugh and she shrugs, giving him a dose of his own medicine. He sighs, like it’s a total inconvenience to explain something that he started anyways. “You were fun. Carefree.”

“It was a good day,” she says and he nods. “And you were flirting with me, which is new.” It’s a bold statement because maybe he wasn’t, maybe it was just like all the other times when he was flirty because he’s Harry Bingham and that’s just how he is. He charms, it’s in his DNA.

Harry scoffs a little and shakes his head like she’s missing something. “Me flirting with you is not new, Allie.”

The way he says her name does something to her, the way she can see his tongue when his mouth forms the word. They aren’t saying anything, just staring at each other when the first boom of fireworks sounds off overhead. Neither of them startle or even really acknowledge the show going off above them. She likes the way the colors flash across his face, bright blue and neon pink, and before she realizes what’s happening he’s leaning forward, pressing his lips against hers quickly in a surprisingly gentle and innocent kiss.

He pulls away first, rests his forehead on hers with a little smile playing on his face.

“What was that?” The words are practically whispered, breath feather light over almost touching lips.

“Something I’ve wanted to do for a long time.” He doesn’t say anything else, doesn’t go to kiss her again, just smiles softly before pulling away.

Allie smiles too and pulls away, rests her hands behind her in the sand and settles in to watch the show.

***

“Where did you run off to last night?”

The campsites are stirring the next morning with activity as everyone wakes up after the sun is high and the weather is warm. Helena is sitting by the campfire, a cup of coffee in one hand and her phone in the other.

“I went for a walk,” Allie says carefully, not sure if she should say anything about what happened with Harry or not. They only shared one little kiss, and while it was wildly romantic with the fireworks sounding off above them, she’s not quite sure where they go from here. “What are you up to?”

Helena holds up her phone. “Trying to secure our boat for the day online. Harry already gave his credit card information to the rental place, I’m on hold.”

It’s then that Allie can hear the hold music playing quietly from Helena’s phone which is on speaker mode. Allie snorts when she recognizes the song, some piano version of a top 40 hit, and pours herself a cup of coffee.

A few minutes later a woman’s voice comes over the line, letting Helena know that she’s secured a boat for them that they can pick up in an hour. Helena thanks the woman and ends the call, stands up and wipes sand from the back of her shorts.

“This place is too fucking sandy,” she says and Allie laughs into her coffee mug. “I’m going to start rounding up the usual suspects. You’re in, right?”

Allie nods. “Definitely. I’ll get ready and meet you back here at ten.”

She finishes up her drink and heads to her tent to get ready for the day. There are two options for swimming suits, the one she wore yesterday which was bright blue and white, perfect for the fourth. But she decides on the flashier suit she’d purchased just because it was beautiful in the store and she couldn’t help herself. She slides on a pair of denim shorts and throws a sun hat on for good measure. She’s just finished applying sunscreen when a throat clearing at the tent’s entrance makes her jump.

“Jesus, Allie.”

Harry is standing there, one fist up to his mouth as he takes her in from head to toe. And now she knows this bathing suit was worth the price tag because he’s looking at her like he never has before.

“That suit..”

Allie laughs quietly and looks down at the top, a white ruffled halter top embellished with gold jewels that sit right under her breasts. There’s an additional piece connected to the bottoms that wraps around her middle that is purely for show, the gold jewels trailing down her stomach to meet the top of her shorts. With her recently tanned skin the stark white of the suit pops, making her look even more sunkissed.

“You like?” She asks with a cocked eyebrow and Harry nods slowly as he takes her in.

He looks around outside quickly before stepping into her tent. “That is by far the sexiest thing I’ve ever seen,” he says when he’s right in front of her. She inhales sharply when he gently touches the jeweled piece on her tummy. He’s making her feel all kinds of things and he’s not even touching her skin.

“I’m glad you like it,” she says breathlessly and it makes him smile. Feeling a little bold she pushes up closer to him, leans up so she can whisper in his ear. “Wait until you see the rest of it.”

Harry lets out a little groan that makes her giggle as she pushes past him. She’s not exactly sure why she’s being so bold, or flirty at all for that matter, but it’s like their kiss from the night before has unlocked something she didn’t really know how to admit before.

She sort of likes him.

Half an hour later she’s got a beer in her hand as the boat floats lazily along the lake. It was big enough for a fairly large group of people and they are everywhere, laughing and drinking like it’s not before noon on a Sunday. Helena and Luke are talking quietly and kissing in a corner and Allie finds herself wishing for the first time in a long time that she had someone in her life to giggle and kiss whenever she wanted.

“They are disgustingly in love, don’t you think?”

Harry chooses that moment to drop down beside her, his chin nodding towards the engaged couple.

“I think it’s sweet,” Allie says, her eyes taking in Harry’s board shorts and bare chest. A pair of Ray Bans cover his eyes as he lays down in the lounge chair next to hers and gets comfortable. He rests his phone face down on his stomach and Allie snorts. “You’re going to get a weird tan if you leave that there.”

Harry just smirks and glances at her suit. “You’re one to talk, Pressman”

Allie just shakes her head with a laugh. “I lathered myself up in sunscreen before we left. I think I’ll be okay.”

Harry shifts in his chair and gives her a heated look. “I know, I saw.”

She remembers him coming in after she put on her sunscreen, wonders how long he was standing there before he cleared his throat.

“Perv,” she says with a smile to show him she’s not mad and he laughs, a bright and loud sound that makes a few people look their way.

They spend the day eating, drinking and playing in the lake. By the time they dock she’s perfectly buzzed, warmed by the setting sun and the margaritas Elle made for the girls on the boat.

“Let’s party!” Clark yells as he jumps into the sand and Allie rolls her eyes as everyone cheers as if that’s not what they’ve been doing all day. But it is their last night here so she follows her tipsy friends through the campsites until they arrive back at hers, which is apparently party central tonight.

Someone turns on music and Billie Eilish starts playing, a thumping bass beat that has everyone up and dancing around the now lit campfire. Elle stumbles up to her, a wide grin splitting her face, and Allie knows the girl is definitely tequila wasted right now which means she’s probably feeling on top of the world.

“Dance with me!”

Allie laughs and lets Elle pull her into the crowd of people dancing to “Bad Guy” like it hasn’t been on the radio for the past two summers. She turns when she feels eyes on her, sees Harry sitting on the tailgate of Luke’s truck. His eyes are following her every move, and he doesn’t look away as he takes a pull from the long neck bottle in his hands. Even from this far away she can feel her skin heat when he licks his lips, eyes fixed on her like he doesn’t see anyone else.

“Dude, I think Harry likes you!” Elle yells over the music and Allie stills, tears her eyes away from him to face her friend.

“What makes you say that?”

Elle shrugs, which looks ridiculous because she’s drunk dancing all over the place. “He hasn’t stopped looking at you since we got here. Go talk to him.”

Allie pales, looks around to see if anyone is listening to this conversation. It’s not that she really cares what anyone thinks, and he has been flirting with her more than usual. But he’s a known womanizer and it honestly scares her a little to think that maybe this is just the norm for him. Flirting with a girl until he gets what he wants and where will she be then? In a surprisingly sober move Elle puts her hands on Allie’s shoulders and looks her in the eye.

“Stop being afraid, Al.”

Allie takes a deep breath and nods, stands up taller and squares her shoulders back as she heads to where Harry’s sitting.

His eyebrows go up a little in surprise when she stops right in front of him, practically standing in between where his legs are open and dangling off the tailgate.

“What are we doing, Harry? You kiss me last night and then never mention it, and now you’re watching me like…”

“Like what?” He asks when she doesn’t finish her sentence and she melts a little at the deep and husky tone of his voice. “Tell me, Allie.”

“Like you want to do it again and never stop.”

He lets out a little breath of surprise as she steps in between his legs and leans up to kiss him. When he doesn’t immediately return the kiss she sort of panics but then he’s sliding down off the tailgate and pulling her into his arms to deepen the kiss. It’s not like the sweet kiss from the night before, it’s raw and full of emotion, his teeth nipping at her bottom lip until she’s weak in the knees.

There are hoots and hollers around them as he continues to kiss her but she doesn’t care. Maybe it’s the faint tequila buzz she’s still feeling or maybe it’s just how drunk she’s getting off this kiss, the taste of expensive beer on Harry’s lips as he sips at her lips her right there in front of their friends.

“Maybe we should rejoin the party,” he murmurs against her lips several minutes later and she smiles, reaches for his hand and pulls him in the direction of his tent one campsite over.

“Maybe we should have our own?”

He practically growls in agreement and follows behind her as she makes her way through the crowd. Elle winks her as they pass and Allie just grins, turns around to see Harry’s eyes lit up with alcohol and want, as they make their way over to his tent.

***

The lake is quiet when she steps down to the shore the next morning. It’s still early, everyone getting some much needed rest after the debauchery of the night before. Even from Harry’s tent, where they spent the night making out (plus a little more) and talking until neither could keep their eyes open, they could hear the party raging from the next campsite over.

“Morning, Pressman.”

Allie smiles when Harry comes up behind her, puts his arms around her waist and drops a kiss to her temple. “Good morning to you too.”

“I didn’t like waking up alone,” he admits quietly. “I fell asleep with you in my arms, kinda wanted to wake up like that too.”

The sentiment is sweet and it makes her heart beat furiously in her chest. “What happens next, Harry?”

He kisses her cheek. “What do you mean?”

Allie sighs, turns around in his arms so she can look up at him. “I mean, we’re on vacation. This weekend has been fun but what happens in two hours when it ends?”

“Then we don’t let it end,” he says simply. “You swear like Brooklyn and Manhattan are two separate planets. We can do this, Allie. I want to.”

She inhales sharply, surprised by how earnest his words are. “You do?”

Harry rolls his eyes a little and chuckles. “Allie, I’ve liked you since high school. This shouldn’t be such a shock.”

“I didn’t know,” she says but maybe she just missed it. Maybe all the flirting, every time he randomly joined in a conversation, maybe it wasn’t him being a womanizer. Maybe he really did just like her. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“Honestly?” He asks and she rolls her eyes as if to say duh. “It just never felt like the right time. You were younger, your sister hated me. One of us was always dating someone else. And then life, you know?”

She nods because she does know. “Well I’m glad you told me now. But I do have issue with one thing that you said.”

His eyebrows dip together. “Oh yeah? What’s that?”

Allie smiles as she leans up to kiss him. “Manhattan and Brooklyn are like two different planets.”

Harry laughs and wraps his arms around her, dropping kisses from her mouth to her shoulder and then back up again.

“Guess we’ll just have to compromise,” he says, turning her around so they can watch the sun shine on the still water of the lake. “Some nights at my place, some nights at yours.”

“Sounds perfect.”

She settles back into his arms, enjoying the way the sun warms her face as it rises high in the sky, welcoming the new day.

#hallie #hallie fanfiction #harry and allie #harry bingham #allie pressman #fanfic

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ificanthaveu · 4 years

Text

Heartbeat || Shawn Mendes

Description: Things have always been complicated between you and Shawn. After five years of “will they, won’t they,” you both make a mistake. Shawn’s determined to fix it.

A/N: I jumbled a bunch of ideas together to make this fic and I kinda love it. I’ve been wanting to use that “happy” dialogue for forever (you’ll know it when you read it) and it fits so well. anyway, enjoy :)

Word Count: 3.1k

12 Days of Ficmas

“I’m not going,” you said flatly into the phone as your best friend Maggie continued to beg.

“It’s one night. It really won’t be that bad,” she said for the millionth time.

“Mags, it’s not happening. I hated all these people in high school, and I still hate them now. I’m not going to some dumb holiday party where everyone is just going to be drunk and asking me how London is and telling me how they’ve always wanted to live there. It’s stupid,” you explained.

“But you literally get to brag to them about living there and doing all the amazing things you’re doing and watch them slowly all drop out of college,” she said.

“As amazing as that sounds, still no,” you said for the last time as you laid back on your bed that wasn’t really yours anymore, staring at old pictures lined on top of your bookshelf.

“What if we just go for a little bit? Find the few people you miss, talk a little bit, have one drink and then head out?” She begged.

“I’m more concerned about seeing people I don’t want to see than I am about not seeing people I do want to see,” you said.

“So you don’t want to see Shawn?” She said.

You sighed and stared at the ceiling, watching the fan spin around.

“I don’t know,” you mumbled.

“Come on, [Y/N], I’m only asking for one hour,” she said. You could tell she was crossing her fingers.

The idea of possibly seeing Shawn stuck in your head as you thought about it. Sure, you’d dated for a while in high school. Sure, he broke up with you right before he left. Sure, he invited you to his concerts when he was in London. Sure, he kissed you and some fans saw it. Actually, a lot of fans saw it.

To say your relationship with Shawn was doomed from the start was an understatement.

“Fine, I’ll go,” you finally caved.

“Yes, perfect, I’ll pick you up in two hours,” she said before promptly hanging up the phone.

You sat up and stared blankly at the wall, thinking about what you’d even say to him if you saw him. This thing between the two of you was never going to work. No matter how much you wanted to pretend that at the end of this hectic part of your lives, you’d both end up together, it wasn’t going to happen.

But for now, you’d humor Maggie into thinking you’d enjoy yourself at this party.

You were supposed to wear red and green to get into the spirit, so you stuck with a red tank top and a green cardigan. You threw your hair up, knowing it would end up there eventually anyway.

Maggie was in front of your house right on time, as promised, and you ran to meet her in her car. Then you were off to Lily’s house, just minutes away from yours.

“I don’t want to be here,” you reminded Maggie again as she parked on the street.

“Cheer up, buttercup,” she said as the two of you started walking down the road to her house.

“One hour and we’re out of here,” you reminded her again as she nodded along.

There were already a bunch of people in the house by the time you made your way inside. You knew everyone was here, and it was giving you major flashbacks to your senior year.

You were already ready to leave.

Maggie pulled you towards the living room as she tried to find some of your friends you hadn’t seen in a while. As you both scanned the room, you caught site of Shawn in the corner of the room with a drink in his hand talking to a group of his friends.

You were definitely ready to leave.

You looked down before he could make eye contact and followed Maggie to the group of people.

You made small talk with them, filling them in about living in London and the research you were doing with your university. The conversation turned more towards someone else when you casually looked up.

Looking back at you from the corner of the room was Shawn. Your eyes met his as the whole room seemed to stop and stare with you.

Before you could tear your gaze away, Shawn smiled at you, raising his hand with the cup in it as a half-wave. You returned a soft smile and waved back before turning back to the girls. You could still feel him watching.

You tried to focus on Lily’s story about spending Christmas with her boyfriend’s family when you felt a hand on your back.

“Hey, ladies,” the voice behind you said as you closed your eyes for a moment before opening them back up.

“Hey, Shawn,” a few of them said before turning back to each other.

“Can I steal you for a moment?” He whispered into your ear.

You hesitated before nodding and following him, dodging in and out of people. He made his way to the back porch, letting you out in front of him before shutting the door.

You sat down on the bottom step and wrapped your sweater around you tighter as Shawn sat next to you.

“How have you been?” He asked, sounding forced.

“Really good,” you responded, playing into it as long as you could. “How about you?”

“Great,” he said back a little too quickly, “really great.”

“So tour’s done?” You asked.

He nodded his head as he rubbed his hands on his knees, “Yeah, yeah, home for the holidays then back to it.”

“Yeah, same,” you said.

It went silent, the only noise being heard was the people talking inside.

“Why did you want to talk to me?” You said.

“Because we’re friends, and I wanted to catch up,” he said simply.

“We’re not friends, and we could’ve caught up inside like everyone else,” you snapped.

“Alright, that’s valid,” he said quietly as he crooked his head to the side. “I guess I just wanted to talk about what happened.”

“What part of it?”

“The last part,” he said. “The kiss in London.”

“And what about it?” You pried, not wanting to be the one to start the conversation and say the opposite of what he was thinking.

“I just wanted to say that I’m sorry. I should’ve known that kissing you was a bad idea in the first place, and it was an even worse idea when I did it at that bar,” he said, staring out at the snow-covered back yard. “I didn’t mean to put you in an uncomfortable situation.”

“But you did,” you said. “I’m not a big fan of your fans thinking I’m some slut you met at a bar when I’ve known you since we were ten.”

“I know, and I’m sorry,” he said quietly.

“That doesn’t get rid of the shit I’ve dealt with for the past two months, Shawn.”

He went silent as you picked at the edge of your sweater.

“What are we even doing?” You said after a few moments.

“I don’t know,” he whispered.

“I can’t keep waiting around. I’m busy. I have a life. You can’t just keep showing up in London and expecting me to drop everything to stay with you for a week,” you ranted.

“You could’ve said no,” he said.

“And risk you never talking to me again because of it? No, thanks,” you scoffed.

He went quiet, his lips pursed as he thought about what he was supposed to say.

“This is pretty pointless, huh?” He said after a while.

“Yeah, but yet we keep doing it,” you responded.

It went quiet again, the wind whistling around the house as you could see Shawn’s leg bouncing out of the corner of your eye.

“How’s your sister?” you asked after a moment.

He laughed and shook his head before looking at you. “You’re so good at doing that.”

“Well, sometimes you need a break from an argument-“

He cut you off, “To remind yourselves why the argument is going to be worth it.” He paused. “But is it even really worth it at this point?”

It was already too late after those words slipped out of his mouth.

“You’re the one who brought this up,” you said flatly.

“I just want closure.”

“Guess you shouldn’t have left London without saying goodbye then, huh?” You said as you finally looked at him.

He didn’t look at you.

With that, you stood up and pulled the backdoor open.

“I’m done with this. I’m done with this game we keep playing. I’m drawing my line in the sand. This is over, whatever it was. I can’t, Shawn, I just can’t,” you said before looking away and walking inside, slamming the door behind you to leave Shawn standing there and staring at where you were just moments ago.

You found Maggie as quickly as you could tugging her to leave. She knew she had to go the minute she saw your face.

The drive home was silent. Maggie asked softly if you wanted to talk about it, but you just shook your head.

You didn’t want to talk about Shawn Mendes ever again.

Maggie dropped you off at home, and you found yourself sitting in the kitchen alone, your parents being at some Christmas party.

You sipped at a glass of wine and stared at the clock on the wall. You wished you could just forget about him, but you couldn’t. You couldn’t even go on your phone without that dreaded night in London popping up on your timeline.

“Come on, it’s one bar,” Shawn begged after you found him backstage after the last show in London.

“Shawn, I don’t want people seeing me with you,” you said with a laugh as you dodged in and out of people to follow him to his dressing room.

“Everyone is going. It’s a Saturday, so you don’t have class tomorrow, and I leave bright and early in the morning. So this is your last chance to spend time with me,” he said with that charming smile of his.

“Fine, but you’re paying for my drinks,” you said as you crossed your arms.

“Like always, sweetheart,” he said with a wink.

Two hours later, and you were stuffed in the corner of a bar, slightly tipsy with Shawn pressed against you. You leaned against the wall as Shawn trapped you in with his arm against the wall, looking down at you as you rambled about this girl you hated in your English class.

He looked like a puppy as he tilted his head to the side, smiling at you.

You finished your story and looked up at him, his face just inches from yours. You had just the right amount of alcohol to want to kiss him but to still know it was a bad idea.

“Shawn,” you whispered. “This isn’t a good idea.”

He shrugged his shoulders and smirked, “When were we ever a good idea?”

You tilted your head the opposite direction of his, your nose touching his as you moved.

“Are you about to kiss me, Shawn Mendes?” You asked with a teasing smile.

“I don’t know, [Y/N] [Y/L/N], are you about to let me kiss you?”

Without another word, his lips were pressed against yours as your arms wrapped around his neck and he pressed you against the wall.

You bit the inside of your cheek, willing your lip not to tremble. You held tightly to the stem of your glass as you tried to make your mind go blank.

The doorbell ringing pulled you out of your trance. You shook your head a few times before walking to the door and yanking it open.

There stood Shawn, in his stupid Christmas sweater that you didn’t even notice the first time, with his hair standing straight up.

“Why are you doing this?” You said, not moving from your spot in the doorway.

“This is worth it,” he said with desperation in his eyes. “I know I said it wasn’t, but it is. We both know that.”

“No, Shawn, you were right. It’s not worth it. We were young and stupid in high school, and we were drunk in London. That’s the end of it,” you said.

“You weren’t stupid in high school,” he said softly. “You were always way too smart for me.”

“I’m not doing this, Shawn. Please just go,” you said as your lip trembled.

You moved to shut the door before he spoke up.

“Remember our last Christmas together?” He said.

You continued to look down at the ground, standing in the half-closed door.

“We couldn’t see each other on actual Christmas since we had family obligations, so we had our own Christmas. Just the two of us. In my basement with a bottle of wine that you snuck from your parents’ wine cabinet,” he continued.

You dared yourself to look up to meet his eyes.

“We sat in my basement, tangled up and talking for hours next to the Christmas tree we had set up together a few weeks before. That was when you told me you wanted to go to school in Europe. And I told you that you should because you could do anything. And I told you that I wanted to do music, and you said I could do it in a heartbeat. That was five years ago today,” he finished.

You didn’t say anything, feeling empty, not even remembering the date when that happened.

“And when you were staring at me in that bar in London, the only thing I could think of was that night. That I was here because of you and you were there because of me. And I still can’t stop thinking about it,” he said.

“This doesn’t work,” you said quietly.

“It could,” he tested.

“It can’t,” you said sternly.

“Why not?”

“Because you’re next to me one day and halfway around the world the next,” you snapped. “And I’m in London, and I’m never here anymore when you are except for one week a year. That’s it. You don’t even know me anymore, and I don’t know you.”

“I’m in London all the time,” he tried to remind you.

“Two weeks out of the year is not ‘all the time.’”

Shawn ran his hand through his hair again as he paced back and forth.

“What can I say to fix this?” He finally said.

“That you’ll give this up.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“You knew the date of our Christmas?” You said. “Why?”

“Because that was when I fell in love with you,” he said a little too loudly, with no hesitation and his hands thrown in the air.

Tears pricked in your eyes as you felt your heart drop.

“You never told me that,” you choked out.

“I knew I was about to leave, and I knew you were going to meet someone else. Someone who’d be able to stay around. So I kept it to myself. Well, until now,” he said with the softest smile he could muster up.

“I never met someone else,” you reminded him. “I couldn’t.”

“I know.”

Silence fell as you stepped outside, shutting your door behind you before sitting on the porch. Shawn followed and sat down next to you, leaning his head on the railing.

“I’d tell you that we can just stay friends, but I know I can’t do that,” he said.

You nodded your head before resting it in your hands.

“Where do we even go from here?” You whispered.

“I have about a million ideas, but I know none of them are going to be right,” he said.

“As much as I want this to work, I just don’t think it will,” you said. “If ten years from now, your career slows down, and I’m single, I’ll gladly give this another go. But right now it just doesn’t seem plausible.”

“I can’t wait ten years. I thought I could, but I can’t. I couldn’t even handle five. I’m not giving up on this when we both know it’s right,” he said, the strain evident in his voice. “If you asked me to drop everything right now, for you, I’d do it in a heartbeat.”

“I’d never do that.”

“I know, but still. If that’s what you wanted, I’d do it.”

“Shawn, I just want you to be happy,” you said, exhaustion in your voice, as you looked over at him.

“And I’m happy with you,” he said, looking you directly in the eyes. You could see it all.

“So am I,” you finally said a little louder than intended. “So am I,” you said softer.

He didn’t say anything. Neither did you. Instead, you both stared out into your yard, watching cars as they passed by on the street, breathing heavily as you tried to figure out what you could even say after a confession like that.

“Let’s give it a shot,” you finally said.

“Are you sure?” He asked.

You nodded your head and smiled at him, “Yeah, I can’t keep pushing this away. I can’t keep doing that to myself. I can’t keep doing it to you.”

“What are you doing tonight?” He asked.

“Sitting here with you, and then I’ll probably go to bed,” you said with a shrug.

“Let’s have Christmas,” he said softly. “Like in high school.”

You could swear your heart leaped out of your chest. He stood up and reached out his hand for you. You grabbed onto him, and he pulled you up.

You rested your hands on his chest and looked at him the way you’d wanted to for the past five years.

“I’ve got wine and Christmas cookies,” you said as he smiled.

“Sounds like the perfect night to me,” he responded. “Anything would be perfect if it was with you.”

“Maybe I’ll even let you kiss me.”

“Hm, really?” He said, inching towards you.

You nodded your head as his nose brushed against yours before finally pressing his lips against yours.

Sparks flew as he held you tight to his body, relishing in the feeling he’d missed for so long. You could feel his heartbeat against your chest.

You pulled away after a moment before he pulled you into his arms, resting his chin on top of your head as you gripped onto him.

“This is going to be hard,” you reminded him.

“I know,” he said as you looked up at him. He brushed a piece of hair away from your eyes. “It’s worth it.”

“Let’s do this.”

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miidnightglosss · 3 years

Text

Boston Tea Party - Part 1 (Grell Sutcliffe - Chapter 1)

There's a tradition in Boston, Massachusetts, one where every student at the end of their eighth-grade year of school throws their papers and textbooks into a bonfire and parties the night away before their souls are ultimately crushed before going through the trials of high school life. Those who still have their souls, at least.

Grell Sutcliff, 14, had decided to follow this tradition surrounded by a number of her best friends. Her bright red hair was pulled back into a tight ponytail. She pulled down her black tank top ever so slightly and adjusted her white skirt accordingly. Her flip-flops lagged behind as she took a seat next to one of her best friends, Johanna West. "Are you sure you're just gonna stick with Bart Simpson over there? I know, like, thirteen other guys that are way cuter than him," Grell offered, her English accent apparent.

Johanna rolled her hazel eyes as she pushed the bright orange side of her hair (wig technically) out of her eyes. Her tan skin glowed against her sun while her eyes reflected the light. She had a fuchsia and orange split dyed wig that went surprisingly well with the rest of her somewhat toned-down clothing. Johanna had worn just a black cut-off tank top and dark denim shorts, her black Doja Cat hoodie slung over the back of her camping chair. She crossed her legs and bounced her Van-covered foot as she spoke again to Grell. "Yes, for the one-millionth time. And no amount of your criticism is going to change that.

"I'm just saying," Grell continued. "If you weren't promised to him, who would you date?"

Johanna and her boyfriend, Bart, have been promised to marry each other ever since he proposed (kind of) early last school year. They've known each other two years prior and figured "why the hell not?" They were a good pair and bounced off of each other well. Most of the time.

The two girls looked over to the rest of their group, which mostly consisted of boys. Walker Auteberry was playing football with Sebastian Michaelis, Matt Connery, and Ronald Knox.

Walker Auteberry was basically a pure athletic paragon. Tall, blond, fit. Not too terribly muscular. His curls bounced on top of his faded hair as it dissolved to match his tanned skin after a trip to Honolulu.

His face lit up with a smile, which was soon turned to shock as Sebastian tackled him to the ground. His porcelain skin and ebony hair were the perfect contrast to Walker's appearance. Sebastian was a bit leaner than Walker, but couldn't get a tan for shit. He was very punk or e-boy and often wore shades of black and gray with tiny bursts of red or purple color here and there.

Ronald Knox was a mega playboy. He also had blond, almost golden, hair with a few brown tuffs in the front that he somehow managed to pull off. His unnaturally green eyes, those similar to Grell's and William T. Spears's, were lit up with intensity as he chucked the ball over to Sebastian once more, making a touchdown. He was the preppiest among the boys.

Matt, Johanna's cousin, was somewhat of a mix between them. His blond hair had been dyed black, a bit darker than Sebastian's. He was more emo than the two. There's a difference. He wasn't putting in too much effort, but he was enjoying himself nonetheless.

Ciel Phantomhive, son to one of the richest families in Boston, sat beside his fiancee, Elizabeth Midford. Also wealthy.

Johanna smirked. "Probably either Sebastian or Ronald."

Grell furrowed her eyebrows. "What the fuck? Sebastian, hell yeah, but Ronald?"

"What?"

"They're complete dorks."

Johanna shrugged. "I have a thing for dorks."

"Then why are you with that?"

The girls looked over to Bartlomiej von Grimmelshausen, Bart for short. His family was traditionally Polish, but they were also the founders of one of the leading sportscar companies in town, Luxus. He had wavy jet black hair styled with a taper fade and ivory skin. He had around the same build as Walker but had grown a bit colder and more business-focused over the past few years. He had just thrown on a short-sleeve flannel with a white tank top underneath and a pair of black shorts. He stood alone as he fished in the nearby lake.

Johanna sighed. "I don't know. We have history and he's not someone I wanna lose."

"I ain't sayin' she a gold digga--"

Johanna playfully swatted Grell's arm. "Shut up! I'm not in it for the money."

"Then what? In my opinion, any of the other guys here would be more compatible with you."

"Right, like William?"

"Hey, now," Grell started, using her parent voice. "William's off-limits."

"Fine," Johanna finished jokingly. Jacquelyn Marek came over after a conversation with her parents at another site. All their parents were friends and they let them have freedom, but not too much. "Hey, what's up?"

Grell looked up to Jackie. She possessed auburn hair and ivory skin, much like Walker. She'd worn a yellow cropped tube top and black shorts today. She seemed distraught but tried hiding it. "Um... Yeah. Hey, do you guys wanna have a sleepover? You know, one last hurrah before high school starts?"

"Sure. It can't be at my house, though," Grell shouted. "Not after last time!"

"He gave me a weird look," Walker yelled back across the field.

"That's not a good reason to chuck a tube TV out the window," Matt replied

The girls giggled to themselves. "I'd have to ask August and Florence but they'll probably be fine with it." Johanna brushed some fallen leaves off her lap as she stood up. "I have to ask Bart something. Be right back."

Jackie moved in closer to Grell. "So when are you gonna make a move?"

Grell sighed dramatically. "I've already told you, once the time's right."

"Yeah, well, you'd better speed it up. He'll get snatched up quickly, especially somewhere as prestigious as the Phantomhive Academy. The geeky nerd bitches will be all up on him if he lets them." Jackie peered over at the adults to make sure they weren't looking and pulled out a Juul. She took a puff before offering it to Grell. "Wanna try? It's strawberries and cream."

Grell wrinkled her nose. "The fuck it is. And, no. I'm getting enough lung cancer just standing next to you." Jackie shrugged and took another hit. "What do you mean he'll get snatched up?"

Jackie raised an eyebrow. "Are you kidding? Someone like him up at a place like that? His parents are practically begging for grandkids."

Grell gazed longingly at her crush as he sat and scribbled in his notebook. "You're being incredibly vague right now."

"But you do know what I mean, right?"

"Yeah, I know."

Grell's crush, William, was way out of her league. Just like a majority of the people in her friend group, the Spears were wealthy. Will wanted to get into his own business. So did Grell, but while she was thinking of her own fashion line, he was thinking of his own line of supercomputer androids to help humanity. His short dark brown hair was always slicked back and his icy glare could cut through stone. He had a lean build and tall figure to match his business-as-usual aura.

"If you want, I could probably spike everyone's drinks and maybe move things forward a little."

Grell whipped her head towards Jackie, eyes full of disbelief and concern with a hint of curiosity.

"I'm doing it." As Jackie skipped away, Grell couldn't find the words to stop her.

♞

A couple of hours had passed before the parents had decided to give their kids some alone time. As soon as that happened, Jackie called up a local caterer to bring the group a giant bowl of punch. While everyone was busy being preoccupied with each other, she snuck off and poured in a few tiny shots she'd smuggled from the same gas station she'd gotten her Juul.

Grell watched as Johanna and Bart played a game of Marco Polo in the lake. Johanna trod the water as Bart found her hips beneath the waves. The couple smiled having found each other and kissed, right before hearing an "ew" from Matt, and getting splashed by a wave of water. Soon it had turned into a chicken fight, Johanna and Bart versus Matt and Walker.

Grell snapped out of her trance as a red solo cup was presented in front of her. "That could be you pretty soon," Jackie reminded. Without another word, Grell shot down the punch within a few huge gulps and assisted in passing them out, throat burning.

Soon enough, everyone was holding a drink and coming back to the punch bowl for more. Fireflies illuminated the skies as everyone danced to Bottoms Up by Trey Songz.

Jackie marched on top of a stump and raised her free hand. "Attention, assholes of Boston, Massachusetts!" Everyone in the group, including a few others, looked her way. "We're now going to play Truth or Dare now. I go first. Ciel, truth or dare?"

Normally, Ciel would be one of the first to deny a game of Truth or Dare. However, he was under the influence. He shrugged, an arm wrapped around Elizabeth's waist, whose hair had now been taken out of her usual drill tails. "Truth."

"If you were to make out with one guy here, who would it be?"

Ciel eyed Sebastian up and down. "I think we all know the answer to that already." The group let out a chorus of hoots and hollers as Sebastian purred back. Lizzie lazily swatted Ciel's chest.

"Okayokayokayokay-- OKAY!" Jackie silenced them again. "You pick someone now."

Ciel looked up, down, and all-around at the group until his eyes laid on William. "You!" He pointed overdramatically. "Truth or Dare?"

William, giggling like a maniac, had chosen dare. Never took him as a happy drunk, Grell thought to herself. "I dare youuuuu--" Ciel hiccupped-- "to make out with the most attractive person here."

Grell’s cheeks flushed a bright red as she nervously laughed along with her friends, Walker finding it the most hilarious thing in the world and slapping his hand on his knee while he wheezed for air.

She realized two things: one, he could pick someone, literally anyone, but her and confirm exactly what he thought of her. Two, he could kiss her and it would be the start of something beautiful. Either way, it was totally nerve-wracking. It wasn't like Will to spontaneously make out with someone. It wasn't like Will to get drunk without him really even knowing either. It wasn't like him to get drunk.

Grell didn't realize how much she had been overthinking this entire situation until William stood right in front of her.

Shit. Seductive. Go. She tried her best to look playful and flirty despite how much she was shaking right now. She hasn't noticed how much taller Will was to her. At least a good half a foot. Grell decided that it would probably be best to just let herself loose in the moment, so she snaked her arms around William's neck as he wrapped his around her waist. They stretched ever so slightly so that their lips were inches apart until they finally collided with each other.

It was everything Grell had dreamed it would be. His soft lips seemed to fit hers perfectly. Will licked her bottom lip, asking for permission to enter her mouth. She allowed him without hesitation as their tongues wrestled with each other for a good while. Her hands tightened through his hair while his gripped her hips tightly, pulling her closer to his body. Grell could've stayed like that for the rest of eternity--

"Okay, Grell, get you some!"

Johanna laughed at her remark from behind the two as Jackie cackled along with her. William drew away from Grell and opened his eyes, leaving Grell helpless, her eyes longing and her face red.

William smirked as Walker pat him a couple of times on his shoulder and the game continued. Grell couldn't pay much attention, though. She was certain that kiss meant one thing: they were meant to be together.

She couldn't have been more wrong.

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snarkwrites · 3 years

Text

05 | gangsta ; sweet pea

Notes:

A warning ahead of time. I’ve got 3 parts to this already written and I fully intend on posting them today, if possible. Also, things are starting to heat up just a little here pretty soon, so there’s that.

I realize that nobody asked for more of this ( i’m saying that because after chapter 1 I don’t think anybody kept reading lmaooo), however.. I’m having a blast writing it, so whether anyone asked or not, you’re getting it, lmaooo.

Also, new header thing for this because I can.

Warnings:

non canon compliant - this is the biggest warning, so if you’re into things that follow exact canon plot you are... definitely not going to like this. angst & slow burn, heavy sexual tension starting in the next part - this is just so everyone who started reading this thinking the smut would transpire in a hurry knows that apparently, it is not. violence / swearing & fighting, possible underage drinking and other shenanigans - look.. it’s high school. shit happens. also apparently, my ofc Alyssa uses the word fuck like all the time?... eventual sexual content - this one is self explanatory. yes, i plan to write a smutty chapter in this at some point. when? i don’t rightly know. it’s got a while before we get there.

Pairing:

Andrews!Sibling OFC, Alyssa x Sweet Pea

Other Parts:

[ one - two - three - four - soundtrack ]

Other Stuff:

[ faq - tag list doc ]

Tagging:

@brithedemonspawn is the only person on my Riverdale tag list. If you’d like to be tagged for this story by all means.. Please let me know. It’d make me super duper happy!!!

F I V E.

My door was being pounded on. I rolled over, pouting at it. Honestly, the last thing I was prepared to do was go to school and face everything. My dad had told me the night before that I could miss one day.

“I’m sleeping.” I barely called out.

My bedroom door creaked open slowly.

“How long are you going to hide out in here?” Toni asked the question from my doorway, a hand on her hip as she stared me down and tapped her foot.

I sat up, looking at Toni. Shrugging.

“I don’t want to see him. I’m so angry I just want to choke him.”

“So, get up, get dressed and let’s go choke him.”

I eyed her, laughing. Managing a weak smile. Shrugging. “It’s not worth it. I mean… I should’ve known he had some kind of ulterior motive to begin with.”

Toni’s brow raised and she shook her head. “Meaning?” she questioned, an expectant gaze fixed on me.

My dad called up the stairs, “She alive up there?”

Toni answered, “She is.”

Cheryl came jogging up the stairs, flopping onto the other side of the bed.

Holding the one eyed stuffed rabbit that I’d given her in kindergarten because she was upset when her mom and dad couldn’t be bothered to show up for a play we were in.

“I come bringing gifts. Whiskers.” she presented the rabbit to me and I took it, hugging it against me for a few seconds. Holding it back out to her. “He was supposed to protect you, Blossom. You keep him.”

“You’re the one who’s hurting right now.” Cheryl insisted.

“I’m not hurting, I just… I don’t know.”

“You’re upset. And it’s okay, even if I swear to my dying day that Reggie Mantle is not worth it.” Toni coaxed.

I nodded.

“So are you coming with us or are we going to have to drag you out of bed, hm? You know I’ll do it.” Cheryl teased, giving me a soft smile. “You’re tougher than this, okay? I’ve seen your snapchat stories from Chicago.”

“Wait.. What’s that mean, hm? What am I missing?” Toni eyed Cheryl, awaiting explanation.

“For the record, Cheryl, it was only four fights.” I glanced at Cheryl, going quiet and shrugging. I wouldn’t have ever gotten into any of those fights if I hadn’t had a damn good reason. Okay, so maybe one of them I would have because my temper got the best of me.. But the other three? Wouldn’t have happened.

“Four fights that you won, Al.” Cheryl smirked.

“You’ve gotten in a fight? Since when?” Toni eyed me, shocked.

“That’s one of the big reasons I’m living with my dad now. One of many...” I admitted, trailing off and going quiet while shaking my head and laughing. “What? Did you really think I was some actual good girl?” I teased, poking out my tongue at her.

Stifling a yawn as I stretched. Trying to burrow down between the two of them.

“Girl if you don’t get out of this bed, I’m going to open your window and yell for Fangs to come in to crush you.” Toni laughed.

She and Cheryl shared a look and the next thing I knew, they were getting up.. Going to the bottom of my bed. Raising my black bandana stars and moon print comforter. When they started to tickle my feet, I caved pretty quick.

“Okay, alright, fine.”

Toni was already digging through my closet, Cheryl grimacing at the astounding amount of black shirts and band merch. Ripped jeans. Toni turned to look at me. “Girl.”

“Yes?” I was pulling myself out of bed now, stretching. Giving myself a once over in the mirror on my vanity and cringing. “Yikes. I look like death.”

“ So you mean to tell me you have all this stuff and you’ve been wearing all that other stuff?” Toni asked, gazing at me as she held up a cropped Metallica shirt.

I nodded, shrugging. “I.. wanted to try actually not giving my father a thousand heart attacks since that’s apparently Archie’s thing.”

Toni nodded, laughing. “I always felt like you weren’t really you.. The whole cardigans and sundresses thing. I mean, it fits you but it doesn’t. Not like this stuff, at least.”

She tossed a pair of black jeans at me, and one of my shirts. And then Cheryl eyed the box sitting on my window seat. “What’s this?”

“Pretty much anything Reggie gave me or every note he ever wrote. I was going to throw it all out or burn it later… Probably burn it because of the fact that I get to play with fire.” I sighed, grabbing the jeans and the shirt.

“Hey, Toni? Do you see a red and black plaid shirt? It’ll be towards the back. It’s really old looking. Can you hand it to me?” I asked as I grabbed for my favorite pair of boots, slipping my feet into them.

Toni found my dad’s old shirt and eyed it. Held it up to her nose, smelling it. “Why’s this smell like old guy cologne?”

“Probably because it’s my dad’s old shirt?” I gave her a laugh. She laughed and smiled. “You’re such a daddy’s girl, Andrews.”

I shrugged and smiled. “At least he’s dependable.”

“Hey, there’s toast if you three want any.” my dad spoke up from the doorway, glancing at the three of us.

“Yeah.”

“Awesome.”

“Thank you.”

After we’d eaten some toast and scrambled eggs, I grabbed my bookbag and just as I started out the door, my dad stopped me. “I’m glad you’re listening to what we talked about. Being yourself?”

“Me too.” I smiled, stopping to give him a hug. “Hey.. I don’t have practice after school. Is it okay if I come and hang out at the site? Maybe I can even help a little…”

My dad mulled it over. Smiling. “Yeah.”

I pushed out the front door just in time to see Fangs wandering our way. He chuckled, nodding to me. “I see you guys did actually get her out of bed.”

“We did say we were going in there with one goal in mind, Fangs.” Toni snickered. I tensed a little when I noticed Sweet Pea lingering up ahead, leaned against the streetlight, his arms folded over his chest.

For some reason, the fact that he probably knew everything that happened just.. Bothered me. Way more than it should’ve.

I stopped. My gaze torn between the path to school and my father’s house, getting further behind me with each step. Suddenly not too sure I wanted to or I even could face the fact that if Reggie and Chuck made the bet then everyone I once thought of as a friend probably knew already.

And spent the entire time I was bending over backwards just to make myself fit in laughing behind my back.

The anger kicked up in me and I took a deep breath.

“Oh come on! The best way to handle this is to show him you don’t care and it doesn’t bother you, Al.” Cheryl coaxed. Toni nodded in agreement.

I took a few shaky breaths and started to walk to catch up with them again. Letting the anger brew instead of just pushing it back down like I seemed to be getting good at doing to a lot of things lately.

If I was going to face Reggie and all our friends, I was going to need that anger. I was going to need one hell of a shiny spine. Because being passive and letting it go just isn’t who I am. And maybe my dad’s right. Maybe it’s time I started being more me.. Without all the crazy and wild stunts I pulled back in Chicago.

“Are we meeting to have our little goodbye fire after school?” Cheryl asked. I bit my lip, mulling it over. Finally nodding, as much as it hurt. The sooner I get this out of my system, the better I’ll feel, hopefully. “Yeah. I’ll get the box and we can do it in a trash barrel at the construction site.”

I almost had to laugh at the irony. Not even a week ago, I’d been contemplating breaking up with Reggie because I couldn’t take the fighting or the tension anymore. The only thing that stopped me? Not wanting to hurt him. Because I knew what he was going through at home. Because I could see the teeniest sliver of a good and sweet guy buried deep down beneath all the cocky swagger.

And today, we were over and he’d been the one to hurt me. He’d been playing the long con the entire time.

The sound of a car revving on the road next to the sidewalk we were all walking on had me glancing over. Grumbling when my eyes settled on Reggie’s black Charger.

“What the fuck does he want?” Sweet Pea snarled to himself.

“A fight, if we’re fuckin lucky, man.” Fangs chuckled, opening and closing his fists.

Reggie rolled down the passenger window. Called out to me.

I pretended not to hear him, turning my attention to talking to Cheryl and Toni instead.

“I know you hear me, princess.. C’mon. Please? At least give me a chance to explain?”

He kept at this for almost a minute until I finally got annoyed. I finally just couldn’t deal with him lingering. Trying to push me into talking things out. What was there to talk about?

He’d had a bet going about getting into my panties.

“Explain what, exactly?” I eyed him, a hand on my hip.

Reggie bit his lip and his eyes roamed over me. He sighed quietly, nodding to the passenger seat.

I shook my head no. “Which part do you need to explain, Reggie? The part that you made a bet on taking my virginity or the fact that you’re an actual fucking pig? I can’t believe I fell for your shit.”

From beside me, I felt Sweet Pea tense a little. Fangs grumbled and shook his head, muttered under his breath, “ I always knew he was a fucking douche.”

“I deserved that.” Reggie muttered. Pleading with me again to at least let him explain.

“You deserve a kick in the balls.” I retorted, starting to walk a little faster. “Don’t you have a bimbo to fall back on?” I asked when I realized he wasn’t pulling away and driving off. “Stop trying. It’s not like you tried that hard before I found out what you were really about.”

He eyed me, his mouth opening and closing.

“What’s that mean, huh?”

“ If you can’t figure it out, it’s not on me to explain it.” I rolled my eyes. Tapping my boot against the sidewalk impatiently.

“I’m gonna prove you wrong, princess.” Reggie bit his lip, gazing at me. “I’m gonna prove just how wrong you are and how much I care.”

“You can start by leaving, meatball.” I rolled my eyes, waving a hand dismissively as I hurried to catch up with the rest of my friends. Reggie drove off and I watched his tail lights fading. Taking a few shaky breaths because it felt like I’d just ripped a bandaid off an open wound.

“That went well.” Toni muttered, eyeing me. “You okay?”

“I’m fine.” I muttered.

We were standing at the edge of the parking lot in front of Riverdale High by now. I gazed at the building. For a few seconds, I thought about bolting. Instead, I took a few long and deep breaths. Walking into the halls with Toni and Cheryl. Holding my head up. Ignoring the stares and the few whispers.

Cheryl leaned in to mutter against my ear, “Ignore them.”

I nodded, even though every single part of me was now wishing I hadn’t chosen to come today.

When I got to my locker, I found a single red rose taped to it. I tore it off. Grumbling to myself as I found a trash bin and threw the flower inside, giving Reggie a pointed glare as I walked right past him.

Chuck elbowed him and said it loudly enough that I could hear, “You can do better, Mantle. Find yourself a girl who cares enough to put out.”

I rolled my eyes. Spinning around before Toni or Cheryl even realized that I wasn’t walking with them anymore. Backtracking down the hall and stopping in front of Chuck.

Gazing up at him as I retorted, “Oh?”

Chuck eyed me, snickering. “Somebody’s feisty this morning.”

“Correct me if I’m wrong here, but didn’t you like… lie about half the girls you claim slept with you? I mean hey.. I can’t help it, some of us have actual standards, dude. Wasn’t there a whole ass scene between you and pretty much every single girl in Riverdale High? In this same hallway? Might want to keep your mouth shut, Chucky.”

His fists clenched.

I snickered quietly. “Anyway, that’s not what I came over for. It just occurred to me, Chuck.. I never bothered to ask how much my virginity is worth to an ignorant swine like you. How much was the bet, hm?”

Chuck raised a brow. Reggie tensed. Trying to butt in, trying to tell me to let it go and plead with me to just talk to him later when I’d cooled down.

But I was past it.

Chuck smirked. “You, princess? Twenty bucks. Now.. if you were actually hot like say… Betty Cooper or Veronica Lodge, even Cheryl over there or her pretty little friend.. It’d have been a hundred bucks easy.” he folded his arms over his chest. Waiting on his words to hit some kind of mark.

Thinking that I gave a shit. Or that I wasn’t already well aware that I wasn’t supermodel hot like most of the other girls and totally fine with it.

“If you’re waiting on me to be hurt, it’s not gonna happen. But here. Here’s your fucking money, you prick.” I dug around in the pocket of my jeans, finding a twenty dollar bill. Tossing it at him. Nodding at where it settled on the floor.

“Pick it up.” I repeated firmly.

“How about you do it for me, princess?” Chuck smirked, gazing at me intently. Nodding towards the fallen twenty.

I shook my head. Stepped closer. “Go on.. Pick it up. Unless you’re afraid...”

Reggie cleared his throat. “Princess.. You don’t have to do this. None of this matters...” he tried to reason with me. Tried to get me to calm down.I whirled around to face him. “ My name is Alyssa. You don’t get to call me princess or baby girl or anything like that anymore. Are we clear, meatball?”

Chuck cackled at that. I turned to face him, nodding to the money. Bending to pick it up. “Guess you don’t want to get paid.” I shrugged. He reached for the twenty and I drew it back out of his grasp, clucking my tongue.

I held it up, as best as I could to keep it out of his reach. When he went for it, I threw it on the floor again and spat in his direction. “Next time you decide to bet on somebody’s virginity, asshole, just remember how many girls shot you down. Remember that you’re actually not hot shit.”

I shoved through the crowd, walking back over to my locker. Throwing it open. Ignoring the shocked looks on my friends faces as I calmly switched out my books for the morning classes.

XXX

He couldn’t stop replaying the whole thing in his head. Smirking about it a little in pride because he honestly hadn’t ever thought she had all that in her. He found himself stealing glances at her while she had her nose buried in the textbook, reading and not paying anything going on around her any sort of attention.

From behind them, Reggie was hissing her name. Sweet Pea rolled his eyes, annoyed because the guy had basically gone this entire time without a backwards glance at her while paired with Mandy, and now, suddenly, he couldn’t leave her alone.

The jealousy that surged had Sweet Pea clenching his fist. Shoving it in his jacket.

When Reggie tried to pass a note to her and it settled on his desk instead, he turned and smirked. Speaking up so the teacher caught onto what was going on.

“I”m flattered, Mantle. Really I am. But you’re kind of not my type, man.” Sweet Pea smirked as Reggie practically growled at him and shook his head. The teacher hadn’t caught on yet. Reggie kept nodding to Alyssa and Sweet Pea chuckled to himself again. The urge to embarrass the guy was just too strong to pass up.

“Oh? You want me to pass this note to Alyssa?” Sweet Pea barely hid the smirk when he said it loudly enough that he knew their teacher had to hear him, plain as day.

The teacher glanced their direction, stalking across the room to snatch the paper out of Sweet Pea’s hands. Unfolding it as he started to read it to the entire class.

Alyssa grumbled under her breath, whirling around in her seat.

“Pig.” she called out before turning to face the front again. Sinking down in her seat just slightly. Shaking her head as she muttered to herself quietly, “Where was this energy when we were actually dating, I ask?”

They reached for the textbook open between them at the same time and Alyssa glanced over at him, biting her lip. No matter how much he tried, Sweet Pea couldn’t drop his gaze. His eyes were locked on hers. He repositioned the book so that they could both see it clearly. And maybe just so she’d have to lean in slightly in the process.

“What’d you say to Chuck in the hall?” He whispered after a few seconds.

“I threw his fucking money at him. And reminded him that most of the girls he supposedly got with actually didn’t and wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot pole. I was hoping he’d bend down and get his money though because I was totally about to knee him in the face.”

“Nah. I don’t see you doing that.” Sweet Pea chuckled, shaking his head at her and locking eyes all over again.

Alyssa eyed him, an amused look on her face as she shrugged. “Whatever you say, Sweet Pea.” before going back to reading their assigned part of the text.

Sweet Pea found himself staring at her. Probably much more than he should have if he were being honest about it.

She leaned in to turn the page and he coughed abruptly. The cotton candy scent of her favorite body spray wafting up. Making him bite his lip over the knee jerk reaction he was having to the way she was slightly leaned against him. She must have caught on to him staring at her because she glanced up, licking at her lips. Muttering an apology in haste and moving away a little.

He leaned into her and muttered into her ear, “It’s not that big a deal, cherry.”

She nodded, but she didn’t look up at him or anything.

When it happened at least two more times during the class, he wound up having to shift around in his seat a little. Trying to appear neutral when every little accidental brush of her side against his was overloading him a little more each time.

XXX

“Okay, I got matches.” Toni or Cheryl called up the stairs from the living room.

“I have the lighter and the box.” I answered, jogging down the stairs to meet them. We stepped out of the house and I locked the door behind me. Stopping by the fern to make sure the spare key was still hidden inside the pot just in case Archie didn’t have his key.

We set out for the construction site but Toni remembered that she had to stop by her grandfather’s place to grab something.

The crowd gathered outside was angry. Panicked. Toni shoved her way through the crowd her neighbors made, up and onto her porch. Coming back with a bright orange piece of paper that had been stuck to her front door.

I happened to spot Sweet Pea as he stood on the porch three trailers away. His jaw set firm.

Cheryl snatched the note from Toni and as soon as she realized it was an eviction notice, she was hugging Toni.

“I can’t fucking believe this. They can’t just throw out everyone.”

I swallowed hard. Locking eyes with Sweet Pea from across the lot. Every part of me wanted to walk over to him. But I didn’t dare.

He tolerated me at best.

I could just see this only driving his defenses up even more. Fangs wandered over, a similar note in his own hands. Swearing and angry.

“There’s absolutely no way, this is bullshit.”

“They can and they did, Cherry.” Fangs grumbled. Cheryl and I shared a look because neither one of us really knew what to do or say in this case.

“Yeah, I don’t think so. I’m gonna skype my mom tonight and ask if this is legal at all.” I took Fang’s notice and took a screenshot of it. He shook his head. Muttered calmly and quietly, “No use in bothering with it, Cherry. We all know how this is gonna play out.”

“It doesn’t have to, though.” I answered, shaking my head. Cheryl did the same. Hugging Toni as she tried to console her. Offering to let her stay at her place.

Sweet Pea punched at the post on his porch and jumped over the rail, wandering over to where Toni and Fangs stood with Cheryl and I.

“You see this shit?”

“Yeah.” Toni answered in a flat tone.

Fangs just nodded. Pacing. Angry.

“This can’t be legal.” I muttered.

Sweet Pea gazed down at me. A sneer forming. “I hate to break it to you, Cherry. This is real life. And there’s nothing any of us can do about it, either.”

I tensed at his tone. I get where his anger was coming from, but the fact that it was directed at me right now was both hurtful and kind of irritating.

“What? You think I live in a fucking ivory tower?” I snapped before I could stop myself, storming off.

Cheryl caught up to me halfway down the block.

“There has to be something we can do. Anything.” Cheryl spoke up as we shared a look.

“I’m calling my mother. If anyone can stop this bullshit, it’s her.”

“I can try to buy it back.” Cheryl mused.

“That fucking snake Lodge wouldn’t ever allow it and your mother would end herself before she let you do that. Not to mention what she might do to get even with you for even thinking it.” I sighed as I gazed at Cheryl. The wheels in my mind turning. Same as hers, I could tell.

“We just have to think. I mean, we know who’s behind all this. I wish there was some way I could fucking pin him and make it stick.” I grumbled, shaking my head again.

“Something tells me there’s more to your dislike for Veronica’s father than merely the way he’s making our friends homeless.” Cheryl studied me. I nodded, answering quietly, “The man got out of prison, discovered my brother was dating his daughter and decided to take a wrecking ball to my brother and my father’s relationship. You know how close they were, Cheryl. And you know how much I hate change or tension. And it’s been so tense between them since I moved back I… I just feel like the walls are closing in sometimes. But my mom told me to let them figure it out. To focus on figuring myself out. But I can’t because I love them both and it’s frustrating the hell out of me, ugh!”

Cheryl nodded. The rest of the walk to my father’s construction site was quiet. Both of us thinking. Trying to come up with any form of a solution.

Toni caught up to us, putting her arms around. “I’ll take you up on staying at your place.” she muttered, brushing a kiss to Cheryl’s cheek as a thank you. I smiled at the two of them and then spoke up.

“I’m seriously going to call my mother tonight and ask if Mayor McCoy can do this. Every part of me wants to go fill her gas tank with sugar but then I remember, Josie’s actually pretty okay and I don’t want to get on her bad side. Besides.. Pretty sure her mother didn’t come up with the idea to do this on her own. Pretty sure she had a little monetary persuasion.”

Toni eyed me as I kicked over a garbage can nearby.

“It’ll be fine. F.P’s already offered sanctuary at the Wyrm for everyone.” Toni spoke up. I nodded. Feeling a little bit of relief, because I’d been so fucking worried.

I knew Fangs probably had places he could go. Other family.

Sweet Pea, I wasn’t entirely sure he had that. And I knew he’d literally rather die than ask anyone for anything.

Even though if I thought for a second he didn’t have a place to crash, I’d been fully prepared to do something. Anything.

I shoved the thought out of my head.

“What’d you mean by monetary persuasion?” Toni asked.

Cheryl filled her in on my five minute rant that she’d missed. And Toni studied me intently. “And now the way you keep your distance and go quiet around Veronica and your brother totally makes sense.”

“I want to like her, I really do, but.. Her father and this fuckery. Because we all know none of this started until that man came to town.” I rubbed at my forehead. God, I was so done with this day.

My father’s construction site came into view and my dad caught sight of me, making his way over after he finished talking to one of the contractors.

“Everything okay, tiny?” My father asked, giving me a gentle look of concern.

“Fuck no.” I grumbled, shaking my head. Trying to put my thoughts together and be calm about it.

“Hey! Language.” My father scolded in a gentle tone. He eyed me and waited. I took the eviction notice from Toni’s hand and showed him, shaking my head. “I swear to God, that jerk Lodge should’ve stayed in prison.”

“Agreed.” my father muttered. He handed Toni back the eviction notice and rubbed his chin thoughtfully. I could tell it bothered him too. His jaw set firm, just like it always does when something’s upsetting him or making him angry. I get the trait honestly.

“I’m going to call Mom tonight and ask if it’s legal for Mayor McCoy to do that. I mean she can’t. Unless the place is condemned.. I wouldn’t think.” I explained.

“I dunno, kid. The world’s not always as black and white as we see it. Kind of where your mom and I butted heads a lot.” my father answered, hugging me. Glancing at Toni. “Do you have somewhere to stay?”

Cheryl smiled and nodded, speaking up.

“She’s going to be staying at the Manor with me, sir.” she beamed as she held onto Toni’s hand, giving it a squeeze. My dad chuckled and raked his hand over his head.

“If Cheryl’s mom starts anything, you’re welcome to stay with Alyssa.” my father told her. Toni gave a soft laugh, nodding. Thanking him quietly.

My dad caught sight of the box in my arms, nodding to it. “What’s all that?”

“All the crap Reggie gave me. And the notes and pictures.” I answered, shuffling my feet.

“You’re not gonna keep that?” my dad questioned. “I know it hurts, but memories.”

“Nope. I have zero interest in anything to remind me I was ever stupid enough to date Reggie Mantle.” I shook my head, vetoing the suggestion.

“Yikes. How bad was this fight you two had, exactly?” my dad asked again. He’d been trying to get me to tell him but I just couldn’t. Not knowing my dad would definitely try to murder the guy.

Cheryl started to speak up, she started to tell my father what actually happened, but I gave her a gentle elbow in the side. My father eyed me and I sighed.

“It wasn’t exactly an argument. We just broke up. Well, to be honest, I dumped him.”

“If you want to talk about it..” my dad offered.

“Oh, I’m pretty sure you’d try to murder him and I love you too much to let you go to prison.” I answered quietly. “Trust me, daddy.. You don’t want to know. Let’s just leave it at me dumping him, please sir?”

He eyed me, but he let it drop for now.

As soon as we found a barrel we could use to burn the contents of the box in, we made our way over and I turned the box upside down, letting the pictures, letters and the stuffed animal inside settle in the bottom of the barrel.

After striking the match, Cheryl passed it to me. I tossed it in and we stood there, watching the fire quietly. All of us lost in thought.

At one point, Toni spoke up.

“Sweet Pea shouldn’t have gone off like that.”

“I don’t blame him. I get it. It’s fine.” I shrugged. “He’s right. I am kind of sheltered. I mean I know what the real world is like, I just.. I got lucky enough that I don’t have to face a lot of it’s challenges.” I mused, shaking my head. It still hurt, the way he’d snapped at me so harshly. ,, ah well, I thought to myself, another good reason why he’d never want to be with someone like me and a very good reason why we wouldn’t work out and I just need to forget whatever.. this.. is that I am feeling towards him lately.”

“Is there any reason you haven’t told your father the real reason you broke up with Reggie?” Cheryl asked the question after we’d all fallen silent again. I leaned back in the chair I’d dragged over and gazed up at the sky. “Because I know my dad will try to kill him. And no matter how much Reggie deserves it, I don’t want it to happen.”

“Oh, I’m petty enough I’d tell him.” Toni answered. The three of us shared a laugh and I went quiet. “Was Sweet Pea okay when you left? I know the eviction notice pissed him off.” I asked, grabbing a stick to poke at the fire. Pouting because it was starting to die down. The flame licked at the corner of the first note Reggie ever wrote me and I stared at it a few seconds, lost in thought.

Sweet Pea’s throat cleared. I looked at him.

“You can ask me yourself.” he answered quietly. Fangs nodded to the dwindling fire. “Damn. I missed the closest I’ll ever come to lighting Mantle’s ass on fire.”

I laughed before I could stop myself. Then I stood to go lug a hose over to put out the fire. It was dying anyway, there wasn’t any sense in just letting it keep burning.

“We could move this to Pops. I gotta pick up dinner for me and Dad tonight anyway, because Archie is apparently going to welsh on his turn to cook. Because he’s with Veronica, of course. Doing god knows what.”

“The sex.” Fangs teased, wiggling his brows suggestively.

Making me grimace and pretend to gag while plugging my ears as he did so. “Ew, gross, why the fuck would you put any of that… imagery in my head? She’s kind of a friend and he’s my brother and now I’m going to fucking hurl, sir.”

“Fuck it, why not. Pop’s it is.” Sweet Pea grumbled, pulling himself off the ground. As we walked towards the diner, I found myself fenced in beside Sweet Pea when Fangs chose to walk on the outside of the sidewalk. My side brushed against him every few steps and I couldn’t help but be painfully aware of it. Of him. I shoved it out of my mind immediately. I was barely managing to get the guy to warm up to me as a friend. And right now, I needed to breathe. To get my own head on straight. Enjoy being alone and free to do whatever. Without any obligation to anybody or expectations.

,, besides, look at him… do you really think he’d ever go for you? Not a freaking chance. Literally the only reason Reggie Mantle did was just to see if you’d give it up so he could win some fucking bet... You’re always second choice, the sooner you accept it and stop fighting to be chosen first, the better...” the thought surfaced, taunting me.

When I saw Reggie’s car rounding the corner, I swore to myself and tensed up slightly. And next to me, I felt Sweet Pea tense just a bit himself. He glanced down at me when our hands brushed on accident. Biting his lip. Our gaze lingering on each other, distracting me from Reggie’s car slowing to an idle on the street as he tried to get my attention from inside of it.

I don’t know why I did it, but I curled my pinkie around Sweet Pea’s. Giving a careful squeeze because it kind of calmed me down.

“Pound sand, Dog.” Toni called out as soon as Reggie had the window rolled down. I laughed and called out to him calmly, “What my best friends just said, meatball. Pound sand.”

“Give me a chance.” Reggie pleaded again.

“What I’d like to give you is a swift kick in the nuts.” I retorted.

Reggie sighed. Called out calmly, “I’ll give you a little more time to calm down. Then you have to talk to me. Please? I.. I love you, okay? The last thing I wanted was everything to come out.”

I swallowed hard, gazing at him. Really weighing the fact that it took him getting caught like he had to make him actually say the words and actually appear to mean them. I dragged my fingers through my hair. Trying to think about it all.

Deep down, I knew that it was already over before I even overheard the conversation about the bet he’d made with Chuck. I’d already been thinking about it.

He’d just done me a favor and sped up my decision making process.

“Go away, meatball.” I called out. Reggie rolled up his window and drove away and I shook my head, going quiet. Thinking about everything.

We filed into Pop’s, filling up a booth. I guess I was too quiet, because Cheryl cleared her throat.

I glanced over at her and she smiled. Gently but firmly reminding me that Spirit Week was upon us and I needed to be in my best form. I nodded. “I’m trying.”

“Don’t try. Do. I can’t have my tumbler moping all over the place. And if you’re going to pull off that stunt you’ve been practicing, you have to have your head in it. One wrong move and it won’t be pretty.” Cheryl reminded me.

I took a sip of my milkshake and nodded again. “Oh trust me, I know.”

“What stunt?” Toni asked, looking from me to Cheryl.

Cheryl explained it. The gist of it was that I was going to do my usual bit on the pyramid, a back tuck basket, hopefully come out of that into a back handspring.

“Are all gymnasts super flexible?” Fangs asked, making all of us laugh and groan as he shrugged, “It was just a question. I mean they’re always doing all those flips and all that other shit.”

Cheryl giggled at the question, nodding to me. “She used to put her legs behind her shoulders when we were in grade school.”

“Until you triple dared me once and I fucking got stuck like an actual human pretzel.” I pretended to pout at her from across the booth. Cheryl laughed. Toni laughed and I pouted at them both. “Glad you find my embarrassment entertaining.”

“Oh come on! I’m just wondering if it’s like that afternoon we were messing around by the quarry and you tried to cram yourself into that pipe.”

“Again, fuck you both.” I quipped, taking a long and noisy sip of my milkshake.

“Yeah, what is it with you and spaces you don’t need to be in?” Fangs questioned, chuckling as I stuck my tongue out at him and shrugged.

“I climbed into a dryer once on a dare. I think honestly, it’s just the simple fact that I hate being told I can’t or shouldn’t do something, because that’s how the dryer dare all started...” I trailed off, drumming my fingers against the tabletop.

“Wasn’t that one on your Snapchat stories?” Cheryl asked. Digging for her phone and going to the app. Going through my stories until she found it.

I laughed as I heard one of my old friends in the background going “And it was in this moment that Allie knew she’d truly fucked up.” just as I started to realize I might or might not be stuck and started to panic a little. Yelping about “Errors were made. Oh no. This is.. How am I explaining this to my mother, Lexy? Oh god, she’s going to have a cow…” as I laughed hysterically and tried to wiggle myself free. “Suddenly, this doesn’t seem like a good idea. Stop filming me Raya and help, shit!”

“Dramatic?” Sweet Pea chuckled, catching my gaze.

“Eh, maybe a little.” I shrugged, sipping my milkshake. Trying to drop my own gaze first, but unable to do so for whatever reason.

“What’s the thought process behind cramming yourself into a dryer though?” he questioned.

“I was told I shouldn’t or that I wouldn’t. Then dared to do it. So I did it...” I answered. Gazing over at him. A puzzled look on my face because he was kind of staring at me. Intently. Lost in thought for a few seconds.

“A dare, huh?” he eyed me as he asked.

I held his gaze because try as I might, I couldn’t seem to stop myself from doing it.“Mhm.” I muttered, finally managing to break our little stare down. Glancing down at my french fries and shoveling a few in my mouth.

After we left Pop’s, I made my way back home, flopping myself across my bed. Cheryl was sitting at my vanity with her legs propped against it and Toni was sprawled out on a giant beanbag chair that sits in the corner of my room, flipping through a magazine.

“So.. Is there some reason you and Sweet Pea keep staring at one another?” Toni’s question drew me out of my own thoughts. I glanced over at her, shrugging. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“You noticed too?” Cheryl asked Toni. Toni held my gaze, smirking at me as she nodded yes to Cheryl. “You know exactly what I’m talking about, Cherry. And for the record, you definitely didn’t look at Mantle that way.”

“I don’t look at Sweet Pea in any certain way either? I mean.. I don’t think I do?” I questioned, confused. Wondering why I kept getting asked the question or accused of doing this.

“You do.”

“It’s like you’re starving.”

“Or thirsty.” Toni teased, the three of us bursting into laughter. I actually had to stop and think about it.

And found myself confronted with the fact that maybe… possibly… I did think Sweet Pea was hot. I had since my first run in with the guy, right after I moved back to Riverdale. I just.. Didn’t make it a point to actually stop and think about it or dwell on it.

But I found myself wondering.. If my best friends noticed any looks I may or may not be giving him… Did that mean he had?

Somehow, I doubted it. And that relieved me.

“All I’m going to say is he’s hot. But that’s it. And neither of you better say a word! That’s all the guy needs, his ego getting so big he can’t fit a room. Besides… even if I did… feel an attraction… there’s the small fact that guy absolutely cannot stand me. He only tolerates me because we’re friends.” I admitted. Going quiet. Letting the thought sink in. Trying my best to process it.

Or forget it. Because that was pretty much my only option here. Shove these pesky thoughts and any attraction that I’d been feeling as deep down as they’d go.

Otherwise, this was going to get awkward. Fast.

#sweetpea fanfiction #sweetpea imagine #sweetpea fanfic #sweetpea imagines #sweetpea fic #riverdale fanfiction #riverdale fanfic #riverdale fic #my writing ; sweetpea #my fics ; sweetpea #my fanfiction ; sweetpea #// so far this has been kind of a flop. but it's the most fun i've had writing a flop in ages #// so i'm honored to write a flop i guess lmaooo

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